Help with Garden cleaning
Discussion
My Father passed away a couple of years ago and (... too much painful detail ...) I currently just moved in to his bungalow.
The garden is large and has been neglected. To the extent you can't even really gain access to it. Although there are lovely rose bushes and other things there, I think I just want to take it to the ground and start again. I have an electric saw for apple / plumb tree pruning etc.. but what do I use for all the nettles / weeds / crazy thick semi-trees that seem to have grown?
Can I just buy a stupidly powerful strimmer and take it to the ground? If so, which one? I don't want to spend hundreds.
I know this method means things will grow back but I simply cannot dig these things out right now and as the summer finally arrives I really would like a garden.
Thanks for any help.
Steve.
The garden is large and has been neglected. To the extent you can't even really gain access to it. Although there are lovely rose bushes and other things there, I think I just want to take it to the ground and start again. I have an electric saw for apple / plumb tree pruning etc.. but what do I use for all the nettles / weeds / crazy thick semi-trees that seem to have grown?
Can I just buy a stupidly powerful strimmer and take it to the ground? If so, which one? I don't want to spend hundreds.
I know this method means things will grow back but I simply cannot dig these things out right now and as the summer finally arrives I really would like a garden.
Thanks for any help.
Steve.
If you want a 'garden' and not a patch of dirt that looks like a building site, you need to be selective and have a plan.
The thing with gardening is, growing anything decent takes a long time.
A decent sized shrub either costs a lot of money, or you buy a small one and wait several years.
Small plants are more work.
So don't rush into razing too much to the ground.
There's a house near me where the previous owners got old and neglected the garden, resulting in a bit of a jungle.
New owner came along, trashed everything, now it's just weeds. And mud.
I think they found out that putting stuff back can run away with the money.
I'd suggest starting by identifying what's there and what grows well in the area.
Also, cutting anything big this time of year, you need to avoid disturbing birds nests.
Some plants are quite picky about what time of year you should trim them
The thing with gardening is, growing anything decent takes a long time.
A decent sized shrub either costs a lot of money, or you buy a small one and wait several years.
Small plants are more work.
So don't rush into razing too much to the ground.
There's a house near me where the previous owners got old and neglected the garden, resulting in a bit of a jungle.
New owner came along, trashed everything, now it's just weeds. And mud.
I think they found out that putting stuff back can run away with the money.
I'd suggest starting by identifying what's there and what grows well in the area.
Also, cutting anything big this time of year, you need to avoid disturbing birds nests.
Some plants are quite picky about what time of year you should trim them
OutInTheShed said:
If you want a 'garden' and not a patch of dirt that looks like a building site, you need to be selective and have a plan.
The thing with gardening is, growing anything decent takes a long time.
A decent sized shrub either costs a lot of money, or you buy a small one and wait several years.
Small plants are more work.
So don't rush into razing too much to the ground.
There's a house near me where the previous owners got old and neglected the garden, resulting in a bit of a jungle.
New owner came along, trashed everything, now it's just weeds. And mud.
I think they found out that putting stuff back can run away with the money.
I'd suggest starting by identifying what's there and what grows well in the area.
Also, cutting anything big this time of year, you need to avoid disturbing birds nests.
Some plants are quite picky about what time of year you should trim them
Echo this. Plants are expensive and depending on what you want from the garden it's worth taking time over it and clearing it a bit at a time. The thing with gardening is, growing anything decent takes a long time.
A decent sized shrub either costs a lot of money, or you buy a small one and wait several years.
Small plants are more work.
So don't rush into razing too much to the ground.
There's a house near me where the previous owners got old and neglected the garden, resulting in a bit of a jungle.
New owner came along, trashed everything, now it's just weeds. And mud.
I think they found out that putting stuff back can run away with the money.
I'd suggest starting by identifying what's there and what grows well in the area.
Also, cutting anything big this time of year, you need to avoid disturbing birds nests.
Some plants are quite picky about what time of year you should trim them
It would be easy to identify brambles / nettles and these can be cleared. Download a plant identification app on your phone, I think Google lense is good. You can just take a photo of the plant and it should tell you what it is.
That should help indicate what to keep and what to get rid of. Once you clear the majority of it you can build a plan of what you want to do next.
Thank you for the advice so far. I don’t really plan on living here long term (or even short term really) I just want something respectable from a garden perspective.
There is a very large area of grass that will be unaffected it is just the vast number of weeds higher than the roof around the house that need to be dealt with and taking the erroneous branches from the trees. So it won’t be a wasteland.
There is a very large area of grass that will be unaffected it is just the vast number of weeds higher than the roof around the house that need to be dealt with and taking the erroneous branches from the trees. So it won’t be a wasteland.
I think the best course of action would be to get a local gardener in - someone willing to have you work alongside them who will tell you what to pull and what to treat more carefully. Search for a local gardening club or ask around - you may find some retired people have the time and want something to do and are willing to help you out as they don’t have a big garden themselves to work on.
shtu said:
These are brilliant. Had one in France when we had our house and after a few weeks it was waist height the grass. Made light work of itMr Pointy said:
Whatever you do please spare a thought for any wildlife inhabiting the area & don't just wade in with a strimmer without trying to check what might be there. Hedgehogs are particularly vulnerable as they don't run away.
I will do that. I"m already feeling quite guilty as the birds hop around the nettles / brambles.Gassing Station | Homes, Gardens and DIY | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff