helpful neighbors

[outlier_lynn]

The people who owned this house before Stacey where prone to "helpful neighbors." That is, if they needed something done around the house or yard, a helpful neighbor would volunteer and do the work.

This is a good thing. I'm a helpful neighbor, in fact.

But, it does require a bit of sense of the part of the homeowner. The previous owners had no sense in this regard, it seems.

One of the helpful neighbor projects was the automatic sprinkler system. Planning and installing a watering system isn't quite the breeze some people think it is.

Mistake #1. The controller he picked is the most expensive (I've priced out a replacement), but not the best suited (by far) to this landscaping.

Mistake #2. The "zone" pattern is really screwed up. So screwed up that I'll need to dig up everything and start over. Oh joy. That is not as bad as it seems because we are going to completely redo the front yard anyway.

Mistake #3. Sprinkler heads are mismatched. Some are popups and some aren't. A couple of them are the wrong pattern for their placement. But the biggest problem is that the lawn is not evenly watered. Not even close. And one high-flow head spays all it's water into a large square column right in front of it. That water just puddles up. What was he thinking?

Mistake #4. The sprinkler heads used for the back landscaping aren't the right kind for the hardscaping nor are they spaced correctly for the area to cover.

Mistake #5. There is no water to the planting areas down both sides of the house.

Mistake #6. I've found two pvc joints so far that weren't glued.

Mistake #7. The wires to the valves are not protected nor are the wire nut connection to the valves.

Mistake #8. Three of the four automatic valves are right next to the front door in plain view and difficult to camouflage. All the valves should have been in side yard.

Mistake #9. The controller is on an outside wall, behind a rose bush (That probably was not the fault of the helpful neighbor) and it is three feet off the ground.

Some times do-it-yourself homeowners need a little more instruction. :)

Comments

[pir-anha.livejournal.com]

watering the lawn? you eco-thugs! shouldn't you be growing climate-appropriate plants instead? :)

*hits self over the head with a rubber hose* and slinks off to plant the herbs acquired yesterday.

[crazed-lynn.livejournal.com]

Yes, we should. That's why the front yard is getting a make over. It is a huge expanse of grass. And it slopes gently from the house to the street. When we are done, there will no grass. The slope will be leveled then tiered near the sidewalk with a short, curving wall of a type not yet settled upon.

The planting area outside the wall will be native 0r near-native plants with scattered large rocks similar to the rocks found in the mountains 20 miles east of here.

Inside the wall isn't settled yet, but it will have some sort of wide ring on which we will have seating of various types plus four shade structutes. The inside of that ring will be some sort of spiral path with low plantings. This will probably be water-wise plants with interesting leaves and bright, fragrant blooms. (Stacey has a list).

The outside of the ring will include some large plants near the wall and two beds for food. We will also have two artichoke plants. One of which will provde food and the other will go to flower cause they are pretty. :)

Stacey also wants a lemon tree. We haven't settled on a second tree. I'm on the "no tree" side of that issue.

The property line will be 20' clumping bamboo in a long container (to prevent spread).

The only thing holding this project up is the details of the plan. We are slowing making progress on the plan. Soon we will go to a nursery to check out the plants want, figure out the various watering patterns needed, and finish up the design of the wall.

When all done, we will have a garden to sit in. This is good. :)

I've even toyed with taking out two of the living room windows and installing a french door from the living room to the garden. That will be about $2k so it's on the wish list. :)

[pir-anha.livejournal.com]

and to think i almost didn't post that because i thought it was too obnoxious even as a joke! i am not quite that judgmental, *heh*. though i do really like the challenge of creating climate-appropriate gardens. and lawns are, well, boring for the amount of water they suck up.

your plans sound delightful. pictures! before and after pictures!

i really like different levels in a space large enough, they give a greater depth to the space (*duh*, but that's not what i mean by depth -- words are not coming easily today, *sigh*).

lemon tree, very pretty. :) citrus fruit, something i cannot grow up here, alas. 'twas my favourite thing about visiting E's mother in florida, the big orange tree in the backyard, where i could pick oranges for juicing whenever i wanted. i pretty much lived off orange juice the entire time i was down there. have you considered a meyer lemon tree? i think meyer lemons are more versatile.

i think of bamboo as wanting lots of water, but i am possibly totally wrong on that, bamboo being an exotic for me, and not something i've ever grown. but i recall seeing imagery of it in its natural habitat always in association with water. of course as soon as i start googling this i will find out that bamboos are such a large family of grasses that they have some for every climate from arid to soaking wet. :)

anyway, if you plant clumping bamboos, you don't need to especially contain them. they contain themselves. it's the running varieties that need containment.

[crazed-lynn.livejournal.com]

Bamboo does take a bit of water. But they are about the only thing that makes an effective screen without a big footprint. The clumping varieties send out runners, too, but very slowly. They tend to want to make round clumps and we want a long, then line. And if we put them in a container, we can reduce the amount of water needed by containing that, too.

I'll do pictures of the project along the way. It does mean buying a new camera, but new digitals are pretty cheap. It will be a good excuse!

[pir-anha.livejournal.com]

i am not trying to argue, just pondering what i am missing about the thought process, *heh*: so if you want to containerize the bamboo anyway, why clumping and not running? running bamboo is better suited to creating that long, thin line, no?

i really like bamboo though, clumping or running. :) i'd so love to have a grove of black bamboo and a little pond... lately i'm thinking more and more that maybe i should study horticulture and landscape design.

i love, love, love my digicam. i am at >10,000 pictures taken -- most of which are of course crap, but i have become a much better photographer in the process. it is so nice not to ever worry about development and print costs. and it's great fun for quickie snapshots of something to show to other people who couldn't be there.

[crazed-lynn.livejournal.com]

Bamboo variety hasn't been settled, but looking at the Sunset
Western Garden book, it seemed that the other quailities of the group 3 clumpers was better. But that was the first (and quick) scan.