sidewalk to basement apt. for accessibility

QuestionTwo Story house w/ basement apt. Yard is sloped with more that 14% grade to street. We need to add a sidewal for accessibility for aging parent who uses a motorized wheelchair. How do you determine the lengt

Bluestone Porch

QuestionI am in the midst of a homebuilding project and while my plans did not specify that the front and side entry porches should have bluestone field, that is what I plan on doing. The question is: My

Trees Suitable for Garden Wall

QuestionDear Mark I am designing a very large rectangular garden 100 meters x 40 meters. I want to plant trees around the whole garden wall in order to shelter the garden from outside elements. I want to plant t

i need advice

Questioni have a problem with my concrete on the side of my house hole after hole pops up on the side of it and then it lets in water to the basement appartment i was wonering if i could lay some pvc tube in the gro

Steps

QuestionQUESTION: In our new garden we have a very steep slope up to our top lawn. The slope has been terraced, but is very overgrown. A previous owner had wooden steps along the outer wall of the garden, but these

What can I plant on top of retaining wall at lake?

QuestionRetaining wall QUESTION: What can I plant on top of a rock retaining wall to cover the cement bags on top and trail over into the rocks? The wall is about 150, on a lake in Texas. Hot summ

Areca Palm as a hedge

QuestionMy wife and I were at a landscaping place where we live in Florida and were looking to make a hedge along our 60 ft chain link fence. They said the areca palm makes a nice hedge. So I bought 13 so far

dogs and mulch

QuestionWe had our back yard landscaped last summer. Around grass in the center are low hills with large rocks and trees--I wanted it to look like the mountains and it does. The problem is that the gro

Small Dog Resistant Front Yard Ideas

QuestionWe reside in Northern California where summer highs can reach 100 and winter lows dip into the 40s; freezing, although very infrequent, does occur on occasion. We have a small fenced front yard, more specifi

using shingles as weed barrier

QuestionMy daughter lives in Gillette, Wyoming. SHe has an L-shaped corridor of shrubs and trees surrounding her back yard.(lilacs, blue spruce, + various firs, all 10 yrs old). Our problem is keeping the weed

dogs.. arizona.. and dirt poor

QuestionHi Kathy. I know you specialize in backyard design with children.. And I have a similar question pertaining to backyards with children of the 4 legged variety. ;) My fiance and I are moving into our first

Small decorative tree

QuestionI am looking for a flowering tree to plant in my front yard in western (but not coastal Oregon). I have a two story Victorian house that I do not want to obscure. With the yard dimensions and placement of th

beach weeds

QuestionI have a house on Oneida Lake, NY. We have approx. 200ft of beach and have a terrible time getting rid of the weeds that grow on the beach. What is the best method of erradicating weeds that grow in sand. La

Puddles on the sides of the house

QuestionWhenever we get heavy rains (which is about 4x year only :)), I notice that on certain sides of our house, we get small puddles of water forming. My worry is that this may be damaging the foundation of

Grade for patio

QuestionI would like to install a stone patio off of my deck, but the yard slopes away. To bring up the grade to meet level with the bottom of the last step of deck I will be building a retaining wall. Retaining wal

new patio and snow

QuestionI put in a 16/20 brickpaver patio this past summer and it came out real nice.However the syracuse winter may have taken a toll on it.After e recent thaw I noticed my nice new patio was heaving in the middle

backyard design idea

QuestionHi, My new home has an unfinish work of backyard design - please help me for a good design plan for low maintain yet entertainable. see these picture in the links http://i643.photobucket.com/albums/uu158/ji

Under deck erosion

QuestionI live in Florida where every thing stands of sand. My back yard has a slight slope and I have a deck that helps reduce the visual effect, but not the physical. Every time it rains more and more

Landscape Lighting

Question Landscape Look Hi Sean, I am looking to add some landscape lighting to the front of our house and had a few questions as I have never done this before. We have a gardner who said if we buy the lights

Eradicating bermuda grass/weeds from desert landscaping

QuestionHi, I live in Tucson, Arizona. I moved into a home a few years ago that had poorly kept grass. About a year and a half ago. I removed the grass, applied a pre-emergent, planted various desert plants and tre