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mamma2max

new house, neglected yard and beds

mamma2max
17 years ago

I just bought a new house that has been empty for over 2 years. I have no experience in gardening other than vegetable gardening as a kid in the country. I've got a couple of beginner books and am extremely excited about getting started. The problem is that it's now June and I'm under the impression this is the worst time to do anything other than prepping soil. The back yard has many tall, fairly unshady trees with a couple of medium sized, borderless clumps of unidentified flowers and weeds. The house faces north and has a large front bed heavily shaded by trees. There are also 2 good sized box beds built into the house by the door (hip level) and in the window (approx 1 ft. above ground level). This is all extremely shady, and stays pretty damp, with nothing but old mulch. The side bed, by the garage, gets lots of sun but is infested with ivy that I've been trying to pull out for days. It had taken over the house and, because of the damage to the brick, I would like to completely get rid of it. Any suggestions on what to do to at least make the boxes & beds look decent for the rest of the summer? Oh, and I do have day lilies scattered throughout the shrubs along the side and back that I guess I can dig up and move? although they are huge and basically fallen flat to the ground right now with no blooms. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Comments (7)

  • maro
    17 years ago

    To begin, search 'ivy' on this forum - there are posts about getting rid of ivy.

    Searching 'shade plants' on this or other forums will give you lots to read. Somewhere in there I found this:

    "Posted by: saypoint 6b CT (My Page) on Tue, Apr 18, 06 at 16:26
    There are lots of websites with lists of plants that will thrive in shady locations. There are so many that you really need to do some homework. Study the plants to see which ones will do well in your zone and in your soil conditions, and which ones you like."

    ---That'll get you started. Also ask on the perennials forum about the daylilies.

    Maro

  • annieinaustin
    17 years ago

    Where you live makes a huge difference in how you garden - unfortunately, "zone 6/US" can't get you as much relevant advice as you would receive by posting a more specific location.

    Have you looked at the main forum list?? Besides reading the posts in this forum, it can be a lot of fun to find out what people are asking at the forum for your state/area of the country, and you might even find other nearby gardeners.

    Good luck!
    Annie

  • mamma2max
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    Thanks for the suggestions! I've just spent an hour looking at posts on other forums and have an idea now of the difficulty in getting rid of the ivy :-(
    I have also been looking at options for the front of the house, in the shade, but am still figuring out exactly what the light conditions really are throughout the day. I went home at lunch to find that there may be more light getting in there than I originally thought, at least late morning to noonish. Perhaps a hydrangea in the corner and some mixed hostas with...? It would be nice to have some color. There is a beautiful flowering tree there by the front door that has a trunk/bark like a saucer magnolia, however, the flowers look more like a Star Magnolia.
    I am in Louisville, Ky and we are having a very hot muggy summer already (although it's raining buckets this week). Another reason I'm worried about moving or planting anything. I'm afraid that, if something doesn't survive, I won't know if it's because of the timing, light, soil, or what. I will have to take some pics this weekend and post them for additional input. For now, still welcoming any suggestions. Thanks!!

  • Rachel_Lexington
    17 years ago

    Advice I have read many times before is to go slow on making changes for the first year in a new (previously occupied) house/yard. Seasonal changes, light conditions, spring bulbs, microclimates, etc. all take time to discover. Learn to identify the most common weeds, research unknown plants to see if they're weeds or "keepers" and keep pulling that ivy! Make lots of notes, because even though you think you can, you really WON'T remember what time the sun first hits this particular bed after the vernal equinox. Start the compost pile with the leftover leaves from last fall and all those weeds you pull, but throw the ivy away, or it will take over your compost pile, too. Lurk on these forums, ask more questions and read all you can, and enjoy the process!

    Best of luck with that ivy!

    Rachel

  • mamma2max
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    Thanks Rachel! I really love being outdoors and this great big yard is just calling to me to dig in, but I'm sure taking my time will prove more productive in the end. I will definitely get a "gardening notebook" to keep track of everything as I go, and will certainly keep learning from the forums as well. Funny, when I was pregnant, I was addicted to the baby forums, but I had no idea there was a gardening forum. Guess I will be glued to my computer again for a while ;-)

    Angela

  • Rachel_Lexington
    17 years ago

    Angela,

    One other thing... If you really want to add something colorful to those empty shady mulch beds, but don't know if there are any spring bulbs that would be disturbed, you could just get a few containers of shady annual flowers, or even go ahead and fix up a pot or two with hostas. If you sort of sink the pots into the mulch, they'll look a little less obvious.

    Rachel

  • biscuitZ5IA
    17 years ago

    Angela,

    Last year was the first year in my house and I didn't plant a thing. I did do 2 things that have proved to be very helpful.


    I took pictures of each plant when it was blooming, and marked the dates it began to bloom, AND when it was finished. These dates will of course vary from year to year, but at least I have an idea of their relative times.

    Also, I made a "shade map". I drew a plan of my yard,including house and sidewalks, marking lot lines and a few other reference points like tree trunk and shrub locations, lamp post. Then I copied this onto tracing paper, and using different colored pencils for different times of the day, I shaded in the shady places in the yard every few hrs over the course of a day or two. I did this every few weeks throughout the season. This has proved to be very valuable this year as I contemplate where to plant the full-sun vs. part-sun, vs full shade plants. Some places I thought of as very shady turned out to get quite a bit of dappled sunlight, and vice versa. I would not have remembered that without my drawings.

    Suzanne