What should I do?

Hi,
I've recently moved into a new place & the landlord has given me permission to plant in the garden. I've spent hours digging two borders & am now a bit stuck.:(
The first border I removed the turf and turned over the soil - removing quite a lot of stones/rocks etc.... (the house is only 4 years old & I'm guessing the property developers did their usual in placing turf over rubble).
The second border - my FIL said it wasn't necessary to go to all that effort - and so I turned the grass in (if that's the right term).:confused:
I've been given lots of plants from freecycle:thumb: but now I'm not sure what'll grow. Nan's been round today and she says the second border is too "rough" for anything to grow. I;ve really loosened the soil but there is a lot of grass/rocks in it.
So, my question to you..... is there anything likely to grow well in this poor border? I've got some grasses and a wierd looking, but slightly groovy, bamboo. Some geraniums, forget-me-nots.
Heeeeeeeeeeeyelp. I'm not sure I'm cut out for this!
Jeni x

 

When I first got my house, I wanted a garden and I wanted it now. So I just skimmed the grass off and bunged loads of plants in and then lost pretty well everything. Also, the borders grassed over again in a very short space of time.

I'd recommend improving the soil as much as you can with compost and remove as much grass as you can. Alternatively, mulching will keep the grass down.

The plants you have sound ideal for a poor border. Geraniums (not pelargoniums) will grow in almost any soil and light condition and bamboos are usually very vigorous. Forget-me-nots usually self seed and give good ground cover under the other plants and will also help keep the grass down.

 

I too only started gardening recently and got lots of plants (Geraniums) from freecycle. Mulch is the key as Nurse stated and patience.
It has taken a year getting advise from the gardening Guru's and trying sometimes failing.
The thing is you can spend fortunes or with care and good sound advise spend little, but just to try is fun....for me anyway

 

Hi Princess. I don't have experience of your situation, but I suspect that most plants will grow. Many garden plants are actually wild flowers, and they grow in the wild without anyone pampering them. They must have some light, some soil and some moisture and thats enough for most. However there is no question that the more preparation work you do the better they will like it. And you will need to remove weeds and grass so that they don't swamp very small plants.

Think of wallflowers - they are looking good in the garden now. I have seen them growing 20 foot up out of a wall (from whence their name comes) - so go for it.

 

Jeni I'm sure you really don't want to hear this but it's better to put the work in now then pay later.
What I find works really well for me is to put on some old clothes that you really don't mind making a mess of, a pair of old trainers, a pair of knee pads (these are a godsend) and if you have one an MP3 player.

Dig the area you are working over a few times and then get on your knees weeding away.....you will be amazed how the hours fly by and how much work you can do.

I find being closer to the ground allows you to find all the grass roots that might be left behind if you were standing up, oh and it helps if you aren't afraid of worms too!:D Hel.xxx.

 

Shame your FIL put his two penneth in sounds as though you were doing a better job before he came along! Its not easy when you are new to an area because you cannot pinch little bits of plants from the neighbours when they are splitting their plants up. Perhaps FIL has some shrubs or trees that you can pinch some cuttings from?

 

THanks guys - well..... I've not done a great deal since i posted as I've been out looking for the missing cat :( I'm hoping to get some time tomorrow when my son takes his nap to get on my knees (thanks Hel!) and dig out all the cr@p that's in the ground.:eek:

 

If by turning the grass in you mean not rmoving the turf off the top then your a bit stuck im afrid. The grass will come back up! Its worth the effort digging because the results last forever!!

Btw, if you have jsut turned over the grass not removing the turf then where di Fil get the idea? seems odd thats all!!