Newbie gardener with (another) question!!

Help what do I do with empty borders?!
I have loads in the new garden which have grass clods and Moss growing. Posted the other day for weeding advice. Am I doing this right?! I have pulled up the grass then turned over to try bury the mossy bits. But am left with bits I assume will regrow! I won't very doing anything with it till spring (I don't think! Was thinking bedding plants in may). Is there anything I should be doing to stop weeds coming back? Thanks!

 

What I'm doing

 

If you are planning on using the borders for bedding plants, I would get all the moss, weeds and stones out first and then turn over and break up the soil. If you are not planning on using the beds until next May, you will get some weeds.

I usually put bulbs, pansies etc., in my borders late autumn for a bit of Spring colour. When they die back, I put my summer bedding plants in. As plants fill up the borders they also reduce the number of weeds you get.

 

Thank you. Silly question but how do I know whether it's a bulb coming up or a weed?! I'll probably pull them up by accident! Will they stay dormant till next year?!

 

once bulbs have flowered, the leaves and flowers then die back, leaving the bulb still in the ground to flower again next year.

Weeds are easy to spot:
http://www.gardenwithoutdoors.org.uk/?q=weed_guide

 

Thank you :-)
So, I've already pulled up grass, turned over, I'll continue to pull new weeds then turn and plant bulbs sept/oct (daffs/tulips) which will come up March/April then die back . I then plant bedding (assume if I did up any bulbs I just replant)
Hope that sounds right!!
Thanks

 

Yes, if you dig any bulbs up by mistake, just replant them again.

Your plans sound great. Happy gardening !

 

Agree with JWK. I think the border you have made is fine except I'd make it at least 3 times wider...do I hear a groan about the hard work?! Again personally I prefer having borders which aren't very straight, preferring the likes of a half moon shape as an example. To me it makes a garden look more natural and less severe but that's just my preference and only a suggestion which can be discarded with gay abandon. With such a narrow border it restricts what you can grow and plants would be likely to hang over onto the grass and make mowing difficult. While I don't encourage weed killer use that much, with nothing in the border atm it would be an ideal time to weed kill any weeds that appear without the fear of spraying plants by mistake. Alternatively you could put down black polythene weighted down with stones which would keep the weeds at bay until you were ready to plant bulbs for next Spring. Great wall as a super backdrop to what you plan to plant.

 

Oh no I don't know what to do now! I've too many borders already!! How do you do away with them?!

 

Soil and grass seed or turf.

 

Thank you! May fill some of the smaller ones in so I can concentrate on the others :-)