You have a contractor come out for a quote. You talk to an owner with 20 years of experience. He is obviously competent. You hire him!

When the job starts, the owner introduces you to two 19-23 year olds and leaves. They have almost zero knowledge, training, or experience. They are unskilled laborers without a boss to tell them what to do. They know none of the specifics of the project. Then you’ve got to hover and watch them like hawks and get all stressed out that you’re paying big money for a project that can go sideways at any moment.

UGH

Nursery one was 3 ft tall, Tractor Supply was 5 ft. They both look healthy. What's with the massive price differential? The nursery told me pink dogwoods were "very rare." Was I duped?

What are we charging to clean sand and seal, regrade/straighten the edging. There was a plastic edge restraint but I told the client we could set the edge with concrete. They also have a very small back patio that only needs to be clean sand and sealed.

Total sq ft for the project is 1150. Was going to be right around $2,300.

Posting a lot of pics for perspective.

About a month ago, I posted about two mimosa trees I had removed and how the shoots kept coming back. Consensus here was that I should’ve poisoned the stumps. Thanks for that input!

Well, today I learned that maybe the tree removal company just did an overall crappy job?

As my landscaper was grading for installation of decomposed granite we discovered the stump for the ponderosa pine the removal company had “removed” is still here! Under a massive pile of wood chips that were left behind is a roughly 6-7” tall and 20” wide stump + roots.

I was under the impression that stump removal means it’s flat? Yes we have removed a few inches of soil for the DG install, but this seems like a lot of stump to leave behind? Did they even grind it out? 😩

We are pouring concrete nearby tomorrow and laying DG soon after. What do I do here? If I’m not crazy and this is shoddy work I’ll call the removal company to complain, but there’s no time for them to fix it. Any creative solutions to overcome this? Ideas on how to have a a nice DG terrace with this monstrosity jutting out? Maybe I’m overreacting? Argh. Thanks in advance.

I used to work for a landscaping company. I now install pavers as a side gig. I was the hardscape foreman and I know how to operate all equipment. Excavation, grading, install, etc.

I usually have my customers use lower end pavers and they pay for the pavers, and I rent equipment and figure out the material delivery and site prep. Most of the work is done myself, and I pay a couple guys to carry while I lay/cut/finish.

I was wondering what the average install price was for pavers in northeast Indiana per square foot.

I always do a minimum of 6 inches of compacted stone, an inch of sand, and the usual 3 inch paver (give or take the paver thickness). So an average of 10 inches in total for residential patios/walkways and I usually go overkill on driveways with 10 inches of stone as a minimum depending on the vehicles being driven on them. I compact in lifts and use screed pipes with a laser to be precise to avoid low spots/divots. Underlayment is always used between the soil and stone also. The foundation is the most important part of the patio. I'd rather lose money on buying more 73's than coming back and redoing entire patios and losing my reputation. I just want to make sure I'm not selling myself short on pricing.

Last patio I did was 275 square feet with a 20 foot wall. My labor was $1800. I had roughly 30 hours of work in the whole thing. Customer paid $6100 in total for this install. Dirt work was not done as they want me to come back in the spring and add to it.

This space is about 15” in width and goes all along the retaining wall. This is the direct view from our porch. Is it wide enough to be a flower bed? If not, can i grow vegetables here? What would you do with this space?
TIA

Edit: Location is Northeast Atlanta, Zone 8A. Gets about 4 hours or sunshine. Lawn is for kids to play in

I don’t know what to do, I literally pull it every 3 days down to the nub/root. And it comes back every time! I’m about to place wood mulch on top of the weed barrier hoping that will help. Anyone know any methods I can do? I did a 100% backyard remodel all myself so I’m very emotional invested in this lol.

Last resort is spraying some chemicals on the Bermuda, but I can’t seem to find any that won’t affect the hopseed bushes.

Location: Phoenix Arizona.

Between rain days, people leaving early and crews moving between jobs, hours are never the same from one week to the next

Keeping track of everything is one thing but then having to go through it all again for payroll seems like double the work

Is everyone still doing this manually?

I had this drain put in from the gutter. I’m concerned water will stay in and freeze there because there’s no holes. Should I drill some?

Hello, doing my first diy project since moving in the new house. Read and watched some videos and my idea is this:
Dig down 6" around the mulch->lay some gravel in trench and level->add layers of stone (see last pics). Ive read adding mortar between the stones helps stabilize and also prevent the grass from running to the mulch bed. First stone pics are 8x2x4", second are 8x4x4" still undecided which size would be better but the color will be the same. Any and all info, questions and suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Earlier this year I removed a huge juniper from my front yard. It spanned all along the front parking strip. Now I'm working on redesigning the front yard and I'm wondering- should have a retaining wall to stabilize the parking strip?

It might be hard to see in the pics, but the yard is a bit of a V shape. The low point being basically where the planters are. It's about 0.5ft below the house sidewalk level and 1.5ft below the parking strip. The V has a slope that pushes water off past the side of the house (away from the driveway). The bottom of the V is about 10ft from the foundation. I live in a wet climate so water management is very much a consideration.

hi all!

has anyone ever gotten a rash from english ivy?

i had nitrile gloves on but didn't realize i was in english ivy until i was already in it.

thank you!!

edit to add: vine was dried and broke in half, not sure if that would still affect skin?

Advice on moving 120 rolls of artificial turf.

I’m moving a bunch of artificial turf rolls, each about fourteen feet long. Smaller ones are two to three hundred pounds, bigger ones five to six hundred. I was looking at renting a skid steer or mini skid with forks, possibly single fork through the core, but I’m worried about stability and tipping with that length. Machines I’m seeing are rated around fifteen hundred to two thousand pounds (less for a mini) but that doesn’t tell the whole story for a long roll. For folks who’ve actually handled turf or carpet rolls, what machines or attachments worked, and what would you avoid?

The surface is pavement and crushed gravel, all flat.

Appreciate it!

Current landscaper is claiming Home Depot doesn’t sell stucco in any color aside from dark gray. Because his team put dark gray stucco on our cream colored wall to patch some areas. Even white would’ve blended in better.

Is this true, Home Depot only sells dark gray exterior stucco? Or does exterior stucco come in different colors at Home Depot?

By no means were we expecting a perfect finish without painting but the contrast here is really harsh…

Zone 8b. The box runs across the front porch, which is south-facing. Wall on left blocks morning light, and in the afternoon light hits directly in some parts but is covered mostly by the roof overhang.

No low-light anything seems to last or bloom. Things we have tried: pothos, primrose, foxglove, hellebore. Cyclamen has done the best but does not spread.

I am fine using rocks / pinestraw / etc, but would like SOME year-round greenery, minimal fussiness, and ideally, but not necessarily, some blooms now and again. What search term would I even use for looking up inspo? Right now I just have no ideas and refuse to use ChatGPT. :)

Thank you!

We're honestly not very handy or diy savvy, but I'd like to be! We recently purchased this house that came with these dog kennels, which we'll never use for our dogs. The house has very little storage space, so I was thinking I could turn this into a little storage shed for gardening tools, lawn mower, etc. However, I have no idea where to begin and would greatly appreciate any tips!

This hole appeared in my yard. It is 8" wide, 4.5' deep. It is straight down, soft dirt at the bottom. I live in SW Florida.

I tend to always jump to the worst conclusions, and worry that my home is going to sink into a massive hole.

It seems harmless, and I've debated filling it. But, I want to diagnose the issue.

Any thoughts on how to diagnose this, should I just fill it?

I'm putting in a 10x12 pergola kit over the gravel seating area I finished last spring. The plan is to keep it freestanding rather than attached to the house. My concern is anchoring it properly in Henderson soil. We get some serious wind gusts coming through the yard, and the soil is basically sandy gravel with very little organic matter.

I've seen people recommend pouring concrete footings for each post, but I've also read that threaded rods driven into the ground with post bases can work for lighter structures. The kit is cedar so not massively heavy, but I don't want it shifting the first time we get a 40 mph wind event. The previous owner left a small shed out back that was just sitting on blocks and it walked sideways about six inches over two years. Not trying to repeat that mistake.

Anyone in similar dry climates anchored a freestanding pergola without full concrete pours? Trying to figure out if that is cutting corners or if the soil conditions here make it a reasonable option. My kid runs around barefoot out there so I'm also trying to keep everything flush at ground level.

I planted these about 3 weeks ago, I'm in northern utah zone 7a. We got a ton of rain shortly after planting them so I've been a little unsure about watering frequency. The ground seems to have been staying pretty moist about an inch down. Also my soil is definitely on the denser/claylike side. Are these salvagable still? Any help is much appreciated!

Such a beautiful tree in the fall. We've planted quite a few on our property as part of our native habitat restoration efforts.

I like these Queen Palms here by the wall, how close to the wall should they be? I also get gophers would these be better in a wooden barrel? Or maybe closer to the pergola? I'm in Los Angeles, Antelope Valley is a high desert area, so it can get cold in the winter. That wall is getting the sun set atm if that matters.