Garden rescue - tips and advice please!

Colliewobble_2

Hi all,

I bought my first house over the winter and have done all the internal 'stuff' I can for the moment.

Now it's time to look at the jungle of a garden. It's not been touched in more than 7 years (according to neighbours) and is full of couch grass, brambles and nettles.

What I really need is someone in to do the work for me - but I'm just not sure where to start as I have no gardening experience whatsoever.

All I want is for some extra slabbing, and the rest of it to be de-weeded, levelled and turfed - so I don't need a 'Landscape Designer' or 'Garden Architect' but I DO need someone who knows how to (permanently) get rid of the brambles etc.

Most of the people advertising in the Yellow Pages are under Landscape Design, but as I'm not after pergolas, water features, raised bedding or a fancy design, I'm not sure these would be appropriate .

Can anyone point me in the right direction of who/what to look for, and what to ask to at least try and get someone decent, honest and reliable? BTW I'm new to the area so don't know that many people for first-hand recommendations!

Many thanks in advance!

S

Barneysmom

Can you write which town you are in please?

Colliewobble_2

I'm in eastern Warwickshire - is it ok not to be too specific?

miggy

Your difficulty is going to be getting rid of all the roots - and I mean all! Nettles and couch grass are great survivors and any bits of roots can be the start of new plants. This applies whether you have someone in or do the job yourself. I would suggest you ask at B&Q, etc. or a garden centre as they can recommend products and may have contact with firms who could help.
Off the top of my head, three options:

1. I'm not keen on weedkillers but they may be worth investigating...
2. If you are able to dig, then clear what you can off the surface with secateurs or shears and a strong pair of gloves (and the sooner the better as things grow so quickly at this time of year), get yourself a garden fork, and start turning the ground over. Don't use a spade, as it will chop those roots into as many new plant-starters as possible and you will have it all to do again. Getting all the bits out will be laborious but ultimately worth it.
3. You could cover the lot in thick black plastic (or old carpet, anything that eliminates light) topped with a thick layer of mulch, and just kill the lot off by light deprivation. You would have to look up how long to leave it down as some weeds last quite a while even in these conditions. Not pretty, sadly.

The good side of it is that the weeds you mention don't have the deepest roots - some worse offenders can go down at least 6 feet!
May I just put in a cheeky plea that you leave a little bit of natural ground? - both to keep the area 'alive and breathing' and to enable the garden to drain. Paved gardens can cause problems in that the ground dries out (not good for nearby buildings) and rain water has to go somewhere, which can lead to localised flooding.
I hope you find the exact help you need, and best of luck with the garden

dander

My local paper has loads of people who advertise in there as gardeners or garden services who could do this kind of thing - you need brute strength most of all. As post above says, even the best person probably won't be able to get rid of everything forever. It's the nature of plants, as living things that they seed and regenerate from roots below ground, and the weed plants are, by nature, the most resiliant, but they should be very easily controllable once the initial work's done.

dacouch

Ring the police up and tell them there is a body buried somewhere in the garden, within a few days there will be no weeds and a nice level garden

andrew-b

Lol.. i was hoping i'd find some archaelogical artefact when starting to remove concrete patio area so i'd get a free excavation ! All i found was a sliced copper olive, a toothbrush and a stanley tape measure!

Get a scythe or machete and raize everything to the ground. Then weedkiller (use a diquat based weedkiller such as weedol)..leave as required by weedkiller instructions. Then dig over the whole area with a fork removing everything. Give it a couple of weeks and see what comes back and either weedol again or a different glyphosphate based weedkiller such as Roundup. Leave again and keep hoe over now and again to keep any weed seedlings taking hold. Spot treat bigger more resilient weeds again as needed.

If the levels of the ground need adjusting alot then the levels need to be adjusted by shifting the subsoil rather than the topsoil (topsoil being top 6 inches or so usually) so may require a fair bit of earth moving!

Alternatively ...napalm!

miggy

andrew-b wrote: »

All i found was a sliced copper olive, a toothbrush and a stanley tape measure!

Soooo... did you ring the police and tell them you suspected someone had died of DIY in your garden?!

I'm glad someone came along who knows more than I do about weedkiller. Personally I think the OP should hire you Andrew!

andrew-b

miggy wrote: »

Soooo... did you ring the police and tell them you suspected someone had died of DIY in your garden?!

Well i felt pretty much dead after so i probably could have!

I'm glad someone came along who knows more than I do about weedkiller. Personally I think the OP should hire you Andrew!

Nah once was enough on my sister's. Though next time i think i'd wear more appropriate clothing than shorts and t-shirt ...nettles/brambles vs skin :eek:

Rotor

Hi colliewobble. If you are turfing then you don't have to worry too much about killing all the weeds off - you just need to level it and then turf( big stuff like the bramble will need to be chopped off and removed first). regular mowing will kill what comes up through the turf.
Any borders you want to have are a different matter. Glysophate weedkillers( eg roundup) should be applied and everything will die off ; but expect to have to re-apply 4 or 6 weeks later. This should kill the perrenial weeds but annuals are a recurrent problem that need hoeing/ pulling regularly before they can seed ( alternatively lay a weedblock material and plant through that)

Vibrant

The best method I have found, is to strim, or mow the weeds down to a couple of inches high.
Rake up the debris and dispose of.
Wait a week, or so, until the weeds are showing new growth (when they are most vulnerable) and then spray them with a Glysophate based weedkiller (Wilkinson have the concentrate for £10). Wait a week and spray again. You will then need to wait several weeks for the full affect, possibly spot treating tougher weeds such as the brambles.
Don't expect miracles from the weedkiller, as the nanny state EU blocked the use of effective products.

Once the weeds are dead, rake/hoe up the remains. Then dig, or rotavate the ground and level.

The weed seeds will however still be in the ground and it will take two or three years of hoeing to bring them fully under control. The more vigorous perennials can and will push through turf and weed fabric.