How to clear a really overgrown front garden

[whataboutbob]

For background, this is my brothers house. He has mental health difficulties and lives alone. House and garden maintenance is difficult and I support him but don’t go round more than once a month.
His front garden is horribly overgrown. Brambles, nettles, feral overgrown hydrangeas and more stuff I can’t even identify. Twice we have got professional gardeners in, but basically they hack it down and it re grows. The last lot gave him some bull about planting grass in spring and how mowing would keep the weeds under control. But I can see the roots are still there, waiting to come back with a vengeance in spring.
What is the best way to get rid once and for all? I can only think of laying tarpaulin down over it all for a year ( it’s 2 patches with path to front door in between, each only about 3m by 4 ) . Any suggestions gratefully received. I’m at a loss.

could you get a garden clearance firm in, and then either put down some concrete slabs, or hire a gardener to come more often? obviously this would come at a cost but the slabs would prevent regrowth, and then you could put out pots full of plants for a bit of greenery

Are the brambles coming from his garden? They'll need pulling up from the roots and even then they'll be persistent. I'd keep the hydrangeas but cut them down to the root and maybe move them? Might kill them off but if they come back they'll be ok.
If he's going to struggle to keep it tidier it night he better to flag it?

Borrow a goat?
Or seriously some chickens.
Omg ours obliterated our jungle in a fortnight!

Thanks for the suggestions, I have actually considered flags but that could look a bit bare and out of keeping with the rest of the street. As for goats and chicken- the poor neighbours have put up with the general derelict look of bro’s home for years, farmyard animals might be the last straw! Much as he’d probably like to have a few animals around the place.
I think a regular gardener would be good, bro would have to agree to it and to the expense ( which he could afford). Part of the problem is bro is completely unrealistic about t he level of maintenance which being a homeowner involves. He inherited the house from our dad and really should move out and downsize or even live in sheltered accommodation, but won’t hear of it.

I was going to suggest a goat too!

You need to clear it, then professional strength weedkiller monthly until it's finally dead. I missed a month and it all grew back as bad as ever.

Brambles can be got rid of if you cut under the sort of knot where all the shoots come from - it won't regrow from bits of root. But you have to dig around a bit and get underneath the knotty bit - it's only a couple of inches deep.

Nettles - you need to get out all the roots. They're yellow, and easy to spot - if you fork over the soil, you can grab hold of them and pull out long lengths together (the roots don't sting). You will get re-growth on a tiny scale for the next couple of years, but pulling it out (or even mowing regularly, at least one a week) will get rid - you need to make sure that the energy taken from the roots to support re-growths exceeds the energy returned to the roots by photosynthesising leaves.

Please don't use flags - they're impermeable and just add to surface drainage problems. There's a reason why you now have to get planning permission to put an impermeable surface in your garden.

So - strip any turf off and dispose (since it'll be full of perennial weeds). Remove the brambles, dig over to a spade's depth and remove all nettle roots that you can find. Then either:

1. put it to grass, and get someone in to mow it weekly, or

2. put down a weed suppression membrane and cover it with gravel or bark chippings. If you want you can cut holes in the membrane and plant the occasional small shrub for interest. You'll just need to prune every year after flowering (or in early spring if it's something you're growing for winter berries).

Buy a large mattock from somewhere like Screwfix, it will make short work of digging up bramble and nettle roots. Dig up the whole area disposing of roots and debris. Apply weedkiller in the Spring when weeds are growing. Most weedkiller only works on plants that are growing so you will be wasting your money applying it now. Options are to turf or put down a good quality membrane and gravel or possibly fake grass. Grass seeding is cheaper but the weeds will come through as the grass grows and it needs careful management in terms of seed selection, cutting and may take a couple of years to look good. Turfing small areas is an easy diy job. Gravel can get in a mess if there are trees around that will shed leaves on it. I have no experience of fake grass but it could be a solution in this difficult situation. A few pots of lavender and some bird feeders may offset the loss of natural habitat and provide some interest for your brother, but the priority is to produce an area that is low maintenance.

I have no experience of fake grass but it could be a solution in this difficult situation It needs cleaning. There's a house near me that has put it across the whole garden, most of it is grubby, but the bit in the middle where people walk is indescribable!

Memo to self op.
Don't go telling people your db is having a problem with his overgrown bush!!
They may wonder why you are so invested!!

Please don't put fake grass down. It's just as bad as paving slabs. I'd gravel it with a weed resistant membrane underneath. You could replant the hydrangeas or a couple of other shrubs (maybe some smaller ones that don't grow too big) and it will look much tidier

@Winterdaysarehere thanks for that, I need as many laughs as I can get when mentoring db.
@MereDintofPandiculation than you for the really thorough advice. I am tell you known what you’re speaking about and it’s good to read you think it is doable. I am able to do a bit every time I go. It’s somewhat frustrating that bro thinks there’s an easy solution ie flinging some grass seeds at it, but that is where we are.
@revengeofthefish thanks for the heads up re applying the weed killer in spring. I agree the grass seeding is unlikely to be successful, we will look at turfing.
@Clymene I wouldn’t consider fake grass. Bro wouldn’t do the maintenance and I am convinced it would end up looking even worse than the present set up ( if that’s possible!).
Am going over on the 23rd and will post again.

Yeah, it needs clear g and then a thorough digging out. You could sow a wild meadow and a load of bulbs. Potentially would only need mowing a few times a year and in theory even though it'll be a wee bit scruffy, it'll also be beautiful. And great for the bees.

Like Don Pablo think about maybe having a wildlife garden , no fake grass or deadly weedkiller (it kills weeds, which are only plants in the wrong place, AND kills wild life also possibly makes people very ill too it's not pleasant).

What about using a strimmer to clear the worst? Leaving the edges for the hedgehogs and birds , they would grow into natural\fences hedges. Because brambles are blackberry hedges of course, nice to have some to pick in the autumn

Could your brother manage a strimmer? He could do it in the centres if it was possible and you could trim the tops of the hedge , to thicken it nicely. when you visited.

Thanks for the suggestions pp. I don’t think there’s much wildlife in the front garden, but I know the overgrown back garden has a lot of birds. I’m not thinking of doing much there beyond encouraging him to mow and cutting back various shrubs occasionally. But an occasional strimming is a good idea.