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Old 04-14-2010, 08:43 PM   #21
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sure, not using chemicals is preferred, however I have 1/2 acre, and will create beds on ~1500-2000 sq ft of existing lawn. It can be dealt with for ~$10 of round-up
I didn't realize you were doing something that big. Another option would be to have someone do it with a bobcat, which could do it in an afternoon, but yes, the Roundup would be cheaper. Sounds like your plan would result in the garden being slightly higher than the lawn (mine tend to be lower). I've never tried making gardens that way so can't really comment on how well it would work.
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Old 04-14-2010, 10:26 PM   #22
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So, if round up is legal in Calgary, where can I buy it? I see it all over Phoenix, but haven't been able to find it up here. I've been thinking of bringing some back, but that is complicated as well.
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Old 04-15-2010, 09:48 AM   #23
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So, if round up is legal in Calgary, where can I buy it? I see it all over Phoenix, but haven't been able to find it up here. I've been thinking of bringing some back, but that is complicated as well.
Um, everywhere? Rona, HD, all the garden centres, CT...
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Old 04-15-2010, 10:05 AM   #24
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If you're in less of a hurry, and starting in the fall, you can use a layer of newspaper under a layer mulch to kill the grass. Works well here in zone 8 with warmish and wet winters, not sure how it would work in colder and drier areas. I imagine it would still kill the grass, but wouldn't decompose as quickly, so you might have to pull a bunch of paper out when you till it up in the spring.
yeah, I read that method and like it. My variation of that would be to cut the grass real low, cover it with top soil then cover that with landscape fabric and mulch. Without sunlight the grass would die and eventually decompose. It's likely a slow process, but requires the least effort and cost and doesn't use chemicals
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Old 04-15-2010, 10:05 AM   #25
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Does anyone know a good place to buy a crapload of Allen Block or something similar for a reasonable price? . We estimate we are going to need atleast 300-500 of them.
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Old 04-16-2010, 05:09 PM   #26
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Um, everywhere? Rona, HD, all the garden centres, CT...
Shoot, I was looking all over last year and couldn't find it. Just bought some today. Maybe it was just getting to be end of season and they were out of stock.
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Old 04-16-2010, 05:25 PM   #27
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Does anyone know a good place to buy a crapload of Allen Block or something similar for a reasonable price? . We estimate we are going to need atleast 300-500 of them.
When we did a retaining wall a few years back, we found that the capstones for the brand we chose were overpriced at one place and the blocks were overpriced at another. We used the lowest price guarantee at both places and it payed for us to have shopped around.
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Old 04-16-2010, 07:25 PM   #28
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looking to create some flower beds around the yard.

This is the plan. I would mark the perimeter with spray paint. Cut into the ground with a garden spade. Insert landscape edging to define the flower bed. Then spray everything inside the bed with Roundup to kill the grass. A week later when the grass is dead, rototil the ground, add compost, topsoil or peat moss. Cover with landscape fabric then mulch.

Never done this before. Got some of the prep ideas from HGTV.

Questions. Is Roundup safe? Anyone ever use it before? Do i even need to use it? If I simply cover the grass with dirt, and cover that with landscape fabric, the grass should die, correct?

Also, some of these beds will be used to grow veggies. Will Roundup be unsafe in a veggie garden?
Use a grub hoe to pull the grass.

Just cut a couple inches below the grass and keep working your way back. It is very easy to do this way. It is way less hassle than getting a sod cutter unless you have a very large area.

Roundup is totally safe. I used to tell my crew the stories about the salesmen back in the old days who would drink it to prove it was safe to apply to plants. Don't know if the stories were true but every couple weeks they would spike my water bottle with some.

About how Roundup works: It is actually a super growth formula that makes a plant grow so fast that it dies out. It must be applied to a green leafy part of a plant to work and if it touches soil it pretty much becomes inert. Don't be fooled though, just because a huge patch of grass is dead it doesn't mean it is much easier to remove. You still have to do 80% of the work you would have before hand.

Get a grub hoe (or a pick with a wide backend works too) and just chop under the roots.
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Old 04-16-2010, 08:00 PM   #29
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I built a small Allen Block wall last summer, using Courtyard.

I did lots of shopping around and found the center off Glenmore and Deerfoot by the RCA golf center to be the best price. (I can't remember the name)

I tried the box stores but the staff had no idea how the stuff works.
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Old 04-16-2010, 08:15 PM   #30
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Originally Posted by Oxygen-Supply View Post
I built a small Allen Block wall last summer, using Courtyard.

I did lots of shopping around and found the center off Glenmore and Deerfoot by the RCA golf center to be the best price. (I can't remember the name)

I tried the box stores but the staff had no idea how the stuff works.
You used Courtyard to build a retaining wall?

Allen Block is a really good choice if you want to spend a few bucks and make it look really nice. Jumbo (the medium sized blocks) corner really good and don't require much more than a few inches of gravel as a base. The pain comes from cutting capstones but the finished product is pretty nice.

This is one of many random photos of stuff we did:

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Old 04-16-2010, 11:58 PM   #31
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A really good idea to determine the shape of your flower beds is to use a long rope. Lay it on the grass and configure it until you have the shape you want. Then spray paint the perimeter and start working on your beds.

The Round Up available in gardening stores and hardware stores in Calgary is a watered down version of the real stuff. It will work, just takes a bit more time and if doing a big job or eradicating tough weeds like perhaps thistles, you might need a second application.
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Old 04-17-2010, 05:19 AM   #32
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I read the thread title as manscaping/gardening. Is anyone else interested in that?
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Old 08-19-2012, 05:42 PM   #33
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Sorry for bumping. Trying to get some ideas for some flower bed / vegetable garden edging, and saw some people around the neighbourhood had used some large rocks to form a border. Does anybody know what kind of base preparation is needed for this? Can I just drop the rocks in place to keep mulch and soil in place or is more involved than this? I just want it to be stable, in case they get run into with the lawnmower, or kids walk on them they don't wobble.

The concept would be something similar to this:

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Old 08-19-2012, 05:54 PM   #34
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Just thought I'd swing by this thread to say that roundup is awful and I'd never eat anything out of an area that's been afflicted by it. I generally use a 50/50 mixture of vinegar and water to kill weeds and grass.
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Old 08-19-2012, 06:00 PM   #35
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Sorry for bumping. Trying to get some ideas for some flower bed / vegetable garden edging, and saw some people around the neighbourhood had used some large rocks to form a border. Does anybody know what kind of base preparation is needed for this? Can I just drop the rocks in place to keep mulch and soil in place or is more involved than this? I just want it to be stable, in case they get run into with the lawnmower, or kids walk on them they don't wobble.

The concept would be something similar to this:

Road crush, or any gravel really. Stay away from stuff that would be washed away by water, like loam or sand.
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Old 08-19-2012, 06:01 PM   #36
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Just thought I'd swing by this thread to say that roundup is awful and I'd never eat anything out of an area that's been afflicted by it. I generally use a 50/50 mixture of vinegar and water to kill weeds and grass.
That's funny, because you can drink roundup.
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Old 08-19-2012, 06:09 PM   #37
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That's funny, because you can drink roundup.
Whoever is drinking that is probably asking for trouble.

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Glyphosate (Roundup) is one of the most toxic herbicides, and is the third most commonly reported cause of pesticide related illness among agricultural workers. Products containing glyphosate also contain other compounds, which can be toxic. Glyphosate is technically extremely difficult to measure in environmental samples, which means that data is often lacking on residue levels in food and the environment, and existent data may not be reliable.
http://www.organicconsumers.org/monsanto/roundup.cfm

Just....Stay away from it.

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Monsano’s advertising campaigns have convinced many people that Roundup is safe, but the facts just don’t support this. Independent scientific studies have shown that Roundup is toxic to earthworms, beneficial insects, birds and mammals, plus it destroys the vegetation on which they depend for food and shelter. Although Monsanto claims that Roundup breaks down into harmless substances, it has been found to be extremely persistent, with residue absorbed by subsequent crops over a year after application. Roundup shows adverse effects in all standard categories of toxicological testing, including medium-term toxicity, long-term toxicity, genetic damage, effects on reproduction, and carcinogenicity.
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Old 08-19-2012, 06:46 PM   #38
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Road crush, or any gravel really. Stay away from stuff that would be washed away by water, like loam or sand.
Thanks. So if I just dig a trench and add a layer of gravel, the large stones should stay put? Is it worth tamping down? Wonder if the stones used for the border need to buried a certain amount or just be laid on the surface?
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Old 08-19-2012, 07:36 PM   #39
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Thanks. So if I just dig a trench and add a layer of gravel, the large stones should stay put? Is it worth tamping down? Wonder if the stones used for the border need to buried a certain amount or just be laid on the surface?
General rule of thumb is an inch buried for every 8 inches above ground. I always increase that to 2 inches if I am around or less than 8 inches.

Dig down about 4 inches, so there is no disturbed dirt, clay etc and put. Couple inches of gravel and put your rocks on that. Then you want to tamp it pretty good, and I'd you are not ia rush you can run some water on it to help it settle, but that's a bit overkill for just a couple inches of gravel, since it would need to dry before laying the other rock.

Once the base is prepped, lay your 'wall stones' trying to overlap them a small amount (smaller behind bigger) so they provide stability to each other. Fill the front with loam and pack it a bit so it doesn't settle, assume you have dirt behind as well, do the same there.
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Old 08-19-2012, 07:42 PM   #40
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Whoever is drinking that is probably asking for trouble.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/monsanto/roundup.cfm

Just....Stay away from it.

Edit:
So if you can't get data from roundup that is left behind, how are they able to to test the residue that they claim if left for several years?

That first quote contains quite a few weasel words, enough for me I seriously doubt it has a basis in study.
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