Please help a beginner with phobias and a mad jungle

Mortal

wonderful news! Good luck, and most importantly HAVE FUN!

misskool

good to see you so motivated , why not start by asking for a few things on freecycle, I'm always pleasantly surprised by what I can get on there, I've been giving spare plants away on it too.

A good garden fork and a good hand fork will see you through many things. If you're not a big fan of touching slimy things, try waiting for a few days until the soil is dry. I still cringe when I touch wet compost but am ok to move things when it's dry. :O After I've sorted everything out, then I water them to make sure they are ok.

tidy_sum

I think it's a good idea to start with the front garden since it's smaller - you should see rewards for your hard work and effort sooner.

Me and my OH have transformed our abandoned back garden over the last couple of years - filled a 10 tonne skip with chips, rubbish, ivy and weeds, barrowed in 6 tonnes of new topsoil, made a retaining wall and raised veg bed from railway sleepers, put down turf and re-laid our patio. This has been the first year where it's all about the plants!!! It's been tough but great and I'm so looking forward to just enjoying pottering around and lying back in it this year with the BBQ going.

This is a long-winded way of suggesting trying some bird feeders in your own garden - we had loads last year (hiding under the black polythene) but since regularly feeding the birds, I've not found slugs to be as much of a problem this year. There are still a few, but much less. Any I do see I pick up with a plant label or my trowel and leave them on the bird table.

If you get on okay with your neighbours, you could always mention you're looking for any cuttings they could offer you - if you see anything in their garden you like. My neighbours have been very generous with their cuttings.

Hope you enjoy your new garden Nuala.

rhiwfield

Nuala, there are several good brands of tools but the price normally goes with them.

If you know someone who has a brushcutter (like a powerful strimmer only with metal blades) then get them to bring it to your garden and cut the bramble in exchange for an evening meal. They tend to be used in wildlife conservation. Its too dangerous to use unless youve been trained, the technique is to rev up the cutter and press down on the bramble which shreds it and avoids tangling around the head of the cutter. I use a Stihl brushcutter which is a great machine.

The low tech and less noisy solution is to use a lopper, like secateurs with long handles. For a one off clearance I'd probably buy a value tool that would do the job.

For the tools you will use regularly like forks, spades, hoes and trowels, thats where you should concentrate your spend. Get stainless steel so that they dont mind getting left in the rain but take care you get tools sized to you, nothing worse than having a spade or fork thats too large or cumbersome.

Brands include Wolf, Spear and Jackson, Wilkinson Sword.

Re the saplings, the other invasive tree is ash, greyish stem/trunk and narrow leaves. If the saplings are as big as you say then you may not be able to dig out the root system, in which case you may need to use a root killer such as SBK.

Not sure about rose cuttings, you could propagate hardwood cuttings but they wont have any better disease resistance than the parent

Megansmum

Nuala it is great to see you have posted here and are doing so so well already - keep it up! The more you see and touch them, the less scary they will be!
If you have any pound shops near you, they sell packets of wildflower seeds. These you just bung round on your bare soil and pretty much leave alone. Soon you will have a natural wildflower plot - encouraging all the bees and friendly critters - and it looks really pretty too!

Good luck - I know you will make a great job - post some photos when you're done! :j

NualaBuala

Hi everyone and thank you all so much for replying! I'm sorry about the delay in posting but it's been one of those [STRIKE]weeks[/STRIKE] fortnights.

I feel ashamed to say I haven't made much progress - I haven't been at home much and when I have, it's been lashing. Are you die-hard gardeners good at getting out when it's raining? I know I'm not that dedicated!

Miskool, I'm with you there. We had some good weather but I was kept too busy to make the most of everything being dry. And now everything is damp and squishy. I'm hopeful that the sun will reappear as I will be much less terrified. I picked up a cheap handfork to tide me over but will get a good one as soon as funds allow. I managed to get a push lawn mower on freecycle - I'd love if I could nab a good garden fork but I'm saving towards a few tools.

Tidy, your garden must be amazing now. That's a great idea about the cuttings. I have lovely neighbours and I'm sure they'd be happy to help.. They might even give me some advice. I think your idea of attracting the birds is good - I bought a bird feeder but I've had problems finding a spot for it - one of my neighbours have cats that are always on the prowl after the poor birds so I want to site it in a cat-free zone.

rhiwfield, I picked up a cheap loppers in Aldi - hopefully it will get me part way through the job at least! I think if I'm buying a fork, I will try for a good one. It's funny, I had one from my grandparents that my parents used to use - it was borrowed and never returned but I found it was too short, even in my teens. I guess we're taller now or something. But I will test whatever I buy as it will be backbreaking work anyway! I think you were right first time about the trees being sycamore - the leaves had a reddish tinge which confused me but the leaf shape looks spot on. It is just burgeoning with green growth down there and I am frightened to go near it! So I will focus on the front till autumn.

Thanks Megan'sMum - I picked some up cheap in Aldi - where would I be without Aldi and Lidl! But I have yet to sow them. Hope your own gardening is going well.

I haven't been able to wangle a lift to get big pots yet so I'm confining my efforts to the indoor herbs I've got at the mo. I hope the rain clears up so I can clear a little patch in the front as I've got a fair few seeds I can sow now. I can't wait to get started!

Thanks everyone for the gardening wisdom and encouragement! :TI really appreciate it.

Nuala