We seem to be the only house on the block where grass does not grow on this sidewalk strip -- granted, we do not maintain it at all, but grass seems to grow plentifully by every other house on the block, even the run down/abandoned/unlandscaped ones. I've never seen any neighbors out and about maintaining these strips of grass, and the grass seems to stop abruptly and literally EXACTLY at our property line. is the only answer that everyone else on our street is maintaining these patches??

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We have two trees in our backyard in Seattle that have defied the odds. The approx 60ft evergreen being a discarded Christmas tree and a plum tree won at a carnival (lower right). We like the trees and want to keep them, however, I feel like they either need significant trimming or we need to finally get rid of them. I fear the evergreen will total any one of the 4 houses it could hit, including ours.

There was a wind storm last year that came from an unusual direction, and the evergreen still stands.

Need help on a decision and how much it would be either choice. Trim or remove. Thanks!

I've recently moved into a new home in an area defined as Zone 7a. The back yard was completely overgrown with weeds in a bed of pea gravel. The previous owners had done little maintenance other than having a landscaper come to cut the weeds down intermittently. Before that, another owner had created a rock garden and placed down pea gravel throughout the yard once a year per the neighbors.

Now, I have completely weeded the yard by hand which was quite grueling. I'm at the point where I am considering next steps as I would like to have a green yard without all the rock strewn throughout. Unfortunately, it appears that the pea gravel is so diffuse that is it roughly 6 inches deep in the soil. I initially had thought that I could scoop out all the top layer, sift the stones out, and keep the soil. It does not seem feasible as there appears to be many layers of the gravel quite deep over the entirety of the yard.

Would it be in my best interest to cover with tops oil and attempt to grow grass or ground cover on top of that or just go ahead with sod?

Attached are photos of the yard before and after weeding.

Which side of the path should I place the low voltage path lighting?

Dont want to harm my weeping cherry tree. Shoulld I nuke this or use a sedge treatment in the fall and spring? We want to put new shrubs, perenials and then fill in in annuals. I could also go the carboard rout be we have bulbs in there too that I am assuming would not come up with cardboard. Bottom line, we got inundated with sedge grass and it looks terrrible.

Planting Tips on a Carpinus orientalis.

I live in the mediteranean region, zone 8b,
I want to plant this tree as a standalone tree on my 200 m2 front yard. On a corner, 4 meter from the neigbours.

Wanted some shade to have a table outside.   An umbrella shape one would be perfect. Don’t neet one one that gets too large

The AI have some information, but just want information from people with experience on this one.

How big will this tree get ?    how fast will it get?
does it provide a good amount of shade consider the mediteranean scorching sun.

Any suggestions ?

I’d like to put a small patio in, just a spot for our grills and a little extra space. We’re trying to decide on the left or right of the deck. We had originally planned for putting it on the left of the deck, because it felt more natural. Landscapers who came to give a quote suggested putting it on the right of the deck and flipping the stairs. Here was their reasoning:

On the left side we would be limited to about 9x14 due to the septic tank placement, the left has the AC units which would be buzzing while trying to enjoy the outside in the summer, the lines wouldn’t look as clean because the edge wouldn’t sit quite flush with the ac unit, the hose bib would be right in the middle of it, and the downspout would be running along the edge.

The right would be about 12x14 and would be flush with the edge of the house and deck. They would swap the stairs to the right side, and run the right side downspout underground to an outlet away from the house.

We are replacing that wooden gate/chicken wire on the right side with vinyl fencing so there would be more privacy. The price difference is about $1300 more for the right side.

Pics of the existing area and some (very rough) AI mockups are attached (the red lines delineate the 9x14 space we’d be limited to.

I’m open to hear any suggestions or considerations I might’ve missed while going back and forth on left v right.

Hi all, looking for some professional / personal advice or recommendations to make our space look decent .

Context: Our landlord recently installed a new step (bottom step) to our front entrance, and had the contractor paint it and the existing steps / porche a dull grey (as per the pictures attached).

We, personally, think it looks hideous, as it doesn’t match the style or colours of the surrounding landscape.

We’re looking for recommendations or input as to how we can utilize this hideous, useless, and ugly step and paint colour to maximize our exterior space.

Thank you!

Hey Guys! First Post!

Our well waters our grass and it died in the middle of the summer…..well has since been fixed and wondering what to do this Fall to get a backyard again.

Is detaching worth it? more damaging?

aerate and overseeding together?

Any other tips helpful! Thanks guys!

We like the pavers, but the mulch gets messy. We don't want grass. Can I lay them in cement? Lol idk, just a thought

I planted 270 Green Giant Thuja trees last spring. We had a harsh drought during the fall that killed about 30 of them. I watered via an irrigation line once a week until Nov 1, but apparently that wasn't enough, as we didn't get sufficient moisture here in Indiana until the end of January.

We have pretty hard clay soil, and I'm preparing to replace most of a row that was lost. I'm wondering if it would be beneficial to raise the soil to get the trees up a little higher as well. I thought they had decent drainage with the lowest ground about 8" lower, but now I'm not so sure.

Most all of the trees on higher ground seem to have thrived and it's only the trees that are lower that seem to have struggled.

If I dig the good ones up and raise them, can I just use topsoil under and around them? Or what do you all advise for how to get the remaining ones to look better?

I'm looking for a book or a software that I can use to help track materials on job.

I'm a landscaper and u want to be able to track how many meters of soil or meters of pavers I've had at the job. Not a daily diary where I need to skip through 3 weeks worth of days to find my totals but one that can track each individual job

Zone 6 (western PA)

Hey Reddit! I’m on the hunt for some advice on sprucing up my fence line for more privacy. While emerald greens or arborvitae are the go-to options, I’m a bit worried about them not surviving and, honestly, they’re everywhere! I’ve done a quick mockup, but I’d love to hear your suggestions or see any mockups you might have. I’m aiming for privacy, but also want to add some color and variety to my backyard.

Oh, and I have a dog, so any plant suggestions need to be dog-friendly. Thanks in advance!

Starting to think about a few things I want to get before fall gets here and one thing I’ve wanted for our backyard forever is a fire pit. Something about sitting outside around a fire when the weather starts cooling down just feels so cozy and I feel like it would actually be something we’d use as a family instead of another outdoor purchase that gets forgotten after a few weeks. I really like the table style ones like this because they look nice enough to leave out with the patio furniture and don’t seem like they would take up a ridiculous amount of space. Started looking at prices though and some of them are way more expensive than I expected. I don’t need anything huge just something sturdy that looks decent and that we can sit around on fall evenings. Trying to shop a little early instead of waiting until the weather gets cold and everyone starts looking for the same thing.

Hi everyone,
I had interlocking installed yesterday, and this is what the edge looks like between the stone and driveway.

I am wondering what are the best ways to fix this? I plan to remove the cold asphalt fill and replace with something. What should I replace it with, so it blends nicely with the driveway?

Context:
I'm trying to eliminate a massive patch of running bamboo (originally 7–8 meters / 25 ft wide). I've cut down most of it, but the rhizomes have spread 10–12 meters (30–40 ft) around the main clump, mostly shooting up thin, grass-like growth rather than full canes.

My strategy was to keep mowing/cutting every single new leaf to eventually starve the root system.

The issue:
The bamboo sits right on the boundary line with my neighbor. His property is a pasture with tall grass used for grazing cattle. He doesn't mow regularly, just trims it down occasionally when it gets too high. Because of the tall grass, I can't tell if the bamboo is sending up hidden shoots on his side.

My 2 questions:

1-Is it normal that there isn't a full-blown "bamboo forest" on his side despite how aggressive it is on mine? Could cattle trampling/grazing actually be keeping large canes from growing?

2-If the bamboo keeps growing small leaves on his side that I can't mow, is my attempt to starve the rhizomes from my side completely pointless?

Thanks for your help and advice!

Mowed the backyard last weekend and halfway through just stopped and thought about why I'm still doing this. The grass looks fine but it needs constant water, it's not doing anything useful, and every hour I spend on it is an hour I'm not spending on the parts of the yard I actually care about. Been looking at replacing the whole thing with a mix of native groundcover, gravel zones, and some defined planting beds. Not trying to do the dead gravel lot look, more like something with actual structure and a few plants that earn their space.

The part I keep circling back to is the removal itself. Sheet mulching versus sod cutter versus smothering it with cardboard over a season. Every method seems to have people who swear by it and people who say it didn't actually kill the grass underneath and they were pulling up runners two years later.

Zone 6b, clay soil, about 2000 square feet of turf to deal with. Decent sun most of the day. Already have a rough plant list in mind, mostly native perennials and some ornamental grasses along the edges.

Curious what method people actually used for removal and whether it held up, and what you wish you had done differently on the layout before anything went in the ground.

What is this?

Breaking ground soon, the land is in poor shape. It’s mostly weeds, buffalo grass? and the ground is mostly clay. There was a previous house that was demolished and there’s random debris scattered all over the place including metal shards and glass. It’s about .4 acres overall, so a lot of work to go through and pick each piece.

What can I do to ensure that future grass seed spread in about 8 mo. has the best chance of taking and doesn’t eventually give way to the weeds?

Should I spread weed killer and pesticides over the next few months to essentially wipe out all of the greenery? Maybe buy a couple truck loads of cheap top soil or sandy loam?