Landscaping/Gardening Thread. - Page 17 - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

Canehdianman · 03-22-2016, 08:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4X4

About 5 minutes of reading about sheep fescue, and I am already planning on overseeding with it this year. Green and soft lawn? Minimal water? Minimal maintenance?
This is where the too good to be true part comes along, right?

Can you overseed a normal lawn with sheep fescue? Not sure how that would turn out.

...never mind the internet has taught me.

puffnstuff · 03-22-2016, 09:15 PM

I have a couple of shady and dry areas in the backyard that I will be putting it in.

Buckwheat's barber · 03-23-2016, 03:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4X4

About 5 minutes of reading about sheep fescue, and I am already planning on overseeding with it this year. Green and soft lawn? Minimal water? Minimal maintenance?
This is where the too good to be true part comes along, right?

Too good to be true. Regardless of variety, sheep fescue is a poor overseeding choice. It doesn't compete well with established turf, and it will be easily choked out. Use a similar low-maintenance Kentucky bluegrass seed, when overseeding.

Fuzz · 03-23-2016, 03:06 PM

Is that from experience? The stuff I read was that it would out-compete.

Buckwheat's barber · 03-23-2016, 04:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Is that from experience? The stuff I read was that it would out-compete.

Are you establishing from scratch or overseeding, and what variety of sheep fescue?
Sheep fescue is a bunch grass – it does not spread by rhizomes and is not a competitive grass. If you are establishing a new turf, then seeding with sheep fescue alone will work well. It can be mixed with hard and creeping fescues and similar low maintenance blue grasses. Overseeding on an existing home lawni is not a good choice.
Whatever you decide, good luck.

Barnes · 03-23-2016, 05:00 PM

Does anyone know if any local stores sell microclover seed for overseeding?

Ducay · 03-24-2016, 11:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barnes

Does anyone know if any local stores sell microclover seed for overseeding?

Never heard of the stuff, but don't most homeowners battle clover in their lawns? How would you keep out the regular clover without killing the micro stuff?

Hanni · 03-28-2016, 04:17 PM

Anyone have any tips for a good looking edging to install along the bottom of a chain link fence? The grass is a pain to manage along chain link, looks terrible, and eats through trimmer line like crazy. Replacing the fence isn't an option.

gaffobohs · 03-29-2016, 10:45 PM

Ok so looking for some advice. Bear in mind I'm completely new to any form of gardening. We just bought our first house and with it came a nice sized back yard and deck. It also had three small pear trees that were maybe 6 feet tall. She wanted rid of them and just wants a green space for our son to run around hazard free. So I chopped them down yesterday and dug the roots up today. So I'm left with one hole maybe 1 ft deep x 3 ft wide and two smaller ones. Now when I dug the smaller ones out I was able to keep most of the grass intact as it came out as sort of sods. Can I just fill the hole where the roots were and lay the sods of grass back down on top? The bigger one I'm planning on putting some top soil down and seed the patch...would this be ok?

Also there were random large rocks and a couple of 10"x10" paving stones down. I removed them and forked up the soil a bit. I was thinking the same for that, topsoil and seed?

Then there's an area in the back corner where the previous owners had a slab of rock and a couple of logs sunk into the ground. I removed all these but the ground is very uneven. We were thinking of doing a raised flowerbed in that corner. Can you just drop dirt on top of the grass that's there or does it have to be dug up? It won't see much sunlight either so is there even any point in putting it there?

Wow that was a long post, sorry for the newbie questions just want to have the yard looking decent. Any advice/ideas would be great!

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Fuzz · 03-30-2016, 06:22 AM

Yes, you can just lay the sod back down. Make sure the ground is level. Give it lots of water. Topsoil and seed will work well in the other spots. I like to do a heavy mix of fertilizer and seed, and water it lots. By fall it will fill in nicely. For the raised bed, ya, not a lot of point if it is totally shaded. What were you hoping to grow there? I like Rhubarb to fill in areas I can't think of anything else for, and it does OK it shady areas. You wouldn't need to build anything either, since it kinda covers everything.

gaffobohs · 03-30-2016, 08:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Yes, you can just lay the sod back down. Make sure the ground is level. Give it lots of water. Topsoil and seed will work well in the other spots. I like to do a heavy mix of fertilizer and seed, and water it lots. By fall it will fill in nicely. For the raised bed, ya, not a lot of point if it is totally shaded. What were you hoping to grow there? I like Rhubarb to fill in areas I can't think of anything else for, and it does OK it shady areas. You wouldn't need to build anything either, since it kinda covers everything.

Any particular type of seed that will work best for filling in the patches?

She just wanted some flowers for decoration wasn't planning to grow veg. But will they just die out in winter anyway? Stupid question I know but originally from Ireland so never dealt with keeping plants alive with snow. The idea of the raised bed was just to combat the very uneven ground in that corner but I'm not sure if it's worth it

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Fuzz · 03-30-2016, 08:59 AM

I just use whatever grass seed they have at the hardware store or Costco

Flowers will depend. If you plant perennials they mostly come back. You would have to find something shade tolerant though.

red sky · 03-30-2016, 04:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gaffobohs

Any particular type of seed that will work best for filling in the patches?

She just wanted some flowers for decoration wasn't planning to grow veg. But will they just die out in winter anyway? Stupid question I know but originally from Ireland so never dealt with keeping plants alive with snow. The idea of the raised bed was just to combat the very uneven ground in that corner but I'm not sure if it's worth it

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You can also buy a roll of sod and cut it to size. It should root fairly quickly with lots of water and you don't have to deal with a hole of dirt

afc wimbledon · 03-30-2016, 06:05 PM

https://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=...B4MQMwgcKAEwAQ

My 'new' lawnmower, bought of a guy in Kerrisdale who was clearing out his dad's house, 80 dollars!

calgarygeologist · 04-01-2016, 10:19 AM

I need to aerate my lawns this year. Does anyone have any recommendations for someone that might be able to do it at a reasonable cost? I checked with Home Depot tool rentals and it is $97 for a full day rental. I'm hoping I might be able to find someone that can do it for around $150 and I wouldn't have to screw around with hauling the rental unit and doing the job myself.

Izzle · 05-02-2016, 09:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

I need to aerate my lawns this year. Does anyone have any recommendations for someone that might be able to do it at a reasonable cost? I checked with Home Depot tool rentals and it is $97 for a full day rental. I'm hoping I might be able to find someone that can do it for around $150 and I wouldn't have to screw around with hauling the rental unit and doing the job myself.

Bump... looking for something similar.

Anybody have success with getmy3quotes.ca??

Nufy · 05-02-2016, 09:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

I need to aerate my lawns this year. Does anyone have any recommendations for someone that might be able to do it at a reasonable cost? I checked with Home Depot tool rentals and it is $97 for a full day rental. I'm hoping I might be able to find someone that can do it for around $150 and I wouldn't have to screw around with hauling the rental unit and doing the job myself.

How big is your lawn...

Canadian Property Stars canvassed my neighborhood a few weeks back.

Front and back done for 78.00 I think...

Canehdianman · 05-02-2016, 09:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nufy

How big is your lawn...

Canadian Property Stars canvassed my neighborhood a few weeks back.

Front and back done for 78.00 I think...

Canvas some neighbours. If you can get 3-4 of you who want to do it, it makes the rental much cheaper.

Lubicon · 05-02-2016, 10:10 AM

My experience in general is most places want to do the whole power rake/aerate thing. Many would not even give us a quote for just aerating. Our best luck has been to hit them up when they are on your street doing other yards as they seem to be more receptive to doing only an aeration since they are already there.

Izzle · 05-02-2016, 10:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nufy

How big is your lawn...

Canadian Property Stars canvassed my neighborhood a few weeks back.

Front and back done for 78.00 I think...

I have a standard duplex (shared wall with a neighbour). I think the width of my lawn is 8m. I need the front and back done.

It looks like Canadian Property Stars just aerate. Do they power rake as well?