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Welcome to the landscaping thread. Got questions about drainage? Earth moving? Retaining walls? Want to know how to best remove a tree stump or lay some cheapass paving? Then this is the thread for you. Other threads to consider: - If you want to chat about growing food outside, try Veggie and Herb Gardening. - If you want to chat about plants in general, try Horticulture. - For things about the house itself, try Home Zone. Have fun and get digging. Somebody fucked around with this message at 17:30 on Oct 28, 2021 |
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Jun 26, 2019 10:48
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Awesome, just what I needRhyno posted:water mitigation issue.Our sump discharges out the back of the house. The PO ran a buried flex pipe about 30 feet away from the house where is dumps into a flat are of the yard. Between this and the constant rain this season we have a small swamp back there. The grade of the yard slopes down away from the house so we have no water in the house issues but the water in the yard is a problem and it sounds like it's been an issue for years according to the irked neighbor. So after doing some reading, my plan is to install a L-shaped french drain in place of the pipe and then build a 55 gallon dry well in the center of the yard. So the backyard is extremely overgrown. We've lived here roughly 6 months and after clearly a large chunk of dead trees it looks like I haven't touched it. Here's where I started this morning  45 minutes and some chain-sawing later  A few weeks ago a large tree fell right in the center of where I want to dig the dry well so I need to chop that up before we dig. Here's my current plan Dig L-shaped trench from the back of house discharge and down into the yard. Install PVC pipe in the fabric lined and gravel filled trench. This will run to the lower part of the yard where I will bury a 55 gallon drum in a fabric and gravel filled pit. he drum will be drilled full of 3/4" holes. I will most likely put a ground drain on the surface above the drum. I have seem many designs for dry wells, should I put gravel inside the pipe and barrel? Just the barrel? Or just large rocks in the barrel? Any design input is welcome here. We are planning to dig the trench and pit in 3 weeks.
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Jun 26, 2019 15:43
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Would this be a thread for sprinkler/irrigation questions? Had a crack in the vertical PVC headed into the backflow preventer. When I went to shut off the irrigation main, it was seized shut. Handle spun freely. Dug out the control box and found (a) there are no drains (b) there is no valve to hook up a compressor to blow it out. I cut the irrigation main valve out and capped it for now. So I need a new sprinkler main gate valve. Two drains (? Before and after backflow?), I don't quite know what to get to make a hookup for the compressor. Any ideas appreciated!
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Jun 29, 2019 15:51
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pumped up for school posted:Would this be a thread for sprinkler/irrigation questions? I'd try putting in a tee fitting and a ball valve to keep closed when not air flushing the system, then use a pneumatic quick connect that you can hook up to your compressor hose. Pro tip: Get one of those foam ear plugs and put it in the end of the quick connect to keep bugs and poo poo from getting in there.
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Jun 29, 2019 18:08
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Moving forward! 811 marked all the buried lines, ended up being clear of where we're digging tomorrow.  SUPPLIES  Just to sort out exactly how much gravel I need to back fill and pick up two 10' lengths of 4" pvc pipe to act as the main drain away from the house. We dig tomorrow!
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Jul 19, 2019 17:21
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wtf is that thing
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Jul 19, 2019 17:27
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Jaded Burnout posted:wtf is that thing Those are NDS EZ Flow pre-sleeved drainage pipes. It turned out I had a friend who designs water mitigation systems for new residential builds and his company has been using these for a few years with great results. NDS also makes the dry well enclosure I am installing.
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Jul 19, 2019 17:30
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Cool. Also doubles as a cuddly snake.
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Jul 19, 2019 17:34
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Jaded Burnout posted:Cool. Also doubles as a cuddly snake. I could totally curl up and sleep on them. They also have a backfill product (the same filler without pipe) but no vendor in 100 miles had them so I'm using gravel to backfill around the well.
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Jul 19, 2019 17:35
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Count me interested! Our backyard is all clay and has standing water issues when it rains. It's also heavily wooded! How are you clearing the land/digging? By hand or by machine.
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Jul 19, 2019 19:47
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beep-beep car is go posted:Count me interested! Our backyard is all clay and has standing water issues when it rains. It's also heavily wooded! How are you clearing the land/digging? By hand or by machine. I've been clearing in my free time for a few weeks. In my previous posts you can see how overgrown it was. I've cleared a ton of the growth and cut down a few small trees. One large one fell and the city is going to take down a few more as they are hazards. Thanks to all the saturation I've been able to yank a ton of large plants right out of the ground. One of my coworkers has a tractor with a backhoe on it so we'll be digging the pit and trench using that, he estimates if we don't hit any large rocks we should be able to do this fairly quickly. While he's hear we're going to rip two stumps out and move the fallen tree away from the dig site. I'll take as many pictures as I can while we're working. It's also supposed to be crazy hot tomorrow so I won't be doing to well install immediately. I also need to wait for the gravel delivery which isn't going to arrive until Monday.
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Jul 19, 2019 20:16
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Started putting stuff together Here's the dry well assembled. The grate at the top will be at ground level. I'm going to put a mesh in there to keep debris out.  Just an idea of how long the drain will be  And here's a hole!  We got the stumps pulled, the fallen tree dragged and the main hole dug. As we were evening out the sides the tractor blew a hydraulic line so we had to pack it in. I helped get everything loaded back up and after my buddy left I started digging the trench. Got to a 3 inch depth most of the length before the heat got to me. Back at it tomorrow I hope!
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Jul 20, 2019 16:49
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More supplies purchased Made a few incorrect component choices before, should have every correct component now. The original plane was to run 20 feet of the NDS EZ Flo conduit across the yard but now I'm mildly concerned about the corrugated conduit holding up over time and pressure from the stone and dirt. They were also $50 a piece. So for that $100 I can purchase 4 more pieces of schedule 40 pipe, couplers and fabric and get additional gravel and the pipe will bee immensely stronger and probably last longer than I will at this point. Thoughts?
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Jul 22, 2019 19:06
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Corrugated pipe is pretty strong when supported all the way around, but whatever.
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Jul 22, 2019 22:02
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Did you get any pipe with holes drilled in it? I think the EZ Flo stuff is designed to drain out the pipe on the way to the dry well so the well only fills up in heavier rains. I had a contractor do this job (but for gutter discharge) before my wife realized contractor != expert. They charged a lot and did a poo poo job and didn't put that overflow cap on the dry wells, just buried them. No issues so far?? Also they didn't use any pipe with holes, for some other runs that just daylight onto the side of a hill, so those drain onto the street in heavy rain, which is not allowed. I think I will redo it later this summer, keeping the first 10-20' from the house without holes and the remainder to where it daylights into the yard with that EZ Flo stuff. Hopefully this will keep drainage on my property. Also, I am having a lot of problems with dirt splashing back up onto my house when it rains. My house has a lot of flat roof that doesn't drain into gutters, just falls over the edge. I solved the worst area by having the contractor dig a trench and filling it with gravel. When the water hits that it just drains down and doesn't splash itself (and dirt) back onto the house. I am going to do some more places this summer, will post here about it. Finally, any lawn experts? Last fall we had the same contractors dig up a ton of garbage vegetation and landscaping and put down "screened" topsoil and plant grass seed. It grew in great and looked amazing and was weed free until early this summer. Now we have random hostas and crap from the old landscaping and a ton of weeds in the yard. Is there a way for me to 1) get rid of the weeds and 2) take better care of the lawn so they don't come back? Caveat is my wife has banned the use of Roundup.
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Jul 23, 2019 03:17
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wesleywillis posted:Corrugated pipe is pretty strong when supported all the way around, but whatever. The previous owners just ran a non perforated piece of corrugated pipe from the back of the house to the center of the yard. When I dug it up it was cracked and deformed in multiple places. That's what gave me concern, I dont want to be redoing this in 3 years.
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Jul 23, 2019 03:25
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I shot my plans off to a friend who paid someone to do this a few years ago. Since the main source of water is from my sump discharge he's telling me that I probably don't need the perforated pipes. And on top of that, 4" pipe is massive overkill for a sump drain. He said his installer used 2" schedule 40 all the way to the dry well with no perforations. So I did a little more googling and found this video from This Old House https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8DDm0kvjfI This is pretty much the problem I have except the water is running down the slope of the yard (and into the neighbors yard) instead of soaking right into the ground. So from here I think I'm going to re-engineer the project to 2" piping all the way to the pit. I am still going to just wrap the well in landscape fabric as advised by the manufacturer.
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Jul 23, 2019 17:43
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mcgreenvegtables posted:It grew in great and looked amazing and was weed free until early this summer. Now we have random hostas and crap from the old landscaping and a ton of weeds in the yard. Is there a way for me to 1) get rid of the weeds and 2) take better care of the lawn so they don't come back? Caveat is my wife has banned the use of Roundup. The simplest answer would be to move. If that's not practical, then spreading about 10 yards of salt on your lawn ought to do the trick. If any kind of chemical herbicide is out of the question, you just have to go mechanical. Pull the fuckers out and burn or bag them. They are going to keep coming. Wind, running water, insects, animals, and all kinds of things are going to carry the seeds there. The struggle to subjugate and tame Nature is a long, hard road.
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Jul 25, 2019 04:41
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Trenched, piped and testing   The pipe descends at the angle I was aiming for so the water is flowing nicely. Just waiting for the gravel to arrive so I can get the dry well in place.
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Jul 25, 2019 19:21
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Oy, that's a fuckload of rock So I'm really close to being ready here, just gotta deal with some rainwater in the pit. After that's out I want to dig out the hole a little bit more before I place the flo-well. Coming along now, should be able to wrap this up soon.
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Jul 26, 2019 16:04
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No photos but we had rain multiple times so I had to drain the pit before I could get back at it. I decided to dig out a bit further down so I can expand my drainage capacity.
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Jul 30, 2019 20:53
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QUAD POST Doesn't look like a lot of progress but I carved out a few more inches and tamped it down. Then thought better of it and dug out another 6 deep 1x1 hole at the bottom for that extra bit of drainage. Tamped that down, trimmed a ton of roots out of the hole and started dumping rocks  At this point I was wrecked so I called it a day. Got about 3 inches of stone across the bottom of the pit. Gonna get about a foot of solid gravel in there tomorrow and then place the well.
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Jul 31, 2019 16:53
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I'm just gonna keep posting until someone tells me I've monumentally hosed up With the first batch of stone in place, I was able to tamp it all down into a level base to start with. Fabric in place. This is to keep as much dirt out of the well as possible.  Well placed for position and leveling.  The well is placed where I want it, began adding gravel  I got about 4 more loads of gravel dumped into the pit before my back gave out. So from here I need to cut and route the last length of pipe into the pit and test the dump to make sure it's flowing properly. Once that checks out I'l glue all the pipe seams into place. Should be able to bury the well and pipe by Saturday.
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Aug 1, 2019 18:30
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We have water flow! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92XbXPeGYP0
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Aug 2, 2019 15:44
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All pipe joints are glued, water has been flowing for two hours with no leaks. Rounding third
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Aug 3, 2019 18:30
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Tagged out at home plate. Hurt my back while moving the last load of stone. Probably won't be an update for a bit as I can't heft a shovel or bend over at all really.
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Aug 5, 2019 20:18
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I just realized you are not the OP and this is a megathread for landscaping  carry on.
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Aug 6, 2019 22:58
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Nobody else is contributing! I'm still aching so I just dragged a rake across my yard a few times to start general clean up.
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Aug 7, 2019 03:28
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mcgreenvegtables posted:Now we have random hostas and crap from the old landscaping and a ton of weeds in the yard. Is there a way for me to 1) get rid of the weeds and 2) take better care of the lawn so they don't come back? Caveat is my wife has banned the use of Roundup. Dont know of its availability where you are, but my mum has tried nearly every weedkiller she can, and now swears by this stuff
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Aug 7, 2019 04:09
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Part of my backyard has a 30-40° slope. Anyone know of good California native plants for slopes? I've planted fruit trees, peaches, pear, apple, looking for smaller things to plant around them.
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Aug 8, 2019 20:35
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We've got 3 yards of topsoil coming this weekend and I have a date with a manual tamper and a shovel to fill some holes and level out the back yard. We've also spent the summer cutting back the forest to the property line and generally taking care of the land, it seems like the previous owners (and then some) were just like "meh" and let the woods encroach on the backyard making it smaller than it really is. It doesn't help that we have a zombie house next to us (abandoned for 12 years as the owner is 97 and in elder care, but still "owns" the property and won't sell [maybe she thinks she's coming back to it] that is more woods than yard at this point. BUT, it turns out there is no governing body regarding the ownership of chainsaws, so I have one now and am about to use it to take down a bunch of small (less than 4" diameter) trees. I'll take some photos.
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Aug 8, 2019 20:51
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beep-beep car is go posted:We've also spent the summer cutting back the forest to the property line and generally taking care of the land, it seems like the previous owners (and then some) were just like "meh" and let the woods encroach on the backyard making it smaller than it really is. It doesn't help that we have a zombie house next to us (abandoned for 12 years as the owner is 97 and in elder care, but still "owns" the property and won't sell [maybe she thinks she's coming back to it] that is more woods than yard at this point. This has been my ongoing project in the backyard. It's a whole lot of work but we're gonna be ready to plant grass next year and it's going to transform the entire yard. beep-beep car is go posted:BUT, it turns out there is no governing body regarding the ownership of chainsaws, so I have one now and am about to use it to take down a bunch of small (less than 4" diameter) trees. I'll take some photos. They will literally let anyone have a chainsaw! I have two now!
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Aug 8, 2019 20:55
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Rhyno posted:This has been my ongoing project in the backyard. It's a whole lot of work but we're gonna be ready to plant grass next year and it's going to transform the entire yard. I haaaaaate buckthorn. HATE IT. quote:They will literally let anyone have a chainsaw! I have two now! Me too! My FIL gave me one, and then showed up a day later with another "for parts". I'm still a little intimidated about using it.
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Aug 8, 2019 21:02
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beep-beep car is go posted:Me too! My FIL gave me one, and then showed up a day later with another "for parts". I'm still a little intimidated about using it. poo poo, I have found memories of riding my bike down the road with a chainsaw slung on my back when I was around 10y old. "off to build a fort in the woods, be back before the street lights come on!"
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Aug 8, 2019 21:14
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SA Forums Poster posted:Part of my backyard has a 30-40° slope. Anyone know of good California native plants for slopes? I found a local nursery specializing in natives. Going to give Salvia ‘Bee’s Bliss’ a try.
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Aug 9, 2019 00:24
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Rhyno posted:This has been my ongoing project in the backyard. It's a whole lot of work but we're gonna be ready to plant grass next year and it's going to transform the entire yard. Is there some useful tool for clearing what is effectively meadow/brush in my yard now? I do own a strimmer (though the shed is currently held hostage by nettles and brambles) but even when I was just clearing thick grass with it it was having a lot of trouble. Current plan is a lot of manual effort with a sharp machete.
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Aug 9, 2019 12:47
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Jaded Burnout posted:Is there some useful tool for clearing what is effectively meadow/brush in my yard now? I do own a strimmer (though the shed is currently held hostage by nettles and brambles) but even when I was just clearing thick grass with it it was having a lot of trouble. Current plan is a lot of manual effort with a sharp machete. A brush axe will save your back. They’ve got to be razor sharp (your machete should be too. Get a good file and an axe stone). Surveyors use them here for making perfectly straight lines through the woods and this guys knows his trade: https://youtu.be/Ib3_p1W1Bb8 If it’s more grassy and less woody, a sling blade will work too.
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Aug 9, 2019 13:47
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I've been fairly lucky, the ground has been so saturated that most of the brush is easily pulled out by hand and the small stuff is coming out with a rake.
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Aug 9, 2019 13:54
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Kaiser Schnitzel posted:A brush axe will save your back. They’ve got to be razor sharp (your machete should be too. Get a good file and an axe stone). Surveyors use them here for making perfectly straight lines through the woods and this guys knows his trade: I was planning on using my normal tool sharpening stuff for my machete, is an axe stone more convenient? It's definitely more grassy and viney. I'll look into both.
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Aug 9, 2019 14:02
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Jaded Burnout posted:It's definitely more grassy and viney. I'll look into both. On initial investigation, both of these tools appear to be near impossible to find (online?) in the UK.
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Aug 9, 2019 14:15
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