[marleypark]

Hello,
Last year I dug a flowerbed running along the side of a wall in my small front lawn.
Due to several reasons I could not give it as much time and it got somewhat overgrown for the second half of the year.
In an attempt to get started early this year, I went and turned the sod along the lawn last weekend, it is compltely full of roots and overgrown grass etc.
(See my pics)

(By the way for some reason my front lawn is now also in a bad state, while my back lawn is okay)
But my big concern is the bed, will it take long for the roots etc to wither and for this soil to be useful, or will I have to do what I did last year and dump all of this and get some topsoil/compost to start new?

As you may have guessed I am very new to gardening...

Any comments appreciated

[frengers80]

hi there and welcome to the forum.Firstly after the harsh winter i can tell you most grass is in a poor condition but will bounce back when the weather improves.As for your border,looking at your pictures looks like you might have some scutch grass in the mix-long white roots.In a lawn they are not really a problem but in beds and borders can become a handful if unchecked.My first advise would be to make your bed wider,give your plants a little room to grow.Next fork over the soil,remove as much of those white roots as possible,then add some good compost to improve the soil,most front gardens usually end up with a skim of soil left by builders.Use a landscape membrane and top off with a mulch of bark/gravel/slate tc and you and your plants should get away to a flying start!!Good luck!!!

[James Kilkelly]

Agree with frenger80 there marleypark on the removal of those white roots.
And also the widening of the bed.
I see you have a nice white wall there, but with plants rubbing up against it, that won't be white for long.

If you have a few minutes you should have a read of this article on the preparation of a new border.......... Planning Old-fashioned Perennial borders for Modern Gardens.