Let's talk...Yards?

[SnakeCharmer]

One of the things I really enjoy doing is working in the yard.  I de-stress, work up a sweat, and the instant gratification of it is very appealing.  When I bought the house, the previous owners had really neglected it, and hadn't done much in the way of landscaping.  After four months of work that included:  Prep work of existing plants/shrubs/etc, cutting 14 trees down, 4 weekend rentals of a skid steer bobcat, 2 weekends worth of of a trencher for the irrigation system , 4 truckloads of dirt/sand, 4,200 paverstones and blocks that weighed 30-60 lbs a piece (and moved/placed by hand), countless hours planning and pricing, 4 weeks of searching for a proper fountain, 15 pallets of st augustine sod, approx 40 cases of beer, and 32 chiropractor appointments later, this is the end result:

[stray]

Oh fuck me, I hate yards.   I like gardens though.

edit: err, I mean hate cutting grass. Or growing it.

[Paelos]

Yard looks good. Before pictures probably would help on the overall evolution, but oh well. I like the idea of the chairs and brick around the fountain setup, but if I were to do it down here I'd probably want to make it a fire pit for cooking outdoors.

[SnakeCharmer]

Before pics are on a dead laptop's harddrive :/, along with a ton of other pictures that are irreplaceable.  I'm praying to the harddrive gods that it can be salvaged.

Edit:  I thought about a firepit, but we got lucky on the sale price of a big mammajamma Weber natural gas grill that is hooked up to an exterior line on the deck.  Other point of interest, the fountain has a gas line run to it with rings that pull slightly up out of the top and middle tier for some nighttime fire goodness.

[Trippy]

Looks very nice.

If I ever own my own place, though, I'm just going to have rocks for my landscaping

[stray]

Looks very nice.

If I ever own my own place, though, I'm just going to have rocks for my landscaping

That's right man! Freakin' Zen Garden yo. I bet those monks are so peaceful simply because they aren't dealing with so much grass like I am. :P

Honestly though, the weather is insane now in Texas. There's no way to enjoy it or to merely "work up a sweat".

[Strazos]

I hate yards. I don't see the point, at all.

Also, I may never have to have one now, which will be nice.

[SnakeCharmer]

It (the heat) is pretty rough here as well.  Next order of business is a swing set to go in the very back left.  Something like this:

I hate yards. I don't see the point, at all.

Also, I may never have to have one now, which will be nice.

Heh.  Backyard bbq's, having friends over, a place for the kids to play in, dogs.  When I'm at home, chances are me and the kiddo (and the dog) are outside.

[K9]

Looks really nice. The only problem with America is that horrible strain of grass that is endemic through most of the country, European grasses seem much softer and nicer in my experience.

[stray]

St. Augustine is the more common grass here. Not sure about the country as a whole. It's pretty thick.. I know what you mean about the softer grasses. Some seem like they could easily be cut without a powered mower (umm, in fact that's what my grandpa did well into his 80's.. he had some soft grass).

[Salamok]

It (the heat) is pretty rough here as well.  Next order of business is a swing set to go in the very back left.  Something like this:

I hate yards. I don't see the point, at all.

Also, I may never have to have one now, which will be nice.

Heh.  Backyard bbq's, having friends over, a place for the kids to play in, dogs.  When I'm at home, chances are me and the kiddo (and the dog) are outside.

Have fun putting that together, I finished assembling the costco monstrosity a few months ago and it took awhile (2 people about 22 hours).

[Merusk]

I've got the next size down, it took 4 us about 6 hours to do.  My dad sorted the parts while my brother, brother-in-law and myself assembled them.  Made things go a hell of a lot quicker.  The real bitch was some holes were off just enough to make you think you'd done the whole thing wrong.

Nice yard, SC.   Some day I too plan on having money to landscape.  Maybe after I bury the wife in the yard. /sigh Such spending habits.

As to grasses, I've got Kentucky Bluegrass (no surprise)  I wouldn't call it tough or rough on bare feet at all. However, I wouldn't call it soft like a fine fescue, either.

[Segoris]

It (the heat) is pretty rough here as well.  Next order of business is a swing set to go in the very back left.  Something like this:

I hate yards. I don't see the point, at all.

Also, I may never have to have one now, which will be nice.

Heh.  Backyard bbq's, having friends over, a place for the kids to play in, dogs.  When I'm at home, chances are me and the kiddo (and the dog) are outside.

Have fun putting that together, I finished assembling the costco monstrosity a few months ago and it took awhile (2 people about 22 hours).

^This. The only lesson I learned from it is this: The nicer the playset, the more drinks that are needed. Although, maybe because I was helping someone else for his kids, in the end it was a nice accomplishment and felt good getting it done.

[Venkman]

They're not that bad. Well, once you get past the fact that the instructions were written for four master carpenters working on laser-leveled floor. Seriously, who writes this crap? The spoiler'd is the one I did last year right after we dinged House 2.0. I figure it would take two or three guys about 2 full days if you started day one with all the materials on site. Instead, it took me four days spread over a month. Move in, rain, etc.

It started as a kit from Home Depot, but that only gives you brackets and screws. I didn't like half the brackets nor any of the screws, changed the order of assembly, moved the ladder so I could put up a custom mountain thing (youngest was younger then), and upgraded pretty much all of their wood recommendations. Built a picnic table and canopy under the tower since then, but this is the only pic I had.

Otherwise, yea, got my money's worth  

Edit: when I said "spoiler'd", I meant to, like, spoiler it.

[01101010]

Edit:  I thought about a firepit, but we got lucky on the sale price of a big mammajamma Weber natural gas grill that is hooked up to an exterior line on the deck. 

The gf bought this house we are in and her first purchase was one of these. The lady who owned the house before had the gas lines already running out to the deck but her hubby died before they got a grill for it. Never thought about how nice and convenient the nat gas was till we cooked the T-day Turkey on it last year. 

[Samwise]

My yard is mostly neglected; someday I plan to turn it into a low-maintenance garden, but there's a deteriorating retaining wall on one side of the property that I want to replace before I start planting anything that I don't want trampled.  And there are a few other projects that are slightly higher priority which also haven't happened yet.  So I expect to get started gardening roughly around the time I retire.

We do have some nice blackberry bushes that sprouted from nothingness over the winter and are bearing fruit now.  I had some yesterday and they were .

[SnakeCharmer]

About to start on the front yard, but will probably wait about a month for that.  Beyond that, next outdoor project is going to be a small garden, but I've got to check with my HOA before I do anything.  I know next to nothing about gardening - which is to say I know it takes seeds, dirt, and that's about it.  But that will be sometime next year I think.

[Tebonas]

Put me squarely in the yard hater column. Too much work, the fucking grass grows too fast to enjoy it for long.

As far as yards go, thats a nice one, though. The grass looks funny, almost like it is tufted instead of straight grass stalks.

[Broughden]

Snakecharmer...after putting in all that work I hope you told that damn kid to get off your lawn!!!! 
Stupid kids messing up the lawn. They are always on my grass!

[Bunk]

Having grown up on large lots, I'll say I love the benfits of yards, but hated the work. Not much of a concern now, my yard consists of a 6 x 10 patio, with a couple of bell peppers growing in a pot.

[Sky]

cutting 14 trees down

I dislike you. People get nuts for cutting down trees. My neighbors on one side have a nice yardful and love them, but the folks on the other side yearn to pull all theirs out, and they have some nice pines and one stunning monster that's so goddamned healthy. I can understand pulling out sick trees or thinning for growth, but some people just don't like trees.

I have a nice big double lot, and I love puttering around. But it's so barren of....trees! The plan was to plant a bunch this year but they're so fucking expensive! I have a couple nice bushes that the previous owner somehow didn't fuck up, and a couple nice clamadis vines. I just can't believe how expensive it is to landscape, I've all but given up on it for now.

[SnakeCharmer]

150 foot tall pines don't qualify as trees.  They qualify as more trouble than they're worth.  I've still got around 18 left on the property, not to mention, I'm surrounded by them.  We've got no shortage, trust me.  I like trees.  I like the shade.  I like the lower power bill.  But for the most part, the ones that we cut down were removed to pave way for a better living / playing space and such.  It was just too much before.

[Samwise]

Put me squarely in the yard hater column. Too much work, the fucking grass grows too fast to enjoy it for long.

I like yards but I hate lawns.  Lots of work for not much to look at IMO.

[Grimwell]

I had an awesome yard in Michigan; well technically I still do but I'm sure the renters have let most of it go back to pasture.

Out here I have a fenced back desert. That's right, desert. We planted grass last winter and it died by April. I'm not making that mistake again. It's not worth the effort and local water is too important to bother with something as silly as grass. I do have a pretty good sized yard as far as SoCal goes. The front is covered in creeping plants that stay low and don't need any maintenance. It looks nice enough. The back is all dirt. I'm going to put down some cement, decorative rock, and expand my vegetable garden to take over anything that isn't covered by cement or rock. Less mowing, less watering, more beer time.

[Rasix]

To say that I dislike my yard, would be putting it mildly.  I hate the damn thing and wish I would have bought a house with a pool or a giant concrete slab in the back.
The previous owners of my house were idiots when it came to gardening (or at least laying things out for something other than selling the house).  The only thing I thank them for is the lemon tree in the back.  It's huge and overgrown, but I like having the lemons there every year (except for that bad freeze).

Everything is planted too close together.  In the back corner near my fence they planted 4 pyacanthas surrounding a tangelo tree in a somewhat small area.  I had to have 2 of them removed.  They are a pain to keep trimmed and 4 in that area were doing their best to choke out the tangelo.  They had a palm tree planted so close to the cinderblock wall that it broke it and we had to pay to get the tree removed, the stump ground (the guy that did it tore up our irrigation so he got no money from me), and the wall repaired.

The plant choices make no sense.  In the front we have a deciduous tree (some kind of oak) planted next to a huge agave, a yucca, a prickly pear (removed), 2 sage bushes (removed), a eucalyptus (removed, it was right next to the house, those get huge), some sort of whillow like tree, and a few oleanders (I HATE OLEANDERS). 

I would relish the opportunity to fix all of this since I did a good deal of gardening as a teen, but it's just too much.  It's too hot outside in Arizona (which contributes to just about everything looking like shit in the summer unless you severely over water) and I have really no time at all to do any yard work with the new kid.

We do have a killer view though. 

[Paelos]

150 foot tall pines don't qualify as trees.  They qualify as more trouble than they're worth.  I've still got around 18 left on the property, not to mention, I'm surrounded by them.  We've got no shortage, trust me.  I like trees.  I like the shade.  I like the lower power bill.  But for the most part, the ones that we cut down were removed to pave way for a better living / playing space and such.  It was just too much before.

I don't think Sky lives down here, so he doesn't understand what a problem we have in the South with pines. They are literally everywhere, and cause millions of dollars in roof damage every year. On our old property, we had 15 on half an acre surrounding the house.

[Nebu]

This thread has reminded me of two things:  I'm lazy.  I hate yard work. I envy many of you for the work that you've put into your lawns.  Its' a worthwhile investment that I can't seem to find the passion to attempt. 

Currently my yard is grass.  I plan to plant a tree in front of a window for shade.  I need motivation!

[Polysorbate80]

I like yardwork, but when our new house is completed next spring, I plan on putting in just enough grass to play a little croquet on.  Mostly that's because we'll be on a well and I don't want to stress it by watering a huge lawn.

I do plan to put in a variety of trees.  Lilacs (because the wife can't live without 'em), fruit & nut trees (for the produce, the tax write-off, and the critters they attract) and something suitable for holding a treehouse/tire swing, although the kids will be grown and out of the house before it's big enough for that.

We're going to need a windbreak, though, and I could use some suggestions as to what to use.  As long as it's not cottonwoods.  I'll wish cancer on you with my mind if you suggest those :P

[Samwise]

Out here I have a fenced back desert. That's right, desert. We planted grass last winter and it died by April. I'm not making that mistake again. It's not worth the effort and local water is too important to bother with something as silly as grass.

If you like grass, check to see if there are any grasses native to the area that might not mind the dry.  Depending on exactly how dry it is where you are (is it desert desert, with no rain ever, or is it more like chaparral with seasonal rains in winter?) there are probably wildflowers, shrubberies, and trees that would also do well with little maintenance.

[Draegan]

I thought this was a football thread.

I wish I could own a home in NJ, but I'm poor.

[Bunk]

We're going to need a windbreak, though, and I could use some suggestions as to what to use.  As long as it's not cottonwoods.  I'll wish cancer on you with my mind if you suggest those :P

Oh come on! You get all that cool fluff floating around making you sneeze, plus you can have a yearly pool on which tree will snap and fall on your roof in the first big windstorm.

We had a bunch of them on our lot where I grew up, and they were a nightmare. They weren't even good for firewood.

[climbjtree]

I wish I had been quicker to respond so that I could have said, "Yards? Feh! I prefer to talk meters."

Oh well. I'll still laugh to myself.

[Yegolev]

Pine trees are not trees, they are very large weeds.  Also paper.

No one wants to see pictures of my yard.

[Sky]

Not all pines are created equal. I'm more partial to firs and spruces, but I want at least one white pine as an accent.

I'm only considering a couple deciduous, one to shade the big living room window in the summer in particular is going to be difficult because of the plumbing lines that basically run right under that window.

Actually, I'm having a hell of a time deciding where to plant them beyond the spruces I'm putting along the front and side border of the property (the back and other side are already tree-lined). So in a way it's good I can't afford these goddamned things. A decent spruce runs $200+ (for 6' tall) and I need a couple dozen just for the borders. Trying to get the city to plant some along the front, they're in the approved tree list and they're pro-active about planting, but I'm not a councilman so my requests are going unnoticed.

[Grimwell]

Out here I have a fenced back desert. That's right, desert. We planted grass last winter and it died by April. I'm not making that mistake again. It's not worth the effort and local water is too important to bother with something as silly as grass.

If you like grass, check to see if there are any grasses native to the area that might not mind the dry.  Depending on exactly how dry it is where you are (is it desert desert, with no rain ever, or is it more like chaparral with seasonal rains in winter?) there are probably wildflowers, shrubberies, and trees that would also do well with little maintenance.

I'm in the desert desert. Last February the sky got grey and up on the foothills it was almost misty. I have not seen rain in over a year, and when I last did, I was in a different city.