Spring is coming! (lawns, landscaping, grass, trees)

[seanpecor]

Hey folks, Spring is just around the corner here in the Roanoke, VA area. It's 60F and sunny right now and I'm anxiously awaiting a huge order from my gardening vendor Does anyone have any big plans this year? Trying anything new?

I'm still landscaping around the house and farm and I've got particular milestones that will take me several years to reach, so I have to prioritize and then focus on the jobs at hand. This year I'm getting major groundcover and border projects underway and in the queue are many varieties of lavender, some astra, sagina, mother of thyme, coreopsis, catmint blue carpet, etc. I also want to move about 40 small boxwoods and transform a confused 1/4 acre evergreen mound into a Zen-flavored rock garden. Lots of hardcaping and stone borders too but I haven't decided on the style of rock border yet, I need to try a couple different styles of rock out before I decide.

Fess up! Does anyone have anything special in mind?

Sean

[Ronzou]

I want to plant some tomatoes! I can't stand buying any types or veggies from the stores anymore.

I like juicy tomatoes! Not these crunchy ones they sell in stores. Makes me want to gag.

[Rance]

Well I have some oak trees started. The acorns came from South Carolina and are doing great in the front windows. But I am going to try and climatize them this summer...outside. I also have some orange osage and Shagbark Hickory that I am going to try. Being in Alaska I don't know if they will make it...but I'm going to try. Other than that...just the usual garden stuff like Yukon Gold spuds and sweet peas.

[ssg II]

Originally Posted by seanpecor

Lots of hardcaping and stone borders too but I haven't decided on the style of rock border yet, I need to try a couple different styles of rock out before I decide.

Fess up! Does anyone have anything special in mind?

Sean

I used medium sized white river rock, thought it was a nice contrast to the mulch & plants. Though it sounds like you're looking for something larger! Sounds like you have quite the project ahead!

[tigerlily]

Originally Posted by seanpecor

Hey folks, Spring is just around the corner here in the Roanoke, VA area. It's 60F and sunny right now and I'm anxiously awaiting a huge order from my gardening vendor Does anyone have any big plans this year? Trying anything new?

I'm still landscaping around the house and farm and I've got particular milestones that will take me several years to reach, so I have to prioritize and then focus on the jobs at hand. This year I'm getting major groundcover and border projects underway and in the queue are many varieties of lavender, some astra, sagina, mother of thyme, coreopsis, catmint blue carpet, etc. I also want to move about 40 small boxwoods and transform a confused 1/4 acre evergreen mound into a Zen-flavored rock garden. Lots of hardcaping and stone borders too but I haven't decided on the style of rock border yet, I need to try a couple different styles of rock out before I decide.

Fess up! Does anyone have anything special in mind?

Sean

We have a corner lot, about 1/4 acre (probably about the size of your evergreen mound.) the lot was in terrible shape when we moved in. Mowing lawns is not something we enjoy so tore out all the grass on our property and replaced with shrubs, perennials and grasses, rocks, etc. We don't have a flat lot so we build up with soil, allowing for paths. I know we did backwards - paths are supposed to go in first. I don't want all gravel path, especialy in the front and I'm of using Colorado bluestone and then groundcover in between - not sure what yet. Our house will be up for sale this summer so I need to figure it out soon. BTW - Lavendar and Coreopsis (Limerock Ruby and the Cream with burgundy center) are two of my favorites, but I have almost all varieties. Have you put paths in? If so, what are you using? When I started all of this about 5 years ago I had never gardened before. Now, I'm trying to get my two year degree in landscape design.

[edmcclelland]

Hey Bud.....just a note to let you know that I have torn up my front yard and covered it with rocks. Yep, its called Zeroscaping. Out here in New Mexico, there is little water so out with the lawns. I installed a drip system for the desert like plants and created a cool raised planter for other plant types. It was really a lot of work. Almost done now. I feel a lot of pride and happiness for what I did! This type of work is real rewarding, I'm sure you will agree.

[OvertaxedOnLI]

Originally Posted by tigerlily

Mowing lawns is not something we enjoy so tore out all the grass on our property and replaced with shrubs, perennials and grasses, rocks, etc. We don't have a flat lot so we build up with soil, allowing for paths. I know we did backwards - paths are supposed to go in first. I don't want all gravel path, especialy in the front and I'm of using Colorado bluestone and then groundcover in between - not sure what yet.

You and I are definitely on the same page when it comes to grass (as in, Get Rid of It)! The only reason I haven't removed all of mine here is that I'm currently househunting, thus it makes no sense to change things. For some crazy reason the majority of people in the Northeast seem to think having a lawn is An Asset. Pffff.

Once I do find and move into my next house, I plan to do the same thing you did: Remove grass, and just have paths going through different kinds of planting areas. I've been dithering between the different path surfaces and figure I'll just have to wait and see what kind of site I have to work with. I'd like to have different path materials anyway, not all the same thing. Probably gravel in one area, mulch in another, large stepping stones running through an evergreen groundcover in yet another area. I plan to have the house itself in some shade of brown, so natural bluestone wouldn't go well with that, but I don't like those colored bluestones because it just washes off. I've tried Timberlite (volcanic rock) for paths and that color is permanent (black, grey, tan, reddish brown, rust color) and it looks great but it's not the easiest to walk on; the rocks tend to move and turn easily underfoot.

I love the look of old-brick pathways but they're too darn expensive.

[tigerlily]

Originally Posted by edmcclelland

Hey Bud.....just a note to let you know that I have torn up my front yard and covered it with rocks. Yep, its called Zeroscaping. Out here in New Mexico, there is little water so out with the lawns. I installed a drip system for the desert like plants and created a cool raised planter for other plant types. It was really a lot of work. Almost done now. I feel a lot of pride and happiness for what I did! This type of work is real rewarding, I'm sure you will agree.

We're doing the same in Portland. It rains here for 8-9 months, but from end of June through September we get virtually no rain. I like the above ground drip system because I like to move plants around and it's easy to adjust. I agree gardening is highly rewarding.

[tigerlily]

Originally Posted by OvertaxedOnLI

You and I are definitely on the same page when it comes to grass (as in, Get Rid of It)! The only reason I haven't removed all of mine here is that I'm currently househunting, thus it makes no sense to change things. For some crazy reason the majority of people in the Northeast seem to think having a lawn is An Asset. Pffff.

Once I do find and move into my next house, I plan to do the same thing you did: Remove grass, and just have paths going through different kinds of planting areas. I've been dithering between the different path surfaces and figure I'll just have to wait and see what kind of site I have to work with. I'd like to have different path materials anyway, not all the same thing. Probably gravel in one area, mulch in another, large stepping stones running through an evergreen groundcover in yet another area. I plan to have the house itself in some shade of brown, so natural bluestone wouldn't go well with that, but I don't like those colored bluestones because it just washes off. I've tried Timberlite (volcanic rock) for paths and that color is permanent (black, grey, tan, reddish brown, rust color) and it looks great but it's not the easiest to walk on; the rocks tend to move and turn easily aunderfoot.

I love the look of old-brick pathways but they're too darn expensive.

When I visit my family in Cleveland, I notice abundance of lawns. We're planning to relocate to Raleigh and they seem to be more into lawns. It's not that way in my area of Portland. Every year more lawns are removed. I'll have to check about bluestone - hadn't heard that the color washes away. I like your idea of mixing up the path materials. There's so many options. Old brick pathways are beautiful, but I agree on the expense.

[Rance]

I'm not trying to promote anything...but there is a neat landscaping CD-ROM set, that might help with up-coming projects at http://store.worldstart.com/product.php?productid=3235

Looks like a lot of neat features and ideas. I just put in a pond last year, from rock gathered all over. Took 3 days of laying rock, but man the water falls sound really nice when I'm out in the yard. It was well worth it.