Just bought a house, the yard had been left to its own devices. I don't want a lawn per se, but I also don't want to be swimming in tall grass when I'm out there.
How do I go about taming and cleaning this yard up? What tools do I need? Tips?
Thank you!
by Inuzuka_pound
23 Comments
Move the logs and branches. Remove stumps. Get free wood chips. Spread wood chips. Wait for chips to become soil.
I’d probably start with a little general cleaning and a weed whacker to knock down the areas you want flat. I’d be reluctant to hit that with a mower right away without knowing how far back the rocks go. But also, since you just bought the house, you might want to let things grow in a little to see what’s there.
Looking for ideas?
Hire a mini excavator (with a blade) and dig out those roots around the stumps and get the stumps out.
Dig out 4 – 6 inches of the top soil (put it somewhere separate) in the area you want and fill with road crush 4-6 inches deep. You won’t get weeds on the road crush that deep.
Use the blade to level and spread.
Just an idea…
Maybe install turf if you can’t grow real grass there
Do you have matches? Or know how to rub sticks together well?
I see you’ve already hired a project manager.
A push mower, a string-trimmer, and a bag of grass seed.
Mow what you can, and overseed that area with grass seed. Keep it watered, and keep it mowed so the wild grasses don’t outcompete the lawn grass.
Over time, increase the area you mow, and overseed as necessary. A bit of fertilizer would help too.
Taming and cleaning usually would mean mowing and weed whacking but you say you don’t want a lawn. Do you have an idea of what you do want on the land? That looks fairly rural – you could just let the forest take over and that would decrease the grass in favor of under story plants long term (that could be helped along) You could probably garden something with a lot more plants instead of grass as well. I’d be tempted to clear the grass and throw down wild flower seeds in a large section of it. But also do you plan to do things in it like setup a patio / chairs etc?
A big part to my back yard looked like this when we moved in. I hired a guy to mow it down and remove fallen limbs. Made a plan for how I wanted to use it. Raked the dead the growth off to the sides and removed some of it. Then started mowing a walking path monthly during the summer and fall. Now it’s a pollinator garden with nice walking pats and bird houses.
Put a concrete or paver patio at the bottom of the stairs where the stone is. Mow the open area to the right so you have some yard space. Let the rest go, looks like it fits to leave it more natural
Why must you tame it?
I recommend working with it instead of against. Try to find out which plants are native and remove any invasive ones. Then just trim them back in the summer and do a full clearing in the spring and you should be good to leave whatever you like there and keep really easy maintenance. Good luck!
A pack of goats. That’s actually not a joke. My plan B would be to move.
How much other yard space is there, how much room does the dog need, and do you have children? As for the areas you don’t need, you could kill the grass and do something fun like throw down a bunch of wildflower seeds.
Actually you need a rototiller if you’re serious about doing it you need to rent or purchase a rototiller and in addition to that I would say so you don’t have as much yard maintenance in the future since it kind of looks pretty out in the country I don’t know how far your property goes back to the tree line but you you had you had the answer right there in your in your question you answered your own question you just don’t realize it yet, when you said you don’t want to be swimming in tall grass. Lots of room there for an inground pool. That’s what I do if I had space like that.
If it were me I would rent a skiddy and rock bucket and a Harley rake.
Model L gravely with an 11 pound blade
Bet goats could tame it
Start by watering it! That alone will kickstart it.
Even just a fan sprinkler will make a lot of difference and get things rolling.
This looks like Alaska. That’s a very common perfect Alaskan yard. I don’t see the problem.
If you must, you could try to do a controlled burn (I would recommend against this due to wildifire risk) rent heavy equipment, till up the dirt, and throw clover down but unless you maintain it, it’s just gonna look like that again in 1-2 years.
A weed hacker Vern, a weed hacker…..
North Florida here, but looking at your yard and reflecting on the weather in many areas of the country the past few years…
Whatever you do, plant, hardscape, tree removal, addition, etc…, Keep wildfires in mind. Insure a buffer between you and the woods, and make sure the plants that are in that buffer aren’t dynamic fuel should the winds blow embers towards you and yours.
Just needs a little clean up really. Get the logs out of there and stumps managed (stump grinder rental is the way to go for stumps imo) and then knock down any high spots in the soil. That may require just a rake if it’s not too bad, or maybe a tractor with a box blade if it’s a lot, if you have any farming neighbors. Fill in any low spots or holes with excess dirt from the high spots.
Basically you want to get it as flat as possible. Not level per se, but basically anything that could stick up into lawn mower blades needs to go. At that point you could just start mowing it and it will eventually turn into lawn. If you want to speed that up, do some light cultivating and seed/fertilize/lime/water as needed. For best results, get a soil test before doing any of that last bit.