how do we improve our back yard?

Question Hello, Hi there! Hopefully Im asking the right person this question... We recently moved to a beautiful house on a partially wooded lot. Im wondering how to go about improving our back yard s

What to do with a badly eroded, poor soil area

QuestionI would appreciate some ideas regarding a small area ( about 40 feet x 40 feet ) that will be the middle of a landscaped area with flower beds and shrubs around it. This area is right in front of my

full shade groundcover between flagstone

QuestionA few years ago we put flagstone in an area of our lawn that received little or no sun. We put moss in the 1 1/2 gaps between the flagstone. The area is watered by a sprinkling system but the mos

Drainage Ditch

QuestionMy husband and I are trying to sell our house. We have a drainage ditch that runs through our back yard to a big culvert in our side yard. This is turning potential sellers off. Even when t

low retaining wall

QuestionHello Mark, My house is on a small city lot (37.5x100). The house probably sits about 8 feet above the street. Accessed by two sets of steps, at the sidewalk and then at the porch. There is

best fence for sound barrier

QuestionIve lived in my home for over a year with a partial brick and wrought iron fence facing a highway. Recently a red dirt mine was opened close to my home and now have dump trucks going past all day long.

Raising garden

QuestionQUESTION: Hi Mark. Im new at gardening, and attempted to build a low wall for my garden with rough flat pieces of stone. The garden we have is now hidden behind the 2 wall, and I would like to ra

What to add to driveway

QuestionHi, I live in Michigan. We have a problem with flooding in our driveway. It is a dirt drive, about 300-400 feet long. We have lived here for 6 years and have not done anything to it in that time. When it rai

Adding steps to path

QuestionHi, I have a path leading from the driveway to the front deck. Currently, it is a small incline and Id like to change it to steps this summer. I was thinking of 4-6 steps each 2-5 feet long. The path is abou

tearing down retaining wall and sloping yard

QuestionI recently bought a house with a cinder block retaining wall. The wall was starting to fall (no bars to hold in place), So I tore the bricks down. My question is, how do I just slope a 5 foot wall. I would l

Stacked stone wall

QuestionI live in a rural setting in a center hall colonial home. I am looking to create a front foundation bed planting area constructed stacked stone approx 20 long x 8 wide. The area gets full sun, is

dust in the backyard

QuestionI have to labs and they stay in the backyard. The problem i am having is that there houses are under the deck so no grass grows there we have peagravel right now but cant seem to keep it in we have put railr

planting

QuestionI had a new septic system/leaching field installed which cleared out and killed many large oaks and other trees and shrubs. I would like to try to replant as the yard looks very bare. Most of the trees

landscaping my corner lot

QuestionHi, I have a lot that when you are driving down the street it has a tight bend. My house is on that bend. I am in Massachusetts. Right now I have 2 driveways on each side of my ranch home.

corner lot with too much grass

QuestionHi Mark, I have a raised ranch in MA. My home is on the bend of a street. so my land looks like a pie shape. Problem. Too much grass. I replaced it so many times and water bills

Flower bed mulch

QuestionI would like to know what I can put on my beds that will last longer than mulch.I use about 40 cubic yards of mulch every time I need to do it so it gets fairly expensive. Any suggestions??? AnswerPea grave

Redwood Trees In Palo Alto Ca.

QuestionI have three mature redwood trees in my front yard, and put river rock around them, to keep the weeds down and for decorative look, I was told by a friend that it was a bad idea and that the trees will die

Italian Cypress trees

QuestionWe have 4 Italian Cypress trees and have lived here for 25 yrs. This year I have noticed some sort of lt. brown nuts growing on the trees. I see these on trees in the area as well. It is a

where to buy golden pea gravel in Lunigianna, Italy

QuestionHi Jonathan, My sisters and I have a little house in Licianna Nardi, near Aulla in the very north of Tuscany. We want to put down some golden pea gravel in our front garden but so far have only been able to

Design of Detention Ponds

QuestionCan a Landscape Architect design detention ponds under the LA seal in the State of Georgia? Can a Landscape Architect design water quality systems under the LA seal in the State of Georgia? AnswerShort answ