Dark Damp Ivy Takeover!!!

Hello

Sorry if this already has a thread I did look

I have moved into a new home with a terrible garden. What a mess!!! Originally from the city you're lucky if I saw a window box now I'm overwelmed with all this space :(

After 6 months we have come far but stuggling with the back of the garden.

It's shaded completely by trees and full of ivy as are the outskirts of the entire garden. We first thought we would level it out and lay new turf but have since realised this would be costly and probably wouldn't grow anyway.

I have since thought my best bet to mask the bald mounds of ivy and dead tree is to plant something wild and high to hide the hideous floor and give it back to nature I mean the garden is big enough we can have the rest

Just wondered if anyone had any suggestions as what would thrive there? Is there anything I could literally just sprinkle on top that would grow as I doubt I'll be wanting to spend too much time on my knees back there lol

I would love any feedback you had

Thank you in advance

Hayley x

 

Hello and welcome to GC

It would be helpful if you could post some pics of the garden, and in particular, areas of it that are bothering you. This will help us to get a better idea of what we're dealing with.

But based on the description (which I think sounds really nice, if it is actually ivy), I think if you can get some light in, that would obviously help. In any case, there are lawn seed mixes that are designed for shade. I personally wouldn't bother with turf. I think it takes every bit as much time and effort, and a lot more money to establish, than a lawn from seed.

The main thing to remember though is the old saying, Rome wasn't built in a day. 6 months is no time at all in terms of getting a garden how you want it, especially if you have no previous gardening experience. Don't put pressure on yourself to get it sorted. I've been in my house for over 4 years now and I still haven't even reached the far end of my garden. Its not about the finished product anyway (because it is never finished), its about getting it to be a place you enjoy spending time in. Don't make it a chore

 

You will achieve all you set out to achieve, but just do it a bit at a time

Also, you mention kids. That says 2 things to me. 1) Kids are pure genius when it comes to garden design. They wont sit down and draw it out like a 'professional', they will just spew ideas forth from their bottomless pit of ideas. A lawn is quite possibly the most boring bit of any garden for them. As long as the garden is as safe as it practically can be for them, they'll make it their own and all you have to do is work with them to help them implement their crazy ideas.

I think if I was to give one piece of advice (other than don't pressure yourself) without having seen your garden, or knowing what exactly you want to achieve, it would be this: Start just outside the back door, and work on getting that area reasonable, working across to under the kitchen/back room windows, so that when you go out there, you are not confronted immediately with the sight of work to be done. Work back away from the house as you go along, effectively pushing the bit still to be done further and further back, so that you have a useable area as soon as you come out of the back door. Don't aim for perfection on the first pass, because all that will happen if you do is you'll spend so long in one spot that the still wild bit will just keep invading, plus your ideas of what you want will change as you go along anyway, so kind of do a first rough pass first, get it useable but not perfect, then revisit bits as you feel you need to.

Oh, and no matter how long it takes, get a bench or some deck chairs in time for next spring. You need to have chill out time out there, even if its still a long way off from how you want it. If you don't, then it will gradually become 'that place of hard work' and nothing more, and it will be a chore.