Beginner Gardening: Kill or Keep the Aspen?, 0 by shrubbs

shrubbs wrote:
Glad to help.

First, roses and their care is based on the type of rose. Hybrid T roses are high maintenance and require superb growing conditions for a healthy plant where as shrub and climbing roses don't need as much care (wet and roses are not good for any rose). As long as you used finely ground compost you should be okay.

Second, the soil could be a problem. I would consider making berms for your plant material, but also consider the direction your water wants to flow. If you need to build a berm in front of a path that water takes you want to make sure that you grade the area to shed the water around the berm, install a 4" pipe for the water to flow through the berm, or install a drain box to direct the water underground to the location of your choice. The fact that the existing grade slopes away from your house is superb. Water in the house is much worse to deal with. Also, make sure that your downspouts from your gutters are run underground to the edge of you property or to a runoff swale.

Third, always remember that your lawn has a different watering schedule then your plants. Lawns really only need about 1" of water a week to live (based on 4" of topsoil - less topsoil requires a little more, but I am not sure how much). Plant material is based on the plants needs which can vary greatly. You want to make sure that you have zones for your lawns and zones for your planting beds. Emitters are the best for plant material because it focuses the water on the individual plant and not the bed as a whole.

Fourth, too much peat moss (organic matter) can be bad so follow the direction on the bag. The peat moss helps break up the clay and adds organic matter to the clay at the same time.

Fifth, if you have special requirement perennials then make sure you remove them before you renovate your planting beds. Sometimes renovation is the only way to make things better. It takes time and money, but it is worth it!

Sixth, I would need to see a picture of the wet area where the moss and water are before I could give you any ideas with that. Sometimes we need to keep an area like that in our yard so that the rest of the yard will look great. I have a swale behind my house that will look like that. I plan on doing some small plantings to draw the eye without affecting the need of the swale.

Seventh, the neighbors hedge is a pain for roots. The best part is if you cut all the roots and add great soil the Arb. roots will grow back in and be very happy. But, there is hope! Remove the lawn in the area and dig a 6" deep trench. Line the trench with a solid border like timbers that is a total of 8" high (6" in ground and 2" above ground). Create a small raised bed so that it will be a long time before the Arb. roots get into your planting bed. The only thing you want to watch out for is build up the mulch that the Arb. roots will make their way over the border you created.

Here are the best questions to ask yourself before installing any plant material:
1. How big do you want the plant material to get?
2. How much sun does the area you are looking to install your plant material (determine also direction of north then look at the shade movement)?
3. What kind of soil is in the area (pH is good, but soil type (clay, sand, etc.) is better when dealing with general landscaping plant material)?
4. Does the area hold water or drain quickly (soil type can determine this, but elevations of the existing grade is a key factor)?
5. If water is an issue can it be diverted (and how should it be diverted) or does it need to be used in the landscape?
6. How much maintenance do you want (no landscape is maintenance free)?

Here is a picture a landscape I designed in sheer bedrock. Everything has 2-4' of topsoil. Hope this helps. Let me know if I need to clarify myself (slightly dyslectic).