What? No landscaping forum?

lol. here's a question for someone who wants to save a few bucks and DIY.

With landscaping pine needles, can I just dump on top of my existing layer, or should I get the old layer off before I spread them?

note: I do have landscaping plastic underneath it to prevent (at least some) weeds from growing there.

 

Yes, just add the pinestraw right on top.


When you say you have "plastic" down...do you mean you literally have plastic sheeting? or is it landscape fabric? Either way... throw that shit away its worthless. If its plastic, definitely remove it asap because you are choking out the soil from water and air which can adversely affect plant growth and drainage. If it's landscape fabric then its ok to leave it down.

Whether you are doing hardwood, bark, or pinestraw...if you are getting lots of weeds then you aren't putting it down thick enough. You typically want about 2-4 inches of mulch or pinestraw material down to provide the best weed control.

Funny story, my neighbors (who are horrible at anything landscaping related but refuse to pay me to do their landscaping because of their "pride") recently decided to add another planter bed off their porch. so they cut a rectangular (rectangles are a no-no in landscape design most of the time) piece of landscape fabric, layed it on top of the bermuda then covered it with about an inch of mulch. Lol there is already bermuda growing in the mulch. they didn't cut any sort of edge to divide grass from mulch. They ask me how I keep it from growing in my beds. simple! I edge it once a week and i'm not a cheapskate and put down the right amount of mulch.

 

Nice Thanks for the info. It's fabric by the way, sorry for that. I have centipede grass, and that stuff just finds its way into my beds. It creeps in so damn fast! lol
I'm having a hard time keeping up with my landscaping, but then again I have a huge corner lot with over 12000sqft of green. Ugh. Oh, and I'm too cheap to hire someone too, but I want to do things right when I do them

I have a horrible edger. I have a weed-eater that I can turn around and make it an edger. The problem? It bought the wrong thing years ago. This head takes pre-cut strips of 7-8" in length I think. I wish I had one with a spool I could tap when I need more. It's on my todo list

 

funny timely thread. i would have bought a 4-runner, if it wasnt for my upcoming DIY landscaping job! i need a truck. i am waiting for the drawings from my landscape architect, and i am gonna start. he designed my front yard for cheap. very happy about that.

he is having me use landscaping cardboard. kinda pricey, but i lay it down..multiple layers, toss down compost, then topsoil, plants, and then come mulch. he said this system really keeps down unwanted growth, while allowing my desired plants the ability to grow down. the cardboard will join the compost ranks soon enough. the irrigation goes in the topsoil..so NO TRENCHING! awesome system.

 

If you have centipede get a good gas powered stick edger such as a stihl or an echo and you will be glad you did. With grasses that grow via rhizomes such as bermuda, centipede, st augustine etc you really need to edge the beds once a week during the growing season. I have bermuda on my own lawn and I still have to occassionally spray round up on a few random runners. You also want to create an air barrier by cutting a trench between the grass and the mulch. You can rent a gas powered bed definer from most equipment rental places and it will dig the trench for you. This REALLY helps in preventing the grass from invading the beds.

See below:

 

I would save my money and not bother with that cardboard. A thick enough layer of mulch 3-4" should be enough to prevent weed growth. You will get a few straglers from time to time but it will block out the majority of them.

 

Macgyver:
I have the weed problem but the weeds are growing in the mulch itself. I am not home right now but will a 3 to 4 in thick layer of mulch keep thios condition down to a minimum? I believe I have a 2 to 3 in barrier right now.

 

Yep 3-4" should be enough to prevent most weeds. I have a 3-4" layer of black hardwood mulch in all of my beds. That should be plenty to block out weeds. You are still going to have to pull a few and round-up a few here and there. There is no such thing as a maintenance free landscape.

 

thanks for the tip!!

 

Something I remember from landscaping a few years back. If you mulch too think it can lead to mold growth. Also we always removed the old mulch to keep from getting too thick. Atleast its what I was taught could be mistaken.

 

Nice - would be a good area to have posts - Now back to pine needles - Not a good thing in these parts! Fire Season you know!

 

True that can happen but you just want to maintain a 3-4" base. So basically you will add enough to make up for what has decomposed. I mulch twice a year, in the Fall and in the Spring. I also turn the mulch with a metal rake every few months.

 

I have a fire hydrant in the corner of my yard, plus I have my own hydrant wrench

note to self: borrow 50' surplus 1.75" and a 5" -> 1.75" reducer from the FD

 

We think the weed/grass problem came from the foreclosed property behind us. The grass grew too much and went to seed. I make sure the back is cut now days.

 

I don't live in a canyon but if I did - I would do the "Don't let my home burn mod" You know triple pane windows, concrete siding, concrete roof etc.

Maybe build a home inspired by the Ahwahnee® Hotel - all the wood that you see is, well, not wood (it's concrete)! I get wood just thinking about it!!!



Man! That get's me sooooo motivated to get up to the Western Sierras!!!!

 

Yep, completely possible. Never let it go to seed...especially crabgrass or you will be in a world of hurt.

My subdivision was built on a cow pasture and there are still a lot of empty lots so the battling weeds is a constant thing on all the lawns I take care of in my subdivision.

 

I have crabgrass popping up.. HATE IT
Two days ago I got so tired of all my weeds (been neglecting it a bit) that I put concentrated round-up in an old Windex bottle and sprayed everything down with pure concentrate.
This morning, after letting it sit and work for a while: everything brown and dead to the root!

ETA: I believe the normal dosage is 6 floz in a gallon of water or so

 

I grew up in a rural community in a group of 35 homes in a 100 ac tract - surrounded by woods, soybean, corn and horses. Very few dandilions until a kid got hosed by a guy with the perfect lawn. This inspired him to go to an older tract and collect as many dandilion seeds (the puffy things) as he could find. Then he spread them on the perfect lawn and ... well you know what the neighborhood looked like for years to come!!! They don't have lawns now they just mow their weeds!!!

 

^^^ oh shit!