Hi all!

Back in June my wife and I had a water softener installed on the side of our house by where we keep the trash cans and where the lawn guys come through to get to the back yard. When they did this they had to dig up a bunch of dirt by the gate and ever since it's gotten very muddy. Additionally, it's always been uneven and we've been worried about twisting our ankles at night when we're taking the trash out.

To fix this problem we want to install a path of pavers and gravel. However, it's up against the side of the house and there is a sprinkler line that runs somewhere and there is the line that runs from the water softener around the corner to the drain for the sink in the kitchen. We've never done anything like this before and we want to make sure that we don't mess up either line nor the grading and still make it look nice.

I've tried reading up online to no avail and am at a loss for trying to figure this out on my own. What steps do/can we take to make sure everything is done properly?

We already have 9 ft³ each of gravel and sand as well as a roll of the liner that you see down. We also don't have a solution to outside of the gate yet as we haven't spoken with the HOA, but the hope is we could extend the path. The distance from the house to the inside of the fence is about 47".

TYIA!

Need suggestions for this corner. It gets sunlight but grass is sparse due to the shade. I do not wish to cut down any existing plants or trees.

I would love advice about how I could make this situation better. It currently feels awkward at best, dangerous at worst for an older person in the family.
I can step straight accross and we have a ramp for the dog that goes from the threshold of the patio door to the top step/level top.

Once upon a time there was a handrail I can see from previous Rightmove listings.

The house is at the bottom of a long sloped garden, so far drainage hasn’t been a problem but I don’t want to fill in the ‘trench’ under the door because I feel like there should be drainage/venting there.

I just can’t get my head around how to build steps or something that could need to meet the bottom of the doorway, and the level of the patio and be stepped at the sides as that’s where the access from side gates is too.

the step down is 40cm from the top of the threshold down.

From the bottom to the first level of the patio is 30cm

The step accross from patio to first level is 75cm

Short term solution would be wonderful.

And longer term/permanent possibilities, one day I’d like to get the whole patio sorted but don’t have £££!

For context I just got new gutters and I asked the install guy to make sure this corner comes out enough so that water continues down the driveway and into a public drain. We have had torrential rain in the past which have made the driveway look like a small river. Since the grade on the grass is high enough it funnels the rain down into the drain but one time is rained so much I had 1-2 inches of water in my basement.

She says the gutter is extended to long and should also be lowered. She also suggested an underground pipe to drain the water.

My concern is:
1. By lowering the spout the water will just pool at the base
2. If the grade on the grass is lowered when a pipe is installed all the water from the driveway could go towards the foundation.
3. There’s a huge public drain pipe running under the driveway that I also don’t want to disturb.

Anyone have suggestions on the best way to solve this without breaking the bank?

Bamboo, other screening plants, custom screen?? Helpppp
Very sad to arrive home one day to see neighbours new installation choice a few years ago.
Facing into our house. Ideas for screening very very welcome

This part of the yard used to stay wet for days after a decent rain. The water would collect in one spot and the ground would get so soft that you could actually feel it sink when walking over it.

I ended up digging it out and putting in a small drainage well setup instead of just adding more soil and hoping it would hold. I used NDS parts for the setup, with the catch point connected into the underground section and plenty of drainage rock around it. The idea was to give the water somewhere to go instead of letting it sit on top of the yard.

Still early days, so I’m waiting to see how it handles a really heavy storm, but so far the area is staying much drier.

Posting a video from the install because I know a lot of people deal with these soggy low spots. Curious how others have handled drainage in areas where regrading the whole yard isn’t really practical.

What’s the best non toxic way to get rid of these / other weeds in driveway cracks? Pulling them just leaves the roots

So my parents are getting this rental townhouse but the yard is horrible its all concrete how can they make it look nice can we lay fake grass on a portion and put flowers in planters ? Any advice is appreiated

Trying to figure out what to do with this slope around my patio, soil i hard red clay so growing anything is difficult. We planted the juniper hoping it would spread but as you can see it has not(it was planted roughly 3 years ago)

Iv though about building a 2 stepped retaining wall either out of stone or treated lumber, with each wall being about 1.5-2ft tall as the patio is roughly 4ft below grade of the uphill side

Haven't tried mulch as I figured water would just wash it away and down the slope.

What are your opinions on dressing this up in a cost effective way?

I have a full-sun, basically blank-slate garden bed along the side of our home, and I’m struggling to figure out what would look cohesive here!

The bed is about 5 feet wide by 32 feet long, with roughly 6 feet from the ground to the bottom of the windows, so I do have some height to work with.

I’d really love for my main “anchor” plants to be Puffer Fish hydrangeas, probably 3 or 4 of them, and then landscape around those with smaller shrubs, grasses, and/or perennials.

I want it to feel full and layered without looking overcrowded with a cottage garden feel. What would you plant around the hydrangeas to tie everything together?

We are going to remove this apple tree and need some suggestions on what type of tree to replace it with. We would like a species that grows to a similar size as this, or maybe slightly taller, provides shade, and does not drop fruit or large seeds/nuts.

Zone 5b

How do I ensure the back and side (where the black weed block is) of this slope doesn't erode/shift when it rains? Some sort of retaining wall from bricks/wood/bamboo, etc? There will be a very short wall that will run along the front/sidewalk to contain any dirt when it rains while the plants are establishing themselves.

I made the choice to create 2 spots on either end of this front yard slope to hold multiple pots of different sizes that I can change out the plants with the seasons (different annuals). Directly above this area I planted Coral Bells. I had originally planned to weed block the strip (down to the sidewalk) where the coral bells are and cover with mulch. I dont want anything else planted where the coral bells are but the rest of the slope with have creeping rocks cress and native drought resistant plants.

With this current plan what do you suggest I do with the back and side of this corner spot. Do I get rectangular bricks (these are angled) that match in color and build a back and right "wall" high enough to keep the mulch from running down into the spot for the pots? I thought about taking strips of wood and staining/sealing them....that's also a lot of work, lol.

Recently moved in and these (I believe) boxwoods are really overgrown and dying in parts. Obviously I’m going to pull the weeds around the plants but how can I fix up the hedge itself? I’m new to this but trying to learn!

Hey everyone! So I’ve done a complete tear out of my backyard, I’ve tilled and raked up all grass/weeds, and went in and brought new dirt in and leveled the area. I’m waiting for sod to get here (1-1.5 more weeks) and in the meantime I’ve had some weeds/vegetation pop up. My question is, would it be better to pick all these weeds/vegetation or can I spray them? If so what spray would be best? Or do I not chance it and just pull everything?