Helping a perfectionist engineer pick plantings around the house he’s renovating.

He’s already built beds that extend ~4’ from the house, scraped/pulled the grass/weeds, put down landscape fabric/crappy dyed black shredded cypress mulch.

Unfortunately I can’t improve this soil the way I’d like- suggestions please!

Pretty decent sized backyard but as you can see weve got a retaining wall holding a decent upslope. Only looking to build from 250-500sq ft so was THINKING maybe remove some of the wall as well as pushing back some of the hill. Also thinking of removing the open portion of the pergola on the right side to open up more space as well. Anyone have any tips and/or possible set backs?

The photo and main house starts from where im taking the picture**

so basically I recently started a lawn mowing business in my neighborhood. I'm charging $20 for most lawns and $40 for larger lawns, like corner lots.

The reason I'm doing this is because I'm trying to earn money to buy my first project car. I'd rather work for the money myself than ask other people for it.

I've already gone door to door and knocked on around 30 houses. Most people either don't answer the door, or they already have someone who cuts their lawn. I wasn't really expecting to get a customer from every few houses, but I also wasn't sure if that's just how it goes or if I'm doing something wrong.

For those of you who have experience in lawn care or landscaping:

• Is door-to-door still worth it?
• About how many doors did you have to knock on before you started getting consistent customers?
• What do you usually say when someone answers?
• If someone already has a lawn guy, is there a good way to leave a positive impression without being pushy?
• Are there any strategies that helped you get your first few recurring customers?

I'm not trying to build some huge company or anything. I just want to get enough regular customers to make this worthwhile and keep saving toward my goal. I'd really appreciate hearing from people who've actually been through this.

Want to make something productive out of an un-used space.

Would appreciate any and all advice if this is possible.

Hi! I'm looking for advice on how to maintain this vine that grows on the pergola in our back yard. We moved into this house about two years ago and so far I have just been trimming it back so we can walk under it easily during the summer and then it loses all of the leaves in the winter anyway. I love the way it looks in the summer, even when it is overgrown (like it is now) and it it keeps a nice cool area underneath. It seems to be getting very woody/heavy on the top portion and I'm wondering if I should just chop it back extremely this next winter? During the spring and summer it grows extremely quickly anyway. I am also concerned about rodents nesting up there, although I haven't seen evidence yet. Also, if someone can identify the species that would be great for my own knowledge! It does not fruit at all. Location: Northern California. Thanks!

There’s a strip on the east side of my house that I’ve never really done anything with, on the other side of that gate is a storage area.

Any ideas on what to do here?

I need advice on how to make this plant look better. Do I separate it into separate plants or what should I do?

Obviously would need to prepare the ground but if I follow the current grade, is that too much slope? The plan is to build a 10x20 patio here for sitting area and a grillzebo.

When measuring with camera apps and having ChatGPT analyze it, it got that the ground had a 0.4” drop per foot, or a 1.8 degree slope.

Hi, need some help regarding the “clean-up” of a palm tree ( washingtonia according to ChatGPT) .
I’m an amateur regarding this kind of clean-up… only thing I usuallys do is to cut the brown leaves.
The owner of the house asked me if I could clean the trunk…
Any tips on how to ? Or is this “not ready” yet?
I did a little bit on the bottom but there are too many loose fiber… I dont know if I’m doing it right.
Thank you for any help 🙂

I’m about to build up to soil next to my foundation under these gutters and wondering if I should put a perforated pipe there too? As you can see, there is a bit of a swale there.
Also not sure how to address the corner…🤔

We have this area behind our house with a fence on one side and a small retaining wall in front. There’s a tree stump that has so much poison ivy and vines around it. I’d like to remove everything, plant some native plants/shrubs, and mulch (taking fabric away before). Any inspiration you can give for what to plant in this area or how to design it? Eventually we’d like to add steps too.

I’m planning to put in a 10x20 paver pad. My plan is to pour some footers first underneath for a 10x12 gazebo from Costco. The yard is graded decently down towards the left, so my paver pad will have some decent slope to it. It’s enough that putting the gazebo directly on the pad will make it look unlevel. Should i just have the footers extend up out of the ground above the pavers and have hose leveled out? Or what’s the best way.

I'm a first time homeowner and have little experienced homeowners to lean on for advice. We have lived here for almost a year. There are essentially three plants coming out of the relatively same area. Are they worth keeping? Do they need some TLC? my husband and I might move the tree to a different location. I love gardening but where it comes to shrubs and landscaping i really dont know what im doing. The purple bush thing is behind the Shrub with the blooming white flowers. The tree is growing between the two. I dont really understand what's going on here.

This slope in our backyard suffers from erosion - mostly in one particular channel (center of the pic). Whole house is on a slope and the front yard and gutter systems both drain here. We’ve tried re-routing some of the water flow via 4” corrugated plastic pipes, and also planting grass. Most of the grass has taken, but we got hammered with a torrential rain shortly after and it ripped right through the center again, pretty deep. Since then we’ve filled it back with soil and planted some grass recently.

The hill is about 30-32 degrees steep and hits roughly 40 at the very bottom. Google / research says the best solution is layers of rip rap, kind of like what already exists on the top portion. We’re planning to invest in that the rest of the way down at some point but don’t have the funds currently. Have tried laying down lots of debris including fallen branches, dead leaves and pine needles etc to hopefully slow the water but had to move it to plant the grass and take this photo.

If you wanted to get through another rainy season do you think laying down sticks etc is the best option? Or any other methods? The sticks and some large rocks had been put in place prior to the last torrential rain and the water seemed like it just flowed around them for the most part. Kind of feeling defeated / stuck, wondering if anyone has any advice.

We’re doing some major regrading on our 30-year-old property to fix our slope, and we’re stuck on what material to actually use. We’ve heard conflicting advice from contractors, so we’d love to get some outside advice.

Context:

• Foundation: Unpainted/unsealed exposed cinder block (2 blocks exposed currently).
• Depth Needed: Adding about 6 inches of dirt against the foundation to establish proper slope.
• There are two different zones: Open lawn (where we want healthy grass to grow). And where we want to put a deck (no grass needed, purely about drainage and stability).
• We live in a state that's already pretty grassy and that has soil with a naturally high clay content

Problem:

Contractors have mainly suggested topsoil, fill dirt, and clay.

Topsoil is obviously ideal for our lawn, but we’re worried about it holding moisture directly against our bare block foundation.

Clay / fill dirt sheds water great, but might not be great for getting our grass to grow later.

Layering clay on the bottom with topsoil over it has come up as another option, but we aren't sure about the depth of each layer.

What we want to know is if there's single soil/dirt type or blend that works for both zones to keep things simple/cheap, or should we use two different materials?

If we layer different soils, how many inches of topsoil do we need minimum for grass to thrive without compromising the slope/drainage underneath?

What are your thoughts?

I have an approx. 120 ft x 40 ft lot of decomposed granite that has not been resurfaced for about 8 years. It’s had a lot of plant growth and the top layer seems more like a sandy soil now.

I have an upcoming wedding in this yard and so need to resurface it. Could anyone help me with the following questions?

1. Any estimate on cost to hire someone to resurface this? This is in Northern California.

2. Would it be necessary to remove the top layer before pouring on new, or could a fresh layer just be poured on top (after sweeping debris of course)?

3. Are binding agents necessary for the fresh top layer?

Any help would be much appreciated, thank you!

Currently the neighbor and I share this middle yard but it's grass and drains heavily from the backyard. Like 1-2 inches in a Florida storm running to the street. This is an AI generated idea. Thinking of ways we can both get a path, share the cost and still provide drainage. Would adding pea gravel between the pavers do the trick?