backyard weeds

QuestionSo my fiance and I just bought our first house and the backyard is a disaster. Its just weeds, weeds, weeds everywhere. Not only do we want to re-do the backyard to add value to our home but also to make it

arch symbol for rrties

Questionwe live in a senior community in Sarasota Florida. Landscaper submitted a plan to show a raised bed of vertical posts and labeled it posts. He used squares and labeled it a retaining wall of po

HIllside - Clay - Rocks

Question Backyard Behind my house is a hill that is fairly steep - you cant push a wheelbarrow up the hill or walk without walking at an incline. The area is shaded with filtered sunlight. It also

dying cedars

QuestionGreetings! We planted a row of 6 cedars along the rear of our property line this past May. They were planted in new triple mix (to 3), were watered every few days, and we used 5-15-5 root stimula

Redirecting rain water from the house

Question Water Drainage How can I slope my yard so the rain water will drain away from the house. It appears my home sits lower than the rest of my yard. It also has a few low spots where water gather and dra

Damage to Brick Pavers

QuestionWe have a brick paver patio that was originally installed in 2001 and expanded/reinstalled in 2005. We cannot remember if we had it sealed or not in 2005. In June 2010, we had it powerwashed, res

patio edgers

QuestionHi Sean, I have about 2 ft. of dirt on one side of my patio, and every time it rains water and mud seeps between the edgers and onto my patio. The pavers on that side have begun to sink, so now t

catch basin calculation

Questionit there a rule of thumb or a specific calculation to use when figuring out the surface area vs how many or how big catch basins should be?How large of a discharge pipe should be used? etc.. AnswerHi, Ral

transplanting blue spruce

QuestionI have about 7 blue spruce I want to transplant they are 7 to about 3 2 to 4 years old I have a place to put them and can plant in about 1 to 1-1/2 weeks I live in muskegon,mi. about 4 mi from the big

Retaining Wall on Slop

QuestionMy former contractor insists this is a viable design: http://picasaweb.google.com/craigea/PublicAlbum? feat=directlink Is it? Ive never seen a wall like this and I was expecting a straight wall. Thank you

English Ivy

QuestionWell, this may not be the type of question you normally answer, but I am desperate to find a good answer and hope you can help. Ive looked online without much success. I have a child with autism who does ea

flagstone pathway

QuestionHi there, I抦 about to install a flagstone path that would begin at my drive way and lead people to the back entrance of our home. It抯 a well used traffic area and I have beautiful flagstone that I purc

Carrotwood Tree Roots

QuestionHi Marc, I just bought a house that has a huge carrotwood tree (over 50 feet tall with a 2+ truck width) in the backyard. I live in San Diego. The tree is about 6 feet from the house, whi

barrel cactus

QuestionI have had 2 barrel cactus for 3 yrs. Neither one has grown or produced flowers. They are exactly the same as when I purchased them. AnswerHello, Marilyn - cactus are a slow-growing plant, so ca

rose of sharon

QuestionHi, I love your website. Anyway i had these huge rose of sharons in my flowerbed. They dropped so many babies i couldnt keep up with pulling them so we got rid of them. Now i have about 1000 babies. Do yo

Reflected heat from gas meter

QuestionOur gas meter is on the front of our west-facing house that gets no shade, and I think the reflected heat is too much for the adjacent plants. I have a DeGroots Spire arborvitae and a siberian catmint

Rocking a hillside

QuestionI have a steep driveway. On one side of the driveway (the down side) is a steep hillside that worries me. The vegetation is brush, weeds and pampas grass. In other words nothing I want to keep. Fearing the

Landscape Cost?

QuestionGina- Hi, I have a little bit of a different kind of I am recently divorced, and my ex-wife is wiping me out money-wise, as she claims to Today, when I went by her house to drop off my child, I noticed t

flagstone path

QuestionHi Sean, Im installing a flagstone pathway in the front of my house. The plan is to have it be 4-feet wide. Itll be about 30-feet long, coming from the driveway. Im not planning on pouring concrete. Instead,

natural looking steps

Questionat the end of my driveway i have granite rock that is about 25 feet across and 20 feet high at a 45 degree angle i am thinking about cutting out steps so that the rock is functional as a means to get to my b