Garden makeover for beginner - help please!

[GardenElf]

Hello

I'm looking for some help with what to do with my garden. It's a decent size but very overgrown mostly with brambles and nettles. South east London, think the soil is good, there are trees on two sides (I can't remove these) which cause a lot of shade except in winter. I've been able to dig out patches of the weeds but not sure what to put in to stop them coming back. I want it to be low maintenance and bee/bug/bird friendly. It's not next to the house so no option for a water butt so really want things that will look after themselves. Ideas for what to plant/when/how would be great.

I'm wondering about digging out half the weeds and using tarpaulin to kill off the other half whilst I sort the part I've dug. Is this a good idea?

All ideas welcome. Thanks in advance.

Covering the weeds is a good way to keep the weeds under control. As your garden has been overgrown for a while, you may want to keep the soil covered, even after digging up the weeds. There are likely to be lots of weed seeds in your soil, which will be brought closer to the top when you’re digging up the visible weeds. So you could be fighting weeds for years if you don’t cover the soil!

I use cardboard to cover my beds, and cover this with wood chipping . I then make holes in the cardboard and plant things through those holes. That works really well for keeping weeds under control. If you’re not planning to plant in the short term, tarpaulin should work too, but some kind of mulch will still be useful once you get to the planting stage.

As to what to plant, that depends on how deep the shade is. Does it get any direct sunlight? Is the soil very dry?

This webpage explains the different types of shade in more detail and has suggestions for what to plant:

www.gardenersworld.com/plants/the-best-shade-loving-plants/

Thanks for your reply!

If I was to do the tarpaulin idea, do I just out cardboard down then cover with tarpaulin and leave it? Can I use newspapers instead of cardboard?

It's not entirely shady, but in the summer about 1/3 of the garden is in full shade, most of the rest is dappled shade and a bit at the end gets proper sun. In the winter when the trees don't have leaves a lot more light gets through. It has a similar feel to clearings in local (ish) woods so I was wondering if I can recreate something like that (with holly and other shrubs?) to keep it quite natural but a bit nicer and more under control. So I need things that will be able to compete with the resident brambles etc.

I look out for plants which are wildlife friendly some have a picture of a bee on the information card for example.
I built a wildlife pond, have a bird table, bird hanging station, bird hangers hanging off the fence, a bee and butterfly watering hole which is a tiny plant saucer with water and small stones in. I have a log pile hidden at the end of the garden. Obvious but never use chemicals like pesticides.
There is loads of information on the RSPB website what to feed birds and when. You could put up bird boxes and create a frog/toad home etc. Keep a couple of nettles for the butterflies

If you’re using the tarpaulin, you don’t need to put cardboard under it as it will do the same thing.

Once you get to the planting stage though, it definitely helps if you mulch the bed to stop the seeds that will still be in the soil from germinating. Using cardboard under the mulch will definitely stop that from happening for long enough for your new plants to get established.

In my garden, I’ve found that mulch by itself is not enough to keep the weeds down as it was neglected for such a long time. Not sure if paper would work as it breaks down much quicker.

Things that do well in the shady bit of my garden and would fit in a woodland type planting scheme:

• Japanese anemones
• Dicentra (bleeding heart), very popular with bees!
• Hydrangeas
• Foxgloves, great for bees and moths and will gradually spread itself through your garden
• Vibernum, popular with insects and some types produce berries for birds too
• Cranesbill geranium, some varieties even thrive in very deep shade
• Honeysuckle, again great for bees and produces berries

For all of these, check the variety, to make sure you’re buying one that can cope in shade, e.g. some hydrangeas like more sun than others.

Also, if you check out the Crocus website, they have a handy plant finder, which allows you to search for plants for particular conditions (e.g shade and good for wildlife). Their orders also come in big cardboard boxes, which are very useful for keeping weeds down 😁

Thanks a lot for all the replies, particularly the plant suggestions. I think a "woodland theme" is the way to go, I will have a think and may be back with more questions.

When is the best time of year to plant new plants in? I mean eg if I buy a shrub that's already growing, not bulbs etc.

ooh great tip about the cardboard with holes for planting- I didn't know you could do this! Thanks Crazzzycat

I have a woodlandy patch.

I covered with layers of cardboard (old packing boxes) and then put wood chip over the top and planted through. I did have to dig out brambles and other perennial weeds though as those will just grow up through the cardboard without even stopping to think. The nettles should not be a problem though.

I have planted with things that catch the light or brighten up the shade. My current favourite is Smyrnium Perfoliatum which happily self seeds but is like a cross between a euphorbia and a cow parsley. It has bright chartreuse bracts and really lifts the dark. For scent I have swathes of Lily of the Valley which are very fond of my garden. I have also planted Polygonatums (Solomon's Seal) and Paris Quadrifolia and I have epimediums, for the foliage really but I like their flowers too.
I don't have very showy flowers but I do like interesting foliage - so Hostas and Ferns also feature heavily.

For height, if you're in a fairly sheltered garden I'd have an Acer, specifically Acer shirasawanum 'Aureum' and I'd spend money on it so it was not a tiny one, they're fairly slow growing. I can't have one, I did have one but it didn't like my garden at all and turned it's feet up and died.

This website helped me a lot: www.plantsforshade.co.uk as did www.ballyrobertgardens.com - I have no connection to either of them.

Sorry to 'butt in', I'm also in the middle of tackling an established garden (although not as badly overgrown as the OP). The cardboard idea to keep the weeds at bay is intriguing. I had planned to use the weed control webbing material together with small stones. Is this a bad idea? Is cardboard better? I prefer the look of stones to bark - is bark better for the garden/plants? Thanks!

I use cardboard because it rots down and then you can plant as normal. It's difficult to weed through stones however, so if you're not worried about the earth beneath and simply want to stop established weeds coming through then a weed suppressing membrane is probably your better option.

I've always started new patches with cardboard because i'll be planting the whole patch eventually. You can just lay cardboard over grass, for example, cover with manure/compost and two years later, there's no grass just lovely earth - the worms did all the work for me. I did my vegetable patches this way as well. You have to wet the cardboard.

Thanks enb76, I understand the logic now. I suspect, one of my failings will be the long term forward planning. You're thinking 2 years ahead and I'm barely able to think about next week! I think this part of mumsnet is going to become my new best friend :)

Ha - I'm still working out what works and what doesn't but I do love plants. I spend far more on my mistakes than I spend on my successes. It's worth it to have my first cup of tea in the morning in the garden with the birds singing and everything looking green and happy.