New garden - slightly overwhelmed

[wonkylegs]

We've just moved and I was sat yesterday slightly overwhelmed by what we've taken on.
New garden is nearly 1.5 acres, mainly lawn bordered with mature trees & hedging but with a secret garden, small orchard area and kitchen garden.
I'm not going to be able to do much to it this summer as we are doing quite a bit to the house. I'm planning to try and sort out some of the weeds (previous owners obviously stopped gardening a while back) but then work out plans for the garden longterm.
Previous to this I had a postage stamp sized garden so this is a massive leap for me. Where do I start?

start by getting plenty of seats so that you can relax and enjoy it from several places.
(I buy plastic chairs for £1 each at the dump ... you could get 10 or so)

let lots of the grass grow : just mow a few areas
orchard : you'll get a bumper crop this year so plan chutneys and jams
kitchen garden : anything that is there, enjoy. Buy some live lettuce at the supermarket and plant that out (torn into 8 blobs) to last you till autumn

and apart from that it will be fine till next spring

hmm ok well if they have left it in a bit of a mess then I would probably ask a local gardener what they would charge as a sort of one/two off clear the weeds and tidy it up. that would get it all sorted out for you to start off with whilst you are having work done on the house.

do you have a large lawnmower? I would assume you will need one. and I would give the garden a year to show you what plants are where before you start playing around with it too much.

I have a postage stamp too, and would love a lot more room! though DH and DS would never be able to find me in 1.5 acres

I would concentrate on removing obvious weeds and any patches of real nasties like nettles and thistles. Get brushkiller for those. Keep grass mowed and that should do for more weeds. For that size garden you probably need a good petrol mower &/or a ride-on! Certainly a good petrol strimmer.

Make a scale drawing/plan of it and ID as many shrubs as you can right now when they have all their leaves. Take close-up and whole-plant photos at least, and sit in winter evenings identifying them with an RHS plant book if you don't have time now. As the garden year progresses, mark in the locations of perennials. Come early spring, you can add in where the inevitable daffodils/snowdrops are planted. Only when the perennials start up again in April/May can you start to change things, as then you'll know where everything is.

Oh when it's winter, might be worth getting the trees checked by an arboriculturist, see if they're healthy. Then they can be trimmed if need be. Apples certainly need pruning overwinter. I wouldn't cut any down unless a danger or diseased.

ps if you want wildlife, leave a patch of nettles. Tortoiseshell butterflies love them!

nettles and thistles are both GREAT for wildlife : leave them till next year

and long grass can easily be left till the spring

PS my garden is only 1/5 acre so I practice benign neglect on parts of it!

I had experience of this and on hindsight (we've moved now) I would have cordoned off a large part of it and left it to be a meadow until I could get round to tackling it. Grass can only grow so high.

Been there, got the t-shirt (and the beautiful photos). The key is keeping on top of it and not thinking you can turn your back on it for more than a few days - something will always need doing. So I'd say get help. If you're unsure what time you have for it then invest in the gardening equivalent of a cleaner - someone who will come and mow and edge and weed a bit on a regular basis.

I'd also invest in a lawn tractor if you have over an acre of lawn.

Do not let the garden get too out of control, much easier to keep on top of it than sort out a wilderness. You can let the grass just grow but you will need to strim it back at some stage and if you want it to be lawn long term it's easier to keep on top of it. Also you do need to keep weeds from taking hold in the flower beds if you can. (Long grass lovely in the orchard though with paths running through it. Don't expect it to throw up beautiful garden mag-style patches of wildflowers though).

Then do what Moonbells says - just watch it for a year while you work out what you want from the space and learn what you actually have growing out there. Do you want a football pitch or lots of flower beds? are you nuts for dahlias? do you really want to grow veg? what about a cut flower bed?

I'm now back to a postage stamp - I do miss my greenhouse with electricity and water, and my veg plot, but it is quite nice being able to buy plants in singles and rechargable hedgecutters rather than buying in 5s and getting the heaviest petrol versions of everything.

Thanks everybody.
We've got a lawn tractor which the boys are thrilled about, and a petrol hedge trimmer which DH is terrified of.
We've spent some time this afternoon weeding the kitchen garden. Said DS could eat any strawberries he found if he helped.
I've just done a little inspection, noting which bits aren't too bad and which need most work.
I think we are going to stick with a good football /cricket pitch in the main lawn for now to allow kids to let loose with abandon.
I've watch and plan the other bits, will have another wander round after kids bedtime possibly with a glass of wine & a notebook.

Good tools and equipment are a worthwhile investment. With a garden that size you will save yourself hours of work by buying the right stuff.
I have a mixture of petrol and cordless power tools. The newest cordless ones are so light and easy to use. I know the petrol ones are more powerful but they are more cumbersome.

I have both a cordless and a petrol strimmer but its the cordless one that I use the most.
An aerator and scarafier (can't spell) are essential but you can get them as attachments to a decent mower.
I would also make sure the garden is 'easy' to look after in terms of water and electricity. You can't have too many taps. I had my water supply run to the end of the garden (in 22mm ) it was worth the expense. I have also invested in decent watering equipment. I use hozelock aquapods for all my millions of pot plants. They have timers so its all automated.
If the garden is at all overgrown a good hacking back will do it good.

Don't be afraid to get rid of ugly or badly overgrown plants or trees. There are so many beautiful plants in the world you don't have to have the uglier ones.

If you have trees I would recommend a visit from a tree surgeon. It's just pruning on a big scale.

I chopped down all our evergreens as they were particularly ugly and overgrown. I replanted some (not in exactly the same spot obviously) with prettier trees.
Our local garden centre does an hour consultation in your garden for only £60 which you can off set if you buy lots of plants. I did this and it was really useful.

My final bit of advice is to try not to be too fussy about your grass. It's not worth it and nobody cares. Unfortunately I am a bit obsessed with my lawn and like it to be just Perfect. I patrol it daily like a loon looking for weeds It's a bit pointless really.

one really fun thing to do is to mow a mizmaze into your lawn (with a small mower of course) as then the rest can get long but its part of the look - and kids LOVE them (as do big kids with a glass of wine)
www.hort.cornell.edu/livingsculpture/pdf/labyrinth%20handout.pdf
www.hort.cornell.edu/livingsculpture/mowing_cropart/green_carpets.htm
jonnybaker.blogs.com/jonnybaker/2006/06/mowing_a_grass_.html