Let's talk about yard work....

[simpsongal]

Is anyone else facing insurmountable amounts of yard work?  It's our 3rd year in this house and it just never seems to get better.  I have to look at pics from the previous years to remind me how far we've come.  It's so discouraging to see new plants die too (harsh winter).

- DH is determined to eradicate the broadleaf dock (rumex obtusifolius) that's all over our moist back area.  These taproots are unbelievable and the plants are so ugly. 

- I've bought shoulder length disposable gloves so I can finally work in our front bed, which is riddled with poison ivy.  I've got a delivery of perennials coming soon too.  I want to make our yard lovely but sometimes it's like two steps forward and a giant step back.

- Of course, there's the vegetable garden, which needs tons of work.

- Our lawn is a struggle.  We try not to put too many chemicals on it, especially since we're near a watershed.  I pull weeds by hand, we let clover and crabgrass grow at will.  I feel a little bad b/c our surrounding neighbors have professional landscapers and perfect lawns.

[caddywompus]

Yard work is never ending! There will always be weeds to pull, grass to mow, hedges to trim, etc.

FYI- Crabgrass will take over your yard if you don't try to contain it! I had a problem with it on one side of my house- it kept growing right over the grass that was there, and killed it all. I had to go out every day and pull it up little by little. It took a long time, but I finally got it under control.

I like to take a radio outside with me, and I find it calming to sit and work in the flowerbeds.

[emoflamingo]

I saw the back yard and winced. All our young trees look pretty awful, no one had cut down the plants in the fall when we should have and they're all sprouting back up underneath the mess. So I said something to H about it and he said "well, I can work on it when I'm off." Dude, May is wayyy too far away. Maybe I'll have to park my pregnant ass outside while C and W play on the swing set and hack at those dead plants.

[emoflamingo]

And dude, forget your neighbors and their landscapers. I've never understood the urge for a perfect lawn. My dad lives in that kind of neighborhood and he has neighbors who mow their lawns twice to get that pattern in it. Only retired folks have time for that and even then, I can see some of my retired family members saying "are you kidding me? No."

[sierramist03]

Our yard is a mess but since we rent we put some effort in but not a ton of money. We did put up a retaining wall our first summer here with permission of the landlord.
We did some new mulch and it looks a lot better. I'm afraid to plant any flowers yet as it could still freeze here.
Our grass was never planted. Our house has always been a rental and nobody ever planted grass it's always just been weeds. So last fall we killed all the weeds and this spring we laid some grass seed. Hopefully we can get it to looking better.

[r]

This is the first Spring in our house. We are the third owners of this 11 year old house. I think my yard used to be really prettY and well kept. The original owners were older and I can see where it once was charming.

The second owners were weird. They let the pathway and driveway get over run with weeds and grass. They had a weird religious garden outback with crosses and cherubs and Jesus statues. I cleaned it all up when we first moved in.


I plan on making several new beds, regravel the paths, edge the driveway and try to make it presentable this spring. In the fall I want to kill crabgrass and reseed for next spring.

[sju]

Mar 31, 2015 8:52:57 GMT -5 caddywompus said:

FYI- Crabgrass will take over your yard if you don't try to contain it! I had a problem with it on one side of my house- it kept growing right over the grass that was there, and killed it all. I had to go out every day and pull it up little by little. It took a long time, but I finally got it under control.

Same except we could not save ours and I am not sure about the type of weed. We (really DH) had 3 acres of grass to mow at our old house. We used to have beautiful centipede up front but then after a couple droughts, the weeds won.  We had minimal gardens because we just did not have time for such maintenance (we were in north FL = mowing for 9 mos)

[simpsongal]

@juno once the porch is built we'll have that much less lawn - I'll need to create beds around the porch too. For a 1/2 acre, a good amount of our property is mature plantings and beds. It's just so much to maintain. And I don't think it was maintained for the 5-10 yrs before we bought b/c the original owners were older and infirm by the end. Laying 12 cubic yards of mulch helped last year but we should probably do more this year.

I talk about hiring landscapers but never pull the trigger. I'm the same way with an indoor maid. I just can't justify the expense.

[auntie]

We had a rough time last year. A lot of broken, damaged and dead stuff. I did a bed in the back yard to which I will transplant some of my more prolific perennials from the front beds. I also want to get some control on wild berry stalks which are invading my berm and plant some more forsythia or butterfly bushes. I'll need to mulch.

I make sure my front lawn looks better than either of my neighbors, but excepting a yearly dandelion tx, I don't use much in the way of pesticides. I do use lime to correct the pH and natural fertilizers. There's a cemetery upwind of us that only opened last month. In previous years they let it become a breeding ground for dandelions. I'm hoping they do better now that they're selling plots.

[magdala]

The harshness of this winter has taken a huge toll on our yard. I have chopped up tons of deadfall for logs and kindling. We have only cleaned out 1 of 12 beds because they just need so much work. Half the beds are still under snow. I am hoping that we haven't lost a hydrangea and a mountain laurel. There is a rose buried in the snow that might not be ok either.

[nomad100]

Do I have to talk about it because I am freaking out a bit. We have lots to do and it all has to get done by June 13 when we are hosting a 50th anniversary party for my parents that will be an indoor/outdoor event.

Here is my initial list
1. Get up leaves that we didn't in the fall (how bad would it be to put the mulch right over all the leaves we didn't get up?)
2. Spread mulch in front yard, back yard and garden. (I am so hiring someone to help with this)
3. Finish garden fence
4. Finish garden boxes
5. Fill garden boxes
6. Edge all the garden beds (should be done before the mulch gets done)
7. Install gate at top of kitchen deck stairs to contain dogs
8. Install lattice (with access door) under deck to keep same dogs from knocking the downspout off every damn day

Additional outdoor projects are
1. Paint metalwork glossy black
2. Repaint fascia and trim
3. clean and seal decks
4. sand and retain outdoor dining table
5.  Probably at least another 5 things I can't remember

[namasteak]

We have a huge yard that the previous owners obviously started to landscape but it's a bunch of random beds wirh misc plants right now. No idea where to start and it seems like SOOO much work.

[Deleted]

Its overwhelming. We wanted a large yard but now that it looks like kids aren't happening, I sure wish it were smaller. I was in a car accident last August and the resultant whiplash meant all of my yard work came to a halt and no fall duties or winterizing happened. It's a nightmare worse than usual now in all the beds (this is our 4th year in the house). The front beds aren't planted up enough so too much bare dirt for the dandelions and vetch which have also now invaded my pretty succulent section. The 3 beds I had spent all my focus on are looking terrible again. I'm at my wits end about my favorite bed because there is all this grass invaded on one side but since its all tangled in the lilac tree roots, I can't get out the grass roots and I'm about to just give up and let the grass go all the way up to the trunk on that side :/ Oh, and a lot of the plants the previous people put in go all invasive and are a beast to get under control!

We do all organic as I don't want to sit in chemicals (and have allergies) and all run off goes to the storm drain and into Puget Sound so I just can't. Every time I almost give in, I read the information and then think about all the beneficials that would get killed and stop. But morning glory has invaded through the neighbor's fence. GARGH. I want to hire a landscaper to get some help but we have a back door that has to be replaced.

So yes, in brief? It feels insurmountable!

[msmerymac]

Yeah, we have a small yard, but the work is going to blow this year. We have to till our beds and plant some new items. We have bulbs all over - daffodils and tulips - so we need to avoid tilling them up. Prune the rose bush. I want to plant tomatoes. Then we need to mulch everything (I'm considering having someone just do it for $200).

But we are also repouring our porch steps and putting in porch railings, so the front beds will have to wait to be finished when we're done with that. Blah.

At least the outside of the house might actually look decent this year!

[jade]

Our front yard is a disaster. It is dominated by a huuuuge bush and pine tree on one half, and the other half had juniper bushes but most of them died. Plus we let an aspen tree sprout come up in a really awkward place. So it is just terrible. I have no idea what to do with it. Tearing out the bush and tree would be a huge deal, but no idea what to do with the now half dead section next to it. The only flowers are some daffodil bulbs DH moved from the back to the corner by the driveway, so I inevitably run them over at least once with my car.

The backyard is better. I want a vegetable garden but I have a black thumb and no clue how to get it started or how to maintain it.

[TBM]

Mar 31, 2015 10:27:36 GMT -5 @juno said:

Mar 31, 2015 10:12:02 GMT -5 simpsongal said:

@juno once the porch is built we'll have that much less lawn - I'll need to create beds around the porch too. For a 1/2 acre, a good amount of our property is mature plantings and beds. It's just so much to maintain. And I don't think it was maintained for the 5-10 yrs before we bought b/c the original owners were older and infirm by the end. Laying 12 cubic yards of mulch helped last year but we should probably do more this year.

I talk about hiring landscapers but never pull the trigger. I'm the same way with an indoor maid. I just can't justify the expense.

I've had both.  Indoor maid service=totally not worth it IMHO/E.  Someone to weed at $35/hour=priceless.

From what I have observed, both here in FL and in CA, landscaping services don't weed, and they just mow the lawns and put chemicals on them...they spend no time digging up crabgrass.  Our next door neighbor's lawn looks gorgeous from the street, but if you look up close it has issues.   Our other neighbors pay heavily for a lawn service to fertilize and treat their lawn for disease, but then they have chemicals dumped on  often.

We have a lot of little oaks sprouting up all over, and the yard people all told us that they mow them down and spray them.  Since we avoid that stuff, it leaves a lot of work for us.  Between the weeds, the leaves, the ferns,  fallen twigs and branches, removal of weirdly placed and sometimes ugly shrubbery and stumps of things, the vegetable garden , trying to work on a landscaping plan for the future, and doing all of the work inside the house and courtyard, we are overwhelmed.  I would love to hire someone to dig and clear out all of the weirdness in the backyard, but I don't have a clue where to find someone who will actually dig up stuff.

[humpforfree]

My yard is 80% mud and covered in construction debris, so yes insurmountable. Also, we have no budget for landscaping. Ugh.

[simpsongal]

Mar 31, 2015 14:40:24 GMT -5 humpforfree said:

My yard is 80% mud and covered in construction debris, so yes insurmountable. Also, we have no budget for landscaping. Ugh.

Hugs.  With the little guy, I would love a nice soft carpet of green grass.  Oh well, I plan on killing a big patch with a plastic kiddie pool anyways.

[hbomdiggity]

Mar 31, 2015 10:12:02 GMT -5 simpsongal said:

@juno once the porch is built we'll have that much less lawn - I'll need to create beds around the porch too. For a 1/2 acre, a good amount of our property is mature plantings and beds. It's just so much to maintain. And I don't think it was maintained for the 5-10 yrs before we bought b/c the original owners were older and infirm by the end. Laying 12 cubic yards of mulch helped last year but we should probably do more this year.

I talk about hiring landscapers but never pull the trigger. I'm the same way with an indoor maid. I just can't justify the expense.

But maybe if you hire someone to design or do the big tasks? Then it will be easier for you to manage. Or vice versa.

I do get that gardening isn't like cleaning because some people do enjoy it. And I do like planting stuff myself but hate the maintenance. But I'm holding off this year until June when 1) I'm on maternity leave and 2) my master gardener mom visits.

It's also tough since we haven't really run out sprinklers since the fall and everything is dying.

[compassrose]

It's my first spring as a homeowner with a yard. So far, I'm enjoying cleaning out the dead stuff more than I thought I would, but I think we're going to need a riding lawnmower (and they are so expensive...).

[adhdfashion]

I have at least 8 more hours of yard work to get it back to normal. Winter being mild here let weeds run wild.

[devonpow]

Our yard is still completely covered in snow I've basically forgotten what it looks like

[treedimensional]

Mar 31, 2015 7:58:00 GMT -5 simpsongal said:

- DH is determined to eradicate the broadleaf dock (rumex obtusifolius) that's all over our moist back area. 

I'm having a Beavis & Butthead moment over this one. :::snickering::: huhuhuhuh

[thatgirl2478]

YES! I was just thinking about everything that needs to happen outside...

- burn down the burn pile (totally legal here but it has to happen on a weekend when DH is home and can tend it since we can't burn after dark).

- attack the mulberry bush suckers

- build out the planting beds (3 including around back of the house/patio/deck/bushes that we planted last year)

- regrade the ground by the house

- install a small landing patio

- fill in the holes that the dog dog and that were left by the tree stump removal process

- figure out what will make the grass look nicer (besides not having a dog)

- build and fill the veggie garden raised bed