A few questions from a newbie, be gentle lol!

mummybearx

Okay, bit of background, so after living with the jungle that is our garden for a few years, we have finally gotten round to starting it! Its about 20ft wide, about 80ft long. At the moment its a total jungle :eek: The first half had concrete slabs in a pattern which is now almost completely covered in weeds and a layer of soil, the second half has always been messy and is now a total jungle!

What we hope to have at the end is somewhere the dog can play, we can sit out on, and have plenty of veg and some fruit growing. Thats not asking too much, is it?!! :rotfl:

So, after we clear all the weeds, take away the shed that has fallen down, knock down and remove the old brick bbq, what do I do then?

I thought buying rolls of turf and laying them would stop the weeds growing back again, then cutting into the grass to plant veg at a later date. Is this a daft idea?

And if turf is a good option, any ideas how much this costs and where I can buy it from? Just looked on B&Q and they don't have it on their website.

I will add that the soil in the garden is fantastic, two of my neighbours grow veg, have done for over 20 years, and they both say that they can grow anything in the soil, its just so healthy.

Any suggestions welcome, I literally don't know where to start once we have cleared all the weeds and rubbish

Zepsgal x x

pinkcandyflossprincess

we need pics:o

Mrs_Domino

Regarding the weeds, if you don't mind leaving it for a while I'd be tempted to strim and then cover with either weed suppressing fabric or, the one I'd go for, loads of overlapping cardboard. When its lifted the weeds would have died and you could scrape them off and lay the turf on top or if you know where you will do the veg beds by then leave the cardboard as it will break down and check out this site. http://www.no-dig-vegetablegarden.com/

HTH

mummybearx

Will see if I can get pics of the whole garden tonight, Im at work just now (and very busy as you can see lol)

Thanks for the link Mrs_Domino, will check out that website just now

And if anyone stays in North Lanarkshire area, you are more than welcome to come to mine this weekend and help clear it all :rotfl:

vennypenny

Just a couple of things to think about - which part of your garden is to the north and are there any parts that get lots of shade (next door houses/big trees in other gardens, etc).
The slabbed area may clean up a treat once you've cleared the stuff off the top. If the slabs are not very nice looking, pressure washing (or hose and heavy brush), and after that if still not nice looking, then a coat of masonry paint is a colourful temporary fix.
If your garden runs North to south, with the house at the south, then having the seating area closest to the house is probably best - in summer when you'd sit out, it probably gets plenty of light at the times you'd want to sit out, and that way the veggies could be somewhere further up where they get more light for longer in the growing season. You could take up the odd slab or two here and there, and have plants growing in various places or a couple of pots of flowers would brighten it up.
If the slabbed area is not too shaded, then a short term veggie option would be bags or troughs to learn on before having to take on a full-blown veggie patch, though if you are planning veggie patch for next year then pots/troughs are probably not useful in the short term.

What type of dog do you have (not breed necessarily, but is it big/playful/bull-in-a-china shop or a miniature trot-along), so how much space will it need to play? I have two dogs that treat beds exactly the same way as grass, and will trample every plant if I don't keep them out, so having your veggies in a place where you can fence it off might be useful.

mummybearx

Garden is south/west facing, from what I can work out from my little drawing lol. When the sun shines we do get lots of sunlight out the back. Neighbours on one side have lots of big trees, but the back of the garden is pretty uncovered.

My dog Bear is a lhasa apso, so pretty small on the dog scale. Plus she is a lazy wee dog, hopefully plants and veg will be safe from her running about lol

Thanks for all the tips so far, its such a lot to think about! x

a1cat

zepsgal wrote: »

My dog Bear is a lhasa apso, so pretty small on the dog scale. Plus she is a lazy wee dog, hopefully plants and veg will be safe from her running about lol
x

Not the grass then

mummybearx

No probably not the grass lol! I do wonder what she will be like with her own garden to play in, wonder if she will start digging holes and burying stuff :rotfl: Is that something dogs instinctively do when they are on grass, or is that more active dogs that do it?

annie123

zepsgal wrote: »

My dog Bear is a lhasa apso, so pretty small on the dog scale.

I grew up with those. They are lovely dogs with a beuatiful temperament and big personality's

We had 3 at all times, and they never dug holes anywhere.
Mum trained them to do their business in a small area away from fruit and veg growing and cleaned it out once a day.
Yes they ran and played on the grass but never ruined it and were trained not to go onto the beds or borders.
Great choice of dog.