r/landscaping

We have a metal roof, no gutters; they're a project that's out-of-budget until we get other things fixed (we have a beehive in our attic, for instance). Zone 9b with frequent rain.

This house has been a fixer-upper to say the least. I know the common-sense answer is "get gutters, then extend to street" but it just doesn't fit into the budget until next year.

I'll post more photos in the comments. Would a french drain work here, or would I be in way over my head taking that on myself?

Extra details:

• Single story home, concrete
• Built early 70s
• One city storm drain at end of cul-de-sac, road slopes towards there
• No basement (zone 9b, FL)

EDIT: Thank you for your advice, everyone! Short-term, I will be looking to get two rain barrels with spigots. In the meantime, I'll be in Youtube University learning to install my own gutters. I wasn't aware of how inexpensive the material was, because I'm so accustomed to every hired job costing an arm & a leg in my area.

As the title suggests, I have a massive side yard on the new property that my wife and I purchased. There used to be a pool here and there were two outdoor receptacles attached to wooden posts that we had removed now it is just a barren wasteland.

I need help figuring out what I should do here any tips, suggestions, thoughts? All are encouraged.

Edit: I should also add that we do not want a pool, they’re way too expensive these days!

Edit: Located in southern NJ in a region called the pine barrens, which are notorious for sandy soil(like we have)

I've been struggling to kill them for a couple years now, but I'm really sick of the eyesore. What can I do at this point? Is there a way to get any of the fence down to fix this without having to hire help?

Edit some details: I'm confident I can kill the trees. I don't want ugly dead 4ft stumps for the next 50 years. 😭 I'm trying to build a beautiful garden in the back yard.

Also, the privacy fence doesn't enclose their yard. It stops at a small retaining wall about 3ft tall which would not be enough to keep my dog in.

My fence faces outward so I can't unhook and pull the chains toward me to get around

If anyone comes back to this post later: This video demonstrates how I think I'll be approaching the fence issue:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QW_9PlEjym4

Thanks everyone for posting.

I have this much waste plus three more bins of small branches/twigs. Could it be used as mulch or firewood by someone local who might pick it up? Looking for the best most conscious thing to do

Terrible storm destroyed my trailer. Pretty big set back for my lawn care business but I must push on!

After a few years of being unable to handle the weed overgrowth in our backyard, my wife and I finally ripped everything out, and got all the compacted soil tilled.

The question is: what are the next steps?

Our plan is to have a patio poured, and a small area of grass/clover for our dog on the left half of the yard. Then to mulch the other side and build raised garden beds.

We have 5 drain holes that we are unsure how to plan around. We know that levelling and grading needs to happen. We’re just not entirely sure how best to do that.

Photos are before and after scraping and tilling.

Any/all advice is welcome!

Edit: forgot to say, Northern CA (Sacramento) zone 9A.

Im in southern new hampshire. My builder is on the final stages of spreading loam on my property, there is about 77,000 sq ft total.

They are recommending to hydroseed immediately but my concern is that its to hot mid summer.

The final payment with the bank includes the loam and seed so I understand why they want to get it done sooner then later.

My well only produces a little over 5 gallons a minute and I was told that it wouldn't be enough to water my property long term because of how large it is.

My builder is saying it will be fine as long as I water 3 times a week and fertilize, but I'm concerned he just wants the final payment. He aslo told me that if I wait untill fall that I will have to pay them to remove all the weeds and harley rake it again.

Im worried that I won't be able to to keep up with the watering and that the new grass will be scorched.

He said the decision is up to me, but as soon as they hydroseed I'm responsible for what ever comes next.

Any advice or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

What do you all think?

EDIT: Thank you for all the responses. Right now the soil is pretty well compacted as it was moved with a bulldozer. I asked my builder if we could hold off until fall and he responded by saying he estimates it would be another 5-10k to remove all the weeds in the fall and to rework and touch up the loam then. It sounds ridiculous to me, but is there any truth to it?

Can anybody help me understand this plot. We are looking to buy a house and this is what we got for septic. It’s a 1 acre lot that’s uneven we want to level and add a retaining wall and potential pool is that even possible with this layout?

Recently moved into a house and discovered during hard rain storms the downspout that cover around 1,500sq ft of roof at the front of my house overflows violently during very heavy rain. I had underground 4” corrugated pipe. After not finding any blockages in the corrugated I had a landscape company quote $5,200 to dig up about 60 feet of corrugated pipe and replace with 4” pvc as a proposed solution. After I got over the shock of the quote I decided to tackle the job myself for about $500 in parts.

Well after spending all weekend digging and replacing the entire run with 4”PVC, it’s much better, but still overflows. I’m looking for suggestions on how to improve this? Do I connect into the main line at a 45 degree to help with flow? Do I split the main flow and y into the abandoned corrugated pipe to handle extra volume? Is it time to move? Or do I need to call the landscape company? Thanks for any help / insights.

Some landscaping I did

Hello! I’m helping supervise a project at my boss’ house this summer, and the contractors arrived today. There was a young Japanese maple (seen behind and to the right of the excavator) that they were meant to move, but while the excavator operator was moving it, downward pressure made the trunk crack, and a large branch fell off of it. To my eyes, the tree was still 75% intact, and the operator moved it aside. Shortly afterwards, the operator crushed the remains of the tree that he’d « gently » excavated, at which point I went out to ask what he was doing. He insisted that the tree was beyond saving at that point. While I don’t have a picture of the damage before it was crushed, is it right to assume that a tree with a crack down its trunk is as good as dead? Thank you!

Hi everyone,

I recently finished installing this stone pathway (photo attached), and overall I’m really happy with how it turned out. The only thing bothering me now is the black plastic landscape edging that’s holding the gravel in place. It’s more visible than I expected, especially from certain angles.

I’m looking for ideas to make it look more natural and finished without spending a ton of money.

A few things I’m looking for:

● Budget-friendly (I’m trying to avoid expensive metal edging, stone borders, or large trees/shrubs.)

● Permanent or long-lasting solution.

● Low maintenance if possible.

● Open to either small plants/ground cover or some kind of short decorative border/fence.

● The pathway gets good sun for most of the day.

Has anyone dealt with this before? I’d love to see pictures if you’ve done something similar, or hear what worked well (or what you’d avoid).

Thanks in advance!

Hi, my 87yo MIL lives with us in an attached apartment. She enjoys gardening and we let her do it on the property. Ever since the Alzheimer's she isn't very good at it and kills most things, but usually just from overwatering.

Anyway a week or two ago I guess she sprayed "the poison" (she found our ortho groundclear we use on the outskirts of the property for brush control) on some elephant vine plant growing on our deck to get rid of it.

The problem is she sprayed it when it was very windy and it got all over our lilac bush (pic 1), nothing at all is growing (actually dying)nin the flower garden (pic 2) and to top it all off after she sprayed it, it rained hard and I think the rain washed it all downhill into our yard (pic 3).

So... i know this stuff lasts quite a while. Is it safe to assume this whole area is going to be completely dead for a few years? Or is there anything we can do?

I guess the pro move is bury the sprinkler heads in gravel so they don't settle later

I had a professional landscaper pitch a design for a decorative/privacy fence. Design was great, execution is lacking. These are 4x4s, secured to a 2x4 with brackets and cemented 12-18" deep into the ground. 2.5 weeks later, boards are twisting, warping, and some are loose at the ground. The fence doesn't need to hold up anything or keep anything out, it's just decorative and for a little privacy.

We've shown the landscaper the issues, but haven't heard anything since. So, I'm worried I might have to fix this myself.

My initial instinct is to cut the warped boards off near the ground, bore holes in the base and a new 4x4, then use rebar and a filler/adhesive to attach them together. There would be a seam, but I think that it might hold. It would eventually be sort of covered up by plants etc, once the twisting issues are remedied.

Disappointed with the work, but hoping I can salvage this concept, since we really like the look. Any suggestions or ideas on the best way to fix this? Still hoping we hear back from the landscaper, but I want to be prepared to fix it myself if I have to.

Thanks in advance for any help or ideas!!

Abount once a week for the past month I spot this fungus. Its taken out two of my plants so far. Seems to only grow around my olants. Used a reputable mulch company with one of their higher end brands of mulch. Laid it down in May. My thought is i let the last bit of mulch sit too long in my driveway due to life and it got some mold in it. The Picture This app is saying its crusted fungus.

What could be the reason for it? Any way to prevent it?