Advice for a very novice gardener

SozBbz

Hi all,

Myself and my OH bought a new (old) house late last year and it has a quite large garden. Previously we lived in a MUD where we only had a terrace to look after ourselves and the grounds were maintained weekly by the a gardener organised by the management company. Life was easy!

Anyway, we now have possibly more garden than we know what to do with. We love it, and we want to look after it, but its a bit like the blind leading the blind.

So far we've invested in this bad boy;

https://toolfix.ie/product/ego-56v-cordless-lawn-mower/ (got a better price on it elsewhere)

I've bought a few small basic tools (small fork and spade, shovel and yard brush and some wildflower seeds which I've put down in the prexisting beds that were in our front garden. I cleared these beds myself as they'd gotten quite full of weeds but in total its was probably only a few square meters in total so it was doable.

What I'm struggling with is actually the grass, which I'd thought would just need mowing. But it appears I've a few issues with weeds (hundreds of dandelions have popped up only a few days after last mowing and they're so much worse than before! not to mention that they're taller than the grass so they're growing at an alarming rate). There are daisys too (don't mind those) and some lawn moss which isnt ideal but not massively problematic. The dandilions are just so prolific and I've tried pulling a few but they just break, I cant get them out by the roots. Are there any products or techniques for dealing with them, especially in large numbers?

Is it normal that cutting the grass encourages weeds? Or is this just a coincidence? Or were they always there but just encouraged by the good weather over the weekend?

Weve another issue with another area of the lawn, where there are distinct weeds that look a bit like small lily pads that is growing underneath a tree thats outside our property. The tree is part of the common area of a small MUD nextdoor - am I right in thinking we can cut it back at least in so far as the amount which hangs over our lawn? Or should we try to contact them and ask that they cut it back?

krissovo

Keeping a nice lawn will drive you mad, there is always something new to deal with from weeds, moss, dying, thatch, soil condition and I could go on and on.

I use a 4 in 1 lawn feed (evergreen) twice (spring & mid summer) and that does a decent enough job of controlling the weed and encouraging growth of grass which is the best defence against weed and then a autumn feed which helps keep it over winter. Any dead areas I will lay more seed over.

Harry Palmr

I think how one views the lawn is really a philosophical matter - some want a bowling green, others actively encourage the wild seeds to germinate and create a colourful insect friendly environment. If you have a big area you could maybe split the plot and have a well mown smooth area nearest the house and a more rough hewn area at the back.

SozBbz

Thanks all for the advice!

To clarify, I don't really want a bowling green (as in, it would be nice but I probably won't put in that much effort).

I'd just like there to be fewer dandelions and more regular grass. I like the idea of giving the grass a feed, might see what I can get online that might encourage the grass and therefore make it harder for weeds to prosper. I've also notices a few weeds that look like flattened out thistles almost, also not a fan of them.

I'm also thinking of reducing the lawn are slightly but trying to dig out some beds alone the all on one side and hedge on the other. This will have the added bonus of solving my problem of having to go along and hand trim the grass thats so close to the wall, the mover cant reach it. My plan is to try to find some easy, colourful plans to put in a fairly haphazard manor, just so that it looks full and colourful. I'm not too worried about it looking terribly manicured, just healthy and colourful and ideally on the lower maintenance end of the scale.

If anyone could recommend some ideas for combinations of what might give me colour year round (or close to it) that would be great. Ideally would like to be encouraging the butterflies and bees etc too.

magicbastarder

google winter heliotrope - does that look like the lily plant you describe?

i've never used a weedkiller product on the lawn (have used a feed and organic moss product though), and the manual weeding runs to about half an hour per year.
don't cut the grass too short, as it can weaken it, and if the dandelions are growing above this anyway, you'll be mowing them as much as the grass.

SozBbz

magicbastarder wrote: »

google winter heliotrope - does that look like the lily plant you describe?

i've never used a weedkiller product on the lawn (have used a feed and organic moss product though), and the manual weeding runs to about half an hour per year.
don't cut the grass too short, as it can weaken it, and if the dandelions are growing above this anyway, you'll be mowing them as much as the grass.

Yes that looks quite like it! Its just specifically in an area thats under a tree that hangs over from next door.

I think you might have hit on something actually - we probably did cut the grass too short (last wednesday I think) and its since then that the dandilions have seemed out of controll! We filled 3 bins full of lawn cuttings. Previously we hadnt adjusted the lawnmower settings since we got it and it wasnt cutting the grass short enough (looked like it had grown back almost straight away even in Feb/March before we'd any warm weather. May have gone too far the opposite way and scalped it, it almost looked a bit yellow in places, but its back to a healthy green colour a week later. I'll adjust the mower for a happy medium next time! We went shorter in the hope that we'd get longer between cuts but possibly too short.

We now also need a bigger brown bin to cope with the volume of grass cuttings, and thats before we even try tackle the big laurel bush or any of the hedges!

magicbastarder

i don't bother lifting the grass cuttings in my garden. might not be an option for you if you've kids who'd be traipsing them into the house.

SozBbz

magicbastarder wrote: »

i don't bother lifting the grass cuttings in my garden. might not be an option for you if you've kids who'd be traipsing them into the house.

Eh, no no kids, but I do have an other half who'd be fairly oblivious and would track things into the house that wouldnt bother him but would bother me! How long does it take for the lawn to absorb (?) the grass cuttings? I'm thinking we're going to need to cut it every 2 weeks or so over the next few months and I'm just envising grass cuttings upon grass cuttings!

I've been in touch with our bin company and after the next lift they're going to replace our current brown bin with one thats the same size as the current green/black bins which should hopefully give us enough capacity going forward. We've just got to (i) stop scalping the lawn (ii) deal with the existing backlog of grass cuttings.

ellee

Dandelions are easy, you can get a tool that is like a long thin trowel and I’m afraid you have to go around then and try and get the tap root out with the weed.

In terms of dealing with weeds dandelions are ok. Some mildly painful work, easy enough to keep down after that.

I think the heliotrope is much worse as it spreads underground and is v invasive. But I’ve no experience with it. You might have to dig it out then a few rounds of weed killer on the survivors.

Harry Palmr

You'll never get rid of heliotrope, the best you can do is manage it by cutting during the growing season.

Sligo IT was doing a bit of research with a device idea that would fire ice at it dunno whatever came of that!

Hocus Focus

Sorry for the thread drift, but I'm intrigued to find out what a MUD is:)

looksee

MUD - multi unit development - apartment

SozBbz

looksee wrote: »

MUD - multi unit development - apartment

Basically yes, although the one beside me is a small cluster of townhouses. A MUD is basically a development that has a management company and is therefore not in charge of the council.

The place beside me has gates to get into the development and the some communal landscaping in their common areas, and its those trees that are overhanging into my garden.

SouthWesterly

looksee wrote: »

MUD - multi unit development -

Can we grow these now ?

Hocus Focus

SouthWesterly wrote: »

Can we grow these now ?

Can't get the plants for anything else:)

jmreire

Hi some advice needed, Please.
I have a few Japanese Appleblossoms in the Garden. I got them about 4 years ago Aldi / Lidl, and sowed them, and they have been flowering for the last fer year's. But, they don't seem to be branching out at all...the branches growing straight up. I have attached 2 pic's, one ( the smaller one) is in my garden, and the second one is in a neighbours...It's big, wide and Handsome and in full bloom at the moment. Is there something I need to do to encourage mine to branch out / develop like the neighbours ones? Thanks for your help.

ellee

jmreire wrote: »

Hi some advice needed, Please.
I have a few Japanese Appleblossoms in the Garden. I got them about 4 years ago Aldi / Lidl, and sowed them, and they have been flowering for the last fer year's. But, they don't seem to be branching out at all...the branches growing straight up. I have attached 2 pic's, one ( the smaller one) is in my garden, and the second one is in a neighbours...It's big, wide and Handsome and in full bloom at the moment. Is there something I need to do to encourage mine to branch out / develop like the neighbours ones? Thanks for your help.

Your tree is clearly v young. I suspect it will develop more shape as it gets older. I’m not sure it will ever look like the neighbours one though. It may just have a v different growing habit. Have any idea of the name of the specimen you bought?

jmreire

ellee wrote: »

Your tree is clearly v young. I suspect it will develop more shape as it gets older. I’m not sure it will ever look like the neighbours one though. It may just have a v different growing habit. Have any idea of the name of the specimen you bought?

Thanks for your reply, another poster has identified my Prunus as the
prunus amanogawa., and the large canopied one as "Kansan", so now I know which one I need. As I have plenty of space, it will be the Kansan variety, and they will complement the prunus amanogawa that I already have. :D:D

runawaybishop

SozBbz wrote: »

Yes that looks quite like it! Its just specifically in an area thats under a tree that hangs over from next door.

I think you might have hit on something actually - we probably did cut the grass too short (last wednesday I think) and its since then that the dandilions have seemed out of controll! We filled 3 bins full of lawn cuttings. Previously we hadnt adjusted the lawnmower settings since we got it and it wasnt cutting the grass short enough (looked like it had grown back almost straight away even in Feb/March before we'd any warm weather. May have gone too far the opposite way and scalped it, it almost looked a bit yellow in places, but its back to a healthy green colour a week later. I'll adjust the mower for a happy medium next time! We went shorter in the hope that we'd get longer between cuts but possibly too short.

We now also need a bigger brown bin to cope with the volume of grass cuttings, and thats before we even try tackle the big laurel bush or any of the hedges!

Cut long, cut often. The grass will out-compete the weeds but not if you cut it too short. 2-2.5 inches is what you want. A good lawn feed will help also.
Tackle the moss now though, its a pain if it gets established.

SozBbz

runawaybishop wrote: »

Cut long, cut often. The grass will out-compete the weeds but not if you cut it too short. 2-2.5 inches is what you want. A good lawn feed will help also.
Tackle the moss now though, its a pain if it gets established.

Thanks, this is interesting. We definitely went too short last time and since then the weeds have been out with a vengeance. I've not counted but I'd estimate there are anything up to 1000 dandelions, its like a wild meadow out there.

I've been picking the heads off the ones that have turned to seed to try to prevent further spread but if feels pretty futile. We are currently waiting for our new 240L brown bin to be delivered before cutting it again but it really needs doing.

Can't wait for Woodies etc to be back open so we can buy something for the lawn to encourage the grass. would there be any point in using grass seed even though we don't have any bald patches? I just want to help the grass out perform the weeds.

runawaybishop

SozBbz wrote: »

Thanks, this is interesting. We definitely went too short last time and since then the weeds have been out with a vengeance. I've not counted but I'd estimate there are anything up to 1000 dandelions, its like a wild meadow out there.

I've been picking the heads off the ones that have turned to seed to try to prevent further spread but if feels pretty futile. We are currently waiting for our new 240L brown bin to be delivered before cutting it again but it really needs doing.

Can't wait for Woodies etc to be back open so we can buy something for the lawn to encourage the grass. would there be any point in using grass seed even though we don't have any bald patches? I just want to help the grass out perform the weeds.

Nah, seeding it wont help. Just feed it (optional but helpful) and keep cutting it often and long. You can leave the grass collection off say every 4th time to much it, the grass wont mind that but the weeds will. If you are very bored you can try digging up the weeds by hand but its a pain.