How We Finally Tackled Our Overgrown Garden (And What We Still Haven't Done)

This year we have been absolutely terrible at keeping on top of the garden. Last year, we spent loads of time over Easter doing a proper reset: sorting the patio, getting the pots ready, and giving everything a good tidy. I came away from that feeling on top of it all, ready for the growing season.

This year? We just… didn’t. My husband has been working a lot over the past few weeks, I’ve been busy with work and other things, and the garden just got away from us. By the time we had a proper look at it, it was a bit of a state. Things had gone to seed in places they shouldn’t, weeds had spread, borders were escaping into the gravel, and the whole place felt like it was slowly reclaiming itself.

Anyway. We had a few sunny days over the May bank holiday and decided that was it — garden time. No more pretending it was fine.

Here’s everything we got done, plus the bits we still haven’t touched.

The Pumpkin Patch (Now the Squash Section, Actually)

This was probably the most dramatic before-and-after. The pumpkin patch had been completely taken over by wildflowers and weeds — which sounds quite romantic until you’re standing in it pulling things up for an hour.

I left the spring flowers I’d actually planted in there: tulips, muscari, a few other bits that are still dying back. I’m leaving those to do their thing naturally so they’ll come back next year. Everything else came out.

Once it was cleared, I mulched it all over with grass cuttings. The plan is that the mulch will block the light and stop new seeds from germinating, suppress any weeds trying to come back, and also break down over time to feed the soil before the pumpkins go in. Last year I crammed that bed with way too many pumpkin plants (I have a tendency to go a bit overboard), so this year I’m going to spread it out a bit. Pumpkins, yes, but also courgettes and cucumbers — it’s such a sunny spot that it feels like a waste to only grow one thing there. I’m basically rebranding it as the squash section and I’m fine with that.

The House Borders

These had got a bit wild too. Things were escaping the borders and rooting into the gravel, which is always slightly alarming — there’s something about a plant that’s decided it’s going somewhere that feels very difficult to argue with. I pulled everything out that shouldn’t have been there and gave it all a proper tidy.

I’ve also got sunflowers growing at the moment, and I’m thinking about putting some of them in the borders against the wall. I think they’d look brilliant there once they’re big enough. Watch this space.

The Lawn

My husband cut the grass, which feels like it should come with a medal given how long it had got. We’ve left a big patch at the back uncut, though, and I want to keep it that way. There are loads of wildflowers in it — cow parsley, all sorts — and it’s buzzing with bees. It looks a bit wild, but that’s sort of the point. The rest of the garden being tidy makes it feel intentional rather than just neglected, which I think is the key distinction.

It’s also much better now for my five-year-old to actually run around in, which was getting difficult when the whole lawn was basically a meadow.

The Entrance Area (An Ongoing Battle)

There’s a section near the entrance to the property that doesn’t get much light, and it has these shallow-rooted weeds in it that I’m convinced are basically sentient. Once they go to seed, they just explode everywhere — you pull them up and within a few months they’re back like nothing happened. I pulled them all up last year. They’re back. I’ve pulled them up again.

I’ve got no idea what to do with that area long term. I tried wildflowers there last year, and they didn’t really take, which I reckon is because these particular weeds are just stronger and crowd everything else out. I’m open to suggestions — if you’ve had a similar problem with a low-light area full of invasive shallow-rooted things, let me know in the comments what you did with it, because I’m stumped.

The Beds by the Conservatory

These had got a bit weedy too, so I sorted those out as well. Now I need to decide what to put there! Last year I filled it with bedding plants and pansies.

The Rest of the Garden

My husband also did a lot of strimming around various areas, which always makes such a difference to how everything looks, even if the actual growing areas are still a bit of a mess.

We’ve made a start on the wildlife and forest area too — it’s still pretty overgrown, and I think it’s going to take more than one session to sort properly, but we pulled up a load of things that were blocking the path. So much of that sticky weed (you know the one — cleavers, the stuff that attaches itself to absolutely everything, including you). Progress.

What We Haven’t Done Yet

There’s still quite a bit left. The area at the top of the garden near my vegetable beds still needs weeding and sorting, and there are a few other patches that haven’t been touched. We did what we could with the time we had, and I’m trying not to be too hard on myself about the rest.

All my seedlings and vegetable plants are currently living on the patio while the weather’s good, but I’m going to do a separate post all about what I’m growing this year — there’s quite a lot going on, and it deserves its own space rather than being bundled in here.

For now, I’m just glad the garden feels like ours again rather than something we’re slightly afraid to look at. There’s something about getting out there and actually doing the work, even when you’ve left it longer than you should, that feels really satisfying. It’s never as bad as you’ve built it up to be in your head. (Almost never.)

Have you had a big garden catch-up this spring? Let me know in the comments what you’ve been tackling — I always feel better knowing I’m not the only one who gets behind!

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How We Finally Tackled Our Overgrown Garden (And What We Still Haven’t Done)