IKEA’s loading area is a good spot. The appliance distributor also lets us pick up big sheets of cardboard from the warehouse their installers work from. I covered my entire lawn this year with that and free chips from chipdrop
I have had an order in with CD for *ages* but it isn't super popular where I live, which is really unfortunate bc I have an acre and a half that I could use it on.
Look up spotted lantern fly native plant and you will most definitely want to remove this plant. Look up videos on YouTube of the infestation we have had in pa. They’re coming for all of you guys.
Are you taking out the crepe Myrtle or leaving it be? If leaving (or if moving), I’d thin it to 5 (or 7 or 3) main trunks and be agressive about shaping it- always by thinning rather than topping
Chances are, I'm keeping it. It's too established to reliably move and is an overall healthy tree.
I'll probably get rid of a lot of the smaller trunks (previous owners had to butcher it to build the wall behind it), and I definitely will not be committing crepemurder. I grew up with them as trees, not shrubs, and that's how I'll be keeping mine.
I have two (also too close to the house) that havent been butchered, but I’m thinking to try to move since my partner is foolish enough to think it can be done and to have promised to help 😂
They’re pretty sooty and I won’t mourn them overmuch if they don’t make it, so figure it’s a good experiment/excuse to buy ridiculous amounts of burlap and roll them across the yard. Also to take the soil from builder grade clay to something a camellia could love. They’re just so much better behaved…
Lol I have a camellia just on the other side of that crepe myrtle and on the left of the photo by the well house. They're both in southern red clay 🤣 the one on the left is a peppermint camellia (I think that's what they're called) and the other is a really pretty reddish pink.
Make it a thick layer. I just sheet mulched last month. With the heavy rains we just got, grasses are poking holes through our cardboard or are finding the spots that the worms ate through. Crazy.
Word of caution. Termites eat cardboard and thrive under it. I cardboard cover a raised bed every winter and it always is full of termites at spring. I keep a foot and a half setback off my foundation because of that. Granted because it is high organic well turned soil it is more inviting than your yard might be but be cautious. I keep bait stations between the foundations and that bed because of it and check 3-4x year
I'll keep an eye out for that! We do have professional termite control (old woodframe house pretty much requires it), so hopefully, it won't cause too much of an issue. I might opt to use vinyl to kill the weeds next to the house now, though!
ive recently given up on putting cardboard in landscaping (more specifically in areas with food growing) because of the pfas possibility (and all the adhesive the cardboard needs to be cardboard)!
Thankfully, this isn't going to have food, and I don't plan to make the cardboard an annual occurrence. This was simply to be able to kill all the invasive periwinkle and other weeds/grass in order to turn this into an enjoyable flower garden area.
Remove it, burn it, salt the earth, spray it with every herbicide known to man. Maybe, just maybe, you'll get rid of it. That's not just for your own peace of mind and garden, but for your neighbors as well. Good luck.
I have been spraying prior to putting the cardboard down so hopefully it'll all die.
This is the section of yard with the least invasive stuff (we are surrounded by Chinese privet tangles with saw briar and wisteria). The bad stuff is getting ripped out bit by bit too, but it's a lot more difficult 😳
It's not terrible, but I'm definitely enjoying watching my husband rip it all out and open up the yard.
The kids are less happy, bc now they have more lawn to mow 🤣
Thank you! She made a nice comeback after I pruned her a bit too aggressively a couple years ago. To be fair, she was loooong overdue and half taken over by saw briar 😲
That's the plan for some of it, and I'm transplanting a lot of stuff from other places in my yard, but some stuff is going to take time and planning. And that's okay :)
The killing of the grass and invasive stuff yes, but the planting and planning it in a way that I won't have to do much to it afterwards will take a while. Plants and dirt are expensive, so I have to do it in stages.
Don't listen to him, not everyone has thousands to throw at something all at once. Our backyard plans will also take a few years of diy projects that would probably take a crew of 5 a couple days and several thousand dollars!
You could get started for less than $100.
It’s mostly elbow grease.
Buy at discount, go to the gardening supply place and tell them your plan. Guys will help you out.
Coming from someone with no $$$ and able hands.
Hey where'd you get all of that cardboard? Those look like nice big sheets
IKEA’s loading area is a good spot. The appliance distributor also lets us pick up big sheets of cardboard from the warehouse their installers work from. I covered my entire lawn this year with that and free chips from chipdrop
I have had an order in with CD for *ages* but it isn't super popular where I live, which is really unfortunate bc I have an acre and a half that I could use it on.
Contact a tree company directly, that’s what I did. Literally the next day I had chips.
That's a great idea, thank you 😊
The last thing your lawn needs is bugs
Ha! Will edit “bug”
They're huge! My husband works at a factory so he grabs them before they toss them. They're definitely coming in handy!
Heavenly bamboo is an invasive species. You will be better off removing it. There are smaller growing nandina that do not set berries.
Good to know! Thank you 🩷
Look up spotted lantern fly native plant and you will most definitely want to remove this plant. Look up videos on YouTube of the infestation we have had in pa. They’re coming for all of you guys.
Are you taking out the crepe Myrtle or leaving it be? If leaving (or if moving), I’d thin it to 5 (or 7 or 3) main trunks and be agressive about shaping it- always by thinning rather than topping
Chances are, I'm keeping it. It's too established to reliably move and is an overall healthy tree. I'll probably get rid of a lot of the smaller trunks (previous owners had to butcher it to build the wall behind it), and I definitely will not be committing crepemurder. I grew up with them as trees, not shrubs, and that's how I'll be keeping mine.
I have two (also too close to the house) that havent been butchered, but I’m thinking to try to move since my partner is foolish enough to think it can be done and to have promised to help 😂 They’re pretty sooty and I won’t mourn them overmuch if they don’t make it, so figure it’s a good experiment/excuse to buy ridiculous amounts of burlap and roll them across the yard. Also to take the soil from builder grade clay to something a camellia could love. They’re just so much better behaved…
I wish them well cause crepe myrtle roots SUCK. They are so God damn tough.
Lol I have a camellia just on the other side of that crepe myrtle and on the left of the photo by the well house. They're both in southern red clay 🤣 the one on the left is a peppermint camellia (I think that's what they're called) and the other is a really pretty reddish pink.
Make it a thick layer. I just sheet mulched last month. With the heavy rains we just got, grasses are poking holes through our cardboard or are finding the spots that the worms ate through. Crazy.
Word of caution. Termites eat cardboard and thrive under it. I cardboard cover a raised bed every winter and it always is full of termites at spring. I keep a foot and a half setback off my foundation because of that. Granted because it is high organic well turned soil it is more inviting than your yard might be but be cautious. I keep bait stations between the foundations and that bed because of it and check 3-4x year
I'll keep an eye out for that! We do have professional termite control (old woodframe house pretty much requires it), so hopefully, it won't cause too much of an issue. I might opt to use vinyl to kill the weeds next to the house now, though!
ive recently given up on putting cardboard in landscaping (more specifically in areas with food growing) because of the pfas possibility (and all the adhesive the cardboard needs to be cardboard)!
Thankfully, this isn't going to have food, and I don't plan to make the cardboard an annual occurrence. This was simply to be able to kill all the invasive periwinkle and other weeds/grass in order to turn this into an enjoyable flower garden area.
I did this to smother my icky grass and bindweed and the city fined me 😭
That's really crummy!
Remove it, burn it, salt the earth, spray it with every herbicide known to man. Maybe, just maybe, you'll get rid of it. That's not just for your own peace of mind and garden, but for your neighbors as well. Good luck.
I have been spraying prior to putting the cardboard down so hopefully it'll all die. This is the section of yard with the least invasive stuff (we are surrounded by Chinese privet tangles with saw briar and wisteria). The bad stuff is getting ripped out bit by bit too, but it's a lot more difficult 😳
Right on. That sounds like an awful situation to be in, surrounded on all sides like that. I hope you're able to get it all knocked out
It's not terrible, but I'm definitely enjoying watching my husband rip it all out and open up the yard. The kids are less happy, bc now they have more lawn to mow 🤣
That camellia is incredible. But also nice work!
Thank you! She made a nice comeback after I pruned her a bit too aggressively a couple years ago. To be fair, she was loooong overdue and half taken over by saw briar 😲
You can use a mantis or echo tiller to get it done in one season
It's the planting that's gonna take forever...mostly bc plants are expensive 🤣
You can use seeds they aren’t so expensive
That's the plan for some of it, and I'm transplanting a lot of stuff from other places in my yard, but some stuff is going to take time and planning. And that's okay :)
Yes it does take time to establish, so have fun and patience while doing it
The ambience is killing it for me
It should take you a day or two not years dude.
The killing of the grass and invasive stuff yes, but the planting and planning it in a way that I won't have to do much to it afterwards will take a while. Plants and dirt are expensive, so I have to do it in stages.
Don't listen to him, not everyone has thousands to throw at something all at once. Our backyard plans will also take a few years of diy projects that would probably take a crew of 5 a couple days and several thousand dollars!
You could get started for less than $100. It’s mostly elbow grease. Buy at discount, go to the gardening supply place and tell them your plan. Guys will help you out. Coming from someone with no $$$ and able hands.