Advice needed - complete newbie!

[pantheistsboots]

We've recently moved from a house with a tiny courtyard garden to a large Edwardian house with a big, if rather overgrown garden. There are large flowerbeds down the sides that are completely choked with weeds - any flowers and shrubs that were once there seem to have been overcome.

While we're reasonably competent at weeding, mowing the lawn, etc., we're utterly clueless when it comes to planning arrangements of new plants to fill the space. I've been reading Lucy Bellamy's "Beautiful and Wild" and would like to follow her approach (planting complementary selections of perennials at different heights). My question is this: can I embark on this even at this time of year - i.e. by selecting and planting out potted perennials that would work for the look I want? And then adding in more as the seasons go by and new plants come into the shops? The book seems to suggest as much, but the instructions seem to suggest doing all the planting in a one-er, ideally much earlier in the year.

Thank you, expert gardeners!

You can absolutely plant as and when you see something nice. In fact, as a beginner, your brst bet is to buy plants as you see them in flower so you know what you’re getting. Also join local Facebook gardening groups.

One piece of advice - avoid the “one of everything” approach. Aim for a vague idea of repetition/consistency now and again. Not exactly the same plant necessarily, but something the same shape or colour to tie the border together.

All that said, autumn is a brilliant time for planting perennials - the ground is still warm enough for the roots to get going, they’re not trying to support huge top growth, and you’re likely to have enough rain to take the pressure of watering.

My general advice would be to do small sections at a time. If you clear soil and leave it bare it will just become a litter tray for the local cats if it’s anything like my garden.

Also when you disturb the soil it will prompt dormant seeds to suddenly sprout so you’ll have lots of weeds with no competition from the plants you actually want if you’re not ready to plant it up.

I wouldn't do that yet. You have only recently moved in, and have no idea what surprises you might get early next year. It would be a pity to lose some lovely mature plants because you don't know what they are yet.

Maybe take things really slowly and start clearing the definite weeds out, and leaving everything else until you can identify it. Once you know what it is, you can decide to either keep it as part of the layout, move it somewhere else, or get rid of it altogether. Big old shrubs can be pruned and rejuvenated, and it would take years to grow new ones in their place.

Meanwhile, you can start planning around the things you want to keep, and deciding where you want paths, shed, lawn etc.

One of the lovely things about gardening, and having a garden, is that you are always learning. You can change things as you go along. I'm always moving things around and rethinking things. Sometimes something just doesn't grow well where I've planted it. Sometimes it dies and I have to accept that it doesn't work with my (heavy clay and often waterlogged) soil. My advice would be to work up a bit of a plan, but accept (and enjoy!) the fact that you will need to change things over time. It's part of the pleasure of gardening as a project. If you just started with everything perfect from the beginning then you'd have nothing else to do other than pruning/weeding from year 2!

So, yes, you can start now with potted perennials - just take care to water them well so they survive the transition during the summer weather. Personally I structure my garden around shrubs, with particular emphasis on evergreens to ensure the garden is not too bare in winter/early spring, so I'd think about that too if I were you.

Do you know what type of soil you have? That will have a big impact on the types of plants that you can grow.

I agree with @Yamadori . Wait and see what you already have growing in your garden!

Thank you all so much! It's quite a daunting task so it's great to know that I can do it bit by bit.

I'm definitely going to try and take it slowly, and will heed the advice about not clearing the weeds without having something to fill the void.

I like the idea of structuring the garden around shrubs, too.

Lots of food for thought!

Try not to be swayed by the garden makeover programmes you see on the telly!

They have experts doing the planning, a large budget and a finite time slot to get the thing done all in one go for the filming, and real gardens mature over a much longer period than that.

Bear in mind there may be spring -flowering bulbs under there. You don't want to plant a big shrub right on top of them.

I agree with PP - spend a year observing your garden, taking pictures of it once or twice a season, seeing where gets the sun and where gets the rain, and planning. It requires patience, but can be fun too!

Remember a garden is a process not a finished product

My question is this: can I embark on this even at this time of year?
The short answer is 'no'. It's far too hot and dry (at long last! hurrah!!) to plant stuff at the moment. Wait for autumn and, meanwhile, plan (see below) and prepare (remove weeds, improve soil, etc).
If you have come from a courtyard garden then you will know about pots - major on those for this year.
While we're reasonably competent at weeding, mowing the lawn, etc., we're utterly clueless when it comes to planning arrangements of new plants to fill the space.
The most important thing in getting a good garden is not the plants but the design. As said by pp above, plan your garden to look good in winter: get the 'bare bones' right first. Design seating areas, paths, the shape of the lawn, sheds, services (water / electricity) and other such practical things. One of the most important things to design is height / 3D-ness; a flat garden is a boring garden!
Be a designer first and a plantswoman second.