Hi from sunny Surrey

It will all be dug up as the garden is very uneven and has mini brick borders all over it. I had in mind killing everything then ripping up the garden path and breaking up the mini walls. Then I was going to level everything and make the soil good (somehow).

 

What hard landscaping do you have planned? I would do that next for several reasons. Firstly, you don't want to waste time preparing ground which will be covered by patio, paths etc. Secondly, there is nothing like a couple of landscapers for trampling anything growing into the ground!

 

Well, the plan I am working from will take a couple of years to complete, this is because of a non-existent budget at the moment. I gave the figure of £5,000 as a budget over two years but explained that I will be pretty poor for the next 6 months as I am studying. I have been advised by the designer to rip up the concrete path and get the garden leveled. A mini digger was recommended but that might be difficult to get to the garden as I live in a terraced property, have a square metre of hallway when you first enter the house, and there is no access from the back garden. So, without being too long-winded, the short-term plan is to completely ignore the decking areas and the fancy shrubs until next year. For now I will be leveling the garden, shaping the turf as shown in the diagram and painting the shed purple. I may not need a skip as the designer has worked out a way that I can use the path in a cage type seating at the bottom of the garden. I was hoping to kill everything and dig it over a bit (to be sure that all the weeds are definitely dead) and then calling friends in. I am trying to save as much money as possible by not hiring a landscaper. I hope I am making sense.

 

Hallo Samantha,
only just found this thread. Hope you are enjoying meeting the great people here on Gardeners Corner. I joined about 15 months ago and have found out so much about gardening that I didn't know. Always someone here to advise, sympathise and clap when you show us your results.
Loving it all so far. Take your time, take lots of breaks: you are not your garden's slave.
Oh, and keep taking piccies please,

Jenny namaste

 

It is, its excellent. Don't waste your money on the ready to use stuff though. You'll find yourself spending a hundred quid or more if you do because one squirty bottle doesn't go very far.

Instead get the Roundup Concentrate. Its quite dear, about £20 last time I bought some 2 years ago, but its enough to blitz a small country. I can't remember the exact measure (it says on the bottle), but its something daft like one cap full per litre of water, so it really does go far.

I found when I last blitzed a garden that if the weeds are tall, the tall ones act as an umbrella protecting the shorter weeds underneath.

In this warm weather we're having, those weeds will have put on enough new growth for Roundup do get to work by this time next week I reckon. Especially if, going against instinct, the weeds are well watered.

It might sound daft, but the weeds should be as healthy as possible when the deadly rain of roundup falls. Glyphosate is absorbed into pores in the leaves used for respiration. When a plant is suffering in any way, its survival technique is to close up those pores and slow everything right down while it rides out whatever is ailing it. By keeping the weeds well watered between now and Roundup time (in a week or so), they will be in full swing so that when the roundup comes, they will absorb it much faster, and therefore die off much quicker.

 

You're not as clueless as you make out, are you? Thanks. I did have a really good laugh about spending 2 1/2 days strimming the garden and now having to wait for it to grow again. My friends though it was pretty funny too, but to be fair, they also thought it would be easier to kill them if they were shorter. Anyway, I imagine this is the first set back of many. I will get Round Up and thanks for the advice about the concentrated version. If a ready made bottle is about £15 anyway and I may need 4 or 5 for the size of the garden I have then the concentrate will be more cost effective.

 

Hi Jenny, thanks for the welcome. The next time I post pics everything in my garden will be dead! :D

 

I have no idea what a Cordyline is. To google I go...

 

Oh, the palm trees? Oh yes, they are definitely staying. I have to be careful around that area.

 

Sorry I have to post another pic. This is what is next to the palm trees:

 

See, now I have you laughing at me too. :D
I have to post my pics from phone to FB as it's faster and then download to laptop and post here. I just apologised to my FB friends about posting so many boring garden pics and and explained why. Just got this reply from a "friend":



"There not boring Hun,they just make everyone else proud of there gardens lol Xxxxxxxx"


Haha! I'll be back in 2 weeks. Thanks for all your help.