in over my head!

[Teevah]

I work at a youth center, in front of my youth center is an area that is supposed to be gardens.* in the past they have grown mostly vegetables there, but then some times they would plant a very immature shrub in a very strange place and now they are maturing shrubs in very strange places.*

there are tulips, daffodils, irises, and crocuses all over the place in a hig traffic area where they are all just mangled!*

i started a program witht he youth to get the gardens cleaned up and functioning agian, but this task is goingt o be a huge conquest!*

i have a tupi bed that has never been tended to.* i have a rock path that i want to keep but it is mottled with crab grass.* i have big ugly butterfly bushes that i would like to keep but they are all hacked into ugly bushes.* i have lavendar shrubs, tiny junipers, and some unidentified shrubs too.

where do i start??

[bullthistle]

If you can flag where the bulbs are located for digging up in the fall you'll be better off then you can move them where you want.* You can prune back the butterfly bush and any others that have grown too much. As for the grass, the only solution is to dig it up or use Roundup, your choice. Lay out on a pice of paper where you want things planted and do that in the fall then decide if you have enough room to plant veggies. It could be too late to transplant now.

[Newt]

Hi Teevah,

What you've undertaken can be a daunting task.* Unfortunately you don't say where you live or what your hardiness zone is.* That can effect what you can do now.* Folks visit us from all over the globe and it's helpful to know where you are.* If you don't know your hardiness zone you can use this zip code zone finder if you are in the US.
http://www.gardenweb.com/zones/zip.cgi

It would also be helpful to know what the sun conditions are.*
Full sun is 6 hours or more of direct sun
Part sun is 4 to 6 hours of sun
Part shade is 2 to 4 hours of sun
Shade is 2 hours or less of sun.

It would help if you could identify the 'strange' shrubs.* Once you know what they are, you will know where they will best fit in the landscape or if you even want to keep them.* Pictures are always helpful, so if you could post a picture or two, maybe we can id them.* If you could post some pics of the garden we would have a better idea of the space.

If it's spring where you are, I agree with Bullthistle that marking where the bulbs are would be a good idea. That way you can dig them after they bloom.* If they have bloomed and the foilage has yellowed, that's even better as you can dig them now if you like.* You can put them in pots and hold them aside until you have the bed(s) finished.* Don't forget to label them so you remember which is whcih.* Then you can plant them in clumps or drifts.

Butterfly buses are best cut to about 12" or 18" in late winter or early spring before they leaf out.* You can cut the oldest trunks flush to the ground if there are younger ones.* In many areas they are considered invasive, so you might even decide to remove them.

Do you know what type of iris you have?* Are these the tall ones or the tiny early spring bloomers?* The tall iris are best transplanted in July to August in most areas, but sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do, so you may need to move them now.

If you want to completely redo the beds you will will need to dig up everything, enrich the soil with compost (sometimes you can get this for free from your city/county) and replant.* A layer of 3" or 4" of compost mixed into the soil would be great for your plants and bulbs.* If you don't know where to plant things, consider contacting a gardening group in your area. If I knew where you are, I could search for a group near you.* I'm sure volunteers would love to help you with design and placement.

The crabgrass can be dug out or you can use something like vinegar to kill it.* I prefer not to use chemicals like Round Up, especially around kids.

Newt

[Teevah]

i live in portland oregon.* it is going to be cold enough for it to snow still, but not stick or accumulate.* it still might frost next week.* i havent planted anything but rocks so far.* and it is going kinda good.


the spot i am gardening gets full sun from late morning to late evening sun all summer long and i want to plant sumflowers here.* my ultimate goal is to have a native flora garden here, so i made the two paths rough.*

i will get pictures of the poor tulips today.* i feel so bad for them, i want to put shrubbery where they are.* i have the perfect shrubs, i will be root pruning them on tuesday for fall transplanting.* the irises havent bloomed yet.* but they are in the same bed with the tupils.

[Newt]

I can't quite tell from the pics, but the path in the foreground looks a little sunken.* Maybe it's just my perception.* What is the black stuff?* Is that a weed barrier?

I've got some questions, hope you don't mind.* Do you know the name of the shrubs will you be planting?*

What variety of sunflowers will you plant?* If planting natives, most bloom in summer or late summer, so you'll need something to fill in the color until then.

Do you need info on native plants?

I'd love to see the pics of the tulips.

Newt

[Teevah]

what i have is a valley with several seperated spots of dirt.* it used to be a big slope that led to the front door of the facility.* it would pool up with water and you would have to walk trough a huge puddle to get into the building.* they made it tiers on the west side of the slope, and on the other side it is divided into a bunch of squares of dirt.* and they made a (what my boss called) a french drain down the center of the path.

the black is plastic to keep weeds from growing.* that willbe removed in the fall so i can plant natural grasses and flowers.

the sunflowers i plan to plant are varied.* they are there just to appease the kids for right now.* i dont have my seeds to tell you exactly, but the seeding kind, white ones, the puffy yellow ones, dark red ones, and purple cone flowers.

they were covered in weeds and crab grass on Monday.* the cool thing is that the kids have been really excited about this, so they put alot of effort into it.

the shrubs i have are likt little junipers, lavender, and what i think is mellow yellow spirea (it is a red bush with little yellow flowers, and thorns)

[Teevah]

the tulips

[Newt]

Good pictures.***:)* If you grow perennials from seed, they won't bloom this year.* The first year they establish their roots and show only their leaves.* If you want flowers the first year from plants like purple cone flower and perennial sunflowers, you will need to purchase plants.

Spirea 'Mellow Yellow' doesn't have thorns.
http://www.arhomeandgarden.org/plant...rea_5-5-06.htm

The picture you have labeled as tulips appears to be iris.* Here's how to divide them* They probably won't bloom for at least 2 years after you divide them.
http://www.napairis.com/division.html

Newt