Has anyone DIY prepared the entire flower bed from scratch? Please share tips!

[Return2thebasic]

I don't even know how to ask with proper terms. Completely new to gardening. Basically, we just had the rear garden cleared with some old shrub and small trees. The stumps were not removed though.

My hands are quite itchy to make a proper flowerbed myself and landscaping a bit. But on the other hand, looking at the weedy soil and with the knowledge of the existence of a million tree/weed/plant/ivy roots beneath the surface (very narrow garden in mid-terrace house), I feel completely paralysed with the idea of making a start.

Can someone who has experience doing this give some tips and advice? I've looked up for some guidance online. But all sounds very labour intensive and complicated. On the other hand, my neighbour lady simply suggested that I just dig a hole wherever I need to plant. But her garden is rather mature and establish. I'm not surprised that's how she would do in her garden.

I only have 2 hours in the mornings in the week to do any serious work when DS is in the nursery. Is this feasible in terms time?

What kind of tools do I absolutely need?

We put in some raised beds as the soil is terrible here.

I ordered soil from the garden supplies place (they had a handy bit that calculates how much you need) and for the delivered.

It was then a case of working out what I like and what will grow in my area and with the lack of shade we’ve got. We don’t have any local neighbours to check with so looked in the garden centres at what they sell and then read lots of labels to see what was ok in full sun.

I work on the 50% basis.

If 50% of the seeds implant sprout - yay!!
If 50% of those seedlings survive transplantation- yay!!
If 50% of those plants bloom - yay!!

Gardening is fun, and very rewarding - good luck :)

It's exciting starting from scratch!! I'm by no means Charlie Dimmock but here's my 2 pennies worth.

Sketch a rough plan of what you want. Flower beds, a path, kids area etc.

If your ground is weedy I find it particularly therapeutic pulling them up.... Especially ivy. But you can always cover these areas with tarpolane or black bags weighted down with stones to kill them off as much as possible. Or use a decent weedkiller (and then cover for added brutality) bearing in mind with the likes of Roundup you can't plant anything for a couple of weeks.

Watch your garden in the daytime, partial sun/shade means the plant will require 3-6 hrs of sun a day. Full sun, most of the day etc. Mark these areas on your sketch so when it comes to buying plants you know what type you want.

I love pots and baskets so tend to do any seeds for them. In my actual garden I have lots of bulbs and perennial plants which mean they will (hopefully) come back year after year. So asides occasionally weeding they will look after themselves. Top tip if the area is large though, use coloured lollipop sticks where you've put bulbs and plants.... Will make your life so much easier when weeding!!! My husband has taken up god knows how many bulbs "because they looked like weeds"!

Tools wise, id def recommend a fork for. Turning the soil ready for planting and a hoe for weeding. If your going to direct sow seeds or put bulbs in get a dibber!! Makes it a bit easier to get them in the ground.

There was paragraphs I promise.

For veg I'm using the No Dig method. The same principles might apply to flower beds. Basically you lie some cardboard over the grass where you want the bed and spread compost over the top, then plant straight into that. Over time the cardboard will rot away and the grass underneath will die off. Then every year you just keep adding compost on top. There are loads of videos on YouTube, look up Charles Dowding.

Good suggestions by previous posters. I’d also suggest that when the area is cleared you add some farmhouse manure or soil improver, both sold in bags at garden centres ( not smelly). This will give plants a good start.
As you’ve not got much time, look for perennial plants that don’t need a lot of maintenance, but will give all year interest and colour. You might want to start another thread for these suggestions, as there could be many!

I'm pretty much doing this at the moment, the flowers beds exist but are totally overgrown and filled with crap.
I'm doing a section (about a metre) at a time. I'm pulling up all the weeds, digging out roots and taking out all the stones/shells/broken pegs/glass etc. When completed, I'm covering each section to prevent my cats using the newly dug soil as a huge litter tray. My garden is v small, but I have little time so taking longer than it should. I also wanted to wait to see if anything grew or flourished before removing the lot, but other than a rampant rose and a couple of daffodils, nothing.

I’ve just done similar. I’d say get out as much of the perennial thug weeds as possible...brambles and ivy are good examples. Then cover with 2 thick layers of cardboard and get som topsoil in. Decide where to turf or pave.

Post some pictures here...

OIf you do "no dig" remember to water the cardboard thoroughly before adding topsoil.

And you will need to dig out the ivy/ bramble roots.

If you don't dig out the tree roots etc, you may find quite frequently that the hole you'd like to dig to plant in has a great big tree root underneath it. We have a mattock for digging out tree roots etc and it is invaluable! My husband uses ours though, I cannot lift it. If you're a weakling like me, could you rope someone in to get the stumps etc out for you before you start?

Good point about the tree stumps, I had 5 big trees, 3 huge shrubs and 2 huge grasses taken out. They took the roots too. But I’m still finding big roots. I’ve got a small axe that i use to chop them up as I find them.

The best thing I did was plant as much as possible. So one long bed I just sowedt the wildflower seeds which was beautiful and kept other buggers out of the bed while I planted other stuff elsewhere. Just gave me some breathing space.

Definitely get a mattock. Good tools make these jobs much easier.

I have done this for a border that was full of small trees and brambles. I dug out roots with a big fork and spade. Axe and long handled loppers to help. Cheap loppers because cutting roots in soil spoils them.

It was hard work but excellent exercise, lost loads of weight.

I do think it's a good idea to get rid of the roots as far as possible of things may grow back. Mine has been easy to keep weed free since I did it.

It's a LOT easier if the soil is not too dry so if your weather has been similar to here, now would be the ideal time to start.

Someone on here recommended the book 'brilliant and wild- a garden from scratch in a year' which might appeal for inspiration

I’ve done this.
Clear all the roots.
Dig in loads of organic matter.
Plants things in threes, tall at the back, medium in the middle, small at the front.

A new flower bed is the best for planting bulbs in because you can create a trench and lay tons really quickly. You'd leave a strip empty and do it all at once, it's so much easier than adding a smaller amount in later when you'd have to find, remember, and dig individual holes. You can get some stunning varieties of daffs and tulips that you don't usually see, and they're no maintainence and come back each year.

@MissHoney85

For veg I'm using the No Dig method. The same principles might apply to flower beds. Basically you lie some cardboard over the grass where you want the bed and spread compost over the top, then plant straight into that. Over time the cardboard will rot away and the grass underneath will die off. Then every year you just keep adding compost on top. There are loads of videos on YouTube, look up Charles Dowding.

I am also total gardening novice & I have done that this year. I have created two large flower beds over the top of quite weedy manky grass. I covered everything with cardboard and watered the cardboard well and then I covered with topsoil and compost. And it's surprisingly turned into quite amazing flower beds. Of course I don't have any flowers in at the moment as I've been growing everything from seed and everything is been growing extremely slowly and due to slugs and snails I'm too nervous to plant anything out. So I will spend this weekend potting my seedlings & tiny plugs on. hopefully in a few weeks I'll be able to plant them out into my lovely new flower beds.

Having said that I have dug a couple of sunflowers and things in the back of my new borders. I dig straight through the cardboard and although there is a bit of roots there is no grass and the worms are doing really well and incorporating everything together so I'm very pleased with the method & the way the grass has been killed.

When I had my first real garden five years ago this is what I did
I looked at pictures online of themes, eg cottage, japanese, jungle, formal
I decided I wanted a cottage garden style and then googles 'best cottage garden plants'
That gave me an idea of what things would look like once establised, how big theyd get etc.
A gardener friend advised me to be a lazy gardener and to only dig when I actually was planting something as I had planned on digging up all the many borders. I chucked in compost or manure each time I planted something and as someone said above I planed in threes.
On the second year I started taking cuttings of the plants and was amazed that most took. I could then plant these out too
I also started growing things from seed and that saved lots of money
I five years I then had a beautiful mature cottage garden which had cost me very little and I'd had such fun and learned so much without anything becoming a chore.
Alway remember it's supposed to give you pleasure and enjoy

Get the brilliant and wild book. I used it last year and it's fantastic for those of us with not a huge amount of time but who want a nature friendly garden. Mine is titchy too but it's pretty now

This is the front bed in the evening sun last year

Stunning picture @ArnottsUnderpass! 😍

OP, it might be worth grinding the stumps out before you get started. Once you have plants in, it will be too late.

It would be great so see a picture of what you have to work with.

When my husband and I were younger and the children were little, we joined the RHS. It was a good value for us. It gave us lots of toddler appropriate afternoons out on the weekends at their open gardens, and their monthly magazine that came with the membership was useful too. We learned a lot and gained inspiration. We spent a lot of time together doing up our garden with the kids “helping.” It was inexpensive, satisfying and kid friendly to potter in our back garden.

From experience, even if the cost means you have to delay all the rest of it, get a professional to dig out the stumps as deep as possible. You will need to improve the soil afterwards. But as PP have said, it is a total ball ache to find massive tree roots everywhere you try to plant things.

There is gardenroll for flower beds. Not used myself but o believe they send you a biodegradable paper sheet the size of your border with circles indicating what plant to put where. Based on soil type, what grows/looks good together/year round interest/garden position. They may sell the exact plants too. Not very creative on your side but cheaper than paying a gardener. Think it's more for smaller borders than a deep bed with large shrubs.

www.gardenonaroll.com/

Correction: garden on a roll

Thanks you for all the very valuable advices! I've finally sat down and made some notes of the key points.

basket for weedinglollipop sticks
a fork
dibbergreen waste compostmushroom compostnew leaf peat freewood chipsnews paperhaysfarmhouse manure or soil improver
covering each section
water the cardboard thoroughly before adding topsoil.
dig out the ivy/ bramble roots
mattock