Gardeners share how to create a flower bed for the first time: 'Best way to go'

Gardening can be overwhelming when you're trying it a go for the first time.

Sometimes you question yourself - 'Where do you begin?' or 'What shall I plant?'

So if you're stuck for answers the online forum site Reddit is the place to go as one person asked for advice. In particular, creating a flower bed.

In a thread titled: 'First house, first time trying to create a flower bed' a user uploaded a picture of their garden alongside their new property.

The post started: "Hello, I want to start doing some gardening/taking care of areas at my new home starting with this area of bushes. The area underneath is just dirt and weeds and grass. I want to get advice on the best way to kind of create a better looking area underneath the bushes.

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"Questions going through my mind: Do I just take a shovel and dig out the top layer with the weeds and grass? Do I need to hand pull everything first? Is mulch the best way to go after clearing everything out?

"I also have a similar area (yet larger area) with the same bushes that spans the whole front of the house.

"Any tips would be appreciated! Thank you!"

People took to the comment section of the thread offering their advice with one person writing: "In your situation, if you like those bushes, you want to get the weeds out without damaging the roots. I wouldn't use a shovel, and weeding by hand will do a great job but is a daunting task.

"A weeding hoe may be a good halfway measure. You'll nip a root or two from the bushes but they'll shrug it off. When you've cleared that ground, I'd put wood chips down while you decide what you want to plant under the bushes (weeds love uncovered ground and will come back shockingly fast). I like a loop weeder, but your mileage may vary. Good luck!"

Another suggested: "In order to keep the grass out of that area in the future, you'll need to edge the area. Whatever you choose to use should go down about four inches - less than that and the grass roots can grow under it.

"If the current setts were intended to be used as edging, you can reuse them, but I'd recommend placing 3" of aluminum flashing (set verticall) along the garden side of the line of setts; this will keep grass roots from re-infiltrating the garden.

"Remove the grass and weeds. While I am organic in my gardening practices, I am NOT organic when it comes to removing lawngrass and recommend glyphosate if it's legal in your area. Note that, in the US, the majority of the people in the country are ingesting RoundUp in their food, so spraying some here won't be an issue with yours or anyone else's health. Do NOT use cardboard or newspaper, as those materials (along with landscape fabric) have been shown to kill the soil.

"Mulch with at least 2 inches of arborist wood chips if you're planning on putting in perennials; 4 inches if you just want a shrub border."

A third added: "Stick a 2-4" frame around it. It'll look nicer.

"Hand pull as many weeds as you can, trim those bushes, then fill the area with compost and plant away. Just my opinion!"

One user said: "The shrubs look like barberry. If they are, remove them as they are invasive. They are also nasty to prune/trim due to stout thorns. Located too close to your house, they can cause mildew problems in siding. Leave roughly 4" between plants and house. Using cardboard to cover grass/weeds is popular but isn't quick.

"I like getting rid of weeds through digging. You'll have the chance to put in a hard border between grass and bed. A row of rocks doesn't stop grass. Cover the bed with 2" of compost to nourish the soil.

"Choose plants that fit the growing conditions, re: sunlight, type of soil, and moisture. Don't choose plants that need acidic pH unless you are in New Eng. Those folks are almost guaranteed to have acidic soil. (I'm not talking about hydrangea which doesn't require a certain pH; it just alters flower color.)"

Do you have any gardening suggestions?