Spring yardwork thread!

[simpsongal]

Time for a lot of us to get outside - whatchya doin? What do you have planned?

We hired out mulching and edging this year, which is an amazing push to get goin (been buying 10 cubic yards the past few years and DIYing it....so much work).

I need to plant a few bushes in the corner where a tree went down (might wait to see what costco gets in stock). I ordered some cool plants online to plant (yellow/orange dedicuous azaleas, another witch hazel, japanese snowbell). I did some fertilizing, need to cut out some winter damage to our camellias, finish pruning our peach tree. I've got some exterior painting to do too. I'd also like to power wash the house and use that mold away product under the eaves (worked pretty well last year).

Need to stain new sections of fence and restain fading sections. I may do a small raised bed...but we'll see.

I'm waging a war on ivy this year - and I may call in professional chemicals to take out the wisteria that we can't eradicate

My climbing jasmine made it through winter, I may add more trellis for it to climb or a branching section over the patio door. Can't wait for it to bloom!

[Susie]

We just got another 3-5 inches of snow on Saturday, so I'm not feeling the immediacy quite yet.  But there will be lots to do this spring/summer/fall.

There's also a potentially large gap between the dream list and the "likely to happen" list.  We'll see how far we get.  One variable is ability to engage professionals, particularly for tree removal and a grading project.

On the definitely happening list:  
* Finish garden boxes and plant with veggies
* Remove the now disconnected pool heater (pool is already gone)
* Mulch the area where the pool deck was removed
* Continue removing barberries
* Use gift card to buy daffodil bulbs, plant those for next spring
* Take down the bradford pear that drops fruit all over the driveway and cars.  Consider species for replacement.
* Remove red landscape stone from around all trees so that we can remove the landscape fabric (under the stones) and plastic borders from the trees.  The landscape fabric is girdling a number of our trees.

On the "hope to do" list:
* Have the lower backyard professionally re-graded to address low spots/stagnant water spots
* Remove trees
* Replace shed?
* Add play structure for kids?
* Fence portion of the yard (still working on how)

[dr.girlfriend]

I'm getting so anxious...we are having a shed delivered on April 4th and months ago I contracted a guy to put in a double gate so that the shed could be delivered assembled. He keeps not responding to emails and then saying, "Definitely this week" and then not showing up. At this point I think it's too late to get anyone else but I'm also pretty doubtful he'll get it done. I'm semi-seriously thinking of trying to knock a fencepost down with my car so that we can get the shed in.

[lightbulbsun]

I have soooo much to do. I got a chipdrop in January that's been sitting in my driveway because we've only had a couple of weekends where it wasn't raining/frozen to work outside. I am ripping up my front garden that was filled with pachysandra and ferns and random thorny bushes, and putting down a layer of cardboard and then the woodchips. This summer I'm planning on planting a bunch of native bushes and flowers for a pollinator garden. The only things I'm keeping from before is a dogwood tree and a winterberry bush. It's really hard work digging out all of the pachysandra, but it already looks way better. This weekend is supposed to rain again this weekend.

In the backyard I need to build at least another two raised beds by May to grow everything I planned to this summer. I also need to woodchip an area where I can plant the 3 apple trees that I ordered during the winter. I also want to use the woodchips for an area in my back yard. I have a lot of wood chips.

Lastly, I want to carve out a dedicated fir pit area. I'm hoping I get to it this summer, but it's at the bottom of the priority list right now.

[hbomdiggity]

We are getting quotes for grading/sport court install so likely not to invest too much time until that is decided/installed. We do need to take up the moss growth though and prob overseed.

[clairebear]

I'm in Florida so I've had the garden going for a couple of months now. My bell peppers even survived the first freeze we've had in 4 years this Jan. Anyway, I need to:

Seed the dead patches in my lawn (gave up on St Augustine sod and am trying Bermuda).
Seed sunflowers, tomatoes, and whatever random veggie seeds I find
Change the oil in my pressure washer and mower
Pressure wash drive, play structure and shed roof
Clean out the deck box that holds on the kids toys

[clairebear]

Mar 15, 2022 10:18:20 GMT -5 dr.girlfriend said:

I'm getting so anxious...we are having a shed delivered on April 4th and months ago I contracted a guy to put in a double gate so that the shed could be delivered assembled. He keeps not responding to emails and then saying, "Definitely this week" and then not showing up. At this point I think it's too late to get anyone else but I'm also pretty doubtful he'll get it done. I'm semi-seriously thinking of trying to knock a fencepost down with my car so that we can get the shed in.

Is the post cemented in? You could always cut it off at the base if so.  

[mrspez07]

Don't go too crazy on the yard cleanup too early, though it’s ok to trim things, just wait awhile on raking beds!
xerces.org/blog/dont-spring-into-garden-cleanup-too-soon

[dr.girlfriend]

Mar 15, 2022 10:18:20 GMT -5 dr.girlfriend said:

I'm getting so anxious...we are having a shed delivered on April 4th and months ago I contracted a guy to put in a double gate so that the shed could be delivered assembled. He keeps not responding to emails and then saying, "Definitely this week" and then not showing up. At this point I think it's too late to get anyone else but I'm also pretty doubtful he'll get it done. I'm semi-seriously thinking of trying to knock a fencepost down with my car so that we can get the shed in.

You guys are good luck!  The fence guy says he's coming Friday to set the posts in concrete.  Now to see if he really shows up...

[mrsukyankee]

We need one more railway sleeper and a lot of dirt/compost to finish off my raised bed. And then we can put it all together finally and start growing stuff outside. That's an early April task. I also need to figure out a way to keep the cats of the neighbourhood from digging into the dirt and pooping in it as they tend to do that with any exposed dirt anywhere.

[ssmjlm]

Soooooooo, DH is currently researching pools. I've finally caved and said if he does all the work to get companies out here and give quotes, then we can likely do it. It will just be a fiberglass drop in style, but we also need a fence, and will need to connect the current paver patio to the pool deck.

Bye bye $$$$

Other than that, we need to figure out when we can have mulch delivered and I need to repaint both patio doors.

[aprilsails]

Our big projects this year are to get the third side of the backyard fence (happening at the same time as the neighbour puts in his pool). Also to put in an irrigation system.

We also need to sand and oil the wood on the enclosed porch. We’ve been using linseed oil and skipped last year so it needs to be done this year.

I want to meet with a landscape designer and come up with a plan. I should have probably done that during the winter. I want to put in a couple of decorative tree/bushes, knowing that we won’t get actual landscapers out for another year or two.

[icedcoffee]

We just signed a contract to have our side yard fixed up. It's basically a huge mess that consists of a retaining wall, steps down to yard, and step up to our laundry room. It's gravel and the weeds are insane and also it's sinking. It's expensive AF to fix it, but it will really clean things up. I'm excited to have it cleaned up after just living with it for 8 years. They'll replace steps with trex and replace gravel path with pavers. And the fence will be changed to vinyl.

We used to mulch ourselves, but stopped when DS1 was a baby because life is too short for shit you hate. We're going to wait to do the clean up after the side yard is done.

A few things I want to make sure get done are keep the mondo grass I planted last year alive and I pulled out a bush that I need to figure out how to get the roots out so I can plant grass.

Fun times!

Before pic:

[libbygrl109]

The only real project we’ve been considering is sprucing up our screened-in porch. The previous owner put down cheap fake grass-like carpet that we’ve always hated but just lived with. It’s too ratty now to ignore. Not sure what we’re going to put in its place - probably a slightly nicer indoor/outdoor rug. We also need to build the handrails for the steps we replaced a while back.

And maybe we can rebuild the ramp to our shed. The one that came with it is a little too steep for my liking, but DH has insisted that it’s fine.

Other than that, just tending to my flower beds and veggie garden.

[simpsongal]

Mar 15, 2022 21:58:15 GMT -5 dr.girlfriend said:

Mar 15, 2022 10:18:20 GMT -5 dr.girlfriend said:

I'm getting so anxious...we are having a shed delivered on April 4th and months ago I contracted a guy to put in a double gate so that the shed could be delivered assembled. He keeps not responding to emails and then saying, "Definitely this week" and then not showing up. At this point I think it's too late to get anyone else but I'm also pretty doubtful he'll get it done. I'm semi-seriously thinking of trying to knock a fencepost down with my car so that we can get the shed in.

You guys are good luck!  The fence guy says he's coming Friday to set the posts in concrete.  Now to see if he really shows up...

did he come??

[dr.girlfriend]

Mar 19, 2022 7:34:14 GMT -5 simpsongal said:

Mar 15, 2022 21:58:15 GMT -5 dr.girlfriend said:

You guys are good luck!  The fence guy says he's coming Friday to set the posts in concrete.  Now to see if he really shows up...

did he come??

Yes!  He came in and put in the new fenceposts, and is coming back to do the gate on Monday!  But then I called the site prep company which was supposed to contact me independently of the shed company (even though the shed company contracts with them directly) and they never got an order for my site prep!  So now waiting to see what happens with that.  I was kind of thinking that they were leaving it a little late, but I was relieved because whatever site prep involves I figured it would be easier once the big gates were in...

[dr.girlfriend]

Mar 17, 2022 15:35:08 GMT -5 libbygrl109 said:

The only real project we’ve been considering is sprucing up our screened-in porch. The previous owner put down cheap fake grass-like carpet that we’ve always hated but just lived with. It’s too fatty now to ignore. Not sure what we’re going to put in its place - probably a slightly nicer indoor/outdoor rug. We also need to build the handrails for the steps we replaced a while back.

And maybe we can rebuild the ramp to our shed. The one that came with it is a little too steep for my liking, but DH has insisted that it’s fine.

Other than that, just tending to my flower beds and veggie garden.

Is the floor concrete?  I'm so tempted by all these stenciled concrete DIYs, but I haven't been brave enough to try my own porch yet!  I would be tempted to stencil a concrete floor and then add a rug.

[libbygrl109]

Mar 19, 2022 11:29:17 GMT -5 dr.girlfriend said:

Mar 17, 2022 15:35:08 GMT -5 libbygrl109 said:

The only real project we’ve been considering is sprucing up our screened-in porch. The previous owner put down cheap fake grass-like carpet that we’ve always hated but just lived with. It’s too fatty now to ignore. Not sure what we’re going to put in its place - probably a slightly nicer indoor/outdoor rug. We also need to build the handrails for the steps we replaced a while back.

And maybe we can rebuild the ramp to our shed. The one that came with it is a little too steep for my liking, but DH has insisted that it’s fine.

Other than that, just tending to my flower beds and veggie garden.

Is the floor concrete?  I'm so tempted by all these stenciled concrete DIYs, but I haven't been brave enough to try my own porch yet!  I would be tempted to stencil a concrete floor and then add a rug.

No, it’s wood. They essentially just took a regular old deck and added a roof and screening. It’s most likely not even permitted with the way the old owner did things. I’d love to tear it all down and expand it, but that won’t be in the cards for quite a while.

[dr.girlfriend]

Mar 19, 2022 10:05:11 GMT -5 dr.girlfriend said:

Mar 19, 2022 7:34:14 GMT -5 simpsongal said:

did he come??

Yes!  He came in and put in the new fenceposts, and is coming back to do the gate on Monday!  But then I called the site prep company which was supposed to contact me independently of the shed company (even though the shed company contracts with them directly) and they never got an order for my site prep!  So now waiting to see what happens with that.  I was kind of thinking that they were leaving it a little late, but I was relieved because whatever site prep involves I figured it would be easier once the big gates were in...

Update -- the double gate is in!  Gardener is coming tomorrow hopefully to dig up a bush (near) and some saplings (in) where I want the shed to go because I have no idea if that's going to be a problem for the site prep people.  Still waiting on word as to whether they can even get me in for site prep before the shed is supposed to be delivered on April 4th!  

[Pilsy]

I haven't really done or planned much of anything, but I am desperately trying to track down the guy I hired last fall for mowing and a fall clean-up. He charges $50/week (very reasonable about here) to mow and edge, and he said he'd do monthly weeding, which is something nobody else seems to offer! But he's not returning my calls or texts, and I don't know if he went out of business or what.

[redheadk]

Mar 15, 2022 21:46:59 GMT -5 mrspez07 said:

Don't go too crazy on the yard cleanup too early, though it’s ok to trim things, just wait awhile on raking beds!
xerces.org/blog/dont-spring-into-garden-cleanup-too-soon

This is super dependent on where you live. Where I am, it is absolutely time to kick it into gear with gardening.

We are working on our grass this year. UGH. I hate how much work it takes and it's so wasteful but we do like having a nice stretch of grass in the backyard. DH found some sort of lawn care schedule that he's implementing. He spread the first 2 things on the list last weekend.

We had our front flower beds redone last year following the loss of some plant in the Texas freeze so I'm tweaking this year. I need to plant some grasses around our other oak tree, fill in where we want to more of some plants for fullness, and add seasonal color.

Also on the list but we waited too long, we need a lot of work on the plants in our backyard. A bunch of our plants were lost or damaged in the freeze. We need the lorepetalum to be cut back by 2/3 but it is blooming early so we missed the window. We had hoped a few others would come back but it's been over a year and they are really not doing well so they need to be pulled. Thankfully I can get our regular yard crew to do it when they come spread mulch. 

We are keeping it easy with our veggie garden this year. Just tomatoes, green beans, basil, thyme, and parsley, I think. I'd love chives but I can't get them to do well here. It's just too hot. And we never have luck with peppers until it cools off. 

[heygrey]

We scheduled to have a section of fence replaced in the fall, but the guy postponed to spring. He said he would honour his quote from the fall which, with current material prices, means he’d nearly be working for free. We’ll see how that shakes out.

I need to add more plants to our front bed, but don’t have a plan yet.

The backyard is going to be our huge project. Planning to put down crushed gravel for a fire pit area, plants around the perimeter of our deck, garden area, pathway along the side of our house… probably more. Last year we rebuilt the deck and got the yard down to a blank (very muddy) slate. I can’t wait to have a useable space this summer!

[expectantsteelerfan]

We're considering aerating our back yard. It is currently a muddy mess, and we have 2 dogs who have killed most of the grass in the area that is fenced for them. It was fine in the summer when we moved in, and it hasn't been particularly wet, so we aren't sure why it hasn't dried out other than the fact that the dogs have killed a lot of the grass (but even the areas with grass is still pretty swampy) so we're trying to decide if we have a major drainage issue, or if it's just something simple like the ground is too compact to absorb the groundwater and aeration would help.

I'm also pretty happy that the $5 box of tulip bulbs that I bought on a whim from Aldi and sat on my counter for weeks until my kids noticed and asked what it was and wanted to plant them and I gave them some spots and a shovel and told them to 'have at it' are actually sprouting.

[dr.girlfriend]

Mar 22, 2022 19:37:18 GMT -5 expectantsteelerfan said:

I'm also pretty happy that the $5 box of tulip bulbs that I bought on a whim from Aldi and sat on my counter for weeks until my kids noticed and asked what it was and wanted to plant them and I gave them some spots and a shovel and told them to 'have at it' are actually sprouting.

Oh that reminds me!  Last year I posted that I bought 100 crocus bulbs and planted them in my backyard, only to find out my dog treated it as a scavenger hunt, digging up every one.  Turns out some survived and are popping up this spring!  A nice little surprise.

[carmenere]

We are ripping out the all ivy that borders 3 sides of our backyard. It was a great way to release my pent up rage while enjoying the nice weather, but I hurt my neck and the doctor said no more yard work for a while.

I have no idea what we want to plant along the fence and I’m not good at visualizing. Is there an app or something for that?

[dr.girlfriend]

Mar 22, 2022 21:59:26 GMT -5 carmenere said:

We are ripping out the all ivy that borders 3 sides of our backyard. It was a great way to release my pent up rage while enjoying the nice weather, but I hurt my neck and the doctor said no more yard work for a while.

I have no idea what we want to plant along the fence and I’m not good at visualizing. Is there an app or something for that?

I can't vouch for it personally, but:https://www.bhg.com/gardening/design/nature-lovers/welcome-to-plan-a-garden/
  

[RockNVoll]

Mar 22, 2022 20:33:30 GMT -5 dr.girlfriend said:

Mar 22, 2022 19:37:18 GMT -5 expectantsteelerfan said:

I'm also pretty happy that the $5 box of tulip bulbs that I bought on a whim from Aldi and sat on my counter for weeks until my kids noticed and asked what it was and wanted to plant them and I gave them some spots and a shovel and told them to 'have at it' are actually sprouting.

Oh that reminds me!  Last year I posted that I bought 100 crocus bulbs and planted them in my backyard, only to find out my dog treated it as a scavenger hunt, digging up every one.  Turns out some survived and are popping up this spring!  A nice little surprise.

I planted roughly the same number last fall and was so excited to see them start coming up these last few days. Then yesterday I discovered most of them eaten, most likely by squirrels

The internet told me to try chili pepper, cayenne, cinnamon, and/or coffee to deter them. I sprinkled a bunch of the first two and will be keeping an eye out to see if it works. I seriously want to cry thinking of the back-breaking work I put in, and I'm sure you felt the same!

[Susie]

In the grand scheme of everything I posted upthread, this is relatively frivolous, but made me happy: this weekend I ordered some new perennials, mostly deer and rabbit resistant flowering plants, to see what will thrive in our new yard.  I really love lots of flowers, and right now there are almost none.  

I bought three colors of day lilies, all of which are reblooming varieties, to keep the flowers coming all summer:
 

I'm not sure about the pink one, it might be too coral, but it was $4, and it reblooms, so I figure it was worth a shot.  The yellow one we had at our last house, and it was a really great performer.

I also bought two varieties of lavender, one of bee balm, and one of yarrow:


I am interested to see what does well!

[dr.girlfriend]

Mar 28, 2022 13:02:50 GMT -5 Susie said:

In the grand scheme of everything I posted upthread, this is relatively frivolous, but made me happy: this weekend I ordered some new perennials, mostly deer and rabbit resistant flowering plants, to see what will thrive in our new yard.  I really love lots of flowers, and right now there are almost none.  

I bought three colors of day lilies, all of which are reblooming varieties, to keep the flowers coming all summer:
 

I'm not sure about the pink one, it might be too coral, but it was $4, and it reblooms, so I figure it was worth a shot.  The yellow one we had at our last house, and it was a really great performer.

I also bought two varieties of lavender, one of bee balm, and one of yarrow:


I am interested to see what does well!

Nice!  Be careful where you plant the bee balm, from what I understand it spreads underground and therefore can get out of control.

[origami]

Sometime in April we’ll be renovating our whole backyard. We were supposed to do this last fall but the material didn’t come in. Our current backyard is a hot mess of half dead pine trees everywhere, random clumps of bushes and an uneven brick patio. I can’t wait for it to get torn up. The front yard is also a hot mess, but less so. We tried to maintain it last year but it was tough. The soil/mulch near the house is way too high and needs re-grading. I also hope to dig out 1 of the over-planted areas. I suspect we’ll end up paying to reno it at some point too. Sigh.