Overgrown Garden

Addle

Just offered to sort out a very overgrown 'lawn' for someone but don't know where to start!
It's like a meadow and full of weeds.
Should I get a gardener to look after it all, or should I get someone in to cut the meadow and then get a gardener?

looksee

Well the 'someone' will probably need to be a gardener anyway (unless you are talking about haying an acre meadow) so just get them to come and look at the situation and advise you.

Jimmy_M

what you want the end result to be? What tools have you got?

Addle

Thanks for the replies.
I have no tools!
The lawn and boundary hedges are riddled with weeds.
The meadow is longer than you'd see in most fields!
Want to return it to a lawn.
Would get rid of it altogether, but the owner thinks not having a green area will affect the sale-ability of the house in a couple of years.

Jimmy_M

Addle wrote: »

Thanks for the replies.
I have no tools!
The lawn and boundary hedges are riddled with weeds.
The meadow is longer than you'd see in most fields!
Want to return it to a lawn.
Would get rid of it altogether, but the owner thinks not having a green area will affect the sale-ability of the house in a couple of years.

If you can get it cut down to a reasonable height using hedge trimmers, lawnmoer, etc see what way it is. is it acceptable.
Keep it short and maintained after that.

Although by the way youre describing it it'll have to be dug and resewn.

Addle

I think we'll have to start from scratch too.
Will a gardener cut meadow?
It's a fairly big garden.

lazybones32

What size garden are we talking about? 1 gardener/landscaper should be able to do everything needed to restore it, so you shouldn't need to hire a number of different professionals.
Yes, a well-tended garden can add a couple of grand to the asking price of a house but if there is no immediate desire to sell the house, you or the owner could be spending a lot of money between now and then on something neither of you seem particularly interested in.
A gardener can come in and make the place look great but without regular maintenance, it will return to its current condition.

Addle

Addle wrote: »

I think we'll have to start from scratch too.
Will a gardener cut meadow?
It's a fairly big garden.

Any grass cutting contractor or lad going around doing lawns will cut it for you. Don't go near it with a lawnmower anyway.

Firstly you need to strim it with a big strimmer. Then you need to rake up all the grass and get rid of it The strim it again to get it down tight. After that I would strim it every few weeks. After a few cuts you will be able to start using a lawnmower.

Maybe nest year you could look at using a weed and feed to get rid of weeds if you like. But regular mowing will take care of a lot of them and it will look tidy enough.

The hedges will need trimming and maybe spray around the base to kill off any grass and weeds growing up through them.

Addle

Thanks again.
Once a gardener gets it under control, we'll have them maintain it.
Unreal how quickly a garden can get out of hand.

Addle

Am I as well to get this done straight away or maybe wait a few weeks?
When does growth stop?!

lazybones32

We don't get hard winters here, so growth might only slow down. Weeds seem to grow great all year round and I've seen roses bloom in December.
Get a few quotes/estimates from gardeners and - depending on what they think needs doing - work from there. If the lawn needs to be redone, the next 5 weeks are optimal time for doing so.