New house with charming garden - my duty to maintain it.

Hello everyone.

I am a 31 year-old complete beginner to gardening who has just moved from a 1st floor flat to a family home with my first garden.

It is absolutely delightful to have the space to enjoy and the previous owners took great care to ensure that the garden is both charming and well-stocked. It doesn't have any grass but lots of well-established plants and features. I'm quickly falling in love with it.

My problem is that I'm terrified I will kill the garden off unless I quickly learn what each plant is etc and how I should be maintaining it. Before I know it it will be spring and I'm keen to strip away the dead plants to allow the garden to flourish when the better weather returns.

If I take some photos tomorrow and post them here will there be any people able to

a) help me identify individual plants
b) assist me in identifying which plants to remove and how
c) give me general advice on how to help the garden continue to flourish

Please just let me know if you'll be able to help.I'll post some photos tomorrow hopefully.

Thank you in advance for any assistance given.

Mark

 

Hi Mark and welcome, its a friendly bunch on here, help is freely given

 

Welcome to Gardeners Corner

We'll do our best

 

Hiya Mark.......welcome to GC.

Yep we like photos on here and people will help if they can. Stick around as I've learned loads since joining. It sounds like you have a lovely garden there and I'm looking forward to seeing your photos!

 

Hi Mark and welcome to GC as well as your new 'first' home.

Please put up your photos tomorrow and I am sure that ...

a) will be a yes
b) will be a yes, and
c) will be a yes

... but not necessarily by my goodself.

Enjoy the forum and best wishes for the holiday season to you and your family in your new home.

"xmas-kitty"

 

Welcome Mark, don't worry about the garden, most things take a lot of killing and we will have sorted out what you need to do well before there's any danger of that!

Don't go mad on the cleaning up/chopping down yet in case there's any thing you need to keep. Lots of photos, please!

 

The only thing that is a "must be done" that I can think of is lifting plants that are not hardy before the winter starts. Most gardeners don't bother with plants that have to be lifted before Winter and replanted in the Spring, so I suggest you don't worry about that one (or ask the previous owners if there is anything that you DO need to worry about )

Other than that plants will take care of themselves. Sure, if you know what they are, and research them a bit, they will benefit from feeding, and dead-heading (cutting off flowers as they finished), and maybe from dividing up plants that become over-crowded, and pruning - particularly fruit trees. But if you did nothing for a year (except water during very dry weather) they will be fine.

In fact the normal advice for a new house / garden IS to do nothing for 12 months. Learn where the light falls, and what plants you have, when they flower, and what you can see from the house etc. and then you will have ideas for what you don't like, want to change, or can improve on.

I would strongly recommend that you take photographs every fortnight (on approx 1st and 15th of the month, say). That will give you a record of what flowers, and when. I take my photos standing in about the same spot each time, and I photograph everywhere where I have plants growing - facing away from the house, and also the same bed from the far end, facing towards the house. I also photograph things (i.e. as a "portrait" of the plant, rather than a wide shot of the whole border) when they are in flower. If they are still in flower a fortnight later I photograph them again. That gives me a record of a) when something flowered but also b) what else was flowering at the same time.

Upload photos of plants here if you want them ID'd (there is a specific Plant ID forum for that purpose). Try to get one shot of the whole plant, and another (or several) closeups of leaf / flower

Enjoy your new garden

 

I wouldn't start pulling anything up just yet until you know what you've got or you may regret it. Wait until things start to leaf out/flower and then post pics here. If you have any evergreen plants then post pics of the plant (inc close up of leaves) here so people can identify them for you and give you advice on how best to care for them.

Happy gardening

 

hey Mark! Welcome... Looking forward to your charming garden pics

 

Welcome to GC Mark
There are many knowledgeable people on here (myself not included ) that will be here to help.

 

Welcome to GC Mark...looking forward to seeing your progress....Enjoy

 

Welcome Mark
I was in the same position you're now in, we moved last October and I didn't have a clue what I had either, or what to do with it. I received plenty of advice and identification here once things started to grow again, and it all seemed to survive my 'tender' ministrations Looking forward to seeing the summer pics of your garden!

 

A belated to Gardeners Corner. A really great bunch of people - never know them ALL to be stumped. Looking for ward to playing the ID game with some of your plants when piccies are posted,
Jenny namaste