Newbie just starting, needs help.

My hubby has dabbled with flowers on and off for years.
So now that he is retired, I have taken an interest in doing
a flower bed in my front yard. it is going to be somewhere
around 10X10 or 12X12.
It is mostly shady area, Can some one give me advice on
what all I am going to need to get started, I know I need to
get rid of the grass and have dirt hauled in. I have some seeds.
but looking for some ideas, and is there something else I need
to do to get the ground ready?
The picture (4 shots) isn't that great, but it is the best I can do right now.

This message was edited May 25, 2006 9:02 PM

Sure is dark there - just kidding. Bed preparation I don't rush. Kill the grass off. I would till it up, pulling out rocks or other debris, amend the soil then give it some time to settle before seeding. This process takes weeks - but is worth it for the future.
You said you are adding soil - are you raising it?
Al

Thanks for answering, Yes we are going to raise it and putting two rows of flat stone around it.
I was also wondering, will the mulch stop seeds from growing?
or do I need to prepot these? I know absolutely nothing about gardening when it come to seeds.

Seeds I have, Nicotiana alata sensation white, I have 4 different Aquilegia, formosa,blue bonnets, little lanterns and mini star.
4 different Penstemon, tubaeflorus, whippleanus, hirsutus, and grandiforus. I also have sweer pea royal reds,
I am also going to buy more plants, just not sure what.

I have 6 different cleome seeds, putting them in the back yard if our weather ever clears up.

Depending on the composition of your soil you may want to amend it with sand, peat moss, perlite, seasoned manure, compost (especially), or something else.
Early addition of a mulch could impede seed germination and growth. Some seeds need light to germinate.

If you are just raising it a foot or so(a guess) I would still till it up and amend the soil before raising it.
I see that you have a mix of annuals and perennials, I would recommend to group or seperate them to have room to work the soil up for new plantings in the future years.
I would not put mulch over seed. This fall you could lightly mulch around the perennials, many of those will not flower their first year so be realistic.

Okay, thanks so much for your replies. this is the first time I bought seeds. (I usually only buy perennial plants.) Didn't know I had annual seeds lol. I got my seeds from www.dianeseeds.com will have to go back and see which are which lol.

My cousin gave me two white and two red bleeding hearts to put in my garden :) They are hard to buy around here, they sell out of them to fast.

My dad gave me a bunch of mini tulips (don't know the actual name of them) my hubby planted them all around the back yard. That is his usual way of gardening, He has marigolds every where. Iris's and lilies too. So now I am wanting to add a little of my touch to the yard lol.

Again, thanks so much for all your help. Connie

Since the sun decided to come out a little, I took a few more pics,
this one is on the front yard.

If there's grass in there and you don't kill it before you till, you'll be pulling grass out of that bed for the rest of your life.

Yes there is grass, and we have been waiting for the weather to clear up before we dig the grass up. Yesterday it hailed from dime size to quarter size. My front deck was loaded. :(

Well for some reason it's not letting me upload the back yard pics, will try later.

You won't be able to just dig it up. You're going to have to use something to kill all the roots. If you don't want to cover it with black plastic for a season or two, you'll have to use Roundup or something similar. And I would wait and use multiple applications.

If I use a product like that, I won't be able to plant until next year, right?

here's the back yard

This is mostly what the hubby does now that he is retired. lol

No, you can plant in a couple of days unless you use the season long version of Roundup. But I'd be sure to wait a while after the first application, see what else comes up and zap it again.

Believe me, I know from experience what happens if you don't do this. Better to take a couple of weeks or more now than to be pulling up weeds constantly forever.

I have a flower bed I put in 10 years ago. I thought it would be enough to pull the grass and weeds and then till. I sure do get my exercise battling the constrant stream of weeds and grass in that bed.

Thanks, that helps alot.
I just ordered 13 different different seeds, they should be here in a few days. I am not big on patients when I get an itch, I want to scratch. rofl but I have alot of preparing to keep me occuppied, I see. :)
We have had so much rain the past month. can't do anything because the ground is to wet. I know I won't see alot of the flowers this year, but I can picture what it is going to look like in my dreams :)
There is a bare spot in the back where we use to have our bond fires.
But hubby planted some trees not to far from it. So no more bond fires in that area. I am thinking of another garden spot right there.

You'll do yourself a favor if you spend some good time and effort in amending the soil. You have a lot of trees. I would take all the leaves in the fall and put them over the beds that you are creating. Then I would run over them with the lawn mower to chop the leaves into small pieces. I would layer the leaves with grass clippings. You can let it all sit until spring when you till it in.