Would you like a challenge?

[BluebellOfTheBall]

To start with we rent. The letting agent and the landlords have been extremely difficult, and getting anything fixed (h&s issues etc) has been a long drawn out nightmare. So I'm not interested in spending much money on this as I really don't know if we'll stay after the 12 months are done!

But..

The garden is actually massive and I'd like to enjoy it but shingle was laid to cover the entire garden front and back. This was done over a decade ago. There is also an enormous tree covering approximately 2/3 of the back garden, so it's very shaded. The shingle has not been maintained and the result is that the entire back garden is over grown with weeds, many waist high. There's also loads of baby trees that have grown from seed.

I can not pull the weeds or I will disturb the soil and make the situation worse. Weed burner won't work, trust me. Flame thrower might 🤔

So, any recommendations for wild flowers or cheap plants I can find homes for that will enjoy growing in an overgrown plot of shady gravel?

In your case I would strim it and invest in as many pots on free cycle as I could and grow everything on anti weed mats and get it ready for my new house ! Good luck

Have you got a picture?

Periwinkle does well in my shady patch full of builders gravel under trees.

I did think about it, and if I can't find some decent flowers, I'll do just that. Although I will have to be careful as the shingle are a good size and I'll take out an eye if it goes wrong with the strimmer!

Oh, I do like periwinkle. I thought was a sun lover, I will try a bit and see if it takes. Thank you.

@UpUpUpU I'm being a bit paranoid but don't want to out myself to landlords/estate agent. It's very shady though and the rocks look similar to this. https://www.stoneandsurfaces.co.uk/product/charcoal-welsh-slate-chippings-20-mm?variation=Charcoal%20Welsh%20slate%20chippings%2020MM%20BULK&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=17335535706&gbraid=0AAAAACZbdwfN_HzN99FLi46fil8rqRasV&gclid=CjwKCAjwz_bABhAGEiwAm-P8YWL1KVBdXM309R4gFvTXRSjtA3KCK7ntC4MN0uKnMKHyNMq6TaPlVhoCzSwQAvD_BwE

Salt is a cheap weedkiller and mixed with water and put in a spray bottle should kill a lot of it off and then you can just use pots or planters to contain ‘pretty’ flowers or plants.

Also hellebores and Yellow Corydalis thrive in my similar conditions.

There's a technique called no dig. Just trim the weeds a bit, then pile down plain brown cardboard as a weed mat (don't use plastic mats as they degrade and cause lots of problems down the line) then a few inches of compost on top and plant in that. The weeds will grow through but with much less vigour and can be weeded out as they appear. With time they kind of give up. Super easy, quick and no digging.

You can't do no dig over a load of slate chippings though or you will end you with soggy cardboard over slate chips.

Salt will stop pretty much everything growing in the plot for a long time though. A flame thrower would be more environmentally friendly.

There is no point in trying to tackle the whole lot, the garden doesn't belong to you and at the moment it will be a haven for wildlife. I'd concentrate on just one small area, a couple of square metres or so and make that nice, either in the sun or shade, depending on where you will want to sit out.

Get some cheap secateurs and some long-handled loppers from somewhere like B&M, and cut everything down flush with the ground. Every time something pops up, off with its head. You can then have a table and chairs out there, and maybe a pot of summer bedding flowers.

Pouring boiling water on weeds also kills them. They seem to take a while to grow back.

Blimey what a mess. Well, you can’t make it worse. What do you want to do/see out there? I’m with the loppers and pots option.

Chop the weeds down either with hand tools or a strimmer. Then use boiling water. Just do a bit at a time per day. I repeatedly boiled my kettle and the plus in the wall was ROASTING so I had to stop before I blew it. Make sure you’re allowed garden waste in your garden bin. Some need a permit. Ours is £50 a year.

Red flanders poppies might grow there and spread easily if they the plot gets any sun?

I’m in rental, into my second year. Rather than remove all the weeds I strimmed them, then went the pot route which I already had loads of. Compost from garden centre. I sowed a whole load of easy annulars like cosmos and sunflowers.

I also went to Asda and bought some small cheap flowers and plants including some veg like cucumbers and plonked everything in the pots. It’s all done really well and my neighbour (who owns her property) has also started doing cucumbers in pots.

Good luck with it. We have bought a house now, well completing this month, but gardening in pots has got me through.