Landscaping???

R

Reese777

Cathlete
Hi Guys,

My yard is looking pitiful. Our back yard grass is pretty much gone - the trees are overgrown and probably could use a good trimming, but there's no one in our area that does that, and it would cost more than we can afford.

One question I have is, will any grass grow there? Isn't there a shade grass that could work? I'd even settle for a clover or something. Right now it's like dirt and sticks. It is really looking unkempt and I want to do something but I am totally ignorant about landscaping. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

:)
 
We have large trees in our front yard and the grass would not grow. We turned it into beds shaped somewhat in the shape of the shadows of the trees so that the grass that gets the sun still is able to stay around! We put plain ground covers in along with some taller things for accents, as well as some things in pots. We also built some walkways through and added fountains. If I had it to over again, and the DH had no say, I would buy flagstone (you should be able to get some scrap flagstone at a landscaping/gardening place for very little) and place those throughout in some walkway pattern. Then buy an aggregate (also very, very inexpensive) or crushed granite to fill in over the dirt. Add some plain clay pots (they weather nicely over time) and put trailing plants on the sides along with something colorful in the pot, and there you go. Maybe you could even get a bench to put out there. We love our fountains and they were quite inexpensive to make. If you'd like some pics, I'd be happy to email you some. Where do you live? I would not mind recommending some plants if you are in our type of climate - hot and humid (Houston).
 
Hi!

I'd love some pics so I can visualize what you're describing. It sounds so pretty. I live in WV though...humid and warm in the summer, but we get cold temps in the winter. Is your set up easy to maintain (mow around)? Our back yard is a decent size and it could look so nice but I just am not sure what to invest in and don't want something so elaborate that I have to break my neck taking care of it.
 
Hi Reese - I will take pics of all parts of our yard and email them to you tomorrow. In the back, we completely eradicated the grass b/c my husband did not want to mow! It gets sun, but it will give you an idea as well of what you can do with no grass. The front has some grass but mostly beds. The front gets some lawn mower action but a lot of the weedeater, even on the grass b/c there is so little in places. It takes about 5 minutes, if that. It is all very low maintenance - we don't believe in trimming if we don't have to :) As far as cold winters, a lot of what we have will either not die, or come back from the roots, even if we get some freezing weather here. And the fountains are so easy to make, and so nice to listen to.

I'm in a ride in the morning and should be back in the early afternoon - I'll take the pics then. I'm going to send you an email through cathe.com to be sure it works. Just email me back a yes, so I know you have it, and I'll use that to send the pics.
 
Hi. I live in the DFW area and have a very similar problem. We have 2 huge Live Oaks in our front yard and a very large Redwood across the street so we get very little sunlight. Our yard is dirt and sticks.

We are about to have a tree removed to try to remedy the situation. I hate to do that but when I called for quotes from landscapers, they wanted upwards of $7000 to landscape. The tree guy wants $2000 and then we can do the grass ourselves.

I would love to see what you did too if you don't mind.

Thanks,

Michelle
 
Ouch! Please don't take out a tree :( Ours are oaks too. I'll send you pics too! I'll go take them now - the sun is finally out (lots of rain last night!) so you can get the idea of shade in our yard.
 
Here is a link to pics of my yard: http://picasaweb.google.com/meowracer1/Yard?authkey=Rb5PPo7Bs2Q

Our neighbor's cats (who think they live here!) decided to get involved!! Parts of our yard get some sun during the day, but only a small part of the day, so in those spots, I tuck in some sun plants (that don't need full sun all day) so it's good for variety, and I also do plants in pots for variety too, and then fountains and benches. I took pics of the back too b/c there is no yard - only the back landscaping at the fence, and some of that is sun, some is shade.

As I looked at the yard, I realized that, with the two spells of rain we've had recently, the ground cover has taken off like crazy! It may be time for a quick trim of some of it, but it does go to show things can grow in the shade :)

Forgot this: http://picasaweb.google.com/meowracer1/200804Yard2?authkey=6IZ8bPBrZ7I

Shows more of the back, and what we did with various types of rocks/aggregates. Also, shows down the fence line, from sun to shade - goes from plumbago to shade loving plants in the span of a few feet.
 
Shana,

Wow! You guys did a wonderful job. I don't know if I could do all of that. I can barely keep a houseplant alive. In fact, I kill 1 out of 3. ;(

I'm going to show my DH your pics and see if we can save the tree.

Thanks for sharing!

Michelle
 
Michelle - you are sweet to say that, but it is really very easy to maintain and keep alive :) We got the border rocks at Home Depot. Impatiens love the shade, as do the ivy. The big stuff with little yellow flowers is called Wedelia. It cannot be killed! The other stuff is basic ground cover - can't kill it either. Hope you are able to save the tree. Let me know if I can help you out at all.
 
Reese-I do all my own landscaping for the simple fact that I cannot afford to have somebody else do it. I've read a lot, but am by NO MEANS an expert. There are grass seeds out there specifically meant for shaded areas. If your yard is so hard, I'd suggest aerating (sp?) it somehow. Till it, as you would a garden before planting veggies. You need to break up the hard-packed dirt to get air into it and to 'fluff' it, so to speak. Level it off and then you can sprinkle the seed out and it will 'take' to the looser dirt better. For an even better chance of as much seed growing as possible, you could then spread/sprinkle a thin layer of dirt or topsoil on top of the seed.

HTH

Gayle
 
Hi Gayle,

Thanks for the tip. Hubby apparently knew more about this than he was letting on...(teehee) and we went to Lowes and Home Depot and found the seeds for shady areas, etc. We've got some simple ideas and we're hoping it will make the yard look much better and presentable. We're also going to turn the back flower bed into a pen for our inside cats...that I'm super excited about.

Will try to put some pics in here so you guys can see how it turns out.

Thanks,
:)
 
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