MM and simple landscaping

csuave · March 2016

We need to do something with our landscaping. The backyard has 3 flower bed areas with rough grade that came with the house. There is dirt with rocks and pieces of random stuff/debris mixed in. We want something super low maintenance. If I go with a nice green, hearty ground cover type plant do you think it will grow in the rough grade? H thinks we need to replace the top of it with store bought dirt so it will grow. Weeds currently grow there with no problems. If we need new dirt, fine, but I don't want to spend more on this than necessary.

I would also appreciate any landscaping/gardening tips for making these ground cover "flower beds" as low maintenance as possible. Ideas of how to keep weeds out? I'm hoping the ground cover grows nicely and keeps the weeds away, but that probably isn't realistic thinking. Any specific ground cover plant recommendations?

Thanks!

brij2006 · March 2016

What climate type do you live in?

smerka · March 2016

What do you mean by rough grade?

labro · March 2016

What zone are you in?

TBH, I kind of feel like you have to invest some money, even in something low maintenance. It'll take a little bit of time to get it all prepped, and then get the plans established (depending on what you plant).

We have English ivy in some of our woodsy areas but I want to get rid of it because it gives me a rash similar to poison ivy...so if you have sensitive skin I'd stay away. However, it's a fast growing and pretty ground cover.

We put down landscape fabric last year and then mulch on top of it....while it keeps out most weeds, you'll still get some that will root on top of the fabric and in the mulch. At least they are easy to pull up.

I see a lot of juniper planted on steep grades. It seems pretty hardy and it's pretty thick so it will block out light to weeds that try to pop up.

http://www.theplantingtree.com/blue-rug-juniper.html?utm_source=google_shopping&gclid=CM243Pf_tssCFVQ2gQod56QEwQ

The link is just an example.

This link has a lot of examples of bushy ground covers.

http://www.donnan.com/groundcover-for-trees.htm

csuave · March 2016

We are in a 4 seasons climate. Entering rainy spring now.

Rough grade is basically the type of ground/dirt you see at a new construction site. It is not ideal for landscaping.

formerlyGDaisy09 · March 2016

what zone are you in on the USDA map, that will determine a little bit what plants are going to do well. do you live in an area with a lot of pests like deer?

formerlyGDaisy09 · March 2016

here's the USDA's map

http://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/

brij2006 · March 2016

I live in a 4 season state with sandy ground. So we have hostas in a lot of places. They get larger as they get older, and you can split and re-plant them.

For a little less maintenance, you could lay down fabric and do mulch and/or pebbles and stone.

Me personally, where my hostas are I do not have anything down. The hostas have gotten rather large and they smother any weeds that want to grow. But I had to pull the weeds the first couple of years, and I do spray weed killer around the edges of the landscaping so they don't creep in.

formerlyGDaisy09 · March 2016

what kind of light does the space you're planting in get?

I like Hostas and Hydrangea for shady areas. Daylilys and Iris also grow well and don't need a lot of care, and they will multiply and fill areas if you plant them pretty thinly.

labro · March 2016

I love hydrangeas and daylilies and hostas and for color and visual interest (plus they are easy!!), just be aware they won't work as cover year-round. Daylilies and hostas die back for the winter, and on hydrangeas (depends on the variety) the branches stay, but the leaves and flowers die back and return in the spring. Depending on what your backyard is like and your zone, hydrangeas may need to be planted in a shadier area. Mine will wilt in the summer time when the sun is on them but they are fine as long as they are in shade/partial shade. I live in Georgia and my soil is heavy clay but everything seems to do ok...it's just important that I prep the soil well when I first plant them.

I really love azalea bushes. Most of mine are evergreen and they keep their leaves all year. They sell encore varieties now that will bloom spring, summer, and fall too!

formerlyGDaisy09 · March 2016

My azaleas and rhododendrons do not stay green (zone 4b/5a) in fact most stuff doesnt here, so I've favored planting things that die all the way back to just leave bare mulch in the winter. Asters, Sedum, daylilies. the front of my house also gets full sun, so hostas, hydrangea, and other shade loving plants don't do well.

csuave · March 2016

formerlyGDaisy09 said:

here's the USDA's map
http://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/

I'm green. 6a.

Backyard has a good deal of sun. Front (nice soil, different project but probably possibly still involving ground cover plants) is fairly shady.

smerka · March 2016

I am in 5b and I like native plants for less upkeep. Prairie grass is nice for winter interest. We planted some Sun drops a couple years ago and they have spread. They are about 8 inches high and have yellow flowers. They need full sun. Daisies, Black-eyed Susans, milkweed, cosmos, and Russian sage are all in my yard. I'd go to the local nursery and ask them for advice on what grows well in crappy soil in your area.

MommyLiberty5013 · March 2016

If you're looking for MM and the beds are rough anyways, what about making 1 or 2 of them into just plan old grass? Aside from watering to get it established, and then mowing it's very inexpensive and low maintenance. You would remove the large things in the beds and till up the soil to make a nice seed bed, you may need to till in some nicer top soil. Then buy whatever grass seed works in your area at Home Depot or Lowe's. Grass seed is super cheap.

For the bed(s) that remain you could plant a perennial wild flower mixture to attract butterflies and bumble bees. Those are typically low maintenance too.

Whatever you do, the brunt of your elbow grease and cost will be up front getting the soil ready. If you aren't willing to make the soil good, then anything you plant will struggle to grow and take off and your efforts and money will be lost.

You could also plant pine trees. They require no maintenance. But if you plant a tree, verify its mature height and width and be sure it doesn't interfere with any underground piping or wiring or your foundation. What you see above the ground in terms of branches, is what usually happens underground with the root system.

csuave · March 2016

MommyLiberty5013 said:

If you're looking for MM and the beds are rough anyways, what about making 1 or 2 of them into just plan old grass? Aside from watering to get it established, and then mowing it's very inexpensive and low maintenance. You would remove the large things in the beds and till up the soil to make a nice seed bed, you may need to till in some nicer top soil. Then buy whatever grass seed works in your area at Home Depot or Lowe's. Grass seed is super cheap.
For the bed(s) that remain you could plant a perennial wild flower mixture to attract butterflies and bumble bees. Those are typically low maintenance too.
Whatever you do, the brunt of your elbow grease and cost will be up front getting the soil ready. If you aren't willing to make the soil good, then anything you plant will struggle to grow and take off and your efforts and money will be lost.
You could also plant pine trees. They require no maintenance. But if you plant a tree, verify its mature height and width and be sure it doesn't interfere with any underground piping or wiring or your foundation. What you see above the ground in terms of branches, is what usually happens underground with the root system.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SITB
Yes this is the biggest concern. The time and money getting the ground ready. It would be nice if there was a ground cover that grew as easily in the junk dirt as the weeds do.

MommyLiberty5013 · March 2016

csuave said:

MommyLiberty5013 said:

If you're looking for MM and the beds are rough anyways, what about making 1 or 2 of them into just plan old grass? Aside from watering to get it established, and then mowing it's very inexpensive and low maintenance. You would remove the large things in the beds and till up the soil to make a nice seed bed, you may need to till in some nicer top soil. Then buy whatever grass seed works in your area at Home Depot or Lowe's. Grass seed is super cheap.
For the bed(s) that remain you could plant a perennial wild flower mixture to attract butterflies and bumble bees. Those are typically low maintenance too.
Whatever you do, the brunt of your elbow grease and cost will be up front getting the soil ready. If you aren't willing to make the soil good, then anything you plant will struggle to grow and take off and your efforts and money will be lost.
You could also plant pine trees. They require no maintenance. But if you plant a tree, verify its mature height and width and be sure it doesn't interfere with any underground piping or wiring or your foundation. What you see above the ground in terms of branches, is what usually happens underground with the root system.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SITB
Yes this is the biggest concern. The time and money getting the ground ready. It would be nice if there was a ground cover that grew as easily in the junk dirt as the weeds do.

How big are each of the beds?

You could just rent a tiller for a day or two and then plant the grass. Grass seed is very cheap and it comes in large bags.

Any project you do will take some time. You're not going to be able to buy some seeds and just toss them onto the unprepared ground. And, if you decided to buy spreading plants for ground cover, they aren't going to grow in places they cannot penetrate into. Even if you got a tough ground cover, you would still need to make a seed bed for it or it wouldn't grow well and would likely come in spotty. Top soil isn't that expensive either if you had to mix some in when you tilled the ground. If you don't prepare the ground properly, you will be fighting nature (wind, rain washing seeds away, if the seeds are put in too shallow, they will bake in the sun, birds eating them, etc.) and nature always wins. But it is definitely a project you could tackle in a weekend or two. The other benefit is that once grass is properly started, it is very low cost and maintenance. It sounds like you don't want to do much with these beds. As good as ground cover sounds, if you did prepare for it in the soil, it may encroach into the rest of your yard (it's hard to know exactly, because I don't know what your yard looks like and which places you're trying to keep open for use). So, you might eventually be having to cut it back, thus creating on-going work.

The other option, while more expensive than a bag of grass seed would be to try sod. You would still need to prep the ground, but sod, if properly watered, tends to do even better than seed.

csuave · March 2016

MommyLiberty5013 said:

csuave said:

MommyLiberty5013 said:

If you're looking for MM and the beds are rough anyways, what about making 1 or 2 of them into just plan old grass? Aside from watering to get it established, and then mowing it's very inexpensive and low maintenance. You would remove the large things in the beds and till up the soil to make a nice seed bed, you may need to till in some nicer top soil. Then buy whatever grass seed works in your area at Home Depot or Lowe's. Grass seed is super cheap.
For the bed(s) that remain you could plant a perennial wild flower mixture to attract butterflies and bumble bees. Those are typically low maintenance too.
Whatever you do, the brunt of your elbow grease and cost will be up front getting the soil ready. If you aren't willing to make the soil good, then anything you plant will struggle to grow and take off and your efforts and money will be lost.
You could also plant pine trees. They require no maintenance. But if you plant a tree, verify its mature height and width and be sure it doesn't interfere with any underground piping or wiring or your foundation. What you see above the ground in terms of branches, is what usually happens underground with the root system.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SITB
Yes this is the biggest concern. The time and money getting the ground ready. It would be nice if there was a ground cover that grew as easily in the junk dirt as the weeds do.

How big are each of the beds?
You could just rent a tiller for a day or two and then plant the grass. Grass seed is very cheap and it comes in large bags.
Any project you do will take some time. You're not going to be able to buy some seeds and just toss them onto the unprepared ground. And, if you decided to buy spreading plants for ground cover, they aren't going to grow in places they cannot penetrate into. Even if you got a tough ground cover, you would still need to make a seed bed for it or it wouldn't grow well and would likely come in spotty. Top soil isn't that expensive either if you had to mix some in when you tilled the ground. If you don't prepare the ground properly, you will be fighting nature (wind, rain washing seeds away, if the seeds are put in too shallow, they will bake in the sun, birds eating them, etc.) and nature always wins. But it is definitely a project you could tackle in a weekend or two. The other benefit is that once grass is properly started, it is very low cost and maintenance. It sounds like you don't want to do much with these beds. As good as ground cover sounds, if you did prepare for it in the soil, it may encroach into the rest of your yard (it's hard to know exactly, because I don't know what your yard looks like and which places you're trying to keep open for use). So, you might eventually be having to cut it back, thus creating on-going work.
The other option, while more expensive than a bag of grass seed would be to try sod. You would still need to prep the ground, but sod, if properly watered, tends to do even better than seed.

Our backyard is all cement. There is a full patio by the house and then a walkway down to the street. The walkway has the beds on both sides. Maybe 9ft by 4ft each. The front of the house is higher than the back of the house so we have a couple of "raised" areas too above the beds that don't get as bad with weeds but for erosion type purposes and to have more green we may want to plant ground cover there too (second priority).

Thanks all for your responses. I see that H is right in that it isn't as easy as just planting something. We will have to put the work and some $ into making the space a nice place for plants to grow. I do want to tackle this ourselves though instead of hiring someone.

I'm thinking of having one bed as wild flowers or some other kind of flowers, maybe of the bulb variety. I can keep up with weeding one bed in return for some beautiful flowers to look at. Then the other bed some kind of ground cover, maybe one that flowers a little. And the higher parts, just something easy and functional but that won't get overgrown. Time to do research!

Any suggestions for success in preventing weeds in the flower bed (the one I think I will plant flowers in)? Mulch around the flowers? Preen first? Black plastic under the mulch?

formerlyGDaisy09 · March 2016

csuave said:

MommyLiberty5013 said:

csuave said:

MommyLiberty5013 said:

If you're looking for MM and the beds are rough anyways, what about making 1 or 2 of them into just plan old grass? Aside from watering to get it established, and then mowing it's very inexpensive and low maintenance. You would remove the large things in the beds and till up the soil to make a nice seed bed, you may need to till in some nicer top soil. Then buy whatever grass seed works in your area at Home Depot or Lowe's. Grass seed is super cheap.
For the bed(s) that remain you could plant a perennial wild flower mixture to attract butterflies and bumble bees. Those are typically low maintenance too.
Whatever you do, the brunt of your elbow grease and cost will be up front getting the soil ready. If you aren't willing to make the soil good, then anything you plant will struggle to grow and take off and your efforts and money will be lost.
You could also plant pine trees. They require no maintenance. But if you plant a tree, verify its mature height and width and be sure it doesn't interfere with any underground piping or wiring or your foundation. What you see above the ground in terms of branches, is what usually happens underground with the root system.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SITB
Yes this is the biggest concern. The time and money getting the ground ready. It would be nice if there was a ground cover that grew as easily in the junk dirt as the weeds do.

How big are each of the beds?
You could just rent a tiller for a day or two and then plant the grass. Grass seed is very cheap and it comes in large bags.
Any project you do will take some time. You're not going to be able to buy some seeds and just toss them onto the unprepared ground. And, if you decided to buy spreading plants for ground cover, they aren't going to grow in places they cannot penetrate into. Even if you got a tough ground cover, you would still need to make a seed bed for it or it wouldn't grow well and would likely come in spotty. Top soil isn't that expensive either if you had to mix some in when you tilled the ground. If you don't prepare the ground properly, you will be fighting nature (wind, rain washing seeds away, if the seeds are put in too shallow, they will bake in the sun, birds eating them, etc.) and nature always wins. But it is definitely a project you could tackle in a weekend or two. The other benefit is that once grass is properly started, it is very low cost and maintenance. It sounds like you don't want to do much with these beds. As good as ground cover sounds, if you did prepare for it in the soil, it may encroach into the rest of your yard (it's hard to know exactly, because I don't know what your yard looks like and which places you're trying to keep open for use). So, you might eventually be having to cut it back, thus creating on-going work.
The other option, while more expensive than a bag of grass seed would be to try sod. You would still need to prep the ground, but sod, if properly watered, tends to do even better than seed.

Our backyard is all cement. There is a full patio by the house and then a walkway down to the street. The walkway has the beds on both sides. Maybe 9ft by 4ft each. The front of the house is higher than the back of the house so we have a couple of "raised" areas too above the beds that don't get as bad with weeds but for erosion type purposes and to have more green we may want to plant ground cover there too (second priority).

Thanks all for your responses. I see that H is right in that it isn't as easy as just planting something. We will have to put the work and some $ into making the space a nice place for plants to grow. I do want to tackle this ourselves though instead of hiring someone.

I'm thinking of having one bed as wild flowers or some other kind of flowers, maybe of the bulb variety. I can keep up with weeding one bed in return for some beautiful flowers to look at. Then the other bed some kind of ground cover, maybe one that flowers a little. And the higher parts, just something easy and functional but that won't get overgrown. Time to do research!

Any suggestions for success in preventing weeds in the flower bed (the one I think I will plant flowers in)? Mulch around the flowers? Preen first? Black plastic under the mulch?

any one of these is going to help, I'd go with black plastic and a layer of mulch if you really don't want to deal with weeds.

MommyLiberty5013 · March 2016

formerlyGDaisy09 said:

csuave said:

MommyLiberty5013 said:

csuave said:

MommyLiberty5013 said:

If you're looking for MM and the beds are rough anyways, what about making 1 or 2 of them into just plan old grass? Aside from watering to get it established, and then mowing it's very inexpensive and low maintenance. You would remove the large things in the beds and till up the soil to make a nice seed bed, you may need to till in some nicer top soil. Then buy whatever grass seed works in your area at Home Depot or Lowe's. Grass seed is super cheap.
For the bed(s) that remain you could plant a perennial wild flower mixture to attract butterflies and bumble bees. Those are typically low maintenance too.
Whatever you do, the brunt of your elbow grease and cost will be up front getting the soil ready. If you aren't willing to make the soil good, then anything you plant will struggle to grow and take off and your efforts and money will be lost.
You could also plant pine trees. They require no maintenance. But if you plant a tree, verify its mature height and width and be sure it doesn't interfere with any underground piping or wiring or your foundation. What you see above the ground in terms of branches, is what usually happens underground with the root system.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SITB
Yes this is the biggest concern. The time and money getting the ground ready. It would be nice if there was a ground cover that grew as easily in the junk dirt as the weeds do.

How big are each of the beds?
You could just rent a tiller for a day or two and then plant the grass. Grass seed is very cheap and it comes in large bags.
Any project you do will take some time. You're not going to be able to buy some seeds and just toss them onto the unprepared ground. And, if you decided to buy spreading plants for ground cover, they aren't going to grow in places they cannot penetrate into. Even if you got a tough ground cover, you would still need to make a seed bed for it or it wouldn't grow well and would likely come in spotty. Top soil isn't that expensive either if you had to mix some in when you tilled the ground. If you don't prepare the ground properly, you will be fighting nature (wind, rain washing seeds away, if the seeds are put in too shallow, they will bake in the sun, birds eating them, etc.) and nature always wins. But it is definitely a project you could tackle in a weekend or two. The other benefit is that once grass is properly started, it is very low cost and maintenance. It sounds like you don't want to do much with these beds. As good as ground cover sounds, if you did prepare for it in the soil, it may encroach into the rest of your yard (it's hard to know exactly, because I don't know what your yard looks like and which places you're trying to keep open for use). So, you might eventually be having to cut it back, thus creating on-going work.
The other option, while more expensive than a bag of grass seed would be to try sod. You would still need to prep the ground, but sod, if properly watered, tends to do even better than seed.

Our backyard is all cement. There is a full patio by the house and then a walkway down to the street. The walkway has the beds on both sides. Maybe 9ft by 4ft each. The front of the house is higher than the back of the house so we have a couple of "raised" areas too above the beds that don't get as bad with weeds but for erosion type purposes and to have more green we may want to plant ground cover there too (second priority).

Thanks all for your responses. I see that H is right in that it isn't as easy as just planting something. We will have to put the work and some $ into making the space a nice place for plants to grow. I do want to tackle this ourselves though instead of hiring someone.

I'm thinking of having one bed as wild flowers or some other kind of flowers, maybe of the bulb variety. I can keep up with weeding one bed in return for some beautiful flowers to look at. Then the other bed some kind of ground cover, maybe one that flowers a little. And the higher parts, just something easy and functional but that won't get overgrown. Time to do research!

Any suggestions for success in preventing weeds in the flower bed (the one I think I will plant flowers in)? Mulch around the flowers? Preen first? Black plastic under the mulch?

any one of these is going to help, I'd go with black plastic and a layer of mulch if you really don't want to deal with weeds.

Another option to keep down weeds is to add something like river rock to portions of the bed. You could Google pictures of landscaping with river rock. You wouldn't do the whole bed, but in some areas of it. It's costly up front, but over the long run, it never needs replacing because it's rock. Mulch has to be replaced every few years.

labro · March 2016

MommyLiberty5013 said:

formerlyGDaisy09 said:

csuave said:
Our backyard is all cement. There is a full patio by the house and then a walkway down to the street. The walkway has the beds on both sides. Maybe 9ft by 4ft each. The front of the house is higher than the back of the house so we have a couple of "raised" areas too above the beds that don't get as bad with weeds but for erosion type purposes and to have more green we may want to plant ground cover there too (second priority).

Thanks all for your responses. I see that H is right in that it isn't as easy as just planting something. We will have to put the work and some $ into making the space a nice place for plants to grow. I do want to tackle this ourselves though instead of hiring someone.

I'm thinking of having one bed as wild flowers or some other kind of flowers, maybe of the bulb variety. I can keep up with weeding one bed in return for some beautiful flowers to look at. Then the other bed some kind of ground cover, maybe one that flowers a little. And the higher parts, just something easy and functional but that won't get overgrown. Time to do research!

Any suggestions for success in preventing weeds in the flower bed (the one I think I will plant flowers in)? Mulch around the flowers? Preen first? Black plastic under the mulch?

any one of these is going to help, I'd go with black plastic and a layer of mulch if you really don't want to deal with weeds.

Another option to keep down weeds is to add something like river rock to portions of the bed. You could Google pictures of landscaping with river rock. You wouldn't do the whole bed, but in some areas of it. It's costly up front, but over the long run, it never needs replacing because it's rock. Mulch has to be replaced every few years.

Cutting down the quote tree. I LOVE river rock. It's not the be all end all to weed control, but it does make it easier to spot the weeds and yank those suckers out. Or spray them directly (and carefully) with a little weed killer.

Another non permanent method but it works is to layer newspaper around the plants and then cover with mulch. I really love the black landscape fabric but it tends to slow and sometimes entirely block the seepage of water into the soil below so if you aren't careful with how you place it, you could cut off most of the access your plants will have with getting water. The water will soak through the newspaper (and slowly dissolve it so it has to be replaced seasonally) but at least your plants will be guaranteed to get water. But again, both the mulch and the newspaper (and even landscape fabric doesn't work forever) will have to be replaced in order to keep it looking fresh and nice. Basically...I don't consider my garden to be very MM but I get a lot of pleasure out of it and I try to focus on planting perennials so I save on the cost of replacing annuals every year and so I can save the money to use on replacing mulch or other costly maintenance items.

Erikan73 · March 2016

I agree with husband, to get best results, you need to get some good dirt into it. Getting it cleaned up with be the hardest and possible more expensive part. But once you have that done, you're good. I agree with others that mulch really helps to keep the weeds under control. Doesn't eliminate them, but does help to reduce them. You will have to add mulch each year as it does break down. If you do it every year, you won't need to buy as much as you do the first year. Each year after it will be just to fill in areas. Once you get the dirt in order, check out flowering bushes that will grow good in that area. Try to get bushes that bloom at different times so you always have something going. Also look at bushes that have leaves with some design to them to add some personality. Some other posters have also given some great suggestions to plants that come back every year, reducing the amount of work you will have to do. You may want to split the expense of this project over 1-2 years so it's not so bad. But once you do the work, you will have a beautiful flower bed that will be easy to maintain.

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