Landscape fabric vs. cedar chips vs. ?

[calumniate]

You could use a bag or two of concrete sand (normally used for paving stones). That would be fun!

[Reaper]

If you want to enhance the effectiveness of landscape fabric, put a layer of 6 sheets (minimum) of newspaper down before the fabric. Newspaper chokes weeds like you wouldn't believe. Wet the newspaper slightly before putting the fabric over it to save it from tearing.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by photon

Anyway liking the rubber idea, closer to my ideal of a paved yard with fake grass, composite deck, silk plants, robotic birds, etc. Completely inorganic yard.

The image of the ultimate fake yard as an ideal made me laugh out loud.

[Erick Estrada]

Landscape fabric with landscape rocks on top are very effective. We got our back yard done a decade ago this way and you will get the odd weed that gets through but very seldom.

[ranchlandsselling]

I have a few inches of mulch and it works wonders. The occational weed pokes through and it's alone, weak from battling through a few inches and takes one little pull and it's 90% root, 10% shoot and I have a little chuckle at how easy it was to kill. The breakdown of the mulch is also a very good fertilier. The mulch also protects your roots from Calgary's large swings in moisture, drying out, thawing early, etc. and looks and smells great. Yeah that might only last two years and then you top it up - but what's broken down is very good for your soil.

[Rathji]

I am a huge fan of pavers and rock and otherwise incorporating xeriscaping into a yard.

Here are some random examples of jobs I did over the years that I liked some aspect of (but not all).

Spoiler!

First couple are my Mom's yard.




Another Dry Creek bed:


Did lots of stuff like this:








Stream and ponds are really nice, but take lots of maintenance.




This is what mulch might looks like, depending on your beds. I really hated the stones we used on this one, as they are not really the right type.

[photon]

Had a guy come over and take a look, it's probably about 500 square feet of area where there's rocks, he didn't even think there was landscape fabric but he found it, had to dig down through an inch or two of dirt in some cases to find it.. no wonder I have weeds! I don't remember there being that much dirt when they did it originally, dirty wind here?

Anyway he figures $1000 or so plus materials to dig out all the rocks and put in the rubber or cedar chips. It looks like at least a few days worth of work to me for a couple of guys so that doesn't seem totally unreasonable, digging 500sqft of rocks and soil and putting down new landscape fabric etc...

[ranchlandsselling]

Originally Posted by Rathji

I am a huge fan of pavers and rock and otherwise incorporating xeriscaping into a yard.

Here are some random examples of jobs I did over the years that I liked some aspect of (but not all).

Spoiler!

First couple are my Mom's yard.




Another Dry Creek bed:


Did lots of stuff like this:








Stream and ponds are really nice, but take lots of maintenance.




This is what mulch might looks like, depending on your beds. I really hated the stones we used on this one, as they are not really the right type.

Great pics - nice work!

What would you recommend to get that nice finished look from pictures 4/5.

I have brick pavers and there's weeds always growing in between them. I powerwashed it out in the summer (2012) and dumped in sand that was supposed to seal (it didn't) and now I've just got a sandy brick patio. I think I'd need to blower it out, what do I put down between the pavers to stop weeds and thenforum.calgarypuck.comF
Also need to clean the pavers, they have that old musty winter staining on them

Damn, totally thread hijacked. Sorry Photon.

[photon]

No worries, could turn it into a general yard type stuff thread.

[photon]

Oy, the rubber much isn't cheap, $8 a bag at Home Depot, to get enough to cover everything to 3 inches looks like $1200!

Found this place too, can buy in bigger quantities:

http://www.rymarrubber.ca/Home.aspx?categoryID=19

EDIT: Does that amount for labour seem reasonable?

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by ranchlandsselling

Great pics - nice work!

What would you recommend to get that nice finished look from pictures 4/5.

I have brick pavers and there's weeds always growing in between them. I powerwashed it out in the summer (2012) and dumped in sand that was supposed to seal (it didn't) and now I've just got a sandy brick patio. I think I'd need to blower it out, what do I put down between the pavers to stop weeds and thenforum.calgarypuck.comF
Also need to clean the pavers, they have that old musty winter staining on them

Damn, totally thread hijacked. Sorry Photon.

Those 2, compared with the similar patio further down, look fresher because they were just washed. You could likely accomplish the same effect with a concrete sealant, but I never really looked into it.

For inbetween, just use sand with a binder, however, that is likely what you used so either you put it in wrong, or the batch you got was bad. When you put it in right, it hardens like concrete. Its really nice on a patio, as it helps prevent erosion and the resulting settlement. I don't know of a good way to remove old sand short of brushing it out with a broom or letting nature take its course. I wouldn't use a power tool like a compressor or pressure wager though as it would really wreak havoc on your base sand.

You could brush out as much as you could, and then use the binder sand for the top couple inches.

As for that old musty look, it would depend what the actual cause is but it might be calcification or just fading from the sun. Either way there are chemicals you can get to help with that, check with Home Depot, or better yet, a place like Expocrete or Ornamental Landscaping might be able to tell you what's available.

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by photon

Oy, the rubber much isn't cheap, $8 a bag at Home Depot, to get enough to cover everything to 3 inches looks like $1200!

Found this place too, can buy in bigger quantities:

http://www.rymarrubber.ca/Home.aspx?categoryID=19

EDIT: Does that amount for labour seem reasonable?

To do quick quotes, I would normally take material cost and double it for a base cost, then modify up or down depending on a few factors, and then add 10%. Keep in mind, this was during the boom, so I wasn't worried about lack of work.

For your job, it is fairly typical in terms of the amount of labour, so $1000 seems not too bad.

[ranchlandsselling]

Originally Posted by Rathji

Those 2, compared with the similar patio further down, look fresher because they were just washed. You could likely accomplish the same effect with a concrete sealant, but I never really looked into it.

For inbetween, just use sand with a binder, however, that is likely what you used so either you put it in wrong, or the batch you got was bad. When you put it in right, it hardens like concrete. Its really nice on a patio, as it helps prevent erosion and the resulting settlement. I don't know of a good way to remove old sand short of brushing it out with a broom or letting nature take its course. I wouldn't use a power tool like a compressor or pressure wager though as it would really wreak havoc on your base sand.

You could brush out as much as you could, and then use the binder sand for the top couple inches.

As for that old musty look, it would depend what the actual cause is but it might be calcification or just fading from the sun. Either way there are chemicals you can get to help with that, check with Home Depot, or better yet, a place like Expocrete or Ornamental Landscaping might be able to tell you what's available.

Thanks for the reply,

Re: Bolded part - I did. But someone told me later after a quick spray with water it's supposed to harden (which I did), but it needs to be a very warm day... which it wasn't and the bag/product didn't say.

Any brands/types you'd actually recommend and I'll just go buy that type

[Hack&Lube]

My recommendations for landscaping ideas:



http://www.bajiroo.com/wp-content/up...tures-600x.jpg

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by ranchlandsselling

Thanks for the reply,

Re: Bolded part - I did. But someone told me later after a quick spray with water it's supposed to harden (which I did), but it needs to be a very warm day... which it wasn't and the bag/product didn't say.

Any brands/types you'd actually recommend and I'll just go buy that type

http://www.expocrete.com/residential...ccessories.php

As a contractor, I got all my products from Expocrete, which wont supply you as a consumer. Ornamental Landscape Supplies, on Aero Rd, is a provider for them, so I assume the Polymetric Sand is available there as well.

The biggest concern with using this sand is once that it is set, you won't be able to easily fix pavers which are out of level, so make sure it is perfect.

Another note, I recall giving it a lot more than a quick spray when I did it, but that's a pretty subjective term so it really depends. I normally went a few minutes longer than I thought it might need, and it never went badly for me.

[bomber317]

Originally Posted by ranchlandsselling

Thanks for the reply,

Re: Bolded part - I did. But someone told me later after a quick spray with water it's supposed to harden (which I did), but it needs to be a very warm day... which it wasn't and the bag/product didn't say.

Any brands/types you'd actually recommend and I'll just go buy that type

I did mine this summer with polymeric sand from HD. It was in a black bucket. (not listed online). As long no water has gotten into the product, you are good to go. I've heard of stores selling bags of polymeric sand outside in their garden center, but the bags have vent holes in them......

The instructions were to spray multiple times onto the pavers and sand. I believe we had to do 3 or 4 coatings at regular intervals.

It's only been a few months but the polymeric sand that landed on the dirt beside the pavers bonded very nicely and it was one solid piece. I was surprised at the strength of the sand even when it was spread out at 3-4".

[Caged Great]

What I did was put a double layer of the fabric down, and then added 6 inches of black dyed mulch. That was 12 years ago, and I've only had to add more mulch a couple of times in the interim. Every year I have to pick out about 10-15 small weeds out of my back yard total. No big deal

[rain_e]

Originally Posted by Sliver

OMG if you're serious I'll take some photos of my yard for you. I have a 60' stamped concrete patio, artificial grass, rocks beside my house, and five large silk plants. I have two real planters and three real trees, but the yard is almost 100% artificial and it looks pretty good.

The front yard it real grass, flowers, bushes and trees, though.

I've seriously considered something similar. Can you post some pictures?

[ranchlandsselling]

More support for wood chips
http://perrysperennials.info/articles/woodchips.html