Hey Katherine don't get too concerned just yet. I moved into a house with a
developed but neglected garden as well. What I did was allow what was there
to stay for the first year as it is sometimes difficult to tell a weed from
a beautiful flower/shrub from first growth. In fact particular flowers that
I thought were weeds have proven to be some of my prize treasures in my
garden.

I liked what Doug had to say as well. I have discovered that there is a big
difference between a gardener and a garden admirer. I am very much the
later but quickly learning that you need to be the former first.

So, relax and enjoy what's there. It might not look great this summer(but
it may) and plan for next summer. I did a lot of transplanting to get what
I wanted.

Good luck

Ed


"KR" wrote in message
m...
Hello everyone,

Well I'm pretty new at this whole gardening thing, and was pretty
excited at the prospect of learning all about different flowers,
shrubs, and so on. So this morning I bring in the tip of a "plant"
growing in my garden only to find out from my boss that they are
lupins! I could cry...

Obviously they were permitted to grow like crazy, as they are growing
everywhere in the garden and you can see the remnants of last years
growth. One of the bunches has about a 1 foot radius.

The lady we bought the house from said that the garden was fully
developed. Of course, she also told us that the lawnmower and BBQ
they left worked and that there were no leaks in the house and that
she only left useful things in the garage...

So what I thought was a beautiful developed garden is actually a
weed-invested gravel pit. What am I supposed to do? I guess my
future holds a lot of intensive digging in order to get rid of them
and a lot of money spent on new plants to fill in the garden. It
would look pretty foolish if left bare...

A discouraged new gardener,
Katherine