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I live in a semi-arid (Zone 10a) part of southern California, which after the drought killed most of my grass, and the winter rains brought forth weeds for days I decided to tear out. By myself. With a hoe (I told you there'd be jokes) I live in a neighborhood with no HOA so I can take my time. In the beginning, I tackled only about 200-ish sqft of it (46x5), it looked like this  I didn't mow it, largely because gopher mounds hiding in the weeds made it somewhat (I thought) perilous to drive a mower through. Instead I sprayed it with roundup and let it die. I debated a sod cutter, but I didn't want to bother with transportation when renting so I googled for some other options and came up with a grub hoe, which when swung repetitively over about 3 hours gave me this  At this point I stopped to work out hauling strategies before clearing the old sod into a pile. No landscaper wanted just a portion of the job, but I eventually found a hauler who agreed if I had a big pile of dirt in my driveway they could load it into a dump truck and haul it away  Having cleared off what its mostly the old sod with a transfer shovel and an wheelbarrow I made a rookie mistake (isn't that why we post these?) and started digging with my hoe down to about 6" - I plan to install gopher wire to hopefully reduce the gopher problem I have and also find the sprinkler line. Rookie mistake: Not calling 811 first. No damage, but I found a pipe I wasn't expecting and while I didn't damage it, I decided to hold off further digging until I have lines marked. Research tells me everything should be down around 18" though.  Here's where I'll take advice. I wish I'd found a landscaper who would essentially do some mentoring / consulting for a fee, but they all only wanted to discuss themselves doing the entire project. For this 46x5 stretch - This is not a flat surface, there's a grade sloping away from the retaining wall, after clearing everything to put in the wire (and putting it back) should it be re-sloped it so it is on a slope vs. leaving it flat with the sidewalk? - It's out of sight of any windows and thus out of mind, I don't plan on re-sodding. Rocks and succulents, maybe some kind of bushes. I'm also considering lavender, but it looks like it takes lot of water the first year. What kind / size rock would you go with? - Is 6" the correct depth for gopher wire? I plan on using this stuff: https://gopherslimited.com/products/double-galvanized-wire-mesh-roll/. With the current piping that I've found I can just barely squeak 6". I've also heard mixed reviews about the efficacy of gopher wire in general. I'm hoping it'll greatly reduce the odds of gopher messing with the landscaping. Trapping them is an option I've done in the past, but takes more vigilance than I'd like - Should I leave the sprinklers in place? I'm kicking around the idea that if I do need irrigation I should replace it with a sub-surface drip line to better manage water - this part I'll likely contract out In the mean time I'm having a hoedown (clearing 1000 sqft of dead sod from the rest of my front lawn). I'm leaning towards sub-surface dripline and re-sodding for that piece Note: the wavy portions around the trees are suggested rock areas to cut down on the amount of re-sodding. Also imagine that there is a gentle slope in the lawn from the middle towards the street 
Nurbs fucked around with this message at 04:55 on Apr 2, 2017 |
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Apr 2, 2017 04:47
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I'm interested in your trials and travails as I'll have to tackle my lawn in the next year. I live in a dry part of Idaho and have had good luck with Elfin Thyme as a grass substitute: Pros: 1. It's a pretty green most of the time (but it will occasionally get pretty purple buds) 2. Its a perennial, so it will keep coming back 3. its dense as gently caress, so it's good at crowding out weeds 4. its drought-resistant and doesn't require a lot of water
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Apr 9, 2017 02:22
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Looks like a winner. I'm almost complete with tearing out the old sod. I've been piling it in the driveway and have to periodically rebuild the pile higher so I have all of the materiel ready for the hauler. From there I need to settle on where I might want irrigation and then plan on digging out where I need the lines to go. With that I'll also remove soil so I can amend (mix in nutrients) what's there. Still on the fence with gopher wire, none of the tunnels I've found go 6" down except for one so it'd be a lot of time and money to install. On the other hand this is still the best time to do it
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Apr 10, 2017 05:32
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