Big yard with lots of issues

10 years ago

last modified: 10 years ago

We moved into this house a couple of years ago and are just now getting around to tackling the yard. The home was built in 1966 and the original owners didn't do anything to care for the yard. It is a mess! I have a Landscape Designer friend with lots of great ideas, but after spending a ton of money fixing up the inside of the house, we just can't afford to hire anyone for the yard. So it is DIY for a few years. I took a panoramic photo of the backyard.

Right now our city has a watering ban, so I can't do much that would require water usage. One area of the back yard is very hard, gets full hot sun all day long and the only thing surviving is the weeds. But there is also a huge section that never seems to dry out and is spongy, mossy and sometimes almost like a bog. People that have lived here since the homes were built believe that there is a natural spring running through that area, but we won't know unless we have professionals dig and find out. All four houses that butt up against our yard had swimming pools. Three have been removed, but all of the yards now slant down to our yard, so all the rain and sump pumped water flows down to us. That also happens to be the area that I think is best suited for a garden.

The front yard is shorter and narrower - we live on a culdesac, so the yard is probably 200 ft wide at the back and 50 ft at the front - lumpy, bumpy and more shaded but a big tree. There are a few hostas and "old lady" type shrubs around the house, but the only thing they did for landscaping was to have truck loads of rock dumped around the house. We have tried digging it out but it is so deep that we haven't struck dirt. We are going to arrange for a dumpster and borrowing a Bobcat so we can try to remove all of the rock. Beyond that, I have no idea how to fix this yard. We would like to have less lawn to mow, I would like to one day have lots of gardens, a big shed and maybe even a small coop for a few chickens. But I have no idea how to fix the drainage issue that runs along the back or what to do with the scorched weedy area that I can't water and tends to just turn to dandelions and dust. I am hand pulling as many weeds as I can because I don't want to use chemicals. Any thoughts would be appreciated!

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Comments (4)

dandy_line (Z3b N Cent Mn)
10 years ago
Yep-that back yard is a true disaster. You don't say where you are, but can't think of any place in Mn on water rationing now.

Every county has a SWCD that orders shrubs and trees by the bundle of 25 for about $1 a piece each spring. These are a good deal, and maybe the best thing would be shrubs like Viburnum or Choke Berry on your border.

A garden could then be planted behind it.

I would love to have a yard with a true 'wet spot'. There are so many really great boggy natives to enjoy. Imagine Hibiscus, Joe Pye Weed, Asters, Sylphium, Milkweed, etc.
Stephanie Pichner thanked dandy_line (Z3b N Cent Mn)
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
10 years ago
Can you not ask your designer friend to help you with a layout plan and plant selection at no or at least a discounted cost? That will at least get you started with some idea of how to proceed. 80% of the expense of landscaping is labor, so the more you can do yourself, the less it will cost. Some expense is inevitable - improving soil conditions and the cost of plants and other necessary materials do require some financial commitment - but your own labor (and that of any friends or family you can enlist) is free.

And what prevents you from watering the "scorched, weedy" area?
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Weezy G
10 years ago
I'm thinking you must not be in Minnesota? We very rarely ever have watering bans here. I would plant some sort of fast growing trees along that back boundary. That may help with your sun-scorched area by giving it some shade. I agree with Dandy - find some plants/shrubs that like a wet area to plant in that spot instead of fighting it. I don't know how big your scorched area is but I might consider tilling it up, picking out as many of the weeds as possible and adding some composted manure and/or black dirt to the area, then replant with grass seed. You could water it with diluted fish fertilizer or maybe a compost tea using worm casings to bring some nutrients back into the soil.
Stephanie Pichner
Original Author
10 years ago
Yes, I live in New Brighton, which has water restrictions because 2 of our wells are down for repairs. Of course our yard is under water because of the rain we had last week and I have to wear high boots just to walk back there. Every 10 minutes I can hear the water gushing from the sump pumps in the backyards of our neighbors, so it's going to take a long time for our yard to dry out enough just to mow, much less anything else