How to regain my garden :(

[chuckles]

Hi .
Its been a fair while since i joined up but am in desperate need of some help .

I have an area at the bottom of the garden that was a lovely veggie patch at one point.
Due to family illness etc i have not been able to keep it up and it now looks like this . We've also had a huge willow tree cut back and that firstly needs removing as you can see.
Once we have moved this, beneath it is a thick sheet of plastic that has been down for 2yrs. This covers 1/4 of the area so we'll have a start.
I'm basically trying to tackle this on my own as my hubby has no interest in gardening and did initially clear it all but now it is completely overgrown with nettles, bindweed and thistles >.
I've tried growing stuff in pots but my patterdale terrier just trashes everything :P. The bottom of the garden is securely fenced off and is the ideal place away from him lol !.

Now things have settled down family wise i would so desperately like to get it back to how it was, i'm just at a loss as to where to start now.

Any advice would be most appreciated please

[Jeanied]

It looks a little like my allotment at the moment - except I don't have the plastic down or the logs!

I have mine divided up into beds so I am using my strimmer and some hedge shears to cut the nettles down to less than a foot on each one. Once the top growth is taken away I am getting less stung, and I'm composting it as I go along. Then I go in with the fork and take out the roots and compost those. I reckon I can do a bed and a half in an hour so I am doing an hour a day for the forseeable. Meantime I am growing on in pots with the intention of planting up as soon as the bed is clear.

It is one of those tasks you need to take little bites at! Use a timer and take lots of breaks, I do every 15 minutes. Take a bottle of water too!

[bearded bloke]

Bonfire to clear the willow brash & an ad in local freecycle & shops,etc to get the logs taken away ?

[Urban]

Wow you have a big job ahead, like the previous poster says do it a bit at a time, cover any cleared bits your not using with black plastic, cardboard, old carpet etc

Perhaps you could do some kind of event, rope some family in, maybe even some grapes
Beer/wine and BBQ after everyone has helped out ?

[alldigging]

Hugelkutur!

You'll freecycle the wood easy though!

[veggiechicken]

Willow is not the best of wood for burning as it is wet and takes a long time to dry out. Its not that easy to Freecycle.
I have used wood from fallen trees to outline paths and beds in the garden. It could be the start of a raised bed for you.
Also, I would be wary of using the thin willow branches in the garden as they root so easily!

[veggiechicken]

Where do you live Chuckles? If you put your location on your profile it would be helpful. Who knows, there maybe someone here who lives locally and could advise you!

[dominic10]

Not sure where you live but on the south coast nettles and thistles are about to flower so it is a very good idea to cut them back before they seed. Although it is a daunting task. A strong pair of gloves, wellies and a compost pile should ensure next year you have lots of lovely compost. We're digging out loads of roots from nettles and bindweed from our new allotment just over half of which is now covered with plastic. And thistles! the roots are so deep I don't envy you the task of digging them out. The plastic does work though. Are you able to encourage your OH to bag up the willow and take it to the dump?

[Two_Sheds]

it is completely overgrown with nettles, bindweed and thistles

Pull them, compost them (the bindweed roots need to be dead before you compost them though, so perhaps consider dehydrating or drowning those). They are full of nutrients, so use them don't landfill them

my patterdale terrier just trashes everything

Train him?


The logs are awesome: stack them up in a corner as a bug hotel, you'll get loads of lovely beetles which will eat slug eggs for you, and probably some really good fungi too


Start some veggies off in pots or modules. Then clear a bit of your plot, and immediately cover it or plant it up.

Little & often is the way

[donnakebab]

As TS says. Don't get rid of the logs, stack them somewhere or use them for a raised bed. It's always a good idea to have a corner somewhere to stack stones and branches, you might be able to encourage hedgehogs and beneficial insects.

Make a plan on paper and tackle it a section at a time. Don't let it overwhelm you.

[eirish]

I've tackled an overgrown garden myself this year. Reading books (loving Sarah Raven's "The Great Vegetable Plot"), starting seeds indoors and buying herb and flower plants have helped me stay inspired and keep at it. As everybody else has said, clear a bit at a time and plant it up so you have visible results. You've already got "before" pictures, so you have something to compare against - wish I'd done that!

[chuckles]

Cheers guys .
As well as my hubby not into gardening he also works on a farm so this time of year is a definate no no lol !.
I've edited my profile to add my location
Would be wonderful if there was anyone nearby who could come and assess and advise me on how to tackle it best.
I will leave the logs as you say, that'll be one less thing to do !
The soil is pretty good down there as we previously had ducks and chickens (never a weed in sight when we had them )

[chuckles]

I've made a start today .
Hopefully they will survive my dog lol. My other hobby is my car so i thought i could combine the two

[Feral007]

Plenty of nettle tea and compost to come out of that! Still you've had plastic down on some so you could start with that and move on to the others.

If the whole thing seems too overwhelming than maybe you could pay someone (sometimes there's some older gents with a strimmer who don't mind making a little money helping out) and you could get the weeds levelled. Then sheet plastic over them - if the weather gets hot enough you can actually kill the roots that way. And that way it also won't be seeding and spreading. You could start digging and planting in your area that has been plastic'd and let the sun do a job on the weeds that you hacked down to ground level. If you want to get the temperature up high under the plastic, dig the edges under so that it really cooks.

[RedThorn]

As Feral says, the plastic down is where Id start, I'd stack the logs to make a temporary composting pen in the corner you'd tackle last and strim the worst and clear the biggest mess. Then Start from the plastic and work piece meal to a side then expand from there. What about a spreading squash to grow over the part you most likely won't tackle this year?

Try aim for bed sized clearings, then plant up keeping it covered that way and inspiring you to tackle the rest?