My boyfriend and I just moved into a new house and the backyard is a mess. We are renting, so we don’t want to put an excessive amount of money into the yard, but we want it somewhat tidy for our two dogs.
There are leaves and branches everywhere. The entire yard is straight weeds. No grass.
Our only thought is to remove the leaves & branches, and mow the weeds. Thoughts?
by Embarrassed_Car1581
26 Comments
Get a couple goats
Not to get too in the weeds (😭)
I’d look out for anything toxic to your dog, mine eats everything. Or that stings.
I clean up the sticks too, because again my dog obliterates anything wood related (and subsequently her teeth)
And then go out and by some region specific, light level appropriate meadow mix. Just make sure to Google what’s in it so you don’t end up with 6′ tall rye grass or crab grass.
There’s usually some guidance the local universities put out regarding planting & ground over suitable for your region. And if you’re into potted plants , the local nursery might have an expert that would likely help you out , including the grass/weed/ground over sitch
You could try to grow fine fescue
Rake and mow.
You are spot on with your plan. Clear the deadwood so the dogs do not impale themselves and just mow whatever is growing out there. With that heavy tree canopy blocking the sun you will never grow traditional turf grass anyway so trying to seed that dirt will just waste your money. A mowed weed is just a native groundcover and as long as it handles dog traffic it works perfectly for a rental property. Just double check for poison ivy before you start grabbing handfuls of that underbrush.
While you are cleaning up take a pair of loppers and cut that ivy climbing up the tree trunks right at the soil line. You do not have to pull it down just sever the stems so it dies and stops strangling the trees. Instead of bagging all those leaves just run over them a few times with the mower to feed the dirt. If you eventually want to carve out a firepit area or throw down some cheap mulch beds run a photo through the GardenDream web app first. It lets you overlay simple layouts and materials on your exact yard so you do not waste a weekend building something that looks awkward. Keep it simple keep it mowed and let the dogs enjoy the shade.
leaves and branches on the ground are good for ecology.
ivy is huge problem. cut the climbers, ideally herbicide the cut stems. don’t pull off trees just let it fall.
most of the trees are probably poor quality/invasive/volunteers.
figure what the herbaceous plants are, and which are worth keeping vs which should be reduced.
Yes and add a few ferns, hellabores and hostas
Solid plan, especially for a rental!
Will take time watch out I think I see poison ivy
it would be such a beautiful woodland garden 😭
it’s not necessarily a mess – “weeds”, unless they are invasive, is what’s supposed to grow on the forest floor
I would do some plant ID with the app to understand what you have (some of it might bloom beautifully at some point during the year) then target anything invasive or toxic, as others have pointed out that ivy has to go, for example
pick up human trash, obviously, but I wouldn’t go crazy on picking every branch and leaf as that ground litter is important for wildlife – maybe create an area in the middle that’s mowed and cleared and overseeded with grass for you and dogs and leave large “beds” symbolically separated by large stones around the tree root zones where you don’t step and keep the leaf litter
you can further separate central “meadow” from “tree root zones beds” by planting native ferns, primulas, bluebells, or non native epimediums and hostas (depending on the deer situation) along the edge
azaleas and rhododendrons grow in shade, spicebush, viburnum, witch hazel, blueberries for more structure, amazing fall color and some bird activity – add water baths too
check out The Impatient Gardener youtube for some inspiration, I think she is in zone 6 woods, which kind of looks similar to you
ps looking a bit closer at your pictures – I might be seeing some tulip poplars and oaks? if so there are probably walnuts or hickories in there as well, so you got a pretty good temperate forest going. Last pic looks like snakeroot, which is not showy, but native and not harmful and indicates some restoration of the soil after they perhaps fully cleared the brush some years ago. Adding back the middle shrub layer and solid ground covers would do wonders for your perception of this space
You walk around collecting tree branches and weeds to sell to your local Nook’s Cran— oh wait….this isn’t animal crossings
Mow it
If you are renting then I wouldnt do anything but mow and go. I would blow it out first or rake it out. Leave wood life where it belongs 🙂 maybe throw some seed down
Your forest garden is beautiful. Eliminate the invasive plants, add some ferns that you prop up with wood chips. Add a wood chip path if you like. We have a similar temperate forest behind our house as do our neighbours. They threw in a clawfoot bathtub with fire pit beneath it to literally forest bathe. We put in a sauna and an outdoor shower. Cold shower for post sauna. Pure heaven. Leave it as natural as possible and you won’t have tons of yard work once you control the invasive plants.
Goats
>Our only thought is to remove the leaves & branches, and mow the weeds.
Sounds good to me
You don’t, it’s s good system. A nice lake and some wildflowers would do wonders
Get a riding mower for the undergrowth
Probably get some goats
https://preview.redd.it/wzolv4bc58xg1.png?width=862&format=png&auto=webp&s=961707398e2820dbee37ac92c56a52a2c469a332
If this was owned —
Pick a manageable area like I show here, till that, amend the soil, and establish a very shade-tolerant lawn grass. Everything else gets planted to native or similar-to-native understory shrubs and trees. Azalea, Blueberry, Rhododendron, Mountain Laurel, Dogwood, Redbud, etc.
But being rented makes it harder. I would still limit mowing to just a reasonable lawn area, and let the rest get a little wild. Contact rural family members, and ask if you can dig up native understory plants from their woods to transplant to here for cheap. Try overseeding and fertilizing the lawn instead of tilling it up first.
First step is to clean that whole yard up. Mow, weed wack etc etc. rake and bag any debris. And then see what it looks like.
Well it looks like a woodland, so plants and leaves and sticks make sense. Grass, generally speaking, is not a woodland plant. If it’s native where you live, shade sedges like Penn sedge will do well there, and you can pretend it’s grass.
If you need it to be a grass lawn, that’s doable, but it’ll be a constant uphill battle.
Looks like a perfect spot to sit and hang out with friends. Shade from the sun and lots of greenery.
I am jealous.
It’s not a mess lol. It’s literally just forest.
You don’t own it, so you cannot redo it. But you can clean up the sticks and so on so your dogs can play there. You can do that all at once or make it a regular thing every once in awhile. I use a large lawn and leaf container and just pick things up. No raking needed. Forget the weeds. It’s someone else’s property, so that’s their job. Dump it in one of your trash bins so you won’t have to haul anything away.
Maybe get a small folding saw to cut up anything larger than your finger. A saw like that cuts fast and easily. No power towels needed.
But there’s no need to landscape it or make it neat and tidy for dogs. Dogs love big yards and weeds are not going to bother them at all. Maybe add a nice rest area for the dogs to lie down in, something like a dog house or a pad of some kind with a shade over it? Even a cheap tent you stake down with an old thrift store quilt in it would make for a nice refuge for them. Other dogs are going to be jealous.
Look up camasia for the margins and Fritillaria imperialis for deeper shade.