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Hi - due to years of neglect and lack of adding mulch to the garden, my front yard patch looks very bad. Attaching images of now and 5 years ago.
can you give any pointers on how to revive this without breaking the bank?
pic of front yard - 5 years ago
frontyard - as of today
Afternoon @vg_39
You still have a nicely tidy garden 
A few things that come to mind as a starting point are
- Prune that large pink flower thing (I have one and for the life of me the name escapes me atm) back by 1/3 to maybe even 1/2.
- Prune that corner shrub back as well by 1/4 and maybe make it narrower in the pruning process.
- Decide on if you want to expand that front garden bed as the original (purple? White?) flowers have multiplied, expand and remulch the area or cull half and remulch it.
- The side garden that has gone strong... Nice privacy from the neighbours and it looks windy where you are? Id probally keep the height and not prune, but clear up the base of the plants, create a new fresh garden line or remove the side garden totally. Maybe move it towards the footpath to give the yard a squarer feeling.
So digging, pruning and transplanting plus some mulch. If you have a local aborist, try contacting them and see if they will sell you some tree mulch. Note that it wont be aged so factor that in and you wont know the colouring Worth it I think
Dave
Thanks Dave.
I am concerned about the front garden bed with agapanthus slowly being taken over by buffalo. What’s the best way to handle this? Is it best managed by digging everything out and mulching or shall I use herbicide to kill everything before redoing it.
my goal is to get the front bed close to same state as below which looks like a large task. Thanks for helping out
Good Evening @vg_39
Id say use a shovel and dig a straight edge around the garden bed (enlarging it if wanting) You could put a garden bed edge in that would help define the area. Here are a bunch of examples, I have used a recyled plastic edge for my pathways and it hasnt degraded in the past 2 years.
Agapanthas! I had the name on the tip of my tounge They will multiply like crazy and I dont mind the flowers. All Gardens require maintenance, regular maintenance even when we try and set up a garden that is low there is still stuff we need to do. I like the mulch and setup you have so I would just plan to do the regular check once or twice a year, maybe three times weed as needed and refresh with more mulch. I dont really like weed mat as most I have seen dont work (Hessian bags work the best with a thicker layer of mulch, if you can lay your hands on them) and most have some form of plastic in them. The edge will be the best bet to contain the bed and seperate for the lawn.
Dave
Hi @vg_39,
Great to see Dave has provided some helpful assistance.
I would just like to add that there's lots of great ideas and inspiration on the site for you. Check out 10 ways to improve your home's street appeal for a fantastic starting point, the terrific guide How to improve your home's street appeal by @Nailbag, plus our Top 10 most popular front yard projects.
The guide How to plan a garden makeover might help you put together a plan, break up the project into manageable chunks and not feel so overwhelmed.
We look forward to seeing how you can improve your garden.
Jason
Hello @vg_39
It's great that you've received fantastic advice from @Dave-1 and @Nailbag. Buffalo lawn is indeed invasive if not controlled properly. Just to add to the great suggestions made, I recommend installing a 150mm PVC corrugated garden edging around the front bed you originally had. This edging is what will slow down and prevent the Buffalo stolons from creeping into this section and taking over. It will save you a great deal of frustration and you can use your line trimmer to deep trim around the edging thereby slowing down future growth. The edging will also keep the mulch inside preventing it from spreading or being washed away.
If you need further assistance, please let us know.
Eric
Hi @vg_39
My thought is to use something solid as a physical barrier to edge the plants & keep the grass out; also easy for whipper snipping/mowing. I've used sleepers but it might be possible to use something like 150x25mm rough sawn hardwood that was painted or self-treated. Here's a photo of my front yard where I used sleepers to make "beds' & offset them to account for the sloping land--could be painted to avoid the discolouration.
You could extend something like this across the front of the yard & possibly along the driveway on the left. I'd also consider adding other plants with colour and possibly small shrubs(?) with different heights to add variation. If you go for this idea, I'd pull up the existing garden bed & start from scratch but you could save & replant the aggies.
Cheers
