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I cut a small Chinaberry tree (12" diameter at base, tops) down last year that started sprouting again this spring. So I got an auger bit for my drill and some stump killer and chainsawed off the top of the stump, drilled 4 big holes, and then instead of applying a moderate amount of poison with the brush like the label says, I got distracted and thought I was using another type of poison and ended up pouring the whole 8 oz into the holes.  Besides wasting herbicide I needed for other plants, is there any real danger here? There are two big old trees pretty close by (3 feet and 6-8 feet) away that I really DON'T want to kill. I'm a little afraid it could leach out of the stump after it dies or transfer assuming the roots are touching underground. I'm going to be seriously upset if I kill (and have to have removed) my 70 year old pine tree.
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May 20, 2020 00:50
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SpartanIvy posted:Besides wasting herbicide I needed for other plants, is there any real danger here? You need to be very specific about the active ingredients to get a real answer. Probably no, but that depends. Edit: sorry, I didn't see you link. It's triclopyr. Nothing broadleaf will live anywhere near that for a while, and that's probably just fine for you. Ot acts the same way a 2,4-D: it's a synthetic growth hormone that causes unsustainable levels of growth. Motronic fucked around with this message at 01:47 on May 20, 2020 |
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May 20, 2020 01:42
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Motronic posted:You need to be very specific about the active ingredients to get a real answer. That helps put my mind at ease. Thanks! For whatever it's worth I went at it with some pipe and paper towels and probably removed 5oz or more of standing and surface poison from the holes. So it's still an insane amount of poison on it but significantly less now. Here's the liquid I siphoned off (using my thumb for a seal, not my mouth) in a growler. The PVC had paper towels in the end to suck up excess at the bottom of the holes. 
SpartanIvy fucked around with this message at 02:31 on May 20, 2020 |
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May 20, 2020 02:14
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I thought I remembered reading somewhere that you can drill holes and put something "non-toxic" in to the holes you drill in a tree stump. Non-toxic meaning like something that won't kill anything that comes within 50 feet of it. Like salt or some poo poo or some type of combination of cooking oil and "something". But on the other hand, I think it was facebook I saw that on, and we all know how reliable the "life hacks" are that you get from there....
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May 20, 2020 11:39
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wesleywillis posted:I thought I remembered reading somewhere that you can drill holes and put something "non-toxic" in to the holes you drill in a tree stump. Non-toxic meaning like something that won't kill anything that comes within 50 feet of it. Like salt or some poo poo or some type of combination of cooking oil and "something". But on the other hand, I think it was facebook I saw that on, and we all know how reliable the "life hacks" are that you get from there.... A lot of stump remover stuff is just dry muriatic acid, you pour into the drilled holes and then cover with hot water. The acid dissolves in the water and accelerates the natural decay of the woody fibers in the trunk. I have to imagine that would also do a number on any not-quite-dead stumps still throwing up suckers, too.
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May 20, 2020 14:27
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Hey guys! I have a few lawncare questions. I posted over in the home care thread but didn't realize this one existed so I'm moving it over here. I live in central Mississippi. Hot and as humid as poo poo essentially. Basically I have owned my house for near 6 years and the lawn has gotten progressively worse over those years. I mow it, but... that's about it. We're getting ready to finally get serious about our landscaping so I wanted to see what I need to do to rehabilitate this lawn. The back yard, which was almost all dirt, will be left out for now. We cut down like 4 trees back there and threw some st. augustine seed down and are just letting it do it's thing. In 2 years time it's actually filled almost totally in which is nuts. A lot of it still rough, especially nearer the "forest" (my house/street butts up to literal million dollar homes and each one has a nice giant cushion of trees on their lots to buffer them from the plebes). But we're going to be redoing the fence and some other stuff there so I look forward to reapproaching that in the fall. For the front yard, I have three main areas of concern. 1.)The grass, which I'm an idiot and don't know what it is (maybe St. Augustine), has gotten progressively more riddled with weeds as well as just a dead... underlayer (for lack of a proper term). I'd love to know how to properly nurse it back to health. There are a couple of still decent areas. One is the right hand side lawn. This actually used to have two huge oak trees between my house and the neighbors and was literally 100% dirt. We cut down the trees b/c it was screwing both our foundations and the grass just grew naturally. It's pretty excellent. And then an area on the front left lawn that gets more shade than the rest of the lawn. Both have decently healthy grass. Here are some pics: The decent sidelawn:  With closeup:  Now some of the crustier areas:     Crusty area with weed:   So you can see the grass just isn't filling in, has some weed encroachment (it's basically filled in our lawn) and there is this totally crispy underlayer of dead grass it seems. I'd say roughly 80% of the grass is now the lovely crunchy weed mix. 2.) In front of the pine tree, there seems to be a good bit of erosion. And possibly some damage from being rained on by sap (I have nothing to support this other than the damage areas mimics the canopy shape and size)? The pine tree sits basically right where the hill starts to steeply drop towards the ditch so I'm thinking erosion. The tree and the damaged area:  Closeup of damaged area. It's hard to see but there's some small "tiers" (kind of like tiny rice paddy stair stepping) as it descends. Further enforcing erosion to me.  Another angle:  Profile (terrible pic but you can see the grade of the slope):  3.) A shittily sodded patch of grass from a utility company. Essentially they're laying fibre and bust my sewer line. They come out and fix it but do a lovely job of resodding. The grass doesn't match, is now dead (even though I watered it and it seemed to do fine the first year) and the whole area has settled really unevenly. Specifically right at the road. But it has been over a year and I feel like it's done settling. Overall shot:  The drop right where it meets the street:  Two closer shots of the sod:   So yeah any advice would help! And I can always provide more pics or details. Sorry if this is overload!
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May 25, 2020 04:58
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I bought my house in Austin a little over 5 years ago. I've spent those last few years doing various updates indoors-- the last of which was the kitchen. The guest and master bathrooms could use some updates, and the closets could really use some sort of shelving or organization-- and I'd also like to add some sort of built-in cabinets/bookshevles/entertainment center stuff. But that's just going down another rabbit hole. I'm finally at a point where I would like to make my front yard, at least, not look like poo poo. However, I don't know where to begin or how to design an attractive yard. My front yard, being in a cul-de-sac, is a pretty narrow wedge, while the back yard is quite long. When I bought the home, there was a mature, but rotting cedar elm at the front left corner that was very close to the foundation and utilities. I chose to have it cut down, and I slabbed the trunk to eventually build a dining table. There were also some bushes in front of the two windows that recently died and I'm in the process of digging them out. The PO also had planted some sort of other very basic bush to the right of the entry/left of the garage with a bed of black and red lava rock that is pretty dated in style. I'm a fan of the Austin-esque xeriscaping, but I don't necessarily want to make my front yard all crushed granite or limestone. That being said I absolutely do not want to waste water on watering a lawn. In addition, when it comes to designing landscaping in my front yard, I'm not really sure how to handle the property lines with my neighbor and how you transition or design something that doesn't stop abruptly or look bad. I'm preparing to tear down and replace the fence, and will eventually have a double gate on the right of the house. I'm probably going to keep the garbage and recycling bins behind the fence once I have that gate in place, but I've also considered putting some sort of small lean-to or cabinet to the right of the garage to conceal the bins a bit more, but I'm undecided on that front. Can any of y'all recommend some ideas here, or point me to some resources for what's manageable for a DIYer? I've seen some neighbors' hired-out jobs and while they look great, I don't think I can stomach $20,000 on landscaping, when the siding is also rotten and needs to be replaced. The red line is a very rough approximation of the property line. 
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May 29, 2020 08:27
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BonoMan posted:Hey guys! I have a few lawncare questions. I posted over in the home care thread but didn't realize this one existed so I'm moving it over here. 'sup dogg! I mentioned this before, but I feel like The Lawn Care Nut is a great first stop if you want to get serious. If St. Aug is what you're after all the better, as that's what he has on his lawn and thus he has a ton of info about it. It may be a little overload, but if you do a search of his videos you can find some good beginner tips, rehab info, herbicide advice, fert schedules, etc.: Youtube Search: Lawn Care Nut St Augustine In particular, this seems relevant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlHQHEk57bY Like I said elsewhere, all my amateur expertise is focused on cool season lawns so I can only provide some limited and general advice, but hopefully this will steer you the right way. BonoMan posted:
Looks like you have some broad-leaf weeds in there. If you don't mind the aesthetics then that's cool, but they will compete for nutrients and limit how thick your St. Aug can get. You can find good advice for St. Aug-compatible herbicides up above. BonoMan posted:With closeup: OK, #1: You need to sharpen your blades See how your grass looks gnarley and torn at the tops? That's a sign that the blade is blunt enough that when it hits the grass it's ripping the top off rather than cleanly shearing through it. Ideally you should be seeing nice, clean, straight cuts almost as if you used a pair of scissors to cut the blade. This causes three problems: - Aesthetics: the cells in the torn tip will die and whiten, and en-mass will lead to a ragged and unhealthy look - Stress: a jagged cut will lead to more dead cells along the leaf blade, in turn causing the grass a lot more shock when that happens. You will also "bleed out" more water from the grass until it heals, which may be an additional stressor in the heat of summer. - Infection: Just like with a person, the jagged cut also leaves more surface area that needs to heal and makes it much more susceptible to a variety of fungal infections (which can manifest in all sorts of ways). #2: Mow at the proper height As I understand it, St. Aug actually likes to be cut a bit higher than other warm season grasses like Bermuda (which you can just scalp to the drat ground). Check around, but I think 3" is perfectly reasonable. This will both help it compete with the weeds (shading more soil to prevent weed seed germination while its stolons colonize the surrounding areas) and help with water retention as the shade will keep the soil cooler to a shocking degree, preventing evaporation. #3: Mow at the proper frequency (One-Third Rule) To avoid stressing your grass, you ideally want to avoid cutting off more than one third of the total blade height in a given pass. This means that if your cut height is 2" you want to mow when it gets to 3", or if your cut height is 4" you want to mow before it gets to 6". This may mean mowing multiple times per week during peak growth; however, it will have a noticeable impact on how quickly the grass recovers from the cut and how well it can divert energy to spreading growth. BonoMan posted:Now some of the crustier areas: It's hard for me to know exactly what's going wrong here, but I would say it's definitely recoverable. I think that it's salvageable, though. I think I'd address the broadleaf weed problem first, as it's definitely competing with the grass in some areas, keeping them from filling in. I'd also check for soil compaction in the totally bare areas around that tree. If it's been bare for a while it may have gotten quite hard. Doing a core aeration might be a good idea. Once you get those two things under control, one thing you could try to accelerate the process is making plugs from your good areas and using them to help fill in the bare spots faster: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDnf2Q5_ei0 BonoMan posted:2.) In front of the pine tree, there seems to be a good bit of erosion. And possibly some damage from being rained on by sap (I have nothing to support this other than the damage areas mimics the canopy shape and size)? Yeah, I think the lack of roots there has left the soil vulnerable to erosion, washing away all the loose soil and leaving behind the hard compact stuff. You can try leveling it with a good topsoil mix and seeding, then stabilizing the soil with a degradable mulch. This Stuff is great, as it contains a sticker that will prevent washout. Properly germinating when seeding is definitely its own topic, though. BonoMan posted:3.) A shittily sodded patch of grass from a utility company. Honestly, who knows what that grass is? If you really care, I'd consider nuking it with glyphosate (  ) leveling the area with a heavy mix of topsoil and coarse paver sand and then re-seeding or plugging.BonoMan posted:So yeah any advice would help! And I can always provide more pics or details. Sorry if this is overload! I hope this was helpful!
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May 29, 2020 23:14
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To echo what Hubis said, raise your mower to the highest setting for St. Augustine, and mow every single week when it rains (really every 5 days is best). The utility co. patch looks like zoysia maybe, but more likely bermuda or bahia or some poo poo. I'd zap it and start over with st. Augustine sod, but if you have healthy st. augustine around it and keep it wet, the st. augustine may take over. It is aggressive and it likes it wet. Your erosion area under the tree is likely to be tough. It is really hard to get new grass established in shade, and I think Hubis is right that you have some soil compaction issues (if you are on red clay this can be a big problem). Your soil also looks kind of low in organic matter, but that's pretty normal in much of the south. Fertilize and don't bag/remove the clippings and the soil will improve over time. "Crusty area with weed" looks like it may be compacted as well, and could use some fertilizer and water. That weed is spurge I think and at least in my yard it seems to mostly take over in hot, dry parts of the yard. Fertilize to get the grass up, cut it high so it can shade its own roots (and shade out the weeds) and preserve moisture, and water deeply but infrequently to encourage deeper root growth. It's a little late but not too late to fertilize. I would go with just a high nitrogen fertilizer this year to help get the grass in better shape, and then maybe next spring get on it early with a pre-emergent and then a weed and feed with atrazine to start to fight the weeds once the grass is happy.
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May 30, 2020 04:52
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Hubis posted:'sup dogg! It absolutely was thanks! And yeah I've signed up for the Lawn Care Nut from your reco in the other thread. Been really enjoying the videos so far. Looking back on my habits, I basically never watered the lawn and cut way too short and essentially allowed all of those fried areas to take over. It's my first lawn with really tricky shade/sun areas so I took it all for granted. Oh and yeah I've never sharpened my blades in the 6 years I've owned this mower. Eek. Kaiser Schnitzel posted:To echo what Hubis said, raise your mower to the highest setting for St. Augustine, and mow every single week when it rains (really every 5 days is best). The utility co. patch looks like zoysia maybe, but more likely bermuda or bahia or some poo poo. I'd zap it and start over with st. Augustine sod, but if you have healthy st. augustine around it and keep it wet, the st. augustine may take over. It is aggressive and it likes it wet. Your erosion area under the tree is likely to be tough. It is really hard to get new grass established in shade, and I think Hubis is right that you have some soil compaction issues (if you are on red clay this can be a big problem). Your soil also looks kind of low in organic matter, but that's pretty normal in much of the south. Fertilize and don't bag/remove the clippings and the soil will improve over time. "Crusty area with weed" looks like it may be compacted as well, and could use some fertilizer and water. That weed is spurge I think and at least in my yard it seems to mostly take over in hot, dry parts of the yard. Thanks for this too!
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May 30, 2020 05:06
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BonoMan posted:It absolutely was thanks! And yeah I've signed up for the Lawn Care Nut from your reco in the other thread. Been really enjoying the videos so far. Oh, and going off what Kaiser said: I'd just throw down a ton of Milorganite right now -- Something like 30 Lb/1000 sqft. You should be able to find it at Home Depot/Lowe's easily enough. It's going to add organic matter, slow release nitrogen, and phosphorous to the soil. It also has some compaction reduction properties, causing clay to agglomerate into coarser chunks rather than a compacted surface. The Milorganite won't fix your organic matter problem (you really need to revitalize the soil ecosystem and rely on the root cycle for that) but it will kickstart that recovery process. You could also pick up a couple bales of peat moss and just kind of scatter it around the yard as a top dressing. Peat can hold something like 20x it's weight in water so it will help your moisture retention and will decompose into organic matter as well. For the dead areas and thatch, get a hose-end sprayer and apply some unsulfured molassas at a rate of around 3-6oz/1000sqft. The sugar will soak into the dry plant matter and jumpstart the decomposition process. It will also provide a tiiiiny amount of N. Running a dethatcher/power rake across the area may also be a good option, but I'm not sure i would do that until the turf is healthier and you have the weeds more under control. Since you are already following LCN, I'd really recommend the Bio-Stimulant Pack. AIR-8: Basic solution will break down ionic bonds in clay and slowly make it more permeable to roots, which will decompact it over time. HUMIC-12: Humic Acid solution will add long-chain carbon molecules (think organic decomposition byproducts, like compost) to the soil which will make fertilizer more bioavailable RGS: Kelp Extract contains hormones which will promote root growth, slightly slowing vertical growth pressure and helping the existing grass establish itself and fill in laterally Micro-Green: Provide micro-nutrients that might be missing from the otherwise poor soil, improving overall health. You can apply this with the hose-end sprayer. I wouldn't mix the AIR-8 or Humic-12 with other things, as they can precipitate and cause clogs, but the others should be fine. The other GCF fertilizers are also great products, if you feel like going liquid.
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May 30, 2020 15:53
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Sharpening my mower blades is one of my most least favorite things to do. I have a large sharpening file, but can never get a good angle without my hands cramping up in record time. Tried a drill attachment but those work like poo poo.
Hasselblad fucked around with this message at 14:03 on May 31, 2020 |
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May 31, 2020 13:59
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Hasselblad posted:Sharpening my mower blades is one of my most least favorite things to do. I have a large sharpening file, but can never get a good angle without my hands cramping up in record time. Tried a drill attachment but those work like poo poo. Angle grinder?
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May 31, 2020 14:08
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They are usually like $12 so I just get a new one every year or three when I remember.
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May 31, 2020 14:10
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The blade on my Ryobi electric is $20 at home Depot and I destroyed it on the first or second use of the season on a protruding piece of tree root.
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May 31, 2020 20:04
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Two questions: 1) Vines. I have so many fuckin vines here. Wintercreeper, Overgrown Roses, some invasive bullshit that's growing out from under my yard barn. I've hacked it all back and i have a growing brushpile in the back yard. What can I loving do with this stuff? City and garbage services don't want it. City-wide chipper service won't take vines because they gum up the chippers. I might be able to burn it, but I really don't have the room for that with our yard to do it safely or without having to re-seed one of the few areas with decent grass. I'm thinking if/when I get my compost-turners, I'll get a big ol' machete and chop the poo poo up into 6" sections, and put it in there. Is that workable? 2) Help. I grew up on farms, and my dad loved to garden, but he wasn't big on flowers or ornamental plants. As such, I'm not really familiar with how to maintain roses, or what to do with shrubs, etc. I've basically been reading online guides for stuff and just kinda hoping that I'm doing it right. It doesn't help that the previous owners seem to have let everything run wild here for about 3 years, so it can be hard to tell exactly what the plan was in some locations. I'm tempted to call up a landscaper or something and just pay them to come out and tell me wtf I even need to know, to give me some kind of understanding of what I have and what maintenance it needs and when. Is that a thing?
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May 31, 2020 20:26
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1.) Wood/vines aren't going to compost very well, especially in large pieces. I'd cut it up/bag it up and send it out with the trash a bit at a time if your city doesn't have any better options. 2.) Pictures would help. You may still have something to work with with aggressive pruning, you may not. Even if you do it may not be what you want. Best to start with some sort of assessment.
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May 31, 2020 20:53
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Hasselblad posted:Sharpening my mower blades is one of my most least favorite things to do. I have a large sharpening file, but can never get a good angle without my hands cramping up in record time. Tried a drill attachment but those work like poo poo. I use a preset carbide sharpener for regular edge maintenance and a rotary tool grinder jig for more major rehab like cleaning up blade nicks. Make sure to check your blade balance afterwards.
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Jun 1, 2020 02:00
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Fanged Lawn Wormy posted:2) Help. I grew up on farms, and my dad loved to garden, but he wasn't big on flowers or ornamental plants. As such, I'm not really familiar with how to maintain roses, or what to do with shrubs, etc. I've basically been reading online guides for stuff and just kinda hoping that I'm doing it right. It doesn't help that the previous owners seem to have let everything run wild here for about 3 years, so it can be hard to tell exactly what the plan was in some locations. I'm tempted to call up a landscaper or something and just pay them to come out and tell me wtf I even need to know, to give me some kind of understanding of what I have and what maintenance it needs and when. Is that a thing? This isn't the most specific advice but I would start with figuring out what you actually like and want to keep and then focus on figuring out how to maintain those things and getting rid of the rest. Just because the previous owners put something in doesn't mean you have to keep it, and life is too short to spend time taking care of poo poo you don't even like. Once you get rid of the crap you don't want to keep it's easier to start figuring out your own plans. Like Motronic said, if there are specific plants or things you're trying to identify I'd definitely post pictures here or in the plant thread. At least around here most places have specific dates seasonally for yard waste pickup which I'm sure would include cut vines or any other kind of plant material you need to get rid of. Wallet fucked around with this message at 15:16 on Jun 1, 2020 |
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Jun 1, 2020 15:12
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Hubis posted:I use a preset carbide sharpener for regular edge maintenance and a rotary tool grinder jig for more major rehab like cleaning up blade nicks. Make sure to check your blade balance afterwards. How well does that carbide sharpener work with mulching blades with the wave in the edge? I have the Dremel accessory, and it's sort of crap where the blade wiggles. This is the blade I'm talking about specifically: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005UAYOAM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 It's hard to see, but the sharp edge curves up as the edge gets closer to the hub. Not sure what to do there. Just not sharpen past that curve?
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Jun 2, 2020 00:07
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Darchangel posted:How well does that carbide sharpener work with mulching blades with the wave in the edge? I have the Dremel accessory, and it's sort of crap where the blade wiggles. You can follow the curve reasonably well with the carbide. Keep in mind that only the sharpness of the actual at-height surface really matters (as that's what will determine the quality of the remaining grass cut). Everything else can just get chopped to hell as it's mulched.
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Jun 2, 2020 02:33
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This might be the wrong thread, but I get my lawn treated. Apparently they did the grub stuff today, do I need to water now, or can i wait until tomorrow when it's supposed to rain?
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Jun 2, 2020 21:52
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Sir DonkeyPunch posted:This might be the wrong thread, but I get my lawn treated. Dry treatment I assume. Should be just fine to wait for rain.
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Jun 2, 2020 23:14
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Motronic posted:Dry treatment I assume. Should be just fine to wait for rain. Yes, dry. Thanks!
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Jun 3, 2020 00:26
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Sir DonkeyPunch posted:This might be the wrong thread, but I get my lawn treated. How much rain is expected, and how sloped is your lawn? If it's less than 1" you should be fine, my only concern would be a heavy downpour event washing some of the application out.
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Jun 3, 2020 14:49
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Hubis posted:You can follow the curve reasonably well with the carbide. Keep in mind that only the sharpness of the actual at-height surface really matters (as that's what will determine the quality of the remaining grass cut). Everything else can just get chopped to hell as it's mulched. Ok, thanks. That’s exactly what I needed to know.
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Jun 3, 2020 22:09
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OK, so Imma post all the yard bullshit I have decent photos of. First, the stuff that hasn't been too bad:  The greenery here was a potted flower of some kind had been put on the ground outside the fence there. It slowly spread and grew all over the retaining wall. There is also a couple red oak saplings there that have been cut off a few times but haven't given up yet. My wife cleared it all out, and I'm waiting for it to re-grow a bit to see what isn't dead. We'll probably have to go at this a bit with the shovel and some concentrated herbicide on some fresh cuts of the saplings.   Here is me cutting back the overgrown wintercreeper. It was way spread out on the back of the retaining wall, too. I cleared all that out a couple weeks ago, finished the front side today. I'm not 100% sure I want to keep the vines at all. It seems to grow aggressively. I think that tall plant is goldenrod. If it is, I may try and get more and just plant it all along that wall.  Some of the landscaping around the front of the yard barn. I like the hostas. There's a lot of them around the property. I'll need to weed some of this. You can also see some of the great sapling/viney bullshit that's growing out from under the barn. Then you can look at...  Back of the yardbarn! This is better than it was. I went through here with some big ol' pruners and cut saplings and vines out. It's all springing back now though. I recently sprayed some roundup/24D mixture on this and it is now wilting. This weekend I'm going to cut them again and apply concentrated herbicide on the cuts. I may try and get all the way back through here too. My goal is to kill it all so you can walk the whole path behind the barns... I'll probably put down some rock or something there to help discourage growth.   This is the front landscaping. Wife is going to weed it this weekend. Thinking I may try Clethodim to kill that grass. I think the plants in front are Lillyturf. The back appears to mostly be Boxwood. Some of it has browning leaves. Not sure what to do about that. The flowering one there is an azaela, I think. Last one on the left is a rose bush. It bloomed nicely a few weeks ago, put I've pruned it back after the flowers were done. I'm not 100% sure the shape is great there, but I don't want to cut it back too far yet. Now, about that lillyturf:  One of them has a sapling trying to grow out by it. Most of them have some kind of fuckin' woody bullshit hidden inside... And it isn't dead. I've cut it back a couple times, and I can tell the previous owners did too. I'd like to kill that, but I'm guessing whatever I do will take the lillyturf with it.  This is the big bastard rose bush on the other side. I again did some amateur pruning after it was done blooming.   My goal in pruning was to remove only the rose hips in the areas I liked. If I found a cane branch that was bigger than it's source cane, I'd cut that. I tried to remove tangly branches as well while keeping the shape. I have no idea what I'm doing. I'd like to keep this bush but it's getting really tall. I'd like to cut it back to be more compact but I don't want to over-do it. So that's the majority of it. I'd really like to hear suggestions on dealing with the growths that are in the lillyturf, and how to deal with the roses. I'm not super-fond of the azealeas, as one deadheaded and it still has these brown gross petal mess all over that would be a pain to clean off. I've found I actually really like doing the yard work. I'd just like this all to end with a set of plants that I can take care of, but I don't *HAVE* to go and do some bullshit every single weekend.
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Jun 4, 2020 01:34
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You can cut the woody thing coming out of the liriope/lily turf and IMMEDIATELY! paint the cut end with undiluted roundup/glyphosate and it should kill the woody thing and not the liriope. Your roses all look like Knockouts, and the thing you think and azalea is.
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Jun 4, 2020 02:08
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Fanged Lawn Wormy posted:OK, so Imma post all the yard bullshit I have decent photos of. The ivy just needs to be trimmed back to the top of your EP Henry/reconstituted stone. Not my preference in looks, but you can make it tidy. Cut down anything that isn't ivy, trim anything that isn't on top and growing out of the sides. You can also try glyphosate on the face of that where the ivy is coming out but good luck. It's ivy so it will take persistence and multiple applications. Fanged Lawn Wormy posted:The greenery here was a potted flower of some kind had been put on the ground outside the fence there. It slowly spread and grew all over the retaining wall. There is also a couple red oak saplings there that have been cut off a few times but haven't given up yet. My wife cleared it all out, and I'm waiting for it to re-grow a bit to see what isn't dead. We'll probably have to go at this a bit with the shovel and some concentrated herbicide on some fresh cuts of the saplings. You need to trim a hell of a lot more, or just nuke it. Same thing as before, you can make this tidy and see what you think of it. I'd be going in with a string trimmer and/or hedge clippers. This is time to shock and awe. Fanged Lawn Wormy posted:I'm not 100% sure I want to keep the vines at all. It seems to grow aggressively. I think that tall plant is goldenrod. If it is, I may try and get more and just plant it all along that wall. Glad you like hosta, because it's basically unkillable and only need maintenance every year or two (splitting it so it doesn't end up with a big hollow center and/or taking over your entire property slowly but surely)but the viney poo poo.....that's a maintenance nightmare. You have the right idea with glyphosate/2,4-D on cuts. Fanged Lawn Wormy posted:
Your green balls need trimming. Aggressively. If you don't take off at least 20% every season they will get very woody and have holes in them. If you like them the size they are, do that. Depending on how long they've been there that may be a thing you can keep on doing successfully. But those are stupid landscape bushes that are on dwarf rootstock or whatever and they only last for so long before there is no way to not make them look like poo poo at that size. Fortunately that timeline is like a decade and a half. See how thick/woody they are inside of the leaves for a hint at their expected lifespan at that size. Fanged Lawn Wormy posted:
Yeah, so here's the thing. If you trim a rose bush before it blooms early int he season, just for MAINTENANCE to keep it the same size you are typically taking off 2/3 of it. I do this with a gas hedge trimmer. Because an established rose bush don't give a poo poo. At least if it's both established and native. I'm not specialty rose grower, and I know that's a thing, but I have a lot of natives and I treat them that way and they just come back and spite me. If you're trying to grow some rose bush that's just slightly out of your climate you may need to treat it real nice and do proper trimming, etc, but......no, this is not my experience for established native species. Hell, I have enough trouble just keeping up with the runners that are trying to shoot up a couple feet from the established ones. So I don't know what that bus is compared to your climate, but I bet you could literally cut it to the ground right now and have something 1/4 of it's size show back up in the spring because it looks like it's pretty native/well adapted for where you are. FYI, I have a rose bush that is at my old house. I'm treating it nice because it's part of my grandmothers from the house I grew up in. I need to move at least some of it to my new house. My idea of "nice" is soaking it in vitamin B1 a couple days before I wrap it in a moving blanket, dig it out and throw it into a hole at my new place. And water it down/soak it with some more B1 fertilizer. I have no doubt that the fertilizer bit is completely unnecessary, but I almost feel bad since it's already in boom and I got to it late so I'm going the extra......inch?
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Jun 4, 2020 02:44
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Wow thanks for the responses! I think the plan right now is this: 1) Keep nuking out the ivy on the far end of the driveway. There's some deadspace there and we've planted some tomatoes and herbs for this year. I think I may turn all of it into herb garden once it is under control. 2) Keep the wintercreeper by the tree under control, and let it be on the walls for the summer. Come Fall, I'll do another big cut to get it off of the area in front of the driveway, and off the walls, keeping it just around the base of the tree. Next spring, we'll put something else there. 3)Go nuclear behind the barn this weekend. very much looking forward to this, as doing the first part was very rewarding already. 4) Trim The Balls, Go at the stuff in the lillyturf. Get rid of balls some day 5) Not sure with the roses. I'm going to do a pace around it this weekend and think about trimming it further. I'll probably go and do a 2/3's cut early next year to try and get it back into shape, but I don't want to have a pile of sticks right now, I'd rather take the leaves. Thanks for putting me at ease about killing them - I'd read a dozen articles saying they are hard to kill, but your descriptions here drive the point home. I think I'll have to pick up a hedge trimmer. I've actually invested in the Ryobi Lithium-Ion system lately. I had the string trimmer to mow the little stamp of grass we had at our last house, and I bought the mower when we moved to this house, and they're both great. I think the trimmer would do OK for the hedges and vines, but I'm guessing I'd need gas for the chunky roses. I've got the gloves, so I'd be fine with doing those by hand.
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Jun 4, 2020 03:21
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Motronic posted:FYI, I have a rose bush that is at my old house. I'm treating it nice because it's part of my grandmothers from the house I grew up in. I need to move at least some of it to my new house. My idea of "nice" is soaking it in vitamin B1 a couple days before I wrap it in a moving blanket, dig it out and throw it into a hole at my new place. And water it down/soak it with some more B1 fertilizer. I have no doubt that the fertilizer bit is completely unnecessary, but I almost feel bad since it's already in boom and I got to it late so I'm going the extra......inch? I’m sure you’re already aware but if you have a smaller space or want to spread it out more, you can always take cuttings, strip them of their leaves, soak them in water for 24 hours, root hormones and then put them in really moist soil. At least that way you won’t have to dig up the whole thing that way.
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Jun 4, 2020 05:54
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Fanged Lawn Wormy posted:I think I'll have to pick up a hedge trimmer. I've actually invested in the Ryobi Lithium-Ion system lately. I had the string trimmer to mow the little stamp of grass we had at our last house, and I bought the mower when we moved to this house, and they're both great. I think the trimmer would do OK for the hedges and vines, but I'm guessing I'd need gas for the chunky roses. I've got the gloves, so I'd be fine with doing those by hand. I'm sure that trimmer will do almost everything, but you're right, not the roses. You can go get yourself a $25 pair of old school manual hedge trimmers (the kind that look like big scissors) and spend half an hour a year per bush with it. I wouldn't buy and maintain a separate gas trimmer just for that. I've got a lot more to trim including hydrangea and forsythia which just laugh at even electric corded trimmers. Solkanar512 posted:I’m sure you’re already aware but if you have a smaller space or want to spread it out more, you can always take cuttings, strip them of their leaves, soak them in water for 24 hours, root hormones and then put them in really moist soil. I'm looking at a bit more instant gratification for the back of one large bed near the front of my driveway. But yeah, I've done exactly what you suggest to give other people parts of this bush. I've also harvested a bunch of it's runners and put them around the new place. I just want to go get the big one now.
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Jun 4, 2020 16:10
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Recommended edger? I love my weedeater but I'm tired of turning it on its side and the one I have now doesn't have an edging attachment. Not that it matters because the last edging attachment I got was horrendous. So I'd like a dedicated edger. Preferably electric. I edge my driveway, path from driveway to porch and the street. Unfortunately the street has no curb and they pave it like poo poo so the asphalt edge is rough and raggedy. My Lowe's had the 60V Craftsman leaf blower and weedeater both on sale for $100/each and I loving love them. But it looks like there's no 60v Craftsman Edger as far as I can see.
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Jun 10, 2020 03:55
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The only time I've ever used an actual edger as a landscaper was for remedial work. Like first time out at a derelict property. What is the problem you are having with using a string trimmer to edge? Maybe you just need to learn the technique.
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Jun 10, 2020 04:05
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Motronic posted:The only time I've ever used an actual edger as a landscaper was for remedial work. Like first time out at a derelict property. No I've been doing it for years so I have the technique down. But I have this really lovely aggregate for the driveway and walking path and the road as I mentioned is really ragged asphalt and with how quickly my grass can get over it... it means just destroying my string when I edge. I just loving blow through it and it's annoying as hell.
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Jun 10, 2020 04:16
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Sounds like a landscaping problem rather than a tool problem, you'll likely destroy an edger on loose aggregate/asphalt so you'll have to fix the problem whatever you buy.
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Jun 10, 2020 09:23
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cakesmith handyman posted:Sounds like a landscaping problem rather than a tool problem, you'll likely destroy an edger on loose aggregate/asphalt so you'll have to fix the problem whatever you buy. Yep. It's either that or "edge" with glypohsate and 2,4-D.
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Jun 10, 2020 16:02
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BonoMan posted:No I've been doing it for years so I have the technique down. But I have this really lovely aggregate for the driveway and walking path and the road as I mentioned is really ragged asphalt and with how quickly my grass can get over it... it means just destroying my string when I edge. I just loving blow through it and it's annoying as hell. So I respectfully disagree with Motronic on the value of a blade edger, but I kind of agree that raged aggregate is really the opposite of where an edger would shine. If you are blowing through string, you might want to try running at only half throttle (if it's adjustable) -- enough to still cut through the grass, but not so much that it immediately shreds itself when it hits hardscape. Another option to consider is a weed torch. Run your trimmer normally (horizontally) and scalp down the overgrown areas, then come through with the torch and burn out anything popping up through the jagged parts. What an edger is good for is establishing a nice, clean line and trenching a small gap so that your roots air-prune rather than spreading onto the adjacent surface. With a trimmer you can cut back the overgrowth just fine, but a blade will actually prevent the overgrowth as well (or at least restrict it to the top growth). They are great for a once/twice a month maintenance pass around your hardscape, and for establishing/maintaining bed edges. You can use a trimmer to clean these areas up but they aren't doing the same thing an edger does. In practice I use both -- edger at the beginning of the season and periodically to maintain a defined edge, and trimmer every week or two in order to give the grass a "haircut" around said edge.
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Jun 10, 2020 16:35
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Hubis posted:at an edger is good for is establishing a nice, clean line and trenching a small gap so that your roots air-prune rather than spreading onto the adjacent surface. With a trimmer you can cut back the overgrowth just fine, but a blade will actually prevent the overgrowth as well (or at least restrict it to the top growth). They are great for a once/twice a month maintenance pass around your hardscape, and for establishing/maintaining bed edges. You can use a trimmer to clean these areas up but they aren't doing the same thing an edger does. In practice I use both -- edger at the beginning of the season and periodically to maintain a defined edge, and trimmer every week or two in order to give the grass a "haircut" around said edge. I totally agree with the reasoning behind this, I just don't need an edger at the beginning of the season or for periodic maintenance because once it's been edged I'm keeping the air gap with the string trimmer. Being able to do that so that you aren't bringing out an additional tool several times a year is really landscaper 101 type stuff. If at your home you don't mind having the extra tool so that you don't have to be as aggressive and timely with a string trimmer I get it - it's not a fun job.
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Jun 10, 2020 16:57
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Ha I was just coming in to say both "it's really more of a convenience thing" and " actually using it near the asphalt is probably just going to ruin it." I really more than anything want a clean edge at the road. I hate the way the growth so quickly spreads out to the road (centipede). It looks so trashy. Now on the plus side literally everyone's yard does it on our street because if how poor a job they did paving it. I should have gone through and carved out a straight edge while the asphalt was still soft.
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Jun 10, 2020 17:22
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