A Solution For A Backyard Landscape Project

A solution for a backyard landscape project can be expensive. There are different ways you can plan for this outdoor adventure that you can do it yourself. This information comes from a specific job I did a few years ago. I wanted to give you a simple step by step on how to go about a landscape project from the very beginning.

This particular job was a complete excavation of the backyard. There are a couple ways you can plan for this. The clients were looking at at a few different possibilities. At first they wanted a play area for their child. After revising the design, they decided on a bed along the left hand side of the property. A fence would be added along the back for privacy with a bed in front. The right side continued with the same bed. A variety of different trees and shrubs would be planted all the way around. Take a look below at the first two pictures. As you can see in the first picture the total yard had grass. There was also one tree that the homeowners decided to have removed. The second picture is a shot after the grass had been removed. Lets go through the basic steps, with the first step of excavating the ground.

Backyard With Grass	Yard Leveled Out

1. The first thing my crew and I did was kill the grass off with a chemical. Round up will work well as with any other good grass killing chemical. This is a good solution to start out with. Allow the chemical to take effect. I usually recommend waiting at least one week before you start working the ground.
2. There are two ways you can go about clearing the land. You can hire a landscaper to come in with a bob cat and remove the dead grass and turn over the soil. I have two tillers and they worked fine. One is a 6.0 HP or horse power engine. This is a great size to actually turn the soil and over and work the ground. The other is a 3.5 HP and this will do great once the ground is broken up. A rear tine tiller works the best. The 3.5 HP tiller is also really good for defining beds.
3. Once the ground has been broken up and turned over several times, take a rake and level out the backyard as much as you can. Fortunately, this entire backyard was pretty much level already.
4. The next step is to start defining your beds. This is where I like using the 3.5 HP tiller as you can maneuver it in smaller spaces. Create a straight edge or carve a snake pattern along the border line. The next picture shows you how the bed was define as well as the trench line. Two of my crew members were working on installing the fence along the back part of the property.





Working On Bed



There are many different fence materials available for you today. Take a look at Install a simple wooden fence - a great outdoor feature. This article will give you a few suggestions on different styles.
In the picture you can see the bed along the left hand side of the property. The soil has been worked over and over and the crew has dug a trench line. This trench is a little bit bigger then the crew usually digs. You can rent a trench edger or do this by hand. The crew used mattocks and shovels. This deep of a trench is good for catching and moving water flow throughout a bed.
Another solution for you with this type of project is to have top soil brought in. Our soil in this area is very much clay base and many rocks are below the surface. A good top soil with a combination of saw dust, dirt and sand will help all your plants get a healthy start.
Once the bed or beds have been prepared properly, go ahead and place your plants. An organic mushroom compost is wonderful for your plants. This will a natural fertilizer and will last up to a year. Read up on Your Garden Project - How To Plant And Place Shrubs And Flowers This will give you some suggestions on properly placing and planting your shrubs.
Once the plants are installed, decide how you want to finish the bed. A double ground mulch will work nice. Pine straw or decorative stones also creates a striking appearance. The last picture shows you the bed along the left side of the property.

Completed Bed

5. This bed has about two to three inches of mulch placed throughout the entire bed. The ditch on the right hand side of the bed and the rest of the yard is now ready for sod. Many jobs the sod installer and I would be working at the same time. This particular job are schedules didn't coordinate, so I went ahead and did the landscaping aspect.

These steps above are just one simple solution to create a complete backyard landscape area. Browse through the landscape solution site map and see if you can get any more ideas for your backyard or any other garden project.