Hello again!

Hi everyone

It seems ages since I was here last. My father in law has been seriously ill all summer, so we have been somewhat distracted. Hopefully he is now on the mend.

I am after some advice, as I now have a garden full of weeds, and frankly, I'm not sure of the best way to tackle the big flower beds.

I have started re-organising the garden now for next year. This has been our first summer and I wanted to see what was in the garden and get a feel for what we wanted long term.

I have divided one large bed of about six metres by 4 (HUGE!!!) into three beds, and I'm seeding a grass path between them. Ideally I'd like to dig over the beds and re plant what I want to keep, but some of the plants, penstemons, fuscias, and some perennials, only got put in this year. If I disturb them now will I reduce their chances of surviving the winter? Or would I be best to leave the beds for now and dig over and weed in the spring?

I look at them and wonder where the hell to begin! I so much foliage it's hard to see what's what.

 

Sorry to hear about your father in law - good he is now on the mend though

I would certainly be inclind to leave everything as it is now and move in the spring .... the perennials will all be dying back soon enough and that will be less leaves to look at! A good idea though is to mark where they are now, so you know where to be looking at to move them come spring

 

Marking up where perennials are is a very good idea. In early Spring it can be a lucky dip remembering otherwise, until they reappear.

The Penstemon won't die back and don't be tempted to cut it back either. Leave the foliage as a protective "mulch" and cut back in Spring when the new growth starts to appear at the base.

 

Depending on what weeds are there, I'd be tackling some now. I'd be pulling annual weeds before they release too much seed. Then perennial weeds would be introduce to my mate Round-Up before they stop growing for the winter.