Homeownership Thread

[Boring Choice #2]

Father in law has option 1. I enjoy it.

Does he use all the fancy do - dads?

[AD]

3

[chicpea]

Option 1) Most expensive of the bunch is the Napoleon Prestige Pro 665 with all the bells and whistles including searing grill, ice bucket, integrated wood chips smoker, rotisserie and lights. It is $2900 and has 680 sq in on the main grill.

I am picturing Napoleon on that island where he was a prisoner just fuming and wanting to bbq hamburgers and germans but only getting cocktail prawns from the locals and his fingers and uniform are covered in garlic butter.

[Dr_Chimera]

Craig's house should be seized and given to the people.

[Craig]

I think you grossly misunderstand what my house is, Chimera.

[mayoradamwest]

Father in law has option 1. I enjoy it.

Does he use all the fancy do - dads?

Never. But the option is there...

[PEli]

Just moved into an old stock Canadian neighborhood and my lawn isn't the nicest on the street. This old guy a few houses down is the current tittle holder. He has a much smaller yard and is retired. So despite his age, he has the advantage. Nevertheless, I am left wondering how I can destroy him. I would shit on his lawn under the cover of darkness but I have been eating a lot of kale lately and I worry that rather than damage his lawn, my gift might act like some kind of biosolid fertilizer (which are all the rage) and cause the turf to miraculously sprout elephant grass.

In any case, what do you entitled little piéces of shit do to crush your more luscious foes? If you care about your lawn at all. Some don't. Got a fella on the street who took the "Save the bees!" movement quite seriously. That or he likes his women au naturel.

[Craig]

I don't care about lawns at all. I like to set my lawnmower blade too low so it sorta kills the grass and it goes brown early so I don't have to mow.

[Boring Choice #2]

I had our lawn fertilized this summer for the first time in about 5 years and started cutting the grass higher in the hot months so as to not burn the roots. That and the decent amount of rain we have received this summer has my grass looking as good as it has since we moved in. It's still not the best on the street, but I am not going to compete against professionally manicured lawns and watering systems.

[MP]

So, you need to fertilize 3 times a year (spring, early summer, fall). Core aerate, and over seed with the blue grass and top soil. Also apply corn meal in the spring to deter crab grass. And hand pick the shit out of everything non-grass. Those stand up frisker weeders tend to take to much grass.

It's also good to get an edging tool for along the driveway, sidewalks and planters.

[PEli]

I'm on board with all of that. Put some starter down this evening, overseeded and watered. I'm aerating on the 22nd. I was going to wait until I aerated before putting starter and seed down but the weather is good and I want to push this seed now and get some roots in before Thanksgiving. Even if the aerating messes with some of the seedlings, it's thin enough in some areas that it's worth the potential damage. The starter was just whatever Scott's product had the most phosphorus. It was 25-24-9 I think? I've got a couple bags of organic 9-2-2 that I'll do after Thanksgiving and maybe once more just after that final mow of the season. The upside is that it's practically impossible to torch the lawn with this stuff, even if you go overboard.

I had to apply for a permit with the city to water daily for two weeks because of the water ban. So the seed and soil will definitely get enough water. I spot sprayed the clover and broad leaf stuff. Had to find some good herbicide outside of the province because Dougie only wants to talk about sex ed and not bullshit pesticide/herbicide bans.

Interesting shit about the cornmeal. I'll definitely look into that. And yeah, those Fiskar weeders are great for big weeds with deep roots but they do more damage than help when it comes to average weeds. The Killex wrecked the clover and has done some damage to the broad leaf stuff but it's only been 5 days and it should keep doing it's thing for another week before the final results are in.

The guy with the best lawn walked by as I was fertilizing tonight and said his lawn is all natural. I murdered him.

[AD]

Also... mix seeds from various breeds when you overseed. Some will have stronger abilities to grow in shade, some will be better at resisting heat. But this way, the strong survive in all your patches.


…

…. I used to have a lawn...

[PEli]

I didn't think of that but luckily the lawn I have is mixed anyway. So I just went with a couple of decent 20lb bags. Turns out they were mixed KBG, fescues and ryegrass. Good enough for the girl I go out with.

I did topdress as well...so the thinner areas have some fresh soil and seed contact. Should help a bit. Unfortunately I'm in the big smoke for a wedding this weekend so I am hoping for some rain while we're gone.

I installed some go pros in my maple tree in case the old man up the road is anything like me and shits on my lawn while I'm gone. Told my neighbors to keep an eye out for people who look a little heavy in the back end of the drawers. Hoping they understood me.

[PEli]

I should clarify that a wedding is a joyous occasion and it's not unfortunate that two people are getting married. It's unfortunate that I won't be able to water tomorrow or Sunday and it's unfortunate that the hotel is $300/night. Cripes, that would get you a couple of weeks at the Aurora Inn in adequate Kingston, New Scotland. Probably a half a tug too.

[MP]

Pro tip aerate before feetilizing/top dressing, it gets the nutrients deeper into the ground.

Also, if you importing fertilizers from non Ontario sources, forget the cornmeal, and get the crabgrass killing fertilizer. The cornmeal is more a deterant than a killer.

[MP]

Also, watch out for white grubs. They'll destroy your lawn in a season.

[PEli]

No sign of grubs yet but the ground is pretty compacted. Maybe they'll make an appearance next year once a couple of rounds of aeration are done. I'll be waiting with plenty of banned pesticides and nematodes anyway.

Apart from holes in the turf from raccoons and skunks digging for them, what kind of signs am I looking for? Dead/dying patches?

[MP]

Patches of yellow grass that just pull away because the grubs ate the roots. Usually in a 3-4 foot circle unless your infested then it's everywhere.

[PEli]

Fucking absolutely devastating the neighborhood. Haven't seen that old man in a month. He's either died of natural causes the crushing shame of defeat has caused him to rethink his place in society and he's become a recluse. He may be in Florida. His yard is covered in leaves and I can only imagine the damage it's doing. Probably Florida.

I have one shitty maple in the front and two along the street. All three are weak Jessimans but have not started to drop leaves yet. My neighbors have a decent sized maple and it's just heaving leaves on my lawn. With the rain it's been hard to get them cleaned up. Also hard to put that last application of fertilizer too.

I was thinking about mowing something into my lawn for Halloween. What do you think?

[Ricard_Persson]

Oh man lawn topic. Talk about morning wood.

You're doing everything right. I've been there and done that. Left my old house that I build from scratch. Lawn too. 14 dumpers of topsoil over the acre plus and laid down a couple hundred pounds of "Fairway Mix" from my good friends at General Seed Co. 75%KBG and after a couple years it was plush.

I've never had a lawn, but I've had an outdoor rug. Shoes off please.

The wifes place is a mess we're at now. Was a expensive landscape job years back and now I'm left looking at this sod that's truly all made of weak quality grass. I've given up on it, but did rake the hell out of it and I'll bag the needles and leaves every fall and then again in the spring. Overseeded it in the spring and it's nicer than ever but doesn't hold a candle to my old place. I miss my Kentucky BG.

We're leaving soon so I don't care too much. If we were staying I'd round up the entire lawn with glysophate and kill it care and start fresh. Siriusly.

The new property is big and rough forest with an old gravel pit mixed in. The pit has been shut down for 50 years and it's slowly growing back into green landscape. One visit and a slow stare at it quietly and it suddenly came to me...you know what an old gravel pit is similar to? A two hole golf course.

Got the wife almost talked into me poking away over the next 3 years to clean up this pit. Two holes and about 5 to 6 tee decks would be nice. Got no power, no water right now there so it was a chore, but did get two tee decks roughed in and seeded in September. Hot Spetember here and water about a dozen times with watering cans. What a pain. 10 cans to do one watering. First tee deck was my usual "Fairway Mix" and the second one I tried General's 100% Bluegrass mix with 4 different KBG in it. Does it ever come in nice and even. KBG takes up to three weeks to germ so usually you see the fescues and ryegrasses pop first. Watching this tee deck sprout with with 100% KBG is like watching an oversized Chia pet grow out. I'm a bit late in the year but it's nice to shape top soil again and then watch grass grow as sad as that sounds, but I think you guys get the feeling. We're all sad.

Good luck PeLi. Look forward to spring eh.

[Ricard_Persson]

I've been watching this guys videos and he's hilarious how serious he is about his lawn. It is gorgeous though and the reel mowers are amazing.

These videos might get you through winter.

[PEli]

I wanted to nuke with glyphosate when we moved in but I was mid August and it's a corner lot. I didn't want a massive brown yard to set the tone. Next thing you know, they'd be asking me if I planned on parking any beat up pick up trucks in the Jesus side yard. I wanted to get to work and let these fucks know that I mean business. I'd much rather have a full KBG lawn though. Sadly, it's not to be.

I enjoy the lawn talk and thanks for passing on the video. I'll check them out. Don't want to forget about the cause over the winter.

[PEli]

massive brown

[mayoradamwest]

I am the proud owner of 2 japanese maples. any suggestions on taking care>?

[MP]

Cut them down and plant a proper maple tree?

[Ricard_Persson]

I don't mind the Japanese maples. Never had one, but a lot to be said about smaller trees that don't get too big. But with the current trend of people never staying in a house for very long before moving, tree size is a less factor. I'd read up on some simple pruning of them and do it at the right time. Might have missed the fall window.

With so much empty land to fill, I've been out low-balling the nurseries on their fall sales looking to scoop some nice trees cheap. Everything is about half price so you can really get so much more for less in the end of the season. Grabbed three dwarf blue spruce which I've always liked for some reason. Scooped up a 1/2 price black walnut and common hackberry tree earlier in the season and a small white oak for $10. Hopefully they make the winter. Deer are a problem here.

[Ricard_Persson]

I am the proud owner of 2 japanese maples. any suggestions on taking care>?

Always good to have proper mulch around trees to hold moisture and keep the weeds down, no matter what tree you have. Better growth with less work and maintenance.


Always listen to Roger.

[mayoradamwest]

i just got a new place that is coming pre-landscaped. old owner was into spiraled bushes and stuff like that... i will either let grow out, or see if i can shape it into something more interesting. The japanese maples look like they're well cared for, but I don't know much about them. I like the look of em though, plus I figure if you trim back the leaves it'll make the house look bigger ya know.

[Ricard_Persson]

Wow, spiraled shrubs. I've never had the balls to pull it off. Impressive, and good luck maintaining them. Was the previous owner an old person?


I think you have a ticket now to go buy a hedge trimmer at the Stihl store and no one can complain about the money spent.

[AD]

I like Japanese Maples. I was in the market for a nice one to replace a rotting carcass of a tree in my yard..

.. when I had a yard.


…. when I had a house.

.. when I had a wife.

[Boring Choice #2]

I had a Japanese maple in my front garden. But like with all the other trees in my yard, the stupid people who built the house planted it too close to the house (or fence), so it got destroyed in the Great Tree Slaughter of 2012. Really it and the red maple in the other part of the front garden were the only two trees I liked. We thought about saving the maple and replanting it, but it would have been costly, and there was a decent risk of it not surviving the transplant, so we let the guy take it away for a reduced price on the slaughter. The rest of the trees were mostly long-needled evergreens, a couple short-needled ones, and a bunch of cedars that were overgrown.

[Craig]

I like a nice overgrown cedar.

[Boring Choice #2]

I like a nice overgrown cedar.

They were all planted up against the house and were growing into the soffit and bending around the eaves to the roofline. I would have trimmed them, but the trunk at the soffit was already a few inches thick. And they were still too close to the house. And there were carpenter ants using it as a conduit to climb into our house and start nesting. So i got rid of the cedars and sprayed the outside of the yard and the house with ant gel and they"ve mostly stayed away since then>

[Craig]

Well yeah, I don't like that. But like, in general, a nice big wild cedar is a lovely tree. One of my favorites.

[mayoradamwest]

Well yeah, I don't like that. But like, in general, a nice big wild cedar is a lovely tree. One of my favorites.

I would prefer a weeping willow frankly, craig. preferably by a stream or pond.

[mayoradamwest]

Wow, spiraled shrubs. I've never had the balls to pull it off. Impressive, and good luck maintaining them. Was the previous owner an old person?


I think you have a ticket now to go buy a hedge trimmer at the Stihl store and no one can complain about the money spent.

the previous owner was an electrician...not that old though. I'm not certain where the spiralled shrubs came from. Oddly, the rest of the lawn if garbage in the front (the back yard is fine.) From old pictures, I think the old owners got rid of some very mature trees and then covered up the stumps with landscaping. If you can suggest any products for rescuing the lawn next year, I'm all ears.

then again, it may have have been that he got favours for electricking things and that's how the house got landscaped... they buried a huge stump per google maps (which is fine by me. It's not close to the house.)

I will be keeping an eye out for stihl dealer days (TM) but I also have an uncle who has recently downsized from 2.5 acres to an apartment and so have at least a lawnmower coming my way. That said, I'm not certain I have the skill to maintain the spiral.

in regards to the japanese maples... I figure I will try and let them grow all gangly like. I just have to figure out where I can plant my garden next year (tomatoe varieties, cukes, flowers, herbs and such....)

I figure I'll hand prune the maples... may be see how tall I can get one of em.... then agian... this is always an option:

[Craig]

Well yeah, I don't like that. But like, in general, a nice big wild cedar is a lovely tree. One of my favorites.

I would prefer a weeping willow frankly, craig. preferably by a stream or pond.

Weeping Willows are definitely a contender for top tree.

[Craig]

I also like red leaf maples, oak and redwoods.

[Boring Choice #2]

Well yeah, I don't like that. But like, in general, a nice big wild cedar is a lovely tree. One of my favorites.

I would prefer a weeping willow frankly, craig. preferably by a stream or pond.

We have a willow in the tree patch behind our house, it's not one of the big droopy weeping willows, but it's really nice. And it's far enough from the house that we don't have to worry about the root system.

[MP]

Weeping willows are great as long as they are 30 feet from your house and they have a water source. They can totally fuck up your foundations and sewers.

I love white pines, except they drip sap that is near impossible to remove.

[Ricard_Persson]

Hand sanitizer works great for pine gum on vehicles. Put a drop on and let it soak. Might have to do it a couple times.

[mayoradamwest]

Thinking of building a pond for fun. Any input?

[MP]

You trying to hide some bodies?

[Ricard_Persson]

I had a big pond. Thought it was great, but it is work. There's nothing worse than looking at it and the water is green. I can't find a picture of it right now.

It was dug out with an excavator. Probably 16 feet diameter and about 40" deep. I did a rubber liner and covered the black liner with round river rock. Huge job. I hand dug a shelf at the perimeter to roll the liner on and then placed a couple rows of 3-4" limestone to give me a nice finishing on the rim and also a way to hide the liner. I had koi in it and they really thrived. The river rock gave them a great spawning surface and the 4 koi would usually produce about 100 babies a year. They ate a lot of them but every fall I'd get almost 100.

I needed a good pump for that much water and good UV light filters. The pump went into the filters that were buried on shore, then fresh water dropped back into the pond. The pump ran non-stop from late April to October. I think the filters were made by Tetra UV4000 models, I needed two of them with the size of the pond. They have a nice backwash system where you flip a valve and they clean themselves out onto the lawn. The filters usually worked well but occasionally the water would get some algae. Usually many sunny days were cause a bloom.

Mistakes I made were probably the size. There's a line between a filtered pond like mine and then just a huge mud bottomed natural pond with no maintenance. Of course, when mine was first set up it looked like something from a magazine, but it doesn't look like that for long. The size was fine but it wasn't deep enough to overwinter fish. It just over 3 feet it probably froze solid. I was lucky to have a guy take my fish for the winter and he kept them in his basement in a huge container. I gave him all the small fish as a thank you each year. I wouldn't have had fish if I had to over winter them. Tried that the first year in two aquariums. No thanks.

A deeper pond will hold fish all winter. If I did mine again I would probably just leave the black liner and not cover it with 10,000 round stone. It's just too hard to clean leaves and pine needles out once it's drained in the fall. A rubber liner could have been quickly washed down and pumped out and cleaned in minutes.

I liked the water plants in mine. There is so much sediment that accumulates under my rocks that I had natural weeds and cat tails growing. It gave the fish cover and looked good, and also cleaned the water. In the end it was really growing in well and looked good. I simply dug natural plants from the river close by. Lilly pads will grow in pots and come back each year. The cat tails spread like crazy.

All in all, I liked the pond, but it is not maintenance free. I take it you're probably more urban than I am and will go with a small pond which should be less work and less cost. I like a pond, but not everyone will. I'm sure some day someone will fill mine in and plant grass over it. Kind of sad, but the reality.

I had my koi for many years. Bought them and they were the size of a loonie. I remember throwing them in and I couldn't see them in the rocks. In the end they were almost 20" long and really did well. An otter came in and ate them all when I wasn't around.

[mayoradamwest]

otters are beautiful creatures.

I'm looking at something much smaller, in fact I'd probably dig it out with a shovel (I like digging holes. Good exercise.) not sure I'll be able to do it this year though, currently the house we are buying has a bunch of playground equipment that is on its way out. I will have a sandbox though...

so far the plan is to put up brick veneer in the basement (walls are already have wainscotting), paint all the rooms, and then work on landscaping. Found more old pictures, looks like the old owner had to get rid of several 100 year old trees and put some small hills in to bury the stumps. (Nothing near the house.)

[Ricard_Persson]

Just go rubber liner and small pump and filter system. You should be good to go with that.

[Ricard_Persson]

Mowed and bagged some leaves from the #1 tee deck today. This grass is two months old, and still patchy but it came in pretty good for having no electricity or garden hose within 500 yards. Not many nice days left in the year :[

[mayoradamwest]

I like it. And nice truck in the background.


any recommendations on a snow blower? I have the back of CFL beer slinger from the 40's.


I may have recruited someone to maintain the spiralled bushes. we'll add our touch to the garden though, I like getting bees/butterflies and the occasional hummingbird. I've not used small rocks in place of mulch before, apparently plants will grow through it...

the pond...might have to wait a year but it's a dream. building private spaces into an urban place is nice. I still can't believe I was lucky enough to get the place I got, my dog will be far happier. flooding is my main concern, but going to rely heavily on landscaping again.

[MP]

Flooding? Did you buy on a floodplain?! Are you trying to out do dog's leaky basement and vb's stucco?

[mayoradamwest]

Climate change man. Rain volumes have been regularly ridiculous.