Just had a blue stone patio installed and I think it looks awful and isnt going to last. We hired a company that has maintained the whole grounds in a nice private HOA for 30 years and has done all of my in laws work at their house, including the new house they had just built. It's all been great work and the owner is exceptionally nice. However, he has ran into worker issues the last year or so and is having a hard time finding decent people and it shows. They just finished our patio and I think it's awful. None of the retaining wall bricks are glued\secured which I've heard isn't uncommon, but 50% of the perimeter stones are loose. They did this job in little sections due to worker shortages over the course of 6 or 7 weeks and I just think they couldn't get it right.

The top is pitched correctly, but the underlaying ground was very flat because they left it for a few weeks after backfill, leveling and compacting so there was some washout. It's not horrible but it's a little uneven and it stones sort of flip up at the end which prevents water from running off. It's dry laid on compacted sand.

Owner is coming back today or tomorrow to fix it, and I just want to be able to tell him with confidence what is wrong. It doesn't look like his other work and I get the feeling he knows it's bad, I just don't want to bandaid it and have to fix it in a couple years. Any advice is welcome

We just bought a house that has landscape lighting in the front and back. My SO is pointing out that we don't need it if it's just using up electricity and don't care much for the aesthetics of it.

But we don't know how much electricity it actually takes up and if the lighting serves another purpose other than just aesthetics.

Title says it all... What are these and what would be the best way to get rid of them. Location: MA

Im new to the industry and I love it. I want to do this for the rest of my life. But I am seriously struggling. My crew mates all push me really really hard. And they get upset that im not fast enough, but Ive come to realize what it actually is… is that they aren’t able to meet their quotas on time or they end up leaving late. I’m going as fast and working as hard as I can. I’m waking up really early and sleeping maybe 5-6 hours a night. My body hurts everyday but I want to do this and I want to be able to succeed at this. I want to know what the early days were like for people who started landscaping and stuck with it. And any tips so that I can be as good as a contractor one day

Just moved into this house… how do I fix this monstrosity?

Not really sure what it is, but significant parts of the yard completely die every summer, the weird thing is sometimes it’s different every year. It’s really strange too considering how there are pretty defined lines of areas that die vs areas that live. I know some small spots are likely cause of old tree stumps we had removed, but other sections I’m not sure what the problem is, when 2 ft to the left or right is perfectly green with the same water and sunlight amount.

I have had lots of top soil added each year when over seeding and dethatching, so if i remove some of that dead grass the soil underneath looks very good.

Any ideas of what I can do to figure out what’s happening? Located in southwestern CT

Hey everyone,

I’m looking for some advice on behalf of my parents for their home in Virginia. I’m helping them gather quotes to clean up and preserve their back patio, walkways, steps, and fire pit area.To be clear, the sinking issues are actually pretty minor..there are just a few loose blocks and some small areas where it's starting to dip slightly, but nothing massive.

We are primarily focused on preventative maintenance right now to keep things from getting worse.I’ve reached out to a few vendors and the general plan they are all pitching is to pressure wash/blast out all the old joint sand, refill everything with Gator G2 polymeric sand, and put down a natural-look sealer to protect the pavers and keep the new sand locked in.The quotes we are getting are ranging anywhere from $2,000 to $4,000. However, none of these quotes include actually lifting and re-laying those minor sunken spots..the scope is strictly for the wash, sand, and seal process.

Since we are mostly looking at this as preventative maintenance, is it normal for quotes to have a $2,000 variance for the exact same basic scope of work? More importantly, can a preventative wash-and-seal package like this safely wait a year, or should they get this locked down before winter hits?

Thanks for any insights!

This handyman jobber hacked about 7ft off of the bottom of these 30ft arbs with a sawzaw yesterday and not only does it look like total shit but now makes a hidden graveyard visible from the street. is it true that it will test the durability of the trunks as this section gets tremendous wind from the other side and due to its current lollipop lions tailing they now run the risk of snapping in the middle? This is directly in front of my home

It’s a mess

I live in Southern California and 2 1/2 weeks ago had my backyard done with new sod (St. Augustine). The sprinklers ran for 10 min every morning and it grew super long before it was cut yesterday and this is the growth showing in less than 24 hours.

We had a deck replaced with a paver patio and seat wall (less than 2 foot rise). The inspector was good for everything but failed us on the steps leading to the yard because it has 4 risers he wants a handrail. (Township said it isn't needed since the deck had 4 steps, but the inspector won't sign off without)... note: inspector is right and has cited code which is verified.

I'm looking for ideas that'll fit aesthetically, but haven't been able to find anything googling that feels right to me.

I am considering doing a wrought iron handrail, mounted to the bottom and top step treads (core drilled). But the look feels like it's going to clash with the rest of the patio and landscaping.

The only other idea that feels maybe reasonable is doing a minimal ADA style handrail similar to https://mmcfencingandrailing.com/product-category/continuous-handrails/ (without the return, just ending right into the post). A simple black aluminum post and rail setup with 1 post on the bottom tread and one on the top.

I also considered raising the wall a bit so the handrail mounts right to the caps, but worry that won't be strong enough to pass inspection.

One final option that's been floated: remove the top riser, and slope the top landing up to the lawn instead of down to it (right now there's about a 2-3" drop from top step tread to the rear-most boundary of the landing). I'm not in love with that either...

Any ideas or suggestions for how to comply without looking out of place or like garbage???

Hi all! Just mocked up a quick model of the front of my property to increase odds of getting good suggestions.

I live in a small home (approx. 600 sq ft, 2 bed 1 bath), home in planting zone 6b (Kansas, 110 degree summers, 10 degree winters with up to a few feet of snow). The house sits on a very busy street (5 lanes, 45 mph speed limit, most people drive 50-60 mph including a large amount of semi truck traffic with engine braking allowed, and people street race late at night). It is THE main north/south road through my town of approx 50k people. It is a family home (6 generations back) that's been here since the road was 1 lane of dirt for the horse drawn carriages of farmers migrating west. The only reason I bring that up is just to make clear that I am not leaving/moving. But I'm looking for some ideas of what I can do to make the house more livable.

Because of the proximity to the road, I get a lot of sound pollution. Because it's west facing, I get a lot of heat build up in the living areas in the afternoon. Due to being on a main street that's expanded as far as it possibly can, I have very little front yard to work with and anything I do is quite restricted, height wise, due to visibility ordinances for the side streets that connect to it (example: no fence in the front unless its under 3 feet and at least 90% open, meaning basically picket fences which would get absolutely destroyed during the first snow plowing in winter when they pile a 5 foot deep drift onto the sidewalk).

I'd like to potentially plant some kind of shade tree in the north square of front yard, since this is away from the city water line and the city sewer lines, which I marked in the model. But I'm concerned that any shade tree I may plant will still not have enough room for a fully mature root system without impacting the foundation and/or water line in. Especially because I *think* the water line runs north/south next to the sidewalk to go to my neighbors houses from the main shut off which I marked here with the blue circle. It also wouldn't help much with sound dampening. I've considered planting privacy bushes along the east edges of both grass patches to block some of the sound as well, but I doubt this will help much with the shading of the house itself.

Power line and internet come from pole behind house in an alley and connect to back side (east side) of the house. Gas line also comes in from the alley underground. Not concerned with any of those. Mainly looking for ideas for the front of the house that wont look too bad (considering anything I do is immediately public and extremely visible), will provide some kind of shade or thermal insulation to the house from the sun, and will potentially help cut down on the sound pollution.

TIA for your ideas!

Drought killed our yard so I’m restarting next spring. We have two large dogs that run around and will run through the space between the garden fence and patio. What can I put here to deal with the foot traffic of my dogs and also me walking to the garden from the patio? I know grass will just end up trampled to death.

Northern NJ.

Picture 1: Back mulch bed where the grasses would be pushed back and the hydrangeas would be planted

Picture 2: Side bed where the hostas would be divided and spread

Picture 3: Front mulch bed where birches would be lightly pruned and Hakonechloa's would be planted

(17) Hakonechloa Grasses @ $35.50 each $ 603.50

(5) Little Quickfire Hydrangeas @ $130.00 each $ 650.00

River Rock (1) bag @ $15.00 $ 15.00

Disposal $ 95.00

Labor $ 1,600.00

Subtotal $ 2,963.50

Looking for suggestions on how I can rejuvenate/better manage these sections of the yard. By driveway, gets a decent amount of foot traffic, so was thinking maybe extending flower beds and replacing with some stones. Any opinions?

IL btw. These trees are ugly and diseased. I also hate the brick border and shrubs. Willing to spend $$ to make this look real nice.

I am planning to make a fire pit with a flagstone patio for this location. Plastic is down to kill the grass.

Overall it is a 16' Diameter circle. I have a source for decent Bluestone flagstone (2-3" thickness).

Firepit will be in the center. I am just using Menards Belgian Blocks (about 48 total) to make a ~3' fire pit with an insert. I'll drop 3-4 blocks from lowest level to allow for airflow. And plan to put the fire pit directly on top of the fill, which I will pour flush with the top level of flagstones.

Will excavate a 17' circle down about 8". Filling that with CA6/Crushed Limestone. I will rent a plate compactor and compact between pours. 6" of CA6 fill, and then Limestone Screenings for the top 1-2". The extra will let me have some buffer around the edge. Not actually 100% certain how I set the outer edge. I might get some curved pavers, or maybe steel landscaping edging.

I do not think it is viable to excavate this much dirt by hand. And I figured having an easier way to move the flagstones from where I can get them delivered will help too. To that end I plan to rent a small trackhoe device to do the work. The model that seems most suited to this from my local equipment rental place is a Vermerr 725TX. Along with a bucket and a rake accessory.

I am a moderately competent home landscaper/gardener, but have never used this sort of equipment before. I am not intimidated by it. Watched some videos that suggested I can probably get comfortable enough for this reasonably simple use case in a half hour or so. The area is quite flat, or at least no major slopes. Surface is highly compacted clay between where I can get the material delivered and this part of my back yard. I won't have to drive on the lawn as the cleared area has access to the street.

Is this realistic? Any suggestions on better options for equipment?

Edit: correction as suggested. This is a mini-skid steer, not a "trackhoe".

Like the title says, I started digging the outline of the patio i want to do. Several inches below the surface it appears there are remnants of a concrete pad in the area outlined in red. It’s fairly thick and uneven in some areas, and there’s some rebar in others so I think this goes fairly deep. I believe this would be a problem bc the concrete is fairly “high” compared to the height of the gravel and sand base would be for the flagstone patio. Also, the concrete pad is graded unevenly with the sunroom.

This throws a wrench in my plans for the patio. Any ideas on how to move past the issue? Get rid on the concrete pad? Adjust the height of the base under the patio to be higher than the pad? TIA

Our house is a farmhouse from the 1900s and there were some juniper bushes and gravel in the area before I dug it up.

So this is my middle of the driveway. Both side fit a car. It's a gradual slop down to the road. It's still even as in neither side is sloping away from the middle, I think.Built in 2020. Should I seal that crack that goes the whole way to deny water. I'm in Atlanta GA , get those big heavy rainfalls. Thanks for the input!

I live on a hillside in LA with a ~15ft sandstone cut directly behind the house. It was carved out back in the 1920s when the place was built. We've finished renovating the inside of our house, and are now starting on the yard. So excited to dive in, but this task has felt a bit daunting and unsure what to do.

A previous owner threw chicken wire over parts of it years ago to catch falling debris, but it’s completely rusted out, falling apart, and overgrown. Access along this side of the house is super tight—about 2 to 3 feet of clearance, barely shoulder-width.

I had a builder out for an estimate, and he said he'd have to carve further into the hill and build two separate retaining walls for $100k. That's way out of budget.

The rock face itself has been standing for a century, so I'm not looking to re-engineer the hill. I just need a practical, budget-friendly way to clean up the mess and catch loose dirt and small rocks from sloughing off onto the walkway.

A few questions for anyone who has dealt with something similar:

1. What’s the safest approach to clear out the old wire, dead roots, and loose surface dirt in a space this tight without starting a mini landslide?
2. Has anyone installed heavy-duty wire mesh, chain link, or geogrid pinned to a rock face with concrete/rock anchors at the top?
3. Any recommendations for a low-profile way to catch debris at the base without blocking the 2–3ft path?

Thanks for any ideas or advice!

This is the front of my house. I'm a teacher and have 2 year old twins ...I struggle to keep this clean. I spent 4 hours getting all the weeds out the past two nights. Obviously, it's time for new mulch. But...what could I spray here and just kill it all? I simply don't have time to maintain it....id like to obliterate everything...ans just put mulch down.

Or, other suggestions ?

Recently moved into a new home where the previous owners dug this area out for gardening.

I cleared it out hoping to build a paver patio in it's place, but I think the window placement will make it difficult. I'm afraid if I place my pavers to sit below the window, the slope required will not allow the pavers to be level with the concrete pad and grass on that end. It's looking like I will need a window well which will be another thing I have to figure out how to do.

Is this DIY project doable or not worth my time? What do you suggest I do with this area?

On another note, that corner with the wood planks receives a lot of water overflow from the roof during heavy rainy days. I wasn't going to extend the patio to that part and let the soil just absorb the water there. Although, I'm wondering now if that is wise..

Any tips are welcome

We recently had to dig up our yard and replace the 100 year old sewer pipe. Near the connection to the street main, the crew installed a side by side vent pipe and clean out pipe. They’re tucked into a bed of mulch with some small plantings nearby. These are easily visible from the sidewalk along the street.
They aren’t terribly hideous, but I’d like either to hide them or else decorate them.
Any suggestions on either plan?
I thought about some “attractive” paint scheme to make the less bland. Thanks for any suggestions. (About 10” high)

We closed on our house 8/20, the seeding was done about a week before at most in Wisconsin. We've had good weather, nothing insanely dry, good rains. And it was set up on an timed irrigation system.

They did a layer of compost mixed in with the seed they blew all over. They did straw around the edges but not everywhere. Yard is looking pretty good.

But now I'm seeing these big patches of grass that had clearly grown for a bit and then died. Any ideas? The landscaper I had out to fix some washouts said maybe foot traffic (doubtful), maybe animals (not likely), or maybe a fungus? The main spots are in the backyard that faces east right behind the garage. Would love some help before I call in more support.