From Jungle to Garden - A (very slow) work in progress!!

harib0uk

I think it will be great for you, and the help of the neighbours son will be good... my advice get an area set out from the start.. not the whole garden.. so that it is done properly then do bit by bit. you really need to get the bramble roots up otherwise you will be constantly fighting them. So give the son an area to work on and tell him the roots need out not just cutting down, then when that areas done give him another area to do!

Your younger kids will love having an outside space to play in, and enjoy the veg/herb garden... get some pots and some sunflower seeds, they grow quickly and are great for the kids to start off with.

once things start to happen, you might get hubby and teenage daughter to help out if you ask them what they would like in the garden.. ask for opinions etc...

I love to escape into the garden, whenever I've had a stressful day at work/with the little one I find getting into the garden and doing some tidying up relaxes me and puts me back into a positive frame of mind.

ixwood

A new project.. How exciting!

Consider the things/areas you'd like in it and then work out how you're going to fit it all it in and lay it out. Options include:-

Lawn, pond and/or bog, veg patch, herb garden, compost heap/bin, Mini meadow/wildflower area , bee/butterfly area, orchard/fruit trees, patio, seating area.

SEE

jo1972 wrote: »

I am interested in it but looking at it just seemed overwhelming to me. Since posting on here I have felt excited about the prospect of doing small sections at a time, something that never occurred to me before.

What garden tools do I need then, obviously the gloves and a fork, anything else?

Don't despair, you will get there:TI've suffered from a bad back for years looking after my disabled son and my garden ended up like an overgrown building site, I was really depressed about it. I'm a single female and achieved something in just 18 months. Here are my before, between, and after shots. Never give up;)

SEE

And what it looks like now.

Lotus-eater

jo1972 wrote: »

I know you all think I should do it myself and up to this point I was quite happy to plod along slowly with it, but if someone could help come round and clear it and literally clear the woods from the trees then I think this will be a great motivation boost for me!

I don't think anyone said or insinuated this at all, I certainly didn't. Breaking in new ground can be back breaking and time heavy work, not something to look forward to, but you can look back on it with pride.

Having someone else do it for you would be great, you obviously haven't the time to do it in any sort of reasonable time period.

Start as you mean to go on, when you get the garden done, plan where you want things, if you don't know what to do, no problem, come on here and ask for advice, we'll give you options and you can pick what you want. If you get it right from the word go, your life looking after it will be so much easier.

Vibrant

I'm amazed that you had to pay £500 to get the area cleared, gardeners must be paid much more in your area!

More seriously, it's not an enormous area and brambles are pretty easy to clear, once you get going, it just looks daunting at first glance.
I usually use the rigger hide type of glove, a pair of secateurs, loppers, a knife a bit like a machete and the shredder is handy.

I wouldn't bother with weedkiller, it isn't very effective on brambles anyway, unless you use a strong solution and you don't want that near ground you want to cultivate.

Perseverance is the key, once the ground is clear, check over it once a week and remove anything that pops its head up, after a few months they will be exhausted and give up the ghost.

Have fun and don't forget to post some more pictures as the project progresses.

p.s. Have some alcohol wipes, or similar on hand, ready to clean the inevitable scratches, it's easy to get infected, if you ignore them. I usually wear safety glasses as well, if the undergrowth is very wild.

jo1972

Ixwood, I would love a Mini meadow/wildflower or bee/butterfly area but would worry as I don't know enough about plants at the moment and I might end up with it taking over? It's certainly something I'm going to read up on though.

SEE, your garden looks fantastic, you must get such a sense of achievement when you go into it. Thanks for showing me what I can achieve if I put my mind to it, I must also remember not to be so impatient

Lotus-eater, sorry if I came across rude, I certainly never intended to, I came on here to get help! I intend to do all the work myself as I need a new hobby and want to do it for my kids. But, if I can get someone round to chop it all down quick so it's not such an eye sore for the neighbours anymore then that will help me plan what I want to do with it too. Thanks for your advice so far

Vibrant, the guys I paid to chop the garden down last time I don't think were actual gardeners although that's what they advertised as in the local paper. My neighbour reminded me yesterday that I actually paid them £600 so they would take it all away as well :eek: they did the work and then did dump trips for various people down the road taking furniture and all sorts, it was odd they left mine to take something from next door and then someone else across the road called out to them and they ended up going into 5 houses!! I think they were just blokes with a van that would do anything for some dosh.

I've been told that the local council come round once a week with a van and take away any garden rubbish, they might fill the van with my garden rubbish but least it saves someone/me having to take it to the tip. I'll save some for a bonfire/compost but the big brambles need to go, am I right in thinking they are a perennial weed so no good for the compost? See, I'm learning!!

ETA: Vibrant, thanks for the alcohol wipe tip by the way

SEE

jo1972 wrote: »

Ixwood, I would love a Mini meadow/wildflower or bee/butterfly area but would worry as I don't know enough about plants at the moment and I might end up with it taking over? It's certainly something I'm going to read up on though.

SEE, your garden looks fantastic, you must get such a sense of achievement when you go into it. Thanks for showing me what I can achieve if I put my mind to it, I must also remember not to be so impatient

Lotus-eater, sorry if I came across rude, I certainly never intended to, I came on here to get help! I intend to do all the work myself as I need a new hobby and want to do it for my kids. But, if I can get someone round to chop it all down quick so it's not such an eye sore for the neighbours anymore then that will help me plan what I want to do with it too. Thanks for your advice so far

Vibrant, the guys I paid to chop the garden down last time I don't think were actual gardeners although that's what they advertised as in the local paper. My neighbour reminded me yesterday that I actually paid them £600 so they would take it all away as well :eek: they did the work and then did dump trips for various people down the road taking furniture and all sorts, it was odd they left mine to take something from next door and then someone else across the road called out to them and they ended up going into 5 houses!! I think they were just blokes with a van that would do anything for some dosh.

I've been told that the local council come round once a week with a van and take away any garden rubbish, they might fill the van with my garden rubbish but least it saves someone/me having to take it to the tip. I'll save some for a bonfire/compost but the big brambles need to go, am I right in thinking they are a perennial weed so no good for the compost? See, I'm learning!!

ETA: Vibrant, thanks for the alcohol wipe tip by the way

Burn the lot, its what I did. It took about 2 months of little bonfires to get rid of the lot. Get a pick to hack the brambles out. The pick will go in deep enough to grab the roots, you can then see where the roots are and dig them out. Everytime you do a bit put weed membrane down so it won't grow back again. If you start now you could be planting your own veg next year:T

Lotus-eater

jo, if you want to start stuff this year and you can get the guy to sort out the garden in the near future, you should start off some veg now in pots and modules.
Stick to easy stuff for the first year, courgettes, squash will use up alot of space and keep the weeds down, climbing french beans, runner beans, salad leaves. All this will be good, stick cardboard and weed control fabric where you have nothing and in between crops as well, keeps the weeds down and keeps in moisture.
Pick a strawberry bed if you want one, plant through weed membrane after really getting all of the weed roots out. Look out for a place to plant currant bushes and climbing berries, again if you want them. If you get the fruit in this year, it will start paying you back next.

Just some ideas, pick yourself what you like to eat.

jo1972

Thanks Lotus-eater, my DS wants to grow herbs, are these better in pots or the ground? Plus if we start them in pots are they okay to transfer to ground later?

I was thinking of maybe tomatoes, peppers, carrots, cauliflowers that sort of thing, but I honestly have no idea at the moment about whether these are feasible and whether I'm in time for planting.

I'll pop into B&Q on the way home and see what they have in the way of pots. What sort of stuff do I buy to go in the pots, I've seen a huge array of compost and peat in there and have no idea what is the best thing to use.... Oh, also do I need to 'line' the base of the pots with something like stones?

Questions, questions