New to Gardening?

We bought our house July 1st of last year and its on 1/2 an acre of land. The previous owner is/was a horticulturalist. He had built this house and lived here for 50yrs! But over the last 10yrs (because of his age) the flowers/plants have become wild and overgrown. HUGE project and I really want to tackle it - but I know NOTHING about gardening. Where can I possible start? I have talked to the older gentleman and picked his brain and he has been able to tell me quite a bit - but the problem is he is quite sick :o( I have thistles that are over 5ft tall and blueberries bushes (trees!!) that are over 5ft tall.........is there a "starting" point for someone who doesnt know anything??? Thank you for any help you can give me.

New to Gardening?
Make a rough map of the place and mark the plants that you do not know and get the old man to tell you what they are. Label everything in the garden that you want to keep. DO NOT TELL HIM WHAT YOU PULLED UP! Keep information like that to yourself, it will only hurt his feelings if you tell him you threw out a plant he got from some buddy on the other side of the country. Once you get a handle on what is in your garden then it becomes a process of learning each plant. They will all have their own habits, trimming procedures and fertilizer needs. If you are determined to have turf, then forget all that, hire someone to rip it out and start from scratch. A bobcat(a piece of equipment, not the critter) will make quick work of what you have, but I really would vote against that route. Plantings like you describe actually require less work than turf in the long run, the old man got sick and couldn't work it the way he should have and it got over grown. Get to know the plants individually, hence the map and labels. A good pair of bypass pruners will be your buddy. If you can't talk to the old man, taking samples of unknown plants to your local nurseries will be a good start. Good luck and have fun, you will be discovering new buddies for the next year or so.
Reply:Look in your local paper and see if they have a gardening club. Most gardeners are keen to help and they would be delighted.

Otherwise, I would advertise for a gardener and ask for his help. I myself did a horticultural course at college, but there are simpler gardening classes which might help you. In fact, the college might be glad of a place in which they can practise their skills!
Reply:I'm not sure did you try cutting the blueberries trees down and try lawnmowering over the over grown flowers.
Reply:start with the simple things like weeding the flower beds...



check with your local nursery to find out what to do with the thistles...we cut them off at the base and put some sort of powder on them to keep them from coming back, not sure what it was tho. I believe some sort of acid that killed it's roots but didn't harm the soil.
Reply:Hello,

Gardening can be a lot of work and very rewarding. The best gardening information can be found at secilysgardeningtips.com



Secily,
Reply:Wow... that does sound like a project! The best place to start is in your prefered lawn and garden store. You will first need the appropriate tools. Get a spade, gloves, a rake, some pruning shears, and possibly a shovel. Now it just depends on whether or not you are wanting to pull them up or save them. If you are wanting to pull them up, start doing just that. If you need to make it easier, pruning shears can cut off hard to deal with branches and you may need to dig up really big bushes. If you are deciding to save them you need to map out an area that you want to use as your garden then get rid of everything else. You should plant grass in the new areas so that you can have a yard again. Whatever you are wanting to move to another area should be moved either now or in the fall. Don't do it if you are going to have to wait even 2 more weeks. Other than that get some plant food and water them well. I like the miracle gro stuff that you can put into a sprayer and feed and water your garden at the same time. Good luck. Let me know if you need any more help or if you have specific questions. You are welcome to email me!