Dealing with Overgrown Gardens

For so many reasons gardens get neglected and get overgrown. Sometimes people get busy, can’t keep up with them, or inherit gardens without a love of actual gardening. All hope is not lost. Almost any garden can be brought back to life with the right care and attention.

One of our biggest categories of work each summer is getting neglected gardens back from the brink. That’s fine with us since it’s one of our favorite things to do! Working in an overgrown garden is a lot like bringing an unknown artist’s vision back to life all while you discover treasures along the way.

How we tame a garden

Every garden is a little bit different but there are some best practices. We start by giving the garden a good weeding. We try our best to dig around the existing plants and remove as much root material as possible. We have found that just applying mulch at this stage isn’t usually enough. We will almost always suggest the installation of a barrier material that will suppress the vast majority of the weeds. Any trapped under the barrier will die off in a year or two. We carefully cut out around the base of each plant or shrub and then apply a few inches of mulch or decorative stone. Several barriers can be appropriate in different gardens but it’s important to use a professional quality one that will last long enough to kill the weeds underneath. We can also use all-natural, water-safe and pet-safe treatments to help with problem areas. It can be a labour intensive process but it is a labour of love!

Why you might want to clean up over starting over

• Mature plants are irreplaceable and will take years to get back to that size
• Gardens can be sentimental
• There often already in the ‘right’ places
• The longer they sit the more the weeds outcompete the plants
• It’s less work

Benefits after cleanup

Probably the two benefits homeowners will notice first are how much better the garden looks and the dramatic reduction in weed growth going forward. But there are some hidden benefits as well. One thing is it stops the damage to the existing plants that the weeds are doing. There is only so much water and nutrients in the soil available in a garden and the weeds will always win. Over time they will choke out and kill off the plants you want to keep.

Once a clean-up is complete the plants will start to flourish after the first good rain and a few sunny days. Sometimes they do look a little bit worse for wear right after. They’ll now have everything they need to grow and flourish. We’ve even seen some flowers start to bloom again that haven’t in years after they have their own space.

A beautiful well tended garden is also a big boost to a home’s overall value especially compared to a patch of unsightly weeds. The best time to rehab an overgrown garden was last year, the second best time is now!

How to keep your garden looking great going forward

As much as we wish we could eradicate every single weed, sadly a few stragglers will likely resurface around the very edge of the existing plants. You can expect a reduction of 90% or more. Gardens that previously took all day to weed now take about an hour. As such you can stretch how often you have to get out there to at least a couple of weeks or even once a month. Whether you plan to take care of your weeding going forward or have us take care of it the time savings are significant.

In the first few days after you might notice some of the mulch or stone is moved around overnight. That’s totally normal and just the product of little critters coming to check it out. After about a week they will lose interest and you won’t have to do any evening out.

We also find most gardens do need a little top-up of mulch the following spring. It’s not totally locked in place until it goes through the first winter and you might see the odd bare spot. We find after that first winter you can skip top-ups if you so desire. Each spring once the edges are cleaned up it’s just the occasional hour of weeding going forward.

Let us help get your garden back

It can be incredibly intimidating to stand in front of a dense patch of weeds that used to be a garden and know where to start. Let us tackle the challenge in your overgrown garden and get it back to looking its best!