Help me figure out what to do with an overgrown garden/yard
April 22, 2019 1:30 PM Subscribe
My mother and father used to be avid gardeners, but for the past 15ish~ years kind of abandoned gardening. While my father was alive he maintained the garden by rototilling it, which he found relaxing, rather than planting anything. My father passed away 2 years ago and was pretty uninterested in doing anything in their yard/garden for a few years before that. Now 1/2 of their large backyard is an absolute over grown mess. What should my mother and I do about it?
I guess the biggest factor is cost. My mother is retired and on a fixed income, but she does have some money that could be thrown at the problem, but I'm concerned about cost. I have really no idea what is reasonable for landscaping costs.
I was thinking that the easiest solution might be to hire a landscape company to get rid of all the dead tress, weeds, overgrown bushes, etc. and just plant grass? This seems like it would be the relatively lower maintenance solution.
The rest of the yard is fine, just grass. Nothing too interesting.
This overgrown yard has become a but of a worry for me, because my mother is currently 73 and I imagine that within the next decade the house will have to be sold. It's probably easier to throw some money at the problem now and maintain it, rather than waiting 10 years and letting it get even worse. I imagine it would be way more costly to fix the problem then.
I have no idea what would be a reasonable cost for all of this, but I'm imagining that it could be a small fortune?
Spring has clearly not arrived where I live (Edmonton, AB), so everything is ugly and brown (and everything looks dead), but here are some photos of the yard (a lot of garbage gets blown in because the lot backs onto a school field).
I guess the biggest factor is cost. My mother is retired and on a fixed income, but she does have some money that could be thrown at the problem, but I'm concerned about cost. I have really no idea what is reasonable for landscaping costs.
I was thinking that the easiest solution might be to hire a landscape company to get rid of all the dead tress, weeds, overgrown bushes, etc. and just plant grass? This seems like it would be the relatively lower maintenance solution.
The rest of the yard is fine, just grass. Nothing too interesting.
This overgrown yard has become a but of a worry for me, because my mother is currently 73 and I imagine that within the next decade the house will have to be sold. It's probably easier to throw some money at the problem now and maintain it, rather than waiting 10 years and letting it get even worse. I imagine it would be way more costly to fix the problem then.
I have no idea what would be a reasonable cost for all of this, but I'm imagining that it could be a small fortune?
Spring has clearly not arrived where I live (Edmonton, AB), so everything is ugly and brown (and everything looks dead), but here are some photos of the yard (a lot of garbage gets blown in because the lot backs onto a school field).
It doesn't look too bad! I think notsnot has an idea of the scale of the operation.
For after, though, maybe a clover lawn (cbc article)? You can plant it among the existing grass, it grows slowly, fixes its own nitrogen, feeds bees, and keeps weeds out.
posted by batter_my_heart at 1:53 PM on April 22, 2019 [5 favorites]
For after, though, maybe a clover lawn (cbc article)? You can plant it among the existing grass, it grows slowly, fixes its own nitrogen, feeds bees, and keeps weeds out.
posted by batter_my_heart at 1:53 PM on April 22, 2019 [5 favorites]
Response by poster: I'm glad to know it's not *as bad* as I was thinking. Unfortunately, I probably won't have the time to tackle this myself.
What kind of business would I need to hire to do this for us? I've been looking at various websites of local landscapers and none of them mention clean ups like this. Do I need to look up lawn maintenance businesses instead of landscapers? What do I ask them to do... take away all the dead and overgrown plants? Ack! I'm so clueless!!
posted by VirginiaPlain at 2:00 PM on April 22, 2019
What kind of business would I need to hire to do this for us? I've been looking at various websites of local landscapers and none of them mention clean ups like this. Do I need to look up lawn maintenance businesses instead of landscapers? What do I ask them to do... take away all the dead and overgrown plants? Ack! I'm so clueless!!
posted by VirginiaPlain at 2:00 PM on April 22, 2019
>I was thinking that the easiest solution might be to hire a landscape company to get rid of all the dead tress, weeds, overgrown bushes, etc. and just plant grass? This seems like it would be the relatively lower maintenance solution.
I agree with the first part is a good idea, but I'd suggest against grass as a "lower maintenance solution," as grass still requires a fair amount of irrigation, mowing, fertilizing and weeding to keep looking nice.
I'd suggest you look into landscape companies that offer knowledge in Xeriscaping. It will cost some money to start, but will save money in the long run on maintenance and water costs.
posted by Karaage at 2:08 PM on April 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
I agree with the first part is a good idea, but I'd suggest against grass as a "lower maintenance solution," as grass still requires a fair amount of irrigation, mowing, fertilizing and weeding to keep looking nice.
I'd suggest you look into landscape companies that offer knowledge in Xeriscaping. It will cost some money to start, but will save money in the long run on maintenance and water costs.
posted by Karaage at 2:08 PM on April 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
I think a yard maintenance-type company would be better for this. Think the kind of people who mow yards all summer. It's not goign to be the most high-paying work so landscaping business aren't going to advertise this as much as redesigning your dream garden.
Get rec's or call a few and ask them for a quote to clean up __ square feet/other measurement of yard. Walk the yard with them and explain clearly what you want accomplished so you're on the same page. Pulling out/cutting down trees is more expensive but much less so if you get them before they get too tall.
posted by Bunglegirl at 2:08 PM on April 22, 2019
Get rec's or call a few and ask them for a quote to clean up __ square feet/other measurement of yard. Walk the yard with them and explain clearly what you want accomplished so you're on the same page. Pulling out/cutting down trees is more expensive but much less so if you get them before they get too tall.
posted by Bunglegirl at 2:08 PM on April 22, 2019
This overgrown yard has become a but of a worry for me, because my mother is currently 73 and I imagine that within the next decade the house will have to be sold. It's probably easier to throw some money at the problem now and maintain it, rather than waiting 10 years and letting it get even worse. I imagine it would be way more costly to fix the problem then.
I'm not sure this makes sense, honestly, on two fronts: (1) there are not that many types of landscaping that really require zero maintenance, and several of things that would reduce maintenance to a low level are expensive to install (e.g., putting in irrigation systems, or converting to a xeroscape yard); and (2) unless you're in an unusual real estate market, the condition of a yard--good or bad--isn't likely to have a major effect on the selling price of the house.
It'd be a shame to spend a lot of money on landscaping now and have it be something that doesn't really help you in terms of selling in 10 years, plus you've spent 10 years worth of effort in trying to maintain it. Or worse, you dump a ton of money into a minimal-maintenance solution like xeroscaping that actually puts you in a slightly worse position than leaving it overgrown, because potential buyers really want a big expanse of grass for their kids' swingset and it's more expensive for them to haul out the pea gravel and other landscaping materials than if you had just let the yard get overgrown.
The only type of yardwork that seems likely to save you money by being done proactively this far in advance is pulling out tree seedlings/saplings or large bushes before they become bigger volunteer trees that are expensive to remove. Other than that, I'd think about whether there's anything that is both sustainable in terms of maintenance and would make your mother's enjoyment of the house so much better as to be worth the cost for that factor alone. If not, I'd leave it alone until you really are ready to sell, and can talk to a real estate agent about whether any investment in your yard beyond a weed-whack the weekend you are doing showings is likely to pay off. (I'd be surprised if that's the case.)
We're doing landscaping now for our yard (destroyed by a recent house renovation) and it is so, so, so much more expensive than I would have expected. The designers we've talked to have agreed that putting down sod and an irrigation system is among the cheapest installation options for a low- or no-maintenance yard, if you're okay with paying someone to come mow every other week in the summer.
posted by iminurmefi at 3:02 PM on April 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
I'm not sure this makes sense, honestly, on two fronts: (1) there are not that many types of landscaping that really require zero maintenance, and several of things that would reduce maintenance to a low level are expensive to install (e.g., putting in irrigation systems, or converting to a xeroscape yard); and (2) unless you're in an unusual real estate market, the condition of a yard--good or bad--isn't likely to have a major effect on the selling price of the house.
It'd be a shame to spend a lot of money on landscaping now and have it be something that doesn't really help you in terms of selling in 10 years, plus you've spent 10 years worth of effort in trying to maintain it. Or worse, you dump a ton of money into a minimal-maintenance solution like xeroscaping that actually puts you in a slightly worse position than leaving it overgrown, because potential buyers really want a big expanse of grass for their kids' swingset and it's more expensive for them to haul out the pea gravel and other landscaping materials than if you had just let the yard get overgrown.
The only type of yardwork that seems likely to save you money by being done proactively this far in advance is pulling out tree seedlings/saplings or large bushes before they become bigger volunteer trees that are expensive to remove. Other than that, I'd think about whether there's anything that is both sustainable in terms of maintenance and would make your mother's enjoyment of the house so much better as to be worth the cost for that factor alone. If not, I'd leave it alone until you really are ready to sell, and can talk to a real estate agent about whether any investment in your yard beyond a weed-whack the weekend you are doing showings is likely to pay off. (I'd be surprised if that's the case.)
We're doing landscaping now for our yard (destroyed by a recent house renovation) and it is so, so, so much more expensive than I would have expected. The designers we've talked to have agreed that putting down sod and an irrigation system is among the cheapest installation options for a low- or no-maintenance yard, if you're okay with paying someone to come mow every other week in the summer.
posted by iminurmefi at 3:02 PM on April 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
Mulch is fairly low maintenance. If you have the dead trees and leaves removed, you can put down weed resistant sheeting and put mulch overtop. Get someone once a month in the warmer months to pull up weeds if needed.
For reference, I just redid my ~300 sqft yard. About a third of that got mulch, the other third I planted grass, and the rest is concrete patio. I had to remove a *lot* of trash from previous tenants, level the lawn and mulch area, tarp for a month to kill the weeds, then put in topsoil / grass seed and mulch. It took about 30 hours and cost me around $500 in supplies and dump/greenwaste runs. The mulch area is just now showing weeds after two months, but the grass has been coming in for 6 weeks and already needs mowing, and will need it weekly for the rest of the spring and summer.
posted by ananci at 4:22 PM on April 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
For reference, I just redid my ~300 sqft yard. About a third of that got mulch, the other third I planted grass, and the rest is concrete patio. I had to remove a *lot* of trash from previous tenants, level the lawn and mulch area, tarp for a month to kill the weeds, then put in topsoil / grass seed and mulch. It took about 30 hours and cost me around $500 in supplies and dump/greenwaste runs. The mulch area is just now showing weeds after two months, but the grass has been coming in for 6 weeks and already needs mowing, and will need it weekly for the rest of the spring and summer.
posted by ananci at 4:22 PM on April 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: iminurmefi - That's something that crossed my mind after posting the question. I guess I don't really know what the real estate market is like, so I assumed that a messy/overgrown yard would make potential buyers recoil. However, the yard itself is pretty big, so I can see why the house might be appealing despite the current messy yard.
I'm starting to think that it might be best to hire a spring clean-up/yard maintenance place to come in and get rid of all the current overgrowth, the saplings, and dead tress/shrubs. And leave it at that for now?
I just thought grass would be a good solution because we already hire a company to mow the front/back yards. They don't do projects like this though.
My mother could not care less about what that portion of her yard looks like, due to a conveniently placed trellis on our backyard patio, you can't even see most of the overgrown garden! I'm just worried about selling the house in the future.
posted by VirginiaPlain at 4:29 PM on April 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
I'm starting to think that it might be best to hire a spring clean-up/yard maintenance place to come in and get rid of all the current overgrowth, the saplings, and dead tress/shrubs. And leave it at that for now?
I just thought grass would be a good solution because we already hire a company to mow the front/back yards. They don't do projects like this though.
My mother could not care less about what that portion of her yard looks like, due to a conveniently placed trellis on our backyard patio, you can't even see most of the overgrown garden! I'm just worried about selling the house in the future.
posted by VirginiaPlain at 4:29 PM on April 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
I'm starting to think that it might be best to hire a spring clean-up/yard maintenance place to come in and get rid of all the current overgrowth, the saplings, and dead tress/shrubs. And leave it at that for now?
Yes - do this. You can then just spring for a do-over once annually to keep on top of it. I would however have it mowed through the summer growing season, maybe once a month? You could also get it weeded again in autumn so the next spring clean-up is easier.
If you are simply keeping the worst at bay rather than maintaining a full landscape it shouldn’t cost much to manage.
posted by freya_lamb at 4:41 PM on April 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
Yes - do this. You can then just spring for a do-over once annually to keep on top of it. I would however have it mowed through the summer growing season, maybe once a month? You could also get it weeded again in autumn so the next spring clean-up is easier.
If you are simply keeping the worst at bay rather than maintaining a full landscape it shouldn’t cost much to manage.
posted by freya_lamb at 4:41 PM on April 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
I think your cheapest option is going to be to have a tree service come and prune the trees (I'm not sure I'd trust your average budget landscaping service to do this) and then a landscaping company come in pull out the weeds, dead stuff, volunteer saplings, etc once a year or so. This isn't a glamorous job but I expect you'll be able to find someone to do it if you call around.
posted by The Elusive Architeuthis at 4:47 PM on April 22, 2019
posted by The Elusive Architeuthis at 4:47 PM on April 22, 2019
Yes, have somebody help you figure out what's nice and what's not. Mowing gets rid of volunteer trees and will need to be done at least monthly, maybe more. I'm in Maine and mow only when it gets really shaggy. Get a big bag of grass seed. Once the debris is raked up, seed the lawn, rake the seed in. Seed again in the fall. If you are energetic, you could check on craigslist/free or freecycle for easy plants like day lilies and maybe hosta, which you can easily plant, and which will fill in nicely over time and not need maintenance. People divide them and have extra. A landscaper could help you with a plan. Explain your Mom's scenario, and you could plan a landscape that would be low-maintenance but add a bit of value.
posted by theora55 at 5:21 PM on April 22, 2019
posted by theora55 at 5:21 PM on April 22, 2019
I’d offer two suggestions. 1: I second a clover lawn. 2: Google to see if there is a garden club in your area. See if any of the garden club members might be interested in helping with this project and suggesting things that will work for your area with the lowest possible maintenance. As a bonus, one or more of the garden club members may be a professional who can help you figure out what to do with what you have. Another possibility: someone might like to dig up what you have and take care of it at their place. You might have fruit or nut trees there that might be really valuable to someone in your community.
posted by acridrabbit at 7:58 PM on April 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by acridrabbit at 7:58 PM on April 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
An Eco option is to just let it continue going wild for as long as possible. It's also the cheapest option.
posted by ovvl at 8:42 PM on April 22, 2019
posted by ovvl at 8:42 PM on April 22, 2019
Agreed that it doesn’t look too bad. Also, all those sticks coming out of the ground around your trees are “suckers” growing from the tree roots and can just be clipped off yearly or so. You’ll cease having that problem after taking out the (probably unhealthy) trees.. I’d call an actual tree service or arborist (not mow and blow folks) to look at the trees and tell you what to take out - this will be better done once the trees start leafing out. Many city codes have rules about grass height because tall grass can be habitat for rats and other unsavory things, any excess effort can go into occasional mowing (but if you haven’t had problems yet you can skip this).
posted by momus_window at 10:43 PM on April 22, 2019
posted by momus_window at 10:43 PM on April 22, 2019
My spouse is involved with scouting through the BSA and this is 💯 the type of service project they love taking the young people to. If you called your local scouting office and told them your elderly mother needed help with her lawn (at least an our area) they would send over a crew of youths and use it as a day to get some sort of landscape/outdoor/service merit badge. If cost is a factor this might be worth looking into.
posted by julie_of_the_jungle at 7:06 AM on April 23, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by julie_of_the_jungle at 7:06 AM on April 23, 2019 [2 favorites]
Any chance you can borrow a couple of goats for a week? It’s actually a thing in some regions. This could be a great first step to clearing out the overgrowth, before you hire a landscaper. Also, I stayed at an Airbnb last weekend with a very large backyard that was mostly covered in pavers. Had an overgrown garden area off to one side and another sort of 10x10 boxed-in tree with a bench around it. Those were the only two places with things growing. Several tables and chairs and benches and a fire pit. Clearly the guy didn’t want a yard. But he made a decent social space.
posted by AnOrigamiLife at 10:59 PM on April 23, 2019
posted by AnOrigamiLife at 10:59 PM on April 23, 2019
This thread is closed to new comments.
Go over it with a lawn mower at the highest setting just to be sure.
posted by notsnot at 1:44 PM on April 22, 2019 [4 favorites]