Backyard area full of weeds and needs makeover on a budget!?
Question:Zone 5, no grass, tall weeds, 3 old dying cottonwoods with mushrooms at base , 2 med dogs with free reign, and a small fenced garden area. Afternoon sun, prefer chemical free weed control and willing to labor to get rid of this eyesore area. Want ideas for low maintenance groundcover,drought tolerant a plus.
Answers:
2 dogs with free reign over this area means high acidic ground content and an area that you may not want to walk around in. get rid of the cottonwoods, and if you live in zone five , some japanese cherries would grow quickly, providing shade, depending on where in the country you live, like in the west, you may want to xeriscape with rocks. otherwise, zoysia grass will survive about anything, and if you cut at about three inches, it will choke out all the weeds. total cost--a couple hundred bucks
ooo you could apply to get on one of those makeover shows on tlc!! like while you were out or trading spaces GOOD LUCK!!
ps: if not that pick a day with good weather and just hang out and dig out the weeds.dont put too much pressure on yourself though take breaks as needed
Ok for weeds do this and I prom,ise it will work get some black tarp some weed killer the best you can buy i would actually talk to a nursery on the weed killer and see what they advise . and at least 6-8 cynderblocks . the areas where you have weeds spray tarp and put hte cynder blocks on the tarp to keep out air as much as possible let sit there for 3-5 days then remove and repeat till the weeds are gone .If you plan on living here for a long time or the rest of your life i would yank out the old trees and get new ones and ones that you would like . Make a little peaceful area also take on spot of your yard and put your patio furniture in it to make a resting domain . Flowers are a key to any land scaping and here is a cheap way to do it check out this site . I also added another site that you can surf to get some more ideas to spruce up your yard .
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I'm actually working on an area like that in my yard.
I've dug out all the weeds, put down a border, and filling it in with rocks.
I'm sure that you can get cheap rocks for free, or from some large hardware store that has mass quality.
We don't have a lawn mower so we use a weed eater. Cut weeds down, dig out those cottonwoods, and start watering. We don't actually have grass more like grass weed but its green on top. We cut down to about 1-1/2 to 2 inches. Any less you can see the brown roots (weed). We also bought octagon steps, a few at a time. It's been a few years and we now have a patio.
I would say to just rent a tractor and rip up grass, weeds, and everything. It is probably the easiest route and you also get to level out the ground. Otherwise you can cut those tall weeds with a machete or something and shovel the roots out you could buy some grass seeds that keep grass away maybe. I would suggest getting those types of seeds anyhow because all those weeds and parts of their roots and seeds will still be underground. Thank you for considering the enviroment and not wanting to use chemicals as well!
Some good, low maintenance groundcovers that are drought tolerant are those of the sedum (stonecrop) family. All different heights, from 6-8in up to 1-2ft can be found. Different colors are available also.
http://www.sedumphotos.net/main.php...
For budgetary planting ... check with friends who have gardens to see if they would be willing to give you some "starters" from their plants and flowers. Sharing is really the best part of gardening!
Check out other easy care plants at:
http://www.gardening-quick-n-easy.com/ea...
*~Enjoy~*
Ok. Fine lawns and dogs don't mix, so groundcover won't be a showlawn.
Makeover on a budget, no chemical weed control? No problem. Get rid of the cottonwoods first. Next, knock those weeds down to a couple of inches. Go to a rental center for a commercial grade machine. Tell them what you want to do, they'll hook you up.
Once the weeds are down to size, kill everything with a product called Burnout II, by St. Gabriel Labs. (www.stgabriellabs.com/) This is an all natural, very fast acting, non-select herbicide.
In about 2 days after the herbicide is put down, rent a power rake (dethatcher) from the Rental Center, and pulverize the dead weed stalks into the first 1/2 to 1 inch of soil.
Now for the ground cover. If you want a lawn, seed with K-31 tall fescue, a wide bladed drought tolerant, (attractive from a distance) turf. Alternatively, seed with a pasture mix, or with straight clover, red/white. Any of these will give you a self sustaining groundcover, BUT, the clover lawn will be the lowest maintenance, as in you'll very, very infrequently have to mow it, if ever, and the dogs can beat the crap out of it, and it will bounce back. Good luck.
First stock up on lots of pain killer. Start in the early morning around 6am for most of it.
Next get a electric weed wacker and cut everything down. Rake it up and make a compost pile in the back area.
Then take a shovel and flip the first 3 inches of dirt (Pulling out weed roots as you go) and chop up the ground till it's nice and small and smooth. Do this on one section of the yard at a time so the dogs will have some place to go before moving to the next section. Then in the section you've prepared put down grass seed. Zoysia is pretty indestructible.
Then once the grass seed takes tackle the other section the same way.
Good luck you'll need it.
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