Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with landscaping

Invasive Root System

maremare — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 10:43:51 -0800

I have an aspen tree in my back yard. It's beautiful, but is it too close? Several years ago I saw a nice tree in the forest and dug it up, brought it home and planted it in my back yard. Now my neighbour is worrying that it will destroy our foundations. I've been googling Aspens/ Populus tremuloides all morning. I've turned up some references to aspens being wonderful foundation plantings because they grow so quickly, while others caution that because of their invasive root systems they should not be "too close" to foundations and plumbing. I have not been able to firm up "too close."

What is "too close?" I'm not talking a large suburban lot, here. I live in the city, in row housing, and the aspen is maybe 10 m? 25 ft? from the house.

Provide your own wage: how much do I ask for experienced heavy labour?

Acer_saccharum — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 09:44:48 -0800

Asking for a friend: If starting wage for unskilled heavy labour was $13/hr. What would one ask for (in wages) if they were asked to provide a wage for themselves for skilled and experienced heavy labour? Ritzy landscaping company. Cocoapples can follow up with more details if needed in the questions, but he just registered and is unable to ask his time sensitive Q for a week.

Moving a tree…. Or not.

silverstatue — Fri, 02 May 2008 10:49:51 -0800

I need to move a little tree, but I’m afraid I’ll end up killing it. Is it worth the risk? Here’s the story. About eleven years ago, my grandfather and I planted a little sapling next to his house. It was one of the last things we did before he passed away. That goofy little tree means a lot to me. I always think of my grandfather when I see it. Now, eleven years later, its grown too big for its place against the house. Its started to twist against the house and I’m worried. I think it needs to be moved ASAP.

Ok I’ve googled “moving a tree” and gotten directions (which pretty much amount to “Dig a hole. Dig up tree. Put in hole. Pray.”) I want to try it next weekend when I go back upstate to visit my family. However, my dad thinks that we’ll kill it if we try to move it. He thinks we should just leave it alone . FYI, its your basic little fir tree, about four feet tall.

So my question is, to move or not to move? I really don’t want to risk killing the tree, but I think it’ll die anyway if we leave it where it is. Help! I’m looking for anecdotes, suggestions, warnings, etc.

How do I lift big rocks into the bed of a truck?

BleachBypass — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 10:06:51 -0800

What's the best (manual) way to lift some beeeg boulders? I want some landscaping boulders for my yard. Buying them is expensive, for sure (7 cents a lb?) But the BLM has several collection areas, where with a rock gathering permit ($15.00 a *ton*) you can go hog wild.

My thing? I hate yards filled with cheesy, football sized rocks. I want the majestic stuff. I don't have access to a skid steer (ie bobcat), it would just be me, my buddy, and our muscles to get the biggest possible boulders we can into his truck.

I was wondering about something like this to use, or perhaps rigging up something with 2 or more farm jacks. (You can see by my reliance on Harbor Freight links I'd prefer to accomplish this on the cheap.) Also, a series of steps to work it up to the truck bed level?

Any recommendations on electric mowers?

Jane Austen — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 06:40:36 -0800

Does anyone have experience with electric lawn mowers? I am looking for brand recommendations, pros and cons, etc. ... Do they last a long time? Do the blades need sharpening? One other question I have is about storage -- I don't have a garage, so I am wondering if I can store it outside under a tarp or if that is a dealbreaker.

I need to mow about 3/4 of an acre (I have a small house on a large-ish lot). I have a bad back, so I am trying to make it a little easier on myself. Also, the yard has many pine trees -- this is why a reel mower won't work (pinecones keep getting stuck in the blades).

How does a garden grow?

suki — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:30:57 -0800

I'd like to work on my garden and lawn. I know nothing about gardening and lawn care. What are some good online resources? In the 10 years that I've lived in my house I have ignored the lawn and garden,except for an occasional mow. This year, I'd like to start making things look a little better.

I am in the Northeast (Maine) and know nothing - NOTHING about gardening and lawn care. There are a few perennials left over from the previous owner - peonies, some p*ssed-off looking roses, shrubbery, and a grape arbor (which has overgrown to the point that it's taken up half the yard).

I'd also like to do window boxes, but wonder if that might be a bit overambitious for my first time out of the gate.

I'd like to keep things as organic as possible. And I understand that a beautiful garden doesn't happen immediately, so could really use some direction with long term planning.

Sharpening my pruning katana as we speak

TungstenChef — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 13:14:31 -0800

Help this young grasshopper become a tree pruning ninja. The good news is that the previous owner of our house had the foresight to plant a lot of cool trees and shrubs 20 years ago (primarily ficus, oleander, and acacia). The bad news is that he was terrible at pruning and we seem to have inherited every conceivable problem...tree branches growing against the house, ugly dead wood in the center, wild overgrown tangles, and lack of leaves in many shaded areas to name a few.

'Tis the season for pruning in Arizona and I want to learn how to be really good at it. As in, Japanese garden good. Does anyone have any recommendations for really good books on the subject? Or other ways to learn how to do it right? I can find some basic info on the web but I want to go far more in depth.

Why are there holes all over the lawn?

desjardins — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 16:24:32 -0800

What did the landscapers do to the lawn? We rent a condo and the association hires landscapers. They were here yesterday, and today I noticed these little holes all over the lawn. The dirt from the holes was deposited on the lawn in neat little cylinders. They're about 1" in diameter and 4" long. At first glance I thought it was poop, given the appearance. At second glance I thought it was some burrowing animal. But there are way too many holes, and I don't see how an animal could consistently push up neat cylinders like that.

These are extremely meticulous landscapers, so I'm sure this has some purpose, but I'm intensely curious as to what it is. (They won't be back until Thursday.)

Square stones, curved path?

pallen123 — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 14:29:29 -0800

How best to layout a curved sandstone path using square and rectangular stones? Hello -

I'm trying to layout a curved front path -- aproximately 3.5 feet wide and 30 feet long that curves like a J to the front door, over our existing lawn.

We have plenty of sandstone from a side patio. The sandstone is square and rectangular -- averaging about 2-3 square foot each.

My question is how best to use this existing sandstone to achieve an attractive curved dry set path. I have seen some paths in our neighborhood that use square stone but they seem to curve over a longer distance than hours -- and I assume the gaps between stones over a longer distance can allow for a sweeping bend w/out being too large. I'm not sure I can achieve this on a shorter path.

Are there any Web references, photos, guides you can suggest? Rules of thumb for laying out an attractive flagstone path? Should I consider breaking up the stones into irregular shapes to better accomodate a curved path? Can I combine the square stones and some broken stones and still achieve a polished/professional look? Can I have larger and irregular gaps in a dry set path, using square stones, so I can achieve the bend in a shorter distance -- and just fill those gaps with sand/crushed-stone? Will it look okay?

Thank you for any suggestions.

I Can See My Neighbors

notyou — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 09:31:17 -0800

My neighbors place (it's a duplex or triplex) is just a little too close. I'd like to create some privacy, but I want to keep my windows open (for the air and the light!), and I don't want to build a nine foot fence. There's a narrow walk between us now and a chainlink fence. My idea is rectangular pots and bamboo outside each of the four bedroom windows and maybe another outside one of the living room windows. They would be living bamboo privacy screens, just wide enough to hide the windows, but not stretch the entire length of the house. I'd love to hear your ideas, too.

Can I plant a birch tree that won't die?

mmf — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 18:42:32 -0800

Landscaping question: We recently moved to a house in central NJ whic has many trees. The tree doctor we hired to trim back some trees that were too close to the house says that the clump of beautiful birch trees we love is terminal due to a borer and the disease is such that the tree can have its life extended, but not saved. Local nurseries have red birches, but we love the kind with the papery white bark. Our question: Should we remove the trees as we have been advised, and if we do, Is there a disease resisitant white birch that can grow in our area?

Repairing Outdoor Stairs (Brick, framed by RR Ties)

Alabaster — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 12:06:50 -0800

[Landscaping-for-Beginners-Filter] Where can I buy railroad ties (or a green-friendly alternative) for a backyard brick staircase? What's the best way to repair the staircase I bought my first house recently and there is a gentle slope in the backyard, with a brick staircase framed by railroad ties.

Many of the railroad ties are broken or rotted and I would like to replace some or all of them. I would consider another material as I've read that RR Ties are not environmentally friendly (if this is untrue, let me know).

Where can I buy RR Ties (or equivalent), cut-to-order? I checked the Home Depot website and couldn't find anything?

And can you give me any advice on how to 1.)remove the old ones, 2.) install the new ones. Any obstacles or difficulties I should anticipate? Any tools I might need?

I'm a relatively handy person but with no experience doing this kind of project -- any advice would be appreciated.

How do I hire a landscaper in suburban Chicago?

agent99 — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 08:30:12 -0800

LawnCare Filter: Help me hire a landscaping service. So my folks are temporarily sick and unable to mow their lawn in suburban Chicago, and I'd like to hire someone to do this for them. Not being a homeowner myself, I have no idea how this is done. I'm looking for a weekly lawn mowing service. My questions: should I hire an individual or a company, where can I find one, how much should this cost (ballpark, of course) given that it is a tiny house on a small lot (typical fifties suburban tract house), and does anyone have a recommendation for the Evanston/Niles/Skokie, IL area? Thanks!

What tree is for me?

roaring beast — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 09:09:19 -0800

What kind of tree should I plant? Recently moved into my first house and would like to plant a small/med sized tree in the back yard (about 15' wide) for a little shade and to just look nice. It is in full sunlight about 25' from the house. I would prefer something with minimal maintenance and on the inexpensive side. I plan to live here for about 10 years, so it might be nice to get a smaller tree and see it grow up a bit during that time. I'm in southeastern VA.

I have looked at these links, but there are still a lot of choices. I don't know much about taking care of trees, so any other advice would be helpful.

How much should I charge?

arnicae — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 10:33:37 -0800

How much should I charge for my brand-new business, which is landscaping and disaster preparedness related? As always, there is I've come up with a great business idea that I have a lot of experience in, and believe there is a lot of higher-income-earner demand for. It is landscaping and disaster preparedness related. But I'm not sure what I should charge for this unique service!

Basically, I want to offer a couple of levels of help: an initial free meeting to assess their needs, then a basic plan for them, or an advanced plan that involves me supervising/implementing all the work myself (but they also pay for a separate electrician/plumber/landscaper who does the majority of the grunt work)

The market is definitely middle to high income range, and I want to make it seem affordable but not cheap- how much should I charge? This is basically expert consulting and developing a personalized plan- I expect each assessment would take me between 6-12 hours, depending on the area.

Hourly? Flat fee? (I prefer flat fee- it seems to be more suited to my target clientele) If you're a landscaper or a concept developer or maybe even an architect, how would you structure the fee schedule?

Thanks in advance!

Need to replace old retaining wall.

chocolatetiara — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 06:41:09 -0800

I have a short retaining wall in front of my house. It is concrete, about three feet high. On top of that is a row of bushes. The concrete is cracking and falling apart every year, and the bushes are old and scraggly. I would like to fix this, but I don't know who does this kind of work. Should I call a landscaping place? Should I call a regular contractor? How do I fix this problem. I don't want to do it myself.

A rose by any other name?

phatkitten — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 18:28:36 -0800

Is there any difference between Amelia roses and Amelia Renaissance roses? My mom is doing some landscaping and had someone order Amelia roses for her; the flowers she ended up with are called Amelia Renaissance roses. She says that roses can sometimes have multiple names, but all she knows about the flowers she picked out is that they were just called "Amelia roses." The name discrepancy is causing her to doubt her shipment, and if the word "Renaissance" makes these roses different in any way, she wants to send them back.

The roses haven't bloomed yet, so she can't compare them visually. She asked me to Google around for her (she doesn't have easy access to a computer) and the best I could come up with at the end of the workday was this, which doesn't make a distinction between the two. Is an Amelia rose a type of Renaissance rose? Is an Amelia Renaissance a type of Amelia? I don't speak flower, so I can't figure out how to refine my search. Help me help her out!

How do I get rid of an unused swimming pool?

The corpse in the library — Mon, 04 Sep 2006 13:28:50 -0800

How do I get rid of a filled-in swimming pool? Previous owners of my house put a swimming pool in the backyard. Subsequent owners filled it in with dirt and planted grass, but left the edge (including the aqua tile and diving board stand). It looks really, really silly -- and not in a good way.

It's a cement (concrete? I never can get those straight) border, about two feet wide, going all the way around a normal-for-a-backyard-sized pool.

What can we do to get rid of it? Do we have to rent a jackhammer and tear up the concrete? Get lots of dirt and pour it over the entire yard to cover it? Hire a professional landscaper? We want to just have grass or clover, no sign of the pool at all.

I hate mowing. I love moss.

agropyron — Mon, 07 Aug 2006 13:37:46 -0800

Lawn alternatives! Has anyone here tried replacing their high-maintenance grass lawn with an alternative lawn? I've read about some of the no-mow lawn grass types, and I understand other people simply let the moss and clover grow. Have you seen a lawn like this? How did you like it? My (back yard) lawn is usually either brown and dead from lack of watering, or enormously tall from lack of mowing. I've noticed that moss is creeping in, and I've read that some people allow the moss to take over. I wonder what the disadvantages of a moss lawn would be. Would it get torn up from vigorous activity like kids playing on it?

I also like the clover idea. I know it attracts a lot of bees when it flowers, but I have the impression that you can just mow it once or twice when it's flowering to prevent this.

I'm not too interested in the gravel lawns some people use, but failing other alternatives I might resort to strewing nice-looking wood chips all over instead of grass.

What alternative lawns have you seen? What did you think?

Monster backyard how to/ideas

teishu — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 21:45:23 -0800

We're getting ready to start working on the landscaping in our yard for this year, and we have decided to go big and redo the whole thing. Right now, we're thinking of tearing out all the grass and building it up like a meadow with wildflowers with some paths going through it to different elements, like an eating table, a bench, the vegetable patch etc. What are some suggestions for more crazy ideas that would be fun to have? Preferable that don't cost a ton of money or require a lot of expertise. We do have a lot of time and friends that would be willing to help so in that reguard the sky is the limit. We want it to be something really different and amazing. Also any links you might have to sites with info thats a little more exciting than what i can find on better homes and gardens.

Paper and pencil just aren't cutting it

schroedinger — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 13:56:46 -0800

Does anyone have any recommendations for free, Win98-compatible software that will help me design a community garden for my non-profit organization? Am I looking for a CAD program? If so, which of the thousands out there should I use? I've long since given up hope on finding a gardening-specific design program, so I'm settling on anything that will help me easily create a to-scale drawing. I'd like to be able to modify the diagram once it's created and print it out (sounds obvious, but you'd be surprised at the trouble I've been having with the programs I've tried out). Dia crashes at startup, Grids isn't what I'm looking for, and the free trial of Sketchup is unfortunately not compatible with Windows 98. Gardeners/landscapers, what do you use?

Thanks!

Trying to figure out what to do with pine forest landscaping

chef_boyardee — Wed, 18 Jan 2006 22:01:36 -0800

I'm trying to figure out what to do about landscaping in a pine forest location. The problem is the soil is sandy and nothing has grown there. We have a cabin out on the edge of a pine forest. There is almost no undergrowth. The ground is pretty much carpeted with old needles, and the ground is pure sand. It seems what's happened is a cycle: the pine trees put down a carpet of needles which doesn't decompose much, and which has prevented underbrush/grass from growing and adding any organics to the soil, so it remains chronically sandy.

First and foremost, I'm going to have to rake up the old needles since they're tinderbox-dry and are fuel for a fire to consume our cabin. But if I rake it up, I'll just expose barren sand. I doubt anything will grow in it, and furthermore since it's on a slight slope I'm worrying about erosion problems.

1) Is there anything I can do with this sandy ground? Or should I start with a truckload of loamy dirt?

2) What might be some common gardening center type plants that will do really well in sandy soil? (hardiness zone 8, 40" of rain a year).

I'm not sure where I'm taking this question, but the pine needles have to go.

Can I use a rototiller to relandscape my yard?

fenriq — Tue, 18 Oct 2005 23:58:42 -0800

RototillerFilter: My back yard has some issues right now and I'm wondering if a rototiller might solve them all. The first problem is the yard slopes down about ten to twelve inches across twenty five feet or so.
The second problem is a pretty hellacious patch of crabgrass on the uphill side of the yard that would/could be eradicated by the removal of all the soil in the area.
The third problem is one I don't think the rototiller would be much help with but maybe, we've got gophers. They've done major damage to the yard with their tunnels and my dog's subsequent digging to try and get them.

What I'm wondering is whether I could kill all three birds with one stone by using the rototiller to break up the uphill side of the yard and push the soil to the downhill side where I could have a retaining wall built already. The yard is about 25 by 35 where this would take place so we're not talking about massive acres of space. Would the chopping out of the soil be a good start to a final end game against the damned persnickety crabgrass?
And should I consider a small retaining wall for the top of the yard where the dirt's all coming from? There would remain a concrete walkway along the top edge of the yard.

I'm figuring I could do one side of the yard in a weekend and do the other side the next weekend. Any insights would be welcome, especially from folks who have done something like this before.

pine straw and mulch

ransom — Tue, 18 Oct 2005 09:10:17 -0800

synthetic vs. natural pine straw/mulch? i am new to home maintnence and need the lowdown on these options--pro/cons across the board from cost, to ease of installation, to asthetics.

stonewalling

stupidsexyFlanders — Mon, 17 Oct 2005 16:50:04 -0800

Building a stone wall: crushed stone foundation necessary? I'm having a couple of retaining walls about 1.5-2 feet high (about 30 ft. long) built, to create terraces where there is currently just a slope. The wall will be made of flat irregular slate stones, dry-fitted (no mortar). Everywhere I read I see that it's best to have a foundation of 4-6" of compacted gravel underneath the wall for drainage purposes. My landscaper says there's no need, as the dry-fit wall will allow drainage through it, and besides the ground underneath is already packed hard like concrete. Crushed stone foundation: necessary or not? The polls are open.