advice for a newbie please? :)

hi all, newbie here,

basically i know nothing about gardening and so far im just hacking away what i know are weeds and cutting back the huge trees that are actually covering a whole path that i didnt even know was there lol. (recently moved into house)

i brought weed killer yesterday and sprayed it on the weeds between all the slabs, i then got the hump when i looked today and thought sod it il yank them out lol, so i started yanking them, some are really tough, i used that hoe thing but still i couldnt get them all up.

just wondered if anyone had any suggestions for keeping them just basically not coming back, ever! lol

do i have to use weed killer all the time or will they really die off like it says on the bottle?

 

Sunflower, first rule of gardening is PATIENCE. You sprayed with weedkiller yesterday and you want dead plants today? Yeah, right. Which part of the country are you in? Give us more info. And if you want to grow decent veg you need to calm down and do things methodically.:gnthb:

 

You can get something called 'Resolva 24hr' weedkiller, which kinda does what it says, in that it kills weeds in 24 hours, it's expensive though if you've more than a few weeds. Of course, weedkiller only kills weeds, it doesn't pull up the resulting dead plant and a hoe will usually only chop the top off any plant anyway.

The answer to your question, '.. do I have to use weed killer all the time ...' is no. Once you've got the garden straight, you go round (at least every two days) with a hoe and stop the little devils from getting a hold. In the meantime, you buy a spade and dig 'em out.

 

no i didnt expect them gone in a day i just got fed up and thought id yank them out and then spray the roots, as they are all over the place and i have a little one who keeps getting prickled whilst out there, so i thought clear the first bit least it easier to play while i work on the rest.

im not trying to grow veg, i have some tomatoe plants out there but they was already there, im just trying to clear the garden for now

i have patience for it but when there is literally no clear bit for kids to play i thought well i better make a bit then they can leave me alone while i do the rest lol , so far all ive heard if ''mummy ive been prickled again'' lol

 

hey thanks for the advice, i yanked them all from the root (i hope) over the weekend, so it looks a lot better now, i dont mind waiting a while for the weedkiller to work but 24hours sounds better lol

ive cleared the slabs which is all i was trying to do this weekend, as its so hot out there my lil one wanted a paddling pool, so all weeds are up from that bit, il be off this morning to get some spongey flooring and a lil pool lol

 

Despite the really unhelpful programs on TV you really cannot sort a garden out in a couple of days. Unless you are prepared to pay for a gang of workmen and gardeners with all the mechanical aids etc. to do the "groundforce" thing.

Gardening takes time, and it is right it should. What seems like a great idea today is a mistake next week. Think about how your garden is going to be used, think about kids growing up. There are two ways to planning a garden. One is to do the garden designer bit with sketchpad and coloured pencils. The other is to takle the garden in stages and let each part speak to you as you become familiar with it and let the design grow organically.

The actual work should not be attacked like the assault on precinct 13. Take your time. Understand what you want to do and why. Be prepared to have to wait for the right time and for what you have done to bear fruit (pardon the pun).

 

i know i cant clear a garden in a few days and didnt say i could, i dont think people are actually understanding what im saying here

 

Hello Sunflower and welcome :thumb:



I think people do understand what you are saying, and actually your questions have been answered nicely above. You asked if there was a way of keeping weeds away for ever, and the replies have covered that. You used a weed killer, it takes time to kill them off. A quicker one was recommended to you. Once weeds have established they can be stubborn to remove but once they are you could perhaps keep on top of them with a special path weed killer for the area where your children want to be. It goes without saying they ( the children ) would have to be kept away during that process.

Im sure you will get it all sorted in due course. If it is really , really bad maybe you would consider 'getting someone in ' to give you a good start which would then be easier to keep on top of. These people might not be cheap though ?


Good luck and keep us posted. :gnthb:

 

If I might add;

I would sit down and decide what I wanted to do with my garden "long term," this can depend on the family situation and other factors. Then I'd make a plan of "what will eventually go where." Then work on it a bit at a time.
Apart from getting it reasonably tidy, I'd work on the stuff nearest the house and work away from it.
I did the bulk of my hard landscaping over about ten years, but we've been adding stuff each year for the last twenty.

 

hi and thankyou, yes i have started nearest the house as of course i need to make some room for when we are out there, it is an absolute forest out there lol

i have had someone come and cut some down as some are just too much for me to do on my own, they are huge!

eventually it will be sorted, but im not really able to replan the garden as id like to as its a rented house, so i have to not go too mad out there, if i owned it well that would be another story id do soooooooooooo much ,

as for the weeds, i have yanked out the ones that cover the path as otherwise we cant get to the rest, and i have sprayed the ones further down as im not working on that bit just yet so that will hopefully give it some time.

 

If the property is rented then tell the landlord/lady that you want the garden sorted. You are renting the PROPERTY not just the house, and you are as much entitled to use the garden as the house.