Landscaping Thread

[Hockeynut!]

get a little mushroom compost in there

Is that good for the trees? I'll have to get some.

[tifosi77]

Here are some pics of what our backyard space looks like today:




The round sort of end table things with the green stripe (at either end of the couch) are actually insulated coolers. Lid lifts up and can be locked in place like a bar table.

[PghSkins]

Cool thread, shaf.

Does anyone have experience with scrapping a lawn and starting anew? My yard has gotten worse each year and we had a bunch of trees removed this winter, including the grinding of a giant stump in the front which will require new grass to be planted on approx. 1/3 of my front lawn. Since I'll be doing that work, I've considered just scrapping the entire thing and replanting.

If I do, my options I've considered are: (1) spraying a weed killer on the portion of the yard that is weedy (most of it), giving it two weeks to die, throwing some top soil overtop and planting; (2) renting a tiller and tilling the entire yard, which I think needs to be done on consecutive weekends to allow at least two weeks for weeds to die, then planting.

Thoughts?

After a really hot dry summer (2002 or 2003) our grass was totally dead, we did #2. It sucked and took 2 whole weekends but it worked.

We are having a real issue with ground ivy right now. This ish can't be totally eradicated, you can only hope to contain it, so say the 3 companies we've had treat our lawn over the years.

I'm amazed at the people who let dandelions run amok in their lawns. They're pretty easy and cheap to spray/spread for yourself.

[shafnutz05]

The soil near me is 90 percent clay. Really ducks trying to plant flowers

[mac5155]

Quack quack

[shafnutz05]

Quack quack

Exactly

[blackjack68]

Here are some pics of what our backyard space looks like today:




The round sort of end table things with the green stripe (at either end of the couch) are actually insulated coolers. Lid lifts up and can be locked in place like a bar table.

Looks better but still needs some greenery.

[Defence21]

Picked up on my landscaping project from last summer/fall this weekend. I put in a pond, a "boardwalk" and a mini "pier" along with a beach sign tower last year. This weekend I purchased a bunch of plants, prepped the ground for planting, and began to lay out the plant pattern. Here's a quick look at where I am today. I hope to have the plants in ground by the weekend and mulch spread by early next week. This area accounts for about 1/3 of the overall space within this garden.

[Shyster]

I don't swim, so if I owned tifosi's place I would use the pool as a Beverly Hillbillies "cement pond." A couple dozen koi would look nice in there.

[tifosi77]

It goes down to 9 feet and holds about 30,000 gallons. You could put barracudas in there.

[shafnutz05]

Tifosi's back patio and pool area looks eerily similar to Walter White's house.

[Willie Kool]

[blackjack68]

Gotta love the Tiki Bar.

[Kraftster]

Got the first quote on redoing my yard. I don't really buy it. No breakdown: $3,000 to strip, put down topsoil, reseed, cover with manure; $4,400 to strip and lay sod. About a 1250 sq ft. area.

[PensFanInDC]

I know nothing about gardening. I bought gardening soil for my wife to use in a container garden. Apparently that's a mistake as it doesn't drain well. Is there anything I can do to make it usable in a container garden? Add some aeration material?

[columbia]

Some processed O.J. would probably cut through it.

[blackjack68]

I know nothing about gardening. I bought gardening soil for my wife to use in a container garden. Apparently that's a mistake as it doesn't drain well. Is there anything I can do to make it usable in a container garden? Add some aeration material?

Make sure to put some stones at the bottom of the containers with a screen above the hole. This will allow water to drain out without losing the soil.

I'd ask a local garden center for recommendations on amending the soil.

[PensFanInDC]

I can buy the proper soil and use this stuff in the front of the house so that is probably my best option but we'd like to get the herbs and veggies growing ASAP.

[blackjack68]

Yeah, it's late for some herbs, but the sooner the better.

In case you want to amend the soil...

Skip down to the texture part.
http://gardening.about.com/od/gardenpri ... g_Soil.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[manicmonday18]

Going back to something I asked before...does anyone know of a landscaper who would give me a quote in the north side for a minuscule project? 30 square foot of brick and <100 linear feet of flower bed borders made of brick. I just don't know who to call to get to come out and quote me...any references would be appreciated. Thanks!

[mac5155]

Potting soil - it has those little Styrofoam balls in it to help with drainage.

[Shyster]

Spent a few hours yesterday re-digging a small trench between my yard and my neighbor's. I live in a valley running up a fairly steep hill. The road runs straight up the hill, and the houses on each side are on "steps" carved into the sides of the valley. My neighbor's house is on the next step up—about 15 feet higher than mine. There's a little drainage trench at the bottom of his "step," but I hadn't cleaned it out in a while. It runs to the street, where it the water runs down into a storm drain. My yard was getting swampy, so I took my trenching shovel to it. After cleaning, it's running water out to the street at what I'm guessing is about a half to one gallon per minute, and it's still doing that rate 18 hours later. No wonder the yard was so squishy.

[shafnutz05]

Desperately need suggestions...there are several portions of my yard (near these old crappy trees that need to come down) that are literally overrun with fast-growing weeds and brush. A lot of thistle, among other things. I'm not even trying to convert these areas to grass, I just want to try and slow down or kill their growth. My little weed sprayer simply isn't enough to keep up, is there another feasible way to just blast areas of growth like this?

[meow]

I'd get a dethatching rake and clean the area out well down to bare dirt then plant some grass seed.

[mac5155]

Fire would work too if that's legal in your area