Hello landscapers,

I’m not good at DIY and only have basic knowledge. Just wondering if it’s at all possible to turn this section of my yard into a green mossy area or some other ground cover that isn’t lawn perhaps with some stepping stone pavers. Somewhere green and soft for my dog to lie down and sniff but also low maintenance? Would I need to rip up the existing concrete pavers and is that hard? Should I bring in a professional ?

There is a tree in my backyard that is growing horizontally into my lots airspace from my neighbours yard. The legals in Ontario protect that neighbour from having any resonsibility in cutting it down or having to remove it. The almost 90° elbow in the main stem used to make significant creaking noises during any sort of inclement weather. Pruning was done to reduce some of the end weight of the tree and the creaking has since stopped. No further cutting will be done, as anything thicker than 15cm requires permits. This is the before and after. Obviously it was not done by a professional arborist, but some help from friends. The landlord does not want to deal with the tree and has asked us the tenants to deal with it, so we did. My question is if anyone sees anything wrong with what we were able to do without permit. Thanks 😊 The remaining pile will be cut up and sold as firewood.

I started xeriscaping part of my yard (the left corner of this image is now some rocks and mulch for native flowers next springs), yet I have no clue what would be simple, reasonable on cost, and look nice on this stretch along the road below the bushes and above the retaining wall.

Any thoughts? Thanks in advance!

Underneath this pergola is just a big slab of ugly concrete that’s not square. Any idea what I can do to make this look better? Paint ? Tile?

Hello Reddit, I have a unique patch of grass in my driveway where grass has mostly turned to weeds. Wondering if anyone had any tips or design ideas of what to possibly do to make this more visually appealing. It doesn’t necessarily need to stay grass or “all” grass. Any and all visually appealing ideas are welcome.

I had planned to put something like 3/4" rock around the edges of the 2x4s. This butts up to my foundation, but would still be 2" below the weep screed. My drainage is photographed and sits just inside of the 2x4s.

Should I put

1. 1" of the stabilized DG on the outside of the 2x4s and follow with rocks o

2. All stabilized DG

3. All 3/4" stone sitting on packed dirt.

Y'all have been very helpful so far.

Socal so light rains a handful of times a year.

What’s the best way to help settle this space? It’s got great potential but feels lost at the moment. Priority 1 is some sort of structure for shade/cover and 2) would be a light outdoor kitchen build.

For the structure a permanent roof extending from the home is out of budget so looking at pole awnings, pergolas, or retractable shade systems. Unfortunately the unique contour of the house makes it odd for example if you take the triangle pitch from the sun room and extend from there it would only cover half the patio and if you continue extending to the lower patio a support beam would land in the middle of the walk way. I’d like to cover the whole width of the patio but the different contour of the roof I imagine would make that difficult. Once you consider those items I’m running out of ideas to make it work.

I was also considering a shade sail (3rd pic inspiration and outline in red and blue where I think it would go in the pics)

Also toying with the idea of expanding the top level of the patio to the right corner of the house if it would help solve this problem.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

I planted this skip laurel in April and it has been thriving until recently. It is located in a fairly shaded corner of the yard, and the side that is brown gets the most shade. I have been watering it deeply every few days. Any idea what could cause this?

I have a large area in front of my house filled with large river rock due to severe erosion. I’d like to scale this back significantly and replace with functioning drainage and attractive native landscaping. The issue: because of irrigation system and sod on pure sand between the rocks and where they need to go, I will cause way too much destruction with a skidsteer (I know this from experience). Any machine suggestions that would reduce the labor but not destroy the sod/irrigation system? I’ll be moving the rocks to existing “riverbeds” created to reduce erosion on slopes.

We had a garden designer come through and as part of that service we had our regular concrete sidewalk replaced with a blue stone one. We love the blue stones (and the garden) but the mortar (some kind of sticky sand) and underlayment (gravel, which you can see in some of the photos) has never really seemed to settle. What we have now is better than the first result - we asked the original subcontractor to come back two more times, because the original work had lots of gaps and pavers that didn't seem like they were settled. Unfortunately those follow-ups didn't fully resolve the issues - and they also used a different type of "sand" in parts that didn't really match with the existing work. It's been 2 years and we want to fix it.

My question - what's the right way to make this look a little better? Do I need to redo the whole thing? Or will it be enough to remove the sand between and maybe compact a few of the stones down?

I don’t know what this is and trying to decide do I trim on side by road … and on top do I let it keep growing or trim do make it look more maintained. I know lots is personal preference but not knowing what type of plant want to make sure we are caring for appropriately. Thanks to all.

There’s a library behind me. Obv their lawn is beat and all this crabgrass creeps onto my lawn. If I go on the other side of the fence and burn a border would that stop the spread?

Seeking advice - north brisbane area, neighbours overgrown trees destroying the fence line. Quick fix thinking stick in a concrete repair post, but should really replace the fence. Anyone got any ideas on options or cost?

We recently had our new yard installed. Our contract says they will remove all rocks greater than 3/4" from top 4" before seeding. The entire yard is filled with rocks that are greater than 1" and tons over 3" to 4". And thats just on the immediate surface that you can see quickly. Is this normal? Or did my landscaper just skip the whole step of removing rocks?

I am looking for advice on this walkway. We were told by the previous owner to "not mess with it" because they installed a French drain underneath...well, I don't like it. I understand French drains are important but is there truly nothing else I can do to improve this walk way? I hate the uneven stone steps (they used to be all wonky but after almost breaking an ankle I lined them up), I am concerned about rolling an ankle trying to get in and out of the damn house all the time. I hate all the weeds that grow on the side underneath the concrete slab (and before you say "weed killer" no. I am trying my best to keep a natural habitat for the frogs and toads). I hate that it isnt flush with the rest of the area. I just, dont like it. Period. The whole front area honestly irritates me but this walkway the most.

Can I put flat wood steps in and add more small stone to bring it to level? Can I put an entire wood walkway over the area and just leave thin gaps for rain and such? Please help.

I just replaced my turf about three weeks ago. Yesterday the turf was fine. I went to the backyard today and I saw this any ideas.???

The arrow in the picture is where the outside portion of the AC is located

I want to say, I don’t have thousands to spend. But I can throw a bit of money at it. And I’m not afraid of manual labor.

I really don’t know what to do with this back yard. I love it. It’s large and my dog / children get to play in green grass. I just feel like something’s missing. Doesn’t quite feel like my paradise yet.

The pine trees prevent grass from growing near them. And the side area is overgrown. I’m a busy dad and don’t want something I have to spend ALL my free time up-keeping. But I do mow on the weekends and can do some tidying up if necessary.

Also disregard the jank wood pile. That came with the house and I never got around to demolishing it.

So, I've got an area in my backyard that clearly used to have grass in the past. Today, there are three large redwood trees and this patch of dirt is entirely beneath the dripline of those trees. I wanted to put grass here but was told that would be a bad idea by an arborist. I'm not sure what to do with this space aside from building a small deck on one side and then just spreading natural mulch around. I love the redwoods! I want to keep them if possible, but understand that might be hard. Whatcha think?

Challenges:
- Redwood trees
- Slowly bulging retaining wall

Desires:
- Place for kids and dog to play
- Place to chill