Whats would be the cheapest way to landscape this yard? (rental, new house)

[Bench Warmer]

Our new house has a pretty big back yard. I measured it last night... It is shaped like the letter "L". The dimensions were 39X61 and 42x83. I measured the 2 sides seperatly.. As it stands right now, there is a fine pebble throughout the yard. Underneath the pebble is black plastic. The problem I'm having is the pebble is really thin and my dog is picking at the black plastic. Plus the plastic is ugly as hell, and its coming up all over the place.


I'm wondering what my option are to eliminate this problem.. I was thinking about turning the small side into a grassy area, and dumping 2 inches of rock on the other side. Even then, this project may cost of fortune..

Does anyone have any ideas, i'm up for just about anything.. I just want the yard to look decent and not have pieces of plastic coming up everywhere...


Thanks

*** to throw a monkey wrench into all of this.... This isn't our house.. It's a rental.. We've got the go ahead to improve the yard if we wish.. If this were my pad, I'd go all out and spend a fortune... but since it's not.. I just want to do the minimal amount of work that will keep the dust out of my house, and keep my dog from hunting down the plastic underneath the pebble..***

[Mouser]

This is what I'd do

Remove all the plastic and set the old gravel off to the side spray the entire area with ground clear.

I would use the slope or grade of the yard to channel the monsoon
rain with river rock then add bigger rock then you have now and a patch
of grass for the furry one is an excellent idea

You might also think about what type of plants and stuff like that for
your watering needs before you get to this stage

Have Fun !

[acrylic]

There's a lot of things I could see in a yard like that! Google "xeriscaping" and you can get some really good ideas from some websites or pictures.

But the main reason I posted in this thread was to point out that dog peeking up from the neighbor's yard!

[twiggy]

Well, rock would be great but it cost hundreds of dollars. The cheapest thing this time of year would be to pull up all the plastic, water, grate with a rake or rent a small machine from home depot to break up the dirt. Then water well, buy a couple bags of fertilizer and spread some winter grass seeds. Give your dog a couple of teaspoons of tomato juice everyday to avoid yellow pee spots in the grass. Let him out frequently to fertilize and scare the birds away from the seed!

As for that little brick area, just remove those and place them in the garage in case you have to put it back before you vacate.

You could always do some river rock on the slope, like the previous thread said, and grass on the main stretch of the yard for a little extra money, but, that dirt is just filler and could always be leveled off and put out front with a "free dirt" sign. All that cost you is a shovel and sore arms. You would be surprised how fast it will go.
Total cost of the winter grass project would only be about a 150 dollars at best. Well, you will need a lawn mower but that is still no were near the cost of rock and it's good exercise right! lol

[Bench Warmer]

Originally Posted by twiggy

Well, rock would be great but it cost hundreds of dollars. The cheapest thing this time of year would be to pull up all the plastic, water, grate with a rake or rent a small machine from home depot to break up the dirt. Then water well, buy a couple bags of fertilizer and spread some winter grass seeds. Give your dog a couple of teaspoons of tomato juice everyday to avoid yellow pee spots in the grass. Let him out frequently to fertilize and scare the birds away from the seed!

As for that little brick area, just remove those and place them in the garage in case you have to put it back before you vacate.

You could always do some river rock on the slope, like the previous thread said, and grass on the main stretch of the yard for a little extra money, but, that dirt is just filler and could always be leveled off and put out front with a "free dirt" sign. All that cost you is a shovel and sore arms. You would be surprised how fast it will go.
Total cost of the winter grass project would only be about a 150 dollars at best. Well, you will need a lawn mower but that is still no were near the cost of rock and it's good exercise right! lol

The square footage of the yard is about 5865 feet. It's probably a little less than that because I measured the furthest points in each area of the yard.. It would probably be cheap to move all the pebble, remove the plastic, and put grass seed everywhere, but then I'd probably have enormous water bills... I'd love to have a grassy back yard.. But I dread the water bill.. Does anyone have a yard of this size with grass?

In a perfect would I'd like to have grass in that front area.. and put new gravel in the back.. I think that would be about 2g's considering the size of the yard.. way to much to spend on a rental I may be out of in 364 days

[azdr0710]

very personal opinion: winter rye is water-intensive and will dry up in the summer and look ugly...maintenance of it is a headache.....however, a small patch of it somewhere - for the dog and for the green-ness - could be very appropriate if you're willing to do the maintenance...is there already irrigation in that bricked area I see?.....

seems the dog will always discover the plastic....maybe pull it up and spray an eco-friendly weed killer ?.....

has that slope I see seen any heavy rain?....it may develop ruts in a heavy rain.... as said, river rock, maybe 4-6 inch size, might be good on that slope.....

good ol' gravel might be best for most of the yard....very low maintenance (occasional raking)....

maybe some potted plants around, visible from where you'll be sitting.....

what freeway is that I see?

[Neuling]

That looks so ugly Like a private jail or something. Maybe you can find someone who drops a bomb on it, then just leave it alone for 5 years and you will have lots of wildlife there.

[wit-nit]

Just curious, why are you putting your hard earned money into someone else's property. The landlord gets all the benefits, especially a tax improvement deduction, and you get nothing. Or did you work out an arrangement to get re-imbursed?
BTW, grass is maintenance intensive compared to xeriscape landscaping. Winter grass dies out in the late spring and bermuda grass is water intensive and very invasive.
If you use "Ground Cover" as someone suggested you will never be able to plant anything in the ground for 5-10 years as Ground Cover is a non- selective soil sterilant killing all vegetation in its path. This Ground Cover chemical travels in the soil as water penetrates and kills everything along the way.

[azdr0710]

Originally Posted by nitram

J
If you use "Ground Cover" as someone suggested you will never be able to plant anything in the ground for 5-10 years as Ground Cover is a non- selective soil sterilant killing all vegetation in its path. This Ground Cover chemical travels in the soil as water penetrates and kills everything along the way.

jeez, sounds like the plot of a 1950s horror movie.....

[foma]

Dude, it's not your house!! I wouldn't do anything!! I see where u r coming from though. I'd go on craigslist and click on the "free" section ... a lot of times, people give away pebbles. Save u some money there.