If the garden has been neglected for awhile, it will take a bit of time to conquer the weeds and crab grass. Gardens can look kind of scraggly early in the growing season. Maybe you could have those landscapers weed for you, and put in a few low maintenance perennials with mulch to help prevent weeds.

Lorna

we need to see pics. :)

arent all gardens weedy? LOL ( says the new mom with no time to weed)

Weed, then layer lots of newspaper in those areas. Top with a thick layer of mulch. This makes keeping beds tidy a lot easier. Many weeds simply can't grow through all that. Seeds get stuck in the mulch and can't grow or are ridiculously easy to pluck.

Have the landscape folks put out fresh mulch twice a year for two or three years. Your weeds will be much easier to manage.

Here is a link that might be useful: Creative Soul

I have a garden unlike anyone else on my block too. It is easy to feel like everyone sees all the weeds. Honestly, I don't think many people do. The suggestion to use newspaper and mulch is very good. I do that and it really does help. Last year I had to do a bunch of it in my front garden. We had a very rainy spring and a lot of things died, plus I realized I needed to stay away from planting on the very edges of the driveway. My guests feel more comfortable "accidentally" walking on mulch instead of flowers :)

Here's a few (okay, a lot!) shots of my front garden. You will notice most of them are from May...its the most photogenic time of the garden! But I did show the September shots too. They are what I consider my least attractive, but I thought it was only fair. :)

2002

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April 06

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May 06

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May 07

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May 07

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May 07

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September 07

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After a year of rain and then drought, here's my answer to making the front look more neat :)

Sept 07

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Sept 07

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I don't have a pictures from this year yet. When it stops raining I will get a new set. I am really appreciating the mulch I put down last year!

I actually don't have many weeds at all. Part of that is diligence. I live directly across the street from bare lots that get overgrown and weedy and can go to seed. So I make sure that before weeds go to seed I at least snip the tops off. That helps. But mulching and crowding help the most. I cram so much stuff in that there isn't much of a chance for anything else to germinate. Last year the whole thing got totally ignored and there were some weeds, but because I have no grass at all, it wasn't bad. No grass to seed, or sneak in!

GGG

I'll take some pics today to show the "current" state of the garden. I think the main problem is that there is not enough crowding so the crabgrass goes wild in there. It's such a big area that I would really have to spend a fortune to get it crowded.

The other thing that bugs me is the garden is so far out in the yard that the only people who are enjoying the fruits of my labor are the passing cars. We have an acre lot and I never sit by that garden except to weed it. That's another reason why I thought relocating the plants to the beds we actually sit by might be better.

"It's really too big of a garden for me to take care of because the house already has lots of other garden beds.
... the garden is so far out in the yard that the only people who are enjoying the fruits of my labor are the passing cars"

I think you answered your own question.

Nell

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I included the second picture so you can see the style of home and how a cottage garden fits. I will take more pictures today now that I know how to post them so you can see it more filled in with the perennials from last year.

You have a gorgeous home. I would fill the bed with a lot of easy care perennials. Daylilies and irises come to mind. In my September 07 photo, the bush off the left is a hardy hibiscus. It dies down in the winter and grows back every year. Something similar would give you big impact and take up a good amount of footage.

Those evergreen trees (in the bed) are going to take up a bunch of room when they mature. They look awfully close together. You might want to think about their placement before they get too big to manage.

If you decide to keep the bed and want to fill it cheaply, come visit the Winter Sowing Forum and the Seed Exchange Forum, we can help :)

Lisa

Oh, and I forgot....Peonies!!!! What's a northern cottage garden without peonies :)

You mentioned you had other beds. Do you have things you could split/move around?

Homestead Daylilies has a clearance sale going on. I love their plants, they are always huge divisions.

Lisa

Here is a link that might be useful: Homestead Daylily Clearance

Fabulous house!

I have a corner bed kinda like you are talking about.
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It is anchored with a small tree (crepe myrtle which you can't see much of in the photo)and two smaller crepes that are shrub sized. Iris, daylilies, and daisies make up the rest along with daffodils and tulips. We put in some liriope grass to anchor the edges. We dump mulch in there a couple of times a year...otherwise grass seed tries to take over.

Now that the bed has been there nearly six years, I really enjoy it. It provides a pretty corner and a nice view from the front porch. From time to time, I put a few leftover annuals there. It definitely is the 'step-child' of my garden area.

With the great porch you have, I'd concentrate on beds there for a while in order to make it even more enjoyable. Fill the street bed with easy care perennials and mulch and water occasionally. I think you'll be glad you left it in a few years when it grows up.

Here is a link that might be useful: Creative Soul

By the way, I consider my street bed to be too small now. I'm looking to enlarge it considerably.

Sorry for the poor quality photo. This was done in February with the daffs and tulips. Things are way taller and greener now. I just wanted to get it big enough for you to see it.

I'm too busy drooling over your house to bother lookign at your garden. hahhaa

Personally I'd leave it.. but i like to impress passers-by.. haha

I think you should just crowd it in and visit the winter sowing group for help on that! for sure! I'd keep it. But i hate not keeping any garden. haha

I myself am up to my eyeballs. ( in weeds)