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Ok, I have a 200' wide, give or take 50' at any point, by 2300'+ lot. Nearly all forested except the area between home and road. Completely surrounded by tens of thousands of acres of forest. I'm basically cutting, clearing, and replanting an acre or two every year. All by hand/pickup truck except for 3-4 days that I rent a construction tractor to move fill around to make driveable paths and move rocks/stumps. Northern property line gets a line of sugar maple with scattered white oak. I add about a hundred linnear feet of this every year. I'm considering adding small 4-5 tree areas of beech running south of that property line at a right angle to the line every 100 feet or so. I have also made some "clumps" of hazlenut bushes in that manner. On the southern property line (both long lines are roughly E/W in direction) i have done a few hundred feet of apple x3; plum x3; apple x3; pear x3. Will be adding more apple and some cherry this year. Between the two property lines I have been planting patches of clover, different types of food plot, various grasses, and some naturally occurring ground cover. Generally, I'm clearing the whole lot, minus some stands of old hardwoods, some islands of large white pine/spruce, and a couple thick stands of juvenile firs I have cultivated. I want to add some clumps of varied berry bushes (chokecherry, chokeberry, elderberry, etc) and some small 3-5 tree islands of various fruit trees in the middle. How far should these be from the two lines of trees lining the property lines? Everything is on standard rootstock and most of my new trees to plant start as 1/2 to 1 inch diameter stock. View Quote Not sure I have a good answer because I'm not sure what you're after. I'm going to assume the following: The berry bushes grow faster than the trees, and this is concerning you. You don't want them choking out the trees....is this right? What I DON'T know is whether you want those berries to eventually be beneath the trees. If you want them always kept separate, you've got a potential ongoing maintenance issue. I don't know those particular berries, but if they're anything like blackberries or raspberries, they are aggressive spreaders. Speaking to the berries I *do* know.... the way I would manage that is to keep at least 30' of mowable ground cover in a pathway between your desired treeline and the berries, and keep the berries in either rows or clumps, but contained by mowable grass. I've seen this done effectively and it worked well. As the oaks and maples mature, you can always let the berries have some more of the space. I would also keep my fruit trees in clumps, separated from the berry patches. Just give yourself room to mow easily and regularly, and that mowing will curtail the advance of the berry spread. None of this accounts for shade. If those berries need full sun (assuming they do) you might need to put them square in the middle of your property so they get enough, since there are going to be many hours of potential shade most of the way across your lot when you consider where the sun rises and sets. A 100 foot tree casts a long shadow. Sounds like they wrap your entire back yard, and what you're cutting, you're replacing with trees that will do that again once they mature. Okay is that any help? Or have I answered the wrong question? |
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So I have an ash tree that is in my way shading my Apple trees.
Is there a way to top a tree properly, or is doing that at all grounds for a lifetime ban? It's topped out cut down and the wife likes that tree for some shade. |
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Emerald ash borer will take care of it for you in a few years if you are patient.
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We have tons of ash, healthy as can be. View Quote |
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So anyway, will topping it kill it or just make it ugly? View Quote As several others have mentioned, the EAB's are going to get your tree. I guess nothing in life is certain, but the odds of an ash tree in MN surviving are fairly slim. Before you spend much time or money topping, trimming or anything else, I would recommend that you start looking at other options. Even if you decide to keep the ash, start looking at options to get something else planted now, so that if it does die you'll have something else already established. |
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I really don't want ANYTHING where this particular tree is, but the Mrs likes the shade it gives next to the fire ring. At its current height (about 25-30ft) it shades my young apple trees. If I top of a third of it or so, it would no longer shade the apple trees, but have some nice dense branches for shade.
It may come down in the end being all ugly topped, the Mrs and I are still talking it over. |
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I really don't want ANYTHING where this particular tree is, but the Mrs likes the shade it gives next to the fire ring. At its current height (about 25-30ft) it shades my young apple trees. If I top of a third of it or so, it would no longer shade the apple trees, but have some nice dense branches for shade. It may come down in the end being all ugly topped, the Mrs and I are still talking it over. View Quote HOWEVER, you could judiciously prune it to thin the branches on that side, so the shade is cut in half or even by two thirds. When you prune, try to keep the "long" side of the sloped cut on top, so that less water actually falls on that cut. I saw from your pics of the oak that you know how to make a sloping cut just outside the branch collar. Keep doing that. Just try to reverse the direction if you can. If you can't, then keep to your regular technique. Pruning in this way will allow you to preserve the natural shape of the tree and keep it basically healthy while thinning it--or even taking it mostly back on that side--without doing serious damage. It would be better to remove the tree entirely than to top it. Tree topping actually harms the tree. Trees make their food in the leaves. So a tree, when topped, sprouts "emergency" fast-growing sprouts from around the wounded area, trying to save itself. It takes a lot of sugar to run a plant as large as a tree. It shoots out all those weak, unfortunate branches in an effort to survive because you've removed its ability to make food. Beyond that, if you don't have diseases and pests of ash trees already on your property, weakening a tree will set up a beacon for those things to invade. You don't want that. Keep the tree healthy if you can. I estimate that every time a tree is topped, it takes at least 1/3 of the life of the tree. Maybe more like half, but 1/3 is an easy estimate to make and believe I'm well within realistic estimations. Imagine cutting your thumb off at the first knuckle. Ouch. Yeah, don't do that. It also makes the tree ugly. As to the Emerald Ash Borer. I don't disagree with others on the forum, but...in nearly all instances of pests and/or disease of a certain species, there are those that survive, and from this we find resistant populations. I, for one, hope this will be true with EAB. |
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I estimate that every time a tree is topped, it takes at least 1/3 of the life of the tree. Maybe more like half, but 1/3 is an easy estimate to make and believe I'm well within realistic estimations. snippage I don't disagree with others on the forum, but...in nearly all instances of pests and/or disease of a certain species, there are those that survive, and from this we find resistant populations. I, for one, hope this will be true with EAB. View Quote |
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Y'all, if I've missed anybody's questions or requests, it's not on purpose. Bump me a reminder to look again.
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It's tearing up the Twin Cities right now, and will inevitably make its way to the rest of the state, unfortunately. It will decimate the northern forests. If the cities hadn't planted lots of ash trees on boulevards in the 60s, creating a monoculture of urban trees, perhaps the bug wouldn't have spread so fast. Too late for regret, I guess. View Quote |
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My 2 oaks had dirt with ivy around them. I removed the ivy and replaced with pine bark chips. There is about 3-4" of chips in these pics. The roots are just below the mulch but when I dug a littlke to create the circle I covered the exposed roots with the soil. Is this current set up harmful to these trees?
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My 2 oaks had dirt with ivy around them. I removed the ivy and replaced with pine bark chips. There is about 3-4" of chips in these pics. The roots are just below the mulch but when I dug a littlke to create the circle I covered the exposed roots with the soil. Is this current set up harmful to these trees? https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/96468/20170607-193601-226359.JPG https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/96468/20170607-193550-226360.JPG View Quote Only because it looks "mounded." Keep it at the level of the soil around the trees. That will discourage rodents from living in it, and will not encourage rot. (If the mulch is mounded around areas where it would not naturally be, rot can ensue.) With trees that mature, this is pretty much the only issue I'd worry about. ETA: Are you saying you buried the roots with soil when they were not buried before? If so, that's another issue. Don't do that. If you are saying you uncovered them, then recovered them at the same depth, that's fine. |
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I would reduce the height of the mulch pile just a little. Only because it looks "mounded." Keep it at the level of the soil around the trees. That will discourage rodents from living in it, and will not encourage rot. (If the mulch is mounded around areas where it would not naturally be, rot can ensue.) With trees that mature, this is pretty much the only issue I'd worry about. ETA: Are you saying you buried the roots with soil when they were not buried before? If so, that's another issue. Don't do that. If you are saying you uncovered them, then recovered them at the same depth, that's fine. View Quote |
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Removing all the thick ivy required some digging, once it was all gone I raked the dirt even and then made the circle you now see. I made a small trench at the circlescedge to hold the pine bark in place. The little dirt I dug out to create the depression I tossed into the circle. View Quote |
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Yes, it will be harmful to the tree. What folks often do not realize is that tree roots, even underground, actually breathe (in a way)--they need Oxygen and other gases from air. Wherever they are--meaning how deep they are in the ground--they are there because they are getting sufficient oxygen at that level. You will notice that maples (Sugar in particular, red less so) have very shallow root systems in many instances. People love maple trees, but despair of mowing around them because of constantly hitting the shallow roots that stick out of the ground. If you bury the roots of the maple more deeply, I would be extremely careful, and would not go more than an inch or so. And if the tree is already stressed, I likely would not even do that. I have removed the sod and replaced it with a very loose, "chunk" type mulch--pine nuggets or the bigger chunks you can sometimes get in bags, which makes an attractive ground cover without burying the roots, and relieves the need to mow around the tree. I don't know if this will work for you or not. But by doing that, I did not add any depth to the soil over the roots. I kept it at the same level, just mulch instead of grass...does that make sense? If the tree has a steep mound around its base, it likely was planted shallowly, and perhaps for exactly the reason you've noted. the heavy clay soil would have suffocated it, and planting it with part of the root ball out of the ground might have been one solution to that. There could be other reasons it's like that. Sometimes clay, when it gets waterlogged, will actually heave or "float" objects (septic tanks, etc) and the root ball of a recently installed tree would not be unheard-of. I don't know that of course, just guessing at why that tree has such a steep approach to the trunk. In any case, I would not attempt to alter it, in particular because it's a maple, and it's a nice size one. I wonder if we might be able to help with ideas to redirect the water flow around the root ball, so it moves away from the house, and to best advantage for you and the tree as well? View Quote The property is flat. Most everywhere is 1% or less. The house footing was built about 3' under the original grade, and the excavated spoils were placed with some additional fill to raise the grade at the house an additional three feet. This tapers to the original grade about 30' from the house. The tree sits 20 feet past this. The property was an old hay field, and the dead furrows are still visible in the yard. I had a large foundation fix (frost heave) and a tore out my concrete front porch (frost heave pushed it up so rain went towards the house and added some more fill. The immediate area by the tree doesn't hold water so I'll just taper the fill out and call it good. How far from the base of the trunk would you keep fill away? Five feet or ten feet or more? ETA, we are zone 4. North and west sides of the house gets brutal wind in the winter which scours the snow away. The wind keeps up the rest of the year too. For flower beds by the house I am thinking iris, peonies, lilies, compass plant, black eyed susans, Shasta daisies, gas plant, hollyhocks, lupine, hardy mums some annuals from seed - poppies maybe, and possibly a few clumps of taller grasses? I dislike evergreen type shrubs by the house for some reason. Maybe a couple of burning bushes. I need low maintenance, and just want some informal color and some nice flowers my wife or daughters can pick and put in a vase on the table. |
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I just saw this last response.
Too late for me to be coherent but I will check back tomorrow. |
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The tree was likely planted shallow. I also have other frost heave issues and it wouldn't surprise me if it heaved up some over the years - or every year. The property is flat. Most everywhere is 1% or less. The house footing was built about 3' under the original grade, and the excavated spoils were placed with some additional fill to raise the grade at the house an additional three feet. This tapers to the original grade about 30' from the house. The tree sits 20 feet past this. The property was an old hay field, and the dead furrows are still visible in the yard. I had a large foundation fix (frost heave) and a tore out my concrete front porch (frost heave pushed it up so rain went towards the house and added some more fill. The immediate area by the tree doesn't hold water so I'll just taper the fill out and call it good. How far from the base of the trunk would you keep fill away? Five feet or ten feet or more? ETA, we are zone 4. North and west sides of the house gets brutal wind in the winter which scours the snow away. The wind keeps up the rest of the year too. For flower beds by the house I am thinking iris, peonies, lilies, compass plant, black eyed susans, Shasta daisies, gas plant, hollyhocks, lupine, hardy mums some annuals from seed - poppies maybe, and possibly a few clumps of taller grasses? I dislike evergreen type shrubs by the house for some reason. Maybe a couple of burning bushes. I need low maintenance, and just want some informal color and some nice flowers my wife or daughters can pick and put in a vase on the table. View Quote I would not add any heavy fill near the base of the tree, so ten feet is probably good as a minimum, and as you say, taper it. Those plants all sound good against the house, but the taller ones may end up flattened if you have regular heavy winds. You could support them, of course, or use the big clumps of taller grasses to create a little wind break on the windward side. |
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Bump to keep from archives. Thinking folks may have questions in the fall, when most people think again about landscaping.
If I've failed to answer anything or been stupid and missed the point, please say so. |
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What's the easiest way to get a yard leveled out. Between moles and ruts from having a well put in and some other plumbing work in the back yard it's gotten pretty rough. It wasn't take care of right when it happened because it was winter and the ground was soggy. Now the grass has grown back and I get beat to hell riding the mower around. View Quote |
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Oh shoot! I'm sorry. Glad you bumped me. First...are the moles gone? Or are they still doing damage? Second, how big is your yard?--I mean how big is the area that's damaged by the moles and the equipment ruts? View Quote |
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Aerator and a heavy roller? View Quote But if the mole activity is not stopped ahead of time, it will be wasted effort and expense. The reason I suggest aeration is that it sort of loosens everything without total renovation. Then roll, then spread topsoil, then seed, then roll, etc. No matter what, you will likely need to do the topsoil/roll combo more than once. Even if you don't aerate, you could just roll and spread/reseed, rinse and repeat. The trouble is the roller rental. Until you get some rain, you won't be done, because after settling, you'll need to repeat the process. Okay is that totally confusing? @ar-Jedi what say you from your golf course experience? |
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So the family and I were at Menards yesterday getting supplies for Stuff and they have all their pants on clearance of course. And of course they have a pot of grapes on clearance, 13 bucks and it's already got grapes growing on it so course I bring home.
However I have extremely poor luck trying to grow grapes or really anything where I want to put my berries and grapes so I'll ask this : starting from scratch with a pot of grapes exactly how should I plant those how should I fertilize them? should I put any manure on the bottom of the hole? from someone who knows very little about grapes I'd like to do this one right so I'm open for instructions. |
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So the family and I were at Menards yesterday getting supplies for Stuff and they have all their pants on clearance of course. And of course they have a pot of grapes on clearance, 13 bucks and it's already got grapes growing on it so course I bring home. However I have extremely poor luck trying to grow grapes or really anything where I want to put my berries and grapes so I'll ask this : starting from scratch with a pot of grapes exactly how should I plant those how should I fertilize them? should I put any manure on the bottom of the hole? from someone who knows very little about grapes I'd like to do this one right so I'm open for instructions. View Quote What kind of grapevine is it? |
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Snapped a few pics tonight of the stretch where I planted the grass as well as some other projects on that side of the property. Panoramic of the grass bed adjacent to the fence. The planting is a straight line, the panoramic mode of course makes it look curved. Runs almost straight east to west and the field in front is due north. The bed is about 400' long - hard to show distance due to the slope. https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/60523/grass1-206506.jpg Hidden behind the clump of trees in the middle of the photo above is one of two small ponds that have been dry and over grown since we bought the place. Had a neighbor bring his Cat over and he excavated one of them for me and used the spoils to build a berm off the side. Pond is holding water so far. A bit slow to fill given the small watershed area, but going in the right direction. The area to the right and behind the dog on the far right is the berm built from the spoils. It runs back from the pond side walls at a 90 degree and hooks around a bit like a comma. From an aerial perspective the pond and berm would look a bit like a Q. https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/60523/pond-206507.jpg A pic of the backstop berm dead ahead. The side wall to the right is backside of the pond. Scale and slope is deceiving in pictures. The height is 10' at the lowest and the berm face is extremely steep. The 2x4 is a 12' and marks the area that I'm planning to enclose with side and overhead covers as well as put a few feet of clean sand on the berm face. https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/60523/berm1-206501.jpg Lots of work to be done still - and these projects aren't even my main ones... not enough time in the day! View Quote |
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Ruts are probably 50' long. The damaged area is probably 10'x20'. The whole yard is pretty rough over all. I've thought about having a load of top soil dropped off and just filling the ruts and holes. The moles are never really gone but I've got a pretty good handle on them. View Quote ps the moles are 1) eating earthworms and grubs, and 2) are very regional about where they live. solving the grubs problem using one of 87 pesticides and/or other wives tales is not going to solve your mole problem, as you have probably already found out. in my experience, you have to mechanically kill enough of them that their numbers diminish below critical mass and/or they move on. moles are really good at avoiding poison baits. if the poison looks like rabbit food, or dry pellets, forget it -- they won't touch it. the only poison bait that really works fairly well is Talpirid, but it's pretty expensive http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002B9COD4?tag=vglnk-c102-20 but so far i have found the following mechanical trap to work best. it sets easily, and it's easy to tell when it's tripped. i have bagged lots of moles with this unit. i've also not had it trip and then found it empty. when it trips in all probability you have one less mole. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000SDKGC6?tag=vglnk-c102-20 those things above WORK! follow the directions, understand your enemy's tactics, and you can win. ar-jedi ps photos are from Amazon, but as shown, once the trap trips, the mole is terminated... |
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The reason I suggest aeration is that it sort of loosens everything without total renovation. Then roll, then spread topsoil, then seed, then roll, etc. View Quote 1) *only* aerate when the grass is actually actively growing and not under any sort of stress. *in general*, this means either spring or fall. for cool season turfgrass varietals, aerating when the grass is dormant (e.g. winter) or when it is drought-stressed (during the peak summer months) is just asking for problems you don't need. so, grass growing vigorously? ok to aerate. 100'F and dry for the next 3-4 weeks? not ok to aerate. 2) if you are planning a turf renovation project, multiple passes with an aerator can do a good job of loosening up the soil. in other cases, you may just be better off renting a slit-seeder and going at it with that. 3) reminder, pre-emergent herbicides create a chemical "barrier" which results in the failure of annual weeds (like crabgrass) to either germinate or to develop proper roots. however, using an aerator after application of a pre-emergent can poke holes in the "barrier" and additionally can expose dormant weed seeds. for this reason, fall aeration between mid-August and mid-September is typically done, since it would not follow a springtime pre-emergent application. ar-jedi |
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Update on the "elephant grass" - growing better than a weed! https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/60523/IMG-20170718-171024-257246.jpg View Quote |
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a couple things about aeration: 1) *only* aerate when the grass is actually actively growing and not under any sort of stress. *in general*, this means either spring or fall. for cool season turfgrass varietals, aerating when the grass is dormant (e.g. winter) or when it is drought-stressed (during the peak summer months) is just asking for problems you don't need. so, grass growing vigorously? ok to aerate. 100'F and dry for the next 3-4 weeks? not ok to aerate. 2) if you are planning a turf renovation project, multiple passes with an aerator can do a good job of loosening up the soil. in other cases, you may just be better off renting a slit-seeder and going at it with that. 3) reminder, pre-emergent herbicides create a chemical "barrier" which results in the failure of annual weeds (like crabgrass) to either germinate or to develop proper roots. however, using an aerator after application of a pre-emergent can poke holes in the "barrier" and additionally can expose dormant weed seeds. for this reason, fall aeration between mid-August and mid-September is typically done, since it would not follow a springtime pre-emergent application. ar-jedi View Quote Turfgrass management is its own whole field. Can I grow grass? Yeah. Can I grow grass like a turfgrass specialist? No way. |
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Update on the "elephant grass" - growing better than a weed! https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/60523/IMG-20170718-171024-257246.jpg Patience Ma'am! |
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It's an update on my trial plantings of Miscanthus X Giganteus as a privacy hedgerow, mentioned earlier in the thread. View Quote I was supposed to send you my address for a couple of rhizomes, and never did. My bad. Life has been...well.. insane doesn't quite get it right. (There is pigweed higher than my head in a few of my flower beds. ) Insane on fire maybe...yeah that feels about right. Someday, when you have determined that they work well for you and are noninvasive, you can dig me some. Or hey...maybe I'll drive through your area and dig my own. |
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bump for the fall time when people think about landscaping again.
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The local Walmart has all their plants on clearance, we scored 8- 4' Leyland Cypress trees for $6 each!
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The local Walmart has all their plants on clearance, we scored 8- 4' Leyland Cypress trees for $6 each! View Quote |
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Not quite sure what to do on the left side of the garage in the picture. I was thinking mulch with some boxwood bushes but the wife isn't a fan. Long term we are thinking a nice patio behind the garage stepping up to a deck along the entire back of the house. Any ideas?
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Not quite sure what to do on the left side of the garage in the picture. I was thinking mulch with some boxwood bushes but the wife isn't a fan. Long term we are thinking a nice patio behind the garage stepping up to a deck along the entire back of the house. Any ideas? https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/86377/IMG_7083-285713.JPG View Quote out for a personal issue but hopefully not for long. :0) |
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Kind of destroyed the front yard moving in the new house. Grapes destroyed, strawberries destroyed, raspberries didn't like the transplant so they may be mostly dead.
So it's kind of going to be a blank slate. In this pic, the line of tall Siberian elms will be cut down yet this fall, and some more of the ash will be leaving. I'd like to get grapes, be strawberries, blueberries, black berries going again. The issue is that the grapes, be strawberries, blueberries never grew worth a shit anyway. I be will be trenching in irrigation lines. I'm wondering if raised beds are the key, or what is the best way to start this again from scratch? Attached File |
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Here's where I'm at with my front lawn feature bed. Just got the tree in today. Going to take the rock out and make a kidney bean bed where the cord is. What's the best/easiest way to go about this? Was thinking weed cloth over the grass, mulch and the plastic edging but I want to do this right so looking for input. |
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Not quite sure what to do on the left side of the garage in the picture. I was thinking mulch with some boxwood bushes but the wife isn't a fan. Long term we are thinking a nice patio behind the garage stepping up to a deck along the entire back of the house. Any ideas? https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/86377/IMG_7083-285713.JPG View Quote I think you might be really happy with a selection of the newer cultivars of hydrangea for that location. They've come a long way in the last few years, and the old fashioned "snowball bush" has been much improved. The ones we are used to from childhood grew narrow and tall, were skinny and often bare at the bottom and poofed out and hung over at the top. That's changed. Some hydrangea varieties Be sure to check the mature height of the cultivar you are considering. And buy from a reputable nursery so you're getting what you mean to get. At walmart or sometimes even at Lowe's, you'll end up with NOT what the tag says you're getting an awful lot of the time. Also pay attention to the notes on the cultivars and make sure you get one that can take full sun (as that looks like it gets a whole lot of sun up against that wall). There are now varieties that can take the heat as well as ones that do better in light shade. A row of four or five of those along the foundation--choose a variety that tops out at about four feet or so--with something else at the corners would provide long-lasting bloom all through the summer, with the dried heads creating nice interest in autumn and early winter. Lot of folks take a scorched earth policy in the fall, clearing anything dried, but that's a mistake from a landscaper's perspective. The best trees and shrubs for the landscape work hard, providing attractive interest in the landscape for more than one season. Hydrangeas are beautiful in the warm months, but don't underestimate how nice those puffy, dried blooms can make the side of the house look after peak season. There are a couple of interesting opportunities at the corners. One of the dwarf varieties of evergreen that has a "droopy" quality would make a really nice contrast to the upright stems of a deciduous shrub like hydrangea--or another upright deciduous shrub if you don't like those. This slide show highlights some really nice images of evergreens most people don't think of I personally like Oakleaf Hydrangea at the corners of buildings, because it's a broad, spreading bush, with pretty blooms in the summer and nice peely bark in the winter, but I find a lot of folks don't like it because it's not "a neat tight ball of a bush" and in particular in the winter, some folks have trouble seeing those stems and thinking of anything but "I need to cut that down." That's because they think of winter interest as a gumball of evergreen foliage. The BEST winter landscaping includes both--the attractive bare branches of trees and shrubs mixed in with the evergreens. So another idea would be to do a layered effect. You could put two or three red twig dogwoods in sort of a triangle up against that wall, then choose a dwarf hydrangea or two in front/sides of those, with the evergreens at the corners. You could also change it up. The evergreen in the middle (as it's likely to be the most expensive of the shrubs you will purchase) then a red twig to either side of it, and come out in a semi-circle with hydrangea, then another spreading evergreen on the outside edge. If you like any of these ideas, I can draw up a diagram for you pretty easily, taking into account size and shape of the plants you're considering. If you were to use the semicircle, you could do stepping stones around the outer border of it from the driveway in front to the patio in back, so when you're having outdoor gatherings, folks can come around the pretty shrub bed to the back of the house. ETA: Even BETTER than one semicircle, you can do two overlapping since your window is in the middle. One taller shrub on each side of the window, then a couple of semicircles--one surrounding each shrub. I've installed that "double half circle" against walls in some very nice home projects, and it always gets good reviews. |
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Answers in red in the quote. Ask more if I've confused you.
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We're in the beginning stages of re-arranging our backyard garden layout. This front, L-shaped garden is going to be replaced by St. Augustine. I have a couple of questions about doing it the right and easiest way. https://i.imgur.com/fuZ6EIx.jpg 1. Would it be better to plant sod now, or wait until spring? We're in north Texas, DFW area, and still have a couple months of warm weather. I don't know your climate, and how early in spring you could do this before the heat gets overwhelming. @Jomama might have help to offer with that. If I had my preference, I would want three months before cold weather makes the grass go dormant (if it does in your area) for the roots to get really well established on your site. However, this is half-ass because I have never grown anything or studied your area. The question of timing would be better answered by your county extension agent or a local nursery or landscape company. I would ask someone OTHER than the sod provider, because they want to sell to you now, more than likely. (I could be dead wrong about that.) 2. The area between the garden and the driveway is a combination of bermuda-grass and crabgrass. What's the best way to get rid of it, so that it won't screw up the new sod? Till it under? Spray it down with 2,4-D? Both? Something else? 2, 4-D is a broadleaf weed killer, so don't use that. Go for a specific grass killer or (more easily understood and found by most homeowners) straight glyphosphate (roundup, which kills EVERYTHING, so be careful.) I dislike complete kills with herbicides, but if that were my situation, I would use one. You've got to get the roots or that stuff will grow right back in your new sod. In fact, that's another reason I would wait until spring. I think you're going to need more than one application to get it completely dead. So in other words, spray, wait for it to die and start to come back, spray, rinse and repeat maybe three times total. That ought to get it. Those grasses are tough. Just cuz it looks dead, don't jump the gun. 3. At the back side of the current garden is a short retaining wall, about 5 inches or so. The property slopes down towards the driveway. What the best way to even out the current dirt step to make for a nice slope of grass? View Quote |
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Quoted:
Kind of destroyed the front yard moving in the new house. Grapes destroyed, strawberries destroyed, raspberries didn't like the transplant so they may be mostly dead. So it's kind of going to be a blank slate. In this pic, the line of tall Siberian elms will be cut down yet this fall, and some more of the ash will be leaving. I'd like to get grapes, be strawberries, blueberries, black berries going again. The issue is that the grapes, be strawberries, blueberries never grew worth a shit anyway. I be will be trenching in irrigation lines. I'm wondering if raised beds are the key, or what is the best way to start this again from scratch?https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/165887/KIMG0217-302992.JPG View Quote Are you going strictly for utility? Or are you after attractive design as well? Is that the future driveway where they came in with the house? Or will that be all yard/plantings? |
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