Keepin water away from home

Question My house sits 8 to 12 inches lower than my two neighbors with only about 16 to 20 feet distance between them and about half way down the street. A few times a year when flash floods come their water c

drainage behind planter on a hill

QuestionHi Sean, We have a retaining wall that runs along our side yard (approx 50 ft). At the property/fence line above us we are experiencing erosion. I want to install a small wall/planter on the existing slope,

Pine trees

QuestionPlease help, I have a 50 wall 60 pines (spruce? very tiny, hard needles) all that have been cut up to about 8 or more by the previous owner. I have just installed a pool and would like to add some kind of tr

blue rug junipers

QuestionI planning to cover a hillside. Can you tell me the life expectancy of blue rug juniper? Thanks AnswerHello, Donald - Junipers are a symbol of longevity, strength, athleticism, and fertility in some Asian

Privacy Wall

QuestionHi Sean, I have an area on the south side of my yard, next to the fence, that Im struggling with. I used to have 2 huge trees but they were messy and dropping debris into our pool so we cut them down. The ro

Woodland garden

QuestionI live in CT and have woods in our back yard. I will be doing a path and making a sitting area by the river. Problem is mosquitos. What can I plant, use or do to control these nasty insects. Thanks AnswerNo

Types of trees/plants to put on a cliff

QuestionWe bought a small old house on Puget Sound with a cliff and are looking for trees or bushes/plants that have deep roots to help hold the bank from sliding into the bay. It has many streams about 12 under the

flagstone waterfall

Question waterfall I have built a waterfall or watercourse from flagstone, I tried using silicone between the layers to seal but it leaks like a sieve. Should I use mortar or grout? AnswerYou need to build the ent

reseeding lawn w/bermuda sod

QuestionuI had my fesque yard replaced with bermuda sod approx. 4 yrs ago. This year I had about 50 bags of dirt brought in to fill the holes caused from roots left from the trees that were removed. I fertiliz

Front of house landscaping

QuestionI live in zone 7a and would like to replace 2 infected holly shrube that are currently in front of a 10 ft wide window. In addition I would like to replace 5 old rhododendrum shrubs (these have stopped flowe

wholesale nurseries

QuestionI have just found your web page on lavender pruning... so helpful. what I am looking for is a wholesale garden nurseries as I want to buy in bulk. in my area there are only very expensive garden centers. I h

sidewalk & landscaping

QuestionI have a newly constructed home. I am ready to pour a sidewalk and begin lanscaping. How are from the house should the sidewalk be in order to have 2 row landscaping (for example ...boxwoods and hosta). Than

crape myrtle planting from driveway

QuestionI live in the Atlanta area and going to plant natchez crape myrtles along my asphalt driveway. How far should I plant them from the driveway so they dont push up the asphalt? AnswerHello, Doug - A fast-gro

French Drains--Longevity

QuestionI saw you answered another question on French drains so I thought you might be able to help us. How long could a French Drain system be expected to work assuming it was installed correctly. We live on

how tall areca plants grow?

QuestionAreca Plant QUESTION: Hi, thanks for volunteering here. I bought a couple of areca plants (picture attached), but the idea was to plant them in my backyard (I already did) to grow tall (6+ feet) to p

Landscape design program

QuestionWe are building a house and received 3-D pictures of what the house will look like. Is there a program (free if possible)that will allow me to put my actual house in and add landscaping to it ? I have a ge

greenhouse

QuestionHi, I didnt see any category that quite related to my question but perhaps you can direct me. Im purchasing 6 acres in California in an area that probably will get down to about 20 degrees in the winte

rug junipers

QuestionI want to cover a bank with rug junipers and with drip lines for irrigation. Question, how far apart should I run the lines vertically, and how far apart horizontally should I plant the junipers on eac

paver patio/negative slope and drainage

QuestionQUESTION: I would like to install a paver patio in my backyard. The back yard which is 16x30 has a negative slope. I live in a row house in Washington DC on Capitol Hill. One contractor has advised me that e

Steep slope step building

QuestionWe have a very very steep hill (30-40 ft.) in a somewhat wooded area of our backyard. It runs down to a small creek. We need some utilitarian steps to make it easier to get up and down. Somewhat blending in