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Post by mrskyle on Mar 10, 2015 21:31:01 GMT
Firstly thanks for taking the time to look at this!
I'm new to gardening and bought a house with a huge garden. The previous owners had landscaped about 30 years ago and there are some lovely plants & well established trees amongst my flower beds.
My problem lies with a large area (approx 70 sqm) of neglected bed at the side of the garden which we now refer to as the jungle!. It has 2 lovely trees, a large hosta and a few large bush like shrubs but it is really overrun with ground elder, thistles, nettles and ground covering geraniums in the spring summer. I think the area has always been a bit forgotten about, it lacks any definition, it's not level with bumps & all sorts!.
I tried to clear areas of it last year, digging up the weeds & taking away anything I didn't like but it didn't last, weeds grew again & I feel at a loss as to what to do & where to start!.
I'm a one man team & I've had to do a lot of work internally to the house so I don't have lots of money to throw at the problem.
can anyone recommend ways to get this area into a workable low maintenance piece of garden? Any advice would be greatly appreciated, like I said I'm new to this and I'm not sure what or if I should plant new things, put bark down or chips or just call in a team to bulldoze it and start again!
I can try & upload photos if this would help?
thanks again 
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Post by Geranium on Mar 11, 2015 6:29:31 GMT
Hallo mrskyle and welcome to GF! I think it's a bit like eating an elephant - you can't do it in one gulp, but you can in small bites. Photos would indeed help us to help you! Let's start from there and see if we can give you some sensible advice. Could you also tell us which direction the area faces and what your soil is like? Acid, neutral or alkaline? |
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Post by mrskyle on Mar 11, 2015 10:31:08 GMT
I'm having difficulty uploading the photos as the file size is too big! I have managed to upload one as my profile pic and I hope this gives you an idea of what I'm working with! I can alternate this with the others once you have had a look. The garden is north facing, because it's so open we get the sun 90% of the time. The soil type I'm not too sure about how do you tell? My mum has more experience than me and she says it's like clay.
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Post by Tel on Mar 11, 2015 19:50:05 GMT
I'm having difficulty uploading the photos as the file size is too big! I have managed to upload one as my profile pic and I hope this gives you an idea of what I'm working with! I can alternate this with the others once you have had a look. The garden is north facing, because it's so open we get the sun 90% of the time. The soil type I'm not too sure about how do you tell? My mum has more experience than me and she says it's like clay. try uploading your pics with TinyPic or postimage.org |
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Post by daitheplant on Mar 11, 2015 20:19:03 GMT
Good evening mrskyle and welcome to the site. I would treat the "weeds" with Glyphosate, which is a biodegradable weedkiller. It will kill anything you spray with it but is neutralised once it hits the soil. May I ask in which area you live?
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Post by mrskyle on Mar 11, 2015 23:10:06 GMT
Thanks for weedkiller advice, I was worried I might kill off the apple tree but if it neutralises within the soil then that sounds safe enough!. We are on the west coast of Scotland in ayrshire. Rainy a lot of the time and cold  |
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Post by sweetpea on Mar 12, 2015 0:43:11 GMT
Cold in Ayrshire! Never. Well not when I lived there The soil is mainly sandy as I recall, good for growing carrots. To be brutally honest it is hard work clearing and then maintaining a large garden but as already said, a little at a time. If you have any machinery that will help, if not I hope you are fit. By all means use weedkiller but I would wait a while and see what appears as spring arrives as there may well be plants you might wish to keep. If you decide all or nearly all needs clearing why not invite a few friends/relatives round for a BBQ or similar but they have to muck in for a few hours clearing to earn their drink. Once area is reasonably clear sow some grass seed and use the mower or strimmer to keep it tidy while you plan what to do. Regular mowing/strimming will discourage weed regrowth too. In your part of the world the climate is favourable for growing many plants from hardy to sub tropical. A bit like Cornwall. |
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Post by Geranium on Mar 12, 2015 6:12:45 GMT
You can buy a soil testing kit very cheaply from a Garden Centre, and/or look at neighbouring gardens and see what they're growing. If you or they have Rhododendrons, Camellias, Azaleas, Pieris, the soil is likely to be acid. Clay can be workable and roses love it! |
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Post by Rosie on Mar 12, 2015 9:25:30 GMT
Welcome mrskyle, yay another member in Scotland  I use tinypic for my pictures, and resize them a bit smaller. Pictures would help, but I agree with whats been said, tackle a small area at a time, maybe dig out what you want to keep and use gylphosate. Ground elder can take a few applications before it's gone,once the soil is loosened you kight be able to pull up the nettles,they can indicates good soil |
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Post by Cherry on Mar 12, 2015 17:23:58 GMT
I would use Glyphosate on this after lifting out your Hosta if it is a good one and some of the geranium. You could use some compost, manure or other soil conditioner after a few weeks and you are then good to go.
Are you north in Ayshire or nearer to Ayr?
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Post by mrskyle on Mar 12, 2015 20:07:58 GMT
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Post by dianthus on Mar 12, 2015 20:23:25 GMT
Welcome to the site. I've been here only three weeks, and everyone is chatty and helpful. |
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Post by grindle on Mar 13, 2015 5:24:00 GMT
welcome from me too, you've got some good advice here |
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Post by daitheplant on Mar 13, 2015 19:37:00 GMT
Mrs K, there is not a lot wrong with that bed that a general tidy up wont cure. The soil looks good, so I would suggest it just needs a going over with a garden fork to clear out the weeds and grass.
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Post by mrskyle on Mar 14, 2015 18:04:39 GMT
Managed to do quite a bit of clearing today the weather has been kind I noticed when I was forking the soil that it is FULL of roots, no plants on top but long roots everywhere underneath, is this normal? There is also a horrible rather aggressive thorny weed with very long tentacles that seem to be able to grow over & up anything! It had quite a woody base and small green leaves. Does anyone know what it is? Some of the tentacles were about 8 foot long! |
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