HELP! Landscapers Won't Even Help
We've been trying to redesign our backyard for years now. I've called 5 different landscape companies - three never returned my call and two came out and said it was pretty hopeless. We have one large oak tree on our property and 7 neighboring trees that provide almost full-time shade. We planted Zoysia empire grass 3 years ago on the left and right side of the yard, but not much is left.
One of the biggest problems is our 6 yr old lab who kicks up and slides through the grass, dirt, and gravel when playing ball/chasing squirrels. Second biggest problem is drainage. The backyard FLOODS immediately and it rains a lot here in West Central Florida. I've tried regrading, but you can barely stick a shovel (or stick for that matter) in anywhere because of all the feeder roots from the tree. And all the rain has washed away a lot of soil. Third biggest problem is shade. I've tried perennial peanut and only a couple survived but never spread. Same thing with Asian Jasmine.
We want to put a gravel patio area with fire pit along the back fence, but I can't figure out how to connect the pavers around the tree to the shed and to the new gravel area, if that makes sense. I also don't know what do use as a path that the dog won't kick up (she kicked gravel up all over the grass).
Yard in it's glory day (May 2012)
Yard as a hot mess (Now)
Comments (22)
Marie Tulin
8 years ago
littlebug zone 5 Missouri
8 years agoRelated Discussions
Need help with garden... landscape / deck
Comments (10)FWIW, I found a designer here on Houzz and followed her jobs for a while. The job I copied was a $100k job-granted I didn't have all of the built in goodies, but I still got a lot of great ideas from her . Local landscapers in my area all do the same type of boring hedges I knew I was going for tropical jungle, so I encourage you to know your style and break free from the same old thing. I can't expect you to have my taste, but I'd still tell you to hide the shed behind the greenery :) also, know what are your native plants or which can easily be adapted to your growing zone. You can better assess your sun/shade situation once you take out the trees. I really had to learn how many hours of sun I was getting in what parts of the yard before I could determine what would grow best, including grass varieties....See MoreWhat satin/eggshell to paint wardrobes white that won't go yelllow?1
Comments (5)Hi Nell51. I have done lots of painting recently and have used both oil based and water based paints. We live in a house with lots of conker coloured varnish and I too prepped it with Zinsser Bin. I then used Rustins water based undercoat to further obliterate the dark wood. The oil based paint I would highly recommend is Little Green. I have never used such good quality paint before and there is a great choice of colours (we opted for Portland Stone pale eggshell). I have also used Farrow and Ball eggshell (Shadow White) which is water based and therefore shouldn't yellow. However I discovered a whole new vocabulary of expletives whilst doing this as it was like painting with PVA glue. Even though I used the right brush and have a lot of experience of painting I found it awful to use. I then discovered a product called Owatrol which is a waterborne paint conditioner. You add it to the F&B paint and it increases flow and becomes more like an oil based paint. It is the best product I have ever discovered and worth every penny. My language has improved too. Hope this helps....See MoreHouse won't sell!
Comments (24)Interesting comments here. We work very closely with property developers to help them place the right level of 'lifestyle-technology' in their properties to meet the expectations of the prospects that either travel to have a house-viewing or even buy off plan. Some of the more affordable successes we've seen have included: A small lighting controller to do scenes in the high footfall areas [kitchen/sitting/master-bed]. Check out: Lightwave comes with an app and can be programmed WiFi: get this everywhere with well placed access points, this will appeal to prospective family owners Door entry: try a new WiFi doorbell that has an app. Try Ring Home cinema: have you seen how cheap you can buy a cinema set up for? Drop into John Lewis or a electrical retailer All you are doing is delivering a measured 'wow-factor' that reflects the potential lifestyles BUT talking about this in all your promotional material: "never come home to a dark house" - "Holiday mode" - "WiFi everywhere" ...and so on. Good luck...See MoreHelp me find a door that won't break the bank?
Comments (5)Thank you for your comments. I want to keep the door as we haven't had energy calcs done and with glass content I wanted to keep separate. Also, with a toddler and second baby on the way it would be handy to have a quiet room and also door to separate when open to garden in the evening. Love love the idea of pocket doors emmauk , as it provides the best of both worlds. I like this style in the picture. Do you have recommendations on companies and what would be required for installation? A joiner or upvc fitter? Thanks Leah...See MoreMarie Tulin
8 years ago
PROSuccessful Garden Design
8 years agolast modified: 8 years ago
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
8 years ago
woodyoak zone 5 southern Ont., Canada
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agogardengal - I've heard of that fake grass recommended for dog areas - BUT I wonder how good an idea that is. - urine could be hosed away probably, but what about fecal matter? Even with regular pick-up, solids will remain, and then there is the issue of diarrhea.... I wonder what the fecal/bacteria counts are on that stuff after it has been down for a while in a dog area....?!
We are in a totally different zone so I have no idea re what would grow in the OP's area. Our very shady backyard is planned and planted with dogs in mind. There are many paths through the yard - the routes are largely determined by where the dogs naturally travel (e.g. perimeter patrol etc......) The surface of the paths is a mix of fine pine bark mulch and concrete sand compressed into our clay soil with a water-filled roller. In damp areas I had DH (+ nephew!) add a drainage layer under it - see below... ) Whenever conditions are wet, the dogs get their feet wiped off on the back porch before they are allowed in the house, which takes care of the tracking-dirt-into-the-house problem. The center of the backyard is a grassy lawn - the grass is weak because of the shade but survives well enough to provide a green foil to the rest of the plantings. The path network gives dogs lots of opportunities to burn off energy (they love to chase each other - or be chased (all you need to do is pretend you are going to chase them....) by people for them to go whipping around the yard! Our yard is bigger than yours by the looks of it but perhaps you could adapt the concept we use...
(Only the black poodle is ours - the rest are visiting buddies....)
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
8 years agobossyvossy
8 years agojz
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoYes, emmarene, that is where we planned on putting the gravel fire pit area.
Yardvaark, I love your idea. What would we use for the path to the shed? Mulch? The dog runs and does her business everywhere. I put up temporary fencing around the lawn at one point but she just jumped over. We had two tree guys come out but they gave us outrageous estimates because of how difficult it would be to cut limbs from the neighbors trees.Here's a view of the canopy.
Here's a view of the yard from the south side
Marie Tulin
8 years ago
cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
8 years agojz
8 years agoWe had extremely heavy rain a few months ago and I measured about 7" of standing water at the rear part of the yard and 2-3" inside the screened porch. I regraded as much as possible after it dried up but when it rained again, I realized that the majority of the water might be runoff for the porch roof. I was thinking adding gutters might help but I'm not sure how much of a difference it would make.
This is what it looked like after major flooding (Early August 2015)
This is what it looked like after I did some regrading (Late August 2015)
jz
8 years ago
PROJSL Landscape Design Build
8 years agojz
8 years ago- PRO
JSL Landscape Design Build
8 years ago 
PROYardvaark
8 years ago
Milly Rey
8 years ago
Yardvaark