My Gardening Disaster
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The area is very workable.Start by putting heavy black plastic down along with newpaper to smother out want you do not want.Wildflowers can be planted in containers.Trim the other bushes providing they are not flowering.Put landscape fabric in to prevent any more weeds taking over. Cover with mulch.Remove the existing edging a make a small retaining wall. Add a garden statue ,or a gazing ball.
I do have that weed barrier cloth down already... as you can see, the weeds just laughed at it and kept right on growing. :( If I put down black plastic, how long would I have to keep it down to get rid of everything?
I would move the landscape timbers and make them into a rectangle/across the front of the house. Weed and lay newspaper or black fabric down , then mulch, I like black mulch it gives it a pop of color. I can't really tell which are the roses , but I would make the crepe myrle the center of attention, with smaller wild flowers around. Then transplant the larger bushes/roses elsewhere. It just looks like there is too much going on and no organization. I have some health issues also...just do a little everyday..no hurry and it will look beautiful.....
I would have thought to keep the black berries out of your garden, it would be better to dig them out when they first appear and they are not established. Being me, I would be digging them out of my lawn too.
You could use Round Up on the blackberry bushes. While that will kill the existing blackberry bushes, sounds like the birds will only poop out more seeds, so just leave them. A SIMPLE, EASY ANSWER may be to sow wild flower seeds thickly over the ground/grass in the area. We had a grassy/weedy area that we wanted to cover with wild flowers, but didn't feel like going to a lot of trouble (arthritis, too). Here's what we did: We used a gardening tool with a long handle, & a curved over sharp, fork like end. (Sorry, I don't know the name of it.) We just lightly scratched around the ground with it randomly, sprinkled lots of wild flower seeds every week for several weeks. We bought an inexpensive "hose end sprayer" for plant food (Miracle Grow for flowers) that mixed with the water as it comes out of the hose. Set the water spray to a fine mist so it won't wash your seeds away. We watered according to manufacturer's directions. We tried to use perennial seeds, that would come back every year. Each year, we added more seeds until the entire area was covered with wild flowers. This is a very easy, low maintenance way to have a wild flower bed. I would leave the roses where they are. With your shoulders & arms hurting, putting down black plastic, landscape cloth, moving landscape timbers, etc. would be very difficult & tiring. (I know.) Take it easy, have fun & don't stress about it. You'll end up with a low maintenance wild flower bed that you can enjoy. Good luck & let us know how it goes.
I'd buy a package of wildflowers and scatter it. Many are perennials and will reseed themselves. I'd put either bricks or wood & weed barrier in circles/squares around roses & crepe myrtle (I love them) and mulch them heavily. This way you can have wildflowers and the others. The blackberries root underground which is why they're so hard to get rid of....get some neighborhood kid to help dig them up, mowing them isn't going to help. I'd die for blackberries as they're my favorite berry. I plant wildflowers wherever I move to...sort of helping nature to be herself. Good luck.
Get yee a shovel!
I'd dig all the berries first and kill the weeds with Spectracide non-selective herbicide. (more bee friendly than Roundup) You will always have to dig or pull them as they appear. I would get someone to help me put a rock walkway through the area making it wide enough in the center to hold chairs, a bench or a swing. This will give you a place to sit and enjoy the flowers, the birds and the bees. It only has to be done once and will save on maintenance and water needs in the future. If you attend a church ask the pastor if there might be youth willing to help you do this, charitably if possible. Then I would cover the planting area with composted steer manure and top that with a finer top soil before scattering seeds. Add shepherd's hooks for bird feeders, a bird bath and a water station for bees and you will have your little nature sanctuary. You could even add an arbor over the walkway and plant Clematis or sweet peas to grow on it.