Hello! First off, I'm new here so hi! Secondly, I know very little about gardening. This is ironic because on Friday my fiance and I will be closing on a house with a fantastic backyard that was obviously designed by some pretty dedicated owners. HELP! This is what it looked like about 2 years ago when they put it up for sale. An ariel view of the backyard ( photo / image / picture from thenoobgardener's Garden ) ( photo / image / picture from thenoobgardener's Garden ) ( photo / image / picture from thenoobgardener's Garden ) ( photo / image / picture from thenoobgardener's Garden ) [/img] this is one side yard ( photo / image / picture from thenoobgardener's Garden ) annnnnd the other ( photo / image / picture from thenoobgardener's Garden ) In the next post I'll show you what it looks like now.
And...this is what it looks like now, approx. 2yrs. later this is now ( photo / image / picture from thenoobgardener's Garden ) ( photo / image / picture from thenoobgardener's Garden ) ( photo / image / picture from thenoobgardener's Garden ) ( photo / image / picture from thenoobgardener's Garden ) ( photo / image / picture from thenoobgardener's Garden ) ( photo / image / picture from thenoobgardener's Garden ) ( photo / image / picture from thenoobgardener's Garden ) ( photo / image / picture from thenoobgardener's Garden ) ( photo / image / picture from thenoobgardener's Garden ) ( photo / image / picture from thenoobgardener's Garden ) ( photo / image / picture from thenoobgardener's Garden ) I have no idea what this is but the fruit is fuzzy ( photo / image / picture from thenoobgardener's Garden ) ( photo / image / picture from thenoobgardener's Garden ) ( photo / image / picture from thenoobgardener's Garden ) This is that second side yard ( photo / image / picture from thenoobgardener's Garden ) ( photo / image / picture from thenoobgardener's Garden )
How much time passed between that first aerial photo and now? My guess is that you have some nice plants in there... somewhere. But how to find them and rescue them? I wouldn't know where to start. I'm sure some of the others will come along and give you great advice. I wish you luck! And please show us your progess... we can all learn from each other.
Hi and Welcome to GardenStew. The fuzzy fruit is a Peach. WOW, what a lot of work you have ahead of you. Did the previous owner include a list of plants that they had in the garden? I would suggest that the first thing you do is ID everything you can. Some of the mess will be nice plants gone wild and some will be weeds that have dropped in to take over, so you want to know what a plant is before ripping it out. You can also do some cutting back on the overgrown plants so you can walk around in the garden. That won't hurt anything and it will give it a cleaner look while you figure out what to keep and what has to go. Also, just out of curiosity, do you have any idea why there are so many fences around the gardens? Did they have dogs or children that needed to be kept out?
Hmmm... hiring a gardener to teach you step-by-step couldn't hurt. It would be way too difficult to deal with that garden all by reading on a forum or online. And yes, what's with the fences??? BTW, welcome! If you are really developing a passion for gardening, you will enjoy this new ADVENTURE!
I agree with Toni - ID everything you can before you begin. It would be helpful to learn which weeds grow there and start by pulling them. Only pull out the things you are SURE are weeds at first. Cut out any dead growth next and that should give you room to move. The plant ID forum here is also a great place to post photos of unknown plants and get them ID'd. Good luck!!
hi....what a challenge!...i'm sure it will be overwhelming at first, but my advise is one project at a time. it can't be sorted through all at once, so take your time and you will figure it out as you go...good luck!..did they leave any tools? (that would be nice)
Yes, You have a lot of work to do, but it is doable, just a lot of sweat most likely. Quick get rid of the sumac, there is one in the first picture, the very left side, the second picture, bottom left and a poke weed bottom right side, you will need a shovel for that it has a huge tuberose tap root, 4th picture far right side, is a sumac, 7th picture is another sumac...Quick, get it out...8th, right next to the beautiful Japanes maple is another one...and growing inside of the foliage of the maple, that green deep cut trilobed leaf is a mulberry get that out of there even faster, 10th picture is another pokeweed, these are hard to dig out, but do it anyway, they will re grow if you just try to pull them, # 12 looks like you have a peach tree there. #14 looks like old dead tomato vines, pull those down and bag them up and put them out to the curb. #15/16 looks like a wild grape growing there, it will take over everything in a few years soooo, you know the words already...quick get it out. I hope I didn't mis number any of the pictures, but look in the plants forum to see specifically what each looks like so you know what you are taking out. Good luck. It will be beautiful again with some time and effort. You have a lot of nice plants already to work with. DO, by the way, invest in a few good quality tools to start with. I love my felco hand pruners ( I have had them for 25 years, no repairs), but there are several other good brands out there too, just don't but junk ones to start out with. Get a good digging shovel (craftsman has a good replacement plan IF you break it) and don't hesitate to sharpen the blade to make digging easier. You'll probably need a pair of loppers, too, for larger branches if you have bigger trees to work with.
You've got a big job ahead of you for sure, but it can be done. ID everything is a good idea, as was mentioned. Take a small area at a time and remove unwanted plants, shape up what's left and move on to the next. I see dead stalks and vines from at least one year's neglect so it's going to take a while. Poke in particular and those seedling Ailanthus will really need to be dug up roots and all or they will come back quick. Wild Grape vines, same thing. You must have a lot of birds bringing you plants. I think it will look good when you're finished tho
Hi and Welcome! Lots of good advice here and some which you may not want to hear, but we tell it like it is. I'm not so good with names so when I started gardening I got myself a good plant book and that does help. A) to know what you have and B) to know how to deal with it. Take one day at a time, pull up the weeds as you identify them and stay focused. It'll be easy with so much to get overwhelmed, so stay focused. You will have a beautiful garden once again with some sweat and work. We will want more pics as you go along...we like pics here on the stew. Use the forums. If you can't find something in the book or don't have time to look, post a pic in the plant ID forum and someone will help you. There are so many great people here who know their plants really well and are always willing to share their knowledge. Good luck!
cherylad- The ariel view is from almost 2 years ago. The fences- I'm not sure what the deal with the fences is but my mom pointed out that there are several wild cats around the neighborhood. They didn't use any mulch in the beds in the front of the house, they used various kinds of stone. Maybe to keep the cats from using it as a litterbox? That little house in the backyard was dubbed "cat sanctuary" so maybe the fences were to keep the cats out? Would that make any sense? If that's the case, I would love to rip those fences out Annette- No they didn't leave any tools =( But my mom is going to come down and help with starting everything, that way I don't have to buy everything at once. She's knows a good amount about gardening so that will be helpful. I also have a friend at work that works full time at a garden place so she's offered to tell me what everything is =) I'm so excited! Thanks for all the advice everyone. Do you all have any advice for me just starting out? I haven't bought any tools yet or anything so it's a blank slate. I know the first stage is tearing up all those nasty weeds...
Oh and toni They provided a list of what they grew in the 2009 season, which included the fruit trees in the yard...I don't have it in front of me but there's a cherry tree, fig, apple and several others.
Welcome, and I envy you (yes, I do!) your almost ready-made garden. Advice: get at least two pairs of good gardening gloves. I prefer the type with the rubberized fingers and palm and knit back, but get what is comfortable for you. Buy the best tools you can afford. Garage sales, estate sales, auctions are a source of sturdy tools, as well as hardware stores and garden supply places. You will need a "sharp shooter" which is a shovel with a long, narrow blade. Absolutely essential. A digging fork, a pair of long-handled loppers, and a cultivator (its a long handled tool with three or four bent prongs, great for loosening soil). As you work in the garden other tools will become necessary or just convenient to have. Handles are fiberglass or wood now, and wood is a lot easier on your hands. Keep us posted on your progress, and we'll help in any way we can!
