I recently bought a home that the garden beds in front of the house have not been touched in years?

Question

What is the best way to start from scratch? Is there a chemical I could put down? ( if so will I be able to plant new flowers soon after?) Should I just manually rip everything out :( . They are currently just over run with weeds. Thank You

Answer 1

rip everything up,get a fork and turn the soil, water well,dont use any chemicals ,since this will hurt new plants...buy some top soil and spread,  in the whole area,water the soil for about ten mins,leave about two days,if you want manure on there buy some ,and buy some flowers.put it in after two days the flowers I mean..add the manure if you want,and water...water your plants every morning..at that time you could pull any grass or weeds that is showing up...to keep away ants crush some egg shells and sprinkle it around the flowers,this also helps the soil if it is missing calcium,when you go to the  store to buy flowers get yourself some sevin powder,just in case bugs wants to eat your flowers,thats to sprinkle on the bushes...good luck...

Answer 2

You could use a chemical weed killer like Weed-B-Gone. I don't use them. You might have to wait to plant, though. I'd just pull 'em out and start over. If you have a large area use a garden tiller, you can rent them.  Or just use muscle and a hoe. Once you have your new plants in, place strips of wet newspaperas mulch on the ground all around the plants. It will deter weeds. You can put a little more garden soil on top of it so it looks nice.  Good luck :)

Answer 3

If you don't want to use chemicals and are willing to wait a season to plant, then you could try sheet mulching.  First cut all the weeds down. You don't need to dig them all out (although you might want to pull out any really big brushy stuff) -- just cut them short with a weed whacker or lawnmower. Then cover the entire area with corrogated cardboard.  Flattened boxes work well.  This layer is to smother the weeds, so make sure they overlap so that no light can get through. Water them really well to make them lie flat.  Then pile compost and compostable materials on top of the cardboard.  Pile it high -- it will settle quite a bit as it decays over the winter.  Water well again.  Top off with a mulch or wet burlap bags to keep it all moist and cool and shaded, and leave it be over the winter.  If it ever seems to be drying out, water it again. The earthworms will do the work of mixing it all up for you, and by next spring, you should have really nice weed-free soil waiting for you to plant in. If the cardboard hasn't quite decayed all the way yet, you can plant right through it -- just dig holes for the roots of whatever you're planting.  Unless you live someplace with dry winters, though, there'll probably be no cardboard left by next spring. Worms love cardboard.

Do a search for "Interbay Mulch," "Sheet Mulch" or "Lasagna Gardening" if you want more info on this technique.  I've tried it, and it works.

Answer 4

Start with pulling out the weeds by the roots.  Chemicals should be the last thing you use, especially this late in the season.

I have no idea where you are located so I can't make any suggestions, but the plants you put down should reflect the kind of garden you want.  Do you want to attract birds and butterflies or do you want roses, etc?  That's all up to you.

The nice thing about your situation is that you get to start from scratch and can do whatever you want to.

Answer 5

If the original bed and flowers are in there somewhere, I would start weeding. If it is too far gone, I would just rip the whole thing out. Don't use chemicals because that will poison the soil and hurt anything you plant. You can cover it with black plastic which will kill anything under it. I would probably hire someone to dig it up.

Answer 6

skip buying chemicals.... they poison the soil , kill the plants, but you STILL have to dig out the dead plants... so skip one costly step and just wait till after a good rain or you water the area , when the soil is nice and moist and start pulling out the plants you don't want.... of course, since you're in a hurry, you may be pulling out things that later on you will buy again.....do you know what's in there besides weeds?... bulbs for spring or mums for fall or other goodies?.... if you don't care, then just yanking will do you fine.....

next move is to start on the soil.... get a soil test done and see if there's a need in your soil..... with lots of plants being there already, there's prob a need for nitrogen , maybe a pH imbalance.... once you know you can start to fix things.... like adding lots of compost to make the soil easier to work in plus more food for the plants.... a little manure, too!.... then your plants... I'd suggest waiting now until fall when the nursery will have all new fresh plants..... and a better assortment!!.... and the weather will be better !!!...... have a bit of a plan in mind when you go to buy plants or you could come home with too much or those that are not suited to the situation..... be careful about how big those you do get will be AT MATURITY.... nothing worse than loving a shrub  right there and then finding out it's gonna get taller than the house!!.... or planting three of something sorta together and then have them squash each other!....

don't forget to mulch... even before you plant.... keeps the soil soft and workable since it holds the moisture in it... and it looks more 'finished'....

have fun out there!