Moving house, fresh garden

Hi all I'm kris, I'm in the Lincolnshire area UK and due to move house early October. As much as I've had a garden before and enjoyed watching my grandad garden his entire life I've never had the ability to grow or plant and maintain a family garden.

As it will be close to the end of year and from what I know the garden will be somewhat abit of a mess but I'm eager to get in and get alot done and prepared for the following year.

What advise would one give with preparing so late on? Will there be anything worthy of starting a compost bin? Should I scrap anything already growing ? Is there anything I should keep my eye out for and remove straight away?

I want to make a couple of raised beds to grow and also an area to plant some plants, thank you

 

Welcome to the forum @Kris35
Good luck with moving and starting a new chapter. We did the same in winter 2019/2020 and for the first time we had access to our own garden. I'll try to answer your questions

1. Compost bin
It is never too early. Just put one up, build one yourself or designate a place to start a simple heap. Just remember that winter isn't the prime time for composting so you won't see results until following year. This shouldn't stop you from gathering materials though.

2. If you have the chance, ask the previous owners what they planted all around the garden. Maybe there are some hidden gems you won't be able to see or identify without knowing where to look. Would be a shame to destroy them unknowingly.

3. Make a plan what the garden should look like. Want to keep some old structures? Or renew everything? My wife and I decided to leave the structure intact and just remove all the Rhododendron (About half of the garden was covered in it) to free up room for other plants.

4. Go shopping.
October is a perfect time to adopt some leftover plants for half price in your local garden center or other stores that offer plants.

5. Plant some bulbs
If you want to see improvement really fast, you can buy sacks of plant bulbs (tulips, allium, crocus...) and plant them. You will get instant results the upcoming spring. Just try to go for the wild types of possible. The tend to be more hardy, bees love them and they multiply on their own.

6. Plant some trees if you want them. They grow even in winter if it isn't too harsh. And as they take some time, better get started early. Our cherry tree was a Christmas gift, so I planted it between Christmas an New Year's Eve.

7. Have fun and don't be afraid to try things out. Plants are not that hard to figure out. Most of them grow by themselves if they have a nice spot.

 

Welcome to Gardeners Corner Kris.

I agree with Loofah. I would do very little in the garden apart from tidying up and pruning shrubs in the coming months. You may be surprised over the winter and early spring by bulbs appearing.

 

See I believe I've done some decorating for a house next door and upon doing so I can remember looking out the windows and noticing the garden wasnt in much of a cared for state, I believe the owner didnt live there and the garden was shadowed by a big bushy tree and just looked a bit damp and unkept, I dont imagine much will pop up.

However I cant quiet remember fully as I wasnt taking that much in if that makes sense. The garden maybe only 12/15 meters wide and perhaps 35 meters long? It's not a large garden.

I'm was just looking to get in and have 3 weeks to do inside up before we actually move in and when we do I fancied having the garden as a project to clear and organise ready for the following year.

Maybe build a green house and get a shed in, make a composting area, build some raised beds to plant my veg in. Would you recommend filling the raised beds for growing in with pre mixed bags from a garden centre?

Thank you

 

I would suggest buying topsoil and compost separately to create your own mix.