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#1
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Opinions on Back Yard Gardens
OK, the inside remodeling is almost done and the weather is getting cooler
so it's time to start thinking of landscaping the back yard and the front too. Two things we absolutely have to have is a storeroom and a screened in porch. I have several large Chinese Tallow trees, one tree I'm not sure what kind it is, and a couple of small Pecan trees in back. The back yard is about 80' wide and 50' deep. There's also some English ivy in several spots in back and on the back wall of the house is what I think is a ficus of some kind. I bought some Irish moss for some of the shady areas, especially by the a/c drip. There are naturalised Corn lilies there as well that I would like to keep. I need ideas on shady and semi shady plants, things that would do well with a minimum of care and would possibly stay green all year. I'm in zone 9. I don't really want a lot of flowers because I don't want a lot of bees and such around. Has anyone ever done a garden with just foliage? I am going to put in a nicer birdbath than I have now, some garden ornaments, and something to hide the phone box the phone company so kindly put in my yard. One of the problem areas is going to be where my dad had a sort of garage/workshop with a cement rubble floor. He did a lot of work on his cars there so I suspect the dirt will have to be removed. I finally talked him into getting rid of the awful thing Anyone else dealt with this kind of problem? The front is easier except for the ficus vine that's almost impossible to get rid of. I would love to get rid of it and put something nice along the walls like some type of hedge. Shell |
#2
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Opinions on Back Yard Gardens
First - IMHO, get rid of the english ivy. While it doesn't move as fast as kudzu, it covers just as throughly. I've seen it cover an entire hillside in E. Tenn. Shade plants - hostas come in a variety of greens and blue-greens. Tiarellas are also good. On Fri, 19 Sep 2003 04:12:36 GMT, "Shell91" wrote: OK, the inside remodeling is almost done and the weather is getting cooler so it's time to start thinking of landscaping the back yard and the front too. Two things we absolutely have to have is a storeroom and a screened in porch. I have several large Chinese Tallow trees, one tree I'm not sure what kind it is, and a couple of small Pecan trees in back. The back yard is about 80' wide and 50' deep. There's also some English ivy in several spots in back and on the back wall of the house is what I think is a ficus of some kind. I bought some Irish moss for some of the shady areas, especially by the a/c drip. There are naturalised Corn lilies there as well that I would like to keep. I need ideas on shady and semi shady plants, things that would do well with a minimum of care and would possibly stay green all year. I'm in zone 9. I don't really want a lot of flowers because I don't want a lot of bees and such around. Has anyone ever done a garden with just foliage? I am going to put in a nicer birdbath than I have now, some garden ornaments, and something to hide the phone box the phone company so kindly put in my yard. One of the problem areas is going to be where my dad had a sort of garage/workshop with a cement rubble floor. He did a lot of work on his cars there so I suspect the dirt will have to be removed. I finally talked him into getting rid of the awful thing Anyone else dealt with this kind of problem? The front is easier except for the ficus vine that's almost impossible to get rid of. I would love to get rid of it and put something nice along the walls like some type of hedge. Shell |
#3
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Opinions on Back Yard Gardens
I just bought a house four months ago and there was large amount of
rocks.. A LARGE pile I should say. We took the rocks and put them into large plastic containers. Then by boyfriend dug a very large hole taller than he is (6 feet). The top soil had tons of rocks in it as well. We pulled out good dirt, dumped the rocks in and poured the good dirt over it. The task took about 3 weeks of daily labor..however it's been 2 months and the grass is gorgeaous. I have befor and after pics if your interested. Though labor intensive I say dig a hole bury what you don't want and cover it back up. |
#4
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Opinions on Back Yard Gardens
We've gotten rid of 90% of the ivy, it had eaten half the back yard and was
startibg in the neighbor's yard. Hostas sound nice but the one I tried awhile back just sort of shriveled up and turned brown. I'll have to check into tiarellas Shell "fran" wrote in message ... First - IMHO, get rid of the english ivy. While it doesn't move as fast as kudzu, it covers just as throughly. I've seen it cover an entire hillside in E. Tenn. Shade plants - hostas come in a variety of greens and blue-greens. Tiarellas are also good. On Fri, 19 Sep 2003 04:12:36 GMT, "Shell91" wrote: OK, the inside remodeling is almost done and the weather is getting cooler so it's time to start thinking of landscaping the back yard and the front too. Two things we absolutely have to have is a storeroom and a screened in porch. I have several large Chinese Tallow trees, one tree I'm not sure what kind it is, and a couple of small Pecan trees in back. The back yard is about 80' wide and 50' deep. There's also some English ivy in several spots in back and on the back wall of the house is what I think is a ficus of some kind. I bought some Irish moss for some of the shady areas, especially by the a/c drip. There are naturalised Corn lilies there as well that I would like to keep. I need ideas on shady and semi shady plants, things that would do well with a minimum of care and would possibly stay green all year. I'm in zone 9. I don't really want a lot of flowers because I don't want a lot of bees and such around. Has anyone ever done a garden with just foliage? I am going to put in a nicer birdbath than I have now, some garden ornaments, and something to hide the phone box the phone company so kindly put in my yard. One of the problem areas is going to be where my dad had a sort of garage/workshop with a cement rubble floor. He did a lot of work on his cars there so I suspect the dirt will have to be removed. I finally talked him into getting rid of the awful thing Anyone else dealt with this kind of problem? The front is easier except for the ficus vine that's almost impossible to get rid of. I would love to get rid of it and put something nice along the walls like some type of hedge. Shell |
#5
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Opinions on Back Yard Gardens
Our dirt is black clay gumbo, kind of like digging almost dry cement.
There's been a lot of sand put in and lots of leaf mold and grass clippings decomposed into the topsoil. We will probably have to rent a small bulldozer and just grade everything to fix the drainage and a tiller to plant anything properly. I'm always interestd in pictures of peoples gardens and yards Shell "Joanna Swank" wrote in message om... I just bought a house four months ago and there was large amount of rocks.. A LARGE pile I should say. We took the rocks and put them into large plastic containers. Then by boyfriend dug a very large hole taller than he is (6 feet). The top soil had tons of rocks in it as well. We pulled out good dirt, dumped the rocks in and poured the good dirt over it. The task took about 3 weeks of daily labor..however it's been 2 months and the grass is gorgeaous. I have befor and after pics if your interested. Though labor intensive I say dig a hole bury what you don't want and cover it back up. |
#6
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Opinions on Back Yard Gardens
Shell91 wrote: One of the problem areas is going to be where my dad had a sort of garage/workshop with a cement rubble floor. He did a lot of work on his cars there so I suspect the dirt will have to be removed. I finally talked him into getting rid of the awful thing Anyone else dealt with this kind of problem? Shell -- I will address this one i had the same problem when i bought this 5 acre property, only there were 4 places w concrete and oils etc pluss where he had parked junk cars in several places, I hired a bucket loader to dig down and remove the contaminated dirt to 2 ft and replaced half of it with "clean" dirt from other places on the property where i knew I would not put gardens then had compost broutht in to finish the fill even after all lthat there are still places that no deep rooted plants will last John Rutz Z5 New Mexico i dont get older i get odder (note if you email me you will be asked to confirm email see my pond at: http://www.fuerjefe.com |
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