Big landscaping job

[Lichnus]

Update: sod cutter
I made my paths in the back. Nowhere to put the sod but I like how the garden is shaking out.
I have a plan for minimizing weeds around the trees. Son marked where he wants the combination cherry tree placed.
Glad the sod cutting is done!
Visualizing timbers as a sort of terrace in the front, but it's a heavy job I need help with.

 

[Dahlia]

We have decided to do a lot of landscaping in our front yard during the coming year. I want to completely remove and replace the existing grasses, fill in where there were some trees removed and create a few flower beds. What basic equipment would I need to start out with? We have almost no yard tools at present, other than one push mower. Our yard is small.

I removed part of our lawn by the house to make areas for bushes and flowers and I just used a flat edged shovel and scraped off the grass where I didn't want it. Then I added steer manure and hoed the area pretending I was a human rototiller! Lol. It worked great!

 

[flowerbug]

I removed part of our lawn by the house to make areas for bushes and flowers and I just used a flat edged shovel and scraped off the grass where I didn't want it. Then I added steer manure and hoed the area pretending I was a human rototiller! Lol. It worked great!

it's pretty tough in heavier soils and especially when it gets dry out and hasn't rained. heavy clay turns into concrete. watering does help soften things up, but you don't want to overdo that because then you have mud.

i like to use a flat bladed shovel too for removing the top layer of grass and then bury that deep as possible. i've also done it where i've stacked those sod chunks up to dry out and then turn them once in a while to make sure nothing is regrowing. in the end i had a small pile of grass regrowing because i didn't keep after it enough so i had to eventually go back and dig it up again, but it wasn't as bad as the first time around.

right now i have about a thousand square feet of sod to bust for this coming season, but i don't think i'm going to get all of that done. so i just chip away at it as i can and try to keep it from getting worse.

smothering is much easier if you have the materials and the time to wait.

 

[digitS']

My sod cutter is nearly useless because the soil here is so rocky. I can use it for some trimming along walkways and beds. No way will my back hold up to using a flat shovel and pushing it horizontally to lift sod. To remove sod – and not to move it elsewhere to serve as lawngrass – the rototiller can scuff up the grass then, the spading fork can further separate it from the soil. Sod makes good compost and, yes, burying it deep is a good way to return those nutrients.

It's strange to see some of the former TEG members posts. I remember only venturing over to the separate Landscaping forum, never posting there. @jardinier had done so much work and had photos. It seemed special for me to see a garden from way down the St Lawrence River, nearly to New Brunswick. The 14 posts for that account is for TEG only and didn't begin to show it.

Nifty had a remodeling forum, also. I think that I followed @Smart Red over there once or twice. Life changes for these folks.

digitS'