If it's a new garden and there's nothing but weeds, you can cover it with black plastic for a couple of months. It will bake the soil and kill all weeds and weed seeds.

Peonies transplant well.

Tough call whether to cancel -- on the one hand the bed isn't ready, but on the other hand mail-order plants are small and it takes a couple-few years for them to beef up so if you order now and grow in another bed for a while they'll be bigger when the new bed is ready.

preen only works on sprouting annual weeds.. not perennial weeds ...

peony can grow in pots .. winter storage would be the issue ... does your ground freeze ..

tulips are not a long term investment... many dont last more than a year or two anyway.. so if you want a few for next spring.. go for it....

i suspect you dont know much about gardening.. ive never heard of using a weed spraying service to develop garden beds ... there are ways to use such.. but not the way suggested .... perhaps if you were to give us more info.. we could help you ..

one trick.. is to work a very small area .. perhaps.. around the deck or patio.. and to do it right .. so you can learn.. and succeed .. so that it motivates you to keep going ...

right now.. part of your problem is you are overwhelmed.. because you will NEVER transform the whole yard in a season or two ... its a life time project ... unless of course.. you own a bank and can throw some real money at it all ...

show us a spot.. spend august digging some new beds.. and get it all ready for planting in fall .. when peony and tulips should be planted ... around leaf fall ...

ken

ps: are you buying form a quality vendor?? they should not ship until mid to late sept ... any sooner.. and they are setting you up to fail .. i hope its not MI bulb or such ...

I didn’t consider trying the peonies in pots to start, I do have an unheated garage and some large pots? I will definitely look into that thank you. I have one Thuja Whipcord in the bed I’m trying to resuscitate from wind burn, but I can put that elsewhere.
I am buying from Breck’s, I’ve bought from them once and had good results with daffodils and tulips, so I thought I’d try peonies from them. They said they’d ship in the fall.
Good to know about the Preen. We are definitely overwhelmed, everywhere in the yard is covered in weeds despite our attempts. I do want this bed around the deck to work. Is trying to smother with black plastic too late to try in August in Illinois? It is south-facing. We tried cardboard and heavy mulch after weeding thoroughly in June, but new bindweed just popped right through and around the outer edging.

The garden bed is around our deck, weeds are also coming from underneath the deck too. This picture is AFTER weeding for an hour.

OT from your actual questions, but do you have enough grass in the lawn that there will be lawn left after killing the weeds? (Enough lawn to grow back in without starting over?) If not, there's no use in using weed and feed etc.

Weeds are just a part of gardening. You will never get rid of them all. So waiting until you get rid of them doesn't really make sense.

There is a very large school of thought when it comes to the lawn that anything goes so long as it is green and I mow it. If you are overwhelmed by what to do, I'd start by mostly ignoring the lawn for now. A certain number of those weeds won't like being mowed, and will eventually disappear on their own. If there are beds that you aren't particularly interested in, you are allowed to return them to lawn. Lawn can be much less work than anything else.

I agree with mad_gallica above and the "large school of thought" regarding lawns -- unless you plan to be enslaved to your lawn maintenance forever onward, save yourself from the agony of eventual defeat and the expense, and just go with a simple approach to lawn weeds. 25 years ago, when we moved to this house, we actually had sod installed and it was gorgeous -- for a couple of years. Even using one of those highly-touted programs of weed-n-feed for some years afterwards just didn't cut it -- over time, the weeds blew in on the wind, or came via the birds.

So now the lawn IS green, and we just mow it. In fact, right at this moment, our "lawn" looks greener that our neighbors' grass, as the horrible heat has sent theirs into dormancy, and it is all brown (not to worry, it will come back). Our lawn is a mixture of grass, mosses, violets, queen anne's lace, asters, and heaven only knows what else -- all mowed to grass height and green as you please. And this is without any watering at all -- Mother Nature rules here! It is all very pretty in the spring when the violets bloom...

What I am saying here is: don't get in a tizzy about your lawn -- it isn't worth it IMO. As for the bindweed, I am sorry, and I know what you are dealing with -- dreadful and nearly impossible to get rid of (especially if it is coming from unreachable areas under you deck). I just kept pulling it up by the roots as best I could over many years, and haven't seen it for some time. Be sure to yank it before it sets seeds!!!

Brecks (on Garden Watchdog) has a nearly balanced number of positive and negative reviews. I would cancel and find a reputable vendor.

I agree about Brecks, not a great company. But also, your bed is really too narrow front to back. The peonies will be falling over into the lawn. Make it at least 1-2 feet "deeper", front to back.

Hi Nicole!

I agree with most things said above.

Brecks isn't the greatest company to deal with in terms of quality IMO. Thirty years ago maybe, but no longer. For bulbs I would recommend John Scheepers or Van Engelen, and perhaps Longfield Gardens. I've never bought bulbs from Longfield but I buy a lot of dahlias from them and actually have bought two peonies from them and they were nice healthy roots and are doing well. Whatever company you look at, check them out on garden watchdog. You can search for the company here to see reviews (not sure if you can see it but the words "garden watchdog" in the previous sentence is a link for you)

I agree that bed is too narrow and should be deeper for peonies. I also would bring it out at least two feet.

Lawns are very subjective, I understand. A beautiful lawn can really set off garden beds to great advantage. I do not have a beautiful lawn lol. But it is green for the most part. Like roxanna my "lawn" is grass, clover, weeds, wild strawberry-looking stuff, dandelions, mosses, (including some lovely huge swaths of hair cap moss), lichens on top of my mosses, violets, buttercups, bluets, etc. I only have so much time to devote to my yard and I prefer to give it to the garden beds. And the bees and other pollinators love my "lawn". But that's me and I realize you or your husband may want to spend time and money on the lawn (IME it seems to be a man thing to have a nice lawn lol).

Lastly, imo, that bed has VERY few weeds. I realize you said you weeded for over an hour, but honestly I have beds that I have weeded for DAYS before getting them in shape lol. And weeds will never end, even if you stay on top of them and mulch heavily. I would not cancel my order for the reason you asked. Without seeing the rest of that bed, I'd say another half hour tops of weeding would suffice. Perhaps another two hours to widen the bed (but when THAT at least is done, it's done!) and you are good to go. Mulch heavily and that will help keep the weeds down.

Okay, one more "lastly" lol. You may already know this so forgive me if I am preaching to the choir. But bulbs only bloom a short time and then die. (Peonies too (and any perennial) also have a limited bloom time, but the foliage will hopefully look good for you the rest of the season.) With bulbs you will have a bed full of dying foliage around your deck (and you need to keep that dying foliage there for the bulb's sake). And IME tulips don't come back reliably (and are deer food as well). You might consider either doing something other than bulbs completely, or perhaps trying daffodils instead. You'll still have dying bulb foliage but the daffs will return and likely even multiply over the years. (I put tulips in pots and treat them as annuals. A few pots ON the deck would be lovely.) If you are going to do bulbs, either tulips or daffs, perhaps consider putting some daylilies in front of them. The daylily foliage will grow as the bulb foliage is dying and help hide it. You could of course use other perennials as well but daylilies are a usual suspect for this purpose. Hostas may work too, and since the foliage is the main attraction, they will be a focal point all season, not just in bloom. Think about adding a handful of crocus right near the steps. It's so lovely to see their little blooms in late winter and know that spring is coming!

Good luck and please keep us updated! We all love to see photos of progress!

:)

Dee

Oh my goodness! No plastic ever in a garden bed!

Yes, your bed is too small (front to back) to support much. Yes, Breck’s is a poor company to use. Yes, peonies are hardy and can grow in pots. No, bulbs won’t give you much bang for your buck - they bloom for 2 weeks and then for 50 weeks you have nothing.

But most important of all, get some cardboard boxes and break them down flat. Soak them with a hose. Lay them on the grass/weeds wherever you want a bed. You can double or ever triple layer the cardboard - just be sure to get all the vegetation covered. You can do this with the existing bed that you pictured. Top the cardboard with mulch (not rock) or shredded leaves. Wet it down once in a while. All the vegetation will die. Next spring you can plant there, right through the cardboard. The soil will be softer, damper, and rich with worms, the gardeners’ friend. Just never ever use plastic. Or that d@mn landscape fabric.

“No plastic ever in a garden bed!”

I would agree with this statement if we were talking about covering the bed permanently with landscape fabric. But we are not. To clear weedy ground a temporary cover of black plastic sheeting can be very helpful. If one doesn’t have time to weed by hand and/or is opposed to herbicides, plastic sheet will kill weeds and keep a bed clear until you can get round to it. The sheet can be reused for years and moved around the property. Cardboard is good but weeds do grow through and round it. And one cannot always source enough of it or the mulch to go on top of it. Not to mention the physical labour involved. I cleared my overgrown weedy allotment in this way without the use of chemicals. I simply cultivated by hand bit by bit as I rolled the plastic back. Now it is under control the plastic is no longer needed. I use cardboard amongst permanent plantings and compost amongst the vegetables.

Btw this is using black plastic, not clear. It is different from solarization.

For the lawn- thank you for helping me feel better about it, we’ve been embarrassed. Amongst the subdivision, our yard sticks out despite mowing frequently, the weeds grow faster than the grass. Two of our neighbors disclosed to us that they took down their gardens near our fence line because they couldn’t keep up with the weeds that were coming through. I grew up with my parents doing nothing but mow our lawn and the weeds didn’t look bad. This house… is exceptionally bad… our dog and nieces/nephews get hurt on the thistle and now we have a baby learning to walk soon. Most of our neighbors have a company so they are not slaves to the lawn. I’ll start getting some quotes and see if it’s worth it.
For the bed- we actually did start by putting multiple layers of thick cardboard and 3-4 inches of mulch with wetting it down intermittently. I think the cardboard broke down faster than the weeds could die. We weed weekly and they just pop up with more. A temporary black plastic cover I think is worth trying! The bed is 30 inches deep, and the peonies I selected supposedly grow 30-36” wide. Will I need more room?
For the plants- THANK YOU for the names of some reputable companies and for the suggestion of daylilies by the tulips. I adore the look of tulips (while they last) but it is unsightly afterwards. This is an area that gets 10+ hrs of blazing sun, I don’t think hostas would survive, but I get the idea! I picked “very early blooming” peonies, as by March I am starving for garden interest from the nearby window. I was looking for a perennial for around the deck that flowers before the wasps and bees fully wake, then foliage the remainder of the season. We have family with allergies to bees. I’ve tried evergreens in this area and the windburn killed 4/5 of the plants in one winter. We’ve looked at barberry, but I hear ticks love those

Jumping back in here in reference to your barberry possibility. I don't know about ticks liking them, but they are usually considered an invasive species, to be avoided. Also, their small flowers DO attract bees, and the shrub is very prickly, and the fruits are mildly toxic. Personally, I would avoid them!

You might consider planting your peonies out in the lawn area, as a separate self-standing plant, if you won't mind mowing around it. Your bed IS too narrow, and (as mentioned above) the single season of loveliness will become boring the rest of the time (altho the leaves are handsome).

For the amount of sun you get, I would recommend daylilies -- early, mid and late varieties. You will get weeks and weeks of un-fussy bloom. Any color you wish, except blue. Very reliable plants overall, but note that they respond beautifully with lots of rain/watering (not soggy soil).

And for early-ish spring bloom, try the "Tete a Tete' mini daffodil -- charming and cheerful. Potted tulips work very well -- mine are put in my unheated garage to wait for spring, then outside along the front walk -- on your deck would be lovely!

Good luck, and have fun! Gardening at the start is full of learning from mistakes, finding rewards and is a pleasure over many years. Always something new going on, good and/or not so good!

So I have to admit I'm a bit stumped. If you don't want bees, I would then suggest foliage plants and shrubs with no blooms or early blooms. But if you are in a windy spot and tried evergreens, that leaves me out of most suggestions (and I'm not really familiar with wind-resistant plants as I don't need to worry about that). Most of the foliage plants coming to mind need more shade than your spot... Perhaps cornus Ivory Halo?? Maybe some hakone grass or carex?? Although again I think the hakone needs more shade as well. And I'm not a fan of grasses so I'm not sure if they have bee-attracting blooms, but perhaps that's something to look into as well.

What evergreens have you tried? Have you tried hollies or boxwood? Yew? Dwarf mugo pine? Osmanthus Goshiki? Dwarf birch? (I've been looking at a Cesky Gold for my own garden) Perhaps the evergreens you tried weren't hardy to zone 5?

And yes IMO you need at least another foot if not more for the peonies.

:)

Dee

Perhaps euonymus? Gold Splash or Emerald Gaiety? Mine are in part shade but they may be able to take full sun. They are pretty maintenance-free in my garden (i.e they survive my neglect without a blink) and I think they can be trained if you wanted to have them go vertical for more interest. Just trying to throw out some ideas here....

:)

Dee

Ugh, now I'm reading that euonymus fortunei may be invasive. I knew burning bushes (e alatus) were invasive but I didn't realize fortunei was. So I guess never mind. It's a good thing I'm planning to rip mine out this fall anyway I suppose.

Alright, I'll stop talking with myself and let someone else chime in now haha.

:)

Dee

Plants/trees that died of windburn in front of the deck are Pembury
Blue lawson cypress (further out), multiple thuja whipcords, and Arthur Johnson winter heathers. One winter heather survived, but then died this summer. One thuja whipcord I think will live after I moved it to the east side of the deck (shown in photo above). I looked into boxwood and hollies, but have heard they suffer windburn easily so I’ve been afraid to try. Does anyone have experience with these? I’ve heard dwarf junipers may handle wind and full sun.

I have bought lots of daffodils and crocus from White Flower Farm. The bulbs have been very good quality. They are not cheap, but the bulbs come up reliably and multiply.