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How to start over with a heavily overgrown mature garden?

Last post 07-10-2009 10:34 AM by James Gardner. 10 replies.

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  • 20/09/2009 02:54 PM
    • Smith Family
    • Aylesbury
    • 14 Sep 2009
    • 2
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    Hello,

     

    We're a family of novice gardeners. We moved into our house in January 2008 and found by spring that we had a very mature and overgrown garden. To the trained eye there are probably hidden gems everywhere, we just do not know where to start. We've had my parents stay here whilst we were on holiday and they have done some drastic work in our garden, pruning back shrubs and trees and it's looking a bit bare now.

    Now we have a huge question; where do we start making this garden our own?

    We still have a lot of large trees and underneath a border that looks mostly weeds to us. There's quite some ivy on the ground and other ground covers and from what I can see some deliberately planted flowering plants. My guess is we will need to do some more clearing of those borders

    I have taken photographs of all that is there now and am going to try to work out what is what. Our main concern is the line of large trees though. Should we take them out and if so, are we allowed to just cut them down or do we need permission? Also, once we have cut them, what do we put there instead? They are against the low fence with our neighbours and although we get on well with our neighbours, and they would probably welcome the plan to take out the trees (they create a lot of shade in their garden during the day), I don't feel like sitting exposed to them all year round.

    I'll upload my photos to my pc in a minute, if it helps at all to see what I'm talking about I'm happy to share.

    Any tips greatly appreciated.

    Kind Regards,

    Mark & Nicolette

    Smith Family
  • 20/09/2009 08:52 PM
    In reply to
    • AlexS
    • Reading
    • 06 Sep 2009
    • 58
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    How lovely to have a mature garden and the opportunity to make it your own! I don't know if you've managed to upload your pics - they don't seem to be here - am I looing in the wrong place?

    Alex
  • 21/09/2009 06:21 PM
    In reply to
    • Arrem
    • West Midlands. UK
    • 12 Jul 2009
    • 90
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     AlexS wrote: "am I looing in the wrong place? "

    Wink I sincerely hope not Wink

     

    There is no such thing as useless - you can always be a bad example.
  • 21/09/2009 07:26 PM
    In reply to
    • AlexS
    • Reading
    • 06 Sep 2009
    • 58
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    Ha ha. must tae more care of my spelling. Loos bad if I leave a letter out and of course once I've hit 'post' I can't go bac.

    Alex
  • 21/09/2009 07:52 PM
    In reply to
    Top 10 Contributor
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    Cut paths through the garden and wander about the wilderness seeing what grows, for a year. Boggy

    Beware the bat-eared bogweevil
  • 21/09/2009 09:03 PM
    In reply to
    • sue1002
    • Ipswich, Suffolk
    • 06 Sep 2005
    • 5,200
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    AlexS:
    Ha ha. must tae more care of my spelling. Loos bad if I leave a letter out and of course once I've hit 'post' I can't go bac.
     

     

    You can go in and edit the post afterwards AlexS.

    sue1002
  • 21/09/2009 10:27 PM
    In reply to
    • AlexS
    • Reading
    • 06 Sep 2009
    • 58
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    Thanks Sue, I'm still learning. I can see that now you point it out. But what's happened to the Smith family of Aylesbury and where are their pics?

    Alex
  • 22/09/2009 08:42 AM
    In reply to
    • sue1002
    • Ipswich, Suffolk
    • 06 Sep 2005
    • 5,200
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     No worries AlexS, I think only the Smith family know the answer to the question on the pics as they haven't been provided for us to look at yet.

    sue1002
  • 22/09/2009 02:16 PM
    In reply to
    • RogerBee
    • Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire
    • 14 Jan 2009
    • 84
    Top 75 Contributor
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    The attached link explains how to upload photos: http://mygarden.rhs.org.uk/forums/p/18506/22246.aspx#22246. I'm sure there will be several ideas forthcoming as a result.

    As far as tree removal is concerned, some trees have preservation orders (TPOs) on them. Removal of such trees can lead to prosecution and having to replace the tree with one of a similar age, which could work out very expensive. The local council should be able to advise you if any trees in your garden are covered by such an order. Try this link for more info on TPOs http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/HomeAndCommunity/Planning/ThePlanningSystem/DG_10025970

    Give it a go - it might just work!
  • 24/09/2009 03:21 AM
    In reply to
    • Smith Family
    • Aylesbury
    • 14 Sep 2009
    • 2
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    Thanks all, sorry no pics yet as A) my SD card reader doesn't work and I couldn't find the lead to attach the camera to the PC and B) I could not find anywhere to upload photos to this site.

    Meanwhile I have located the camera lead and thanks to RogerBee I can now figure out how to upload photos. THANKS, RogerBee!

    Boggy, we really do not want to wait another year to see what else may turn up, we've already watched the wilderness for a year and a half... and cutting paths through it wasn't really needed due to the large lawn. Wink

    RogerBee, thanks also for the TPO information.  I think these trees may not be that old. The house was build in 1994 and it is my understanding that the builders who demolished the old cottages that used to be on this location, pretty much buldozed everything on the plot to the ground, trees and shrubs included. So hopefully our local council (the same as yours judging by your location) willhave good news for us when it comes to the TPO.

    Keep looking for those pics, they will be here soon,

    The Smiths 

     

     

    Smith Family
  • 07/10/2009 10:34 AM
    In reply to
    Top 150 Contributor
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    Don't worry about your parents enthusiastic pruning it will most likely rejuvenate the over grown shrubs and give them a new lease of life. The best thing to do is just to mantain the status quo for a years and observe the garden to see what happens. Take photographs regularly and date them. Then sit down next winter and plan what to take out, cut dow, clear etc and what you will rplace them with.

    James Gardner