31
votes
Why do many landscapers put gravel around the base of buildings?
You don't want water-retaining soil sitting against the building because this causes damp problems. Creating a porous soakaway like this will mean any water sinks to a lower level than would cause any ...
- 1,291
18
votes
Accepted
What can I use the removed moss from my lawn for?
Moss is just fine in your compost! Moss is one of the great opportunists in the plant world. Moss is not hurting your lawn. The presence of moss is telling us your lawn is not vigorous enough, you ...
- 40.2k
17
votes
Why do many landscapers put gravel around the base of buildings?
Perhaps I missed something in the other answers. The one and only reason is because of SPLASHING. Rain over the gutter, a hard sideways rain will splash mud/soil onto the siding. Not good for ...
- 40.2k
14
votes
Why are weeds growing with my new seeds?
Weed seeds in the soil won't be affected by a contact or systemic (such as glyphosate) weedkiller that acts on green leaves. Regular mowing will get rid of some of the taller weeds. Otherwise, wait ...
- 3,762
13
votes
Accepted
Easiest way to remove large amount of leaves from yard
I use a lawnmower with a bagger. The blades chop the leaves and reduce the volume by up to 80%. The finely shredded leaves are great mulch for plant or vegetable beds.
I cut my grass low in the ...
- 58.3k
12
votes
Why are there yellow areas in my lawn?
The yellow stuff by the street looks like chemical damage, probably road salt like Jurp mentioned, not a surprise Bermuda-grass infestation like I originally suspected.
The backyard looks like a ...
- 221
12
votes
Why are there yellow areas in my lawn?
Based on your photos, I can speculate that photo 1 shows a poor use of road salt by your municipality and/or the homeowner—it looks like a snowplow accidentally dumped too much by the driveway and ...
- 18.2k
11
votes
Lawn: Newly sown turf grows at least twice as fast as the "old" turf
"Fixes:"
wait a year and see if it's anything more than new-ness.
dig up and reseed the "old" lawn with the "new" seed.
One of these is a lot less work than the other......
- 22.8k
10
votes
What type of dirt to use for filling the backyard before preparing the vegetable beds?
Good quality topsoil is probably best, preferably with some organic or humus rich composted materials added (composted animal manures, leaf mould, spent mushroom compost, garden compost, anything like ...
- 132k
10
votes
Mowing 2+ acres of pasture
I think you are just suffering from mowing a pasture for the first time. Once you've got it all cut for the first time it will go much faster to keep it cut. However you don't want to use a flail to ...
- 6,356
10
votes
Accepted
How does one maintain a crisp lawn edge?
There is no one "right way" to create and maintain a crisp lawn edge.
When I was much younger than I am now, I did exactly what you are doing, except I used a flat spade to cut the edge and ...
- 18.2k
9
votes
Easiest way to remove large amount of leaves from yard
I let the grass grow a little higher than usual for a week or two before the leaves fall, set the mower on the highest setting and mow twice at that setting. This mulches the leaves in place. I do ...
- 91
9
votes
Microclover Mix Lawns
Microclover (Trifolium repens var.pirouette) is a selection from the original white clover (Trifolium repens). It was bred and selected for its much smaller leaves, lower height, much less aggressive ...
- 132k
9
votes
Why do many landscapers put gravel around the base of buildings?
My guesses are that it just looks a lot neater and also prevents weeds from growing near the foundation. If weeds and their roots are allowed to grow there you would have to be constantly digging ...
- 111
8
votes
Accepted
How to know how much weight I need in a lawn roller?
A lawn roller is not intended to be used for flattening out a bumpy lawn - I quote directly here from D. G. Hessayon's The Lawn Expert "the purpose of a roller is to firm the surface of an already ...
- 132k
8
votes
What's the best way to eliminate the moss in a shady, damp area of my lawn?
Since you are a renter, I would suggest embracing the moss as a short green groundcover that tolerates the conditions, since grass won't, and as a renter you can't solve the conditions that favor moss ...
- 22.8k
8
votes
Accepted
Growing a healthy lawn
For the shaded areas try a blend which has high portion of fescue grasses and consider trimming a few branches to reduce the shade.
IMHO patch packs are a waste of money. They typically have less ...
8
votes
Weedy uneven lawn with tree stumps: grind, chip, till, roll and reseed?
Time is your friend; speed is expensive.
Solarizing is something you do for quite a long time, so "not hot enough yet" is really not a problem. You see the suggestion because many weeds find a quick ...
- 22.8k
8
votes
Why are weeds growing with my new seeds?
I used to live near a retired professional gardener who had worked in English "stately home" gardens where lawns (acres of them) were a key feature.
One of his pieces of advice was "...
- 11.3k
8
votes
Can mowing weeds cause them to spread?
Highly unlikely that your mulching mower is causing cuttings to grow. The cut weed parts won't have good soil contact and will dry out and die. Weeds that have gone to seed stand a better chance of ...
- 22.8k
7
votes
How often should you overseed a lawn?
Well it all depends on what kind of lawn you want and the effort you want to put into it. If your ambition is to have Perfect grass: perfectly flat, no weeds, no dead spots then over seed twice a ...
- 58.3k
7
votes
How long do I need to stay off the lawn after applying weed killer?
Read the label of the product you are using. The label will state a re-entry interval. Without the label we don't know what is in the specific spray you are using, so we can't give a proper answer.
- 5,849
7
votes
Accepted
How to prepare a soil that is compacted and has a lot of rocks
Depends on what you really have, soil-wise, what want to do with it and how you will do that.
Bury it in 3-6" of topsoil is a perfectly normal option - not one I usually reach for, but common enough, ...
- 22.8k
7
votes
Accepted
How to replace lawn with rock garden
Simply putting down rock will not stop vegetation growth.
To attempt to eliminate all vegitation growth you need to:
Remove the sod and top soil
Spray the area with pre-emergent vegitation stopper ...
- 186
7
votes
Microclover Mix Lawns
I have no idea about "microclover" which sounds like a hokey marketing term, but I have been putting Dutch white clover in lawns for decades and it works just fine, unless you are one of those folks ...
- 22.8k
7
votes
What to do to the dry grass that is not allowing new grass to grow?
It's still pretty early in the growing season (in the Northern hemisphere), so the thatch may not have had sufficient time to break down and give way to the new growth.
But from the look of your ...
- 2,543
7
votes
Accepted
How close can lawn be to a foundation?
You can definitely grow grass right up to the foundation - it won't harm your house in any way. That said, there are a few reasons you might not want to do this.
First, your mower is unlikely to be ...
- 9,464
7
votes
Accepted
What is this weed and how do I kill it without killing the grass?
It does look like wild violets, and they are difficult to eradicate, but triclopyr, or any other lawn weedkiller that purports to kill these, is much more effective used in autumn, see here https://...
- 132k
7
votes
How can I improve drainage in a rainy area lawn with little manual labour?
There are different reasons why your ground could be so wet, I don't know the situation in Ireland, but here in the Netherlands we can have boggy ground as well.
Different reasons are:
High ...
- 13.1k
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