Photo by Gustavo Fring
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A wild garden is a wonderful thing. It’s the kind of place where any critters could make a home for themselves, and where you can step out in the morning and feel the sun break through all the green (as overgrown as it might be!).
But sometimes, wild gardens get a little bit out of control! When they do, it’s hard to get the reins over them again, no matter how well-used your gardening gloves are. And when you’re a totally new gardener trying to create an outdoor space you can enjoy, an unruly wild garden is the most overwhelming thing to face.
But we can help you get it back under control with a few top tips, so you’ll end up with a fresh new landscape and a garden space that looks and feels like paradise! It’ll take some hard work, but as long as you’ve got the tools and the time, you’ll get the job done!
Get Rid of the Waste First
Waste in a wild garden can hide itself pretty well. You might not realize it, but underneath all that excess plant life is a bunch of old, dirty, and rotten garden items that just need to be taken away.
As such, try to focus on removing this stuff before you do anything else. It’s a lot of grunt work, and it certainly won’t be all that fun to work through, but it’s essential to your gardening journey.
Try to dig through any greenery and pull out genuine garden waste for disposal. Things like old tools, building materials, and broken-down garden fixtures (like an old water feature, plant pots, and planter boxes).
These are the items that pose a dangerous hazard to your time in the garden, as being unaware of this waste could lead to injury as you move around the space. Get rid of as much of it as you can before you get to work on anything else.
Also, make sure you’re wearing proper protective equipment. You don’t know what you might get if you end up catching yourself on an old piece of wood, or if that cut is exposed to the mud for too long. Have some gloves on at all times.
Cut Back Overgrown Plants
When removing waste from the garden, the one thing you might notice is that it’s actually quite hard to get through the overgrown plants covering everything.
You keep knocking your head and face on a tree branch that’s getting familiar with you, and you can’t move without almost tripping on roots and vines that are all over the ground. It’s a mess, and it’s an exhausting one at that!
So let’s do something about it. If you can’t get rid of any more waste without cutting back plant life, turn your attention to the plant life.
Pop a tarpaulin down on the ground to catch the offcuts, then just start chopping things back using pruning shears. Take as many breaks as you need to, but make sure you can always wrap up the tarp every time you go to throw the waste away.
Don’t overfill it, as this will make it hard to carry and just make your job all the more difficult. We’re not here to just waste energy!
Try Out Some ‘Zoning’
Zoning your garden into sections is a great way to visualize the end result you’re going for. It’ll give you a more fixed image of the garden paradise you want, meaning you can start to sketch it out and make a proper plan.
Get a piece of paper, sketch out a rough outline of your garden, and then write down underneath what you want from the space. A little list of areas is just fine; for example:
- Lawn
- Planter beds
- Shed/summer house
- Outdoor eating area
- Comfy reading nook
And the list could go on and on. But once you’ve finalized it, go back to your sketch and draw in these zones. That’ll help you to come up with a workable layout and highlight any landscaping issues you might run into.
Ultimately, zoning just makes it easier to get the idea out of your head. You can finally decide if you’ve got room for that water feature or if you should get some gravel to lay down as a border between your plant beds and the lawn.
Leave Space for Furniture and Outdoor Buildings
A lot of people treat these garden elements as an afterthought. Garden furniture like seating and tables can be added wherever they’ll fit, and you’re sure you’ll find a space for them once you’re done, right?
Wrong! Plan out where you want them to go right now.
And if you want to have a storage shed or a little summerhouse in your garden, section out a zone for it first.
Garden outbuildings are pretty notable additions to the backyard, and they’ll be a defining feature of the garden no matter what else you add to it. Simply put, include it now, or it’ll ruin the view!
Focus on Biodiversity
Finally, make your garden as biodiverse as possible. You want all kinds of plants in the space, as it’s so much more appealing to have a wide selection. And the more variety in your plant life, the more bugs and critters there’ll be to enjoy the garden too.
Get Your Garden Under Control
When your garden is under control, you’ll be able to turn it into the exact kind of outdoor space you’ve dreamt of! And that takes a lot of cleaning up, cutting back, and planning out before you get any ‘proper’ gardening work done.
Start with removing the waste, as that’s usually the worst of the job to get out of the way. Then, move onto your garden layout, your furniture needs, and the kinds of plants and wildlife you want in the garden with you.
Once all that is out of the way, you can finally live the gardening lifestyle!
*This article is based on personal suggestions and/or experiences and is for informational purposes only. This should not be used as professional advice. Please consult a professional where applicable.