Need advice- where/when to start? - February 20th, 2007 at 05:44 PM
I'm not even sure what information to include, but here goes.
Basically, we purchased this house last year and moved in around April. The lady who lived here before me told me that the flower beds were low to no maintenence (ha!) and that she had planted lots of perennials. Well, the "LOTS" part was true! By the end of the summer not only did I have tangles of foliage overrunning everything, but there were weeds almost 5 feet tall and 3 feet wide coming up through them as well. It was a disaster!!!
The problem lies in that I am not super-familiar with most of the plants she had and how or when to transplant them once I *do* recognize them!
I was thinking of moving MOST of the hostas to the shadier beds since the sunny ones are so crowded. When is a good time to split them??
Also, how can I be sure I'm not digging up other things when I do this?? I really like the sedum and the bleeding hearts that are in there and don't want to kill them if I can help it.
This is what is in ONE of the beds that gets late sunshine (3pm and later): Lilac bushes that are HUGE in the back of it, a rosebush that did NOTHING last year, but is huge and sprawling over top of everything, a few big clumps of pink peonies near the back,lots and lots of sedum (some of it got tall and bloomed and some of it just sprawled out over the edging with foliage), bleeding hearts, tulips, irises, hostas (several kinds), violets,lily of the valley, and some mums. It is all mushed in together and you can't see much of it for the weeds and the mounds of foliage. I need advice on HOW and WHEN to thin it out!
In bed #2 (the front of it is full sun, the back of it is mostly shade): big ferns, some big ivy, what looks like some vinca, various other tangles of ground covers, a small rosebush (or should I say "stick") that didn't do anything last year, some tall (3 ft?) daisy-like thing with tiny flowers that might be a weed stuck in the middle of it all! This one is pretty packed in too, but mostly needs some arranging- tall things in front and short things are in the back now.. it's a weird layout. I would like to move the ivy out completely, but it looks like it runs under EVERYTHING.
(Gulp!) Help???
I want to be prepared when the snow melts. Last year I waited and didn't do anything because I'm still figuring out what is weed and what is flower! Unfortunately, most of it was weed and by the time I realized, it was too late!!
'Manda
Basically, we purchased this house last year and moved in around April. The lady who lived here before me told me that the flower beds were low to no maintenence (ha!) and that she had planted lots of perennials. Well, the "LOTS" part was true! By the end of the summer not only did I have tangles of foliage overrunning everything, but there were weeds almost 5 feet tall and 3 feet wide coming up through them as well. It was a disaster!!!
The problem lies in that I am not super-familiar with most of the plants she had and how or when to transplant them once I *do* recognize them!
I was thinking of moving MOST of the hostas to the shadier beds since the sunny ones are so crowded. When is a good time to split them??
Also, how can I be sure I'm not digging up other things when I do this?? I really like the sedum and the bleeding hearts that are in there and don't want to kill them if I can help it.
This is what is in ONE of the beds that gets late sunshine (3pm and later): Lilac bushes that are HUGE in the back of it, a rosebush that did NOTHING last year, but is huge and sprawling over top of everything, a few big clumps of pink peonies near the back,lots and lots of sedum (some of it got tall and bloomed and some of it just sprawled out over the edging with foliage), bleeding hearts, tulips, irises, hostas (several kinds), violets,lily of the valley, and some mums. It is all mushed in together and you can't see much of it for the weeds and the mounds of foliage. I need advice on HOW and WHEN to thin it out!
In bed #2 (the front of it is full sun, the back of it is mostly shade): big ferns, some big ivy, what looks like some vinca, various other tangles of ground covers, a small rosebush (or should I say "stick") that didn't do anything last year, some tall (3 ft?) daisy-like thing with tiny flowers that might be a weed stuck in the middle of it all! This one is pretty packed in too, but mostly needs some arranging- tall things in front and short things are in the back now.. it's a weird layout. I would like to move the ivy out completely, but it looks like it runs under EVERYTHING.
(Gulp!) Help???
I want to be prepared when the snow melts. Last year I waited and didn't do anything because I'm still figuring out what is weed and what is flower! Unfortunately, most of it was weed and by the time I realized, it was too late!!
'Manda