Outdoor muddy mess - need design help!
catthom
5 years ago
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Help! Front yard is a muddy mess.
Comments (9)I'd ditch the idea of stepping stones and gravel as it would be temporary and messy. It's not that difficult--or expensive--to form up and place a small amount of concrete and if you used that, you'd have something durable and lasting. Nothing against concrete pavers on a well tamped base so that's another option, too. Per usual, I'm submitting my suggestions in pictorial form so they're mostly self-explanatory. The returning branches ... I'm showing how they're going to be at the end of summer. Better to cut off some low-hanging limbs sooner than later (since you know it's coming) and get rid of some of the "gloom effect" that the heavy shade produces. For a groundcover, you might look into Calyptocarpus vialis, which goes by several common names. Plants are what hold soil and keep it from washing, so if you used groundcover below the tree in the shady area, you could eliminate the soil washing problem....See MoreSwampy muddy mess!
Comments (10)Ideally you should let the soil surface dry completely before you water it again. If Mother Nature keeps it wet, then don't water. Watch the grass and let it tell you when to water. It will wilt or change to a darkish green. Then water immediately. When you do water, water a full inch all at one time. Measure an inch using empty cat food or tuna cans placed around the yard. You can time how long it takes to get an inch and just run the sprinklers for that length of time. Every system is different. Mine takes 8 hours while my neighbor's takes 20 minutes. You have to measure your own. If the rain comes judiciously, you might not water for months. Everyone gets that same story about topsoil. I used to work for a grading company. They keep what they can. If you were on hills, they push the soil around to flatten it and decide whether to bring more in or remove some. But you are correct in assuming it is probably not the top most soil that was ever there. Still you can work with it. If you want to really tune up your soil, get a soil test from Logan Labs in Ohio. If you are not going to spend $20 for that, then don't bother. Any soil test will tell you you need to fertilize. I believe the best thing you can do for your soil is to fertilize organically. The organic fertilizer I like best for the past couple of years is alfalfa pellets (rabbit chow). The reason I like it best is the cost of corn went sky high a couple years ago. Before that I used corn meal. The application rate for grain based fertilizers is 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet. You can use them as often as you like and can afford to improve your soil as quickly as you can. Weekly is fine if you choose to do that. Monthly works better for me. Or you might do it weekly for a few weeks to jump start it and then go to monthly for the rest of the season. Can you describe what is wrong with your soil? You might do a jar test to see if you really have clay. There are certain salts in soils that can make them act like clay, but if you try to use the typical clay loosening solutions, you'd be doing the exact wrong thing. Put a cup of clay into a mayo jar and measure the height along the side with a ruler. Then fill it with water and 1 drop of liquid soap, and shake it up. Immediately measure how much material settles to the bottom of the jar. Write that number down. Check again in 2 minutes, 2 hours, and 2 days. If, at the end of 2 days, you can see through the water on top of the soil in the jar, then you don't have clay. The first stuff to fall out is rocks, gravel, and sand. Next is silt. Clay never comes out of suspension and clouds up the water until the water dries. Stuff floating on top is organic matter like twigs. The important organic matter is microscopic, so you'll never see it....See MoreMuddy mess in vegetable garden.
Comments (7)Thanks for the information. I will check the drip hoses and connections to the main line. I do see water buildup in the area where the woodchips are. I don't run the system for more than 12 minutes (twice day). I am in Toronto Canada, and we have been getting major downpours lately. I certainly did not apply 4 inches of chips. Maybe 1 or 2 inches. Walking in that area was a mess. I removed the soggy chips and I'm letting the area dry out. Forecast is hot and sunny for the next few days. If the drip hoses check out OK I'll have to find a solution to cover that area. either go back to a mulch (thicker layer this time) or switch to gravel or pavers. This is my first "big" garden and I am trying to learn as much as I can....See MoreHELP with muddy back yard
Comments (15)You need to address the driange issue and that could be a s simple as digging a trench and making it look like a dry stream bed. As for dogs this will be better once the dringe is addressed and thne teach them to go in one area that hase pes gravel in it to make picking up the poop easy all year. I would then build a deck not a patio so that the area is raised above the ground and makes it easier to train the dogs too This is a pic of what a dry stream bed looks like it is labour intensive but easy to do DIY You just build it along the fence where the water from the neighbor comes in...See Morecatthom
5 years agocatthom
5 years agoMargaret
5 years agoMargaret
5 years ago
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