+++ Whoops! Here comes the cheese! +++

greenbee

1. The lawn is full of dandelion clocks so I think I've missed the boat there
2. Blank canvas, no budget. Veg plot in progress, will liberate more pots from my mum to hide the ginormous patio while I work out which flags to remove. 4000l of compost delivered ready for mulching borders as they are dug over (and finishing veg plot.
3. About a billion seedlings to !!!!!! out, a further billion to pot on. And some to plant out but I need to dig the borders over first.

I think I might have a glass of wine instead!

redofromstart

My current thing is to take a bucket of weeds out every day. Which I think came from @greenbee a while back. The volume is still
horrendous but I am chipping away every day, and prioritising any that are close to flowering. 

I've been sat on a patio bench with a glass of wine this evening and picked out all of the young weeds from that section, just leaving some self seeded cat mint babies. It reminded me that I want to find something to grow inbetween the flags. Our 'patio' consists of a series of square blocks of paving (6x6 foot blocks) with a foot of gravel between each block which is full of weeds. North facing, no sun till midday and none in the winter.  Maybe 15 foot deep by 50 foot long so a lot of compromised gravel. No weed fabric and a bit of a water pit in the last year or so. Creeping thyme maybe? Has anyone had any experience or alternate plant suggestions- seed or plugs?

greenbee

Yes, the bucket a day was me. I suppose I should try it sometime  

Creeping thyme worked well for me from seed at the last house, but took a bit of time. So start now. I'm going to put it in the spaces where I take flags out to try to break up the vast, bleak, expanse of indian sandstone that even my neighbour who does hard landscaping thinks is a bit much... 

redofromstart

greenbee said:

1. The lawn is full of dandelion clocks so I think I've missed the boat there
2. Blank canvas, no budget. Veg plot in progress, will liberate more pots from my mum to hide the ginormous patio while I work out which flags to remove. 4000l of compost delivered ready for mulching borders as they are dug over (and finishing veg plot.
3. About a billion seedlings to !!!!!! out, a further billion to pot on. And some to plant out but I need to dig the borders over first.

I think I might have a glass of wine instead!

Assuming you don't want more dandelions, I suggest a glass of the liquid of your choice and a bag to contain the snipped heads, carefully covering dandelion clocks with your hand to minimised the seed spread. I do this most nights. 

Have you got a rotavator for turning the plots - I know you have a lot of ground to cover. Found it much easier here, c£65 for mine.

Sun_Addict

I chip away at my garden too. I remember Alan Titchmarsh saying something along the lines of if you don’t know where to start, start with the bit outside your back door and work forward from there. My garden is south facing and way too fertile it’s like a jungle at the moment. 

greenbee

Not using a rotavator. Veg plot is no dig (might regret this at some point, as I didn't have a thorough enough go at the perennial weeds first), and borders need shrub roots (and bamboo roots) carefully digging out around tree roots and remaining shrubs. Luckily I have some paid labour! Although I need to find more (hedges and more tree work). As well as finding more labour for indoor work. 

Of course, I could just turn it all into a tomato farm, as I have about a billion baby tomatoes, and see how the weeds feel about that. 

KajiKita

I will have some before and after photos but atm they would be interim photos ….! 😂
I think the only thing else I would add is keep your edges tidy. I’ve been round this afternoon, after much weed clearing and some planting, and cut the edges of all my ornamental beds and then hover mowed the lawny bits next to my edges where Mr KK’s wheeled mower can’t reach. Everywhere is still full of weeds …. ahem …. wildflowers! But it looks a bit crisper. 😊

I do need to get on top of the sticky weed under the contorted hazel - that’s just running up to flower …
that’s an easy job though as it comes out easily and I quite enjoy a bit of it in water 😊

KK 

RosaBernicia

Yay! 

Here is very much a starting point as although it's a good size, it needed things altering from how it was when I bought it and I've had very little time to give it since. 

List for this weekend of:

1. Spend at least 15 minutes removing weeds before they set seed. If you haven't got any then feel free to be smug and have a glass of wine instead.

Oodles of them, and probably a bit late about the seeding, but will see if I can yank out the thistles and buddleia as a priority and it's more doable. 

2. think about what you want from your garden, what you use it for and what the barriers are to that.  Somewhere to sit?somewhere that smells nice? Somewhere that looks tidy?  Do you have a budget, if not what do you need to compromise on or womble? Can you pick anything up from free cycle, or local people giving away excess seedlings, or cheap end of season seeds. Can you spend 15 minutes progressing towards that aim?

I think I finally have a plan that might work, having got quotes for what I hoped would work and decided £4k is not available or justifiable.  This weekend's related jobs are:

• finish off the plastic shed, which solves the garden stuff storage situation (actually looks decent, and I love these things - they are cheap, last decades, no maintenance, brilliant if you're renting, no more difficult than a flat pack and can be moved about if you change your mind)
• go to the local builder's merchant and look at gravel / pebble colours and prices
  
• if I can, I also need to strim the bits of the lawn that are too long rather than too non-existent (it's a total repair job at present, after puppies and heatwave, but I really can't justify £1500 for returfing especially it is starting to come back pretty well now that the dogs are being kept off it). 

3. do you have seedlings or young plants that need gardening off before the big move outdoors? Time to get this going if you haven't already. 

4. Have you got any plants hanging round in pots that really need to be planted out? Make a space and get them in and watered. 

None of the above, but plenty of seeds of unfussy things that need to go in pots and get started.  And I want some creeping thyme seeds - I was thinking about this for the yucky monoblock area, as I won't be able to do much else with it for a while. 

Related thought - if you have a lot of something and it's happy (ie uncontaminated and healthy), it might be worth offering to local foragers or herbalists in case they'll come and pick it?  Many weeds are edible and/ or medicinal (dandelions, nettles, goosegrass). 

redofromstart

Good thinking on the edges @kajikita, I think I will do some strimming on mine tomorrow then we can identify options. I cut back overhanging greenery from the paths instead, rather than get soaked when I need to water the tunnel and greenhouse in the rain.

I have seen creeping thyme seed fairly cheaply @RosaBernicia and I know @greenbee has bought it previously. Not convinced it is what I want though - am sure we had something called creeping jenny which grew in the gaps between pavers.

I did a few tub trugs of sticky weed this morning. Too hot for the gauntlets, but oh how allergic am I...  I did another few tub trugs this afternoon but used the hand rake instead which was less irritating. It is just about to set seed so I need to keep on going regardless.  *itchy, scratchy*

greenbee

I think there's a thread on the gardening board about Creeping Jenny, redo.

I went to my mum's and collected two huge pots (one glazed, one terracotta) that I will use to help soften the edges of the vast patio. Also picked up some plastic pots that will be used for veg/tomatoes. Also took a chunk out of her marjoram and thyme (I potted them up from tiny plants last year and they are now pot-bound!

Then came back and did some of the dandelions and cut the grass in the bit I'd done. There's about another half acre of dandelions. I've started making inroads into my 4000l of compost by filling up the pots, which I'll then plant up with mostly cosmos and sweetpeas. 

Lots coming on in the greenhouse, so tomorrow needs to involve potting up the tomatoes I plan on keeping (inside and out), pricking out/potting on aubergines and peppers, and working out what I'm going to do about the cucumbers. I also need to find somewhere to plant squashes and climbing courgettes.