Non-gardener just acquired large established garden and not a clue!

[Naetha]

Hello there!

We moved house from a nasty terrace with no garden to a gorgeous semi with a large, well-established garden, but I don't have a clue what anything is and what to do with it!

There's stuff growing everywhere, and I don't know what's weeds and whats not. I don't know what to do with the plants (such as daffodils, possibly grape hyacinths [still not 100% sure what they are!]) when they've died down (they're currently left to go brown and look shabby!).

We've got a rhubarb patch, but neither me nor my DH like rhubarb at all, so we're considering taking it out and turning it into a vegetable patch - is this allowed or very frowned upon?

Pretty much the only thing we've managed to do successfully is mow the lawn, and even that was a struggle!

I've bought the Alan Titchmarsh Complete How to be a Gardener, but to be honest most of it goes over my head, and doesn't seem to deal with the problems of aquiring existing gardens.

Apologies for such a long post - help please!

How about seeing if you can get a gardener in once a fortnight/month to mow and generally potter on your behalf so you can just sit back and enjoy?

i wouldnt go and start pulling stuff out just yet because you dont actually know what is going to suddenly bloom for the summer !

simple

if it's pretty leave it alone

if it's too big or covering up something else it needs pruning - cut it

if it's dry and crunchy it's dead - cut it

if you don't like it it's a weed - dig it up

if you do like it it's not a weed -leave it alone

That's about all there is to it.

I think I might get a gardener a couple of times just to tell me what everything is!

I like your rules as well Shimmy!

I'm not an established gardener,but I've always been told you should just keep a new garden tidy for the first year. That way you can see what comes up with each season and then make a decision on what you want to keep or move or add next year. Good luck!