Landscaping/Gardening Thread.

[photon]

Hate from your neighbours? Just pave it all and paint part green!

Actually I know a house nearby that paved the whole thing.. but I guess that's against some bylaw and they had to tear part of it up. Oops.

[Torture]

Originally Posted by Scroopy Noopers

It looks absolutely insane off-season.

Year round actually.

[octothorp]

So our birch trees in the back yard have, for the last few summers, had kinda large greyish patches dried-out, that would cover about half of a leaf. I thought it was a watering-related thing. Today, I held one of the leaves up to the light, and discovered that the interior of the leaf is kinda hollowed out and inflated, and there's a larva wiggling around inside it.

Looks like leaf-mining sawflies based on googling it. I never even knew that leaf-mining was a thing; it's kinda crazy that it's inflating and hollowing out the internal space of a leaf. Good news is it doesn't sound like it's particularly harmful to the tree, but the bad news is that there doesn't seem to be any easy fix since the insects are protected from any pesticide by a layer of leaf.

[rohara66]

Originally Posted by octothorp

So our birch trees in the back yard have, for the last few summers, had kinda large greyish patches dried-out, that would cover about half of a leaf. I thought it was a watering-related thing. Today, I held one of the leaves up to the light, and discovered that the interior of the leaf is kinda hollowed out and inflated, and there's a larva wiggling around inside it.

Looks like leaf-mining sawflies based on googling it. I never even knew that leaf-mining was a thing; it's kinda crazy that it's inflating and hollowing out the internal space of a leaf. Good news is it doesn't sound like it's particularly harmful to the tree, but the bad news is that there doesn't seem to be any easy fix since the insects are protected from any pesticide by a layer of leaf.

Yup. Super common in Calgary. We’ve had them every year prior to this one (knock on wood). This year I’ve watered our birch like crazy and it seems to have helped.

[Caged Great]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

Besides cost, its there any reason not to put artificial turf on your front lawn, especially if a driveway takes up 75% of the front yard?

What I did with my yard is put nothing but rundle slate rocks out front. No grass at all. Looks nice because it's not a typical look.

This week has been fun....... I have had to prune 130 trees, only have about 2/3rds done and then I have to go back and re-check everything to make sure it's okay.

Add on a few things didn't survive that brutal cold snap and I'll also have to replant about 20 things, makes for a fun week of gardening. Looking forward to it being done.

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by Caged Great

What I did with my yard is put nothing but rundle slate rocks out front. No grass at all. Looks nice because it's not a typical look.

This week has been fun....... I have had to prune 130 trees, only have about 2/3rds done and then I have to go back and re-check everything to make sure it's okay.

Add on a few things didn't survive that brutal cold snap and I'll also have to replant about 20 things, makes for a fun week of gardening. Looking forward to it being done.

Yeah, I'm either doing a gravel-y type front (likely rundle rock) or artificial turf. It's going to be a tiny sliver of front yard (pie lot).

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

Yeah, I'm either doing a gravel-y type front (likely rundle rock) or artificial turf. It's going to be a tiny sliver of front yard (pie lot).

You definitely want to make sure you select the right filling for your pie.

[Voodooman]

It looks like it’s been about 3 years since the last question on this, so can anyone recommend a good arborist/tree service they’ve used recently? The Manitoba Maple (AKA F’ing Weed) in my yard is out of control and desperately needs a haircut.

[Bill Bumface]

Raven Tree Services is now my go-to. Booked them last week for a Manitoba Maple as well. They are booking into October already.

[Torture]

We used Tree Frog for the Green Ash in front of our house. They did the trick.

[Swayze11]

My brother in law is an arborist. Check him out:
http://Letreecare.com

[metallicat]

I think 4x4 knows a good arborist. Where is that guy anyways?

[81MC]

Anyone tips on successfully dealing with whatever grubs/pests are causing large swaths I’d totally dead grass? Just flood with pesticides?

[Ducay]

Anyone have a line on where to get Propiconazole based lawn fungicide for a home-gamer? Its sold widely in the states, but in Canada seems to be sold for commercial uses mostly. Imagine golf courses, etc, all have easy access

I normally bring it over the border, but with that being closed, my lawn is starting to show some signs of needing it!

[flamingchina]

Where's a good place to get some pressure treated wood? Looking to replace some on the deck, and the ones at Lowe's don't look that great.

[Inglewood Jack]

sorry to add to the unanswered question pile, and this one might be pretty dumb but for some reason I can't get google to tell me the answer. I'm a grass bagger (yes I know I'm throwing away valuable fertilizer) and I've always wondered...the compost pickup is hauling away a good 20-25kg of grass every couple of weeks. over the course of a whole season, that's maybe 200+kg of organic material being taken off my lawn. so in the past decade of mowing the same lawn I've probably removed at least a couple metric tons of stuff.

how is it that the lawn is still at the same level after all these years? what is replacing all that material that gets bagged and taken away? is this as counterintuitive to anyone else or is the answer so obvious that nobody's even thought of asking?

[surferguy]

Originally Posted by flamingchina

Where's a good place to get some pressure treated wood? Looking to replace some on the deck, and the ones at Lowe's don't look that great.

Send a PM to Bigtime or just go to timber town

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by Inglewood Jack

sorry to add to the unanswered question pile, and this one might be pretty dumb but for some reason I can't get google to tell me the answer. I'm a grass bagger (yes I know I'm throwing away valuable fertilizer) and I've always wondered...the compost pickup is hauling away a good 20-25kg of grass every couple of weeks. over the course of a whole season, that's maybe 200+kg of organic material being taken off my lawn. so in the past decade of mowing the same lawn I've probably removed at least a couple metric tons of stuff.

how is it that the lawn is still at the same level after all these years? what is replacing all that material that gets bagged and taken away? is this as counterintuitive to anyone else or is the answer so obvious that nobody's even thought of asking?

Ever had a haircut?

[Inglewood Jack]

Originally Posted by topfiverecords

Ever had a haircut?

I’m putting food down my gullet constantly, providing the materials for growth and regeneration of all my cells, including follicles. What’s the equivalent process for grass? I spread fertilizer every 6 weeks and a bit of topsoil in trouble spots at the start of the growing season, but that’s a tiny amount of material compared to what I’m removing by mowing and bagging.

[Fuzz]

A lot of grass is moisture. Let it totally dehydrate and there isn't much mass there.