Moved into a house with a massive garden...

[smallmole]

And we've no idea what to do with it! The people before us has had some set out like an allotment with chickens and raised beds and all sorts of things, but it's just tumbledown and madly overgrown now. We'd really like to bring it back to it's former glory, but we haven't a clue where to start! Have we missed the growing season, anyway? I've got a vague idea that we should just clear as much as we can and cover the ground to try to keep the weeds away, but I've no idea beyond that. Should we spray everything with weedkiller or could we enrich the soil with fertilizer? I don't even know what kind of soil we've got - all I have noticed is that it's very snaily around here - huge ones! What can we do to get rid of them? One of the books I got from the library mentioned some sort of beetle that eats snails but I've never heard of it from anywhere else.

Sorry for the millions of questions, but I've loads of enthusiasm and no idea! Can anyone help?

Hello Mole.

It sounds brilliant! I love a good project to get stuck into :)

I'd be tempted not to do too much initially, and just see what comes up. You'll get all kinds of surprises next spring, there may be flower bulbs tucked away, and self-seeded flowers, and flowering shrubs - it's an exciting surprise garden! If you weed-killer it all, you won't have any of that.

It's unlikely that there will be anything useful lurking in the raised beds, so you could probably weed those and dig in some manure, then it'll be ready for planting in spring.

When you say it's overgrown... do you have brambles? Keep them and collect the blackberries, they'll be fruiting before long, if they aren't already.

If you really don't have much knowledge, I would get rid of anything that you know to be weeds (like nettles, dandelions etc) but anything you're not sure of, leave it until you can figure out what it is. You might have all kinds of fruit bushes hidden behind the weeds, or anything!

When I moved into a rented place and sorted out the garden that had been left to it's own devices, I found a japanese maple (which I love) and a rabbit hutch that even the owner didn't know was there (no rabbit, thankfully).

Keep us posted, I'm all excited for you!

Once the brambles have fruited, cut them right back and dig them out at the roots. It's quite a satisfying winter job once you get into it.

If you want to plant any shrubs or trees, the winter is the best time as you can buy trees bare rooted from nurseries. Do your planting of shrubs this autumn and use a root establishing feed on planting to get them started.

You won't be able to get rid of your snails with a beetle, it's just a problem we've all had this year with all the rain.

Do your clearing by hand, not chemically, and the birds will come in and have a feast on the snails.

I agree with sleepinggoat - its often best to watch and wait a full season to see whats hidden there. How long have you been there, as you may have had a chance to see whats come up this summer.

If its a really big garden, I might just concentrate on the areas closest to the house - so that I can start getting some nice views. Theres nothing nicer than seeing some thing lovely just getting from the car to the front door.

Gardens will always be a work in progress and there's nothing to say its all got to be done as fast as possible.

Have fun.

If there is someone local who wishes to share their knowledge that may be useful, it is important to know the difference between the weeds and the non-weeds.

As Pear said, don't go in guns blazing and clear it all as there might be something nice in there that you want to keep, but best to get someone local who knows their stuff to come and advise you - it's hard to learn the difference between plants from books and photos and they could show you what is worth keeping. Keep what you can, mature plants are ridiculously expensive.

I have to confess I am very jealous. Which part of the country are you in?

If you are unsure of any plants which might be weeds, you could post them to your profile. I'm pretty good at long-distance plant identification (feels this is a statement I'm bound to regret making).

Obvs I mean post photos of them, not the actual plants

Thank you for all the help - I'm starting to feel a bit more in control of things. Not that anything has changed, just that I've got more of a plan, if you see what I mean. So, I've had a closer look and this is the information that I've gleaned...
No brambles at all - my mam has those, so I'm pretty certain I know what they look like. Strawberries (but only tiny ones) and red onions in the raised beds. Lots of other plants that my mam thinks were lettuce before the snails got them. Loads of birds and empty snail shells - presumably because of the birds? So should I clear what is obviously weeds (thistles over 6ft tall - this is no exaggeration!) and just wait and see what happens next? We've filled our brown bin (and our neighbour's) this evening and there's still loads to do with - you were right - a surprise rabbit shed! Good guess Fainting Goat - unless you live in Newcastle and happen to know our house...?

@ Pear getting a delivery of weeds through her letterbox.

Anything that you recognise as a weed you should remove, once you've done that you might see other things that are not weed. Thistles and Dandelions have taproots which are deep and break when you pull them, meaning they will come up again fairly soon from the remaining bit of root. I have a twisty root remover which works as it gets the whole root out.

Clear the dead lettuce as well. Don't dig the soil over when there are a lot of weed seeds around, try to make sure you take thistles etc out without spreading the seeds. Take the tops off first if they are already going to seed.

You could hoe the top layer of the soil if need be, this creates a loose layer which protects the soil underneath from baking and drying out and then if any more weeds come up you can hoe them quickly. Also, don't compact the soil by walking over it too much. This is why farmers invariably tell you to get orf their land, it's a big nono, particularly when growing veg.

If you are starting gardening for the first time I would recommend that the tools you buy be good quality ones which will do the job properly and last.

First and foremost - a garden fork (to remove those brambles, dandelions and nettles). Buy a stainless steel one, not a powder coated (usually green) one. They glide through the soil more easily and pick up less attached mud. I normally garden on clay soil and I never ever use a spade. Forks are better for turning over and aerating the soil.

Secateurs - Felco are a really good brand. I've had mine for 8 years, I garden for a living so they ain almost daily use, and they are still going strong. I'm sure people will recommend other brands.

Also useful are long handled loppers and for small weeds, a tool I call a prong but it's also known as a daisy grubber. It's just a flat narrow steel thing on a handle with a cleft at the end. Invaluable for precise weeding. Those small handfork things are worse than useless imo.

Pound for pound it's really worth investing as your tools will dictate how well you can do the job. It encourages you to get out there and do the work, knowing that your tools are up to the job.

Ha ha! You found a rabbit hutch too! Mine was in Nottingham, so prob not the same one :)

I like the sound of achillea's twisty root thing, could do with one of those.