Landscaping on top of a leach field

QuestionHi, I own a house in the country that has a septic system. The leach field is in the front yard which is bordered with a five foot wall then the street. The grass never stays green there and I would like to

shifting a Jacaranda tree

QuestionHi I have 5 Jacaranda trees grown from seed, they are now between 5 and 8 feet in height so still young (2nd year in the ground, third year from seed). I planted them under the eaves of the house on the sunn

Walking path suggestions please

QuestionMy husband and i built a house last summer on a 1.5 acre lot that backs up to a creek. The back 2/3 of the lot is wooded and we had a friend bring over some large equipment to make a walking trail to t

climbing plant for front of house

Question house I have a couple questions about our landscape. We built about 6 yrs. ago and had a nursery do our landscape design. As you can see by the pictures attached the right side of the yar

Drainage - Hydrostatic pressure

Question3 times in the last 20 years my basement has flooded due to extremely heavy rain. The sump pump could not keep pace with the rising water under the floor and hydrostatic pressure through the cinder blo

Flooed Lawn

QuestionIn the back of our back yard in the spring we get water across the backyard, a real mudpit and you cant mow till later in summer when it drys. We have ben told that the reason is that originally when the hou

Crushed seashells

QuestionHi Marc, I live in Pawling, ny (just west of Danbury, CT). I am looking for about 10 yds of crushed seashells for my driveway. I have called and searched to no avail. Would you know where I can get cru

Raised bed along fence line

QuestionI live in Washington state and am looking to build a 1.5-2 raised bed along a backyard cedar shadow-box fence line. We have terrible, rocky soil that prevents us from planting directly in the ground and have

flagstone

QuestionHi Mark, Planning on laying a flagstone pathway in my front yard. Im really new to this type of project, but Ive researched a lot, and figured Id give it a shot. Wonder if you could answer a few quick que

trees for privacy

Question Trees for privacy Hi Marc, I have some trees that divide my fence and my neighbors fence. Recently, my neighbor spoke to my husband in regard to the trees and asked if it was possible that we g

Use of rock in flower beds

QuestionI am looking at putting some decorative rock in amongst my flower beds for ground cover. Last year I used black wood chips and with the chinook winds of southern alberta, I lost over half of my product. So I

Patio - retaining wall?

QuestionHello Kevin, My husband and I are looking to build a patio in the backyard. There is a gentle slope downwards away from the house. One of the contractors we consulted said we would require a retaining wall,

French Drain

QuestionDiagram QUESTION: Greetings from a fellow expert. I have a situation which I think calls for a French drain, but I want to double check that my plan is, to some degree at least, reasonable. Im fairly

Planting Trees on retaining wall (NJ)

QuestionHi Marc, I have a 75 retaining wall at the rear of my yard. I am going to dig the mulch out and replace with stone and plant new trees. Here is a picture of what the last owner left us (dont mind the homes

Removed retaining wall

QuestionHello, My backyard is facing the back yard of my neighbors and since my yard is a little higher than theirs, there was a retaining wall made of wood. Recently they removed the wall and instead they put top

machine shed

QuestionI have an area 26 ft. x 24 ft. in from of a green tin machine shed. I would like to plant a tree that is not taller than 10-12 feet that has white blooms in the spring and nice fall colors. Im in Zone

OLIVE TREE AROUND CONCRETE PATIO

Question Olive Tree Hi, I have a lovely giant olive tree in my front yard (Los Angeles, CA) which is easily over 50 years old. Id like to make a flagstone patio set in concrete below the tree but want to ma

how much tumbled rock to use

QuestionI have two spaces I want to put rock on for landscaping instead of plants. The first space is 50ft long by 6ft wide by 3 inches deep. How much rock and how big of rock should I use. The second space is 29ft

Root System of Red Oak and Backyard Pool Placement

QuestionI live in Midland, Texas and recently purchased a house with a beautiful backyard pool. Fewer than two feet away from its deepest end of 7 feet, stands a magnificent 30 foot Red Oak Tree. In Midland we avera

Extending driveway width

QuestionHi Marc, thanks for offering your expertise! I have a concrete driveway that we would like to widen by removing some grass to allow for easier parking and to give my kids more space to walk and g