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What's the best way to go about fixing this garden?
johndoe
Posts: 27
Hi,
I have recently moved into a new home and the garden is a bit of a mess!
As you can see it's got a few weeds and patches of no grass, what you can't see is that it is also not very even with lumps and bumps everywhere. The previous owners had a dog so maybe that had something to do with it!
I am a newbie so this might be easy but how would I go about even starting to get a respectable garden? What are my first steps?
Thanks
0
Posts
I would start by digging out all those dandelions. If they set seed you will have problems for life. They are deep rooted and any fragment left in the ground will regrow.
Sorry, should have mentioned that all I want a low maintenance lawn. No children or pets to worry about so just a simple garden! No idea about the soil which I guess you would not be too surprised to hear.
Do I need to dig everything up and re-lay the whole thing or are there other easier methods?
I agree with both MFork and Philippa.
I would want rid of the weeds before they're covering the whole area. You can dig out the dandelions but, personally, I'd cut off the flower heads so they don't set seed and then spray the leaves with a glyphosate based weedkiller (your local garden centre will advise which one). You will need to wait 10 days or so but you will then see the dandelions start to shrivel and die - right down to their roots. Zap any new growth if it appears.
Meantime you can be thinking about how you want to use the garden.
If you would like some help with decisions we need an idea much effort / time / money you can afford as well as thinking about the points Phillipa has raised.
This is a gardening forum so most of us would probably be itching to fill the space with plants - but we also understand that a Zen garden or astro turf might be a more suitable solution for others.
Ooops - you posted while I was typing John - happens all the time on here
Personally I'd dig it up, level off with decent top soil and returf it.
Looking at the photo the solution is going to involve plenty of digging, weeding and levelling off regardless of whether you want just a lawn or a big flowery show. The lawn looks beyond rescue - there are plenty of videos showing the steps involved. It's a fair old bit of work but nothing complicated and the effort you put in now will pay dividends down the line.
There was a very good Alan Titchmarsh series called "How To Be A Gardener" a few years back which you can still find posted online with the help of Google. That's a pretty good starting point if you just want a lawn and a few flowers.
Thanks,
so would that be the easiest way to go about it?
If it is then the stuff I dig up, do I just turn it round and re-use it or would I need to dispose of it? (sorry for the newbie-ness of that question!)
I wouldn't mind planting a few plants on it at a later stage but at the moment getting it to a presentable state is the priority!
Thanks for all the comments so far.
Thanks Bob, I was cross posting just as Topbird said would happen.
Ill try and find those videos.
In a garden that size. I'd not have a lawn. Too much agro, cutting etc., and you don't seem to have a shed to store a mower.
What would you do Hostafan1?
I do have a garage to store stuff but that's at the back.
If I wanted an easy life - I'd spray with a selective Weed killer ie kills everything but the grass, even out bumps and holes (couple of bags of topsoil to fill the holes, reseed as necessary and mow regularly. Won't have a show lawn but totally acceptable and probably lead then £100 to do. Just mowing regularly will improve it over the summer.