Landscaping: Call your county extension service. No really, do it.

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Hobbies, Crafts, & Houses > Landscaping: Call your county extension service. No really, do it.

Solkanar512: Dec 28, 2006; by the sex ghost

Anyone here have any experience with drain fields? I have a square one (25'x25') in my backyard. I'm curious about a few things.

1. Is it correct that I have to worry about where the lines run, and some buffer away from them, rather than the whole square?
2. I really really really really really want to get rid of the sod, what sorts of things can I put in that square instead? I live in the PNW.
3. Given that only my wife and I live in the house and that's all it's going to be, would it logical/cost efficient/even legal to consider changing the layout of the field to make it affect a smaller area?

Also, I have a couple of long term landscape projects - a japanese maple grove*, fruit trees in the front yard and raised veggie beds. Is this a good place to talk about the first two?

# ¿ Nov 5, 2019 21:30

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# ¿ May 15, 2024 19:04

Solkanar512: Dec 28, 2006; by the sex ghost

I hope this isn't too offtopic, but this is a rather interesting take on landscaping.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvtqKMxZ95s

# ¿ Nov 11, 2019 16:44

Solkanar512: Dec 28, 2006; by the sex ghost

DaveSauce posted:

This thread still alive?

Posted this question in another thread, then finally found this one.

We just had a bunch of landscaping done and it looks great, except we now have some drainage issues:

How bad is this? Obviously they intended for this to be the drainage path, but it doesn't look like it's working out so well. Granted, we had a TON of rain yesterday in a short amount of time, but I want to make sure this isn't going to wreck everything. This sort of rainfall happens at least 1-2 times per year.

As an aside, most of that was previously grass, but was landscaped over because surface tree roots made it nearly impossible to maintain. It's always had SOME drainage problems, but never this bad.

edit: also the rock is steep, but not as steep as the picture makes it seem (especially closer to the top where the water is pooling). The mulched bit by the corner of the house is WAY steeper than the rocks.

edit again: also it's a very simply build. It's just 1 layer of rock on top of a plastic weave layer. Don't know exactly what it is, but it's different from the typical fabric mesh weedblock.

You might want to look into turning some of that area into a rain garden. If my suspicions are correct that you�re in the PNW, the various county surface water management sites have a lot info about these.

More of a general thread question here: what�s the delineation between this thread and the general gardening thread? Was I supposed to post my tree planting and lawn destruction escapes here instead of the gardening thread?

Edit:

Jaxyon posted:

Does anyone have some guidance or ideas on getting a small backyard landscaped?

Mine is about 25 x 30 so fairly tiny, which I think is going to make a lot of landscape designers pass.

I'm mostly looking for a private place to relax and for a dog or two to play in.

Are you looking for ideas on what to do, or are you more concerned about finding folks to do the work? If it�s the former, Better Homes and Gardens has tons of sample landscaping plans for various sizes and types of yards, and I think This Old House has some stuff as well.

Solkanar512 fucked around with this message at 23:42 on Feb 7, 2020

# ¿ Feb 7, 2020 23:40

Solkanar512: Dec 28, 2006; by the sex ghost

Motronic posted:

Did some satisfying landscaping at the new place over the weekend. It involved a chain:

And now I'm rid of that ridiculous abortion of a weeping thing grafted onto who knows what kind of dwarf rootstock. Typical lovely landscaping aesthetic from the early 2000s.

Oh yeah, I replaced it with a bunch of elephant hosta all over that bed, and left space for something evergreen to make it a 3/4 season look. Haven't figure that part out, but I wanted that ugly rear end thing gone.

The picture is fuzzy but that looks like a poorly growing Japanese maple, likely a Crimson Queen. The trees are generally small to begin with, so that root stock is for propagation rather than for dwarfing.

By the way, the tree is likely valued in the low thousands due to their slow growth.

Solkanar512 fucked around with this message at 17:49 on Apr 27, 2020

# ¿ Apr 27, 2020 17:41

Solkanar512: Dec 28, 2006; by the sex ghost

mastershakeman posted:

is this the lawn thread. please help me my lawn is dying. i'm in chicago so probably too late to even plant more grass but I did that last year and it didn't do poo poo

3 trees (big, medium, small), the side yard that has full sunlight to the east and south is constantly overgrown, the front yard (faces due south, plenty of light too ) is just completely freaking dead and the medium tree in it has roots that are pulling out of the ground more every year

where the heck do I read up on what to do I'm so clueless and I fear the answer is 'buy 40x50lb bags of dirt and dump them on the roots

One person�s dead lawn is another person�s new flowerbed. But if you go that route you�re likely going to need those bags of dirt.

# ¿ May 13, 2020 22:36

Solkanar512: Dec 28, 2006; by the sex ghost

Motronic posted:

Oh if you have a reel mower don't bother with something new. That should be just fine if it's in good shape (once your lawn is a lawn again).

Don't worry about what's growing where now. You just need to get it all out/dead to see what you're working with. If it's reasonably flat and decent all you will need is a rake, grass seed and patience - then the reel mower. You can deal with the rest/add beds/whatever later. This doesn't have to be done all at once and it shouldn't take a lot of stuff.

This is really good advice, but especially the part about �this doesn�t have to be done all at once�. And Even if you have a mower lined up, I�ve had great luck with electric mowers/trimmers and whatnot and they�re great. There�s less maintenance, there less noise and they even make power inverters so you can use those batteries for other outdoor stuff. I�m on my second year of tearing up my lawn for flower beds and whatnot and it�s overwhelming if you try to do everything at once.

# ¿ May 15, 2020 17:00

Solkanar512: Dec 28, 2006; by the sex ghost

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.

# ¿ Jun 4, 2020 05:54

Solkanar512: Dec 28, 2006; by the sex ghost

shortspecialbus posted:

Tree question:

A couple years ago, I transplanted a baby maple tree of some variety (I thought it was a red maple as we have one in the backyard, but it's looking awfully green) that started growing through a gap in the weed barrier in the garden into the front yard. The root system was a bit odd, but I did the best I could with it, and it seems to be doing OK. The problem is it's starting to grow like a bush:

It's kind of hard to tell from the photo, but there's one V branch right next to the bottom that's kind of big, and a couple small ones as well. I believe the correct fix for this is just to cut those off as well as anything else too low, but I'm not sure on a couple things:

1.) When is the best time to do that? Now? After it loses its leaves? Beginning of spring?
2.) How far down should I cut branches off (assuming that's the correct fix?)

Anything else?

Don�t cut off more than a third at any one time.

As far as timing, here in the PNW we prune maples in August or September so there�s enough time before winter for the cuts to heal over. So cut a few, wait for next year, cut a few more and so on.

What general region are you in?

# ¿ Jun 12, 2020 08:54

Solkanar512: Dec 28, 2006; by the sex ghost

shortspecialbus posted:

Wisconsin. So cut off that bottom V maybe in August since it's the worst offender?

Yeah, I think that�s reasonable.

# ¿ Jun 12, 2020 15:28

Solkanar512: Dec 28, 2006; by the sex ghost

Hubis posted:

Yeah the main thing with those is avoiding co-dominant leaders.

Is this for trees in general? I�m finding that a lot of my Japanese maples have been pruned at the nursery such that the main leader is cut off (likely for another graft) down to the next set of side branches, which then become co-dominate leaders. The shapes of the trees are just fine but it seems like a waste to just cut it off like that.

Here�s an example of Acer palmatum �Seiryu�.

Solkanar512 fucked around with this message at 20:23 on Jun 24, 2020

# ¿ Jun 24, 2020 20:21

Solkanar512: Dec 28, 2006; by the sex ghost

Inzombiac posted:

So I bought a house and genuinely do not give a poo poo about grass. I have a touch over a quarter acre in the city and would like to replace at least the back yard with some good pollenators.

Preferably something that looks okay and pretty easy to walk through.

I'm also contending with ivy and blackberry bushes at the edges of the property but they're not an issue yet.

I live in the PNW and would like a rec for stuff I can plant that'll make bees as happy as possible.

I�m in the PNW as well and frankly as long as it flowers you�re going to get tons of bees. Are you thinking perennials, annuals or what? Any sorts of plants you or any significant others of yours happen to like?

As far as perennials go you have classics here are roses, rhododendrons/related species and dahlias. Annuals, well pretty much anything you want.

And yeah, gently caress lawns!

# ¿ Jun 28, 2020 02:59

Solkanar512: Dec 28, 2006; by the sex ghost

Rhyno posted:

HD and Ryobi are in bed pretty tighy these days so they may be aligning to make that their "official" brand.

I had always thought that Ryobi *was* their in house brand, interesting.

# ¿ Jul 22, 2020 19:22

Solkanar512: Dec 28, 2006; by the sex ghost

Motronic posted:

Be careful with that. It's literally mining waste, therefore not subject to hazmat rules. And yes, it contains arsenic and lead.

# ¿ Jul 27, 2020 01:46

Solkanar512: Dec 28, 2006; by the sex ghost

Bloody posted:

I live in the greater seattle area. how do I get rid of all of these dang blackberries and ivy. I have a kind of unimpressive corded weedwhacker should I just get something beefier and go hog wild

also if this doesn't count as landscaping just holler

Here's the King County Noxious Weed site, they've got some great hints on this issue. Glyphosate is part of it, but you're going to have to do it multiple times to exhaust the roots and ensure that all the canes are disposed of in a manner such that they don't touch soil until their completely dried out.

Question - I'm having a new fence put in, with standard 8' sections. I'd like to mount trellises post to post, so that every other section has one. Where do I find something like this? What sort of things should I keep in mind to ensure I don't damage the fence itself and have something nice and long lasting? EDIT: These trellises would cover most of the 8'x6' panel, not the type of trellises you put on top of the fence.

I'm thinking of growing stuff like sweet peas or nasturtiums and the like out of containers at the base of the fence, so nothing too crazy.

Solkanar512 fucked around with this message at 02:55 on Feb 24, 2021

# ¿ Feb 24, 2021 02:34

Solkanar512: Dec 28, 2006; by the sex ghost

Kaiser Schnitzel posted:

Post good pictures of the leaves and bark and we can ID the species.

Moving them can be an option which may or may not be a)economical or b) successful. To help make it successful, the trees will need pretty good care for a year or two afterwards (watering, mostly), and they probably won't grow much at all in that time as they recover from being transplanted.

Depending on species, with good soil and aggressive fertilization/watering, you could grow a $30 3-gallon tree up to that size in ~5 years around here, and it will probably be a healthier, happier tree long-term. I know an arborist here who makes alot of money moving fairly large trees and says if you plant a 10 gallon ~1.5" caliper tree and a 3" caliper dug tree, in 10 years you won't be able to tell the difference because the bigger tree gets slowed down so much more by transplant shock. But you can get a big tree, where you want it, Tomorrow, and that's worth a lot.

This reminds me that I need to get some of my (formerly) small japanese maples out of pots and into the ground once they go dormant.

# ¿ Oct 13, 2021 21:39

Solkanar512: Dec 28, 2006; by the sex ghost

The other thing to remember about garden planning is that you�re talking about a multi-year project. Pace yourself! So sure, have a general idea of what you want to do and see but if you treat this as some sort of min-maxing exercise you�re going to stress out over something that�s supposed to be fun and you�re going to burn out. Not to mention spend a ton of money.

So year one or so, figure out what you have, and maybe put in a few trees. Look at your local nurseries and find the ones with a large variety of the sorts of things you like (yes, I have a place where I get 90% of my Acer palmatum/shirasawanum/circinatum), has knowledgeable staff and maybe even has classes.

Start learning when your frost dates are and what your local microclimate is like. Maybe do some casual soil testing so you know what to look out for. Check out the master gardening programs from your local agricultural schools.

Then, start filling in. Start clearing out and extending beds. Find poo poo you like, be willing to wander around a nursery or seed website and discover some new poo poo. You aren�t going to know everything that�s available if you sit down to make a hard plan before the first hole is dug. I would have never discovered dahlias or all sorts of other fun poo poo had I not been willing to just look around.

Each year afterwards, build on what you�ve learned, what worked, replace what didn�t and keep going. I�ve been at my house three years now and each year the results are so much better than the previous year.

# ¿ Oct 26, 2021 06:41

Solkanar512: Dec 28, 2006; by the sex ghost

Motronic posted:

Get a wider push mower and a mask. There's no real trick here.....it's gonna suck, but that's how it goes.

Oh wait.....there is a trick now.....one of the Husqvarna robot mowers. They look pretty awesome.

And longer term, get in touch with your county ag extension and figure out appropriate natives you can plant there that will be maintenance free.

Those robots look amazing, gently caress mowing the lawn.

# ¿ Oct 28, 2021 15:07

Solkanar512: Dec 28, 2006; by the sex ghost

Motronic posted:

I just hope I saved it. I lost the bottom two, but cut them back far enough out that they may sprout again. The trimming was......difficult, because the two stems that make it looks so nice are really not even at all due to varying light levels. I went heavy on the hardier side but not as heavy as I'd like to. I think this is a 2-3 year fix to even them out if it takes.

Weaker side is towards more hours of sun. So that might help.

Great save!

I didn't see it mentioned here so you might already have done so but right now is a great time to add some slow acting fertilizer (Treetone or similar) to help get things going. In my experience you can also hit it a second time at the start of summer as well.

# ¿ Apr 21, 2022 22:04

Solkanar512: Dec 28, 2006; by the sex ghost

Queen Victorian posted:

2) Any suggestions for/experiences with Siberian squill containment? It was here when we bought the house, mostly in the back flowerbed and a corner of the lawn, but in the last couple years it's gotten loving everywhere. We think what happened is that a couple springs ago we mowed it after the seed pods had opened and spewed seeds in all directions. Basically, I want to keep it more or less confined to the back lawn and out of the flowerbeds.

I am not interested in eradication because it is just too dang pretty (also probably impossible without also killing a bunch of stuff I don't want to kill):

What general area and USDA zone do you live in? I'm in PNW/8b and I've wanted my front yard to look like that every spring and I'd love some tips on getting Squill to spread a bit more. I know if my area it's not invasive, just to be clear.

# ¿ Apr 25, 2022 23:05

Solkanar512: Dec 28, 2006; by the sex ghost

Queen Victorian posted:

I'm in SW PA/6b. From what I've read, it's quite hardy (up to zone 2 or something crazy), drought tolerant, and not picky about soil or anything. It does need a period of cold in order to bloom, but not sure how cold. That'd be something to get the specifics on - if your area gets cold enough for it.

If you want a carpet of flowers, probably easier to start from seed (because planting a buttload of tiny little bulbs does not seem like a good time).

Now I'm wondering if we mowed to early... I'm seeing a recommendation to wait six weeks until after they've finishing blooming to mow down, but we've only waited like two . But that long after they bloom the leaves die and flop over and it's a massive pain in the rear end AND by that time they've dropped more seeds everywhere. Also they seem to be indestructible so I'm not terribly worried, but I guess we'll know next spring.

I wonder if my lawn is too thick and is inhibiting the spread of the squill.

Does the squill need a long period of time under a certain temp, or just a hard chill in general?

# ¿ Apr 26, 2022 01:35

Solkanar512: Dec 28, 2006; by the sex ghost

My Worx automatic lawnmower just arrived, suck it lawns.

# ¿ Jun 19, 2022 18:39

Solkanar512: Dec 28, 2006; by the sex ghost

So I recently splurged and bought a Worx Landroid for my lawn. After a week or so of loving around with the boundary wire (and maybe another day or two to fine tune the clearance with the fence and hotbed), it�s amazing. It�s quiet, the software is great, and it has plenty of different levels of automation depending how much time you want to spend scheduling it.

I don�t have to mow my lawn anymore. Sure, I accidentally mowed on its lowest setting and now the backyard looks like a dead golf course, but gently caress grass and I didn�t do any work. I have a drain field in the back yard, so the grass grows really unevenly and I have to otherwise mow it frequently.

It just does it for me. I still have to trim from time to time, but that's fine. It�s not the smartest thing out there, but it works and has a very active modification community as well. Even the customer service is great - I had a wheel come off for a dumb reason, and they emails me an assembly diagram so I could ensure I repaired it properly. Who does that?

Anyway, if you�ve ever been curious about having a lawn roomba, let me know.

My cat being very concerned about the new, orange predator in his back yard.

Solkanar512 fucked around with this message at 15:15 on Jul 21, 2022

# ¿ Jul 21, 2022 07:47

Solkanar512: Dec 28, 2006; by the sex ghost

Comrade Gritty posted:

This seems like a perfect use case for some of the robotic mowers... but I have no real experience with them to know how good they actually are? I'm not really super price sensitive here, it's replacing a service that's currently costing me about $8k/year (tried a more expensive one this year to see if they were any better) and it looks like the most expensive of these is something like $5k-$6k in cost.

To make things more complicated, part of my lawn is a pretty steep hill but I'm not actually sure what the degrees is on it's incline and my total property size is 1.5 acres, but of course my driveway and house take up some part of that. I also have a "flagstaff" lot, so while most of my lawn is bordered by trees/woods, the "staff" portion is bordered by my neighbors property.

Does anyone have any experience with these to know if they'd do a good job in this use case or anything to know before I pull the trigger on one?

Some pictures of the land in question:

I have a robotic lawn mower, and it's the loving best thing I've ever bought behind wedding rings for my wife. Your lawn looks like a great use case, and you may wish to consider getting multiple smaller ones rather than a single larger one. My big issue with my back yard is that I'm on a septic system, so the lawn grows very unevenly. This solves the problem nicely. Incredibly quiet, too!

I personally have a Worx Landroid myself, it has a ton of support, 3rd party mods and a decent Reddit. Customer support is very open about allowing owners to fix easy poo poo (I was actually sent assembly drawings over email!) rather than deal with unneeded returns and expensive labor. I have the midrange model; once I added third party wheel enhancements, it turns a 45 minute charge into 2.5-3 hours of mowing. The first time you're going to see a really weird mowing pattern, but it works itself out over time and looks great. Setting up the boundary wire is a pain in the rear end, so mow/edge down those areas before installation. After a month or two you won't see it anymore.

it If you can split your lawn into three sections, three of the WR155 models would cost you around $4k. Throw in $150+shipping for 3rd party wheel enhancements and you're good to go. If the hillside is too steep, you can cheat it by nailing down chicken wire. This will vanish into the grass, but will give the mower something to grab on to.

The phone app will handle multiple landroids just fine as well.

Does this sound like it could work for you?

devmd01 posted:

The trees from the town fall sale need to get here, I�m ready. Carefully excavated the sod and used it to fill in dead spots throughout the yard. Hopefully the swale will no longer be a muddy mess in the spring!

gently caress yeah, nothing like trading lawn for real plants, right? I don't know what was in that green bag, but the grass has likely taken a ton of nitrogen out of the soil so make sure to account for that. What kind of trees are you planting?

# ¿ Sep 29, 2022 17:47

Solkanar512: Dec 28, 2006; by the sex ghost

BIG-DICK-BUTT-gently caress posted:

Anybody have experience with used railroad ties? They're available for cheap by me, and I was thinking about using them for some coarse landscaping. Is creosote really that nasty or can I get away with using gloves + mask when cutting them?

Oh man, the previous owners of my house made a huge raised bed and I can't wait to get that poo poo out of here. It's nasty, it's likely going to break down quickly and a lot of places won't take it.

# ¿ Oct 11, 2022 17:28

Solkanar512: Dec 28, 2006; by the sex ghost

Kaiser Schnitzel posted:

Hori Hori knives the are loving best gardening tools.

Seconding this, they're amazing.

So is Color Blends, especially if you have a few hundred $ and a lot of room.

# ¿ Oct 14, 2022 19:39

Solkanar512: Dec 28, 2006; by the sex ghost

Anyone have any good places to learn about principles of landscape design? While I have seen some examples from Monty Don, I mostly just running into bros designing lovely outdoor kitchens or realtors screaming about CURB APPEAL.

# ¿ Feb 19, 2023 00:10

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# ¿ May 15, 2024 19:04

Solkanar512: Dec 28, 2006; by the sex ghost

Great advice, thanks!

# ¿ Feb 21, 2023 07:08

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Hobbies, Crafts, & Houses > Landscaping: Call your county extension service. No really, do it.