Beginner - enthusiastic but clueless

Hi all,

I've joined this forum because I've just bought a house with garden (I've never had a garden before) and have no idea how to start restoring the mess that faces me. I hope in time as I get more experienced I can contribute here as well as asking for advice. The previous owner wasn't interested in the garden and you can't even see where borders used to be. It's a mess, but at some stage some planting was done, as a few isolated flowers are amongst it all.

Can anyone provide any basic advice for me as a total beginner, about where to start? The main issues seem to be that the garden is north facing (about 90ft), several trees have been cut down to the stumps and are taking up space in random places on the lawn (no idea how to get them out), the lawn is also full of weeds which grow rapidly, and the neighbours tell us the clay earth is difficult to grow stuff in.

The weeds are rife - is it better to pull up everything where the borders were and start again in case the weeds have got round everything, or is it worth trying to salvage anything decent that may have been planted?

If this were you, what would your priority be? Lawn, borders, tree stumps? It does feel as though it may be next summer before the reward of bright happy flowers in the garden is possible - am I right in assuming this, or is there a way to have some brightness in the garden this year?

Thanks for reading this. Any advice is appreciated.

 

Hi Jaffa Cake,

Welcome to GC!

We are now into our third year of tackling the disaster of a garden that we bought! (you can see my thread in the garden projects bit 'My Garden :o)')

We didn't do a great deal in the first year, other than keep it tidy - did the drive though - and we really started to work on it in the second year, clearing borders, removing rocks etc. This year we're trooping on with making the changes and we are still miles from having pretty flowers and plants! It really is a labour of love - although this could also be because we're on a budget!

Perhaps you could post some photos so we can see what you're faced with

 

You've asked good questions, so that's a great start!

If you can work out where the lawn should be mow it regularly. Don't cut it too short if its very shaggy (well, the first cut will take a lot off, but keep the mower in a high setting). Gradually lower it during this year. Cutting the grass regularly (weekly at a minimum) will discourage the rougher grasses, and some of the weeds, and encourage the finer grasses. Beyond that you will have to use some Weed and Feed to fertilise the lawn and kill the weeds.

A smart lawn sets off the garden, which stops people looking too closely at the weeds in the borers!, and gives you somewhere to sit, so Step One done..

I'm a bit of a boys-toys merchant when it comes to making / restoring a garden. I start with the biggest JCB that will fit in the garden and go from there (as you will see from my blog).

However, being a bit more realistic:

Plants are expensive, I would recommend that you rescue what you can, even if it turns out that you don't like them, they will be bigger than what you can buy for £3 - £5 each for "herbaceous" plants and any shrubs are going to save you £10 each and upwards.

I would advocate lifting anything you can find that looks like a plant and putting it in a holding area - either a pot, or an area of the garden that you can easily prepare the soil in as a "nursery bed". Clean all the weeds off whatever you lift (bucket of water and rub everything off if necessary [given that its clay it will probably come up in a huge hard lump])

You will have to nurture them after that - give them water two or three times a week - because you will have disturbed the roots they will wilt otherwise. Water them thoroughly (2L or 3L per small plant) and then leave them be for several days (a heavy watering causes the water to sink into the soil, rather than just the surface, and infrequent waterings forces the plant to grow roots down to find it; otherwise you wind up with surface roots only, and the plant will always need watering 'coz the top inch or two dries out quickly in the Summer, obviously).

So, you've got a nice lawn, and an area of rescued plants. Step Two done.

Next up is Step Three to bring the scrub under control. You can spray with weed killer to give you a flying start [ask here for more details] and/or cover with weed suppressing membrane. Weed killer needs to be applied to actively growing weeds, so don't cut them down if you are planning to use weed killer.

There will be plenty more weed seed so just killing off the tops won't fix the problem permanently, so re-planting though weed suppressing membrane might be your best bet (you don't want to be spending every waking minute working in the garden weeding, I expect?!!)

So, having killed the weeds with weed killer, or covered them, you need to cultivate the soil as Step Four. You can dig it, or hire a rotavator [ask again for advice on what type etc.], but beware that will chop up the weed roots and they will still grow from all the bits (weeds have spend millions of years evolving to be good at being weeds!) but if you are going to use weed suppressing membrane that won't be too much of a problem.

Note that it is "suppressing" membrane, not "preventing" membrane :( but none the less it reduces the size of the control problem.

Step Five : if you rescued things in to pots you will be able to put them on, or even plunged "into", the membrane this year. The pots will need to be quite overgenerous size though (3L - 5L for herbaceous, bigger if you dig up any decent sized shrubs) and the pots themselves will be expensive - tout around for a job lot of second hand ones - freecycle may have something locally.

But being able to move things around in pots will enable you to decide what to plant next to what, change your mind, etc. You can plant them when youa re ready, but ideally late Autumn (depends how much of a hurry you are in to have somthing looking presentable as against cost / time to prepare the soil / etc.)

Take digital photographs every week so you have a record of what flowers when.

There! Done! ... jobs-a-good'un already !!

Can you post any photographs here? That would help advise you. Don't worry about the clay - it holds nutrients better than other soils, its just heavy to work, and needs compost / manure / etc adding to make it more workable and for the plants to grow well.

 

I would start by looking at getting the lawn cut. This will make the garden seem less of a jungle.

Then I would look at what was in the borders. Take anything out that looks like a weed, or if you are not sure, leave it and see what it looks like. I would also make sure that nothing after flowering is left to develop seeds, as if they are a weed it will make your job ten times harder.

There are plenty of things that like a clay soil and the aspect that you have. I would recommend once you have a clear patch of soil after moving things you want to keep, I would incorporate lots of organic matter. You can do this by adding soil improver, or mushroom compost, well rotted manure, even some sand and gravel would help the soil be less sticky and easier to work with, and a better environment for plants to grow.

I am sure in your garden there are going to be some nice 'finds' of plants that are hidden, just take your time, and work in sections. I would start with the bit you see the most, e.g patch in front of your kitchen window.

Perhaps if you are stuck to identify plants/weeds, take a photo, and post it on here, there are lots of people who will help.

Take your time, and don't give up! Its going to be a long trek, but the benefits are worth it

Hope this Helps!

 

"I would also make sure that nothing after flowering is left to develop seeds, as if they are a weed it will make your job ten times harder"

Old saying around here, probably everywhere else too:

"One year's seed, seven year's weed" :(

 

Wow - thank you for your replies - you've been so helpful! Now all I need is a clear dry weekend to attack it all! I think I'll do the front garden first, starting with the lawn then see what I can save and clean up from the borders - the front garden lets the whole street down where the back only lets one neighbour down!

Thanks again.

 

To be honest, my priority would be to start dreaming. What do you want from your garden? Open space for frequent barbecues and the kids to play in? Plenty of flowers? Any specific needs?

Gardening books are a bliss for a dreamer, just try your local library and get inspired.

And for the first year, just try to roughly match what you've got with your needs. If you want a lot of room, hack away and clear the bush. If you are interested in plants, be more gentle and see what comes up where. The second summer is easier as you already know the gardens good and bad sides and know what is already in there.

 

Folk do say, rightly IMHO, that you should do nothing to a garden for a year, so that you know what is there, what flowers and when, and where the light falls and where shadows are cast.

But if its a jungle then I think that axiom needs pushing closer to the back of your mind!

 

Hi Jaffa Cake.

I have to agree with Selleri I mean it's pretty easy to clear an area all you need is a couple of fine days and a nice steady supply of cuppa's to keep you going but thinking of what you want you garden to be is one of the hardest things to do.

You must also take into account how much time you have just for normal gardening maintenance work because it's no good having a garden design that needs an awful lot of work each week if you just haven't got the spare time to put in them hours.

Our gardens had been neglected too when we move into our present house nothing at all to work with but boy so much work to do!

We ended up with a woodland gravel area in our side garden and a jungle theme in our back garden although the jungle will take years to grow into something like we want, the side garden is there already and is stunning even if I say so myself we are really quite proud of it.

The front garden we have done 2 or 3 times over already and just can't seem to get it right come this autumn it's having a make over once again and this time going formal.

All our gardens have taken into account of any budding grandchildren that might come along in the years ahead so we have made sure that everything is as child friendly as can be, after all it would be a great shame to get the garden just how you wish it to be and then a little'un comes along and you find out your garden is just not safe for them!
Hel.xxx.

 

Thank you for your replies about my new but wrecked garden! Since my original post many weeks ago, some colour has started to spring up in the garden under the mess and it's really nice to see so we're going to start salvaging some of it. Forum members on here wondered whether I had a plan drawn out - I have to admit I hadn't really made a plan for the garden and I think I need to do that. I'm realising I really like striking/ strong colours in shrubs, plants, trees, flowers etc. I have decided to go for an impact garden, with bold colours, clean cut borders, a rich lawn that is uninterrupted and some kind of shaded seating fixture at the rear of the back garden facing the house. I also have a hammock to get a frame for and put up! I think I need to out a plan. The garden's quite narrow - maybe 30ft (and a garage uses some of this wdith), where it is 90ft long, so curved lines or borders would only lose us more width I think - as much as I like them. It is a 'childless garden' at the moment but hopefully won't be at some point so I want to carve out a balance between practical and striking.

This forum and a new gardening book are teaching me a lot from scratch, so I now have a fed and nourished regularly cut lawn which I'm hoping to see results from in a few months. I've re-cut a fairly wide border in the front garden (the front is south facing, the soil felt like concrete and one 12ft border took a whole day to do from start to finish!), dug in some compost and put some hardy annual seeds in the hope of a burst of colour this year. I've bought a choisya to fill some space, and despite all this work to clear the mess and start again I am actually starting to enjoy this gardening lark - I wasn't sure I would!

I have a few more questions if anyone can help:
> What is the best way to try and get tree stumps out of the lawn? The last owner chopped down several trees to nothing and the stumps are in random places in the lawn - they cause 'hills' in the lawn as I guess the roots must have spread out. This makes it hard work mowing the lawn and it spoils the potential for a uniform lawn look.
> Several isolated rose bushes have made themselves known amongst everything and are now flowering, but some look in a very sorry state, with flowers that are withered and die immediately they open. Several also have black spots all over the leaves. Should I cut the affected rose bushes right back low, or treat the leaves, or something else?
> It's not possible for me to upload photos, but I wonder, can anyone help identify a plant from description? It's a dense low-ish shrub-like plant with deep green long structured healthy leaves, around 3 feet high and around 5ft across and is in a border. It flowered from early-mid May with stunning huge 'show-off' double (?) round blooms of claret. They look a bit like a cross between carnations and roses - that have got very fat! The birds love the flowers and peck the petals away soon after they flower. When the petals have gone what is revealed in the centre of each flower almost resembles a group of 3 long-ish flower buds. If anyone can identify it, any advice on care (and ways to drive the birds away?!) would be appreciated. It could be quite hard not to damage it, as everything around it needs to come up.

Thanks for reading this!

 

Mrs Doogle asks: Do the flowers look like this?



and after flowering, like this?



If so, it's a Paeonia Officinialis, the particular one in the photo is 'Rubra Plena', this is the crimson one, there are also pink and white ones of this variety.

As with any Peonies, as the great Graham Stewart Thomas advises, feed round it with a couple of handfulls of bone meal after flowering and you'll get a fabulous display next year.

Regarding the Roses, sounds like Black Spot. If possible, remove all leafs with spots on and burn them (don't, whatever you do, compost them). Also, pick up any leafs that have dropped on the ground and dispose of in the same way. (It's a bacterial disease so if any infected leafs are left lying around the bacteria will get splashed back up onto the stems by rain.)

Spray fortnightly with a proprietry rose spray, like Rose Clear, there are plenty of them in your local Garden Centre (look for Benomyl as one of the ingredients).

Start spraying early April which will reduce the problem. If the Rose is growing well, it will fight the disease off.

Mulch with Garden Compost or well rotted Manure, feed with Rose Fertiliser, March time and another feed at the end of June which should help keep strong growth.

 

Thanks Mrs Doogle - you are right; they are peonies! I feel daft not knowing what they are but I'm a total beginner still. They are SO beautiful when flowing, but they really hang their heads and look awfully wrecked when the flower petals drop off. Do you leave peonies alone or dead head them?

Thank you for the advice about rose bush health. We have 4 rose bushes which is great. I have removed all black spot leaves etc on 3, but the 4th rose bush looks very unhealthy and not a single flower opened that wasn't dying in the process - so I might cut that one right down and then treat it.

Isn't is a treat to be in the garden when the weather's so lovely?!