Feeling overwhelmed

[ChelseaChop]

I have inherited a large, mature garden in Southern England. My neighbours said the previous homeowners were out everyday working on it! I don’t have that time to dedicate working full time with two small children. But I don’t want to let it go to waste. I’m a keen novice gardener but lacking knowledge. We have a greenhouse and they left all their tools and products/compost/manure etc.

This will be our third summer here. The first year we spent watching and logging on an app what we had- I’ve got to over 150 but there are a lot more plants than this. I’ve pulled out Elder (a thug?) and an unhealthy looking rose. General weeding, pruning (probably doing it wrong) and lawn mowing is.

I guess my question is how to do I streamline? What can be left and what needs more attention? I’m starting to see pests (spider damage, weevil damage, we have a lot of flies already. Loads of snails and damage to leaves (holes). I’m worried I’m not keeping on top of it because I don’t know what I’m doing! I have the RHS monthly gardening book but find it a bit crap. I watch GW.

I’m not sure if the volume I have is normal for a mature garden or is too much. I’ll try to summarise what I have:

Loads of fruit: Raspberries, Blackcurrants, Redcurrants, Apple tree, Pear tree, Fig tree and Blueberries bush (young in pots), 2 Apple trees in very large pots, Plum tree in ground! Tiny strawberries in all the borders.

2 x attractive large rockeries- one with a fabulous small conifer (lacelike branches which lay flat against each other - I’ve seen a lot of spiders in it). Lots of what I think are alpines, Saxifrage, cyclamen, nigella, marigolds, Ivy, Lily of valley, Lots of bearded irises, Bushes and a lot of other plants I haven’t yet identified. There’s so much and it seems to be layered seasonally. Like grape hyacinth dies and something else comes up. One rockery is being taken over by mint.

Lawn, which has a lot of wildflowers around edge. Size is over 100ft, width of a semi.

So many other plants and trees it’s overwhelming. Things like a massive bay tree (15 ft with extensive leaf damage from weevils acc to my app), hydrangea, 5 mature rose bushes, Fuschia, clematis, Buddleia, lavender. Loads of green bushes I can’t remember what.. 2 dogwoods also. Daffs, aguiloa, wallflowers and loads of hollyhocks.

We also have a large empty raised bed in middle of garden I’m guessing they used for veg. I cleared it of weeds and put cut flower bulbs in (gladioli ranunculus).

Anyway I’m not really sure what I’m asking but I’m feeling so overwhelmed I don’t really know how to go about looking after it all.

We are organic gardeners and now there are hardly any snails (the plentiful wildlife love them!). You are so lucky! I haven't used pesticides on the garden for 30 years, and we have frogs, but still loads of slugs and snails. I have to use my slug-free greenhouse as a refuge for tender young plants.

Quick update- my garden is blooming with the recent sun. Lots of bearded irises and everything is shooting up!

@MereDintofPandiculation yes I think you’re right it is ground ivy. It looks beautiful and although it’s invasive I’m letting it run a bit wild. Yes that is saxifrage, it runs throughout both rockeries and flowers for ages. Really pretty.

I’ve cleared one of the big borders as I didn’t really like anything in it. Planting it out tomorrow with salvia, verbena bonariensis, Macedonia Knautia Melton pastels, white lupine, hydrangea and Papaver Royal wedding. A white/purple/pink theme.

Found a fab nursery which has local grown more wild style plants I wanted. Prefer natural and low maintenance.

The hydrangea was from the supermarket though... is it worth planting out? It looks lovely in full bloom, but I’m guessing it’s a forced one. Will it do ok in the ground.

I’ve really enjoyed the book “Brilliant and Wild“ by Lucy Bellamy. Great for beginners looking for combos for this style of cottage/ wildlife attractive planting.

What is the general view on Valerian- I don’t mind the white version but not so keen on the pink. I have quite a lot in one border and wondering whether to cull or am I failing to see it’s beauty?!

I’m assuming this is Valerian

@ChelseaChop

I’m assuming this is Valerian

It's Red Valerian, Centranthus ruber.

Not to be confused with Valerian, Valeriana officinalis, or Marsh Valerian Valeriana dioica.

Note that Red Valerian is usually pink, although it also comes in red or white.

(The reason that many pink flowers are called "red", eg Red Campion, is that it's relatively recently that there was a word for pink; just as "orange" wasn't applied to the colour until the fruit arrived - previously orange was also lumped in with another colour, I think with red though it may have been yellow)

Re the hydrangea - it's usually worth having a go even with plants that have been forced, as long as you treat them gently (no overfeeding) and don't expect too much of them in the first year. Of course, depending on your soil composition, it may be a different colour in the ground.

Views on Red Valerian? I don't like the pink, it's not a colour I like. I do like the red, and have just grown some from seed to plant along our wall in an area where nothing else grows. The white's nice too, but for a growing in difficult places, freely self seeding, just pull it up where its in the way, plant I prefer Malva moschata v alba, the white flowered musk mallow. And at this time of year I've got a lot of white, in particular Matthiola incana, which is not just white but scented - even I can smell it from yards away.

I LOVE salvia of all types Chelsea it's very successful in this garden, Hydrangeas are the opposite as Mere says it does depend on your soil type completely ( I keep trying to change mine with acid plant food to help the hydrangeas with no luck).