this is the common advice when you inherit a garden upon moving house. I don’t entirely agree.
Of course, if you rush in, you don’t know how the garden will develop. For example we had this tree which we called the badly-pruned-tree (BPT) as it is a sad mis-mesh of branches and suckers, grown irretrievably together and at best the BPT could be described as pointless. We thought we might take it out. But there was no rush, so waited to see what happened.
Turns out its a tamarisk tree.. with very pretty pink flowers
. We like it and the BPT stays. But to wait in other areas of the garden would have resulted in no crops – and in particular .. no learning.
It can take an entire year to work out how something does in your new garden. I was always rubbish at growing carrots.. well we had heavy clay with lots of rocks for soil in the previous garden, so not surprising, but it was with little optimism that we sowed a trial line of carrots this year.. and they were brilliant! Next year, I plan to grow several rows. if I had not tried this year.. we would be a year behind.
Similarly, we put our greenhouse in this year. But the ventilation was all wrong and we had to install a second window and opener,,, and that combined with the dreaded blight, meant my tomato crop was hopeless at first- as nothing set.. then the blight arrived – only at the end of the summer when the weather improved, and the blight was held back enough did we actually see any red tomatoes.. but.. at least the snagging was done this year.. hopefully we are all set for a better crop next year.
Also.. when you buy a place, you need to make your mark, otherwise you feel as though you are just tending someone elses garden! – so yes, you might make some mistakes and lift plants that could have stayed… but you will have made it your own.
so no, don’t wait, just don’t do anything drastic unless you are sure, and enjoy the surprises as well as the development
