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Neglected flower beds

Hi

I'm new to this forum so hello everyone image

I've just acquired a very large garden in rural Argyll.  It has been raining very heavily since we moved in last October - and many of the flower beds are completely covered in a layer of thick moss and generally quite neglected.  I'm now trying to clean up and get the garden ready for summer and I think with the area I have to cover I really need to mulch everything or I will be spending the next ten lifetimes weeding!

So two questions :-

Should I remove the moss before I mulch everywhere?  My concern here is that removing it will just cause the ground to be colonized with other perennial weeds.

I also know that there are many beautiful (and expensive) plants in this garden which was previously owned by a professional gardener.  I am seeing some of them come up now - but obviously some of them will be invisible at this time of year (bearing in mind that we are in Scotland and the weather has not been great).  Do I need to wait for everything to show itself before I mulch?  I am worried that if I go ahead now -I might bury something beautiful - but if I leave this until summer I am going to have an impossible task on my hands (the cultivated area of this garden is about 1.5 acres).

Probably the first question of many so thanks for any suggestions image

Posts

  • Busy Bee2Busy Bee2 Posts: 1,005

    I am no expert, but I would be inclined to get rid of the moss to aerate the soil and get it healthy.  Perennial weeds will already be in there in the form of roots, so you won't be 'letting them in' and seeds would presumably have floated towards the beds last summer/autumn, rather than now.  So I'm not sure that deterring weeds would be a reason to leave the soil covered in moss.  I think moss likes damp conditions, so think about drainage perhaps.  If you want to deter weeds, you could mulch with some rotted manure - a much better option than moss.  I don't think mulch would bury a plant - it will just push through it, so unless you put on 2ft, you are unlikely to bury anything so that it couldn't grow.  That would be my gut feeling about what you should do, but like I say, there are people on here who know a lot more than I do.

  • chickychicky Posts: 10,409
    I would get rid of the moss if you can. And mulch should be ok over yet to emerge plants at this time of year. They say to mulch round plants, rather than over them, to stop the crowns rotting- but i would think that would be less of a problem at this time of year. You might also discover emerging perennials when you strip off the moss - it forms quite a thick mat.
  • InadorelInadorel Posts: 2

    Thanks for the advice.  I'm working on clearing it off now - and you are right - I am finding a few things I didn't know were there....

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