START PLANNING FOR SPRING 2009 LANDSCAPING

The Green Man suggests initiating plans for Spring 2009 landscaping in January. He provides all clients with a 3-ring binder with pockets in which to retain all matters dealing with site landscaping. College-ruled notebook paper is good for landcsape planning because plant names and site features can be labeled clearly. Quadrille graph paper isn't necessary at the preliminary planning stage.

The Green Man suggests creating a priority list for the season rather than attempting to do landscaping willy-nilly. Landscaping an entire site can be a daunting task, and often clients feel overwhelmed. Hence, The Green Man utilizes the "divide-and-conquer" method. Divide your site into segments and then prioritize. For example, for Spring 2009 The Green Man is urging clients to install a potager.

A potager is simply a formal, geometrically structured parterre-style garden in which vegetables, fruit, flowers and shrubs have equal billing. A vegetable garden doesn't have to be relegated to an ugly corner of the site. Instead it should be integrated into the service and family living areas of the property.

Begin planning where your vegetable garden should go. Check the sunlight and drainage issues. Next do some research into potagers, and create a preliminary pleasing design that can be integrated into your landscaping. A location in the family living area near both the service area and kichen door access is ideal.



Here is a great shot of a basic potager under construction. What the Green Man wants you to see is the GEOMETRICAL arrangemnet of the beds, the WIDE WALKWAYS, between, and the STANDARD at the center that gives the potager the sense of formality that makes it work with the rest of your site's landscaping. A perfect standard choice is Hydrangea paniculata 'tardiva'