Taming an out of control garden

mike004 · 18 Mar 2013

Gardening programmes and newspaper columns give lots of advice on how to add new plants to your garden and how to make plants grow.

I have the opposite problem, my garden is getting overgrown and out of control.
There are established shrubs with thick trunks, 8 ft high roses, the odd conifer, thorn bushes and creeping vines.

I guess there is no easy answer, I just have to chop them back and dig some of them out.
After a few back breaking sessions and trips to the dump over a couple of weeks, I have nearly finished the chopping back stage.

But I need to get my garden under control. As I get older I can't be doing this every spring.
Any ideas? I suppose I need to tame the garden twice a year, every spring and autumn?

Deluks · 18 Mar 2013

Get the pro's in, and/or invest in decent tools.
Tall hedges are a breeze with a long reach hedge cutter, preferable to balancing on a stepladder anyway. Long handled forks and hoes will save your back when weeding. Invest in an incinerator to save trips to the tip. Ditto a garden shredder, although you could probably hire one once a year. Out of control trees should be cut back. Get an arborist in for a proper job (beware p1key chancers!)

You've pretty much answered your own question though, an hour or two every couple of weeks will keep on top of it, and you'll be enjoying your garden while you're doing it. Which is what it is there for!

Deleted2797112 · 18 Mar 2013

It's much easier to do little and often than leave it and do mega sessions twice a year. An hour of light work once a week is enough to keep most domestic gardens under control.

Once you've brought them down to the size you want, established shrubs and trees shouldn't need a lot of maintenance, except perhaps a light prune/shape at the right time of year.

There are a lot of things you can do to make a garden lower maintenance. Cover any bare soil with weed membrane and gravel/bark/your mulch of choice. Replace lawn with hard landscaping. Replace fast-growing plants that need frequent attention with slow-growing varieties. Tackle weeds as they appear with a hoe rather than letting them get hold and needing digging out.

mike004 · 18 Mar 2013

ceres said:
An hour of light work once a week is enough to keep most domestic gardens under control.

Good advice. I'll chop it all back and try to keep on top of it this year.
I'm not a keen gardener, though.

grovepark · 18 Mar 2013

When I first moved in my OH had let the garden nature and get a bit out of control, we cut the garden back as best we could but could not get it back under control as I had got too bad.

We cut everything back as best as we could and removed the plants that had gotten to out of control and added more easy to mentain plants etc.

wrathkeg · 18 Mar 2013

mike004 said:
Good advice. I'll chop it all back and try to keep on top of it this year.
I'm not a keen gardener, though.

if that's the case, then maybe a better solution would be to get a pro to clear and rotovate it (if you don't want to, or don't feel able) then seed it or lay turf. not the most exciting garden, but it would be much more straightforward to look after and neater than plants and shrubs which are continuously trying to get out of control, especially if you don't keep on top of it. You could even have a few fruit trees in there too which would be easy to look after in the time you won't be spending hacking at the shrubbery!

mike004 · 18 Mar 2013

wrathkeg said:
You could even have a few fruit trees in there too which would be easy to look after in the time you won't be spending hacking at the shrubbery!

Funny you should say that. I have an 16ft apple tree that needs a trim.
Might be best to chop it down one day.

wrathkeg · 18 Mar 2013

well if you replace it do this, and at least if it gets left a bit without pruning the branches will be closer to the ground

http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/profile.aspx?pid=319

foxhole · 25 Mar 2013

Not very green fingered, prefer to use a can of petrol and a match for garden clearance.

Mursal · 25 Mar 2013

As above, something like this will be a pleasure to use and dare I say it "almost enjoyable" !!

We have a Ryobi version which is a bit more expensive, but this looks real good value at £169 + P&P. But you will have to watch the TV for it to come back on special offer. DO NOT PAY THE LIST PRICE.

http://www.idealworld.tv/Handy_Mult...px?fh_location=//idealworld/en_GB/$s=strimmer

Shrubs are easy to keep and give colour all year round. Clip in the autunm to shape and that's it. A bit of grass but you might need a mover for large areas. Bark is another God's send as the leaves that fall on it wont need raking (unlike stones). Most important enjoy it, if you don't change tack, until you get a regime that suits you. Never mind the neighbours, they'll talk about you, regardless ........

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Taming an out of control garden

Deleted2797112

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