Landscape in backyard almost complete (rent, home, landscaping)

[Acevaz]

live_in_nepa - your yard looks great!

I am having such a problem with my front and backyard. It is filled with rocks and clay. All of the landscapers have quoted me from $15k-$40k to fix it up. To be honest, that's a lot of money for dirt and plants. What do I with all of the rocks and clay situation. I have no grass but lots of rocks, clay and the hideous mountain laurel which is prized by many in area (ewwwl).

[live_in_nepa]

Acevaz, Well it depends... my situation is allot different.

If you have a fairly level area and even if it has the laural, your best bet would be to cut the laural down and bring in clean fill. Most shrubs and plants do not have deep roots anyway and if you wanted to plant some nice tress, you would simply concentrate the deep clean up in those areas.

I am by no means a landscape designer or professional, but if my experience.. sounds like most those quotes are very high.

You have the basis to start your hardscape... rock. With some work and clever design, you should be able to come away with a nice yard.

Post some photos of the area so we can get a better idea.

[poconoproud]

Good Work! Your yard does look great! A lot of sweat equity went into that project, I see! And $400 was a great bargain!

Acevaz..I know what you mean about a lot of rock! We had such a hard time landscaping just simple flower beds, that we built up instead of digging down. Railroad ties recycled into garden beds. The clean fill, topsoil & mulch weren't that much & all the plantings I got were free from family and friends. I'm sure with you and your hubby pitching in on the labor, you could landscape your place yourself for way, way under any estimates you recv'd.

What ~ you don't simply adore our state flower, the mountain laurel?

[Acevaz]

lol I just completely adore the mountain laurel..

Every time my hubby tries to shovel , he hits rock. Arrrrggghhh. Just to do a simple bed of flowers takes hours. I did do flowerbeds located in front of my porch and the front of the garage. I was quoted $2-3k to create the beds, I did it for $400.
I am going this weekend to the home and will take pics of my front and back yard so all can see the eyesore at my home.

[live_in_nepa]

Originally Posted by Acevaz

lol I just completely adore the mountain laurel..

Every time my hubby tries to shovel , he hits rock. Arrrrggghhh. Just to do a simple bed of flowers takes hours. I did do flowerbeds located in front of my porch and the front of the garage. I was quoted $2-3k to create the beds, I did it for $400.
I am going this weekend to the home and will take pics of my front and back yard so all can see the eyesore at my home.

Every eye sore is simply potential waiting to be discovered. If you have that much rock and you can pick them, you are a step ahead and can create great borders with it. Clean fill dirt is not expensive.. .don't buy screened dirt for your planting beds, you will waste your money. Buy clean fill (no garbage, stumps.. so on) and use that to get your yard above the rock, then top it wil screened and seed it.

Since you have Mt laural I presume your lot is wooded. They have special seed which is used for shaded areas.

A little homework and you can do what the pros can for allot less. Hire a college or high school student and some of their friends do help with the labor.

[Acevaz]

Every eye sore is simply potential waiting to be discovered.- Love it ! So true. I never thought about hiring h.s. or college students to do some of the clean up. Definitely something to think about. I will have to look up the difference between clean fill dirt & screen dirt. Sorry but I am a true city girl so dirt is all the same to me.

[Jungle George]

Originally Posted by Acevaz

live_in_nepa - your yard looks great!

I am having such a problem with my front and backyard. It is filled with rocks and clay. All of the landscapers have quoted me from $15k-$40k to fix it up. To be honest, that's a lot of money for dirt and plants. What do I with all of the rocks and clay situation. I have no grass but lots of rocks, clay and the hideous mountain laurel which is prized by many in area (ewwwl).

That does seem an excessive amount, but without seeing the property & the size of the job & types of plants or trees, it's hard to judge. The most expensive part of ANY landscape job is labor.

Also, some trees & shrubs are slower-growing than others, so if you get larger "specimen" size, that adds dramatically to the price 'cause you're paying for the years taken to get the plants to that size & the heavy equipment to install!! Also, some types of shrubs & trees are more "exotic" than others & therefore cost more.

Can you post any pix here? Also, is it possible to "build up" your yard & terrace it as opposed to removing the clay & rocks??

[Jungle George]

Originally Posted by live_in_nepa

that is allot of money to spend.. but I suppose you live outside of your home, where we spend most of our time inside.

Our home is 7 years old, 2500 sq ft, 2.5 acres. 5 bedroom (if you loose the office) 2 bath.

We did a great portion of work ourselves and have the mortgage at a very reasonable 160k.

I think we will hold on to it for awhile since I could not duplicate it for under 270k.

Yeah, we're lucky here as we do live outside about 9 months of the year!! In July, August & September it gets a bit hot, but it's nice to pick fresh tomatoes off the vine in January & February, so it kinda evens out!!

What I wouldn't give for 2.5 acres here!! I had 14 acres up in NY & moved here to 1/3 acre...talk about culture shock!! I never had to deal with neighbors before!!

Yeah, I'd keep the mortgage at that price!! We're lucky, as the house & cars are paid off, so all we have are utilities, taxes & insurance & the total runs around $12,000.00 a year so it's do-able. Our house is 1600 sq. ft., 3/2 with a pool & beer refrigerator on the back lanai...I've got my priorities!!

[MermanMike]

Someone said the answer to the problem with clay soil and rocks...go up...not down. They call those rocks pocono potatoes...every time you harvest one, you find another.

If you enjoy gardening and want to spend time with your garden, then you can make your own soil which will as good as if not better than anything you will buy. You have all your rocks...a valuable resource...build raised beds with those as has already been suggested. Then, fill the raised beds with leaves and grass clippings(50/50)...manure...compost if you can get yours hands on it...peat moss, which you'd have to buy. All the way to the tippy top...over the winter, this will create soil and next year you'll have a very lively growing medium. If there is grass or weeds growing where you want to grow, don't remove it, just cover it with cardboard or many layers of newspaper first. That will compost in too, and you'll avoid disturbing the soil which is bad for the top soil and stirs up dormant weed seeds.

When you make your raised beds, don't make them any more than 4 feet weed at any point because you never want to walk in them, always tend them from the outside, to avoid compacting the soil. That way, any weeding you need to do will be so easy.

[Acevaz]

JungleGeorge- We have 1 acre. To be honest all I want is to remove the mountain laurel, dead trees and have grass! I don't ask for much. The mountain laurel is suffocating my home and rocks hurts my dog's feet! Apparently, the builder only had to remove 20 ft around the home. Geesh for the amount of $ I was paying they could have cut a bit more. I am looking for a tree cutting service that will remove the dead trees and mountain laurel. One tree guy quoted us $2k to remove about 20 trees and some of the mountain laurel. I am first time home buyer so I am not sure if that is the right price. What you think?