The first thing I would do is somehow get rid of the poison oak, you could probably look it up on the internet to see how to do it.

Are the roses blooming now? How large are the bushes right now? I'm purely guessing that they may be antique roses but could be totally wrong!

It sounds like you have a wonderful place, and who knows, maybe you'll fall in love with gardening! Is it possible to get some professional advice on what to do?

Trumpet vine is very invasive, but pretty. My neighbors across the alley have some and it is always intruding into my flowerbeds

Would love to see pictures. That is such a pretty, historical neighborhood...

Welcome to our forum!

The roses typically need to be pruned around Valentine's Day as they're typically dormant by then and won't be damaged by a late freeze. If they're antique roses, you can get away with not pruning them as long as you don't mind how big they get. As to size, they vary by variety. No matter what variety they are, they'd benefit from a good layer of compost covered by about 3" of mulch. The compost will feed them and the mulch will help keep the water they get from evaporating quickly.

Lantana's a perennial plant, so it doesn't die after a season/year of growth. It'll die back in the winter, sometimes all the way to the roots, but will come back in spring. It gets about 3' tall and spreads maybe as wide, if you have it and it hasn't been cut back yet, you'll be able to tell how big it normally gets. It needs to be cut back to green wood right about now. I highly suggest wearing long sleeves and gloves while you do this, as lantana's prickly and can be itchy. It puts out a lot of small flowers in clusters all over and repeats the blooming cycle all summer, even in the heat and drought. Other than the pruning, a layer of compost will make it think it's died and gone to heaven and a layer of mulch will help come summer, but lantana's hardy enough to do OK without that help.

Good luck with your new yard! And don't hesitate to bring your questions here, people are typically friendly and want to help. You might also check out the Dallas County Master Gardeners, they can be a helpful resource for more Oak Cliff specific questions.

Here is a link that might be useful: Dallas County Master Gardeners

What a wonderful legacy!

Since the property has been allowed to grow for a period of time, I think I would start by noting how much sun gets to the roses during a sunny day.

You might need to look at your life and decide if you are a person who likes plants more natural or more controlled. I love bushy bushes...a dear friend likes hers cut in rectangles and clearly round shapes. Trumpet vine needs something to climb on or it will climb on everything. You need to decide if you love it or want to lose it...or maybe most of it.

You also need to find out who the roses are and if you love them. Some roses need a lot of attention, others next to none. Maybe a neighbor can offer insight into what they notice your GM doing in the garden.

I'm so happy that you are ready to dig in
smiles
c

Michael, how exciting for you, and I know you will love gardening. Why not consider attending one of the North Texas plant swaps where you can meet other gardeners and learn a lot from them one on one? Also a good time to get plants that many share because they have an abundance.

Well, first congratulations on inheriting a nice home in a wonderful neighborhood. If you can simply maintain the yard this year you might find out you know more than you think you do. Of course get rid of the bothersome weedy aspects which hvae recently popped up but really learn to live with Grandma's yard. Then as you realize you can do it, you can add things back to the way you remember them looking before the place became yours.

You're truly lucky to have this legacy.

You may not become an avid gardener overnight like many of us are. The gardening bug seems to creep up on you slowly. Here's just a few words to add to the good advice offered above. As for now I'd say try to get rid of the weeds by pulling, using a weedeater or whatever means suits the situation. As much as I dislike chemicals you may want to use a chemical weed killer on the poison oak. Then you can see what'd left of Granny's plants. To keep the weeds from returning too quickly put down a heavy mulch in the flower and/or shrub beds using something such as live oak leaves that many people will be leaving out by the curb for pick up, or bagged mulch from a garden center, or free mulch that many cities offer at their facilities. The free mulch requires a little more work since you have to load it into cans or bags yourself, or have a pickup into which they will sometimes load it for you. As mentioned above a neighbor or gardening friend could probably advise you on how to keep the plants you have left looking good with pruning, fertilizing, etc. Wishing you the best!