Landscape Project

Even though this isnt golf course related it is something educational and fun for me to do. The past two weekends I have been helping my parents with a landscape project in their front yard. The goal was to eliminate some of yard for lower maintenance and clear away from the road to develope a better view of traffic. This first picture is of the front yard after spraying out the lawn and de-thatching it to get rid of the tangled mess of thatch that it was. Thatch is the layer of organic material that forms at the surface of the soil below the blades of grass, it usually gives a spongy feeling like a mat when you walk on it.

After de-thatching the lawn we tilled about 2" deep to remove the top layer of soil. We then raked out all the clumps and rocks before rolling it to create a smooth surface. Also we cut out the front portion (left in photo) of the yard to re-shape it. Also moving the Redosier dogwood from the corner to open the view of the road. Finally in this step we added the large rocks and strategically placed them for a natural look.

Our third step was to seed the lawn and then add a layer of loamy mulch over the top. Not only does the loam help level the surface more but it also provides a great growing environment for the seed. The mulch helps retain moisture under the surface and keep the soil temperatures up at night. As you can see in this third picture the loam is laid out in the shape of the yard and is leveled to proper grade.

For the final step we added bark mulch to the front portion of the landscape for a fresh clean look. Also placed ornamental grasses in spots near the rocks to attract the eye of the viewer. Also down the driveway you can see a strip of small river rock, this is to give a nice border yet also catch any runoff from the driveway. The river rock runs around between the house and the yard which will double as a walk way over to the secondary driveway where the pickup is parked. The river rock is a nice addition to a landscape because it is clean, easy to blow off debris and pull weeds from, and doesnt fade in color.

You are probably thinking how is this done, there's no grass? All of what you see in these pictures was done in a total of about two days. We chose a Tall Fescue as the grass of choice. Weather depending it should be germinating and showing some growth within two weeks. We chose Tall Fescue for a few reasons. One being that it is known for its deep roots, the goal for this is to lower water use, and deeper roots mean more available water. Secondly is that we dont use the front yard for any social gatherings. Tall Fescue is a thick bladed, coarse grass, therefore not the best for high traffic areas. Lastly is the color of Tall Fescue, it gives a nice bluegrass look with deep green colors. It will be interesting to see how this turns out after the yard has grown in all the way. I enjoyed working on it and am excited to see the finished product.

***UPDATE***

Grass is growing!!!

***UPDATE***

Grass is coming in nicely, starting to look like a lawn!