Landscaping Projects

[TnRiver46]

15 minutes ago, casts_by_fly said:

 

Man, twelve days of carrying a bucket up and down that hill.  Must have felt like sisyphus.

 

looks good!

Hahahah twelve days my foot! More like 30 minutes here and there, wore me slap out . That bucket is handy but I hate it now 😂 

 

I used it to fill up mom’s garden box too but I could drive near it. My house is too steep for any driving except on the driveway 

[Swamp Girl]

I garden like I fish: full bore hardcore. 

 

It's my third summer of building my current garden. It has three raised mounds, a Japanese garden, five raised beds for fruits and veggies, a driveway lined with Paperbark maples, a fire pit, four garden beds abutting the house, and other smaller features. It's still under construction, so I'm not taking many photos yet. I also add composted manure to the lawn twice a year. Maine soil is so infertile and in these uncertain times, I want my soil to be fertile if I ever have to produce more of my own food one day. Yesterday, I planted some black raspberries and mid-bush blueberries. I'll plant asparagus next week.

 

What I love most about this garden is its winter beauty. It's easy to plant a garden that looks great in the summer, but my garden looks great in the winter too. For example, one raised mound is a massing of Red twig dogwoods. Another is Yellow twig dogwoods. The stems of both dogwoods are at their brightest in the winter and both are backdropped by Green giant thujas to make the red and yellow really pop. My Paperbark maples have exfoliating bark, so they're prettiest in the winter too. And so on. And I've sited my plants so that you look out the windows, the windows frame my best plants. 

[TnRiver46]

Coming along, might fill in some gaps with okra 

[gim]

On 5/18/2024 at 7:51 AM, TnRiver46 said:

Coming along

Do you ever have to worry about critters eating stuff outta there? Mine has 4 foot high fencing to keep the deer and rabbits out. They are like savages here.

[A-Jay]

39 minutes ago, gimruis said:

Do you ever have to worry about critters eating stuff outta there? Mine has 4 foot high fencing to keep the deer and rabbits out. They are like savages here.

Yup ~ Here to.

I'd have a lovely box of dirt after the first night.

😎

A-Jay

[TnRiver46]

11 hours ago, gimruis said:

Do you ever have to worry about critters eating stuff outta there? Mine has 4 foot high fencing to keep the deer and rabbits out. They are like savages here.

Surprisingly no, although I have seen a deer at the neighbors. We built raised beds inside the dog fence four years ago, but Bo kept jumping in there and moving all the dirt.

[Jar11591]

Patio and garden are looking good for a little party next Saturday. 

[TnRiver46]

On 5/19/2024 at 6:58 PM, gimruis said:

Do you ever have to worry about critters eating stuff outta there? Mine has 4 foot high fencing to keep the deer and rabbits out. They are like savages here.

I saw a rabbit right outside the garden box at moms, every thing inside still lush. I told her about it and she said she’s seen tons of bunnies and an adult rabbit frequently, I don’t think they can jump in and back out. We saw rabbits at my old job that would get stuck in enclosures that you would think they could easily jump out of. The deer are a different story but they don’t walk into yards much here, they probably know they would end up on a grill . In west Knoxville they  tapdance all thru everyone’s yard and eat their landscaping down to the ground 😂 

[gim]

1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said:

The deer are a different story but they don’t walk into yards much here, they probably know they would end up on a grill .

When I left this morning at 5 am to go fishing there were 4 deer laying in my back yard. I could make out their outlines in the darkness. They are safe here in the suburbs from hunters. The only thing that might take one out is a car.

[A-Jay]

The secret to a consitenty healthy lawn.

 

Application timing is critical.

A-Jay

 

[Jar11591]

Got a grub problem in my garden. I noticed my carrots were stunted, so I went throw the soil and pulled out hundreds of big nasty grubs. Think I’m gonna go the beneficial nematodes route to eradicate them. Constant war with critters, home ownership is! 

[A-Jay]

27 minutes ago, Jar11591 said:

Got a grub problem in my garden. I noticed my carrots were stunted, so I went throw the soil and pulled out hundreds of big nasty grubs. Think I’m gonna go the beneficial nematodes route to eradicate them. Constant war with critters, home ownership is! 

Maybe I would send you some moles....

I have plenty and they just love grubs

 

A-Jay

[casts_by_fly]

1 hour ago, A-Jay said:

The secret to a consitenty healthy lawn.

 

Application timing is critical.

A-Jay

 

 

I endorse this statement. I’m working through grubs myself. They weren’t treated for years and have proliferated. When my grass wasn’t great you didn’t notice them. Now that I have good grass you do. I had grubs and fungus both at times this year, both of which are preventable if treated at the right time. Both are also curable if you’re late, but it takes more work to get there. 
 

between grub, fungus, and weed preventative (preemergent) you can have an awesome lawn with negligible other chemicals required. Just cut and feed now and again. 
 

 

 

this was my latest project. The area behind the grass and in front of the fence has been scrub since we bought the house- branches, leaves, rocks, concrete block, etc. The dogs poop there and I don’t bother to clean it. When I cut out a bunch of trees to make room for the magnolia in the middle last fall it left a mud pit that the dogs would dig in. And now that you can see so much of it I wanted to make it nicer, but cheaply. The local tree cutters give away chippings so I got a load and moved it over two nights. It’s not as pretty as mulch but I can’t complain for free. Ended up nearly 20 yards of chips. 
 

 

 

 

 

[TnRiver46]

That’s why I love my zoysia grass , it’s maintenance free other than mowing and only grows about 4 months out of the year 😂 

[casts_by_fly]

1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said:

That’s why I love my zoysia grass , it’s maintenance free other than mowing and only grows about 4 months out of the year 😂 

 

zoysia is great if your climate can do it. It’s too cold up here.  Bluegrass is our equivalent. Once established, feed it well and just keep cutting it. It spreads and fills everything. 
 

on the other hand, I’ve got solid rye in my pool yard and an 80/20 tall fescue/kbg blend in the dog yard ( and tall fescue everywhere else). I have to seed to fill damage spots which can limit preemergent use.  The good thing with rye though is that even in the bad growing season I can go from bare dirt to fully grown in about 3 weeks. 

[TOXIC]

We are under another water restriction.  I have no grass left and we actually lost a weeping cherry that was 20 years old.  I have given up on my landscaping for this year. 

[padlin]

9 hours ago, TOXIC said:

We are under another water restriction.  I have no grass left and we actually lost a weeping cherry that was 20 years old.  I have given up on my landscaping for this year. 

We end up on water restrictions every summer, like now. Completely killed my lawn a few years ago, eit’s finally starting to look okay again, and now another restriction. I’ve given up on it other then a couple applications of fertilizer.

 

a few of my neighbors have had an artesian well put in as the restriction is just for city water.

[TnRiver46]

12 hours ago, TOXIC said:

We are under another water restriction.  I have no grass left and we actually lost a weeping cherry that was 20 years old.  I have given up on my landscaping for this year. 

I’m slightly jealous 😂 

 

I would love to give up on landscaping. Every year 

[gim]

Lawns and yards and maintaining landscape is a lot of work, time, and energy.  No doubt about it.

 

Many properties out west have completely abandoned having grass because its bone dry and very hot for months on end.  Not good for grass and wastes a ton of water.  They've gone to natural, desert-type landscaping instead.  No way would I have a lawn if I lived in an arid climate like that.

 

Rain > drought

[TOXIC]

I don’t know how to explain it but at first we were limited to watering certain days depending on your address (odd/even) then it got increased to full restriction, no watering, no fountains or any outside water features, no wading or any other pool filling, and no washing vehicles.  This is the second time this summer that this has happened.  We are still watering some of our flowerbeds by pitcher but the deer have decimated those as well.  We are not on city water but we are on a community well.  We have a gravity tower and luckily our rates are 1/2 what city water is.  

[gim]

3 minutes ago, TOXIC said:

I don’t know how to explain it but at first we were limited to watering certain days depending on your address (odd/even)

 

My suburb has that restriction the entire summer, every year, regardless of drought or weather.  From May through September, you are only permitted to water using a sprinkler on odd/even days depending on your address.  And you cannot do it during the middle of the day either from noon - 6pm (not that I would anyways, half of it evaporates and its generally too windy).

 

They are fairly good at enforcing it too.  Some of my neighbors ran theirs on the wrong day and the city warned them about it.

[DaubsNU1]

Man, I feel very fortunate to live where I do, and have access to water.

 

All houses in our village have their own water well.

 

I don't have sprinkler system...Mother Nature has been very good to us this spring. I love to mow, takes me about 2 hours to mow and trim.

 

In the winter I break out the chainsaw and cut down trees along the creek that have died. Wife has some nice flower gardens in front of the house. I spend about 15-20 minutes a day checking pool chemicals and/or vacuuming. Previous owner built four raised garden beds...we mainly grow tomatoes. There is a water spigot next to the garden beds...makes live very easy.

 

It's a great place to live...wife and I were just commenting last night how much we love it here!

 

[gim]

10 minutes ago, DaubsNU1 said:

Mother Nature has been very good to us this spring. I love to mow, takes me about 2 hours to mow and trim.

 

Absent some flash flooding in far northern and southern MN, its been a glorious spring here too.  Its a welcome change from the dry, parched landscape and smoke-filled air of the past several years when we're in a drought by June.  Lakes and rivers are filled again, and soils have been regenerated with moisture.  Still haven't hit 90+ degrees either.

 

I don't particluarly care to mow or trim my yard, but its certainly better than watering or drought.  I have a sprinkler system that was installed in 2022 after I bought this house.  Haven't even turned it on yet this year.

 

[Jar11591]

About that time to get the landscaping, garden, and outdoor projects started. 
 

August of last year I was in the middle of redoing my entire front landscaping when I broke my leg, so it has sat in a state of half-done for half a year now. Now that I’m healed I’ll be picking up where I left off. Gotta re-edge about 100’, remove the sod, and install new mulch and several plants. 
 

I also have to sand and stain the deck. May outsource that job though. 
 

Garden beds have to get turned and topped off with some fresh compost before receiving the seedlings that have been growing inside for about a month now. 

Lots of low hanging and dead branches need to get cut down. Excited to use my new pole saw. New power equipment makes work so much more fun. 
 

What’s on the agenda for outdoor projects and gardening this year for y’all? 

[casts_by_fly]

Just fixing the grass that the fungus and dog wear killed. The dog yard had fungus on one side (from overspray coming from me hydrangea beds) and dog wear from winter on the other. I just seeded and put blankets down yesterday for that. The pool yard had some fungus but also a lot of digging, enough to take 3-4 wheelbarrows to fill them all. That also got filled, leveled, and seeded yesterday.