Turning wilderness into a garden- a few questions from a beginner.

[dizietsma]

My tenement has a teeny tiny shared drying green which has been untamed wilderness for quite a while now.

A couple of neighbours have decided to fix up the garden, but I don't think they have the first clue how to do it. They recently cut down the only two trees in the garden and left the HUGE ivy. the tree stumps that are left have not been removed and whilst I think one is dead the other seems to be growing back already. The lawn area was mostly meadow (bluebells, thistles, dandelions- you name it!) and they stripped bits of it back to bare earth and just plonked grass seed down and forgot about it. Of course, the birds had a lovely time with that!

My wee one will be walking soon and I have a fond hope that if I could achieve a couple of things in the garden she could play there next summer.

Firstly, what can I do to sort out the lawn?

Secondly, the patio is also overgrown with weeds in between the slabs. My neighbour says she put weedkiller down, but they've just returned, what works?

Thirdly, I'd like to plant up some pots of flowers and herbs, is now a good time of year?

Fourthly, should I dig up the tree stumps?

Finally, I'd love to plant some bulbs for late winter and early spring, any tips on placing them and when to plant them?

Suggestions of good beginner gardening books would also be appreciated.

Thanks!

can't answer all your qs but maybe some. re the tree stumps - you need to paint them with stump killer - you can get it from the garden centre. If they're big enough they'd be nice to keep - little seats for little people. digging them up id very difficult. I personally wouldn't try.

weeds - best thing is to be as persistent as they are - little and often - you can't keep them down unless you do it regularly. weedkillers will do the trick but they're not particularly earth-friendly. if they're really bad you could maybe blast them this once, and then keep on top of them, as it were.

grass - I know the theory but it never seems to work. you need to rake, make sure there's no thatch. you need to feed it, you need to aerate it - you can buy a spikey thing and you need to brush sand into the holes. - you're best off find a website for this (BBC?) as there's reams of stuff on when to do what.

bulbs - plant in the autumn - the more the better - plant in big clumps - they'll look lovely - and get a variety - look at when they flower - you can go right from jan-june with bulbs.

pots - now's not the best time, but it would be ok. some traditional pot plants won;t survive the winter (geraniums and smiliar) but herbs should be ok

isn't it possible to stop stumps growing by cutting crisscrossing strips out of them? Have never tried it, but next door have done this with a few stumps and it seems to work.

I sowed some grass seed this year to fill in the bare patches of our lawn. I didn't water it, and so they only germinated when the rain started. It is under a cherry tree, which doesn't help, but maybe your neighbours just needed to do a bit more watering?

I absolutely agree re. not trying to dig up tree stumps. You could do a lot of damage to yourself with very little damage done to the stumps!

Alan Titch reckons that any old patch of grass can be turned into a lawn by regular mowing...it all depends how much effort you want to put in. Hollow tining a lawn is not for the faint hearted.

Mention of tenements makes me wonder if you're in Scotland? In which case, flowers in pots started at this time of year will have to be hardy..e.g. pansies or primroses or ornamental cabbage...the garden centre will advise.

If planting bulbs in grass you are supposed to stand and throw the bulbs over your shoulder, then plant them where they land. Natural drifts are what to aim for. Sept/Oct is bulb planting time.

Alan Titchmarshes 'How to be a Supergardener' is a good beginner's book.

Hope this helps...good luck!