Landscaping/Gardening Thread.

[monkeyman]

Originally Posted by metallicat

You should try and offer that clay to people for free. Maybe they'll take it off your hands.

Originally Posted by Fuzz

That's a fantastic idea. Would you like some clay? It's free.

Spoiler!

[rbochan]

6.5 Hours on the tiller yesterday. 2.5 Gallons of fuel. Not even finished.

That thing kicked my ass.

[Two Fivenagame]

Hey CP,

Can anyone offer some advice on planting a medium/large shade tree for a front yard?

- South facing so loads and loads of sun.
- Probably needs to be a little drought tolerant once established.
- Local community is stricken with black knot so nothing prunus (cherry) related.

Would a Silver Maple survive? Are Elms doing ok these days?

[rbochan]

Silver maples thrive just about anywhere. Make sure you leave them lots of space though. I have an 80 year old in in my back yard. There are pictures of it being dwarfed by a kitten when it was planted, now 5 people can't reach around the trunk.

[EverfresH15]

We just had a tree guy come to our house as one of our trees out front died. We are also facing south and he suggested we replace it with one of these 3 Box elder, Oak, Japanese tree lilac

[puffnstuff]

Will need to replace our front, south facing, tree in the next couple of years. Anyone have a tamarack (larch) tree?

[Jimmy Stang]

Does anyone have any thoughts or experience with clover lawns? I have noticed that clover seems to do well in this climate, and after doing some Googling, it seems that clover lawns are actually a thing. Scotts even sells seed marketed as "Clover Lawn".

Apparently they do well in dry climates, require less water, are lush and green, tolerate mowing nicely, are more weed resistant, and are helpful to bees.

My front yard is south facing and has a considerable slope, and each year I put in a fair bit of work on it with minimal long-term benefits. I aerate, top-dress, fertilize, seed as needed, water frequently and it just never really looks good, particularly the steeper parts. I just don't think that it can hold the water necessary to grow grass properly, so I am looking at alternatives.

In the short term, I'm not particularly keen on terracing it to correct the slope and have considered just planting some wild shrubs and grasses and giving up on the ol' Kentucky blue grass. I also don't want a full rock and gravel front yard, but some native and/or low maintenance ground covers and shrubs are all options.

So back to my original question - is clover lawn the first step to maintaining some greenery but also acknowledging that grass is not necessarily best for this climate and my particular location? And not that I care what people think of it, but are clovers still seen as a weed and a nuisance?

[White Out 403]

ok talk to me like I'm a total novice, because I've literally never planted anything before. Ever.

I want to add some lilac bushes to our back yard along a patio fence. It's about 10 feet long the fence. So I'm going to dig up all the ####ty grass, put down some brick as a border or stone, put in some topsoil I guess? Then... where do I get lilac bushes from? Do I plant seeds? Get some juvenile bushes?

[Baron von Kriterium]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Stang

Does anyone have any thoughts or experience with clover lawns? I have noticed that clover seems to do well in this climate, and after doing some Googling, it seems that clover lawns are actually a thing. Scotts even sells seed marketed as "Clover Lawn".

Apparently they do well in dry climates, require less water, are lush and green, tolerate mowing nicely, are more weed resistant, and are helpful to bees.

My front yard is south facing and has a considerable slope, and each year I put in a fair bit of work on it with minimal long-term benefits. I aerate, top-dress, fertilize, seed as needed, water frequently and it just never really looks good, particularly the steeper parts. I just don't think that it can hold the water necessary to grow grass properly, so I am looking at alternatives.

In the short term, I'm not particularly keen on terracing it to correct the slope and have considered just planting some wild shrubs and grasses and giving up on the ol' Kentucky blue grass. I also don't want a full rock and gravel front yard, but some native and/or low maintenance ground covers and shrubs are all options.

So back to my original question - is clover lawn the first step to maintaining some greenery but also acknowledging that grass is not necessarily best for this climate and my particular location? And not that I care what people think of it, but are clovers still seen as a weed and a nuisance?

Yes, I planted clover in my front yard several years ago. Mind you, it is just the path between my rock gardens. I bought clover seed from RONA for my first attempt and it really didn't take. This year, I purchased seed from West Coast seeds and it is growing quicker (this rain helps no doubt).

In my rock garden, I use primarily native shrubs and wildflowers purchased from Wild about Flowers and Bow Point Nursery.

My back yard is a challenge because of the dogs and one third of the lawn has been dead for three summers now. No amount of dirt and grass seed has helped. The aforementioned RONA clover seed didn't work either. This year, I used clover seed and Bee's Turf (mix of clover, fescue and small wild flowers) from West Coast Seed and it is growing quite well. Clover apparently resists the dog urine, too.

I am not too concerned about what people think of the clover. Considering the shape of many yards in my neighborhood, my clover should be the least of anyone's concerns.

[Bill Bumface]

Anyone have Creeping Bellflower invading their yard? Anyone have success knocking it back? It's like the white walker of weeds... it just keeps coming.

[Jimmy Stang]

Originally Posted by Baron von Kriterium

I am not too concerned about what people think of the clover. Considering the shape of many yards in my neighborhood, my clover should be the least of anyone's concerns.

One of my neighbours has a thistle farm going on, so I know that he won't/can't say a peep about it!

I appreciate hearing your experience on the types of seed and plants you've tried. I'll be checking out the West Coast Seed for sure as that'll save me time and money trying the cheaper stuff first (which, if I'm honest, I probably would have done initially). Seems to be readily available at garden centres around town based on their web site.

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by Bill Bumface

Anyone have Creeping Bellflower invading their yard? Anyone have success knocking it back? It's like the white walker of weeds... it just keeps coming.

You're screwed. Sorry.

[Barnes]

Originally Posted by puffnstuff

Will need to replace our front, south facing, tree in the next couple of years. Anyone have a tamarack (larch) tree?

I planted one in my new backyard (south facing) and it is growing well. It's grown almost a foot already in 2 months and added some girth.

I like them cause they are odd looking but I haven't seen many around other then a couple in Cranston. Possibly because they aren't really available as caliper trees and seem pretty delicate.

Can't wait to see it this fall.

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by Bill Bumface

Anyone have Creeping Bellflower invading their yard? Anyone have success knocking it back? It's like the white walker of weeds... it just keeps coming.

Have to get as much of the root as possible. It has to be a block-wide effort too, if they're creeping under the fence and your neighbour isn't doing anything about it they'll just keep coming

[Shazam]

That should be qualified with "If you break any of the root, even the tiniest piece of root will turn into a new plant".

[btimbit]

Yeah pretty much. Apparently you can't even compost them, they'll live and grow in a compost pile. City says bag them and throw into the black bin.

All you can do is pull, pull, pull, pull and hopefully in a few years you'll get ahead of it. Or go scorched earth and start over.

[puffnstuff]

Originally Posted by Barnes

I planted one in my new backyard (south facing) and it is growing well. It's grown almost a foot already in 2 months and added some girth.

I like them cause they are odd looking but I haven't seen many around other then a couple in Cranston. Possibly because they aren't really available as caliper trees and seem pretty delicate.

Can't wait to see it this fall.

Where did you get it? And what size?

There are a couple of them in S Glenmore park just west of the sailing club and one odd one in a city park by my place. Very cool to see them turn in the fall.

I didnt think they were that delicate either but thats just based on some quick googglefu. They do list them as very temperature hardy and drought tolerant.

[burnin_vernon]

Can Killex spread through the air and kill neighbors' plants, roses etc. like Roundup can? I'm looking at hitting the dandelions in my lawn with the concentrate applied via pump sprayer.

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by burnin_vernon

Can Killex spread through the air and kill neighbors' plants, roses etc. like Roundup can? I'm looking at hitting the dandelions in my lawn with the concentrate applied via pump sprayer.

I haven't had that happen but I'm not 100% sure. I imagine if you just don't spray when it's windy you'll be fine

I didn't have any luck with the concentrate bottle for whatever reason. I highly recommend the broadcast spray bottle that you hook your hose up to. Works great and it hasn't killed anything I didn't want it to. Used it two years in a row now.

[Barnes]

Originally Posted by puffnstuff

Where did you get it? And what size?

There are a couple of them in S Glenmore park just west of the sailing club and one odd one in a city park by my place. Very cool to see them turn in the fall.

I didnt think they were that delicate either but thats just based on some quick googglefu. They do list them as very temperature hardy and drought tolerant.

Got it at Countryside in DeWinton. It was about 5 feet tall when we planted it the week after May Long weekend and it’s just reached 6’. The lighter green is all new growth so it’s gotten quite a bit wider as well.

I think that they’d be delicate to dig up and transport as large caliber trees but yeah, once established are supposed to be pretty hardy. I have heard they can be intolerant to pollution though.

Spoiler!

Added a dog for scale.