Where Do I Begin?

[pieman]

I'm undertaking my nan's gardens as a self project. The basic problem is the front garden which gets no sunlight and is covered in moss. I'll put some pictures up soon. I was hoping for some tips/help seeing as i'm only 15 with very little experience =]

 

[lljdma06]

I'm undertaking my nan's gardens as a self project. The basic problem is the front garden which gets no sunlight and is covered in moss. I'll put some pictures up soon. I was hoping for some tips/help seeing as i'm only 15 with very little experience =]

No sunlight with Moss. Hmmm sounds like a shaded and damp area to me. If it were me working with this garden, I would go for a rock garden/native woodland plant theme. I would grow ferns and other plants that thrive on shade and moisture. I say native plants because it would provide an interesting theme to the garden. Do a google search on English woodland plants or check out a field guide in your library. There are several flowering plants floating around that enjoy shade. I would also contact a local nursery or botanical society to find out what plants grow best in your area. I'm not from England, so I don't know your native species, but that's what I would do. It would require a bit of research on your part, but it might be rewarding. A word of caution, however, harvesting native plant in say a forest may be illegal, check your laws before you go running around a protected environment with your shovel harvesting plants.

In the US, wildflower gardens are quite popular and very lovely.

 

[pieman]

A word of caution, however, harvesting native plant in say a forest may be illegal, check your laws before you go running around a protected environment with your shovel harvesting plants.

If it isn't seen, it isn't illegal

Thanks for the advice, i'm gonna look around the internet, I also need a decent lawnmower, we have a petrol one at our house but it isn't convinient to transport, and the one at my nans refuses to put the grass in the bag

I'll see how it goes

 

[orientmatt]

If its a damp shaded area I would opt for woodland plants. Before planting though i would make sure that you remove all of the moss. Some plants you could start with could be foxgloves, hostas, ferns and bulbs such as bluebells for a bit of spring colour. Creeping jenny might do well if its damp for a bit of ground cover. There are thousands out there to go for. Just make sure you give it a good digging over before you start.

 

[samyboy]

is the moss growing on the grass? if so poor aeration lightly stab a fork into the lawn

you want plats that prefer shade and damp conditions, beware though if it gets little sun late frosts could kill off flower buds next year.

go into google and search "RHS plant finder" and "BBC plant finder" two exellent finders with an abundance of plants.

good luck

 

[Opcn]

I'd say DO NOT remove the moss, Moss is a lovely alternative to grass, if you leave it for a long enought time on a yard with low traffic (like maybe on an old womans property) it will form a lovely matt and it will be low maintainace, just a stiff broom to sweep off tiwgs and leaves, however if you havent got enought light and its too moist and acidic to grow grass then removing the moss will just give you mud, my stepfather insists on removing the moss from benieth trees in the back yard and planting grass, but the conditions are no good and he just gets mudd for a year then moss again. if you can prune back whatever is casting the shade and airate the lawn and add lyme to the soil then the lawn will restore itself via ryzomes, although not as quickly as seed, Many people spend vast amounts of time ripping out moss every few years but it is inefficient and it doesn't save the grass. That being said were there is moss you can grow ferns and you could have a very lovely and ancient looking cryptogam garden going by planting a few different types of ferns and letting them spread a bit, if you go for woodland gardens and manage to establish them you will find that grass is in all actuality a weed in the woods, it grows as tall as it can but very sparsely and mostly it will grow up in other plants for support, obstructing the view of the flowers that you plant Moss Lawn this however won't grow up at all and will always remain compact.

 

[black angel]

I agree with a moss lawn, they are really low maintenance and lovely and soft to park your behind on.

 

[Majjie]

Hellebores like the Christmas Rose are good for shade. If you know anyone who has them in their garden then they should have seedlings they could let you have. Dwarf cyclamen are really pretty too - and again you should be able to scrounge seedlings if you know someone who has them.

 

[Opcn]

How about an update?