Personal update: I’m now talking to my plants. In all seriousness, this is surprising to me. I never thought I would be into gardening so much so that I’d already be making gardening plans for next spring, but the process of cleaning out our very overgrown yard in recent weeks has sparked something in me. Maybe it was that I needed to move my body. Maybe I needed to spend more time among plants. Whatever it was, I’m hooked and can’t wait to transform our backyard garden in the year to come.

Today I’m sharing a look into the gardening updates we’ve made so far, what I’ve learned along the way, and our future plans for this space. 

The Garden When We Moved In

Naively, we didn’t look too closely at the green spaces when we originally made an offer on the house. It was April and snow was still covering the ground. Little did we know, we would be inheriting quite the outdoor project. The previous owners of our home cared a lot about the types of trees and plants on the property, but over time the garden became overgrown and full of weeds.

I spent most of the summer enjoying the areas that were somewhat maintained and just ignoring the massive beds of weeds that were growing more jungle-like each day. Alas, eventually, it became hard to ignore. We love spending time outdoors so much that one day I realized I couldn’t take it anymore and decided to cut everything back. It was like a treasure hunt, uncovering paths and rocks and starting to see the shape of what had been here in all its glory, and I realized the previous owners of the home had put as much time and care into the garden as they did the house. 

It was like a treasure hunt, uncovering paths and rocks and starting to see the shape of what had been here in all its glory, and I realized the previous owners of the home had put as much time and care into the garden as they did the house. 

Waiting until I was ready to conquer such a big project meant I was excited enough to power through the hopeless moments the project inevitably offered (not to mention multiple trips to the local composting center).

Updates We’ve Made So Far

When we started this project, it was difficult to see what plants were actually still flourishing in the beds (and as it turned out, not that much had survived the overgrown weeds). I walked through the garden with my father-in-law, who’s a bit of a gardening expert, and looked at things that were taking over other plants (snow on the mountain, ferns, etc.). We cut down the ferns to see how many there were. From there, we used a chemical on the roots (not ideal but with this much growth there wasn’t a better option that didn’t cost a fortune or take a week of my time). This helped temper all of the weeds we had so we could get them contained and take a look at what shrubs and hearty perennials remained.

In many ways, the only job we had to do this summer was to clear everything out and save what could be saved. We intentionally decided to put in a lot of work now so we can do less work later on once the overgrown portions of the garden have been cleared out.

The exciting part of it all is that the landscape design that remains is really lovely, and just enough of a template for us to fill in with plants that fit our family’s lifestyle and our gardening abilities. 

What I’ve Learned as a Beginner Gardener

1. You NEED to be wearing gloves, long sleeves, and closed-toed shoes if doing heavy cutting, pruning, or removal of many plants. I learned this the hard way. Just trust me. 

2. Plan your garden around your lifestyle first and then decide what plants you actually want to include. Do some thinking about how much time you have and how much you want to put into it, and consider who lives in the space. What do your kids need? What do you need as a family?

When you choose plants that work well within your environment and your lifestyle, you’ll set yourself up for success. 

3. Plan the kind of garden you want to have around the conditions of your yard. You might love roses but you need to consider the state of the ground, drainage paths, the amount of sunlight, etc. before adding them to your garden. These are three of the questions I ask myself before deciding what to plant:

• How long will this take to grow?
• Will it grow here?
• Will it thrive here?

When you choose plants that work well within your environment and your lifestyle, you’ll set yourself up for success. 

What’s Next

Right now, we’re taking a really hard look at what we want from this space and allowing ourselves to be realistic about how much time we can devote to maintaining it. What I’ve discovered is that the relaxed, country garden vibes I love so much actually require a TON of work and time that we just don’t have with small children. So I’m focusing on creating areas that are low-maintenance and kid-friendly, and then carving out smaller areas to plant a pollinator section, a cutting flower section for bouquets, and a section for herbs and other veggies. 

Our next step is to have a couple of trees taken down next month, and we’ll be making mulch out of those that will be used as ground cover. This will allow us to save some money on store-bought mulch. We’ll also be setting up our own compost system to collect lawn trimmings, leaves, brush, etc. that will help improve the health of the soil. 

Our goal is to get the garden to a healthy state this fall and start planting next summer. It’s hard to go slowly at times, but getting to know this yard in all four seasons will be important for making any big plans we have for the future.

My takeaway from adventures in gardening these past few weeks? In one weekend, you can be bit by the gardening bug. In one weekend, you can get a good start. You might feel overwhelmed at first, but ultimately, you need to get out there, learn by doing, and figure it out as you go. I’m excited to see what’s to come for our backyard garden. In the meantime, what gardening tips do you have for me?

Kate Arends

Kate is the founder of Wit & Delight. She is currently learning how to play tennis and is forever testing the boundaries of her creative muscle. Follow her on Instagram at @witanddelight_.