Gardening rookie
Hi Guys,
I've bought this house and really struggling with the garden. I've always lived in flats so have no experience in this and the wife doesn't help lol
I would have much preferred lawn but a friend said it wont be cheap to change so I'm going to have to stick to this for now. Can someone please tell me what tools i need n how i can control this? How often do i need to work on this?
Any help would be appreciated.
Cheers!

I've bought this house and really struggling with the garden. I've always lived in flats so have no experience in this and the wife doesn't help lol
I would have much preferred lawn but a friend said it wont be cheap to change so I'm going to have to stick to this for now. Can someone please tell me what tools i need n how i can control this? How often do i need to work on this?
Any help would be appreciated.
Cheers!


0
Posts
When I first moved into my home the previous owners had cornered and sectioned off 60% of the garden with paving and stones! I got shot of all that and have slowly been replacing it over the last few years.
I've used seed, turf and even FREE TURF from Homebase I think it was. It was around October time and they had about 10 rolls of turf where the grass had gone yellow and they gave it away. Took it home, watered it and its as good as new.
Creating lawn is actually really cheap to do, it's the time and preparation that's the hard part.
Good luck.
As a relatively new gardener, forum members recommended I watch Alan Titchmarsh’s How to be a Gardener (search for the post ‘Good book on growing perennials’ and you will find the links to the videos). It’s brilliant and really inspiring. He tells you the basic tools you need, all about laying lawns, creating borders, and how to look after everything.
My advice is to live with what you have got for the next few years. Spend the time now in digging over the raised borders and removing all the weeds. Then plant them up with whatever you like. Have a read of some books on basic gardening and creating borders.
Find a relative/friend/bloke in the pub who could come for an hour or so and show you what are weeds and what could be plants in your borders. You can then set to and start to clear the weeds out. Hopefully there will be some plants. Beg or borrow spare plants from friends/relatives/bloke in the pub to get you going.
Keep your borders weed free from then on. A gentle hoe will do it - don't wait until the weeds are at flowering point before removing them.
Kill any weeds in the gravel/slate bit with weedkiller (Pathclear is a good one). You may need to spray twice a year if it is really weedy.
Minimum tools - spade, rake, hoe, trowel, sprayer and/or watering can.
At the end of your first year as a gardener you can decide if it is for you and then take it from there. But don't rush into doing expensive work until you have decided or not.