Hot answers tagged landscaping
22
I've been making a rink in my yard for over 20 years. I don't use plastic or boards. To my mind that gives you the nasty task of getting up wet muddy stuff in the spring, putting it away somewhere etc. We use nothing but snow and water to build our rink, and we can have it whatever size and shape we want as a result. When the rink melts, it melts, and the ...
17
Don't attach the fence to the house. Aside from putting holes in your siding (not a good thing), your fence and your house will most likely move differentially. The attachment could result in a tear of the siding, which would be a bad thing.
Place the fence post close to the house, then run the fencing top and bottom supports up to within an inch or so of ...
11
The usual recipe is...
A border of wood, pvc pipe, or snow (not the best option).
A large piece of plastic or tarp.
Fill with water.
let freeze.
Skate.
You'll want to make sure the area is fairly level, since if you have say a 3" slope across the area you'll need 8" of ice on one side and 5" on the other.
To reduce damage to the lawn below, I ...
11
I've looked at this in the past. These two links are pretty general, but each has an interesting tidbit.
Link 1 "If your yard has especially shady spots, you might be better off seeding those areas, since most sod is made up of sun-thirsty grass varieties."
Link 2 "A prime disadvantage of sod is the limited number of grass species included in sod mixes."
...
11
I think you may have a problem brewing there. I have never heard of bricks being glued in a situation like this. Normally paving bricks will be set on a compacted base of stone dust and very fine packing gravel, then the joints are filled with fine mason sand. Mortar is rarely used, especially in cold climates as it will crack with any movement associated ...
11
It shows a lack of care for the home. Bushes against the home or a wood fence are an entrance point for pests (termites, ants, etc). It also adds more wear and tear from abrasion that you wouldn't have from just the sun and rain. And for a buyer, a bush growing against the home could be hiding a problem.
So if you want to make it look as if you've been ...
11
My house has the main electrical come in below grade (built in 1967 before they knew better). I would get some small leakage coming in around the conduit where it came through the concrete and later hydro-static pressure pushing water right up into the main breaker box which, though inside, was also below grade.
With a un-floored crawl space, some water ...
8
You can pretty much do anything above a septic tank, as long as you aren't going to be doing major landscaping that requires tractors, heavy equipment, etc..
The one thing you do want to be aware of is the location of any inspection pipes, or manholes that might have a negative effect on mower blades. Trying to mow around these nice yard "features" can be ...
8
Option #1:
Find a few objects (house, trees, etc.) that, together, allow at least one of them to be level line-of sight from anywhere in the yard.
Tape a laser pointer on the end of a level (taped so you can use the level as a sort of monopod resting on the ground).
Move around the yard, hold the level level, and point the laser at one of the objects. Have ...
7
How old is the house? If it's fairly recent, do you have any idea of what the property was like before being built on? It's possible that the builder put down a lot of fill, and there was a large amount of organic material in that fill, or that he just dumped fill on top of what was there - stumps, trees, etc. Depending on the composition of the fill ...
6
Why do you want dirt? Grass under trees is common in yards, but uncommon in the wild.
In the wild, things compost at the base of trees all the time. The best mulch for a tree is its own droppings + the droppings of the plants that like to grow under it. (e.g. ferns under cedars, salal under douglas fir).
You can also just add a mulch around the tree. It ...
5
The usual purpose of a curtain drain is to divert (under)groundwater away from a structure. The only reason to not cover it with fabric and a few inches of soil is to capture surface drainage as well. If you need to capture surface drainage, then there must be a significant grading issue that is allowing surface water to stand near the structure.
Such a ...
4
A few thoughts...
Talk to some local landscaping companies. You can probably find one that will do a plan for you (for a fee). This will make it easier in that you have something to work from.
For the yard waste, look into renting a chipper that you can feed the brush into and it will spit out mulch. You can use the mulch in flower beds.
If you want to ...
4
Not a lot to be done, damage done is , well , done. Best to just make sure they are fed and watered well, and in the fall you could trim any remaining dead wood though that's not necessary.
It's probably a bit early to determine if a tree will survive, let spring get here.
Trees are very self sufficient. Probably better than 80% of so called "tree care" is ...
4
You could probably rent a saw like this from your local hardware store.
They will usually have a diamond tipped masonry blade. You'll also want to make sure it's a wet saw or you keep the stones wet as you cut, as the dust from cutting concrete can make a real mess and be harmful to your health.
You may also be able to find a splitter like this.
The ...
4
Buy or rent a laser level, one that sends out a disc of light all in a level plane. Set it up a foot off the ground at the high point.
Walk around with a yardstick (or two yardsticks taped together, depending on how much slope there is). At each point on your grid, record where on the yardstick the laser hits. You may need to do this at night to see the ...
4
This website has a good explanation of hydrostatic forces on a dam surface. You could build your wall with a submerged lip to help counteract the moment applied by the water pressure on the vertical face of the wall.
Image from TheConstructor.org
I did some quick calculations and got the following:
So to sum up my incoherent scribblings, assuming a 30 ...
4
without a lip you'd want to use concrete adhesive on each row.
check your local code regulations. Typically a wall of a certain height has to be run through an engineer first. In my area I believe the height was 3'. Anything higher I'd have to hire an engineer.
In our case, we had a large amount of earth to retain, but decided it was best to use a tiered ...
4
I would definitely be worried about remembering to drain the valve, and it's also a pain that you'd have to drain it inside. Your second option is pretty good though, otherwise.
Another option, which is probably easier, would be to make up an adapter of sorts for the outside. Take a regular spigot, attach to a 90 degree elbow, and put a hose adapter on ...
4
By itself I would not rely on it, as this is lava rock which isn't the strongest - it's prone to breakage.. However, if you cover it with stone dust to help fill in the voids which will help prevent shifting (which encourages breaking) and then solidly compact it with a power compactor, then follow up by covering it with a layer of sand on top, compacted ...
3
Don't attach them to the house. My parents' fence had a few gaps our 10 pound dog could get through along the bottom and one along the house. My dad bought some cheap wire mesh and stapled it between the slats of the privacy fence in those areas. It worked great and you can't even see it unless you are up close to it.
3
The problem varies depending on where you live. If you live in Florida, for example, the bedrock would be limestone, which tends to have underground rivers and caverns. This type of topology would require professional inspection. I just thought I'd put that out there since you didn't give (roughly) your location.
3
Sinkholes need to be professionally investigated. The size and depth can vary but it could be part of a complex underground system or just a hole in the ground. To put it in context I know of one sinkhole that was filled with concrete and it took over 145 cubic metres of concrete to fill it. You really shouldn't try and fix it yourself because there is a ...
3
Putting leaves and things under there would be fine, but you don't want actual hot composting going on as it will heat up the tree and perhaps damage the bark. Also, if you put mulch around the tree, leave a gap around the tree trunk so you don't damage the bark or make it rot.
A lot of people rake all their tree leaves up under their trees before winter, ...
3
When it comes to make the hatch invisible, I personally use a large flowers vase. Previously I had a human statue (of manageable weight). It adds a nice touch of classic to the garden, and it can be removed easily from the hatch when you require emptying. Unfortunately it is prone to falling when you have a dog or small children. The vase is a much safer ...
3
The best program for this is Google Sketchup. Why? Because the purpose of it is to easily let you draw in 3D, meaning a perspective view, rather than the view from above.
There is a free version. There is also a professional version which I use, but most homeowners do not need that.
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Depending on your ability, it can be very easy or slightly challenging. ...
3
Unbelievable good math for a block wall, but I think Jim is only going to have one block on the ground at the top of the pond. The liner itself is very strong, and once laid up and over the block, that block is not going anywhere. Not only would 6 inches of water have to move the block, but stretch the liner the same distance as moving the block. The most ...
3
The blocks you linked to are more for decorative purposes; one or two courses around flowerbeds or trees. What you're going to need for 3'-4' of retaining wall is something like this:
This is engineered block from http://www.anchorwall.com (I'm not affiliated; it was the first thing that came up when I Googled "Retaining wall blocks"). As you can see, ...
3
What about the following:
Replace the existing bibb with an elbow pointing upward
Attach a valve with a drain as shown below
Add a pipe to the desired height
Add an elbow and bibb
In the winter, close the lower valve and open the bibb and the drain.
3
Like Chris says, you'll likely have to pay for this. If the line had become damaged through no fault of your own, they would pay to run a new line, and at that point you might get them to run it a different way.
That said, cable lines tend to be buried fairly shallow. You can dig it up yourself and rebury it a short distance away. Just be careful when ...
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