Help with installing landscape lighting equipment for my front yard.
Martin B
5 years ago
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Martin B
5 years agoRelated Discussions
Help w/ front yard landscaping, tree taking all water..
Comments (7)I think the bed is a nice shape as it is; if you put separate circles around everything on the property it will look like you have a case of circle-itis, or perimeteritis as we used to call it around here. A disorder that drives you to compulsively make circles of plants around everything, leaving you devoid of other ideas. A shape that is even more independent of the pole and tree might be even better, but given what you have, especially with that cute little elf standing in front of it, I would leave well enough alone. As for the growing conditions, I too am skeptical that the tree roots, at that size, are really at fault. More likely, or at least an aggravating factor, is that rain is just not getting to the ground under the tree in summer, so watering would be required. Or, you could thin the tree canopy with some pruning which would also help to ensure the tree is developing an attractive basic shape as it grows. What kind of tree is it? Some have more aggressive roots than others. Growing conditions under trees are actually often tricky (as we've pointed out in your spruces thread), and sometimes beds away from trees is the best option. But trees have to have something under them, and some will outcompete even grass. It's always a balancing act. The choices for this bed are, as pointed out above, to either change the plants, or water enough to sustain the plants you have. If you are on water restrictions there are ways to use grey water from the house, or you could have a rain barrel. Hostas are funny plants - they are actually pretty drought tolerant once established, and a lot of them like quite a bit of sun. But most of them can't take both sun and drought. KarinL...See MoreFront Yard Landscaping Help
Comments (5)Geographically, where are you? How about closer pictures ... from curb & beyond ... and one that shows planting in front of face of house ...? How about a good picture of the tree lilac? (Take from best angle; show trunk structure and canopy.) "The Eastern Hemlock has been engulfed in the ivy and throws of the symmetry... " Symmetry where? It does not show in the picture so please provide one that explains what you mean. Why is the far end of the ivy path not lined up with the entrance door? Are you able to use Round-up? Do you have yard tools and equipment?...See MoreLandscape Ideas Needed. My front yard is sad : )
Comments (6)The lawn is the easy part. Post this picture in the Lawn Care forum to get a head start. It is likely too late to do a great renovation, but you could drop a mix of fescue, rye, and Kentucky bluegrass as a start. But lets start with the soil. You probably hate it. If you think you need more topsoil, you don't. If anything I might be inclined to remove some of the crown in the yard to improve drainage toward the street. With a basement the last thing you want to do is create a dam that backs up rain and melting snow into the house. If you look at the bricks on the house, there should be a bottom brick. The bottom of that brick is the sill of the house. Measure down 4 inches and that is where the top of the soil should be. If you have soil higher than 4 inches below the sill, then consider removing some. I see houses every day where the owners have brought in topsoil to "improve" the soil. That doesn't work. New soil is not better soil. Regardless of whether you remove soil or leave it all, it can be improved. This soil looks desiccated which is very hard on the microbes in the soil. It is the microbes that develop a healthy soil. Get 2 hoses, 2 turbo-type oscillator sprinklers, and a Y type splitter for your hose faucet. Also get a hose end sprayer that has a bottle for applying liquids. Put about 4-5 ounces of shampoo into the sprayer bottle and fill it with water. Spray the shampoo over the yard evenly until the bottle is empty. Then it is time to water that shampoo in. Arrange the hoses and sprinklers to cover the lawn on full sweep. Then put out tuna cans to catch the water around the yard. Time how long it takes to fill all the tuna cans. For my oscillator it takes 8 full hours, so you're in this for awhile. If you see runoff at any point, immediately stop watering and let the moisture soak into the soil for 15 to 30 minutes. Then restart the watering and the timer. Stop as often as needed to prevent runoff. When the cans are full stop the timer. The time on the timer is the time you will be watering in the future unless or until you install underground sprinklers. The shampoo followed by the deep watering is all you need to do to reawaken the soil microbes. If you want to make them really happy, apply an organic fertilizer. Organic fertilizers feed the microbes and keep your soil healthy. This will give your yard a huge boost for whatever grass or planting you do in the future. Once you have an inch of water in the soil, that might be the last time you need to water this year. You should see the existing grass respond as well as old and new weeds. That is all good. If you do not seed grass this fall, like immediately, you should know that spring is a poor time to seed new grass. Why? Because spring is when the summer annual weeds are sprouting. Crabgrass is the main culprit, but there are others. Fall is better simply to avoid those weeds. But if you do seed in the spring, just know that everything can be fixed next August when you seed again. Lawn care is as easy as watering (properly), mowing, and fertilizing. Watering is easy enough with the oscillators, so don't get excited about spending thousands on an in-ground system. You won't need to mow until you have grass. For now a string trimmer would work wonders. I've "mowed" my entire lawn with a string trimmer, so it can be done. As for fertilizing, apply any organic fertilizer at 15-20 pounds per 1,000 square feet. That helps the soil which help the plants. Read some posts on the Lawn Care forum and see if you want to get involved with that....See MoreAnyone have some landscaping ideas for my front yard?
Comments (9)I was going to suggest the same as celery. absolutely remove the large shrubs. I'm sure any local nursery can suggest the correct plants for your flower bed. Some other ideas: Just painting your garage door a darker tone (all of that bright white against the dark red brick is too star) and adding some of the carriage hardware to it, makes such a diff I gave you a softer beige, but her dark gray would work too. here's a warm, dark gray w/the carriage hardware (you can buy this on Amazon for less than $40) Looks good w/the dark brick, yes? and don't forget to get some new garage lights that aren't white. any of these would be fine. see these lights? and the hardware on the door? dark red brick, with all of the warmer (don't do a blue gray!) trim and door. since you have some rock in the beds, you could do something like this w/the pots around the front door (which you could also paint. I gave you a peacock blue) just look at the flower beds not the house. they used mexican pebbles and large pots this would also work w/your house color...See More
PROVOLT® Lighting
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoHello Martin,
LED is indeed becoming the most popular option given they operate more efficiently, produce less heat, and generally have longer lifespans. For reliability and the best value (price and warranty considered), I would certainly recommend staying away from any big-box store brands and consider a manufacture who ships factory direct for DIYers. At VOLT®, we back many of our professional grade products with lifetime warranties and offer them at factory-direct prices with same-day shipping!
Trying to light a feature that is isolated on an 'island' can certainly be a tricky project. Depending on the width of your walkway, you could use an extended drill bit to create an opening and run wire beneath the cement, as seen below. For a walkway wider than your bit, you could drill from either side to create the opening then use fish tape or a fish stick to feed the wire through.
Regardless of which products you decide to use, be sure to verify that they are compatible with your pre-existing transformer.
-Evan
PROYardvaark
5 years ago- PRO
VOLT® Lighting
5 years agolast modified: 5 years ago 
PRORevolutionary Gardens
5 years ago
NHBabs z4b-5a NH
5 years ago
PROJSL Landscape Design Build
5 years ago
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