Complete overwhelm

[Arewethebadguys]

Hi ladies

We've moved to a new house with a massive garden. Truth be told we've been here almost a year but the house was a wreck so we've concentrated on that first.

It's now time to tackle the massive garden and I just don't know where to start. There is grass, decking, loads of wild bushes, stone walls and a lot of broken concrete steps. We have no money to pay someone.

I appreciate you don't have a crystal ball, but what would you prioritise in March? There are bits of cut down trees in a big pile - would you take this to the dump or wait for green bin collection and get rid bit by bit? Should we be cutting the grass now or is it too early? Can we start hacking bushes back or will we kill them?

Thank you!

Should also mention we have 2 under 4 so we've had our hands full! 🤣🤣

There are a couple of ways to approach this.

Ask yourself what is the biggest eyesore? Or ask yourself in the summer, how would you like to use the garden? If its really big, you could concentrate on the area directly outside the house to give yourself somewhere to sit and play with the kids.

Before you hack back any bushes, try and identify them. Some will appreciate a cut back. Some like rhododendrons will be readying to flower and it'd be a shame to lose that show.

Post some photos if you like, then people can be more specific.

Oooooh. I'll need to see pictures. How exciting!! I'd love a project like this.

In answer to your questions, I'm going to ask more. Re: cut trees, do you want to start a compost pile? If so, the much smaller branches/if you're borrowing a shredder would be great to contribute towards eventually compost.
How long do you want the grass to be? It'll grow continuously from now til about Oct/Nov; keep it quite long if you want to be environmentally friendly (so many bug habitats in long grass).
Birds are starting to nest now so not the best time to hack bushes back with electric tools, but you can get good hand loppers and have a go before significant growth starts later this month. Again it depends how big you want them to be.
Do you want flower/food crop beds? You could dig a border round the lawn though with two small kids that's probably a project to wait until they're older, as they'll wreck the borders when playing on the lawn.
Start small to begin with, March is a good time to be thinking about how you'd like it to look eventually.

Do it bit by bit.
Seeing as you have DC, I'd suggest concentrating on the lawn to give them a playarea. It's amazing the difference a quick mow and a neatening of the edges makes.
Leave the bushes for the moment. Do you even know what they are? Wait for them to flower, ID the plant and then find the right pruning regime. If you hack back before flowering then ... they don't flower because you've chopped the flowers off!

Mostly stuff will grow back unless it is in full shade, so damp the roots rot or overshadowed by something, So perhaps attack the grass and strim it down to a better level and rake it up if it isn't in any of the places described above. . edging the edge of the grass with a spade makes a big difference to how tidy things look.

ARre the concrete steps savable? You can stack the loose bits out of the way. Leave trees and shrubs until you see how attractive they are in the summer,, unless you have already had experience of that, then decide whether to keep or reemove.

Work out where the sun reaches the garden and thus where you want the table, seats and umbrella, bbq, sandpit etc.
We have decking but it gets very slippy in the winter. Also animals can hide under it, we have had rabbits.

Sketch some plans - don't do it all in one summer take time. Your ideas will change.

Photos would help, but from what you've said, I would take the wood pile to the dump, and if the grass has started growing, cut it. It will instantly look tidier.

Leave all the bushes alone until you know what they are - everything has it's own pruning needs.

I have the RHS Pruning manual, which is my bible, you might find it useful: https://amzn.eu/d/6nKJj0d

Ypu can get plant id apps for your phone, or just ask on here.

Identify a shady, out of sight area for a compost heap for grass mowing and pruning, if you like.

That's all you need to get started!

At some stage work out what kind of soil you have (sandy, heavy clay, light and chalky etc as that will help with plant choux down the line.

The biggest and most fun thing you can do is decide what kind of garden you want to have , which will determine what you do next. If you want a wild, natural garden, with areas of unmown grass, insects hotels and naturalised grass, with climbing rises growing through all the trees, that takes you in one direction. If you want a family garden with a big lawn for the kids and lots of colourful plants, that takes you in another. Just google garden inspiration and start browsing!

I'd get the grass cut and stack the wood in a pile in a corner somewhere.

Then get the steps sorted out.

Without a picture it is hard to advise.

Wild, overgrown bushes tend to be a recurring problem on programmes like Gardeners' Question Time. If the bushes are really bad, they sometimes recommend the 'bit by bit' approach: hard-prune a third of branches this year, ditto next year, ditto the year after, then maintain as normal. That way you won't shock the plant too much and kill it.

This is the way I did mine last year.

Chunk it up mentally into lots of small zones and clear one a weekend.

Prune everything drastically, weed and then mulch straight away. Missed out the mulch once and felt very bitter weeding the second time round.

It will slowly look more manageable and respectable. You will get an eye for what is a weed and what isn't. And doing sections at a time makes you feel you have a solid achievement.

I've learned loads from the 'what have you done in the garden today' thread. I'd also recommend a photo diary (seriously regret not doing this) and the RHS garden diary so you know what happens when in your garden each year.

You can buy ready made borders if you haven't a clue. I'm using a book which had plans for 'sunny border''shady border' etc and just copied it wholesale, looks great and much better than what I would have done.

Good luck!

Can't believe so many of you took the time to reply - thank you!

Just back from a kiddie class, I've put the kettle on and I'll read each one properly now.

Thank you all so so much. They say each journey starts with a single step so here goes . . . 🤗❤️

Just remembered, I have a front and back garden. Decided both was too much garden for one year so I completely ignored the back.

If your garden is massive it's fine to say I'm doing this bit this year, get it up and running and just close your eyes to the mess elsewhere.

If it was me I'd get the grass cut now and keep on top of that. Then I'd tackle / hard prune the overgrown bushes. Doesn't have to be done all at once.

I'd leave the log pile or move it to a corner as a bug hut / nature area to encourage wildlife.

Then just general tidy and neaten everything up then see where you're at.

Before you chuck all the wood away, I'd build a wood pile in a corner with the nicest logs - it's really good for wildlife. And keep useful-shaped bits of branches that can be used to prop up plants later on - they look so much more natural than bamboo.

Omg amazing everyone! Thank you thank you!

Totally inspired 🌿

This is what I would do, it will give you a quicker sense of achievement/tidiness, then spend time identifying all the things you want to prune before actually pruning them - some things love a hard prune and others don’t, there is a right time of year for different ones too.

The cut trees, are the pieces logs or branches? Would you burn logs in your fireplace if you kept them in a corner to season them?

Having a garden for the first time is overwhelming. But don't think you have to do it all at once. It is just like a house make-over. Take it a bit at a time. Get to know your garden, learn as you go; it will be much more satisfying and you will make fewer mistakes. Let your children 'help' you and you will come to adore it.

Even if the OP can't, if you put the wood on FB marketplace for a tenner, it will be gone by lunchtime. IMHO.

We've just moved into a new house. Garden wraps all the way around.
I've tackled it an area at a time. It's too overwhelming otherwise.
By doing this I'm recognising plants that seem to be in every area so I've been quite brutal in chopping stuff back and pulling stuff out as it looks fairly hardy and will grow back if I've made a mistake.
I'm trying to be patient as a lot of stuff is still bare so need to see what it is before deciding whether we want it.
I agree with others you have to decide what you want for this summer. Probably a lawn for the children to play and have toys out is the most important along with making anywhere safe that they're likely to play.
That's what I'd concentrate on. You've got years and years ahead of you. It doesn't have to be perfect now.