All of the above and more, Tony.
G.

There really wasn't a garden per se at the house we bought 10 years ago. The people who owned it before us had a vegetable garden; all the ornamental plants had been put in before they bought the place, and they never pruned or cared for them in any way. The first 2 or 3 years for us were spent removing dead, dying and diseased plants, and pruning overgrown shrubs. I put in a few things, but didn't really get serious about it until 2 years ago. Renovations so far have been concentrated on the front yard--a small footpath, a tiny patio area, removing the sheep meadow (er, lawn) and replacing it with flower beds.

Does this fit the intent of the forum? It certainly isn't anything like restoring a historic garden, or discovering the remains of a beautiful old garden under years of weed growth.

Hello!
The title of the forum might lead one to believe it is for historical restorations only. Not the case, SnowOwlMoon. It is for anyone with garden renewal, renovation, or restoration questions, ideas, thoughts, or theories.

In my experience, it is often more difficult to re-design a garden than to design a fresh, new garden. You must work with and around another's (or several others') attempts, mistakes, plans, dreams, plant choices, and so on. Also,you must deal with nature's choices in the way of the persistence of certain pernicious perennials, shrubs, vines, and weeds. You have the issues of overgrowth and maturity of the garden's plant life - what to save, what to let go. How much of the old design(s) to incorporate, how much to erase.

The work you have described in taking out old, diseased specimens, pruning overgrown shrubs, blending in new plant material, deciding to concentrate on the structures in the garden first(path, patio), replacing lawn with flowers --all are part and parcel of garden reconstruction. You are in the right forum!

Ginger

I'll second that, Ginger. An existing garden just adds another layer of questions and tasks; blank slates are so much easier and fun (and a second to SnowOwlMoon being in the right place; howdy!)

Tony, you know where that maintenance as gardening path leads; do we want to go there so soon? I would like to think this will be a place to talk about more than weeding, but that is part and parcel of the equation too, neh?

Is there a way to get rid of lots of 'creeping charlie' in my gardens without completly redoing them?

Good question, Marianne. Dealing with the effects of invasive weeds or invasive garden plants (the thugs) is a big part of garden renewal.

I assume you mean ground ivy(glechoma hederacea) with the little scalloped-edged leaves and purple-blue flowers, not creeping Jenny or moneywort(lysymachia nummularia)? Diligent weeding is probably the best, but most labor-intensive method. You may have to dig out some of your ornamentals to be sure you have removed all of Charlie's roots and rhizomes. The roots lay near the surface, so at least you are not dealing with something like bindweed with 6' deep roots!

Some might use Roundup or ascetic acid (strong vinegar)or boiling water, but if the weed is intertwined with your plants, they would be harmed as well.

Maybe others have different approaches . . .

You will probably get more answers if you post this question separately with "creeping Charlie" in the title.

Ginger

Sometimes it's just easier to dig up a section, remove from the clumps that which you want to save, and replant them in the bed after whatever soil amendments are dug in.

My Mom had an enormous rock garden on a very, very steep slope and some of it could not be gotten to each year. The iris patches were simply pried up, the grass and spurge, etc, tossed down to the street below, and the iris sections replanted in the cleared out section. It was a lot of elbow grease but the end result was great as the soil was amended, the weeds removed without chems, the clumps refreshed and it assured a good night's sleep afterwards.

T

The axis of the planet spins on elbow grease, as my old grandad used to say. Way to garden, Trudi!

The photo reminds me that many gardeners go to great pains to make a garden look old even if it's not. It depends on the style, I guess. For the tumbled, random look of a cottage garden or the unstrained feel of a "wild natural" garden, I'd one would want that look of overgrown-ness... within limits, of course - carefully maintained limits.

Shabby chic gardens, restored, would look appropriately tumbled and "shabby" as a result of the restoration.

I am trying to plan gardens to enhance my Italianate house. I have eight acres to plan on. I want something other that grass. I have 3 pink rhodies at front of large l-shaped porch and a nuttery which includes walnut and hickory trees, red barn and carriage house The time period of 1862 but not a formal look to it, I have researched but didn't find anything to spark a plan that I might carry out over a period of maybe 5 years. We still have a lot of inside work to do on the house and budget gets strained often.Does anyone one have any suggestions of type of plan or search that I might be able to do to help me get through this block.This is not a restoration but establishing beds as well as shrubs and trees.

Sorry I'm new at posting and didn't do it right. I'll try again. Still in need of even more help.

Hickory2077-
I think if you post this as a query on its own with "Planning Gardens with 1862 House" as it's title, you will get a better response. Posted here in the middle of a thread it may get lost. Those with houses in your home's era or knowledge thereof will quickly see the 1862 date and be better able to read and respond.
Ginger

Hickory2077:
I enjoyed your snake story on your member page-not sure I would have been that stolid to move all 7!

Just go back to the Garden Restoration Forum header/home page. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and you will see a "post message to the forum" area. This will make your post come up on the forum's list of topics; you will be starting a new thread.

If you post at the bottom of a current thread's page, you will be posting a follow-up. Follow-ups appear in the list of replies that make up the thread.

Hope this helps.

Ginger

i'm assuming that garden resoration has to do both with authentic period peices (which there is rarely a reason to do that except in special historical sites) and how to recreate something authentic to the spirit of a time and place ... eg Hicokory's Itallinate house probably wants to be modern Itialianate rather than I. of the 1890's
So perhaps in some respects historic restoration needs to address both the physical components of style and the spirit/intentions of the times.