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jj3000 09-03-2005 09:07 PM

Backyard Garden Landscaping Advice
 
When I bought my house (in Northern CA) the backyard was neglected due
to multiple broken sprinkler pipes and it was a playground for
previous owner's dog. The lawn area had no grass, and it has a raised
brick flower bed about built 1 feet high. Some kind of fir (?) scrub
is in it, but nothing else.

I have repaired the sprinkler circuits to the flower beds and the
soon-to-be lawn area.

I am going to work on adding some plants now. I have a few
questions.. No particular goals, I'm not an avid gardener (maybe not
yet), just going for easy maintainence and a better looking yard for
now.

1) I plan on installing the landscape fabric (those weed blocker
cloth) over the flower bed soil, and then put some bark over it for
easy maintenance. Is that a good idea?

2) In the past when I have done the above (weed block + bark), I cut
slits or hole in the cloth for the plant installation, the grass would
always find it's way up and is hard to remove, especially around
roses.. is there a trick to it? Infact, as of now after the rainy
winter, there are some grass on the flower bed already.

3) regarding the lawn, from the patio to flower bed is probably only
about 10'x20' area I guess it's not completely dead, after the winter
some spots now have grass on it, but the grass is thick bladed, sparse
and not good looking, I'm going to try to break up the soil and apply
seed. Any tips here? There are also plastic nets as I break up the
ground, I assume it was from previous sods, do I try to remove as much
of this as possible? I figure this is the best time to seed while
it's not too hot yet.

4) I have installed a 8x8 vinyl shed on one corner of the lawn area,
just on top of the dirt. I layed the weed block fabric before I
installed the structure, the fabric overlay the floor of the shed
about 1 ft in each side. I have no idea whether to trim it flush
around the shed and just let grass grow, or do I establish some kind
of parameter? There are 2 sides of the shed that are adjacent to the
flower bed and fence respectively, creating a small "alley" on each
side, and I really do not want anything to grow there. In those two
sides, I was thinking of putting some gravel or bark there on top of
the fabric, what do you think?

5) Finally what kind of small plants do you recommend for the flower
bed? I'm going to remove the existing shrub, weeds and moss and
start over. Due to over hanging trees and fence, it does not get a
whole lot of sun. I'm thinking a variety of short plants and some
roses would do for now.

6) I also need recommendation for scrub head sprinkler. I want both
side of it to be wet, the problem with the orbit head I got is that I
have to turn it way down, and it is a trickle stream of water, if it
was strong enough to be a spray, it shoots about 10 ft in each
direction which is getting the house and fence wet.

Thanks for any advice!

Warren 09-03-2005 10:39 PM

jj3000 wrote:
1) I plan on installing the landscape fabric (those weed blocker
cloth) over the flower bed soil, and then put some bark over it for
easy maintenance. Is that a good idea?


I usually use just newspaper. At least 8 layers, and overlapping sheets.
Make sure you're using bark mulch, and not just the big nuggets. The
nuggets are for looks only. The idea is to choak-out the weeds, prevent
light from getting to annual weeds and grasses waiting to germinate,
and, if possible, heat the soil under the matting enough to make it
inhospitable. Some manuer with bloodmeal under the newspaper will help
with that.


2) In the past when I have done the above (weed block + bark), I cut
slits or hole in the cloth for the plant installation, the grass would
always find it's way up and is hard to remove, especially around
roses.. is there a trick to it? Infact, as of now after the rainy
winter, there are some grass on the flower bed already.


The trick is to not plant it the same season you cover it. Cover it now,
it'll be ready for spring bulb and perenial planting in fall. Need
something this summer? Put it in containers, and put the containers on
top of the mulch. But I wouldn't if I didn't have to, as the container
may compact the soil too much.


3) regarding the lawn, from the patio to flower bed is probably only
about 10'x20' area I guess it's not completely dead, after the winter
some spots now have grass on it, but the grass is thick bladed, sparse
and not good looking, I'm going to try to break up the soil and apply
seed. Any tips here? There are also plastic nets as I break up the
ground, I assume it was from previous sods, do I try to remove as much
of this as possible? I figure this is the best time to seed while
it's not too hot yet.


Plastic nets? Never saw that before.

The best time to seed the lawn would be early fall: Right after the heat
of summer is done, and just as the fall rains are starting. The second
best time would be in spring so you can take advantage of the spring
rains before the heat of summer comes.

Ask at your local extension service what the best seed mix for your
region, soil, light and intended use (will it be walked or played
upon?), and follow those recomondations. This may be a different mix
than you'll find on the shelves of big box stores - or it might be
something they do stock. So ask where you can get the recommended mix,
too.

If the soil is wet, you don't want to till it. If the surface is hard,
core aeration would be good to do. The trick is to add a lot of organic
material -- compost.

Make sure the surface and the new seed doesn't dry before germination.
If it's not raining, that means you may need to water more than once a
day. Once you start getting a full lawn, cut back the watering. By
summer, you should be putting down an inch of water a week, all at one
time if possible. (If you get run-off before a whole inch, then that's a
sign that you still need more orgainic material.)


4) I have installed a 8x8 vinyl shed on one corner of the lawn area,
just on top of the dirt. I layed the weed block fabric before I
installed the structure, the fabric overlay the floor of the shed
about 1 ft in each side. I have no idea whether to trim it flush
around the shed and just let grass grow, or do I establish some kind
of parameter? There are 2 sides of the shed that are adjacent to the
flower bed and fence respectively, creating a small "alley" on each
side, and I really do not want anything to grow there. In those two
sides, I was thinking of putting some gravel or bark there on top of
the fabric, what do you think?


On the sides facing the beds, just use the same mulch you use to top the
rest of the bed with. On the sides facing the lawn, you can choose to
let the grass grow right up to it (which would mean you'd need to use a
trimmer when you mow), or you could put in a suitable surface treatment.
There's not a problem with stuff growing next to vinyl.

5) Finally what kind of small plants do you recommend for the flower
bed? I'm going to remove the existing shrub, weeds and moss and
start over. Due to over hanging trees and fence, it does not get a
whole lot of sun. I'm thinking a variety of short plants and some
roses would do for now.


Roses need sun. My advice would be to not plant anything this season,
and get a better handle on what you want. Look around the neighborhood
at different times of the year, and ask around.


6) I also need recommendation for scrub head sprinkler. I want both
side of it to be wet, the problem with the orbit head I got is that I
have to turn it way down, and it is a trickle stream of water, if it
was strong enough to be a spray, it shoots about 10 ft in each
direction which is getting the house and fence wet.


In most cases, you want to water the soil, not the foliage of plants. If
you only have overhead watering, and no soaker or drip irrigation, then
that's also something to consider when selecting what to plant there.
When you want a drink, do you want your water in a glass you can drink
from, or do you want it sprayed on you? Occasionally most plants can
benefit from a bath (rain), but I'd guess that most of the stuff you'd
really like in your beds would prefer water in the soil than on their
leaves. It's also cheaper to water the soil. With overhead watering,
there is always evaporation, overspray, and perhaps even run-off. All
that's just money down the drain.

--
Warren H.

==========
Disclaimer: My views reflect those of myself, and not my
employer, my friends, nor (as she often tells me) my wife.
Any resemblance to the views of anybody living or dead is
coincidental. No animals were hurt in the writing of this
response -- unless you count my dog who desperately wants
to go outside now.
Clean-up your yard this spring with Black and Decker tools:
http://www.holzemville.com/mall/blac...ker/index.html





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