r/landscaping

How would you all recommend I get this patio looking better

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!

Hoping to find a DIY solution to this problem. Any advice to redirect water coming from uphill so that it discharges toward right hand side of yard instead of directly below the stairs?

I have plenty of bricks that I could use to shore up along the fence but I am a novice when it comes to grading and drainage. Any advice would be very much appreciated. Thank you in advance!

My wife and I have just purchased our first home in coastal Georgia and are super excited to make it our own. As you can see, we’ve got lots of yard to take care of and mess with. The current plan is to eventually make an outdoor hangout/patio space where the square pavers lead.

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!

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.

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

Hi there - I recently DIY installed a french drain- did a lot of research and tried to do it all by the book. 

After a week of very heavy rain I am seeing a steady flow of water from the discharge end, but primarily from below the discharge pipe... not out of the pipe itself. 

I only needed to drain about 25-30' along my house and then carry the water another 25' to the road, where it empties by a rain garden. 

I connected 25' of high octane (8 hole perforated pipe) to the final 25' foot run of solid black corrugated pipe

Drain is about 16"-24" deep, (shallowest at the start) with a minimum 1" drop for every 6 feet from start to end. 

After digging my trench I ran a hose for a while to ensure water would flow properly, and repeated once I laid gravel.

Process: 
Trench,
Non-woven geotextile fabric, 
A couple of inch bed of 57 gravel (maintaining negative slope)
Perforated pipe laid and covered with 57 gravel up to about 4" from the top of the trench, 
Burrito-wrapped pipe and gravel in fabric, landscape-stapled it all closed and buried with the last bit of top soil.

Ground is very heavy clay soil. 

At discharge pipe section I laid non-woven geotextile fabric lining the trench, laid a bit of gravel under the pipe as a bedding, and went ahead and went ahead and burrito wrapped and stapled this as well. 

This section only used a bed of gravel, I didn’t fill the trench with gravel since it was just for discharge and the pipe was solid.

(I didn't cap the end of my pipe yet - I was waiting to make sure it was all working)

--- 
It has been a very rainy couple of weeks, heavy rain all night, the drain is steadily discharging water, as shown in the photos, but it doesn't seem like the water is entering/exiting the discharge pipe, but probably draining from the gravel layer below...

Am I going to have issues here?

Basement has a sump pump but it barely kicked on the past week, so I thought the drain must be doing some heavy lifting. However, when I checked I didn’t see much water flow from French drain discharge end.

I am concerned that I made a mistake somewhere in the process.

After last nights rain the sump is kicking on frequently, and as you can see I am getting a fair bit of discharge, just not out of my pipe…

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

Maybe it's a stupid question, but every time I cover something with a tarp I feel like it's wetter than if I didn't.

The contractor left a ton of cedar fence boards from cutting and shaping the fence and I'm not ready to use them this year.

I was going to lay down a few pieces of scrap wood perpendicular, then stack the boards tightly together and cover with a tarp?

https://www.the-sun.com/news/16755156/man-builds-realistic-mini-greek-village-garden/

It seems so pointless to have tree roots rip open asphalt when it's too close. Easy fix would be to put a steel mesh cylinder or something similar around the tree when planted. Doesn't have to be too deep, just enough that roots won't grow into the asphalt.

Is there a reason why this is not done?

I recently had a very well reviewed and recommended landscaper do work for me.

My wife and I specifically asked to have the existing rocks removed and replaced with mulch. After pulling some weeds I immediately noticed the old landscaping rock is still there maybe 1 1/2" deep.

They are closed now, but I just wanted a reality check to see if this is normal and I'm overreacting before I call them.

Unfortunately the proposal just talks about placing mulch, landscaping bricks and a couple plants, so I don't have much recourse. Just a lesson to request every little thing be on the proposal.

I brought it home and cleaned it up for the wife.

$3,000 in labour for a landscaping/foundation project?

A little backstory: I met this guy at a museum while we were both there with our kids. We got talking and eventually realized we had a mutual connection—his best friend was actually my best friend from the military.
His house had a badly cracked foundation that needed to be repaired. While the foundation work was being done, he decided he wanted to add a 10x10 ft extension to the house.
I felt bad for the situation and wanted to help him out, so I rented an excavator and did the excavation. The excavator was on his dime because I didn’t want to put my own machine through that kind of work. At the time, I figured I’d just charge him whatever he felt my time was worth.
From there, the project kind of snowballed.
There was a large amount of clay and other material that needed to be removed from the property. Instead of simply hauling everything away, we decided to make use of the material and build a two-tier retaining wall, along with stairs.

I also:
Built the retaining walls
Built stairs using lumber that was already available
Moved several massive rocks and incorporated them into some rough steps on the other side
Installed French drainage
Installed deadmen for the retaining wall
Installed Sonotube footings
Graded an area for him to eventually install pavers
Prepared the lower area for his shed
Moved my own mini excavator and tractor to the property
Hauled materials and debris with my truck and dump trailer
Paid for my own fuel
I’ve now had my equipment sitting/working at the property for roughly a month.
The issue is that he currently thinks my labour is worth $3,000, while he has paid for the materials, which are around $3,500.

I honestly feel like I massively underpriced this.
I’m a contractor, so I have overhead, equipment costs, fuel, insurance, truck expenses, dump trailer expenses, etc. Even though I’m doing a lot of the work myself, my time still has a value.
I understand that part of this is my own fault because I didn’t establish a proper price upfront. I was trying to help someone out because of the connection we had through the military, and I honestly thought he was keeping track of how much work was actually going into this.
For context, I’m also apparently going to be doing the paver installation afterward.
My understanding has always been that landscaping/hardscaping labour can be a significant portion of the overall project cost—often something like 60–65% of the total, depending on the job. Minimum
So I’m wondering:
Am I completely out to lunch here expecting substantially more than $3,000 for the labour, equipment use, hauling, and time involved?
I know I should have quoted the job properly from the beginning. I’m mainly trying to figure out what would be a fair value for the work that’s already been done.