Landscaping Pros

[Adam]

We bought our house right before Christmas, 2013. We have a big front yard and a rather large slope (corner lot). There must've been 25 different trees (orange, peach, apple, lemon, pepper, etc..) on the slope as well as hedges in front of the retaining wall around the entire property.

 

We got rid of everything except for the Macadamia nut tree in the front. Now, we need to figure out what to do, primarily with the slope itself. *I'm thinking ivy... Wife is thinking expensive. 

 

There's still some clean up to do. And, there are like 20-30 tall sprinkler heads we need to remove. (Do I need to remove the entire system - pipes underground?)

 

 

The fig tree at the top is now gone.

 

 

 

 

 

Ideas? Thoughts? Bad jokes about Mexicans? Good jokes?

 

 

 

[AngelsLongBall]

Plant jasmine.  It's a good ground cover and smells good when they bloom. 

[AngelsLongBall]

Obviously I meant hire some Mexicans to plant the jasmine

[Adam]

No need to clarify

[Blarg]

I got a guy, he can fix this shit and won't cost you a shit load of money.

 

We had a Coral tree in the back that was F'ing up the cement around the pool. So we hired Angel and his crew to remove it and do an entire backyard remodel.

 

 

To what you have

 

 

Then the finished version, the retaining wall didn't require a permit. That saved us over $20K right there. He also replaced the fence.

 

 

 

A couple years later and those Queen Palms are 25' tall, the Chifleras are up to the fence line and all of the Ornamental bamboo and lilies have filled in all the gaps along the fence line. All new sprinklers with an updated timer along with 6 new drains for the backyard so we don't have any flooding during El Nino.

 

Did I mention the decorative lights? Yeah he did that as well.

Edited April 18, 2016 by notti

[Adam]

What was the damage?

[Adam]

Supplemental question: The gentlemen we used to clear the slope and yard said when they bid the job they couldn't grind the stumps on the slope. Easy way to get rid of them? 

[Blarg]

You should stucco and cap that cinder block wall.

[AngelsLongBall]

Cousin Eddie sure would look good moseying around that fiberglass slide with a beverage in hand.  Good thing they switched that plate in his skull to soft plastic though; he used to piss his pants and forget his name if you fired up the microwave when he had that metal plate

[Blarg]

Supplemental question: The gentlemen we used to clear the slope and yard said when they bid the job they couldn't grind the stumps on the slope. Easy way to get rid of them? 

 

PM sent.

[Brandon]

I had a slope with a home that I was told was on my property and had to manage per the HOA...similar to yours.

I did it myself, but basically cleared it then laid out wood chips. Came out good and pretty cheap. I didn't want to go nuts because it was also the bus pickup and drop off point for school kids that always threw soda cans and trash on the slope.

[halobob]

We bought our house right before Christmas, 2013. We have a big front yard and a rather large slope (corner lot). There must've been 25 different trees (orange, peach, apple, lemon, pepper, etc..) on the slope as well as hedges in front of the retaining wall around the entire property.

 

We got rid of everything except for the Macadamia nut tree in the front. Now, we need to figure out what to do, primarily with the slope itself. *I'm thinking ivy... Wife is thinking expensive. 

 

There's still some clean up to do. And, there are like 20-30 tall sprinkler heads we need to remove. (Do I need to remove the entire system - pipes underground?)

 

 

The fig tree at the top is now gone.

 

 

 

 

 

Ideas? Thoughts? Bad jokes about Mexicans? Good jokes?

Just out of curiosity why did you get rid of the fruit trees?

[Blarg]

What was the damage?

 

Off the top of my head I can't remember because we grouped in a load of other work like the cement work repair, had the awning removed and put in a Shadetree system (highly recommend) rebuilt the BBQ area. The landscaping was by far the cheapest of the costs. Call Angel, he will give you a straight quote and it won't be an open end account, if he says it is X than that is the price unless you add on. He will be our guy when we take on the front yard.

[Biergott]

Drill 1/2" holes, multiple holes, into each stump but not all the way through, then fill them with stump remover, or the poor man's version: gas.   They'll die.    But I'd recommend getting them ground.  If you wait for the rot out, as they decay the slope will sink in.  Better to bite the bullet and have them ground out then filled in before you relandscape in my opinion. (if of course you are doing any grading.)

 

I'd stay away from Ivy.  That's a rodent haven.  Good times with all the rats you'll attract.

 

Queen palms in socal are super easy.  You can get small ones on the cheap too at Home Depot or Lowes (they alternate sales) and they do grow very fast.   (They also do not have invasive root balls like other popular socal trees such as Liquid Amber or Ficus).  Just build a little dirt well around each one.  Then irrigate with a dripline system.  SUPER easy to install drip line and the water goes where you want it to go. 

 

Then fill in with some Hibiscus.  Another well plant with drip lines.  The red and orange flowered ones do better than the yellow in my experience.  Fairly low maintenance.  If they get aphids just buy some Hibsicus/Rose soap (in a spray bottle) and hose them down.  

 

And I agree with Brandon, go with wood chips/mulch everywhere else.  Your water bill will be happier if you just drip line to the trees and shrubs.  Plus you'll not have ground cover that is home to vermin and trash.  Don't waste your time with weed fabric/barrier under the chips, just make them at least an inch to inch and a half deep.  Nothing will grow under them.  No sun and no water.  If a couple weeds pop up, hit them with some round up.  You can even strike the gunfighter pose from the TV commercials if you want.  

 

No need to remove the old system unless you find it ugly.  Just cut it and cap it, or go from that original valve to the new drip line.  Leave the old piping in your slope, it doesn't hurt anything.

 

Saw someone say to stucco and cap that wall.  Might not want to do that.  If the wall has cracks in the mortar already then water will get in behind the stucco, and can cause it to lift, and crumble/fall off.   I had this happen on my back yard wall.  Sucked big time and was fugly.   If the wall has been there a long time I wouldn't trust it.  Capping isn't a bad idea though, that can make a wall look night and day more expensive at minimal cost.

[mrwicked]

party at notti's place!

 

these look pretty cool dude for a front yard. can you build walls or is that like city property at the edge?

 

 

Edited April 18, 2016 by mrwicked

[gotbeer]

Do you want to go drought tollerant? 

 

I believe Ivy is considered an invasive species.  If you don't maintain it, I think it will spread everywhere.  Slope, street, house.  And as Biergot said, rodents and snakes. 

 

We have a very small slope (more like your front yard slope) and using a myoporum (like a mini ivy, but very small leaves).  But again, our slope is about 4 feet high, so nothing compared to yours. 

 

And drip is the way to go. 

 

It looks like you have stepps on the slope.  So design wise, you could use that with each stepp being a design of something.  Bench or something on one.  Maybe a horshoe or ball pitch on another.  Vegetable garden or herb garden on another.  Or you could start flower gardens on each slope with different colors, so that in season they really pop. 

[Biergott]

Most of the HOAs around here will allow walls that are "decorative" vs "retaining" as long as they are less than 4' tall.  if you're going to replace the wall, one cheap way, without needing a surface treatment like stucco, but something that looks nice, are using splitface cinderblocks.   They look like that second photo Wicked put up.   Much cheaper than stone work like the first photo, even if they are just concrete simulated stones.  I just had a wall in my backyard replaced.  I was a stucco'd cinder block wall that water had seeped through and cause half of the stucco to crumble and fall off.  It was a load bearing wall (neighbor behind me is build on a pad about 5 feet higher than me.)  Because it was under 4 feet from ground to cap it isn't considered a retaining wall so no permits were needed, just HOA approval (neighbors signing saying its ok and stuff like that.)

 

Bird of Paradise are another easy plant, that'll flower.  Just dont get Giant Bird of Paradise or the White flowing ones.  They get overgrown and nasty.  Can look cool if regularly maintained, but sounds like you want easy!

[Angel Dog and Beer]

Hope you checked with the City or even the HOA before taking down all those trees. Some cities require a permit on anything over 6" in dia. prior to cutting them down. 

 

I'd smooth out the slope, get rid of the terraces. Take out the sprinkler heads completely or convert the heads to drip adapters, then drip all your future plants and trees.  Save a shit ton of water and money that way.  Plant agaves and drought tolerant grasses, maybe mix in a few bougainvillea for color. Add some boulders here and there just for interest. Plant Olive trees (look for fruitless variety), as it would match the style of your house and go nicely with the Agaves, succulents and grasses.  Keep it minimalist, you'll like it better. Don't go overboard with too many species otherwise it will look too busy. Plant in big masses, not one or two at a time. 

 

Might be a good idea to install weed barrier beforehand. Get a good thick one, that doesn't break down from the sun. Cover everywhere with a 3" thick layer of single grind bark mulch, redwood. 

 

Oh, that slope looks hot, so hire Angel to do all of this. 

[Adam]

Just out of curiosity why did you get rid of the fruit trees?

 

They were pretty dead and mangled and gross looking.

 

So we bought the house from the executor of an estate. The homeowner passed away of old age. She had been bedridden for nearly 5 years. 10 years before she passed, her husband, the gardener passed away. So, the once lush gardener's paradise had turn to shit. 

 

Worked out for us. We got an $800K for $645K because of all the work that needed to be done to it. We put all of our resources into redoing the inside of the house when we moved in. We're now getting to the landscaping. 

Edited April 18, 2016 by Adam

[Adam]

We don't have an HOA and Mission Viejo is cool as shit. 

[Adam]

party at notti's place!

 

these look pretty cool dude for a front yard. can you build walls or is that like city property at the edge?

 

 

Ha! My wife sent me both of these photos. Not sitting on that kinda cash at the moment

[Tank]

yeah, stay away from ivy. 

 

go with something more natural, like fruit trees (orange, peach, apple, and lemon are highly recommended).

[gotbeer]

Might be a good idea to install weed barrier beforehand. Get a good thick one, that doesn't break down from the sun. Cover everywhere with a 3" thick layer of single grind bark mulch, redwood. 

 

I'd recommend against the weed barrier.  Sounds good.  But it pretty much kills and dries out everything underneath.  I actually just ripped the weed barrier out of my front yard, because it didn't prevent weeds, and wouldn't let my groundcover grow.  Around trees might be a different story.  But so far, my experience with weed barrier is it's a waste.  Better to just go with a think layer of mulch.

[Adam]

So you guys are saying that mulch will prevent weeds from growing? 

[gotbeer]

 

Bird of Paradise are another easy plant, that'll flower.  Just dont get Giant Bird of Paradise or the White flowing ones.  They get overgrown and nasty.  Can look cool if regularly maintained, but sounds like you want easy!

 

The one thing I learned from junior high biology.  Bird of Paradise flowers are poisonous.