25 years is a long time! Especially since you’ve expressed how difficult it is to maintain. Do you get any pleasure out of it? Have you considered giving it up, to have more time to spend and focus on your other gardens? Just curious as it just seems to be more of a burden than pleasurable…

Can you post some pictures so we can see what's going on?

My favorite "shrubs" are perennials like peony, vernonia Iron Butterfly and baptisia australis because I can do a thorough weeding each winter. I live in an area where all sorts of vines and brambles seed about and they get into the crowns of shrubs making them difficult to remove.

I have paths across my allotment plot dividing it into large beds about three metres across. They used to be all grass, maintained by a push mower. Now some are grass which I strim and some are old dark wool carpet underlay. Not as pretty but less effort. I used never to use herbicides but since I am now 35 years older than when I got the plot and am fighting enchanter's nightshade I do deploy a little.

Does your council dump leaves and wood chips on the site? Ours does. I spread cardboard between the soft fruit and dump chips or leaves on top. It's fairly effective although the bindweed reappears every year. I have abandoned rows and now clear patches for vegetables and leave areas of self sown stuff like hollyhocks and foxgloves for the wildlife. We're not allowed shrubs or trees and only a third can be ornamentals.

Ah, our council does nothing, really, not even enforcing bad plots...but there are pluses to that so I don't mind. I could never give it up - I couldn't even consider giving up a portion of it because it would actually kill me to see all my efforts dug up or worse, left to go to s**t (which is pretty much par for the course on our site)...so I have to keep all of it or none of it, iyswim. And yep, I do get far more pleasure from it than might appear from my moaning posts.

I do know that I need to remove quite a few of the bigger trees and shrubs (there were no restrictions on what we planted on my site) and try to consolidate it into definite working areas rather than poking things into any available space. In truth, I do have a plan for an area, after dismantling a strawberry bed, digging out a spring bed and planning to chop down a gigantic rosa helenae and philadelphus...plus take out another 4 roses, a dodgy almond, a non-producing plum, a cherry which gets defoliated every year and a entire border of overgrown redcurrants. Not to mention the ash, hazel and acer saplings which sneak up on me. I am just trying to get my head around the destruction. I never had this problem in other people's gardens, possibly because I was not dealing with plants I had grown from seeds and raised over years.

And then deploying some smaller shrubby boundaries which are not going to tower over my head (I am only 5ft tall if I stretch a bit).

I would be hopelessly lost without the ability to grow plants...and there are many times of the year when it is heartbreakingly lovely...just not July and August.

Yep, enchanter's nightshade and bryony arrived on my plot a few years ago. And insane amounts of bindweed from all sides.

My situation is similar, except my problem isn't roses, it's perennial suckering vines which I can't resist planting. Someone here warned me not to plant Cynanchum laeve. They said it was it was the most agressive species they'd ever saw. That, of cource made me more determined to grow it. No regrets.

I'm planning on removing this Wooly Pipevine and it senses that and is making a last ditch effort to comepletely cover every plant. A rare female Pipevine Swallowtail Butterfly was flying around this area, so I have to inspect every piece of vine for eggs and caterpillars before pulling them out. Back in 2019 and 2020 I had more Monarch caterpillars than my milkweeds could handle, so I thought planting Honeyvine would be beneficial for the Monarchs, but the Monarchs have been rare for the past 4 years. My favorite native rose, Rosa setigera is a suckering beast that also roots where the stems touch the ground. If I had an acre or 2 to garden in, I would grow it. Do you grow plants for your Monarchs? I'm sure the King has his organic vegetables grown by experts.

Rosa setigera.

We don't have monarchs (but I do grow rosa setigera!). And californicae, dupontii, helenae, moyesii, spinossissima, nutkana, mulliganii, pomifera, alba semi-plena and arvensis. See where I am going with this? Not just any old roses but bloody great wildlings. On approx 1/8 of an acre. Sigh...hubris.

Our council is pretty on the ball. A character comes round with a clip board periodically and you might get a LETTER. I don't mind because it means that my neighbour's enormous Viburnum tinus which is due south of me and hence shades my plot, especially in winter when the sun is low, has been cut back. The plots are in demand and if you don't keep it moderately organised you risk losing it.

The clearing a space in the flower jungle method of veg gardening.😉

“my moaning posts.”

lol yes this is why I asked…Sounds like youve got your work cut out for you! I wish you well and hope you can get it to your satisfaction. We all know that can be quite challanging….

O, I will never get it to my satisfaction, GardenHo...because I am too self-critical by far...but I do think it is actually looking better this year than last. I can't help noticing how some of the nicer areas are ones which I tend to let settle a bit. Continuous fannying about is probably my worst sin...that and growing too many plants which I cannot keep on top of.

Yep, Floral, amm going to allow a lot more self-seeding and just edit rather than add.

I like your suggestion to use rosemary. Would also including lavendar work?