New and old

With all that weed growth it looks as though you have good soil PA. Cutting weeds down with mechanisation is a mistake, the roots need digging out. They will have seeded by now, so keep on digging to expose the young growth to the dry weather and get rid of them that way.

You have some great plans for your garden Pamelanne,and if your neighbours are keen for a tidy up,thats all the better,I liked your salvia also,good luck with it all.

I was a tad confused at first when you said you'd wandered through the other gardens, am I right in thinking they are all separate areas so each property has its own little garden if they wish, stroke of luck yours being the closest to your abode Pam...
I still get that feeling of excitement when the first flowers appear, even more so when its on a new plant, in fact I also feel that way when the first seedlings appear in the g'house Pam, lol....

I'm a bit confused about the arrangement of your gardens! Are there fences between all four of them, and are the others thinking of taking them down? As you appear to have a landlord are there many restrictions on what you can do? (I'm a nosey so and so...)_ Sorry to hear you have a sycamore nearby - there will be seedlings everywhere every summer if its anything like here!
Taking out the bamboo sounds like a good plan - canes are cheap enough and bamboo can be a menace if not restricted. When the weeds start growing again in the spring we'll be able to see what they are which will be a start! If someone is going to sort it all out for you that's a very encouraging beginning isn't it?

Lincslass has the right idea about the gardens - it's one large garden at the back of the house that is split into areas so we have one each and mine is the nearest. There is a pathway alongside all of them for access. Mine has a fence and so does the very furthest one but the other two are marked with stones or similar between them.

And the idea has been put forward to make them into one communal garden but I said no way not mine but if the others want that with theirs.... so we might decide to pay a gardener to keep theirs nice and I would be able to use it too but mine would still be just mine although if I'm paying towards the gardener then I could have my fences looked after and other things that I need help with.

I am an owner occupier and so is one other person. One other flat the owner is the father of the tenant. One is a landlord with an unrelated tenant through an agency. And the other one is currently up for sale as it was last summer, but then was tenanted over the winter as they didn't get a sale. So at the moment it is empty.

The whole place is an ex-mansion, built in 1860, and a grade II listed building.

All the owners between us we have a community fund to maintain the building, pay the insurance, things like that. But it was very badly organised until just after I moved here so we are just getting started with getting things nice here again how they should be. And we are having a meeting next weekend to discuss how next to proceed. But we have very urgent repairs to get done before we can think too much about the garden. (I just today discovered my damp entryway has become a mushroom farm :( ...... ) We can make our own rules between us so long as it's legal and we agree on them. Our leasehold has some on that we might need to revise but it's up to us. It was made back in the 80s when the place was converted into the 5 flats.

Yes, I know about getting roots out not just cutting the tops. That is just what the previous neighbour did so it looked clear so he could get his deposit back but it will need a lot of work.

The weeds that were in mine are the same ones that I took photos of the head-high ones. My garden had been looked after better so they were only about 2 foot high in the corner where my veg now are (what is left of my veg - I only have one lonely pepper plant left now if that is even still there tonight)

The big sycamore though - it is a really lovely old tree but yes seedlings everywhere but they are easy to get out if you catch them early. But it's too big really as it is to be so near to buildings so we need to get a tree surgeon to reduce it, but we will have to check if it has a preservation order on it. And I would be sorry to see it go completely as it has pigeons nesting in it (as well as in our roof) and I have a very entertaining squirrel visit, and lots of other birds and insects.

Yes, I get very excited with the first anythings too, Lincslass. I got another one today but not time to upload photos until at least tomorrow evening as I am out at a horticultural show tomorrow daytime.

And yes pretty much decided to kill off the poor triffid bamboo :D So I will be a bamboo murderer as well as a bean murderer and a nasturtium crusher - I should call myself Pam Vicious! ;)

I think I covered everything.... :D

Right ......I think I have worked it out!! always tricky when sharing a plot of land, but I do agree you need to keep your own garden!

Looks like you have a lot of work to do. It's nice that you have helpful neighbours. It seems a strange layout though, unless it was once one big garden that has been divided up into plots.
I think I would keep mine fenced off too. I like my own space lol.

If you are in an urban area Pam all the trees are automatically protected by Tree Preservation Orders.
There should be a Tree Office at your local council, or an office where the Council Tree Surgeons work, they will advise you.
If the staff downstairs deny they exist, its because people go in there demanding tree work on the Council Tax.

I think this applies mainly to conservation areas. Here is a useful link
https://www.trees.org.uk/Help-Advice/Public/A-brief-guide-to-legislation-for-trees

Yes mature sycamores are beautiful especially in winter, when you can appreciate their beautiful shape. There are 3 on our boundary plus an ash that's doing its best to compete seedling wise...must have pulled up scores of them this summer, and the lawn was green over with them - thank goodness the mower does for those!

PamelaAnne: I think I'd want my own patch also though having a "communal" gardener could be a good thing. The area will certainly look good when everything is completed. I hope you will post images for us to see when this happens.

Sorry Pamelaanne, I'm playing chatch up as I had some sad family news that knocked me for 6 a bit. Like the others, I can totally understand you wanting your own area. Look forward to seeing it progress.

Hope you are feeling a little better by now, Jen. I'm playing ketchup too... seems like a neverending game. Got so much I need/want to do and then I go over to the park for a break and end up meeting a friend and chatting for about an hour. Nice way to spend the time though but now I'm tired and most of the rest will have to wait until tomorrow.... again...

Diane, not an urban area, just on the edge of a biggish town, but it's an area of historical interest so we need to check. ty for the link Steragram :)

Thanks Pamelanne my favourite aunt passed away. She had been ill for some time but I was very close to her as a child.

Know what you mean about time slipping by and then realising that I haven't got all the things I wanted to get done. :-).

So sorry about the sad news of your Aunt Jen.

Yes time does slip by so quickly,I can not believe it is nearly September.

Thank you Callie1914

Jen: Sorry to hear about the loss of your favourite aunt. We know such events are inevitable but they still hit us hard.