New House - need some landscaping ideas!

[user123]

Just bought the house in the picture. 1.5+ acres. Yard is pretty dead. However, it is virgin for my own design.

IDEAS WANTED! See pics

Pic #2, I am visible standing along back fence line. Pic taken from the "front" of the backyard, at the fenceline separating "backyard" and "frontyard"

Thanks guys

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r281/user-12345/IMG_0854.jpg

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r281/user-12345/IMG_0868.jpg

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r281/user-12345/IMG_0857.jpg

[crab]

corn and cows my friend,con and cows!

[user123]

corn and cows my friend,con and cows!

(lol)

I have a new son, who will need lots of yard. Thinking about some sort of cement or packed gravel walking/bike trail along the perimeter of the inner fence line, the rest Bermuda grass.

But again, I am open to ideas. Ideally, junior can go out back, and run, play, exercise, throw the football, etc etc, even "camp" with a tent at night.

I know that is shocking in today's X-Box world, but Dad has other plans for his son. :)

Anyway, keep the ideas coming.

[crab]

camping? no way,well good for you.it depends aside from camping, what you want to do with the space, witch you have a lot off .sorry about the spelling.

[user123]

what you want to do with the space, witch you have a lot off

that is the part I am having trouble with....what to do with it. The previous owner considered the first half of the back area the "backyard" and just keep soil and weeds on the second/back half of the area.

[crab]

first you need trees ,i imagine the wind howls thru there,second creating a gravel run sounds a little prison like to me. how about how you want to use you're space,IE cooking, entertaining,you're
son will only be using the space for a very short time and i imagine you can play ball on dirt anyway.

[sunray]

Texas, Things are different out there it takes a little different style of landscaping sometimes.
When I lived in the pan handle above Amarillo a 25mph wind was a daily breeze and 60mph was a windy day.
We had an 80 degree difference in temp.in the same day 85 down to 5 .
You have a nice place 123, Great state!

[jkingrph]

Texas, Things are different out there it takes a little different style of landscaping sometimes.
When I lived in the pan handle above Amarillo a 25mph wind was a daily breeze and 60mph was a windy day.
We had an 80 degree difference in temp.in the same day 85 down to 5 .
You have a nice place 123, Great state!
Lots of different topography in Texas. There is a big difference between San Antonio and Amarillo I am almost as close to my In Laws in middle Georgia as to El Paso and live in East Texas where climate and topography is similar to that of middle Georgia!!

[ed2hess]

You aren't going to have much of a yard with out irrigation even Bermuda will be difficult to get started. I would concentrate on putting a pot load of live oak and burr oak trees in for starters.

[user123]

You aren't going to have much of a yard with out irrigation even Bermuda will be difficult to get started. I would concentrate on putting a pot load of live oak and burr oak trees in for starters.

Hey thanks guys, really appreciate it.

Yes, I am going for Sprinkler system then prob some Bermuda grass in April/May if the temps are good. Doing some study on Bermuda grass (I am a nerd...) and learning about it now.....

FYI we have septic tank under the front yard. Water well out back. Water is from underground aquifer, and not counting the electicity to run the pump, is "free water"

[Ira]

If you are considering sod, look into the various zoysia grasses (the ones you put down as sod, not the plugs you buy over the internet or at Home Depot/Lowes/etc.). They are becoming very popular in Texas, but are priced at a premium. Some varieties are similar to bermuda, others are similar to St. Augustine. I live 40 miles south of Houston and had 2400 square yards of Palisades Zoysia installed a few weeks ago (2.5 truckloads). It looks like a "dwarf" St. Augustine. They brought it in as rolls that were 2' wide and 50' long. Much faster than installing from pallets because they use a machine to lay out the rolls, and the end result is much better due to only a fraction of the seams you get from pallets. Three guys did all of it in about seven hours. Rolls are good for large, open areas. Looks like your place would be good for them.

I think all zoysias tend to be very thick/dense growing. To me, they look much better when compared to either Bermuda or St. Augustine. I went to several grass farms to compare them in the field. Ended up buying Palisades Zoysia from Wittig Grass Farms in Boling, TX. They are a first class operation. They also did the install, so I didn't have to deal with/coordinate two companies.

Better hope your well puts out a lot of water. Mine does 28GPM (about twice the average city hookup), and it still takes about eight hours to put down one inch of water on 2400 square yards. Having a high capacity pump can also reduce the number of zones you need, so less pipe, fewer valves, etc. When you get around to designing the sprinkler system, remember that you want to size things so that the well pump runs continuously at a reasonable pressure level when one or more zones are "on". In other words, you don't want the pump cycling on and off while the sprinklers are running.

Regards,
Ira