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wv_bear

How to redo my whole yard

WV-Bear
12 years ago

We moved into our house in Taylorsville the beginning of last summer and quickly realized we had a terrible lawn. It has almost no actual grass, it is mostly weeds and dirt. I figure they couldn't have watered it at all other than when it rained. Not to mention that this soil is naturally very tough clay. I am trying to get some ideas for what I should do to redo the yard. I have to put in a sprinkler system for sure. I figured I would just till everything up and find some better soil for cheap and till it in to what I have and then re-seed. I am also looking for some new ideas on what plants/shrubs/bushes/trees I might use that wouldn't leave a lot of waste. We have a crabapple tree out front and I hate it so I need a new tree that will be good looking but won't make a mess of the yard. I'm open to ANY ideas. Please hit me up.

Thanks!

Comments (4)

  • Ann_02
    12 years ago

    I think you have the right idea. I have the exact same lawn problem. We moved into a neighborhood in West Jordan last May. Our grass is all dead and we don't have sprinklers.

    We took Round Up to the whole thing last fall to kill it. This spring, probably in March, we will rent a tiller and try to get it in shape enough to plant seed before it gets too hot. The soil in our area is very rocky, so we plan to bring in some better topsoil. I'm not sure if it's important to haul out a layer of the old stuff or not, so that the yard will stay the same level...

    We want to have the sprinklers installed before we plant seed, because the seed has to be kept moist 100% of the time that it's germinating. We looked at hiring out the installation, but decided it would be a lot more economical to do it ourselves (by thousands of dollars).

    It's a pretty big project, but you can do it!! If you need cheap topsoil, KSL might be a good place to look. Also the people at Lowe's have always been pretty helpful giving us advice on what shrubs and trees to get.

    Hope that helps a little. :)

  • herbarium
    11 years ago

    The best thing to add to your soil is organic matter. You should be able to easily locate compost from garden centers, nurseries, and maybe farmers or horse owners.
    Some landfills use biosolids (composted human waste) in with their compost. Whatever type you choose to get just make sure you know what you are getting.
    Organic matter helps with drainage, water retention, and nutrients.
    Topsoil often really isn't. Actual topsoil would contain a lot of organic matter but our soils here don't naturally contain much. Some of what is sold or given away that is called topsoil is not even from the top part of the soil layer.

  • dsmithson
    11 years ago

    Here is how I did mine. I live in west valley city, Utah, and redid it 6 years ago I went to landfill and got a pick up load of mulch for 30.00 tilled it in to my hard clay soil and smoothed leveled out the dirt with a 2x4. purchased some sod from lowes and it was okay for 5 years, It became a little lumpier than I like and some spots were not growing well in year 5.
    Fast forward to last week, I let it die off this year, I re-tilled the existing dirt and it was the best soil ive ever seen.The landfill mulch was the best thing I could have ever done for it. I did take out a few inches re-spread and leveled the tilled dirt this time using a 2x4 for the rough grading and a push broom for the finish grading(works best if you drag instaed of push). It was very level and professional looking. we then laid the sod on the freshly tilled and leveled dirt. and so far its the best its ever looked. Its been a week and looks good the lines are gone and needs to be mowed soon.
    I used a mini tiller to till the 30x30 area. It worked good enough for me. the sod was purchased at a place off of 90th and 300 west in Sandy, Utah(forgot the name). For the 30 x30 area it cost me 180.00 it was 22 cents per square foot and I used 2 pallets and picked up the sod in my truck (2 trips), but later found out they deliver for 45.00 and if its over a certain amount delivery is free!

    If you have any questions need advice want to rent my mini tiller feel free to email me mortgages52atmsndotcom

    Here is a link that might be useful: Utah's home loan specialist

  • Doglips
    11 years ago

    It is possible to have a nice yard with the basic crappy dirt. Most all yards you see have the same bad soil. Landfill dirt is an excellent ammendment. I grew my back yard from seed and it came out good (k, I ripped it out for other reasons), if you don't have a sprinkler system, it is tough but doable. Put one in before seeding or sodding. If you are going to seed, it is getting to be a good to time to do it, cooler weather and the lawn can grow all winter (yes, grass continues to grow all winter, albeit slowly)

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