Lawn & Garden season is around the corner

[millah_22]

Anyone getting that itch to be outside? Anyone have any spring projects they're starting or considering to prepare for the fall?

We're going to start a Reno on our side yard. Its an area the past owners neglected, and often parked their cars on. Going to put bricks along the edges and keep a 3' strip of grass along the exterior, add some raised beds where the cars used to park, and mulch the rest of the area. I'm assuming its mostly unusable in terms of planting directly, but its the first step in a multi year project.

On the other side of the house I cleared out some grass/weeds and going to add a mostly shaded flower bed.

 

[Whiskeydeltadeltatango]

Habitat improvement is a major hobby of mine. Love this thread every year and best if luck with your project. Post photos if you can. My current list of landscaping and habitat projects:

We have a guy coming to give us an estimate on rebuilding a retaining wall and stair case today at noon. The wall is roughly 12 feet at its highest and encases a LP tank which is why I won't touch it. That will have flower beds as part of it.


Last year I put in a 40x30 garden, this year I will be making it a raised garden using pavers. I have 5 tons of dirt on its way and 200 papers in my driveway. If math is correct i need another 60.

I frost seeded clover into about 1.5-2 acres of food plot the week before last.


I need to kill off and 24d a half acre plot, I will then seed sunflowers into it. It was in brassicas last year.


Till and seed wildflowers into the meadow (roughly a .5 acre portion)


Take large river rock I have collected from around the property and "dam" the front creek in hopes of getting cat tails to grow.


Seed a large strip in the back of my property into big blue stem switchgrass.

I'm going to start pompas grass in 50 gallon barrels with hopes of transferring the plugs spring of next year.


I put in a pathway through the woods that leads to the neighbors last year, this year we will line it with hostas as it doesn't get a ton of light.


Grass/lawn maintenance.


*I will also be stacking pallets on my property to create small game havens.

 

[Fijimn]

spread my pre-emergent and fire ant granules last night. Also pulled the remainder of the the collard greens and Brussels sprouts from the garden and got it ready for planting pole beans. Have to get into the herb garden this weekend. Hummingbird feeders went up and saw a couple little guys already. I’m thinking about putting in a bocce ball court as a summer project.

 

[Hendy hawk]

Tearing down the raised garden beds soon and spreading the dirt over the back yard to level it out.
Have raised beds at the summer home in northern Wisconsin so don't need these anymore.
Digging out the posts that hold the beds will be the hardest after picking the patio block up between the beds.

 

[Whiskeydeltadeltatango]

Tearing down the raised garden beds soon and spreading the dirt over the back yard to level it out.
Have raised beds at the summer home in northern Wisconsin so don't need these anymore.
Digging out the posts that hold the beds will be the hardest after picking the patio block up between the beds.

Not sure if this is something you are interested in, or if it would be cost effective for my travel, but I would come do the work in exchange for the materials if you are just going to discard them.

 

[Greenway4Prez]

Going to install about 200’ of bullet edgers, and 15-17 yards of mulch that coincides with those beds.

Continue the endless task of taking out plants, moving others, and installing more. The bugleweed (ajuga), which I loved three years ago has taken ‘roids, started to choke out other plants, and needs tamed. Eff.

Tear off the rest of the deck and pour a patio. I’d like to do a paver patio, but I don’t have the time to do it myself and I know what it would cost to hire it out. Which leads me back to “this shit is so much cheaper to do it myself, but I don’t have the time”, and you can see where I’m going with this.

 

[Whiskeydeltadeltatango]

Guy just left after taking measurements of the wall. He seems to think k it eill be pretty doable. Now the fun part, $$.

 

[hawkmart]

What pre emergent do y'all recommend to spread on the lawn? Hoping this is my year to win the fight against dandelions.

 

[jellyfish10]

Guy just left after taking measurements of the wall. He seems to think k it eill be pretty doable. Now the fun part, $$.

What are the details on the wall? Height? Length? What material are you using?

 

[Whiskeydeltadeltatango]

What are the details on the wall? Height? Length? What material are you using?

I'll send you the info when he sends it to me. I'm blanking on the name of the block but it's 84 pound block.

 

[jellyfish10]

I'll send you the info when he sends it to me. I'm blanking on the name of the block but it's 84 pound block.

Allan block?

 

[Whiskeydeltadeltatango]

Allan block?

Versa lok.


He just sent me this. That's the stair way that runs over the gas line coming into he house (the reason I'm going to pay instead of do it myself)

 

[Greenway4Prez]

What pre emergent do y'all recommend to spread on the lawn? Hoping this is my year to win the fight against dandelions.

Pre-emergent won’t do much for dandelions; it’s meant more for grassy weeds like crabgrass and foxtail.

That being said, something with the active ingredient dithiopyr is good. Do it soon, then another round in 6-7 weeks, and you’re off to a good start.

 

[jellyfish10]

Versa lok.


He just sent me this. That's the stair way that runs over the gas line coming into he house (the reason I'm going to pay instead of do it myself)

View embedded media

When was the gas line put in? Not a huge of versa lock but to be fair, some of that is just personal preference and the fact that we no longer have a local distributor.

 

[Whiskeydeltadeltatango]

When was the gas line put in? Not a huge of versa lock but to be fair, some of that is just personal preference and the fact that we no longer have a local distributor.

With the house. 2010ish

 

[jellyfish10]

With the house. 2010ish

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Right on. That’s good news.

 

[Hendy hawk]

Not sure if this is something you are interested in, or if it would be cost effective for my travel, but I would come do the work in exchange for the materials if you are just going to discard them.

Thanks for the offer. I'm sure she will have something for the patio blocks up north. The 2x10's are on bad shape and rotting anyway so it's time to tear it out.

 

[Whiskeydeltadeltatango]

Thanks for the offer. I'm sure she will have something for the patio blocks up north. The 2x10's are on bad shape and rotting anyway so it's time to tear it out.

No worries. Don't know until you ask. Best of luck.

 

[Whiskeydeltadeltatango]

Right on. That’s good news.

"You are at over 6500 in block and caps"......



Fyck me running.

 

[jellyfish10]

"You are at over 6500 in block and caps"......



Fyck me running.

Does it give a per square foot price? I would ask. @Greenway4Prez might be able to give you prices in his area but you are going to pay a minimum of 20 bucks per sq ft (basically per block) where I’m at. Some companies will vary on cap prices depending on cutting. Per sq ft is important to know unless you know the contractor or is recommended. If someone is just throwing you a total price, do you have specifics? Height of wall? How many steps? Length? Are there downspouts that need to be tiled in? You are in Des Moines area correct?

Edit to add…a per sq ft price is the installed price. Whether that’s 20 bucks, 30 bucks, whatever, that should be the price for the block installed, not for the product to just be on your property.

 

[Mayland]

What pre emergent do y'all recommend to spread on the lawn? Hoping this is my year to win the fight against dandelions.

If you’re looking for dandelion control I’ve always had luck with anything with clopyralid in it. Like @Greenway4Prez mentioned only as a post-emerge though.

 

[Greenway4Prez]

Does it give a per square foot price? I would ask. @Greenway4Prez might be able to give you prices in his area but you are going to pay a minimum of 20 bucks per sq ft (basically per block) where I’m at. Some companies will vary on cap prices depending on cutting. Per sq ft is important to know unless you know the contractor or is recommended. If someone is just throwing you a total price, do you have specifics? Height of wall? How many steps? Length? Are there downspouts that need to be tiled in? You are in Des Moines area correct?

Edit to add…a per sq ft price is the installed price. Whether that’s 20 bucks, 30 bucks, whatever, that should be the price for the block installed, not for the product to just be on your property.

We charge $35/ linear foot for the base, then $27/square foot of wall. That price includes any labor and paver base.

 

[jellyfish10]

We charge $35/ linear foot for the base, then $27/square foot of wall. That price includes any labor and paver base.

Thanks for the info.

 

[Whiskeydeltadeltatango]

We charge $35/ linear foot for the base, then $27/square foot of wall. That price includes any labor and paver base.

You want to bid a Job in western Dallas county?County? This guy is local and came recommend from my septic guy but I donr have any allegiance to him.

 

[jellyfish10]

You want to bid a Job in western Dallas county?County? This guy is local and came recommend from my septic guy but I donr have any allegiance to him.

I have a friend that is a designer/estimator in DM but you would pay out the ass to hire them. Awesome company but $$$$$$$.

 

[Whiskeydeltadeltatango]

I have a friend that is a designer/estimator in DM but you would pay out the ass to hire them. Awesome company but $$$$$$$.

I think we have talked about them before. I want a good product because I want to replace that temporary hoop building with a "cleary" building but I don't really care how pretty it is because in that photo my.back is to a giant ravine so no one will really look at it. Just use the steps to get around the house.

 

[Keeker16]

Planning to cut the grass when it gets too tall.

 

[Greenway4Prez]

You want to bid a Job in western Dallas county?County? This guy is local and came recommend from my septic guy but I donr have any allegiance to him.

I charge $69.420 per mile

 

[millah_22]

Planning to cut the grass when it gets too tall.

 

[red/green hawk]

My kids tell me I love my lawn more than them. Knowing how expensive sod is and how hard it is to keep grass green all sumner long in New Mexico they may have a point.

This weekend I'll be partaking in my yearly ritual of waking up my yard. I have to rake, aerate, overseed any bare spots, and then fertilize. Then proceed to spend a small fortune in watering it. Droughts be damned, nothing is stopping me from enjoying a lush, thick lawn.

I chopped down 4 large evergreen bushes in front of my house 5 days ago. I found almost a case faded of empty beer cans. I gotta dig the stumps out tomorrow hopefully. At least enough so I can pull them out with the winch on my truck.

I'll scraping and pairing the trim on my house in a couple weeks. And I have to fix a couple of cracks in the stucco. Stucco is the dumbest material to put on a house in the desert SW.

Gonna fertilize Peach tree also.

 

[HawkeyeShawn]

My two dogs absolutely destroyed my back yard this spring. Paying to have it over seeded soon. Any dog advice for a digger?

 

[Whiskeydeltadeltatango]

First big project of the year. 45x25.



Total:

370 pavers @22 pounds each
10 tons of black dirt.
4250 pounds of drainage rock
2200 pounds of pea gravel
1000(ish) pounds of sand
60 feet of drainage pipe.

 

[artradley]

Anyone getting that itch to be outside? Anyone have any spring projects they're starting or considering to prepare for the fall?

We're going to start a Reno on our side yard. Its an area the past owners neglected, and often parked their cars on. Going to put bricks along the edges and keep a 3' strip of grass along the exterior, add some raised beds where the cars used to park, and mulch the rest of the area. I'm assuming its mostly unusable in terms of planting directly, but its the first step in a multi year project.

On the other side of the house I cleared out some grass/weeds and going to add a mostly shaded flower bed.

Cleaned and mulched the flower beds this weekend, and put up ledger stone on part of the foundation in the back yard.

Also pulled out a bunch of lavender my wife had insisted upon a couple years ago on the side yard, and replace with low maintenance shrubs.

The missus power washed our fence. It was a busy weekend, but now we’re done.

 

[The Tradition]

THE SWEET POTATO SLIPS ARE HERE!

They were supposed to ship the week of 4/18...

Kinda droopy, but lots of nice roots.

 

[jellyfish10]

First big project of the year. 45x25.

View embedded media

Total:

370 pavers @22 pounds each
10 tons of black dirt.
4250 pounds of drainage rock
2200 pounds of pea gravel
1000(ish) pounds of sand
60 feet of drainage pipe.

Those aren’t pavers dude. If there isn’t a bevel on the block, those are meant for free standing walls or garden walls, not retaining walls. Did you use 1” clean behind the wall? Even with retaining wall adhesive, solid core blocks, especially at 22#, will move a bit with time. Not trying to be a dick just looking out. Hope it works out well for you.

 

[Whiskeydeltadeltatango]

Those aren’t pavers dude. If there isn’t a bevel on the block, those are meant for free standing walls or garden walls, not retaining walls. Did you use 1” clean behind the wall? Even with retaining wall adhesive, solid core blocks, especially at 22#, will move a bit with time. Not trying to be a dick just looking out. Hope it works out well for you.

Sorry I'm using the wrong term. They are beveled on the back, they cannot slide forward. Did a 18x12 trench with "1 inch clean" (what I called drainage rock) under it for the foot and then drainage pipe, covered in "clean" (up about a foot) then pea gravel up to the bottom of the 2nd highest block behind it. You can kinda see it in the photos. The only place dirt actually touches the wall is the very top brick.

(Nothing but love dude I will take all the advice you wanna give)

 

[jamesvanderwulf]

My two dogs absolutely destroyed my back yard this spring. Paying to have it over seeded soon. Any dog advice for a digger?

Dogs are the worst. If you want a yard get rid of them...

 

[The Tradition]

Dogs are the worst. If you want a yard get rid of them...

Not all dogs are diggers, but digger dogs are definitely a problem.

Maybe you shouldn't leave them outside unsupervised?

Just a thought....

 

[millah_22]

Dogs are the worst. If you want a yard get rid of them...

I only let mine pee in the back where no one is going to see. He also doesn't dig. I can deal with some spots in the back if that's the trade-off having the best boy in the whole world, yes he is!

 

[jellyfish10]

Sorry I'm using the wrong term. They are beveled on the back, they cannot slide forward. Did a 18x12 trench with "1 inch clean" (what I called drainage rock) under it for the foot and then drainage pipe, covered in "clean" (up about a foot) then pea gravel up to the bottom of the 2nd highest block behind it. You can kinda see it in the photos. The only place dirt actually touches the wall is the very top brick.

(Nothing but love dude I will take all the advice you wanna give)

Looks like you did a nice job Dude.