I want to get my firewood up this grade and chop it for my wood stove.

Skid steer with a bucket?

Since so many people asked for the final result. Here is the retaining wall we had completed vs the Ai rendering we shared

https://www.reddit.com/r/landscaping/s/fKvm29GEsV

I just caught somebody using roundup in my yard and all over a small holly bush. Is there any way to dissipate it quickly, and save the holly??

I asked a while ago for some advice on a landscaping project, and renting a little Tracksteer as a complete amateur. I got good input, and helpful tips so thanks to this community for helping my project succeed. I wanted to post this on my results, and a few things I picked up that are worth sharing.

Primary goal was to excavate and level a patio for a Firepit. I am also restoring some "forgotten" land between my property and the neighborhood retention pond, so I wanted to help in prepping that site too.

The tool I rented was a small DitchWitch tracksteer/trackloader. I got an untoothed bucket, forklift, and also added on the trenching tool eventually so I can also do some french drains. It took me a few hours the first day to get used to operating it. Best advice I can give is to go slow, and get used to how it drives backwards. All t grading I did was with it backwards.

For excavation, the thing to learn is how to skim about 1-2" of soil/clay. These things are awesome when they go straight. They mess stuff up turning, by their nature. It took me a bit of practice, and I had to get off and look a few times, but you want to get it to "bite" by tilting the bucket down, drive forward a bit, then flatten the bucket and go straight. I caused myself no end of big holes to fill and messy stalls and edges when I tried to dig too much at once.

For grading, I found getting the blade almost vertical was good for a rough spread, but then shifting to almost flat but a slight forward tilt, and just enough downward force to get the depth you want, dragged backwards gets th he best "smoothing out" of topsoil.

The forklift add on was a recommendation from a friend. I had not planned to get one, but it was incredibly useful for the small amount it cost to rent. This is what I used to move the flagstones from the 2 tonne pile the stone store left, over to the patio site. VERY useful. I got the guy who delivered my stone and gravel to give me an extra short-pallet, which was perfect for moving stuff around. I ended up using it for the Firepit blocks, the Adirondack chair boxes, heck, even moved my giant tarp with it

Timing is the other thing. I initially thought this was a 1 day job. The same friend that recommended the forks gently suggested it was a 3 day job, but that the extra cost to get a week might be worth it. Mostly because it then "takes the time pressure off". A couple of days I was just dead at the end of the day (despite the fact that it is doing all the hard work, these things do beat you up a bit operating, kinda like riding a horse), and knowing I had time let me make the safe decision to stop for the day. Whether tired or dark, the end of the day is when you hurt yourself. I ended up renting it for a full week. The plate compactor I had them pick up after the initial 3-day, and they delivered the trencher when they collected it.

Final thought is why did I wait so long to rent one of these! For anyone who played with Tonka bulldozers in the sandbox, tooling around in one of these and movement dirt around is hella fun.

I thought that i hit a rock with the rototiller...clearly not!

I was looking at some garden designs recently and one thing kept bothering me. Some of them look great, but I can't imagine having to maintain them every week.

Especially when there's barely enough room to get a mower through or you have to do half the work by hand because of how everything is laid out.

I get that people want their yard to look nice, but making it easy to maintain should be part of the plan too.

Curious what you guys think. Does this come up much when you're working with customers, or do most people only start caring about maintenance once everything is finished?

Hi all,

I just got the first draft design for a separate garden behind our garage, and I'd love some outside opinions. The idea is a private retreat that feels like a holiday home: calm, water, natural stone and lots of green. It's about 200 m² (roughly 2,150 sq ft) including the garden house, and it's separate from our main backyard.

I like the draft a lot. The curved lines and the amount of greenery work for me, and the planting around the edges gives good privacy from the neighbors. What's in it: a large garden house with a covered terrace (possibly a sauna), a hot tub in one corner, a flagstone terrace with stepping stones through a lawn, a pergola with a hanging chair, two small trees or multi-stem shrubs in the middle with a bird bath, and water bowls or a fountain in the corner next to the garage. That corner gets little sun, so it'll be shady.

Context: we're in the Netherlands, so a mild, wet climate with winters around freezing, mostly clay soil, and the seating area on the bottom left should get plenty of sun all day long. The budget is moderate. I lean towards natural materials and stone and away from plastic. The planting plan comes in the second phase, so right now I'm mostly looking at layout and the overall look.

What I'd love feedback on:

- Does the layout flow? Terrace, lawn, hot tub and garden house are all in one space. Is anything too close together or too far apart, and do the sightlines and paths make sense?

- The lawn is fairly big for what it does. Would you replace part of it with something else, such as gravel or larger beds?

- The overall look: does it come across as a calm, cohesive retreat, or does it feel like a collection of separate elements? The garden house is a clean, modern glass-fronted building, while the garden itself is all soft curves. Do they go together, or would you change one of them?

- The materials: flagstone, wood, glass and dark metal. Is that a good palette, or would you use something else in natural stone and wood?

- Anything that looks like it will cause trouble, such as shade or maintenance?

The first image is the plan and the second is a 3D render. Any ideas or criticism are welcome, including "I'd do the whole thing differently". Thanks!

I’m a business student and my group is working on an entrepreneurship project about goat grazing services as an alternative to traditional landscaping.
Our idea is to offer goat rental services to HOAs, property managers, and business owners with large properties to help clear overgrown weeds, brush, and vegetation in a more environmentally friendly way.
We’re trying to determine whether people would actually be interested in using this type of service, and we’d love to hear your opinions!
A few questions we have:
Would you consider using goats instead of traditional landscaping methods? Why or why not?
What would be your biggest concern (pricing, safety, effectiveness, convenience, etc.)?
Would the environmental benefits make you more interested in trying goat grazing?
If you’ve used goat grazing services before, how was your experience? Was it worth the cost?
We’re looking for honest feedback, both positive and negative, to help us evaluate whether our business idea is realistic.
Thank you for helping us with our research!

​

Hey everyone! We're currently working on a retaining wall for our front garden bed, and we're having a bit of a debate about the color. We originally thought dark grey would look good consensus wise.

We went with a darker gray block, which I personally think looks pretty good with our house. However, my wife and a few others feel it's too dark and doesn't complement the exterior as well as a lighter gray would.

We're considering returning the blocks and switching to a lighter shade, but before going through all that trouble and potentially spending more money, we'd love some unbiased opinions.

What do you guys think? Does the current gray work with the house, or would a lighter gray look better?

Keep in mind that the garden bed isn't finished yet. We'll eventually be adding plants and mulch.

Appreciate any honest feedback!

I'm located near Nashville, TN (Zone 7b) and have several mature Emerald Green Arborvitae that suffered significant browning after extreme summer heat and drought. The 4 on the right side of the picture, I have already replaced those 4 previously and so this will now be the 3rd time.

I'm considering replacing them with American Pillar Arborvitae.

Are American Pillars genuinely hardier and more tolerant of heat, drought, and full sun than Emerald Greens? Are they more likely to survive long-term in Middle Tennessee?

I'd especially appreciate opinions from arborists, landscapers, or anyone with firsthand experience growing both varieties.

Do I need to cut every paver along this curve or should I just cut every other or so? For the section already beginning to curve, should those be cut as well or are those gaps small enough for polymeric sand to fill?

I have this massive ficus (I think) stump in my yard that I’m trying to remove so that I can plant some shrubs. I don’t need it completely removed - just leveled where the red arrows are indicated. The exposed stump in the pic is probably about a foot tall.

What would be the best way to tackle this and with what tool? I’ve given it an attempt using a recip saw, axe, and a wood splitter, but I’ve only been able to remove small pieces at a time and this will take me weeks.

FYI - there’s dirt and rocks trapped underneath certain parts of the stump, so I don’t think a chainsaw would be ideal, right?

Hey everyone! We just had a retaining wall built at my house and our yard backfilled. I'm in KC and unfortunately due to rain the project got pushed back a couple times and was just finished yesterday, Oct 20th. I know the backfill will settle this winter, and will need to be filled and leveled again in the spring. My question is, what should I do with the bare dirt until spring? Do I need to put down erosion control blanket, or can I just let it ride? If I do need to put something down, what type of blanket? Thanks for the help.

We just bought a house and the only way I can fit down the driveway to drag the side of my truck down these shrubs (trees?). A quick google search told me if I can down to bare branches that they would not go back with any green. Any suggestions on how to approach?

Side note. This is a divider between ours and our neighbors driveway so tearing them out is not an option, as much as I want to.

I‘m looking for some advice as to how to make this transition smooth and as durable as possible. I really don’t want to pay for concrete although that would be the fix.

I’ve considered the plastic grids to stabilize the slope, gravel ”glue” to hopefully hold down whatever I put there, and just dumping and tamping more material. We will have a long-term renter using the driveway daily all winter, and I want to get this fixed before he moves no in November.

Appreciate any and all comments.

Hello everyone,

I had a collapsing retaining wall holding up my patio but having pulled out the bricks (see pictures) i have sadly found the gravel saturated with soil.

Turns out the guy who rebuilt it originally (4 years ago per my neighbour) didn't put in a geotextile backing, which is something I know of through google. There it however this weird plastic frame (pictured) which seems like it might go into the ground below. I think it's just a structural piece.

Just looking for confirmation on my plan/advice. Right now I'm thinking:

1. Dig out and dispose of this gravel (too much soil in it to make it useable)

2. Put geotextile backing in front of this structural plastic thing I don't know the name of (or should I remove it?)

3. Base layer of gravel, weeping tile, bricks in front, all done.

Thanks in advance!

Looking for some help identifying my hedge. Location is in NC. Thank you!!

Southern USA I was told not to cut the roses back so much too soon but they have grown 2 FEET in a month and now have some buds! :) These things are way more hardy than I expected!

Anyone ever use them? I’m about to book a job but I’m very suspicious of the company and the low quote they gave me ($3330 where as other companies quotes were more like $4000-$8000). HELP.

Any ideas on what to do down here? Other than paving the lot.