Landscaping/Gardening Thread.

[GP_Matt]

So, I rented one of these from Home Depot on Saturday. We had to remove about 550 sq ft of dirt/clay for a patio and then fill it in with 15 yards of road crush. The whole job took about twelve hours, including learning how to operate the machine from the user manual.
5 out of 5, I highly recommend renting one if you have a larger project. Easy to use and worked great once I figured out what all the controls do.

[justkidding]

Originally Posted by me_dennis

So I noticed a critter digging a hole in my back yard last night up on the retaining wall. I currently don't have anything planted in the retaining wall yet, but I want to stop the problem before it spreads. I suspect it could be a gopher, based on my research on Google. The mound is fan shaped, and I can't really see any vole trails, since there is no grass up there. The only vegetation up on the retaining wall is a bunch of weeds that spread from my deadbeat neighbour. Anyone have any tips on how to identify what kind of critter it is, how to get rid of it before it spreads, and how to prevent an infestation? I plugged up the hole with the dirt mound for the time being until I find a more permanent solution.

I have heard of something called the Giant Destroyer, which is a smoke stick that releases sulfur gas to smoke out the critters. Apparently the City of Calgary uses these.

Also, would this be something that I could file a complaint against my neighbour? I've had so many issues with this neighbour. Their retaining wall is not doing it's job properly, which causes dirt to fall into the drainage swale between our houses, causing a blockage. This resulted in a flash flood last summer. Also, they never take care of their weeds, so I'm constantly having to pick weeds from my yard.

If it's a mound and not a hole it might be a pocket gopher. We had one last year and we tried everything including the smoke sticks. Nothing worked until we called an exterminator and they recommend a special box filled with poison. That sucker was gone in two days.

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by me_dennis

So I noticed a critter digging a hole in my back yard last night up on the retaining wall. I currently don't have anything planted in the retaining wall yet, but I want to stop the problem before it spreads. I suspect it could be a gopher, based on my research on Google. The mound is fan shaped, and I can't really see any vole trails, since there is no grass up there. The only vegetation up on the retaining wall is a bunch of weeds that spread from my deadbeat neighbour. Anyone have any tips on how to identify what kind of critter it is, how to get rid of it before it spreads, and how to prevent an infestation? I plugged up the hole with the dirt mound for the time being until I find a more permanent solution.

I have heard of something called the Giant Destroyer, which is a smoke stick that releases sulfur gas to smoke out the critters. Apparently the City of Calgary uses these.

Also, would this be something that I could file a complaint against my neighbour? I've had so many issues with this neighbour. Their retaining wall is not doing it's job properly, which causes dirt to fall into the drainage swale between our houses, causing a blockage. This resulted in a flash flood last summer. Also, they never take care of their weeds, so I'm constantly having to pick weeds from my yard.

Find out what it likes to eat and use it to entice him to move to your deadbeat neighbours yard.

[lazy_programmer]

Originally Posted by me_dennis

So I noticed a critter digging a hole in my back yard last night up on the retaining wall. I currently don't have anything planted in the retaining wall yet, but I want to stop the problem before it spreads. I suspect it could be a gopher, based on my research on Google. The mound is fan shaped, and I can't really see any vole trails, since there is no grass up there. The only vegetation up on the retaining wall is a bunch of weeds that spread from my deadbeat neighbour. Anyone have any tips on how to identify what kind of critter it is, how to get rid of it before it spreads, and how to prevent an infestation? I plugged up the hole with the dirt mound for the time being until I find a more permanent solution.

I have heard of something called the Giant Destroyer, which is a smoke stick that releases sulfur gas to smoke out the critters. Apparently the City of Calgary uses these.

Not sure if it's the same animal, but we had something digging holes in our yard in a similar fashion last year. We borrowed one of these from a friend:

http://www.amazon.com/Victor-Black-G.../dp/B000FBMFDO

Basically, you put it at the entrance of the most recent hole, cover it with some grass so as to let a little light in the trap. They don't like that and will attempt to cover the entrance to block the light, and the trap does it's thing. We caught our pest within 4 hrs of setting up the trap.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by Radio

Virginia creeper. In the fall they turn that deep red.

They are probably my favorite vine you can grow here, but a major pain in the ass if you get a leaf hopper infestation (which I do).

[GP_Matt]

I spread topsoil in my front yard to prepare for sod. Unfortunately, I had terrible timing and the next day the city ripped up my sidewalk and the first four feet of my topsoil.

They are almost done replacing it now and will put sod down to cover the first four feet. My problem is that while waiting for the city to finish weeds have started sprouting. Nothing very tall yet. Most are less than an inch high, but they are starting to cover a larger area.

Any advice on my options?

Spray with round-up? I am new to the area, but people seem touchy about chemicals these days
Pick them? There are thousands and they are small so it will be a pain
Pick the big ones and lay sod on top of the small ones?
Something else?

Thanks

[me_dennis]

Originally Posted by lazy_programmer

Not sure if it's the same animal, but we had something digging holes in our yard in a similar fashion last year. We borrowed one of these from a friend:

http://www.amazon.com/Victor-Black-G.../dp/B000FBMFDO

Basically, you put it at the entrance of the most recent hole, cover it with some grass so as to let a little light in the trap. They don't like that and will attempt to cover the entrance to block the light, and the trap does it's thing. We caught our pest within 4 hrs of setting up the trap.

Thanks. I picked up 2 of these traps from Lowes. I haven't set them yet, but was just wondering once you killed the gopher, did any new gophers come back? Did you set the trap again to see if you could catch any other gophers? I've got a feeling that I will have to deal with more than one gopher, based on the look of my deadbeat neighbours yard.

[Engine09]

Anyone have an idea on where to unload landscaping rock? I have a truckload of rocks I need out of the yard, around 8" to 12" in diameter, just rocks.

Seems weird to bring them to the dump and pay the $110/ton rate, which I confirmed is what they will charge for rocks.

Any other options? Thanks.

[GP_Matt]

Originally Posted by Kryzsky

Anyone have an idea on where to unload landscaping rock? I have a truckload of rocks I need out of the yard, around 8" to 12" in diameter, just rocks.

Seems weird to bring them to the dump and pay the $110/ton rate, which I confirmed is what they will charge for rocks.

Any other options? Thanks.

Call a landscaping supply company. They should be able to direct you. There are places in Edmonton that will accept clean rocks to crush up.

[Fuzz]

What kind of rock? I am looking for some, and hate the idea of paying for rocks!

[Diemenz]

Originally Posted by Kryzsky

Anyone have an idea on where to unload landscaping rock? I have a truckload of rocks I need out of the yard, around 8" to 12" in diameter, just rocks.

Seems weird to bring them to the dump and pay the $110/ton rate, which I confirmed is what they will charge for rocks.

Any other options? Thanks.

I'm pretty sure you can offload some of them if not all of them here or on kijiji. Like the post above I could also use some

[Engine09]

I'll take some pics and post them, if they're the right size/color then anyone is welcome to grab as much as they want.

Great idea with calling landscaping companies, will do that asap.

[me_dennis]

Does anyone have any recommendations on where to order bark mulch and decorative rock from? I've checked Burnco and Ornamental Stone, but I wanted to call around to get quotes from a few different places.

Thanks in advance!

[jeffporfirio]

Originally Posted by me_dennis

Does anyone have any recommendations on where to order bark mulch and decorative rock from? I've checked Burnco and Ornamental Stone, but I wanted to call around to get quotes from a few different places.

Thanks in advance!

Might be worth giving BlueGrass and SunnySide a call

[GP_Matt]

Originally Posted by me_dennis

Does anyone have any recommendations on where to order bark mulch and decorative rock from? I've checked Burnco and Ornamental Stone, but I wanted to call around to get quotes from a few different places.

Thanks in advance!

I don't know about Calgary, but in Edmonton Burnco seems to be 10-20% more expensive then the other landscape supply shops.

[Simon96Taco]

Originally Posted by me_dennis

Does anyone have any recommendations on where to order bark mulch and decorative rock from? I've checked Burnco and Ornamental Stone, but I wanted to call around to get quotes from a few different places.

Thanks in advance!

Also try the Bark & Mulch Depot - I had to get a cube of compost this year and they were competetive, plus delivery was as promised.

[Reaper]

Originally Posted by Kryzsky

Anyone have an idea on where to unload landscaping rock? I have a truckload of rocks I need out of the yard, around 8" to 12" in diameter, just rocks.

Seems weird to bring them to the dump and pay the $110/ton rate, which I confirmed is what they will charge for rocks.

Any other options? Thanks.

One could make several slow drive-bys past the Glenmore Reservoir in the middle of the night...

[rain_e]

Originally Posted by me_dennis

Does anyone have any recommendations on where to order bark mulch and decorative rock from? I've checked Burnco and Ornamental Stone, but I wanted to call around to get quotes from a few different places.

Thanks in advance!

I used these guys for a delivery this week. Flawless and less then Burnco:

http://igravel.net/default.aspx

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by rain_e

I used these guys for a delivery this week. Flawless and less then Burnco:

http://igravel.net/default.aspx

Now I have an "i Gravel 2000 dot com" jingle in my head.

[me_dennis]

Just an update on the pocket gopher problem. I picked up 2 of the Victor Black Box gopher trap (thanks for the suggestion). After digging up 3 tunnel runs, I had no success in the first run, but on the 2nd run, I caught one of the buggers in one end of the tunnel. After I had dug up the tunnel run, I noticed that on the next morning, one of the holes was plugged, up, so I decided to move the traps to that tunnel run, since it seemed to be active. Apparently pocket gophers do not like the light, so they try to plug up any open holes with dirt. Once I moved the trap there, he must've tried to plug up the hole again, and SNAP, he's a goner.

I can post a picture if anyone is interested.

Also, I ended up ordering gravel from CLS. They were significantly cheaper than Burnco and they were able to ship the following day. Highly recommended for any landscape materials.