Landscaping/Gardening Thread.

[GrrlGoalie33]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

I have a ton of trees on my property I'm trying to figure out what to do with. 4x giant like 30-50' spruce trees, 2x 10' spruce trees like 2 feet from the foundation and like half a dozen tower aspen (or columnar popular, not sure).

I'm thinking to DIY (which likely I have to spend around $300-500 for some equipment like pole saws, telescopic pruners, safety equipment etc.). I think I can do most of it, but for the roots, should I try and DIY or should I call in a pro? How much does it cost to dig out tree roots and stumps? I'm also assuming if I want someone to pull it out for me, it would be easier to leave 3-4 feet of trunk for leverage vs cutting to a few inches off the ground?

I think I am going to cut down one of the shorter spruce trees. I'm not looking forward to digging out the roots though. I'm also trying to figure out if I want another plant to replace the spruce for privacy.

The 4 gigantic spruce are going in all sorts of different directions and I think I need to figure out how to tidy them up a little. I doubt I can upkeep more than around 15-20' up. No idea if I need to trim even higher. My neighbor also has around 3-4 large spruce trees that occasionally overhang onto my side, so I think having the saws and the pruners will be useful for that too.

The tower aspen are getting older and are around 5-6" trucks at the base. The property inspector advised met to consider replacing them in around 2-3 years time so that the roots don't get bad enough to damage the foundation and the upper branches aren't thick enough to damage the roof when the wind blows. Cutting them down isn't hard, but I wonder how big of a pain it would be to rip out the roots myself to prepare the ground for new trees.

After having a proper Arbourist come in and remove 9 30+ foot tall spruce and birch trees from my lot, deal with all of the branches, cut the trunks to firewood lengths, clean up afterward and remove the stumps as well. I would highly recommend avoiding the hassle of DIY and hire someone to do it.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

It's extremely damned expensive though. Like, just limbing and felling a couple of big trees last year cost me thousands of dollars, and I had to deal with the cleanup myself. Mulching all the branches would have been even more.

[GrrlGoalie33]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

It's extremely damned expensive though. Like, just limbing and felling a couple of big trees last year cost me thousands of dollars, and I had to deal with the cleanup myself. Mulching all the branches would have been even more.

The arborist I hired did it all. Mulching, cleanup... I would and have hihgly recommended this company to people I like

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by Remember1989

Hoping to get a recommendation...

We have several garden beds around our house located in Renfrew that need some TLC and attention/ With two new family members now part of the household, taking care of weeding these areas is no longer making it to page 1 of the "to do" list (or even registering).

A few places I called were in the $60/hr range per person to do what they call "bed maintenance" which to us isn't economical. So wondering if anyone knows of a company or otherwise that would charge much less than that?

Depending on what you want or need done are there some neighborhood kids you could hire to make some spare cash? Is Hire a Student still a thing? I did that one summer as a young teen and that was pretty much all we did - yard cleanups, pruning/trimming, moving stuff etc.

[Wormius]

Is anybody messing around with micro clover lawns / seeding?

[Torture]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Is anybody messing around with micro clover lawns / seeding?

Planted Bee Turf in the backyard this spring. It's still a bit patchy but looking forward to the final result.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1402810304120049664

https://www.westcoastseeds.com/products/bee-turf

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by Torture

Planted Bee Turf in the backyard this spring. It's still a bit patchy but looking forward to the final result.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1402810304120049664

https://www.westcoastseeds.com/products/bee-turf

So do you think it will be durable enough for walking on?

[Torture]

Originally Posted by Wormius

So do you think it will be durable enough for walking on?

That's the plan. Right now we're still trying to stay off of it for the most part, but they say that you can start walking on it after 5 weeks if I remember the package correctly.

Can tolerate walking, needs less water than normal grass, should stay greener longer (plus flowers), and feeds beneficial bugs/pollinators. What's not to like? Just waiting impatiently for it to grow

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Is anybody messing around with micro clover lawns / seeding?

I’ve been mixing clover with grass seed to fill in my patchy lawn and it’s great. The clover is rejuvenating the nitrogen levels, flowers for the bees, stays low and is a really nice carpet on your feet. Second year in a bunch of spots and the clover there is really lush.

[Jay's Beagle]

Ordered Green Drop to help with the lawn as its our first summer in the new house. Paid for it today, they are coming as of tomorrow and hopefully the best lawn on the block by wednesday

[Ashartus]

Originally Posted by Jay's Beagle

Ordered Green Drop to help with the lawn as its our first summer in the new house. Paid for it today, they are coming as of tomorrow and hopefully the best lawn on the block by wednesday

Just make sure you cancel if you don't want them in future years (unless their practice has changed). I booked them for a 1 year service in the same situation, they just showed up again the next year. I told them I didn't want the service anymore, but they still showed up again the following year.

[Fuzz]

Can anyone recommend a wall mounted hose reel that isn't a leaky cheep piece of garbage? I thought I had a great one with the auto retractor, but it jammed a few times, then the retraction spring broke.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Something all metal, and with a metal hand crank is what you want. Plastic just doesn't hold up in Calgary winters, and auto retractors aren't designed for longevity. Something like this:

https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/y...-0590819p.html

Oh and make sure you drain the reel / hose before winter.

[Fuzz]

That's funny, I have looked at loads of them this morning, and that one looked to be top of my list.

[Fuzz]

This one looks pretty solid, too


https://www.grainger.ca/en/product/W...2-I/p/GGF2LRK9

[Titan2]

Originally Posted by postman56

Am much as I like watering, hauling hoses around a large yard can be a pain.
I'm thinking of a sprinkler system and was wondering if anyone has any suggestions for DIY?
The quotes I'm getting seem ridiculous from installers, with 3x the markup on supplies.
Just looking for general info on how to.

Is this a project that anyone could do?

Any web sites? books? suggestions? tips?

Cheers in advance

I did my own. Over the course of several years I added various planters as well. Currently have 4 zones.

Planning is key. Rainbird and Orbit both have planning tools. Really think about what you want to water and when. The planters water twice a day, the lawn at whatever interval you want so they need to be on different lines. You have to be very conscious of the pressure of the lines and the number of sprinklers on each line.

You should plan your coverage carefully as well. I would have added more, smaller area heads for the lawn. Also, if you have a boulevard, on the other side of the sidewalk you really need to plan for that as brown grass there defeats the whole purpose.

You could have a company come to give you a quote to give you a place to start but that is possibly a Richard move to waste their time.

Definitely rent the hose puller from home depot when you are ready to go. We built our manifolds ourself but it added a bunch of time. I would highly recommend a pre-built unless you really like working with pipe. Also, there is at least a couple of suppliers in town you should check out when you are ready to build. I just did home depot but wish I had gone that way.

You also need to blow out the line in the fall but that was just an excuse to buy an air compressor. Be sure to add a blow out line to the manifold setup with a valve so it is an easy connection. I also added a valve/faucet on the inside as you need to empty the line in the house. I can hook a hose to it when I blow it out.

If I had to do it again I definitely would, for the planters alone, but it is not a small job. I really like having it.

[Titan2]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

That's funny, I have looked at loads of them this morning, and that one looked to be top of my list.

I generally agree that a metal one would be nice. However, I like the idea of hiding the hose. HeeHee.

I have this one https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/s...3190p.html#srp and it has lasted several years but I unhook it and blow it out at the same time I do my sprinklers.

The only useful comment I would make is make sure the crank handle has a moving piece that you hold onto. Mine I have to put a rag there or I can't wind it quickly as my hand 'grabs'.

[Fuzz]

I prefer the wall mount design for this specific location.

[Reaper]

Originally Posted by Torture

Planted Bee Turf in the backyard this spring. It's still a bit patchy but looking forward to the final result.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1402810304120049664

https://www.westcoastseeds.com/products/bee-turf

I managed to get some bee turf seeded for my yard a few days ago. I know it's late to expect anything but since I don't have access to time travel I figured I'd give it a shot.

[bossy22]

Originally Posted by Frankster

The arborist I hired did it all. Mulching, cleanup... I would and have hihgly recommended this company to people I like

What arborist did you use? I have 4 aspens that need to come down. I was originally going to fell one myself, but on closer inspection around my yard, we decided that 4 need to come down.