Remaining Optimistic...

Okay I've just got home form work and taken a few photos of the garden to upload on here.

It's not much to look at really but it was so much worse yesterday before I got out there and hacked away at stuff!!

I'm hoping to be able to have an area for relaxing in with the tables and an area for planting a vegetable patch. Both area's would be at either end of the garden, as its still early days i haven't decided on a definete plan.

As you can see there is loads of work to be done, but as always my budget is limited and the main things i want to acompish are:

Relaxing area
Vegetable patch
Compost pile
BBQ

As you walk into the garden:



At the back:


From the back facing the house:


Near the Entrance:


As you can see its nothing grand but i can feel the potential for it to be my special little place. I'm willing to put in all the hard work, i don't give up easily when i put my mind to something. I have loads to learn and I've started to read up on loads of things.

What i really want to do is have the grass in order first, not looking to have pristine bright green grass but just tidy. I would also like to dig out all the weeds from a few of the surrounding flowers beds and have some nice flowers to brighten up the place. The vegetable patch is a must and I'm going to be teaching myself about that. Not going to make the mistake of rushing it as I hope with hard work and perserverence it will pay off in good time.

Does anyone know how i would go about sorting out the grass?? Do i rip it all up? Lay down weed killer? I'm really unsure on the best way to do things and the best order in which to do them!!??

Any help would be most welcome.

Thanks

Dols

 

I would perhaps suggest that the lawn is cut frequently, and applications of weed and feed are applied, at the correct intervals.
Your grass looks fairly healthy, but a bit on the long side, so I would get out with a mower and give it a trim. The secret to good grass is to cut it frequently, but only take a little bit of at a time. There is no need to scalp it, as this encourages weed growth. (well, if the grass is scalped there are generally bare patches of soil that weeds can penetrate and start to grow)
I would define the planting borders around the edge of the lawn, this will give the garden almost an instant improvement, if you start off with small borders, you can always increase when you get on top of things.
I would take away the clippings from the grass as well, as they leave clumps that don't look very nice.
To 'weed and feed' I would use something appropriate from the 'evergreen' range of grass products, or similar, where you shake on granules to the grass and it then does its business.

Hope this Helps!

 

You need a lawn edger to define the shape of your lawn, where the furniture is would look great cut into a Circle, once youve done that give it a rake and the cut the grass then rake again, i wouldn't use weed and feed as you have a lot of weeds in there, the lawn will look Bald, my first lawn was like yours and i kept it short and took out a few weeds at a time, it worked for me

 

I can see a lot of potential in that space you have Dols - it looks wonderfully private to start with, a luxury many of us don't have. I hope you have loads of fun working on it-we look forward to seeing the progress!

 

just why i like to keep my hedges high but easy enough to cut :gnthb:

 

best tip i ever got giving was not to do to much in one day.You will only ache the following day then tend to put things off till tomorrow,then the next day.Which we all now never comes :lollol:So don't rush take your time and then ripe the benefits of your labour :thumb:

 

Hi Dol,I would dig up the shrubs near the house(then you will be able to see the garden from your window) cut back all the hedges at the side,measure out the garden to scale and draw it out on a piece of paper, decide if your keeping the shed and summerhouse then plan your garden on paper,what you want in it and where,don't rush it as Cyril said,lots of potential there,good luck.

 

:gnthb:hi dols
a nice little project i agree with walnut you need to reduce the hedges a bit, this wiil open up the space and let in more light, this will benefit the lawns and also a vegetable bed when it is created. as with all gardening the secret is little and often this way you maintain interest but there is no other way but hard work. with a forum like this you can get plenty of advice.

good luck rpdiy

 

Hi Dols

Welcome to the forum. I have only just joined and am a complete novice as well. I have been given a warm welcome, lots of information and advice on how to do things, I hope you will get the same welcome.

Just had a look at your pictures. I would say that at some time in the past, somebody has made an effort to enjoy the garden. To me, it looks like what you have, has great potential. If it was me starting on the garden, I would first of all trim back the hedges and any obvious weeds. Give the lawn a good trim but not too harsh a cut. Clear away any debris. Then you will be able to see exactly what you have got.

I am working on a tight budget and trying to make best use of what I have already got. Things like the sheds, cost a lot of money to replace, so don't make a snap decision on geting rid of them. Can they be patched up? Love the little veranda on the end of one of the sheds, given me an idea for my shed!!

If I am looking at the picture correctly, it looks like you have a big bush between the house and the garden and some sort of fence. If you at least prune the bush and think about takling out the fence, you will open out the space you have and be able to see the garden from the house.

Once you have cleared space and can see clearly, you can then decide what you are going to do and how you are going to do it.

I cannot do much at a time due to poor health at the moment. So a little bit of work, concetrating on one job at a time will pay you dividends and keep your enthiusiasm. With the best will in the world, you are not going to get it all done in a few days. So relax and enjoy your garden.

Best of luck getting sorted, hope you really enjoy getting started as much as I have.

Regards

Chopper.

 

Hi everyone and thanks for all your ideas and suggestions on how i can begin clearing the mess that is my garden!

I agree with you all on cutting back the hedges and bushes and I've made a start on the huge rhododendron bush at the side (picture below), boy that was hard work!! I don't know if i should dig up the roots (i really want to) as its right next to another tree, (not sure what it is, one of the things that's so exciting about starting to learn about gardening), maybe the roots are twinned together too much?

I've had a bit more of a clear out at the back (found several useful items along with some really horrible nasty bin bags full of.... well I'm not sure, they smelled very, very bad.. lol)

I love the idea of defining some borders round the sides of the garden and now that i've had a bit of a mow i can really see the potential for that idea, i think i'll get on to that one when possible. Tried to stay calm and focus ont he jobs i mentioned above today as the urge to just jump in and tackle everything is hard to resist, but i know good thing come to those who wait!

My wife and i live in the top floor flat of the house you can see at the fromt of the garden, there is a bush near the fence that i want to keep (but prune and tidy up) as it provides some excellent privacy from other nearby houses, and next to the bush is a lovely apple tree!! That'll be staying i can tell ya!! Nothing like homemade apple crumble in summer!!
The tenants downstairs never use the garden... I hope it stays that way once i've put in all the hard work, or at least that they keep it tidy and respect it.

There is an area here at the entrance that is bare with lots of junk i've found just being stacked up ready for binning! I have realised this area would be a good contender for the vegetable patch, it isn't in the shade like the other end of the garden and its in a state that would be much easier to prepare for the patch.. Just a thought at the moment though..

Anyway I laid down a little weed and feed as its due to rain over the next few days, took a few pics to show you all. I'm amazed at the transformation even at this early stage, i am loving this project, i can see why people like gardening so much, maybe it comes with age?.. I'm only 27 but feel like I've been missing out on so much enjoyment from the gardens i've had over the years!!


Walking into the garden



From the rear facing the house



The roots where the rhododendron bush was (anyone know what the tree is next to it??)



And looking towards the Wendy house area (was covered in thick brambles..ouch!!)

 

Looking better already. That tree might be a willow, but only going by the upright nature. I'm rubbish at guessing trees though!

 

The garden`s taking shape already Dols, well done. The tree looks like a Sycamore to me.:thumb:

 

I'll have to disagree with those above, I think that its an Ash tree, and in my opinion you need to get it out asap! Perhaps a close up on the buds, to make sure.

I would have personally kept the rhododendron, and taken the tree out.
Enjoy!

 

What a difference a hard days work makes Dols, You have Definatley got the gardening bug

 

The tree looks like Rowan to me, but there's not much to go on from the pic. It also looks like my freshly planted Willows (which are just sticks in the ground with a few buds when I last looked). In any case you can see from the pic it is robbing all the goodness out of the soil, note how the grass in its vicinity is struggling more than elsewhere on the lawn. I really like how the bushes kind of cocoon the garden, it makes it look like a proper little haven away from the rest of the world. How about some really boldly flowering climbers against that wood panel fence? And maybe some sprawling or mat/low clump forming flowers at the foot of the fence?