This forum is as good as any :-)

For a new gardener inheriting a heavily planted garden, identification of what you have is essential. Did the previous owners leave you a plan or map of the garden or can you contact them to find out what is planted where? If not, taking photos of unknown/unfamiliar plants and posting them on the 'Name that Plant' forum can be a huge help. Better local garden centers or nurseries can also help to identify plants, as can Master Gardener clinics.

Different plants need different care and this is even more so the case with a wide array of perennials. An excellent text you could invest in is the "Well-tended Perennial Garden" by Traci DiSabato-Aust. This covers some 400 or more species of common perennials with detailed care and growing information. And once you know what you are growing, the 'Perennials' or other specific plant forums here at GW can also provide you with a lot of information. This is a pretty helpful place.

Enjoy your new garden!

Some landscape designers offer consultation services and will meet with you to ID your plants and offer care instruction.

In the meantime, here's a site about weeds. I see from your page that you are colder than most of VA, but we have some z6, so some of the weeds will be the same. Even with this, I'd let most unknown stuff get some size to it before declaring it a weed.

Here is a link that might be useful: VA Tech Weed ID site

Your perennial beds were probably designed for easy maintenance, which means you may not have to do anythign right away but enjoy. You may have to pull an occasional weed or spray roundup along the edge (watch the overspray) to prevent grass from creeping in. But the previous owner probably planned the beds for high impact and low maintenance.

Sit back and relax and get that camera ready. And when you can, snap some pics and post them on the Name this Plant forum or even on the Seed Exchange Conversation forum or Plant Exchange Conversation forum. We'll all try to help you ID what you've got and how you may need to care for it. It's my bet you won't have to do much, just a little trimming here and there and water a little during lengthy dry spells. So don't panic. Let's see what you're dealing with first.

You can email me privately if you wish. I will help anyway I can.

How exciting to have ready made gardens. It's like a special surprise waiting to be unwrapped!