Getting to grips with gardening

jamie_carlisle

hi everyone, just moved into a new house after previously living in a flat. No experience gardening so I've decided to join this forum and have already taken some inspiration. Garden had a LOT of weeds. From what I have begun to understand they were perennial. Either way around a week or so ago I put down some glyphosate that my friends dad had given me in a sprayer. Seems to have done the job but now I want to know what the next step is. Ideally would like to plant grass seed on the ground you can see in the foreground and perhaps some raised beds up at the rear once I remove those small bushes. I just need to know should I strim and remove all the weed above soil level or turn over whole lot and remove by hand. Just not sure how to proceed with it. Thanks in advance 

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paul_in_surrey

Hi Jamie, congratulations on your new house and garden. I'm sure you'll have lots of fun with it. This is only my opinion and there are much more qualified people on here to give advice, but I think for your first garden it's important you can get out and enjoy it in the short term rather than immediately embarking on a massive digging over project.

A lot depends on your budget and time availability, but once you start digging you may find it's a lot of work to break up the soil and re-level. I would strim off the weeds and keep cutting off any that re-grow or new invaders. You can then get a better idea of the ground condition underneath and what grass you already have there.

Near the camera the ground looks fairly level, but we obviously can't see the soil condition. I'd give it a weed and feed and then a really good raking (scarifying). I wouldn't put any seed down now as we're entering the hot and dry summer (snigger) and you'll need to keep watering to get new seed to establish. That would be better done in the autumn, when it's still warm but also regularly wet. Once you know what weeds keep growing back then you can take photos and get advice on here about how to remove them. By the middle of summer you'll hopefully have a nice area you can sit in while contemplating the big work to be done with the raised beds.

In short - I'd do a bit at a time rather than tackling it all in one go. That way you'll keep your motivation going and not get fed up of it. You'll also have a better idea of how conditions change during the year (does it waterlog, dry out, etc). It's good that you know the weeds grow, as it means the things you want to grow will as well.

UpNorth

keep watching Gardeners World on Friday evenings....always good for some inspiration.

as you weed/clear and do the landscaping bit, you could get a few seed packets and start growing on a few plants for later, they can always go in pots if you find the soil/situation isn't going to suit a plant you have grown.

jamie_carlisle

Thank you all for your advice. I definitely have plenty of food for thought. I think terracing is what I had in mind for that slope but just wasn't familiar with the term lol. I have the gable end house so this continues around to the back garden where the weed situation is very similar. This has been treated with glyphosate also but is a week or so behind the front garden as I wanted to give myself time between, to clear one, then the other. I'm also prepared to do a lot of the digging and manual work buy my main concern is not having the understanding of the processes. Don't want to undertake all the work re-shaping the garden and finally have the weeds grow straight back. I know the glyphosate has killed them all in one go but I in no way expect them to never grow back I know it will be something ill have to maintain as I go on. I'm keen to start getting the shape of the garden asap really. Should I remove all of the weeds including the roots by hand and then rake out the soil etc. Hoping to get it all right back to soil to get an idea then of how to procede

hogweed

Give it a couple of weeks and you should see the weeds beginning to keel over. Keep the grass cut and either dig out or use a lawn weedkiller spray on any weeds that come up during the summer. As you are new to gardening I suggest you spend the summer peeking over other people's fences, Visiting open gardens, garden centres. watching the Beechgrove Garden, utube videos etc to get an idea of what you want in the garden. 
Come the autumn you can finalise your plans and get cracking.