Need Help Designing My First (ever) Flower Garden

[minnesota_girl]

dtownjbrown6262, I agree with MaineDesigner:

the suggestion of peat moss is a poor one for a litany of reasons. I would strongly point you toward good quality compost instead of peat moss.

I haven't used black peat but it sound a little better than peat moss, if you were to choose I would go with that suggestion.

Happy Gardening

[dtownjbrown6262]

So, does compost "break up" clay soils too? I thought compost was used just to improve the drainage & overall health of the soil I think the garden center owner suggested the peat because my question was regarding how to make my hard, unworkable soil texture easier to manage....would that make a difference?

[dtownjbrown6262]

Well, it took some time but I finally got started on my front borders. I had to resort to one of those "fool-proof-beginner-gardener" layout design plans but I'm excited about my progress nonetheless. I have to wait until next year to buy some of the early season bloomers that were suggested so I just filled in the space with some annuals. So....how am I doing so far? (sorry if it takes a while to load - I added some text boxes to the pic)

[img]https://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q179/dtownjbrown/gardening/Left-1401pm-LABELED.jpg[/img]

[minnesota_girl]

You are doing fine, the lavender looks great. I am glad you added some annuals, I like to add pansies to my garden because they tend to bloom all summer. When I plan garden I look at the bloom time, because perennials tend to bloom for short periods annuals make great choices for an everblooming garden. I would add some spring bulbs in the fall, you know crucus, daffodils, tulips, winter aconite, irises, and hyacinths. After you have found some spring bloomers you like I would look at summer bloomers, you have some already (lavender, coreopsis, daylilies). Then there is late summer-fall.