A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion Landscape trials and triumphs overgrown flower gardens

I am in a new home with many flower beds. They have been neglected and are overgrown with weeds, grass, errant seeds from existing plantings. I am a novice and would like to "restore" the gardens. I am overwhelmed and don't even know where to begin. I have spent hours plucking only dandelions....where do I start? any experienced advice?

Well you've got a big job ahead of you. Are the flower beds very big? It's best to start in small sections so you don't get overwhemed.

Also do you know what is in the beds? Some things should only be moved at certain times of the year. By the way did you just pluck the dandelions or dig them out with their roots?

I think your off to a good start. remove what you KNOW you don't want. and yes, like Tamara said, dig it up from the roots.
you may have some very nice things in there! you could take pic's along the way. also, keep in mind that some things bloom at certain times of the year. so If you don't know what it is, it might be best to leave it a while.

Thank you, Tamara, for the response. The beds vary in size from 4ft X 1.5ft to 12ft X 5ft (guessing). I dug the dandelions to include the roots. I have gone through 2 1/2 of the beds and, today, added PREEN in those areas. This is supposed to prevent weed (or any) seeds from germinating. Fortunately the original home-owner left a box of the plastic descriptors from the original plantings and I will match those to what has survived the 9 years. So, I should be able to id many of the plants. An online articles suggests totally digging up badly weed-infested areas, trying to remove and replant the flowers plant. It states that spring bloomers should be done in the fall and fall bloomers in the spring. This idea appeals to me the most in one area as the grass/weeds are growing in the middle of the plant and I don't see how you could spread weed killer in the middle of a plant! What do you think?

if you do things in small increments, you'll have all the beds back in shape within a couple years. that's really wonderful that the previous owner left the plant tags!!! that will make it all so much easier to deal with!!

first things first:

don't even worry about moving things!! who knows? you may like where things are!

deal with the weeds first and foremost. getting rid of them will have the beds looking 100% better in no time!!

for what you know are weeds, yank 'em out! for what you're not sure if it's a weed or a plant that just hasn't bloomed yet, post pics and we'll help you to id them.

i'd be leary of using weed killer in any flower bed...if it's going to stop the weed seed from sprouting, it's also going to stop the flower seed from sprouting - better to dig stuff up, or, for the easy stuff without taproots, just pull them.

other than removing the weeds, just live with the beds for this summer. you'll get a good look at what's there and how everything looks with the other items.

over the winter, you can do some thinking and research and make some decisions about what you want to keep and what you want to get rid of as well as what you want to move from here to there and what you want to add in.

next summer you can start fiddling with pulling out/moving/adding a few things here and there. and again dealing with weeds - or maybe not...they might just look worse than they actually are and you won't know until you really start pulling them out.

if you try to get everything all done all at once, you'll be overwhelmed.

and gardening is one of those things that's never actually quite 'done'. that's the beauty of it for me...there's always something that can be tweeked to make things look better...

gosh....nothing to add to what joclyn has said! She said it all. I'll just say I totally agree with not adding weed killer. take out, by the roots, what you know you don't want. if your not sure, and things look wild...get those sizzors/clippers out and wack away. prune the 'unknown' for now.