Help me design my front yard!

[Lyoshka]

@Flatlander whoa. Shoot, maybe i don't have the space quite for 3 up front then. Ok, here's what i'll do. I'll draw up my plan and will measure the distances and throw it up here for you guys to judge if i'm being overly optimistic with my planning

 

[Lyoshka]

Yes, it can be massive! But there might not be leaves in winter!

since we are in zone 8a now, i imagine it'll stay fairly green year round

 

[Mike Allen]

Lyoshka Hi. Wowee you and I would get on great in the garden. You have such enthusiasm and ideas. I like. I believe the main point of garden design and landscaping is. The drawing, the magnatism to get you to go forward. From stand point A. Sorry I can't see all of the garden. GOOD. This is it. Avoid straight lines and straight pathways. So this path veres to the left and dissappears behind that cornus rubra. Then it reappears. IMHO a well designed garden will hypnotically call you. Hey, come this way and see what's on offer.

 

[Lyoshka]

@Mike Allen hellllooo, Mike! Thank you! I’m really trying to spend a lot of time designing, so when I start digging and they start blooming, it looks magical and I feel I came to the right place, because I’ve gotten so many great ideas.

A bit later today I am going to post my little tentative drawing of the front and I hope you weigh in with some constructive criticism! I want to do this right!

 

[Lyoshka]

Hey all, question.... we have wild blueberries here, they are everywhere... does that mean the soil is acidic....or not necessarily?

I’m heading to a nursery today and will be asking them, as well, but thought I’d throw it out here

 

[MaryMary]

You can probably buy a soil testing kit at the nursery, but I really recommend having your soil tested by the County Extension Office. They will give you the best idea of what your soil needs, much more in depth than acidic/alkaline.


I've never tried this, but I guess you can test it with baking soda and vinegar. I think it's probably only going to show you if it is VERY acidic or alkaline, but hey, home experiments are always fun. Yay, SCIENCE!!

http://naturehacks.com/how-to-test-if-soil-is-acidic-or-alkaline-with-baking-soda-and-vinegar/

 

[Lyoshka]

You can probably buy a soil testing kit at the nursery, but I really recommend having your soil tested by the County Extension Office. They will give you the best idea of what your soil needs, much more in depth than acidic/alkaline.


I've never tried this, but I guess you can test it with baking soda and vinegar. I think it's probably only going to show you if it is VERY acidic or alkaline, but hey, home experiments are always fun. Yay, SCIENCE!!

http://naturehacks.com/how-to-test-if-soil-is-acidic-or-alkaline-with-baking-soda-and-vinegar/

A neighbor actually told me the arboretum folks tested his soil for him several years ago, so I’ll try that this next week.

Science experiments are always fun! And I have an almost 9 year old and a 12 year old who would get a kick out of this! So we shall try! Thanks!

 

[DirtMechanic]

Hey all, question.... we have wild blueberries here, they are everywhere... does that mean the soil is acidic....or not necessarily?

I’m heading to a nursery today and will be asking them, as well, but thought I’d throw it out here

That depends on how they are fruiting. This is our patch right now and they are loaded because we force the acidity issue with sulfur.

Sorry I need a macro lens on my phone.

I use the pool test strips and the little store NPK tests. The key is the water. My tap water is treated to be neutral. Good for the ph test as a general direction, but the labs are more precise. I cannot use tap water for the NPK because of the additives, so I use distilled water. All the instructions say use distilled for everything but when you test your water against the water company numbers you see a disconnected thought. Distilled ph is 6 and will blow your ph test to pieces but works for NPK. High ph neuters the additives used to purify and low ph acidic water will dissolve metal house piping. Nasty business if its copper pipe.