What exactly are your hopes for your space? Are you hoping to reincarnate the former gardens to their old glory as they were? Or are you trying to establish new gardens after removing the old beds? Are the old plants still growing in with the weeds? I've brought a few gardens back from chaos in my hobby time and I like to wait til spring. It's easier for me to see what plants are there to bring back once they've all shown up above ground. I put a lawn in for a friend 3 winters ago over a flower bed. I did the best i could to get everything out, but he still has the odd tulip, daffodil, and iris spring up in his lawn even now. I should've waited til spring to move the bed, peonies are easy to miss as well. That being said, if there were gardens there before it shouldn't be too bad getting them started again in their original configuration, it's kind of fun to retrace a gardeners steps after so many years, you'll get a feel of their favorite plants and who they were. I live in Crossville and have had the oppurtunity to restore an original Homestead garden , it was labor intensive but worth it. You should check out the Historical Gardens forum on here, it's centered mostly around garden restoration, hope this helps.

I would love to restore the gardens but, I am sure that would be far outside my skill level. Right now I would like to make them pretty and manageable. My husband and I let everything come up last year because it was our first spring in the house and we wanted to see what was there. We know for sure there are the roses and the irises but I think a lot of the other stuff is just weeds. Thanks for replying I will visit the other forums too.

I would take one thing at a time. Clean out what is weeds and then look around to see what you would like to add to it by the way it gets sun/shade. A garden is a reflection of your likes/dislikes.

I have been in my home for 19 years and have still not finished my yard.

Maybe you should start with the roses and Iris since you know what and where they are. Probably everyone here will disagree but i've moved iris sucessfully in the spring before and after they bloom as well as the recommended time in the fall.

Do you plan on moving the roses or just geting them back in shape? There are lots of information on growing roses here on Gardenweb as well as good books on the subject.

Here is a link that might be useful: Garden tips, birding, plant and art articles

I agree with "paperart", you can move iris anytime. They are almost impossible to kill. Lilies for me have been the same way, I have dug them in spring and even when they were blooming and they grew well.

Thanks for all the great information. My daughter and I started working on clearing out the weeds this past weekend. Having gotten a better look at the roses I am not sure if I can tame them. I might just have to replace them. A friend of mine suggested I do a "Mary Garden" so I have been researching what plants go into that type of garden. I think this area is the perfect place for it. I have attached a picture that I posted on another GW forum the pic is a few years old and the area is not as overgrown anymore. Any suggestions or ideas would be welcome!

Here is a link that might be useful: