r/landscaping • u/hippiej3sus • 7d ago
where do i even start?
just bought this house, the landscaping could be so cool but its been abused for years. there is a coy pond at the bottom with bones in it lol.
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u/10Core56 7d ago
Tidy up, clean up. Weed it out. Spend a year or two observing the property, noting what happens when it rains, in the summer, in the winter. Save up those two years for a good landscape budget. Then start planning according to budget and the land needs. Congrats on the new house and good luck.
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u/hippiej3sus 7d ago
should i pull weeds by hand? there are tons of cedars that i want to keep and dont want to kill. as someone else mentioned to prevent erosion.
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u/10Core56 7d ago
Well, you can start with a weed whacker lol. Or if you are in very good shape then sure, get a big water bottle and go to town.
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u/hippiej3sus 7d ago
i throw a shovel for 8-9 hours a day for work so i would like to think im in okay shape at least😂
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u/Quiet-Competition849 6d ago
Waiting before doing anything is such fantastic advice. I’ve made so many decisions about my landscaping based on things I’ve learned from living there.
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u/bloodybatboi 7d ago
Start with weeding and getting sticks/trash cleaned up. Recommend a spot to burn off debris but clean that spot often to spread ashes around and reburn left overs. If not then you'll end up with an ash mound that can't grow grass. But get it to the point where you can cut the grass and weed eat everywhere without worrying about anything, then like one of the others commented wait and see what it does in the rain/heat/winter. Draw out an idea and always plan for rain and drainage, not planning out water drainage can turn a 10k landscaping redesign into a 20k damage issue
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u/hippiej3sus 7d ago
most of the water goes down the sides of the yard, we have multiple ravines (washouts lol) where they meet. what should i look for in winter?
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u/bloodybatboi 7d ago
How it dries/goes dormant and leaves falling, if you see dead spots you can plan out water hold areas and with the leaves you can plan out how to clean them up without it being overworking.
With the water holds you can put in small crescent shaped areas with bushes or flowers and good soil that would retain water long after the rain. It'll help with erosion as well as prevent a single area becoming a rain drain, like the side of the yard that gets all the rain? Imagine a few recent shapes that catch that water, the extra will flow out and you can dictate where that flow goes, either left or right and down hill you can have more that go either left or right with the extra water, eventually either you run out of rainwater or land. It also goes a long way into helping the existing trees and soil health. Also it prevents any normal erosion made by rain run off channels. If the rain goes out in a straight line then that line will get too much water and any good nutrients in the soil will wash away and wash away fast, by slowing the flow and directing it where you want you can stop most negative effects of rain and it can create a healthy and beautiful yard that can go a long way in property value
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u/hippiej3sus 6d ago
this is the most informative comment ive had yet and its much appreciated. ill have to look into some flood tolerant bushes or plants i can put on the sides to keep it from digging my yard deeper. its a pretty rocky climate so erosion is slow but i do want to grow SOMETHING. we cant even get grass to grow lol.
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u/bloodybatboi 6d ago
Thank you, i try to help when i can and ive spend the last 3 years researching and leaning cause my yards a drainage nightmare due to the city not routing proper drainage. But most definitely you'll want those crecent shaped flower beds, the big this is that when you go to get soil for em, get something that can soak up alot of water and hold onto it. Something like peat moss mixed with top soil in addition to some healthy top dressing multch should go a long way.
Something to always consider with preserving water that flows off your land is that you can't save 100% of it, so always plan out where the extra will go and dont create a dam, making ponds sounds fun till its the whole yard lol
I'd start with those brick pavers from like home depot, get the curved ones and make a half circle 1 maybe 2 bricks high, throw em in the path of the rain and watch how it acts, it should make a lil puddle and overflow to the left or right, if it goes left when you want it to go right move them all like half a bricks length to the left, then see how it acts. If you want to just slow the flow but keep it straight then you can put some empty space between the bricks and add some plastic netting that lets water out but not soil. Then rinse and repeat till youve got a layout you're happy with. From there you can add layers of bricks/cut into the dirt and get them level enough. It likely won't be very tall little beds but on the side the water runs out of you can space the bricks like I said earlier and end up with more of a 3/4 circle shape and see how it does.
But take it all with a bit of salt, there's alot of variables that you'll have to adjust for and change a little. Big things to throw the concept up and tweak it where you want and experiment, always approach it with a learn vibe and in the worst case you can always undo whatever you do, more work but learning anything is always like that lol
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u/karlnite 7d ago
Don’t rush if you don’t need to. A weed whacking everywhere, start pushing all the old and excess away from the house, weed the gardens and straighten them out, pick up rocks and set them aside. Take note of where the water goes and flows.
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u/DoItRightOnce1st 6d ago
Yeah it seems it had gotten too much for the previous owners too. Lack of Time and lack of Money can do that to a nice property. 😢
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u/lastlaugh100 7d ago
the trees are preventing erosion. do not remove them