Welcome to our first installment of our “Fear of Gardening” series. Today we tackle the out of control garden. Imagine with me a moment… You’ve just purchased your dream home. When you looked at it the first, second and third times the garden was well maintained and beautiful. But after waiting for weeks to close the once well maintained garden is now a crazy huge mess that seems about to swallow up your new home with you in it.
So, what do you do???
Unfortunately many folks rush to get the biggest pruning implement they can find and start hacking away at the over growth. After all smaller is better… right? Experienced gardeners know that plants can’t read. The plant doesn’t know the tag says 6-8 feet and they really like the water or drain field they are planted next to and decide they want to be 18 feet tall. The inexperienced gardener may complain that it ‘got to big’ or it’s too close to the foundation/car/fence/roof/neighbor, etc…
Here are a few things I suggest for that new plant / garden owner:
1. Live with it for a while, explore your new place and the plants that live there. They were abandoned and need a little understanding.
2. Educate yourself and learn about the plants you’ve inherited. There are great resources on-line (Daves Garden, Monrovia and a plant finder) and at your local nursery. Many professionals are really plant nerds at heart and love to see what you have.
3. Think about moving the plants that are out of control or too close to the house. Usually waiting until your plant’s dormant season will improve your success rate.
4. There are great pruning books DK Pruning and Training is one of my favorites. It helps you understand how to prune almost anything. You can also pick up Cass Turnbulls book for a great education and a laugh at the same time. She is a local and knows a lot about good and BAD pruning.
5. Be wiling to part with the previous owner’s style/mistakes. My rule of thumb – If you don’t love it and it is just taking up space, get rid of it. It can be expensive and take a lot of love, time, effort and nurturing to move a plant. If it only cost $ 5.99 in the first place why not start over with something you love.
Take a look at these gardens that are lush but under control and come back tomorrow as we face some of the issues of going “au natural”.
