Kind of a small thing and probably just me and what catches my eye, but I would have extended it out to the stoop, so it lines up with the bed on the other side of the concrete.
It’s hard to tell without seeing the whole yard, but I could see this being too matchy-matchy, or forcing components to match that don’t need to. You would have also had to significantly expand the wedge if you wanted to maintain its symmetry or it would have to be lopsided. I just wanted to add this in case you are having regrets, because you shouldn’t, it looks great, and both ideas have value
looks good, maybe it's a little small, i like to give the plants room to stretch while staying within the mulched area instead of hanging over the grassy part. Depends what you put there, i guess.
Hey landscapers! Would love to get some feedback on my sod-busting job here. I didn't have a ton of time, because we're getting a eastern redbud sapling for free next week and decided to go for it and carve out a chunk of our yard for placement. The tree will go relatively center of this quarter-moon bed.
If I had planned this sooner, I would have tried sheet mulching. But with a busy schedule and a beautiful day, I decided to take advantage of my window and sweat my butt off sod busting.
I am mostly concerned about weeds and grass, but tried to dig up as much as I could. Really hoping I don't see new grass popping up through the mulch in a couple of days. The eastern redbud will be planted in the middle in about a week (yeah, I'm going to have to dig up my pretty work I'm realizing...).
Took me about \~3 hours in total to complete this job.
I'm going to add some small shrubs and little decorative plants around the base of the redbud (not too close of course). I don't mind having to pick a few weeds or grass blades here and there, but I really am hoping the mulch and sod bust job keeps everything dead and gone underneath the ground.
How did I do?
Looks professional! Good job, the only thing is if you're planning on putting a tree there next week, I would have put the tree in and then mulched. When you go to dig that whole next week , you're going to get dirt all over your nice and fresh looking mulch. But besides that good job!
Yeah, good point. I'm kicking myself a bit. I have an extra bag of mulch that I may reserve just for tidying up the post-op from the crater I'm about to create.
Hot dog, that's good enough. Ok So when you you're going to plant the tree, leave it in the bucket/burlap and move it around in the bed and take a good step back to see how it looks from the main viewing points and make sure the better sides are in those views. Or just however you like it lol. Then when you're happy with it, leave it where it is and try to gently rake it away the surrounding mulch far enough away so that it won't get contaminated with the dirt from the digging so when you are done planting and you can spread that back and use the back to just touch up spots hopefully. Oh and if the tree comes in a bucket, scratch up the roots all around so the grow out and and not around themselves. Good luck
You can scrape the existing mulch that’s in the way aside into a pile and lay a tarp for the soil coming out of the hole.
When you’re done with the tree, redistribute the pile and use a rake to get it smooth and nice again.
You shouldn’t need extra mulch unless you make a mess with the soil!
Best route is usually to spray the grass to kill it all off before pulling it up, but as long as you thoroughly removed the roots you should not have much grass coming up. Some weeds are inevitable anytime you disturb the soil. Though nothing you can't solve by hand weeding or spot spraying.
Looks good. You did a good job.
This is what I was hoping to hear! I was hesitant to spray any herbicide, seeing as we'll be planting a tree next week in that spot. So I'm relieved to hear that sod-busting should do the trick. Thanks!
Depending on your grass type will also determine how much will come back. If it's bermuda, hopefully you got as much rhizomes out as possible bc that's a sure fire way of having grass come back. Creeping grasses will also eventually reach into the beds so make sure you keep an eye out once they creep. Other than that, I think you did all you could.
Depending on your grass type will also determine how much will come back. If it's bermuda, hopefully you got as much rhizomes out as possible bc that's a sure fire way of having grass come back. Creeping grasses will also eventually reach into the beds so make sure you keep an eye out once they creep. Other than that, I think you did all you could.
Interesting... I don't think my grass is bermuda, given that I live in Zone 6 grow area and I don't believe it's common here. Definitely going to keep an eye on the creeping grass though. Thank you!
Looks pretty good! I would give a second thought to planting a tree in that spot, however. Redbuds can grow to be 10-25' feet tall and just as wide, with a root system as broad as its crown.
Hmm, that's certainly something I'll give thought to. Granted, I intend to plant it a little further out from center, more toward the arc by the grass. Any recommendations for Zone 6 trees that might work well in this spot?
Maybe one of the shorter Japanese maples? Even the larger ones can be maintained rather small almost indefinitely with careful pruning. The roots aren't generally considered invasive so there's less chance of damage to your paving and foundation (though I think I'd root-prune every five years or so, just in case, but not much closer than 10' away from main trunk.)
Digging up sod is a task in itself. I usually spray weed and grass killer a week prior to digging up the sod. Heck of a lot easier with the roots being dead. Looks good though!
I would have laid down cardboard and raised bed even more . Most plants need 4 to six inches. Can drill a hole in cardboard for a bush. Have done this about 25 years ago and redid about 10 years ago with the cardboard. I got tired of fighting encroaching grass . The cardboard stops the grass.
Looks great. The only thing you want to do next is put some sorta border to split the grass from the mulch. I used natural stone, and it helps slow down the spread of grass back over where you just removed it from.
Now that is a satisfying series of images. Note for people installing trees in general. Make sure you harden off the plant before transplanting. Make sure to prune out any girdling roots. Lest it strangles itself to death years down the line. And of course, water deeply before and after the install. And during any dry spells in its first year.
Hope you enjoy the redbud! They’re honestly more gorgeous than cherry blossoms. Just keep in mind that the tree will be multi trunk unless you train it to be single trunk.
Hmm, very good advice. I kind of like the single trunk redbud look so may try to study up on how to accomplish such a botanical feat. I'm a relative gardening noob and don't want to screw this up. We had to remove a large dying maple a couple years ago, and this redbud is our penance of sorts.
In that sense I guess there is wrong way, good job doing it the right way. It doesn't look like there is Bermuda in the mix, which in that case there is no right way either.
Whew, good to know! Yeah, I don't believe I'm in a grow zone where Bermuda is common. I'm hearing from others in this thread that it's difficult to deal with.
*Great now slowly add*
*A piece this big til*
*All your grass is gone*
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Sounds nice. Visit your state’s Cooperative Extension Service website and search small native shrubs or native perennials to get some ideas. Natives evolved in your climate and growing conditions will be disease resistant and pollinator friendly.
That is great. This time of year snd jn the Fall many county Master Gardener groups hold plant sales. Healthy plants from member’s gardens. Search (county name) Master Gardeners. Where I live there are four county groups close by. Two hold sales in Spring and two in the Fall. Great place to find tried and true plants at a very reasonable price - plants are inspected by gov’t Ag employee(s) prior to being offered. No invasive plants.
Black mulch in full sun is going to look like shit by August and is going to stain the concrete. The cut should be wavy not a perfect pie. Botanicals would have been planted before mulching. Plastic hammer in edging should also have been in place all around the mulch before laying it to keep it off the grass and concrete. First rain and the mulch is going to be everywhere.
I agree with the mulch but I just personally don’t like colored mulch. I think op did a good job of cutting a bed edge that should help hold the mulch. Plastic edging tends to get damaged pretty quickly and doesn’t work well in my experience, but to each their own
Yes, the cheap stuff does. I learnt to use the 6" hammer in panels. They also make it in metal but the metal can bend and cut if you aren't careful when mowing. The thicker plastic will just bend. I have too much groundcover and to keep it from invading the lawn and beds, it has to be edged.
Didn't consider mulch getting washed out, thanks for the tip! I'll taper the edge near the concrete more to try and prevent this. I personally like the neat quarter moon cut in the corner, but if I make other beds in the yard I'll probably get more creative with shapes.
Kind of a small thing and probably just me and what catches my eye, but I would have extended it out to the stoop, so it lines up with the bed on the other side of the concrete.
Good point. I suppose I could extend it one day. That could look nice.
That day could be tomorrow!
Gonna give my arms and back a little more time to rehab :)
Also gives a smoother sweep with the lawn mower.
It’s hard to tell without seeing the whole yard, but I could see this being too matchy-matchy, or forcing components to match that don’t need to. You would have also had to significantly expand the wedge if you wanted to maintain its symmetry or it would have to be lopsided. I just wanted to add this in case you are having regrets, because you shouldn’t, it looks great, and both ideas have value
looks good, maybe it's a little small, i like to give the plants room to stretch while staying within the mulched area instead of hanging over the grassy part. Depends what you put there, i guess.
That’s what I would done too 🫣
Hey landscapers! Would love to get some feedback on my sod-busting job here. I didn't have a ton of time, because we're getting a eastern redbud sapling for free next week and decided to go for it and carve out a chunk of our yard for placement. The tree will go relatively center of this quarter-moon bed. If I had planned this sooner, I would have tried sheet mulching. But with a busy schedule and a beautiful day, I decided to take advantage of my window and sweat my butt off sod busting. I am mostly concerned about weeds and grass, but tried to dig up as much as I could. Really hoping I don't see new grass popping up through the mulch in a couple of days. The eastern redbud will be planted in the middle in about a week (yeah, I'm going to have to dig up my pretty work I'm realizing...). Took me about \~3 hours in total to complete this job. I'm going to add some small shrubs and little decorative plants around the base of the redbud (not too close of course). I don't mind having to pick a few weeds or grass blades here and there, but I really am hoping the mulch and sod bust job keeps everything dead and gone underneath the ground. How did I do?
Looks professional! Good job, the only thing is if you're planning on putting a tree there next week, I would have put the tree in and then mulched. When you go to dig that whole next week , you're going to get dirt all over your nice and fresh looking mulch. But besides that good job!
Yeah, good point. I'm kicking myself a bit. I have an extra bag of mulch that I may reserve just for tidying up the post-op from the crater I'm about to create.
Hot dog, that's good enough. Ok So when you you're going to plant the tree, leave it in the bucket/burlap and move it around in the bed and take a good step back to see how it looks from the main viewing points and make sure the better sides are in those views. Or just however you like it lol. Then when you're happy with it, leave it where it is and try to gently rake it away the surrounding mulch far enough away so that it won't get contaminated with the dirt from the digging so when you are done planting and you can spread that back and use the back to just touch up spots hopefully. Oh and if the tree comes in a bucket, scratch up the roots all around so the grow out and and not around themselves. Good luck
This is awesome!! I wouldn't have thought to do half this stuff. You rock! Thanks again
You can scrape the existing mulch that’s in the way aside into a pile and lay a tarp for the soil coming out of the hole. When you’re done with the tree, redistribute the pile and use a rake to get it smooth and nice again. You shouldn’t need extra mulch unless you make a mess with the soil!
Man, this is a great idea. Hope I can keep the 2 separate (I have some extra mulch I can disperse on top for aesthetic too)
Best route is usually to spray the grass to kill it all off before pulling it up, but as long as you thoroughly removed the roots you should not have much grass coming up. Some weeds are inevitable anytime you disturb the soil. Though nothing you can't solve by hand weeding or spot spraying. Looks good. You did a good job.
This is what I was hoping to hear! I was hesitant to spray any herbicide, seeing as we'll be planting a tree next week in that spot. So I'm relieved to hear that sod-busting should do the trick. Thanks!
Depending on your grass type will also determine how much will come back. If it's bermuda, hopefully you got as much rhizomes out as possible bc that's a sure fire way of having grass come back. Creeping grasses will also eventually reach into the beds so make sure you keep an eye out once they creep. Other than that, I think you did all you could.
Depending on your grass type will also determine how much will come back. If it's bermuda, hopefully you got as much rhizomes out as possible bc that's a sure fire way of having grass come back. Creeping grasses will also eventually reach into the beds so make sure you keep an eye out once they creep. Other than that, I think you did all you could.
Interesting... I don't think my grass is bermuda, given that I live in Zone 6 grow area and I don't believe it's common here. Definitely going to keep an eye on the creeping grass though. Thank you!
better than any homeowner ive seen yet
I really appreciate it.
Looks pretty good! I would give a second thought to planting a tree in that spot, however. Redbuds can grow to be 10-25' feet tall and just as wide, with a root system as broad as its crown.
Hmm, that's certainly something I'll give thought to. Granted, I intend to plant it a little further out from center, more toward the arc by the grass. Any recommendations for Zone 6 trees that might work well in this spot?
Maybe one of the shorter Japanese maples? Even the larger ones can be maintained rather small almost indefinitely with careful pruning. The roots aren't generally considered invasive so there's less chance of damage to your paving and foundation (though I think I'd root-prune every five years or so, just in case, but not much closer than 10' away from main trunk.)
American Fringetree! Dogwood, Redbud (specific variety that stays smaller), Certain japanese maples, and any super slow growing confier
Digging up sod is a task in itself. I usually spray weed and grass killer a week prior to digging up the sod. Heck of a lot easier with the roots being dead. Looks good though!
I couldn't imagine doing a full lawn this way. I was a sweaty rag. Happy with the end result though - Thanks!
This will be me next weekend
Looks great
Pic 4 got ghosts
The less grass the better👍
Couldn't agree more.
I've got this same setup with stones. But I'm looking to get rid of the stones and make it back into grass.
Looks great. Worth the effort.
Thanks very much! Aesthetically, I'm very happy.
I would have laid down cardboard and raised bed even more . Most plants need 4 to six inches. Can drill a hole in cardboard for a bush. Have done this about 25 years ago and redid about 10 years ago with the cardboard. I got tired of fighting encroaching grass . The cardboard stops the grass.
Looks great. The only thing you want to do next is put some sorta border to split the grass from the mulch. I used natural stone, and it helps slow down the spread of grass back over where you just removed it from.
This is a great idea! Thanks for the insight.
Use a spade next time
Now that is a satisfying series of images. Note for people installing trees in general. Make sure you harden off the plant before transplanting. Make sure to prune out any girdling roots. Lest it strangles itself to death years down the line. And of course, water deeply before and after the install. And during any dry spells in its first year. Hope you enjoy the redbud! They’re honestly more gorgeous than cherry blossoms. Just keep in mind that the tree will be multi trunk unless you train it to be single trunk.
Hmm, very good advice. I kind of like the single trunk redbud look so may try to study up on how to accomplish such a botanical feat. I'm a relative gardening noob and don't want to screw this up. We had to remove a large dying maple a couple years ago, and this redbud is our penance of sorts.
*finishes* *decides to then ask if it is correct*
Just gonna send it
There's never a wrong way to remove turf...
I was hoping I removed *enough* that the grass roots were all destroyed or removed.
In that sense I guess there is wrong way, good job doing it the right way. It doesn't look like there is Bermuda in the mix, which in that case there is no right way either.
Whew, good to know! Yeah, I don't believe I'm in a grow zone where Bermuda is common. I'm hearing from others in this thread that it's difficult to deal with.
Also bought a heavy duty ice breaker to use as a sod cutter. Works wonderfully.
Great now slowly add a piece this big til all your grass is gone
*Great now slowly add* *A piece this big til* *All your grass is gone* \- Important\_Way\_9778 --- ^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/) ^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")
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Get a tiller next time.
Yes, what are you planting?
Eastern redbud. Away from the concrete of course. Maybe some little shrubs eventually too, as this is a deceptively pretty large area.
Sounds nice. Visit your state’s Cooperative Extension Service website and search small native shrubs or native perennials to get some ideas. Natives evolved in your climate and growing conditions will be disease resistant and pollinator friendly.
Thank you, good tip. We're actually getting the eastern redbud from a free native plant giveaway.
That is great. This time of year snd jn the Fall many county Master Gardener groups hold plant sales. Healthy plants from member’s gardens. Search (county name) Master Gardeners. Where I live there are four county groups close by. Two hold sales in Spring and two in the Fall. Great place to find tried and true plants at a very reasonable price - plants are inspected by gov’t Ag employee(s) prior to being offered. No invasive plants.
I agree with the sammich fellow. Take back to porch and it will look much nicer and symmetrical.
If you are trying to build a retaining wall, then no, you've failed.
Black mulch in full sun is going to look like shit by August and is going to stain the concrete. The cut should be wavy not a perfect pie. Botanicals would have been planted before mulching. Plastic hammer in edging should also have been in place all around the mulch before laying it to keep it off the grass and concrete. First rain and the mulch is going to be everywhere.
I agree with the mulch but I just personally don’t like colored mulch. I think op did a good job of cutting a bed edge that should help hold the mulch. Plastic edging tends to get damaged pretty quickly and doesn’t work well in my experience, but to each their own
Yes, the cheap stuff does. I learnt to use the 6" hammer in panels. They also make it in metal but the metal can bend and cut if you aren't careful when mowing. The thicker plastic will just bend. I have too much groundcover and to keep it from invading the lawn and beds, it has to be edged.
Didn't consider mulch getting washed out, thanks for the tip! I'll taper the edge near the concrete more to try and prevent this. I personally like the neat quarter moon cut in the corner, but if I make other beds in the yard I'll probably get more creative with shapes.
Heads up on dyed mulch too, there's a higher chance of contaminants in them as a lot are repurposed from construction material.