Landscaping/Gardening Thread.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by Burninator

The lawn in our house was neglected last year. The house was an estate sale and essentially didn't get watered all last year and we took possession in the fall. There are some pine trees that haven't done the lawn any favours either. So far I have dethatched the lawn and removed all the pine needles I can. Next I was going to aerate, fertilize, compost and seed. Parts of the lawn are decent, some have sparse grass (where there was lots of needles) and a couple parts have no grass. I think there were a couple pavers and a tree removed.

Do I get the whole thing aerated? I am worried about damaging the existing grass in the sparse areas. But at the same time the ground in the sparse and dead areas is quite hard.

If there was a big old pine tree there the soil will be pretty acidic and not really suitable for grass. We had a similar situation with a 50 year old pine tree. We had it removed and I let the soil sit for a year. After that I removed a portion of the upper soil, put down fresh top soil and laid sod over the area. The sod mostly took and survived but a few small patches were tough to keep alive. Pine trees can really mess up your soil.

[Lumby Lager]

Originally Posted by Burninator

The lawn in our house was neglected last year. The house was an estate sale and essentially didn't get watered all last year and we took possession in the fall. There are some pine trees that haven't done the lawn any favours either. So far I have dethatched the lawn and removed all the pine needles I can. Next I was going to aerate, fertilize, compost and seed. Parts of the lawn are decent, some have sparse grass (where there was lots of needles) and a couple parts have no grass. I think there were a couple pavers and a tree removed.

Do I get the whole thing aerated? I am worried about damaging the existing grass in the sparse areas. But at the same time the ground in the sparse and dead areas is quite hard.

If this area is in the back yard try a couple of blueberries they love acidic soil, we even use pine needles as mulch for them.

[metallicat]

I need to hire a bobcat to hammer and haul away an old concrete patio and then remove my backyard grass. Not sure on how much time it will take, but does anyone have an estimate on per hour cost of getting a bobcat and truck?

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Lumby Lager

If this area is in the back yard try a couple of blueberries they love acidic soil, we even use pine needles as mulch for them.

Blueberries are a lie in Calgary. A dirty nasty lie.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by metallicat

I need to hire a bobcat to hammer and haul away an old concrete patio and then remove my backyard grass. Not sure on how much time it will take, but does anyone have an estimate on per hour cost of getting a bobcat and truck?

I had a couple guys work for basically a full day with one bobcat, hauled away 4 x 14 foot trailers of asphalt/concrete/debris/clay/shrubbery and it was $800. Seemed like a decent price to me, considering the work they did and disposal.

[Lumby Lager]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Blueberries are a lie in Calgary. A dirty nasty lie.

Sometimes I don’t always think about location when online, easy to just give suggestions from where your point of origin is. The gardening bug in us quadrupled when we moved from Alberta into the Okanagan but I won’t say how great our garden is

[metallicat]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

I had a couple guys work for basically a full day with one bobcat, hauled away 4 x 14 foot trailers of asphalt/concrete/debris/clay/shrubbery and it was $800. Seemed like a decent price to me, considering the work they did and disposal.

I was expecting $1000 or so for a few hours work. Damn. I'll have to get some quotes.

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

If there was a big old pine tree there the soil will be pretty acidic and not really suitable for grass. We had a similar situation with a 50 year old pine tree. We had it removed and I let the soil sit for a year. After that I removed a portion of the upper soil, put down fresh top soil and laid sod over the area. The sod mostly took and survived but a few small patches were tough to keep alive. Pine trees can really mess up your soil.

Pine trees causing acid soil is a myth.

http://renegadegardener.com/myth-of-...aks-is-acidic/

http://renegadegardener.com/myth-of-...is-too-acidic/

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Blueberries are a lie in Calgary. A dirty nasty lie.

Correct. Our soil is too alkaline. You can actually grow the bush and you will get lots of leaves, but your chances of getting any fruit will be very low.

Having said that, if you live along (very closely) the river, that soil is in fact acidic enough to successfully grow the fruit.

[Fuzz]

My wife tried for years...supplementing the soil, trying everything the internet told her, babying them...got a few berries here and there, but inevitably the bushes end up pathetic, with fewer leaves and no berries. The old guy at the garden centre said, "ya, good luck. But they will fail." He was right.

[dubc80]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

If there was a big old pine tree there the soil will be pretty acidic and not really suitable for grass. We had a similar situation with a 50 year old pine tree. We had it removed and I let the soil sit for a year. After that I removed a portion of the upper soil, put down fresh top soil and laid sod over the area. The sod mostly took and survived but a few small patches were tough to keep alive. Pine trees can really mess up your soil.

Can I ask you how much it cost you to have the evergreen removed?

I have a huge one in front of my place which I'd rather not have.

Every summer I hope it gets hit by lightning and miraculously destroyed with no loss of life or damage to property.

[Lumby Lager]

Originally Posted by Shazam

Correct. Our soil is too alkaline. You can actually grow the bush and you will get lots of leaves, but your chances of getting any fruit will be very low.

Having said that, if you live along (very closely) the river, that soil is in fact acidic enough to successfully grow the fruit.

We started testing and experimenting with or soil 3 yrs ago. We use pine needles as mulch for water retention and soil aeration as we have a ridiculous abundance being in BC. It is fantastic for ground cover with drip irrigation since you can make smaller and more specific piles over where you have your drippers placed.

https://www.pinestrawdirect.com/Pine...calTesting.pdf

We built a garden under a massive pine that has tomato, peppers, garlic and herbs along with 6 different flowers.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by dubc80

Can I ask you how much it cost you to have the evergreen removed?

I have a huge one in front of my place which I'd rather not have.

Every summer I hope it gets hit by lightning and miraculously destroyed with no loss of life or damage to property.

It was expensive for us, I think close to $3000, because it was in our side yard and it couldn't be taken down in a traditional manner and they couldn't use a cherry picker. They had to climb the tree and repel sections down one at a time. It was a full day job for the crew.

[dubc80]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

It was expensive for us, I think close to $3000, because it was in our side yard and it couldn't be taken down in a traditional manner and they couldn't use a cherry picker. They had to climb the tree and repel sections down one at a time. It was a full day job for the crew.

Cool. Yeah, ours is on our front lawn so you could essentially have it fall forward onto the sidewalk/street quite easily.

Did they grind up the stump? What was the surface like after it was done?

[dubc80]

Originally Posted by you&me

Does anyone have any experience with planting a large, mature tree?

We've begun looking at houses, mostly new(er) inner-city builds, but a lot of them seem to have lost trees during the redevelopment.

We're having a difficult time embracing some of the homes, but if we know there is potential to add a large tree (or two) it could really change our perspective.

Are there some types that transplant better than others? Is there a specific time of year that's best? Any ideas on cost?

I realize there will be limitations (practical and cost-wise), but at this time, we're thinking the bigger, the better.

Thanks, CP!

Do you want my blue spruce? You can have it for free if you come take it yourself. Its about 25 years old and probably 20-25 feet high.

You can even have the partial strings of really old Christmas lights which are all intertwined within the branches close to the core of the tree.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by dubc80

Cool. Yeah, ours is on our front lawn so you could essentially have it fall forward onto the sidewalk/street quite easily.

Did they grind up the stump? What was the surface like after it was done?

They did grind most of the stump and exposed roots on our job. A neighbour down the street from us had their tree removed from their front yard and the guys did let it fall right into the street and cut it up into small chunks om the ground. It was a lot quicker and probably a lot cheaper but I didn't ask what their cost was.

[Red]

Originally Posted by dubc80

Can I ask you how much it cost you to have the evergreen removed?

I have a huge one in front of my place which I'd rather not have.

Every summer I hope it gets hit by lightning and miraculously destroyed with no loss of life or damage to property.

Should be no more than 1200 with grinding the stump and taking everything away. Trees this size they always cut from top down, branch at a time.



I'd give you the number of my guy, but I lost it somewhere.

[Engine09]

Finally going to install my sod this Sat, been 3 years in the making. Tearing down a sunroom, tearing down a greenhouse, hauling out 6 tons of rock and cement, etc. Just have one thing I'm unclear on.

Before laying down my topsoil is it better to must manual pull all the weeds before the rototiller? I could probably get that done in 2 hours.

Should I spray instead? What product? I don't know what type of weeds they are, just random stuff I need rid of.


Thank you

[Ironhorse]

I am needing to plant some columnar trees for shade along my fence, and could use some input. Where is my best bet to buy these things? I looked at Green Gate, and the smallest ones were $89; is it worth buying the taller ones at $149? They had 5 year warranties; I didn't know trees could have warranties...

[mrkajz44]

Originally Posted by Ironhorse

I am needing to plant some columnar trees for shade along my fence, and could use some input. Where is my best bet to buy these things? I looked at Green Gate, and the smallest ones were $89; is it worth buying the taller ones at $149? They had 5 year warranties; I didn't know trees could have warranties...

+1 - I would like to know too - the three that were planted on my back fence by the old owner have died and our kitchen looks directly into the kitchen of the house behind us. Would love to get some trees in there and block the view.