A big tree, an abandoned yard, and poor drainage. Where do I start?
Lori Olson
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
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Yardvaark
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoRelated Discussions
Poor drainage, thin turf...What do I do?
Comments (5)Yes and yes. If you live in a condo you might not have control over the water schedule. Getting control of it can be a nightmare. Mulch is only in the form of mowed over leaves, not actual mulch. The mulch has to disappear below the blades of grass. I call it micro-mulch (where can I trademark that word???) You also need to control mowing height. Where you're located you should have a cool season grass like fescue or Kentucky bluegrass. Again if the condo assn wants the grass mowed tight to the ground, just forget about having it look really nice. Crabgrass LOVES to be mowed close to the ground. I was hoping you'd forget you asked about aeration and sand. Sand really won't help you if you need more living microbes in the soil. Mechanical aerating will give you a lot of peace of mind but it might not be the long term panacea you're looking for. If you aerate, aerate the snot out of it. Run it north, south, east, west, and every combination of compass headings you can come up with. I saw some pretty convincing pictures from a regular here. I believe he said he had about 12 holes per square foot when it was finished. Also if you have high and low spots in your yard, you can sweep the plugs removed by the aerator into the low spots to raise them slightly. Otherwise just leave the plugs where they land. If you read the organic lawn care faq and wonder where to find a feed store in Berkley, ask anyone who owns a horse. Or call your local county sheriff. They know where all the horses are in the county. The crabgrass does not surprise me but shade and crabgrass don't mix. Is the crabgrass growing in the sun? If not then you don't have crabgrass but probably have another pest. And if you have that much crabgrass I'm going to suggest you try to switch your turfgrass to Kentucky bluegrass. It really needs sun, too, but what you have isn't working (can you thin out the trees??). The nice thing about KBG is that it does not thin out like fescue types of grass, it thickens up. Of course it needs some sun to to do that. Just to set a goal for you, I'm going to post a picture of a fully organic KBG lawn grown with no weed killers. His only maintenance is infrequent watering and mowing high (and organic fertilizer). Now as to the crabgrass, it does not like deep infrequent watering. It like daily watering for 10-20 minutes per day. It also does not like shade. If your grass looks like that above, you'll note there are no thin or bare spots. There is no place for crabgrass to get hold. He could have crabgrass on both sides of that lawn but it cannot penetrate the dense turf. Mowing high and infrequent watering will take care of crabgrass in most lawns. Fescue lawns are different from most other turfgrasses and need to be reseeded every year or so for maximum density. It can be done but KBG is so much easier to handle. Something else to consider if shade cannot be opened up is planting other ground covers. There is a dwarf mondo grass that looks like short grass that has curled over on top. It loves shade and will very slowly take over the lawn. I had two small patches in my grass when we moved in in 1992 and they are now 6 feet across. I really should do something about that, sigh....See MoreHelp me choose small tree for poor drainage site
Comments (4)They can get quite large - 8-10' if left unpruned, sometimes larger (for the native species, Cornus sericea). Had one of the natives in a previous garden that grew in quite a tree-like form that was easily 10' plus. The natives have plain green foliage and are not particularly showy or very ornamental except for their red winter stems. I prefer the Tatarian dogwood, Cornus alba, which is available in a variety of variegated forms. Cornus alba 'Elegantissima' has a cream and green variegation that is very attractive, grows quite large and is available at most nurseries. You can also find shrub dogwoods with yellow twigs and again with variegated foliage if you like - Cornus sericea 'Silver and Gold' is a pretty stunning plant....See Morepemaculturing my yard, where do I start?
Comments (6)Yes you are correct, I was thinking about the whole yard at once, and this is just too much for my little mind to figure out. I have finished the book and the answer is not on the last page! I do think permaculture is more for bigger properties, than suburban lots. I do not have a zone 5, or a zone 3 or 4 for that matter. I guess I have a zone 1 near the house and everything else a zone 2. I figure if I won't want to drag the hose out that far, best to have a plant that can take care of itself. I have the veggie garden next to the house near the back door. I am also concentrating on my rain garden and keeping the trees in wood mulch. They look so much better since I mulched them up last summer. I think it is best for now to keep what I have healthy than to add a lot more plants that I can't keep healthy do to lack of time, water or mulch. I also took jekyll's advice and cut out to scale pieces of paper for future trees and shrubs. I also cut out future sizes of existing trees. This helps a lot in visualizing where trees are actually needed. I don't need as many new trees as I thought. Once the current ones fill out, I am pretty much all set. I do need shrubs though for wildlife perches and to shade off the tree trunks in hot Texas. I am going to in the future, get a few dwarf fruit trees for fun. I have selected apple, persimmon and fig. I may do annual papaya. It is too cold and wet in out falls and springs to bring them though winter. But I am not thinking about that now. I want to shrub up the current trees first and deck out my rain garden. The only thing in there now are some red cannas, and some Texas dandelions that I sowed last fall. The black eyed susan, the texas star hibiscus and the rain lilly seed that I planted last fall, did not come up. I will be receiving some rain lilly bulbs soon on a trade, to put on the not so wet edge of the rain garden. I will be putting basil and borage on the edge too. Come fall I will stick beets, rutabaga, and carrots on the edge of the edge. I have also planted cardinal climber on the hill coming up from the rain garden. They have not come up, so I may have to replant. I read to plant morning glories in winter so the seeds can crack and they will sprout. Maybe the cold weather that we have had lately have told them to not sprout yet. I think 1 or two are up though. I also have some blue eyed grass seed I think might work in there. Maybe I should wait to fall to plant them. I also would love to try some iris in there and then that is about all I have room for. This rain garden is a work in progress. It is mostly a canna garden now. The daffodils did even worse were I moved them too. Maybe texas is not the spot for daffodils....See MorePoor Drainage after rainstorms
Comments (2)It's hard to say what's causing more blockage this year, it could be conditions in neighbors' yards, it could be a previous outlet, above or below ground, got choked off -- regardless, there's not much short of digging up the concrete that's going to make a huge difference. Is there any way to walk the perimeter of your garden from the neighbors' side of the fence, and see what's going on/ask them about their drainage? It could be someone uphill has installed drain pipes or some sort of conduit that dumps their water out near your place. Best option this year -- plant water-loving plants! Native hibiscus, irises, lobelias, ferns, etc., there's a fair amount of choice, ask around at the nurseries or farmer's markets and see what they suggest. I wouldn't bother with sand or gravel; you'd need a truck-load to make a difference and you'd really just be putting a faster draining layer on top of the mud, rather than fixing the drainage. Sorry I can't offer happier advice! Jim...See MoreSmivies (Ontario - 5b)
4 years agoToronado3800 Zone 6 St Louis
4 years agoindianagardengirl
4 years agoken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
4 years agoSmivies (Ontario - 5b)
4 years agoLori Olson
4 years agotangerinedoor
4 years agoYardvaark
4 years ago
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