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| I have a sun garden that I started about 6 years ago, at the beginning of gardening at this home. It needs a major overhaul due to poor design and weeds I do not like it at all. I've expanded the bed a few times, and what used to be the front is now the middle and the front is just a mish mash. It's also had a lot of grass (KBG) creep in. What I really need to do is take everything out and kill all the weeds.... KBG, tree seedlings, etc. I want to leave only the established shrubs and the young river birches at the back of the garden. The other shrubs, though established (barberry, smokebush, elderberry), I will probably just rip out. But, I know that I won't be able to complete the overhaul in a short period of time (I work outside the home and have lots of weekend commitments). So, how in the world do I complete this.... where do I start? It seems like such a huge task. I have a couple dozen large clumps of daylilies that I'd like to keep... lots of bulb lilies, some iris, liatris, artemesia, some grasses, russian sage, rudbeckia and several varieties of echinacea. I have another much much smaller sun garden that I could use for hold-over space for some of the plants, but certainly not all of them. Should the smallish plants go in the leftover nursery containers I have and the larger ones .... at least the ones that I can... go into the holder bed? I don't wanna go ripping out plants till I have a plan of what I'm going to do with them. I will be doing this project alone.... hubby does not do gardens! |
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| My experience renovating a rock garden and an overgrown area might help. I potted up what perennials I wanted to keep. Very tedious. Only samples of what I had, in some cases. No shrubs or trees were close enough to be damaged by the weed killer I used, but it was the only way I could kill the grass that was spreading. Months later I replanted the stuff I had saved. |
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Tue, May 14, 13 at 8:18
| hey!!!! bog's idea is brilliant ... get lots of pots .. perhaps from the recycle bin at a nursery .. and some good potting media... pot up the ones you want to save ... put in shade in back .. out of sight ... planting time is fall .. so target that ... and just start ripping things out ... think of it as saving the good.. and destroying the rest .. OVER TIME ... perhaps you are overwhelmed.. because you are thinking this is a weekend project.. its NOT .... just start with one section.. work it over.. and move on.. when you have the time ... and dont save anything you can replace for $5 .... everything is NOT a treasure .. get over it ... lol ... i can teach you how to use roundup if you wish .... a hold-over bed.. is not a work of design.. just put plants one foot on center ... and jam them in there .... give over the veggie bed for this summer... etc ... do not try to 'design' a holding bed.. just jam things in .. and save them ... cull bulbs at the proper time ... most can be saved in onion bags.. after proper drying.. and planted.. again.. in fall ... the hardest lesson i learned.. when i moved from suburbia to 5 acres .. and got older.. lol .. and had kids to care for .... was that the days of weekend-warrior were over ... it was hard to conceptualize.. that i couldnt do projects in two days like i used to ... now.. if i want to accomplish a goal.. and if it takes all summer.. so be it .... i just plug away .. when time allows .... good luck ken |
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- Posted by gardengal48 PNW zone 8 (My Page) on Tue, May 14, 13 at 13:25
| Believe it or not, plastic grocery bags work great for plant storage. And most of us have a good collection available :-) Just make sure they have a few holes poked in the bottom for drainage. Pop out the plant with as much rootball intact as possible and just transfer into the plastic bag. Place in a semi-sheltered position (part shade) and don't forget to water regularly. I have stored plants to be transferred in this manner for a number of months (and a few upto a year or more) without problems. As to the time involved to accomplish something like this, I find it is more efficient and successful if it can be accomplished more or less at once. At least the clean out. Planting can be done later. But to stagger it out over an extended period of time gets to be discouraging and tends to overwhelm. Can you plan a few days of vacation time? Or a work party with some gardening friends? Sometimes it is even worth it to hire someone for the day to do the removal and preplanting prep work. |
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