Advice needed re new 'garden' ... how to level yard? photos
fpmom
10 years ago
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deviant-deziner
10 years agoYardvaark
10 years agoRelated Discussions
Just Moved, New Yard, Need Help - Photos
Comments (12)I really envy you your sweeping backyard. If it were me, I'd focus on some natural planting along the back that I could view from the deck. I'd muck around by the creek, cut down the tree of heavan (ailanthus) and plant red maple, pin oak, sycamore, basswood, hemlock, river birch, sweetgum, nyssa sylvatica (common name escapes me, maybe black gum?) and silver maple. Some lovely specimen trees to look at, many with interesting winter bark. Then I'd plant some understory flowering shrubs--native rhodies (the carolinia ones, can't remember exactly, they smell great), witch hazel, amelanchier, sweetbay magnolia, spicebush, viburnums, etc. Then underplant with some pretty spring bulbs. I'd be vigilant to keep the poison ivy at bay. wood chip it, etc. Then sit back on my porch with some lemonade and watch the birds at the feeder. Up by the deck I'd plant some persian lilacs for the heavanly fragrance. A little grove of japanese maples and japanese white pine because I think those trees are gorgeous to look at. Then a big apple tree. Someday I might put a brick patio at the bottom of the deck, with a pergola over it, with a climbing rose and wild clematis providing shade. My cousin has a similar back deck with a pergola, and the wild clematis does a good job of cascading over it. My reasoning for doing decorative trees and shrubs and a more natural landscape is once they get started, much less time spent fussing with them than perrenials....See Moreneed yard advice we r new
Comments (7)Oh how I wish I could see my yard. I don't think spring will ever get here. There are forums here for anything you want to know that is garden/yard related. Once you get the info you need on grass,you can then hop over to maybe the landscape design to get some ideas on where to go next. If you'd like to put in a small perennial garden,then go to the perennial forum etc. etc. A good thing might be to spend a little time just browsing all the different forums to get a feel for how some of them are set up and the things they offer you.Maybe a good place to start is the Louisiana/Mississippi forum. You may feel at home there for awhile and then start visiting other forums as well. Be sure to stop in here though and let us know how it's all going. Here is a link that might be useful: Louisiana/Mississippi...See MoreNew house, new yard. Yard needs help!
Comments (7)I was thinking about that 165gallon pond... You might want to make it above grade for two reasons - having an edge to sit on thankfully while trailing your fingers; and not having to hack through a bazillion tree roots to install it. You may need to think about either a leaf net or a cover for autumn when the leaves come down in bulk. I have a pool cover of wire netting over mine - to keep out the swamp hens and hedgehogs - and it also catches most of the trees' leaves as well. I agree about the chain link fence - and it does seem to have attractive uprights. However - can you easily get behind it to weed? Or are you going to pay the 'fibro price' for pulling and tugging in an awkward position? Thinking of bee-friendly plants for dappled light - forget-me-not (Myosotis)is great in spring (and an oh dear! if your dog has a long coat but they are easily combed out), Dicentra, Heuchera, Hosta, Clematis - which could do well in one of the lower trees, Prunella. And the simpler forms of Dahlia are much-visited, as are Buddleias. My old dog was always fond of shady 'scrapes' under shrubs or ornamental grasses. Or the middle of the Iris innominata...:-( The wooden decking was popular, too. If you find your tree roots rapidly colonising any garden beds you make you may have to either make raised beds with a barrier layer and above ground drainage points - or move to container growing. They might be why your yard has hungry sandy soil and weeds. The tree looks a bit like a birch of some kind. (Secondary guess would be a flowering cherry.)...See MoreNeed advice re gardening with ticks!
Comments (27)Woody, you need to get rid of the chipmunks. They are a carrier of deer ticks, possibly more so than deer. Where there's two or three, there's so many more behind them. Gosh, they breed like crazy! We've gotten at least 75 this year, and that's only when we see about six at any one time. They just keep coming! NH is one of the worst states for Lyme, so it's pretty serious here. We have a son with a genetic disorder, so we have gone so far as to spray each year for ticks and mosquitoes. I'm not a fan of chemicals, but we can't take any risks. I've watched my garden over these years and still see all sorts of bees, including honeybees, butterflies, dragonflies, etc. No ticks or mosquitoes though. I actually had a therapist tell me that some in the naturopath community up here think spraying is a good idea, even though it is chemical, compared to the risks of so many tick and mosquito borne diseases that are out there. We also have Triple E...deaths associated with it in NH. My mom recently met with a company that sprays for ticks, and they have issues with chiggers (seriously, that would be grounds for me to move! LOL!) and they have been applying a natural spray mainly consisting of garlic. They have seen a great reduction of ticks. Whenever I've worked in their garden I would have multiple ticks on me throughout the day, and many times find them on me on the plane ride home! Yikes! So for them to say they haven't had any ticks on them since this garlic treatment started makes me think it must really work. Seems to keep deer away too. Our spray regimen does as well because there are aromatic oils in it. If you check with a local pest company they might have organic sprays that might be worth looking into. Over the course of a season it is quite expensive though. But, if you don't pull ticks off you regularly after working in the garden, maybe you don't really have a major tick problem? We started spraying when every time I came out of multiple areas of the garden I'd have four or five ticks crawling on me. And I wasn't even working in tall grasses or woods. I guess the good thing about Lyme is that you have a bit of a warning with the bullseye, so there is time to get meds before running into real trouble. Deer ticks are tiny so tick checks are so important. Although, I have such a head of hair (I suppose much like your dog, only blonde!), I don't think I'd ever be able to find any ticks on my head........ Good luck with whatever you decide to do. T2D (Susan)...See Moreyin49
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