Landscaping Problem: My eyesore! (Penn: how much, house, contractor)

[Acevaz]

About a wk ago, I had posted my heartache regarding my landscaping problem. I have discovered landscaping in PA is difficult and way too time consuming. I had planted some lovely flowers and made a flower bed. I came back to the house and found that the deer and bunnies totally ate. Eating it down to the stubs. This is a HUGE project to handle so I would need some advice as to how much it would be just to :

1. Clear and remove the dense mountain laurel.
2. Remove the dead trees ( there are approx. 15)
3. All I want is grass. I don't care for shrubs, trees or even plants. just give me grass.
4. A nice stone walk way. Nothing fancy.
5. Blacktop driveway.

Does anyone think I can do all of that for a reasonable price? Nothing above $15K.

[poconoproud]

Sorry for your yard nightmare. From your pics it looks as though you not only have rocky soil, the soil looks as hard as a rock. I know of someone who can take care of the dead trees for you, and he may even be able to clear away the mountain laurel for a fair price. Are you in a development? Most require a permit for taking trees down - and some require that you plant as many as you take down; but if your on private land it would not be an issue. And if you have a wood burning stove, you can burn the downed trees. That would at least be a starting point. You really should take dead trees down, if nothing else. They can hurt someone, or cause property damage.

You wanna see a rocky piece of land? We are working on a project in Hickory Run Forest, and one of the nearby lots is like a mini Boulder Field:



now that is a landscaping problem!

[Acevaz]

I'm not too far from hickory run. If u can send me the name and telephone of the person for the tree removal that would be appreciated.

[1st impression]

Landscape contractor for you 570-614-3215 your problem is very easy and I would like to help you thank you greg

[nkotb]

Since Mountain Laurel is Pennsylvania's state flower !!!!!!! It seems ashame to remove it. Perhaps it could just be relocated ??? !!!! Its so pretty, just a thought.

[poconoproud]

Hi Ace! His company is Largeon Logging, and here is his phone number:

[SIZE=2]STEVE BAILLARGEON
[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]

570-401-2925

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[Summering]

Oh so funny............I can't tell you how many beautiful flowers I lost to bunnies and deer..........
The deer took every shrub we bought and left me with nothing..........!
Even the deer safe shrubs were eaten.
I learned to plant the flowers way up on the deck in containers.......to enjoy my pine trees, and a few others they hated.......Because it was so impossible.
Now living in another part of PA its the bunnies........
I have found them nestled in my planters like an ornamental object........
I've been able to have ground flowers here, but they must be something a bunny does not like. I've seen huge bunches of black-eyed susans and gorgeous cone flowers.......become just stubs.
Two deer safe trees by my entrance at our other home..........became a sorry sight....after we returned from Myrtle one year. I guess the deer got real hungry and so that became a meal too.
I'm sure you'll find someone to help out with this good advice..........
But..........those deer will be hard to deal with. ...

[Acevaz]

Sum,

This flower bed took so much effort and money... But hey the deer and the bunnies gotta eat too right? LOL

My neighbor stopped by yesterday and told us he tried to scare the deer off but there was 4 or 5 of them just standing there chopping on the plants...

nkotb- I am not looking to eliminate the laurel completely but clear a few feet away from the home. The laurel is suffocating the home and taking up a lot of the front yard. My neighbors love the laurel look but I am not a big fan of it but I am willing to leave some of the laurels.

[Summering]

Whats nice about Laurals is that they are there all winter when everything else is just grey!! Thats why I planted things that would always be green, pine trees, and roda's...........
I don't even want to begin to say how much I spent on flowers and shrubs, and even some of those were "gifts" from the girls.........All gone.......by the time I moved.
I did a fence once.......brought some great looking see through stuff. The neighbor came over to tell me deer will still get in there............Next morning........there she was!!! Not the neighbor, a deer............right in the middle chomping away.
Its all very useless except for some of the ones they leave alone. You'll know which ones they are by looking around. That shrub with the little white bell flowers........thats ok.........Those orange Iris ( is that the word? Iris) that you see along the highways.....They work and they are pretty too. But, mostly I had to do very high gardens. I tried a few on our steps..........the deer thought that was wonderful......right at their head level........DAH!!! What was I thinkin'....

[Acevaz]

The only thing left as you can see in the pic was the pine and the bushes with the yellow leaves (don't know the name). The deer didn't eat too much of those two. I also had some lilies and they chomped on that as well. At this time all I want is grass...I am so frustrated in losing everything all I want to see is green grass.