Hi, i'm new to gadening and i was just wondering if anyone could advise me...
My garden is an absolute mess and would probably be best if someone could just hit the 'reset' button.
Is there any way that i can simply kill everything green that's in it in such a way that the soil would still be plantable after X amount of time so i can simply seed the entire thing and plant the flower beds where i want them?
garden banter question - I realize . but - .. what makes some people think that gardening should be easy ? If a person doesn't have the time & energy to turn over and loosen & mulch a patch of ground - .. what do they think gardening is .. ? John T.
I think it is a matter of scale. If you enjoy a 10X10 plot then so be it. Then go larger until you consider it work. At which time you can cut back or carry on if the garden virus hits you.
Of course there are herbicides that will do what you want but it isn't the way to go. If you do that (unless your garden is postage stamp sized) by the time you get one or two areas done the rest will be a riot of weeds. Don't leave bare earth, all it will grow are weeds. Renovate one bed or area at a time and plant and mulch as you go. You may find that some of the "weeds" can and should be saved if you go about it systematically, especially any trees and shrubs which will take much longer to replace. You need to identify what is in your mess.
Secondly make a plan before you do anything. Consider what you want to do in each part of the garden and what will grow there in keeping with the climate, aspect and soil. Consider sunlight, wind and drainage. You can get books on garden design at the library.
Thirdly don't rush. If you plant a whole lot of new things without enough observation and planing too many of them will not prosper, either the planting will not suit the space or your usage and you will use up money and energy for no good purpose. Do you know what the soil is, do you know where the sun shines in winter and in summer, do you know where the water runs in heavy rain? Don't imagine you are doing this in a weekend or two unless the garden is tiny.
David
A few years ago I did exactly this with my front yard. I hired a crew to come in and bulldoze out the bushes, etc. Then I had them build an arrangement of raised beds for flowers. Since I wasn't going to grow anything I was going to eat, they could use railroad ties that were treated to prevent decay for the structure of the beds. They filled the beds with a good soil mix, and on the ground between the raised beds they put landscape fabric (to keep the big stuff from coming up again) with crushed river rock on top. They picked a color of rock which coordinated with the colors of the house.
Since then I've planted many different kinds of flowers in those raised beds: roses, lilies, many other perennials, annuals, spring bulbs, ferns, etc. Right now they're at their spring peak with daffodils and tulips as well as a few late crocuses. The roses are leafing out, and the perennials are starting to come back up.
I had hated the way the previous owner of my house had designed the front yard, but now I just love it. The raised beds save my back and knees, and since it gave me a tabula rasa, once the crew was done, it has exactly what I like growing in it.
The whole thing (clearing out, building the raised beds, materials, labor) for a yard of approx 50 x 20 feet cost me about $6,000. It was definitely worth it. If I were to try to sell my house these days, I wouldn't have to worry about whether I have curb appeal or not. I do -- in spades!
My whole lot is 50 x 140 feet, and the house has a small footprint, so I have plenty of room out back for veggie gardening and some tamed wildness, too.
Good luck!
Priscilla
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