***Official gardening, landscape and yardwork thread***

[lewdog]

We had a 2014 gardening thread and another planting trees thread. Figured it would be better just to have a general thread to share knowledge about all things yards.

I've learned stuff about growing things here in the desert from people all around the country. Post pictures and share your knowledge!

[Graystoke]

With an abundance of field stone I took delivery of 25 Ton of rock. I have an elevated drive in need of a retaining wall. It’s max 3ft tall and runs for 75 ft.
I had some quotes for 17K and I can’t stomach that price.
My guy brought the rock delivery in a side dump trailer and it’s pretty spread out with some stones weighing 700 plus.
My neighbor brought over his mini-backhoe and we got a great start. He is a contractor and proficient as can be with this machine. After about 4 hours of work, and half done, we took a break. He then told me “You go ahead and finish it up”.
Now a little background: I am hilariously bad and a novice with heavy equipment and he knows this. Regardless that’s where I’m at right now. I just got done moving a total of 5 rocks in two hours and being ridiculously slow and jerky. My wife took a video and it looks like heavy equipment rerun school.
Mad respect to those folks who can work this shit with mad precision.

[Graystoke]

And Lew your yard is gorgeous. You must be a master gardener because it looks fantastic.

[Stewie]

Busted it today. Mowed, core aerated and put the saw tooth blade on the weed eater. That is a great tool. Bust through thick growth like butter.

Rain the next 3 days. Bring it on.

[lewdog]

Originally Posted by Graystoke

And Lew your yard is gorgeous. You must be a master gardener because it looks fantastic.

Never grew plants until I moved to Phoenix. I’m all self taught using Phoenix gardening groups to learn how to care for various plants here.

I’m running out of room but I’ll continue to cram shit in these small yards the best I can.

[KCUnited]

Originally Posted by lewdog

Never grew plants until I moved to Phoenix. I’m all self taught using Phoenix gardening groups to learn how to care for various plants here.

I’m running out of room but I’ll continue to cram shit in these small yards the best I can.

Any groups or links that you can share?

Our home apparently has a drip system calibrated to the right amount of water but my palms and some other shrubs are looking a bit sad. I'm on the verge of hiring someone just to get me oriented with my landscape.

[lewdog]

Originally Posted by KCUnited

Any groups or links that you can share?

Our home apparently has a drip system calibrated to the right amount of water but my palms and some other shrubs are looking a bit sad. I'm on the verge of hiring someone just to get me oriented with my landscape.

Most people water very stupidly on drip. Too frequent and not enough at one time. All my plants are on “drips” but I use bubblers on the end so I can flood the root zone if needed or completely turn off on my dormant trees in winter. Most people have a 1-2 GPH dripper line running and that’s it. Running it for 15 minutes won’t do shit.

Honestly most landscapers don’t water correctly here either. I know I tell my front yard landscaper to not touch my drip system, just trim my plants bitch! I only have him to stay in HOA compliance and the backyard landscape is enough to keep me busy. Palms need a lot more water in summer here and some fertilizer.

How long are your zones running? Do you just have a single drip line to each plant? Let’s start there and we can get your plants looking better.

[lewdog]

Facebook.

Maricopa county backyard gardeners.

Living the GreenLife. Tropical nursery here and owner is super sarcastic. He’ll ****ing call your shit out but he won’t bullshit you.

Arizona backyard fruit growers. No one waters citrus correctly either. I put about 60 gallons of water to mine in an 8 hour window once a week in the summer. Long and deep, but infrequent watering is what they need. If you only have one drip line to citrus, your prior owner didn’t know what he was doing. It’s easy enough to add lines to drip systems though. I maintain and modify mine all the time for new plants.

[lewdog]

Easy way to tell what a drip line puts out. Put the drip in a milk carton and run the station for an hour.

[KCUnited]

Originally Posted by lewdog

Most people water very stupidly on drip. Too frequent and not enough at one time. All my plants are on “drips” but I use bubblers on the end so I can flood the root zone if needed or completely turn off on my dormant trees in winter. Most people have a 1-2 GPH dripper line running and that’s it. Running it for 15 minutes won’t do shit.

Honestly most landscapers don’t water correctly here either. I know I tell my front yard landscaper to not touch my drip system, just trim my plants bitch! I only have him to stay in HOA compliance and the backyard landscape is enough to keep me busy. Palms need a lot more water in summer here and some fertilizer.

How long are your zones running? Do you just have a single drip line to each plant? Let’s start there and we can get your plants looking better.

I just know from the listing that the home has a drip system and have only seen a couple lines near the 2 palms in the backyard.

Any idea how I locate the system controls?*

Lol I just figured out the pool and indoor thermostat automation. The seller left me with **** all for instructions compared to me leaving all the manuals and worksheets on systems for our buyer in Chicago.

*keep in mind that I'm still gimping around on crutches for another 3 weeks minimum.

[lewdog]

Originally Posted by KCUnited

I just know from the listing that the home has a drip system and have only seen a couple lines near the 2 palms in the backyard.

Any idea how I locate the system controls?*

Lol I just figured out the pool and indoor thermostat automation. The seller left me with **** all for instructions compared to me leaving all the manuals and worksheets on systems for our buyer in Chicago.

*keep in mind that I'm still gimping around on crutches for another 3 weeks minimum.

Irrigation systems are run by control boxes somewhere on the outside of the house, usually in the front yard. Mine is on the right side of my house near the garage. It's a control box that can look like anything but is probably rainbird. Just an example below.

[displacedinMN]

https://www.misterlandscaper.com/

[Hammock Parties]

anyone got a hack for keeping bugs away from infrared security cameras? they keep tripping the motion sensor.

i'm pondering putting a bug zapper bulb about 15 feet away - not sure if it's far enough away though

[R8RFAN]

Originally Posted by Hammock Parties

anyone got a hack for keeping bugs away from infrared security cameras? they keep tripping the motion sensor.

i'm pondering putting a bug zapper bulb about 15 feet away - not sure if it's far enough away though

bugs love infrared, have the same problem here

[displacedinMN]

This week, I am going to start my war on yard fungus. I have purchased fungicide. But thinking hitting the yard about every three weeks and watering less this year. If the fungus takes over, my yard is done. Then I will have to replace the grass and the fungus is still in the soil.

Anyone every had this and done this?

[lewdog]

Got myself an early Father's Day present this weekend. More plumeria for the pool area! I plunge them in their pot first to see if they acclimate to that spot for their first Phoenix summer. If they do well, I plant them directly in the ground in that spot in late summer. If they do poorly in that spot, it's as simple as digging up the pot and moving the plumeria to a more shaded location. This was raised locally, so I am hoping it's acclimated to the Phoenix heat as this is full sun ALL DAY by the pool!

I had quite the helper this morning too.