newbie at landscaping with landscape issues at home w/pics

[Pro-Scapes]

[QUOTE=Runner]

Originally Posted by pagefault

I wouldn't apply anything without a soil analysis:QUOTE]

I was just going to say,...great post, lots of info, and consideration to post so much, and having the will to help. However, what's with all the "spreading lime" stuff. Where does THAT come from? First, we have no CLUE if this lawn needs lime or not. I don't why it is, but some people just jump to lime as a "cure all", or something.
First, what have the temperatures been like? Rain? What was it like when these pics were taken? To me, it looks like there is more going on than just "lime deficiency". I am only on for a quick sec. for lunch, but I would love to address this (these) issues from a more logical standpoint, before you just run to the big box store and buy a whole bunch of stuff that MAY not be the most beneficial (and possibly adverse) to your lawn.

I totally agree. dont just jump to "magical cures" that may not work at all for you. A full soil test is a must due to the fact you dont know what others have put down or not put down. Alot of Pascals advice was great and I really have alot of respect for them taking all that time to type that out. A soil test and then fixing only what needs fixing as far as your levels will yield much better results than just guessing that lime will fix it. I have also never put down lime and fert at the same time. I was always told not to do them together and wait a month or 2 in between applications. I like the birch tree idea from sheshovel. she seems to know what shes talking about. That would bring things into proportion alot more.

In short there is no magical overnight cure that comes in a bag. A magical quick perfect lawn is called properly installed SOD ... good luck and keep up the hard work.

[sheshovel]

Actually rand, the six birches planted in groups of 3&3 would effectively block the view from the road.Don't foundation plant,bring the plantings out and away from the home .I tried to draw on the pic you have but did not save in the right format to send and post here.Will try again,also raise the planting areas up.I like rocks,just not a whole lot of small rocks,too busy looking and unsettling.

[sheshovel]

well I gave it a try .Not an artist enless it's real I guess. good luck rand. P.S. put the rocks all within the birches bases like a ground cover for them

[Runner]

Holy Cow! Now, you talk about someone putting time and effort into helping someone out... Now THAT is consideration.

[topsites]

[QUOTE=Runner]

Originally Posted by pagefault

I wouldn't apply anything without a soil analysis:QUOTE]

I was just going to say,...great post, lots of info, and consideration to post so much, and having the will to help. However, what's with all the "spreading lime" stuff. Where does THAT come from? First, we have no CLUE if this lawn needs lime or not. I don't why it is, but some people just jump to lime as a "cure all", or something.
First, what have the temperatures been like? Rain? What was it like when these pics were taken? To me, it looks like there is more going on than just "lime deficiency". I am only on for a quick sec. for lunch, but I would love to address this (these) issues from a more logical standpoint, before you just run to the big box store and buy a whole bunch of stuff that MAY not be the most beneficial (and possibly adverse) to your lawn.

Well now I been doing this for about 4 years and most my yards look good, and I have never done soil analysis because it cost too much money and takes too much time and I go by how it looks. This green-thumb thing is kinda like cooking - You can use a thermometer to check the temperature or just wait until you see the bubbles in the water, then that means it is boiling.
I mean if you want to spend several hundreds of dollars then by all means you should do all that extra stuff because it is the proper scientific way but...

If you want to get technical, Lime is a base chemical and works like a baking soda, it absorbs acid. You can not hurt your lawn by putting down lime, even if it doesn't need it, even if you put down too much, it has only a neutralizing effect that, when it isn't needed, simply does nothing. So the first reason to put down lime is to neutralize the acid in the soil, whether it needs it, or not.
The second reason is that lime roughly doubles the effect of the fertilizer as, if you read on the bag of lime, I forget the exact words, but it tells you that.
Lime is great for your yard, you can put it down anytime and you can put it down in any quantity you want because even if you put down WAY too much, you can NOT hurt your lawn and it is almost always at least somewhat beneficial. In addition, at 3 dollars/bag, lime is cheap improvement.

Here in Virginia and for those of us who are crazy about Lime, we like to put down about 1,000 lbs. of lime/year (so that's like 50 bags) on 1/4 to 1/3 acre yards (12-15k sq.ft) but no we do not put it all down at once because if you do, your entire lawn looks chalky (especially after it rains). So maybe 10 bags in spring, 12 in fall is good. As you can see this is considerably more than what I recommend in the first post and the reason is the benefit is intended mainly to improve the effect of the fertilizer as it did not appear from the pictures that the soil was overly acidic. Yes, I could be wrong but it does not matter, the man wastes 18 dollars at most if I am wrong but the Lime still doubles the effect of the fertilizer regardless.

Also if you think you should put down more Lime than what I said then you go right ahead because you can do so safely. At 3 dollars/bag, by the time you've done the soil analysis, you could've done put down the lime and for the same or less money, be done! Now if the soil analysis comes back and lo and behold - You do not need lime!... Then I suppose it may be possible that it would be cheaper to have done the analysis BUT only if the analysis itself costs less than 30 dollars (the cost of 10 bags of lime) and then IF the analysis comes back tell you that you DO need lime, well then now you get to spend more money. Thus is the reasons why I said to go ahead and put down the lime and yes, I always bypass expensive soil analysis because just like with cooking, I add salt if I think it is needed, whether the chemical analysis later shows that my salting might could raise your cholesterol, well hell, did the food taste good? Yup? Good, then Bon appetit.

In my business, I look out for the customer because my customers really like it when they save a dollar. Yes I desperately need the money but taking every last dollar from one my customers is a very bad idea because it is bad for repeat business and also word-of-mouth will backstab you HARD in this area. If I were my own customer and I found out that I was ripping myself off, I would go look for a different lawn service. And perhaps if this is the case then you should do that, too.

You are the customer and ultimately you are in charge, don't believe every piece of hype because green-thumbing isn't really all that complimacated.
Add a little salt, a bit of pepper, and voila. Tastes good, don't it.
Peace

[rokinrandy]

so lime is for yards with a high acid content?? this is very likely..would pine straw cause a high acidic content..the spots that are real bad are plagued by my neighbors pine straw..if not pine straw it's weeds...i like the pic ms. shovel ..looks like i have some work to do this week end..or maybe a few week ends..i love it :blob3:

[arkylady]

In the aquarium hobby, many people use baking soda to adjust the pH level of their aquariums. No matter how much baking soda you put in, it will only raise the pH to a certain level which isn't overly alkaline (8.2 to be exact).

Since the nitrification process in a lawn is the same as an aquarium, I agree with what topsites is saying. Or at least the logic behind it

[rokinrandy]

ok i did a little picture on xp paint..the same pic yall referedto ont the thread starter..i shaded in the busy rocks..on this pic the the small bushes are not in uniform measurement but the pic gives the idea.. my wife fell in love with the flower box and the trlleace idea and loosing the rocks,she said she knows how to grow some roses..running roses run out of control down here..the big flat sided boulder from the boulder stricken bed i have will make a great water fall piece..ill buy a whiskey barrel cut in half and put in in front of the boulder and pump a water feature with a light hiden by some kind of flower or something. you will see the boulder in this xp pic but not the barrel because i am not a pc mouse painter..it is time consuming.we are not quite ready for the trees yet and we need access to the double gate on the side of the house for the truck.all of you guys rock and are great people,thanks for all this advice!!!! the file was to large just click this link and look at idea #80000000

[rokinrandy]

ok here it is i hope it is not so small you can not see it

[rokinrandy]

dag on that should be big enough