Good luck with it all Green stuart - quite a bit of work ahead but it's all enjoyable!
Stumps - I've removed a few tree stumps from our garden but only after a couple of years when the wood's rotted - if you want to do it soon, may be best to hire a stump grinder (or a man who can!).
Existing plants - don't take anything out unless you know what it is - you'll have some mature plants which may take decades(!) to reproduce if you take them out and then end up finding you wanted them! Put a pic up on this site and you'll know what your plant is within minutes!
Weeds - always better to pull them up if you can, rather than weedkill, as they can't grow back then. Some might be virulent, so if any do grow back, stick them on here and someone will be able to tell you the bad news and how to get rid (which may then involve weedkiller)!
Patience - I'd recommend taking it slow - the lawn will take seasons to get how you want it, possibly years, but that's fine. Ditto the planting - I wouldn't spend a lot of money on plants until you know exactly what you want - there'll be plenty on here who, like me, have put stuff in, tried to move it later and it's died. If you were really patient, you'd research each plant you like, find out what soil (pH, sandy v clay, well-drained v boggy), aspect (sun/shade, sheltered from wind), conditions (watering, fertility) and not make any mistakes, but you'll want quicker results, so find things which are easy to grow (and pull up) in the meantime.
Lawn - you may need to put weedkiller down for that (will take you months to pull al those weeds out) - there are lawn weedkillers which target particular grass weeds, but you'll be left (for a while) with bare / black patches. Seeding's the cheapest way to fill these, turf's the quickest, but you'll need to be careful which species you put down as it'll need to be able to cope with the higher salt and wind you'll doubtless get near the coast. If you go for seed, and there are plenty of local birds, they'll eat it all unless it's covered, as I've found to my cost (though I'm hoping to bag a big fat wood pigeon one quiet night) to pay for all the free feed I've given them. Lawns are an art in themselves, but you'll almost definitely, for ongoing success need to feed, water, scarify, aerate, and weed/mosskill at least once, possiby twice a year, and mow twice a week(!) which might be a good reason to cut into it and have bigger borders! In my experience, it's not the easy option many think...
The good news is, you'll likely enjoy every minite of it one way or another - whether geting a bit of exerise, being out in the fresh air, or sitting ack (eventualy) and enjoying what you've done. And this is a great community as well, so you've come t the rigth place.
Re stumps. Some shrubs will grow back from a stump (I give you the damned laurel that is now taking over again in spite of being cut to ground level and having holes drill all over the stump). If the plant shows no sign of coming back then a stump can be left to rot in situ and is easily hidden in a decent planting scheme. It may also be colonised by interesting fungi.
Posts
Good luck with it all Green stuart - quite a bit of work ahead but it's all enjoyable!
Stumps - I've removed a few tree stumps from our garden but only after a couple of years when the wood's rotted - if you want to do it soon, may be best to hire a stump grinder (or a man who can!).
Existing plants - don't take anything out unless you know what it is - you'll have some mature plants which may take decades(!) to reproduce if you take them out and then end up finding you wanted them! Put a pic up on this site and you'll know what your plant is within minutes!
Weeds - always better to pull them up if you can, rather than weedkill, as they can't grow back then. Some might be virulent, so if any do grow back, stick them on here and someone will be able to tell you the bad news and how to get rid (which may then involve weedkiller)!
Patience - I'd recommend taking it slow - the lawn will take seasons to get how you want it, possibly years, but that's fine. Ditto the planting - I wouldn't spend a lot of money on plants until you know exactly what you want - there'll be plenty on here who, like me, have put stuff in, tried to move it later and it's died. If you were really patient, you'd research each plant you like, find out what soil (pH, sandy v clay, well-drained v boggy), aspect (sun/shade, sheltered from wind), conditions (watering, fertility) and not make any mistakes, but you'll want quicker results, so find things which are easy to grow (and pull up) in the meantime.
Lawn - you may need to put weedkiller down for that (will take you months to pull al those weeds out) - there are lawn weedkillers which target particular grass weeds, but you'll be left (for a while) with bare / black patches. Seeding's the cheapest way to fill these, turf's the quickest, but you'll need to be careful which species you put down as it'll need to be able to cope with the higher salt and wind you'll doubtless get near the coast. If you go for seed, and there are plenty of local birds, they'll eat it all unless it's covered, as I've found to my cost (though I'm hoping to bag a big fat wood pigeon one quiet night) to pay for all the free feed I've given them. Lawns are an art in themselves, but you'll almost definitely, for ongoing success need to feed, water, scarify, aerate, and weed/mosskill at least once, possiby twice a year, and mow twice a week(!) which might be a good reason to cut into it and have bigger borders! In my experience, it's not the easy option many think...
The good news is, you'll likely enjoy every minite of it one way or another - whether geting a bit of exerise, being out in the fresh air, or sitting ack (eventualy) and enjoying what you've done. And this is a great community as well, so you've come t the rigth place.
Re stumps. Some shrubs will grow back from a stump (I give you the damned laurel that is now taking over again in spite of being cut to ground level and having holes drill all over the stump). If the plant shows no sign of coming back then a stump can be left to rot in situ and is easily hidden in a decent planting scheme. It may also be colonised by interesting fungi.