Zhinu's new yard

Laura, congrats on surviving your move! I moved 4 yrs go from a 4 bedroom house, into a 3 bedroom house that was already furnished with DHs stuff! I STILL have MANY boxes yet to unpack! ugh! lolol!

the good part about my move, is very similar to yours!lol! I had a complete blank slate in my backyard....literally all dirt and baserock! with a little muscle and alot of seeds, you can create a really nice space for you and your family. I only started my garden last Jan when I joined DG, and everytime I go outside I am amazed at how much it has changed! lol!


stepping stones on the side yard....there is a great cement mold at HD called a cobblestone mold. think it was $12 for the mold and $2.50 for bag of cement. one bag does a 2'x2' section. so much cheaper than buying the already made stepping stones ^_^ I am doing a 700 sq ft section of our yard really slowly lol! bu someday it will be all done!

now for the fun part.... whatever plants you wat for your yard, post it here and if I dont have it, I am sure someone else will. Thanks to all te wonderful people here at DG, we were able to completely fill moms garden to overflowing.... so, just let us know what you want ok?!

Right now I'm just trying to figure out how to get the back yard able to be planted.

I'm having issues getting my yard started; though it’s been too rainy and cold to do much work.

Without wanting to sink too much money into it, since I rent, or kill my self with work; I'm not sure how to tackle it. My back yard is covered with weeds and ivy; I can pull these by hand for small areas, like the herb garden, but the whole thing is too much. Right now my thought is to cover a path with cardboard (maybe make a stone walkway or stepping stones later) to kill off the weeds and top sow the rest letting the flowers fight it out with the weeds for this year; maybe do a couple other areas for vegetables or specific things. But I'm not even sure that will work, it'll need to at least be weed wacked to give the seeds a fighting chance.

I'm having a lot of problems with the front planter. I'll try to remember to take pictures tomorrow, this rant was spawned, due to converstation on another thread, and more or less posted there. I'm not sure if it's full shade (haven't had enough sun to tell), bad soil (I've been augmenting it but the base soil is dust like and floated when watered, it's also well drained so it's very hard to soak), the fact that my bulbs were all transplanted after the beginning of the growing season, the horrible weather we've been having or a combination of all the above, but the plants aren't doing much. The same type plants in other areas of the city seem to be doing fine. I have one sickly hyacinth (only thing that’s actually flowered so far), some healthy looking tulip greens (that have been a couple inches tall for weeks), some droopy daffodil greens, crocus whose flowers went mushy before fully opening, etc... Mom says I should just pull everything out, empty the soil (which may have been used by the former tenants outdoor cats) and refill it, mom has the compost if I want to figure out how to get it over here. But, I worry about transplanting the bulbs yet again and if it’s a sun issue it won’t do any good.

The no door side is full shade; the rest of the yard is likely at least partial, not enough sun this year to really tell. You can tell I'm frustrated. Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated.

Laura , you have an wonderful oppurtunity here.. my backyard project has taken me four years and I am still working on it, so I hear ya with the challenges. I would advise to go ahead and spray brush killer on the areas you have that is only weeds and grass, then cover with coffee grounds ( you can get bag fuls at any starbucks for free) let sit for a day then spray with water and turn the dirt over.. you mentioned how "dry and dusty" the soil is, I started saving my leaves from all my trees thru the winter in a huge pile, covered with plastic, and on warm days would turn that over adding coffee grounds. I work this into the clay here... I can't afford to have the lawn roto-tilled and stuff done professionally, so after a clay mountain left by a replaced sewer line, I now have green grass and established flower beds. It is awsome that you have that little area with the path, I would have a ball with it. I know brushkiller seems harsh, but it sure worked for me and you can plant seeds and plants in that area after about three weeks after adding in some top soil and gypsum. My daughter got me the "claw" for my birthday and have been using that kately. I fight burmuda on the north fence, and now since the new neighbors gave me permission, I sprayed the fence line with brush killer, and the yarrow I had in the ground I just went around it.. it is doing fine...my sister says there is some weed killer that kills weeds, but not plants and grass, but I have yet to find it. I still have my leaf pile, keep adding to it.. kind like a compost.. it is in the alley where no one can see it, and am spreading it over my new beds today. That ivy will eat your house... I have the whole north side of my house covered with it, but cut it at all the places it creeps off to. some I have transplanted to different parts that I wanted ground cover. it is mowable. I guess I am rambling, but I am excited for you.. I would be like a kid in a candy store at your place wanting to decorate with plants and flowers, roses and shrubs, understory trees, fruit bushes, violets, coneflowers, daiseys, sweetpeas, morning glories, and on and on, all of them seasonal, starting with bulbs and ending with the chrysamtumums.. I would love to send you some things, let me know.. Debra PS: I don't do well with bulbs in any location,, except for the whiskey barrell planters which I adore..

This message was edited Apr 15, 2009 9:29 AM

I want to plant some edibles, so I think the weed killer is out. I really have a lot of ideas, just no money and very little idea of how to implement them, though I am open to new ideas. The ivy, at least in the back, will be going away. I'm pretty sure I will have fun when I get started.

Thank you for the suggestions.

Laura - I collect carboard boxes from friends and family and lay them down for weed control (I have very invasive buttercup). I pile coffee grounds, manure, weeds, leaves, grass, etc. on those and then layer with more cardboard to create beds I won't use for another couple of years. Also, feed the worms and they will help you move nutrients through the soil. Start a worm bin (just takes a plastic container with a lid and your kitchen scraps) and the worms will generate nutrients that can help with al your beds, too.

I fight ivy, as well. There are a sites on the Internet with ivy removal techniques. One tells you to take a log and roll it through the ivy, wrapping the ivy around the log and ripping the ivy up. This takes a few people, but you can make great progress toward your goal. Then, when the ivy is shorter, start mowing it and this will help keep it down until you're ready to dig. I use a mattock - it's a great tool for hard, dry soil.

Check out freecycle in your area and just say that you want manure or compost and why; you'd be surprised at what people will offer up when they know what it is you're trying to do and that you're on a limited budget. You can also do the same on Craig's list.

As for your tulips, how old are they? Tulips only really flower for you for a couple of years, in general, unless they're the species tulips. That's why I don't plant them anymore. Daffodils will last forever. You might try to feed your hyacinth with a little bone meal. I'm guessing that if you have sharp-draining soil, the bulbs are dry and just need daily watering. Remember that you can amend the soil directly around them, rather than the whole bed - that will at least bring you some immediate return, which, I know, is important when you're faced with the daunting task of starting over.

I'm saving you some shasta daisies and some hardy geranium to put in. These guys are tough. I'll add to that as I find things. Hopefully, we can use the plant train to get stuff down to you. Don't lose heart - keep designing and we'll keep checking to see if we don't have things that can help you out.

Kathy

I really need a short term solution, I doubt if it would be worth the effort to do things that won't show at all for a couple years when it's likely we won't be here for more than a couple years.

I think I'm going to get the guy that does mom and grandma's yard work to come over and remove the weeds, or at least as much as he can in 1 hour, then again in a couple weeks if he doesn't finish in the hour. That should get it to the point I can do something with it.

I don't know anything about the bulbs except for they have greenery, except for the irises. I didn't even know I had a hyacinth, though it could have already been in the bed. I just grabbed all the little sprouts I could find around the yard before I moved. I have been adding good soil to the top, they might need to be watered more, it is a dry, well drained bed; which is part of the reason I think I should dump the soil and start over with something that will hold the water better.