My Garden Project

[Christor]

So I've recently taken on the interest and ability to start my own Garden, preferably vegetables but find myself drawn to the wide and wonderful world of flowers as well, really the whole thing fascinates me!

Basically Ive taken on my great grand parents old home, which had a vegetable garden which held pride and joy, my granda himself was never allowed into it or faced the stick :p

has been unused for a garden and general use since the 50s, so a lot of work to be done

Ill be recording as much as possible my progress but mostly looking for ideas both aesthetically and practically from members here, anything at all is greatly appreciated, especially criticism or personal preferences

Heres a few pictures after the first day of work, wish I had picture showing what the place looked like before we even started, literally couldnt walk through the cleared area shown, between bamboo like weeds and old border bushes that took over, 4 men and a chainsaw soon made short work

[img]https://i1036.photobucket.com/albums/a442/christor/DSCF4362.jpg[/img]

This is the little lane up, used to have raspberry and other berry bushes along it, still some wild ones there, garden itself sits 6ft above the road

[img]https://i1036.photobucket.com/albums/a442/christor/DSCF4355.jpg[/img]

an idea of what it looked like before, this picture looks a little different as its been cleared, but havent got an actual picture of it yet

[img]https://i1036.photobucket.com/albums/a442/christor/DSCF4357.jpg[/img]

behind my gf has also now been cleared, anyone got an idea of the weird bamboo shoots growing? they grow and look like it, with tubes inside the stalks and big broad leaves, obviously this is Ireland so curious as to their name, very shallow roots and easily broken

[img]https://i1036.photobucket.com/albums/a442/christor/DSCF4363.jpg[/img]

the view from the road itself, old byre on the left and dwelling house on the right, going to be using the byre at least for chickens and pigs

[img]https://i1036.photobucket.com/albums/a442/christor/DSCF4358.jpg[/img]

standing in the southeast corner, however again this has been cleared but what it looked like after day one, love the little stone wall around it and wont be going anywhere no matter what trouble it causes

[img]https://i1036.photobucket.com/albums/a442/christor/DSCF4360.jpg[/img]

the northeast corner, get an idea for size, again its been cleared since just need photos

an adjoining field thats nice and flat, but could be full of stones as the whole area I live in is mountainous with a huge hill on the back of the house

So this is my Garden, in its infancy but a work in progress, plase gimme your thoughts as Id live to hear your ideas

[tomf]

It looks like you have you work cut out for you but it will be worth it, it looks like a lovely area. The help of a good tractor with a bucket helps a lot if you can get one. A bush mower will grind the stuff up into mulch and put ot back into the soil.

[Christor]

we do gave tractors and front loaders, however problem is the stone wall surrounding, which for sentimental reasons mostly we wont be destroying to get into, plus manoeuvring space is minimal unfortunately

bush mower sounds interesting, theres literally 10-20cm of just leaf litter on top of the soil so that itself is good for it, but a little too much, I'm wanting to turn it into compost and probably burn off the rest unfortunately, theres decades of debris built up

[shadylane]

christor, your homestead is inviting. I love that second picture. I would work the stone wall into your plans. My advice is to take your time. Collect your ideas together of how you would like it to look ten, twenty years from now. Make a scrap book of your likes and put it down on paper from pictures, ect. I found from my own mistakes, that your gardening likes change in time, and that it takes more work to undo or change going on impulse.
Best of gardening to you

[!potatoes!]

that hollow 'bamboolike' stuff looks like japanese knotweed, considered an invasive species in ireland.

[DoubleDogFarm]

I'll second the knotweed.

Brother and I spent over a year removing English Ivy and Knotweed from a condominium in town. We used pick maddox and 2 cycle line trimmers. The constant knocking off of the regrowth was eliminating most and the rest in check. Another trick we used was heavy duty road fabric. Basically a roll of weed barrier 16ft wide.

The new condo board members asked if they would save money by using chemicals. We replied, "You will have to ask the new landscapers".

Eric

[rainbowgardener]

Love the old buildings and the woodsy bits. Second the idea of taking your time. You need to know your land some, know where the sun hits different times of day and different seasons. And if you go clearing everything, later you may wish you had some back.... Do a lot of drawings. Think about how you want to use it, not just what to grow. Are you going to be living there? Think about hardscape first... do you want paths, a sitting area. Do you want to garden for wildlife? Then you might want bird feeders, bird baths, brushy areas, some cover, water feature, some trees left....