Want to replace lawn with xeriscape, need advice
andrewm2211
9 years ago
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andrewm2211
9 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
Advice on Lawn Replacement
Comments (4)If there is an alternative to scrapping the whole thing and starting over, I'd be interested. Bunch of people around me have very full lawns that are meticulously mowed, trimmed and edged. And by full I mean full of weeds. Weeds that look like grass, weeds that look like salad greens, weeds that look like flowers. But it's all at the same height with perfect 90 degree edges. That's an option. Looks like the lawn was really not maintained for a long time. For every weed you see there could be hundreds of weed seeds just waiting for the right conditions so I think you'd be better off laying sod....See MoreLawn service has girdled my trees. Need advice on replacement.
Comments (15)Personally, I don't like the looks of either, and at the least it would take 2-3 years to "heal", but could fail some time down the line. Which would mean replacement then, the responsible party may then claim no responsibility, and your delay in having a new plant established to do what you wanted in the first place. In addition, in the second pic there appears to be very small buds growing from just at ground level, if so, I take that as a bad sign the the tree is basically in panic mode and believes it is dying. Lastly, I see no sign of callus forming in either pic (maybe I'm missing it). In short I would try for replacement of them all. The responsible party can go to a tree farm and buy HEALTHY replacements there, assuming they actually have a business license. Again, you can bet yours aren't the only one's in this condition, and the responsible party needs motivation to do their job correctly. JMHO Arktrees...See MoreXeriscape or low-water lawn?
Comments (3)First off: improve your soil. Seriously. Good soil holds water better, and your plants will establish themselves MUCH faster. In our many garden beds, there was one bed I didn't improve - and it is noticeably more thirsty and harder to care for. And mulch - the water you use will stay in the soil and not evaporate. Using soaker hoses with quick-couplers (with caps or even just a plastic bag twist-tied over it to prevent insects from crawling in to bed down inside) will make your water dollar go amazingly far. Group your plants according to water needs, too. It really helps! Remember that no matter what you put in - lawn, xeriscape, flowers - it MUST be watered in regularly for the first 1-2 years to establish itself properly. Not doing this will either kill the plant outright or retard growth. Do not sprinkle your garden from above. It's wasteful, time-consuming, and most plants don't actually like it. Deep soakings and letting the soil dry out between waterings is how most plants prefer it. I am so not a xeriscaper! Mind you, I'm in a zone 17 though, with more temperate summers due to the fog belt. So it's a little easier for us to get through the summers without massive amounts of water. I'm a cottage-style gardener, and there are many plants that take very modest watering yet continue to put on a good show through our dry summers. OTOH, we have a good-sized urban lot with well over 2000 sq. ft. of fully planted garden beds - evergreen and flowers all year round. I water every 1-2 weeks in summer, depending on the weather. Because we didn't do the landscaping for a decade (we were the ugly house in the neighborhood, sigh) I was able to exactly calculate how much water costs the garden takes over our indoor use. It added $10-15/monthly to our bills in summer, and of course I don't water in winter unless things are really dry. All these photos are from July 2007. This is just to demonstrate that you can have an amazing variety of beautiful plants, with some planning and proper soil prep. Front: Backyd nearest the house: Backyd furthest from the house (it's divided into two halves, totaling about 45'W and 80'L): Sunny south side: Shady north side: Here is a link that might be useful: EBMUD book: Plants for a Dry Landscape...See MoreHow to Switch From Lawn to Xeriscape?
Comments (9)Humster - If you're still interested . . . I've taken out 2 large areas of grass in my yard since a severe drought here (SE Colorado)in 2002. For one area I used Round-up repeatedly over the summer. I did not remove the sod, as I thought it would retain moisture better and didn't want to disturb the roots of the crab apple trees planted in the area. In the fall I put in many hundreds of species tulips, crocus, Iris reticulata and grape hyacinth. The following May, I installed buffalo grass plugs. My experience with that area proved that I should have waited longer to make sure all the weedy grass was dead. I continue to have a problem with weeds because the buffalo grass does not form a dense turf to crowd out the weeds. Over all, though, I am please with the drought tolerance and amount of maintenance - mowing 4 - 5 times per year and watering about every 2 weeks. The second area I killed out the grass with RoundUp and waited over a year, spot treating as necessary. Then dug up any persistant roots and thatch. I then put in flagstone pathways and xeric perennials. I agree with jrod about using High Country Gardens. Their web site is excellant and very imformative. You might be able to find some of the same plants offered more cheaply locally. I order hard to find species from HCG regularly. I used pea-gravel to mulch my wild flower garden. I especially like it because it was cheap, the color coordinated with the stone already in my yard and gravel encourages wild flowers to self-seed. Diane...See MorePyewacket
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9 years agolast modified: 9 years agoUser
9 years agolast modified: 9 years agoPyewacket
9 years agolast modified: 9 years agoandrewm2211
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