How can I tame this unruly flowered?

[cheapandcheerful]

I am a complete novice and have no idea where to start with this flowered in our new house.

It seems to have some nice flowers in but is completely overrun with grass and some sort of climber with heart-shaped leaves. Clematis?

Any advice? I have no idea what I'm doing

Climber with heart shaped leaves? Er, bindweed? I hope not. On the photo with the fingers I can see Ajuga (Bugle) - that's worth keeping, and some kind of primrose/polyanthus leaf. And bindweed...

Yes maybe it is bindweed. It's kind of wrapped itself around all of the stems.

What on earth do I do with it??

Bindweed is virtually impossible to dig out, as you would have to trace EVERY bit of root and get rid of it. A fragment of root left in the soil will start off a new plant.

We paint it with a systemic weed killer, mixed in cheap wallpaper paste to make it thicker, so it sticks to leaves. You can buy gel and similar products, to do the same job but they will be more expensive.

I think if you see any PROPER looking plants among this lot, dig them out and save them somewhere on their own. Everything else, you will have to dig out and probably discard I'm afraid.

At the back of one picture are some nice red leaves; I wonder what they are, as they look quite promising!

You also need to get out anything that is about to seed, especially 'fluffy' seeds that will blow everywhere.

The grass needs mowing (do you have a mower?) and there doesn't appear to be any lawn edge, marking a boundary between lawn and flower beds.

I'm sorry to seen critical, but unless you do want a 'wild garden' (and even they do need some discipline) I think you will have to be really ruthless to get out the worst of the weeds.

Thanks for the advice. Not critical at all...we have only lived here for 2 months so the mess is inherited!

We don't own a mower yet but are borrowing a friend's tomorrow.

Believe if or not there IS a border of rocks separating the bed and lawn but the stuff has just spilled over the top of them!

I'd better get to work... :)

I agree about painting with weedkiller.
If it's wound itself around other plants then try to unwind it off them before spraying.
The best technique is to coil the long tendrils up into a little pile on the ground and spot spray them there
You'll get a lot more coverage that way.

Well I am quite ruthless so I would dig the whole lot out, and preserve the best of the flowers if possible by gently teasing them out from the general jungle and keeping them temporarily in pots (fill them with some decent compost which can be bought from most supermarkets these days).

Then I would start recreating that flower bed. Or knowing me, turning it into a herb garden.

But very good advice from pp ^^ about the horrors of bastard bindweed.

My allotment was covered (and I mean covered) with bindweed when I started. The council had rotavated the ground some months previously in a fit of misplaced enthusiasm, which had chopped the roots into a million pieces, each of which was sprouting a new plant. It is a constant battle to stay on top of it.

You can buy extra-strength weedkiller, which is specially formulated to kill it. I sprayed the entire plot with this twice, and I am still pulling pieces out.

Get it out, as quickly as you can, and keep pulling it out. You will win, but it's a battle!

OP - Yes, I realised you hadn't created it like that!

Sometime have a look at "overwhelmedbymyacre" I think It's called, as they have a much-admired garden and regularly post MN updates on their efforts, with photos.

I'll give you a link to this Community garden near Windermere, for inspiration and ideas, and it also has onward-links to other sites I think.

www.holehirdgardens.org.uk/