Landscaping/Gardening Thread.

[afc wimbledon]

Midweek rentals tend to be half price here at Rona, aerated the lawn and the neighbours for thirty bucks (for a four hour rental). Pain in the arse job though probably should have paid a company just to avoid it, saved myself a hundred though on the other hand.

[Fuzz]

I rented from Home depot on Friday for $75. Only took about 1.5 hours, and that was going over it several times on a lot of lawn. It is a major PITA though, so if someone offers to do it for a similar price....Let them suffer. The thing is a beast, felt like I was wrestling an elephant on acid surrounded by mice. If you are like me and figure max speed is best speed....don't. I ended up running at about 1/3 to be able to make turns.

I power raked after(with the lawnmower attachment) to blow all the aerated plugs to bits. I hate the look of those dried out lumps on the lawn. That took care of it really good.

[TKB]

Company's in Airdrie will power rake/aerate front and back for around the $100 mark. I'm sure if you called around there would be plenty of company's with similar price ranges in Calgary.

[InglewoodFan]

Starting to think I am going go get sucked in and start planting out the vegetable garden soon, going against my strongly held belief in waiting it out until after May long weekend. So if it blizzards in the next couple of weeks, my bad.

Lost 2 big trees this year, so a lot more room suddenly in the back yard. Have started a ton of plants from seed indoors under the grow lights this spring so far, planting plan includes a 4x8' bed, four big planters, probably a dozen pots. I want to rig up a basic drip irrigation system to look after most of it, I've checked out the system Lee Valley sells but does anyone have any recommendations for anything better or cheaper?

[llwhiteoutll]

Has anyone had artificial grass installed? Been looking at a few companies since there is only a few hundred square feet in my backyard once the deck is accounted for and the dog hangs out back there most of the time.

[blueski]

Originally Posted by InglewoodFan

Starting to think I am going go get sucked in and start planting out the vegetable garden soon, going against my strongly held belief in waiting it out until after May long weekend. So if it blizzards in the next couple of weeks, my bad.

Lost 2 big trees this year, so a lot more room suddenly in the back yard. Have started a ton of plants from seed indoors under the grow lights this spring so far, planting plan includes a 4x8' bed, four big planters, probably a dozen pots. I want to rig up a basic drip irrigation system to look after most of it, I've checked out the system Lee Valley sells but does anyone have any recommendations for anything better or cheaper?

I've looked at that system. I'm thinking something simpler. Just drip tape with a timer.

http://www.irrigationdirect.ca/Drip-Tape/

I probably won't have time this year, but eventually I want a grow bag system that is laid out on my slight hill with plastic underneath. I figure I'll run the drip tape every hour or so for a few minutes. All the unused water will fall back down the hill on the plastic into the main reservoir. Should be fool proof and very low maintenance and very cheap to build. For the grow bags, I'll just use landscape cloth and zip tie them into a bag. I can run a cheap hoop system over top if needed too for warmth on the early and later parts of the season.

http://www.motherofahubbard.com/how-...-a-low-tunnel/

[You Need a Thneed]

I planted 3 columnar Aspen (only about 5-6' tall right now) in my backyard, along my back fence on Saturday. Looking forward to a couple of years from now, when they provide some privacy and a lot of greenery.

I live in house that been around 35 years, on a fairly large lot with lots of potential, but for seem reason, the previous owner never planted much for trees. Other houses nearby have quite a few tall trees. Last year I planted a flowering cherry in the front yard, and with the three aspen I planted on Saturday, now I finally have 6 trees.

I cut a whole bunch of dead branches off of the ash tree in the front yard last year too, it looked so much better after that.

[rohara66]

Originally Posted by You Need a Thneed

I planted 3 columnar Aspen (only about 5-6' tall right now) in my backyard, along my back fence on Saturday. Looking forward to a couple of years from now, when they provide some privacy and a lot of greenery.

I live in house that been around 35 years, on a fairly large lot with lots of potential, but for seem reason, the previous owner never planted much for trees. Other houses nearby have quite a few tall trees. Last year I planted a flowering cherry in the front yard, and with the three aspen I planted on Saturday, now I finally have 6 trees.

I cut a whole bunch of dead branches off of the ash tree in the front yard last year too, it looked so much better after that.

Nice.

I live in a new community and we were the first (and still one of the only houses) in the past 2-3 years since they were all built to plant anything in their backyard. Short trees are cheap so I wanted a head start on getting them growing so we planted ASAP after moving in. We now have columnar aspens that are pushing 20' and a birch that is 15' after only 3 years. I really don't understand why more people don't plant more trees in their yards. Cheap investment for huge payoff in the future.

[blueski]

Originally Posted by rohara66

Nice.

I live in a new community and we were the first (and still one of the only houses) in the past 2-3 years since they were all built to plant anything in their backyard. Short trees are cheap so I wanted a head start on getting them growing so we planted ASAP after moving in. We now have columnar aspens that are pushing 20' and a birch that is 15' after only 3 years. I really don't understand why more people don't plant more trees in their yards. Cheap investment for huge payoff in the future.

Totally! I planted 100 willows of various species this year. They were just sticks sent in a box in the mail. A lot have already budded and have little leaves. Should be a nice wind break in a couple of years. Got them from bluestem.ca

[IliketoPuck]

Originally Posted by You Need a Thneed

I planted 3 columnar Aspen (only about 5-6' tall right now) in my backyard, along my back fence on Saturday. Looking forward to a couple of years from now, when they provide some privacy and a lot of greenery.

I live in house that been around 35 years, on a fairly large lot with lots of potential, but for seem reason, the previous owner never planted much for trees. Other houses nearby have quite a few tall trees. Last year I planted a flowering cherry in the front yard, and with the three aspen I planted on Saturday, now I finally have 6 trees.

I cut a whole bunch of dead branches off of the ash tree in the front yard last year too, it looked so much better after that.

Yeah pruning trees is a must.

I got out in the backyard last night on my ladder and got after my may day trees. Found a couple knots with black fungus on them as well that I got rid of.

My big project for the backyard this summer is a DIY irrigation system. Should be a fun one!

[heep223]

Originally Posted by IliketoPuck

My big project for the backyard this summer is a DIY irrigation system. Should be a fun one!

I'm interested in hearing how you go about this and any research you do. Would love to get an irrigation system into my yards.

On another note, we just planted hops on some privacy screens, looking forward to seeing how that grows through the summer.

[blueski]

Yeah that's my project too, DIY irrigation. First problem, where to get the water. I live on a reservoir and you'd think it would be a no brainer to get it from the lake. Nope, up to a fifty thousand dollar fine without a permit. Also it's a 700 foot run and about 160 feet of head to lift out so that's too much math and too much pump. The previous owner tried to get a permit and was denied.

Last summer, I diverted all my roof run off into one large big O tile. The plan now is to divert this to my trampoline pit which I will dig deeper to hold 10000 gallons. I'm going to cut trees down from the nearby forest and use big logs to reinforce the pit. The pipe also carries water from the front yard during really heavy rain to the back. From the pit, I should be able to pump it all over the yard. My well only does 4gpm and I don't want to tax it too much. Also the water is very hard and salty so I'm not to keen on using it for that reason as well. I'll do most of the digging and work by myself by hand. I will need to pick and shovel about 45 yards or 4 full dump trucks of clay. No problem keeping all that water in the pit without a liner at least! 10k gallons is a lot, I hope to use it for the ski hill we built two years ago in the winter time for snow making to supplement what we farm with snow fencing.

If I extend my current contract, I'll probably rent an excavator. This weekend I'll start cutting the logs for it. Total cost if I don't rent an excavator should probably be about 1500- 3k depending on how fancy I get with the power and the pump.

[Fuzz]

4 dump trucks of clay? By hand? You crazy, man. I just spent 2 days removing a bush and roots, and about 1/2 yard of dirt/clay. That's enough digging for me! Especially if you hit a boulder....

[blueski]

Yeah, I did double that last summer. It would take about 3 weeks @ six hours a day and I'd be ripped at the end of it. There's no boulders.

[Fuzz]

Blueski-BEAST MODE. Good job.

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by IliketoPuck

Yeah pruning trees is a must.

I got out in the backyard last night on my ladder and got after my may day trees. Found a couple knots with black fungus on them as well that I got rid of.

My big project for the backyard this summer is a DIY irrigation system. Should be a fun one!

I've found this in several of my trees this year too but wasn't sure exactly what it was. Some were easy to cut off, others would require removing a large branch and losing a significant portion of the tree so I'm not 100% sure what to do although if it is indeed fungus then perhaps there is no choice. Another issue I have is the neighbors have these things all over their trees, some of which are close to or even overhang into our yard. I discreetly removed some of the smaller branches from those trees but again there are some larger ones. If this is a spreading fungus or something then I am concerned for my trees but obviously it's difficult to do anything about a tree that is not in my yard. Talking to the neighbors is probably useless, they don't have much interest in yard maintenance and are clueless as to what to do even if they were interested.

[blueski]

Originally Posted by Lubicon

I've found this in several of my trees this year too but wasn't sure exactly what it was. Some were easy to cut off, others would require removing a large branch and losing a significant portion of the tree so I'm not 100% sure what to do although if it is indeed fungus then perhaps there is no choice. Another issue I have is the neighbors have these things all over their trees, some of which are close to or even overhang into our yard. I discreetly removed some of the smaller branches from those trees but again there are some larger ones. If this is a spreading fungus or something then I am concerned for my trees but obviously it's difficult to do anything about a tree that is not in my yard. Talking to the neighbors is probably useless, they don't have much interest in yard maintenance and are clueless as to what to do even if they were interested.

City might deal with it if they don't, although I'm not sure what the actual bylaws around that issue are. Might be worth checking into.

[InglewoodFan]

Black knot is a serious problem in Calgary. Other than selective pruning and hope, there isn't much to be done. Spoke with someone from City of Calgary urban forestry and he is estimating that Calgary will lose 100,000+ trees to black knot. I pruned it out for 3 years on my two big mayday trees but ended up losing them both this year. Called in three arborists for evaluations and all three said they were too far gone. It just sucks.

If you are pruning, the general advice is remove the pruned wood from the property ASAP (landfill or burn) and wash all your saws etc with bleach. My thought is that if it is in the neighborhood, it will keep reinfecting vulnerable species. I bet we are a dozen trees down on my block alone and there are still a half dozen I have noticed with some infection still.

[redforever]

I believe black knot spreads by spores as well.

So if you do prune out any branches, it is usually advised to bag and seal those branches to prevent further spread of the disease before they are disposed of. Burning gets rid of it but that is hard to do in the city.

[IliketoPuck]

Originally Posted by heep223

I'm interested in hearing how you go about this and any research you do. Would love to get an irrigation system into my yards.

On another note, we just planted hops on some privacy screens, looking forward to seeing how that grows through the summer.

Will keep you posted for sure.

Right now I'm leaning towards a rain bird system, as the backyard isn't overly complicated. There are sets you can buy that come with everything you need for a couple hundred bucks.

If I want to get complicated and setup extra zones for watering the flower beds / shrubs and hanging plants, then I will likely go down the design my own route and buy the various pieces from rona/lowes etc.

And great call on the hops. I've heard that it can grow up to a foot/day, and that they provide awesome privacy quite early in the season.