Is redwood timber a good idea for landscape edging?
anim125
3 years ago
I've been waiting a really long time to complete my landscaping project. I hired a licensed landscape contractor and we just completed the work 3 days ago. Throughout the project, the communication had much room for improvement. We never really discussed edging options for the part where the grass borders the planter/pea gravel. Its been one week after the sod was installed with a very frequent watering schedule and the wood is chipping off with my bare hands. I've contacted the landscaper and he's accusing me of "tampering" with it since "it shouldn't do that." He also wants to charge me a fee to come replace it. Looking for some advice as to how I should proceed and any professional landscapers out there that can tell me if this sounds right? I really don't think its right to have this happen after spending over 16k on the project. Thank you in advance!
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PROPatricia Colwell Consulting
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoWhat an idiot that is not the proper material to use in that situation, All of these are good options not one wood in the mix. Too bad you paid but if with credit card you could try to get some money back.
Christopher CNC
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoRelated Discussions
Are landscaping timbers tacky?
Comments (14)Thanks for helping me out y'all! Clearly I still need to do some thinking and research about preservatives. saypoint, I do agree that the planter boxes would be nicer, but I was hoping more for a disappearing look than a nice tidy look. (Not that I'm trying to be messy here...) I'd love to eliminate the wall entirely but it's just so darn sloped on one end (it goes around the side of the house--sounds much bigger than it is). The bed has a few small steps as does the house foundation so it stays fairly close to the natural slope (where the slope was before years of erosion). I can't change the soil level too much more than building it back up to where the builder thought it should be. There's actually already a 3-5 foot timber retaining wall in the backyard and it looks fine, though maybe that's because it was here when I got here and I'm used to it. It's a mossy slimey green and looks right with the spruce, Hedera, and and rhododendrons it contains. Actually, is that important? My house is on a corner and visible from two sides. There's a large amount of retaining wall out of timber along the side, carving out my driveway and supporting my back yard. One thought is that introducing new material might make it all too busy. On the other hand, stone. It was the first choice and in a way it might be the ultimate choice except for a few problems. First, we can't find anyone we can tell is competent. We only seem to do precast concrete here. Also, we aren't sure we want our landscape design set in stone yet. har har. We're just following the lines that are here already. Basically, we can't make a decision on how to get stone put in so we're putting it off. The timbers could be considered temporary, although we're so slow to get anything done we want them to look decent. stevega, that's sort of the look we'd want--mostly covered (only a small section would be as high as 18", and it has stuff in front of it because it's an interior step, and the parts that are over 12" are in front of an area that is about to stop being lawn and will be planted with TBD stuff that will certainly conceal it). It's such a small area with so little visible through the plantings, in a nice natural color...I wouldn't actually use railroad ties. The existing blocks are slipping because their foundation is eroding and they were installed poorly. Some of them are actually resting on landscape timbers. They would be replaced no matter how solid they were because I hate 'em. I even hate nice interlocking blocks which these aren't--I'm actually opting for timbers over Unilock for appearance's sake. Budget isn't the motivator here, although I refuse to pay stone price for concrete blocks. (Actually, I sort of like concrete cast in place and I think it would complement the house, but I couldn't convince the spouse.) If I could find matching brick, I'd be tempted to go for it, but I don't like fake brick (concrete) and I can't even find a house with brick like mine, let alone available bricks. I'm a real joy to deal with! ;) I think I will look again at my beds. Perhaps I can slope them up towards the house and make the walls lower. I've also considered pulling the lawn back a bit and planting a low hedge in front of the short part of wall that I hadn't planned planting in front of and then not worrying about the wall's appearance. Anyway, more planning. Thanks for letting me work it out in my head here. You're all very patient!...See MoreUsed HD landscaping timbers for raised beds. Did we screw up?
Comments (26)First stuff leaching out will go down. Very little will reach out. Yes roots will hit it. If you are really worried slide some metal down - get white metal coil (used when siding to cover posts, facia etc.). Cheap and slide it down. Now roots must go down to get "under" timbers and for sure all chemicals coming off will not go near 99% of roots. Also in a couple years 75% of chemicals or more will likely be gone. I worry a lot but I think you are ok. I used regular wood - untreated. I bought sealer that was nontoxic. Its not working. Been 3 or 4 years and it is not going to be long before some boards break. I now slope soil down at wood to allow less dirt to touch the boards to let them dry in hopes to make them last longer. PT wood would have been thousands (I made BIG beds)...See MoreBest prices on landscape timbers and/or stone
Comments (8)There are several stone yards along I-20 around Conyers/Covington where I am. I got mine at the Fieldstone Center, which will deliver, but there are probably many other all around Atlanta. They let me pick over the rocks and select exactly what I wanted, which I did only for the flagstone. They were patient and helpful. They delivered it ($65) and placed the pallets right where I wanted it. I picked a few more flagstones in my car. (They weigh the car before and after to determine how much you're buying.) Have you checked your yellow pages? You can also google things like- landscape stone GA -and get a few websites from which you can get an idea of prices. There's a wide variation depending on the kind of stone. A standard 3-4' pallet holds 3000 lbs. of stone. That's too much for a passenger vehicle. I can't say much about timbers. I expect Home Depot/Lowes has some of the least expensive pressure treated lumber. If you need a lot, you might go to a lumber yard and try to get it wholesale. I think the last contractor I dealt with got his supplies from HD, which tells me their prices must be low. Mike Here is a link that might be useful: My garden wall and border...See MoreIdeas for barriers to protect edging from "landscape workers"?
Comments (13)Melissa, No, the Roundup is for the ignoramus landscape workers who keep carelessly breaking my fencing, not the weeds, LOL. The hosta garden under the tree has the pretty brown lawn edging set into a trench around it. Then the Adirondack fencing right out side of that (any ideas on how to get the stray bits of grass growing between the 2 to go away?). Then I will dig the moat immediately outside the Adir. fencing. My favorite nursery (oh man, you would DROOL over the flowers they already have out and the gorgeous trees, bushes and shrubs out back in their "secret garden") told me that I do not need plastic lawn edging on the side of the moat away from the Adir. fencing, just cut the trench and line it with the lawn fabric. And then fill the moat with 3/4" gravel, not pea gravel. I am wondering if I need to pour some Round-Up in the moat or would it infiltrate and hurt the hosta garden. I am also FURIOUS, just furious, that I ordered some additional faux-stone fencing from Amazon (coming from Grady Hardware in MN) and that Grady Hardware took their sweet good time about shipping the fencing. First I was told it would arrive between Tuesday and Friday of this week, which would be perfect so I could install it around the Neighbor's Plot so that I could till the soil in there without it pouring out of the Plot right onto the lawn. Now I'm told its new estimated arrival time is this Saturday. If it doesn't arrive Saturday, then I can't do the tilling in the N.P. this Sunday, and the hostas and heuchies for that plot will be arriving during the week without a place to plant them yet. I will use the time instead to dig the moat around my own garden plot and the hosta garden under the tree. Grrr!...See More
Fori
3 years ago
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoFori
3 years agoanim125
3 years agolast modified: 3 years ago
littlebug zone 5 Missouri
3 years agoarcy_gw
3 years ago
PRODerviss Design
3 years agoanim125
3 years agoEmbothrium
3 years ago
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