A step-by-step guide to renovating a neglected garden

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A step-by-step guide to renovating a neglected garden

2024-12-17 22:07 Last Updated At：22:10

Some homeowners gaze out their windows and see lush and beautiful gardens. Others would like to see lush and beautiful gardens but instead are greeted by overgrown, dead or otherwise messy landscapes.

Whether you’ve inherited a neglected garden from a previous homeowner or have been too busy to keep on top of maintenance, don’t despair: Devising a game plan now can set you up for a much better view by next winter.

As with most seemingly hopeless tasks, breaking the process down into small steps performed over time will help make the project manageable.

First, grab a notepad and take a walk around the garden. Assess each section, determining which plants can be saved, which need to go and which require attention. Make a list now.

Dead and invasive plants, as well as weeds, should be first on the chopping block. If the weather allows, dig them out, removing as much of their root systems as possible. Otherwise, tackle this first in spring.

Next, remove and give away otherwise-healthy plants that you don’t want. Online buy-nothing groups and neighborhood pages are great places to find takers. Many will even be willing to do the digging if it means getting a free plant.

If the property has been overrun with a thicket of plants, shrubs, trees and vines that have grown wild, a chainsaw, brush mower or brush grubber may be in order.

If you’re dealing with a lot of weeds or want to create new garden beds in a lawn, you can smother the existing vegetation rather than dig it up. Determine the shape and size of the bed or border, and cover that area with cardboard or thick layers of newspaper. This can be done now, topped with 3 inches of compost and 2 inches of mulch, and left to sit over winter. It can also wait until planting time.

When you’re ready to plant, you'll be cutting root-size holes in the cardboard for your plants. Most weeds will be suppressed, but some may sneak through and require pulling or more cardboard.

Healthy but overgrown or unproductive deciduous shrubs (the types that lose their leaves) can be rejuvenated by pruning. Do this when branches are bare in late winter.

Choosing a method will require weighing aesthetics against rebound time and deciding which is right for you. The fastest (but most severe) method would be to cut the whole plant down just above ground level. It’s scary, but most shrubs can handle this and will bounce back stronger.

If retaining height in the garden is important, you can opt to prune each branch or stem individually at uneven heights. Or cut back one-third of the plant’s branches each year for three years. The latter would have the least drastic effect but require the most patience.

Evergreen trees and shrubs should only undergo selective pruning (the shortening of individual branches). Take care to avoid over-shearing or creating holes in needled evergreen plants and trees; with the exception of yews, they won’t fill back in.

Now that you have a clean canvas, turn your attention to the soil.

Test the soil’s pH to ensure it’s within range for the plants you plan to add. Test kits are available at local and online garden retailers. Your local cooperative extension service may provide testing and soil-amendment advice for a nominal fee.

If indicated, incorporate lime or elemental sulfur into the soil to raise or lower its pH, following package instructions.

If the soil is hard and compacted, use a core aerator or long-handled garden fork to create 2-3-inch holes through which air and water can enter.

Finally, spread a 2-to-3-inch layer of compost or well-rotted manure over the area. As it decomposes, nutrients will work their way into the soil.

After completing the above steps, it will be time to plant your new garden. If by summer you’re not yet ready to plant, apply mulch or use annuals to protect the bare soil.

When you’re ready to plant new trees, shrubs and/or perennials, carefully select varieties that will not run rampant. Dig holes just as deep as their roots but twice as wide and space them appropriately to allow for their mature sizes.

For the lowest maintenance going forward, consider hardy, pollinator-friendly, drought-tolerant native plants.

Incorporate non-invasive groundcovers into beds to serve as a natural mulch and discourage weeds – remember, if you don’t plant something in bare spots, God will. While you wait for groundcovers to fill in, apply 2-to-3 inches of mulch between and around plants to help retain moisture, suppress weeds, keep soil temperatures even and protect tender roots.

It might take a year or two -- or longer, depending on your schedule and ability, but a step-by-step approach will avoid overwhelm and provide a steady stream of small wins as you approach your goal.

Jessica Damiano writes weekly gardening columns for the AP and publishes the award-winning Weekly Dirt Newsletter. You can sign up here for weekly gardening tips and advice.

For her favorite tools and gear of the past year, see her 2024 gardening gift guide.

For more AP gardening stories, go to https://apnews.com/hub/gardening.

The heaviest snowfall in a decade is possible as a wintery blast roils parts of the US

2025-01-06 01:49 Last Updated At：01:51

A blast of snow, ice, wind and plunging temperatures stirred up dangerous travel conditions in parts of the central U.S. on Sunday, as a disruptive winter storm brought the possibility of the “heaviest snowfall in a decade” to some areas.

Snow and ice blanketed major roadways in nearly all of Kansas, western Nebraska and parts of Indiana, where the state's National Guard was activated to help any motorists who were stuck. At least 8 inches of snow were expected, particularly north of Interstate 70, as the National Weather Service issued winter storm warnings for Kansas and Missouri, where blizzard conditions were reported. The warning extended to New Jersey for Monday and into early Tuesday.

“For locations in this region that receive the highest snow totals, it may be the heaviest snowfall in at least a decade,” the weather service said early Sunday.

About 63 million people in the U.S. were under some kind of winter weather advisory, watch or warning on Sunday, according to Bob Oravec with the National Weather Service.

The polar vortex of ultra-cold air usually spins around the North Pole. People in the U.S., Europe and Asia experience its intense cold when the vortex escapes and stretches south.

Studies show a fast-warming Arctic is partly to blame for the increasing frequency of the polar vortex extending its icy grip.

In Indiana, snow fully covered portions of Interstate 64, Interstate 69 and U.S. Route 41, prompting Indiana State Police to plead with motorists to stay off the roads as plows worked to keep up with the pace of the precipitation.

“It’s snowing so hard, the snow plows go through and then within a half hour the roadways are completely covered again,” Sgt. Todd Ringle said.

Part of I-70 was closed in central Kansas by Saturday afternoon. Roughly 10 inches (25 centimeters) of snow had fallen in parts of the state, with snow and sleet totals predicted to top 14 inches for parts of Kansas and northern Missouri.

Parts of upstate New York saw 3 feet (0.9 meters) or more of snow from a lake effect event expected to last until late Sunday afternoon.

The storm was then forecast to move into the Ohio Valley and reach the Mid-Atlantic states on Sunday and Monday, with a hard freeze expected as far south as Florida.

The National Weather Service warned that travel in numerous states, including Kansas and Missouri, could be “very difficult to impossible.”

Indiana State Police reported a handful of spinouts and crashes Sunday.

A day earlier a fire truck, several tractor-trailers and passenger vehicles overturned west of Salina. Rigs also jackknifed and went into ditches, state Highway Patrol Trooper Ben Gardner said. He posted a video showing his boots sliding across the highway blacktop like he was on ice skates. He begged people to stay off the roads.

Governors in neighboring Missouri and nearby Arkansas declared states of emergency.

The storms also caused havoc for the nation’s railways, leading to cancelations. Amtrak said in a statement that “adjustments have been made with no alternative transportation being offered” for many rail lines.

More than 20 cancelations were predicted on Sunday and more than 40 were planned for Monday.

The cancelations affected many parts of the country, but the Midwest was hit especially hard. A train between Chicago and New York and several regional trains between Chicago and St. Louis were among those canceled Sunday.

Nearly 200 flights in and out of St. Louis Lambert International Airport were canceled, according to tracking platform FlightAware.

Starting Monday, the eastern two-thirds of the country will experience dangerous, bone-chilling cold and wind chills, forecasters said. Temperatures could be 12 to 25 degrees (7 to 14 degrees Celsius) below normal.

In Chicago on Sunday, temperatures hovered in the teens (minus 7 to 10 Celsius) and around zero in Minneapolis, while dropping to 11 below in International Falls, Minnesota, on the Canadian border.

The Northeastern states are more likely to experience several days of cold following what has mostly been a mild start to winter, said Jon Palmer, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gray, Maine. A plume of cold air coming down from Canada is likely to result in a cold but dry week, he said.

The cold air will likely grip the eastern half of the country as far south as Georgia, Palmer said, with parts of the East Coast experiencing freezing temperatures and lows dipping into the single digits in some areas.

Wind might also pick up as the week gets going, making for potentially dangerous conditions for people exposed to the elements for long periods of time, Palmer said.

The National Weather Service predicted 8 to 12 inches (about 20 to 30 centimeters) of snow for the Annapolis, Maryland, area, with temperatures remaining below freezing throughout the weekend.

In a statement on X, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin declared a state of emergency Friday evening ahead of the storm and encouraged residents to vote before the state's special elections on Tuesday.

Similar declarations were issued in Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland and in central Illinois cities.

“This is the real deal,” meteorologist John Gordon said at a press conference in Louisville, Kentucky. “Are the weather people blowing this out of proportion? No.”

Read more of AP’s climate coverage at http://www.apnews.com/climate-and-environment

Associated Press journalists Julie Walker in New York, Sophia Tareen in Chicago and Summer Ballentine in Columbia, Missouri, contributed. Witte reported from Annapolis, Maryland. Whittle reported from Portland, Maine.