10 GARDEN DESIGN MISTAKES I MADE & Landscape Design Tips to Help You Avoid My Gardening Mistakes

As a realtor with experience in two states, I so disagree w your realtor/friend. You cannot re-create a blank tract home. Just don't. People will love your gardens, plus they couldn't afford to recreate them from bare dirt. In time, they'll tear out some beds, but over time... think of them enjoying your lovely efforts over the seasons... you have a wonderful infrastructure they don't have to pay for, especially with the price of things these days. They'll be paying high dollar for any house and will do house changes first, while relaxing in your creation. Let them enjoy your professional gardens... sad you could be moving. BTW, even if she is your friend, I'd strongly suggest you move on from her and her office and interview other realtors, obvious she is in conflict with you... I'd never suggest a seller destroy their gardens to attract a sole buyer who is a minimalist... what a narrow demographic! Let those searching garden loving prospective buyers appreciate your gardens. More love gardens than don't they are a HUGE SELLING POINT. Imagine your listing pictures... amazing. I'd come see your place first If I was looking. I listed bare houses, suggested plantings for street cuteness all the time... Beauty and design sells, dirt does not. Hugs...

Don't take what your agent said about buyers not wanting your garden too seriously. We sold our house to buyers who chose ours over another they were considering because they loved the gardens. We had almost as much as you do. And the property, landscape/gardens were at the top of our house hunting list too. You just have to market it highlighting the gardens. You will be surprised at the people who would love your yard.

I'm glad you made the curved path narrow. It feels like a magical walk into a secret garden; if it was much wider -- though it would accommodate more foot traffic -- I think it would lose a little charm. I really like what you did. You have a real talent for garden design.

Very interesting, great lessons to consider! Will you follow this up with your 10 best decisions in designing your garden? That would be fabulous, too!

Very honest evaluation of your land. I’m 75 and just moved to a newly built home. I love gardening and feel like I’m running out of time. Starting new takes time. So I buy the biggest plants I can and it’s expensive. I also want a lot of beauty, (flowers) and not a lot of maintenance or digging. So this video opened my eyes to judge my land more carefully. Thank you!

I think hardscaping is something people often skip as most passionate gardeners are eager to get plants in the ground. However I have found that hardscaping is the difference between a nice garden and a stunning garden.

Your realtor is nuts!!! Your gardens are a huge bonus, a big plus! Many buyers will really appreciate all your design & work that it took to create that work of art!! Get another realtor. And I am a realtor.

I can remember making one garden after another at 30 and by 50, we were breaking some of them down and adding back lawn. Now at 68 and retired, I've been changing my gardens with massive transformations. I don't want new spaces to take care of and the old ones don't please me anymore. I'm sure you'll find the seasons of your life won't always correspond with the seasons of your garden. However, we can always try to match them up😊.

We've all made mistakes in the garden, Danielle. A couple of items I think can be "easily" addressed with not a huge cost. If you can find someone in your area who is a mason or who installs paver patios, they can cut your driveway to make that grassy area a nice rounded shape on the outside. That will give you the curb appeal you need. You can then add some nice paver stones to bridge the gap between the driveway and the grass. As far as the drainage, I hired someone to install a french drain off my house to divert the water away from the foundation. It didn't disturb any of my garden, it was a simple trench. They did have to go 15 feet or so into my lawn, but that was an easy fix to peel the grass back over the trench. A french drain might help your area as well, so you don't have a muddy mess when it rains. I hope these ideas help you try to resolve some of the gardening issues you have.

No mistakes . . . Only learning opportunities and a chance for personal growth. Sharing your issues offers other garden lovers the opportunity to learn. So in essence you’ve added another job to your already lengthy list - that of teacher - and that’s definitely a good thing! Thank you! 💐👏🏻👍🏻💪🏻🙏🏻🥰

My lesson learned is buying gladiolus bulbs from the Dollar Store. I bought 9 packages. They were infested with thrips. I got one stalk of blooms and many mangy looking plants. Never again. Needless to say, I learned a lot about pests this summer.

I think taking care of all the unglamorous things like drainage and infrastructure before the pretty and fun things is so important! Also, being honest with yourself in how much maintenance you’re truly willing/able to handle.

For anyone considering designing their own garden a video like this can be pure gold. And after putting so many years work into the garden it also reveals a humble and potentially vulnerable honesty and willingness to reflect on what turned out less successfully. Very valuable to benefit from the learning experiences of others. Thank you for sharing!

It's impossible to do everything right from the beginning -- one just doesn't know enough about the property, even if one is an experienced gardener! Very helpful though to be able to learn from your experience. Also, life is never simple and we are but imperfect creatures. I am a senior citizen and when my contemporaries start to reminisce about their lives and how if they knew then what they know now they would have done differently I have to remind them that, had we to do it all over again, we would just make different mistakes! There are so many factors to consider in gardening -- I view it all as a continuous experiment and try to be happy with the wins and hope some garden-loving person will own the property after me. You have a very beautiful garden and we all appreciate your sharing it with us.

Do not destroy your masterpiece ! This is beautiful and I would want to buy a house with a garden like this. This is a dream garden. Do not destroy this….

Loved watching Grace in this video! She’s such a character ❤

I was just thinking a couple of videos ago of how your garden has progressed in such a beautiful way. I appreciate your honesty in pointing out things we as gardeners may not have thought through. You are definitely one hard working lady. I had no idea you worked a full time job on top of all your gardening. God bless you!

I have a different opinion from that of your realtor - your back garden would be so easy to edit to become more appealing/less maintenance for the next buyer and not a big deal breaker AT ALL - look what you did with the front yard!! You should make your home and your garden YOURS - for you and your family, not for the next family - they can change it to the way they want it like you did before - not to mention more and more people are learning to love gardening and would be ecstatic to live in a beautiful home with such a lovely garden - I would consider your garden a wonderful return on investment for your home value and more importantly quality of life!

Thanks for sharing this. While my gardens are not nearly as extensive as yours, as I age I don’t enjoy the maintenance and just want to enjoy what I have.

I agree with your first point on installing privacy fencing. When we moved in, our backyard had no fencing at all, and I considered privacy fencing, which is allowed on our corner lot. My regret is that I gave into peer pressure from a few neighbors, who said tall fencing would “ruin“ the look of our street, so I installed plantings and a 4 foot wire and cedar fence. Since I planted some herbaceous perennials, we have privacy for about five months of the year. I’m considering privacy fencing again!