Cheap ground space fillers?

Hello!

In August we had the front garden dug out and a new path laid, curving right through the centre. We had top soil laid, and the plan was to plant up either side of the path with a country style border for a low maintenance garden. We had a professional planting plan done.

However, we need about 500 pounds of plants per the plan. I've planted a couple of things - hebe and lavendar and some thyme. But the rest is bare.

We don't have time to plant the area up just now - we have an 8 week old baby. The top soil keeps filling with lots of tiny weeds! It takes an hour each time to clear and as you can imagine we just cant do it right now being sleep deprived and only getting an hour here and there whilst baby sleeps.

We hope to get the planting done in summer when baby can sit out with us and watch in warmer weather.

What can we do in the meantime though to stop the weeds?

Someone quoted me $140 to clear the area, lay weed sheeting and put bark over it. Seemed a lot when i could buy more plants for that and no doubt the bark will blow everywhere and grow weeds in it anyway.

Wondering if it might be cheaper to turf it for now?

Its the untidyness thats getting me down really. Had these grand plans but the garden designer took too long to send the plan, and we missed our planting slot before i was too pregnant to get it finished.

 

I think re-turfing may be the best option now , to make it look presentable . It should be OK to turf now - but take some advice . You can then remove the turf in stages to complete your planting plan next season.

 

Hi Natalie
Congratulations on your new baby, you don`t give your location but will assume you are in the U.K.

There is not a lot growing, including weeds, this time of year, you could put some heathers in for some immediate effect, you can plant bare rooted specemins, roses for example, but you will not see any growth until spring.
Please don`t go the membrane wood chip route, it is soul less and you will lose heart altogether.

My advice really is, you can`t do a lot, sit back get used to parenthood, enjoy your baby, and look forward to spring, when you can benefit from some fresh air with baby snoozing while you garden.

 

I agree that turfing is a possibility but will eat up a bit of money. If you choose not to turf/bark then a hoe run over the surface every few weeks during the winter and early spring will really help to discourage weeds and is not too difficult. Have a sharp hoe and keep doing it while the seedlings are still tiny. It should take much less than an hour. Even after you've planted you will need to keep weeds down until they've grown enough to cover the ground and hoeing is a good way.

 

Hello Natalie and congratulations!
Don't turf, don't do it!! One of the most labour-intensive plants in a garden is grass. It'll look lovely and neat at first, but you'll become a slave to the lawn-mower before you know it. I'd go with Madahhlia's suggestion of a quick hoe over before the seedling weeds get big enough to flower. If you've got nice topsoil, it will be easy to do.
It will be worth the wait, promise

 

I'd just go out there and poke some nasturtium seeds in, then ignore it for a bit. When spring comes it will quickly fill with nasturtium. By summer it will be full of flowers and bumblebees right up to the end of the year, by which time it will have self seeded enough to ensure a repeat for the years after. All the while, covering the bare ground and blocking out weeds.

Then as and when you're ready, either a bit at a time or all in one go, your choice, just pull it all out and plant with whatever else you like.

Practically zero maintenance, extremely cheap (how much is a packet of seeds these days?, couple of quid maybe?), and pretty.

 

Where are you Natalie? You talk of 500 pounds of plants and $140?

If Lavender and Thyme are happy then depending on the variety they may be anything but low maintenance! That said, both are a nice sensory "hit" next to a path.
So as far as cheap ground cover goes, I would just buy cheap weed suppression membrane for the winter months. It can be absolute rubbish stuff as you only want it for the one season. Use a few bricks to hold it down and convince yourself that it looks better than weeds! If you remember/have the time/have the inclination, pull the membrane back during freezing spells if you get any. this will hopefully kill any weed seedlings that germinate under the membrane.

 

That's a good plan to keep things at bay until spring if you can cope with a bit of untidiness. Don't bother with bark, costs a lot and may not really work properly anyway.

Nasturtiums would also work well but wouldn't really kick in until July-ish.

 

Not so good for low maintenance though as they self seed like boogery!!! Good for salads though...........

 

Not in my garden they don't!

 

Still very low maintenance, because the seedlings are unmistakable so if you decide to eradicate them, its just a case of pulling them up as they appear. Doesn't take long and because they are annuals (in our climate) they get wiped out completely every winter so don't get chance to take over where they're unwelcome.

 

If you are going to have soil and plants then you will have weeds. If you have new topsoil then you may have lots of weed seeds that have come with it.

You can cover with weed suppressing membrane and plant through it, but that then prevents you adding any mulch to the plants. If you soil is poor, or heavy, it would be better to allow mulch to be added. If you have fabulous soil / topsoil then covering it would be fine. What you put on top of the weed membrane, so it doesn't look like a plastic sheet!, is up to you - and your budget. You could just wait for the plants to spread and cover it.

If you don't cover it then you need to find the quickest way to keep the weeds down, and also a method that you find therapeutic, or at the least that you don't mind doing. It is critical that you do it often (once a week in the growing season) so that the weeds are small and easily killed, if you ever let them set seed then that will compound the problem. I agree with others that a sharp hoe is best. Should only take a few minutes each time.

I wouldn't put grass down if what you actually want is some plants in that area. Its not a good short term solution; in the first year it will need watering to get it established, so not a zero-effort solution, and it will need mowing during the growing season - which might well take longer/as long as hoeing, and certainly needs doing as often. Then when you want the flower bed back it will all have to be prepared again. However, if what you think is a short term requirement turns out to be long term!! then grass might work out the best.

 

I made the mistake of putting them in my old garden - seed was germinating when I left four years after the last plant had grown there. Clearly my fault, as I should have dead-headed!