Landscape my sad backyard
ColoradoLime - Zone 5a
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
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l pinkmountain
7 years agoemmarene9
7 years agoRelated Discussions
hiring a landscape company for a lot of work to my backyard
Comments (11)The very first thing you have to do is have a solid plan in place to handle your erosion problem. It would be a monumenetal and expensive mistake to start any type of landscape construction project without first having your erosion plan as well as drainage plan in place. If this is a large job as you have stated then you should have a decent set of plans showing all your built structures along with the materials specification sheet and construction specifications. If you do not, you are not ready to start your project. How will your contractor know how to bid and effectively build your project if he does not have any specifications written up on the product that he is suppose to supply ? In regards to your contractor asking for 50 percent down. That would not fly in my state if you were a licensed and bonded contractor. It would be against the law. As a contractor in California you can only request 10 % of the cost of the job prior to starting the job. Once the job is started you can then negotiate for any type of payment schedule that you work out with the client. 50% down is a poor amount for the homeowner to negotiate. When a contractor asks for this amount it is a tell tale sign that they do not have established accounts at the local supply houses, and one has to ask the question WHY does a reputable contractor not have established accounts. It also sends a message that the contractor does not have operating overhead in his account. _ Not a good sign. As a landscape designer I work with all of my clients to negotiate a fair and reasonable contract , in this situation I would still be sitting firmly at the negotiation table. This would not be a satisfactory contract for my client to sign....See MoreSad day - Found a dead hawk in my back yard..
Comments (1)Not pleasant. Found one in my yard a while ago. Looked like it had been hit by a grenade. Some deaths are caused by other species of hawks wiping out the competition. I can take that better than I can the notorious cats....See MoreISO: Patio and landscaping in oddly angled backyard?
Comments (13)If cars not parked in garage, what is garage used for? Oh, the usual embarrassing things. Mostly storage and clutter, but also my de facto workshop (table saw, workbench, miter saw…). Every so often I say “This is ridiculous!” and try to clean it out. But wait, I need that pile of snow tires, I still need my large tile saw until I finish the backsplash, can’t do without a lawnmower, where else can we put the bicycles, etc., etc. Very frustrating. Even if you don't really NEED privacy, I think it would make a better looking, more comfortable space to have some plantings/structures that create a SENSE of privacy, [snip]. Oh, me too! I did not mean to imply that privacy was not desirable. The way you describe the possibilities sounds fabulous and attractive! What kind of garden is the one between walk and fence? And you wish to continue with that activity? I wish I could say that the gardens are treated with benign neglect, but I am afraid it doesn’t quite rise to the level of “benign.” ;) It was along that fence that we had a stand of gray dogwoods from a previous owner. As I mentioned, they were very unruly, and we did not even like them that much, and our neighbors complained bitterly about the suckers. So I took them out over the last two years, and there is essentially nothing but weeds there now, except for one French lilac. If we decide to put anything there, it should be something low maintenance. I do not feel strongly in favor (or disfavor!) of putting something there — whatever makes sense! You didn’t ask, but, at present, there are the following well-established plantings. Along the side of the house is a bed of hostas. Along the back of the house there are ferns. Along the property line with the white house, there is a dense bed of tiger lilies abutting a dense bed of daylilies, with a couple of cute interlopers (clematis, bleeding hearts). All of these were there before we moved in nearly 20 years ago, and have survived under our shameful neglect! I am not tied to any of them. If you are an inexperienced bobcat operator, it will be likely that you will create much more damage to the grading operation (and maybe some other things!) than you will be likely to accomplish or fix. A word to the wise is sufficient! I will heed your advice on this. I will look forward to getting a grading plan done by someone who knows what he or she is doing! The space to the right of garage as you're looking from the house ... how is that used now? Great question! That is indeed our space, but it “feels like” our neighbors’ space. About 10 years ago, I planted a row of dwarf Korean lilacs. I am not married to these, so if you can see a better option, I am open to it! (Parenthetically, in a fairer universe, the wedge next to my garage would belong to the eastern neighbors, and the wedge next to the western neighbors’ garage would belong to me, but it was not to be…. The western neighbors do not use their wedge, so I did ask if they would be interested in selling that area to us (or leasing or selling an easement), but they decided not to pursue this idea.) Thanks again for your time, Yardvaark....See MoreNeed help with sad backyard.
Comments (36)".... it would have to be considerably higher ..." The deck? The deck elevation has to match the floor level or be below it. It's the ground that can change. Is it not the case that there is an overall downward slope of the yard in the general direction of the driveway entrance? If so, one could conclude that steps from the porch to the ground must be higher at position B than what would be needed at position A. While either position can be raised to minimize the elevation difference, it requires more material and effort to raise position B than it does to raise position A. Consider that steps located at the latter position require that either the grade be raised more, or that a user descending to patio level must first go to a slightly lower elevation in order to end up at a slightly higher elevation ... which would be intrinsically flawed. It makes more sense to place steps at position A, raise the grade there slightly to minimize the elevation difference, and have an overall gentler descent to the yard. But the real benefit is being able to grill and lounge on the the same floor level as the house without having to descend to the yard level. While I can't actually measure the elevation differences, based on the picture alone it looks that position A could be easily made to require 2-3 steps less (12" - 18") than position B....See Morelaceyvail 6A, WV
7 years agoColoradoLime - Zone 5a
7 years agoYardvaark
7 years agoedlincoln
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agokitasei
7 years agoColoradoLime - Zone 5a
7 years agokitasei
7 years agoNHBabs z4b-5a NH
7 years agoYardvaark
7 years agomarshaaa (5b CO, Castle Rock)
7 years agol pinkmountain
7 years agoemmarene9
7 years agoVR Home and Garden
7 years agoUser
7 years agoYardvaark
7 years ago
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l pinkmountain