I’m a beginner at gardening and I have quite a big garden or best put, lawns of grass. I would like to start planting flowers, shrubs etc but the soil is very limy. Can you advise on how best to deal with this and what plants etc would best suit the ground?
Begin by marking out possible borders with canes. When you decide the location and size, cut out the sod along the edge. Kill the existing grass with Roundup and plant trees and shrubs into the dead sod. Perennials can be planted in this way too but only if they are strong plants, otherwise dig the soil and break it up before planting.
Most plants are fine in limy soil … only the lime-haters such as camellias, rhododendrons, pieris, and others do not.
Look up plants here: https://gardenie.wpengine.com/plant-finder