I need help guys!!

[ontheairship]

I've mostly been hanging around the forum researching for my "future veggie garden", but now the front yard needs some attention. We don't want to put in the veggies until we can get our fence up and we need HOA approval to do that (pain in the butt). We do want the front of the house to look nice in the meantime and maybe resolve some flooding issues.

The HOA is a big factor in this project. They are pretty lenient when it comes to landscaping (I can tell by how some neighbors have luscious gardens and others have a dump) but we can't go too crazy. My dream front yard would be 100% edible and neighbor-sharing friendly, but location, size, and money don't permit that so I need some help. My second issue is money. We got the house in foreclosure and even though it had been very well taken care, everything was original and 16 years old. We re did the floors, got a new AC unit and fridge, and redid the guest bathroom. With the tight budget comes my last big issue, I'll have to do it myself. I have about a million friends that "will help for sure" and then always have to work lol (they do make it for the BBQs though).

So here's the deal! The home used to be a rental so all landscaping is either very low maintanence or non existing. From the road the house looks ok. We will be painting eventually, but probably not until next year. The tree on the left needs to be trimmed back a bit because branches hit you in the face when you park, I just haven't done it yet. I figure I'll do it when I start everything else.

The flower bed in front of the bay window is filled with white rocks and weeds. We have sprayed and pulled weeds but now grass is growing instead. My partner doesn't really care what I do or how it looks as long as it looks nice and isn't "too much" so from here on out It's about me lol. I LOVE the crape myrtle tree in the corner and there is one behind it as well. The palm tree I do not really care for but it might fit in somewhere else. I was thinking about shrinking the flowerbed down to just behind the palm so it runs along with the walk way unless I get some better ideas from you guys. I would like it stay that size but need something that I can maintain myself. The biggest problem is the flooding! We live in Orlando FL and it rains all summer long. It's been dry two days and these pictures were taken today after about 6-8 hours of average florida rain.

The other area that floods is between the walkway and the garage. Right now we don't have gutters but we will be adding them with this project. I'm just not sure what we could put there.

Last but not least is the randomw bed next to the garage. I don't like the rose bush or the random floating bush and was thinking we could move the palm tree over here or remove it all together.

I've never done anything like this before and really need all your help and suggestions including plant suggestions. I really appreciate the help and hope to hear from you all. Thanks

 

[lesa]

You have a lovely home! Loads of possibilities! I won't get into specific plant ideas- since we live in different worlds, zone wise! Since water and heat are going to be such issues for you-I think going"native" is probably going to be your best bet. Mixing in edibles, may or may not be feasible depending on watering...What are you neighbors growing that looks lush- and how are they doing it? I would take my cues from them-they have probably already made mistakes! I am sure others with a more southernly viewpoint, will chime in! Keep us posted as you progress!

 

[digitS']

The biggest problem is the flooding!

I'm also in a different world but it looks like you really have to get control of the water.

Right now, water off your roof ends up crossing the concrete walkways and moving into the beds. Then, it flows out into your driveway and on to the street. I wonder if French drains would be of help to direct some of this flood out and under the lawn.

French Drain (click)

I had a new roof put on the house last year. Water had coming off one side and either running down our necks (as we moved around just beyond the deck) or saturating the ground and basement wall. We had a roof gutter installed on that side of the house before the roofing went on.

A few years ago, and to help with one problem (water on the basement wall), I had put in a little French drain right on the drip line. It was nothing more than a fiberglass roof gutter set in at ground level and covered with bricks along its length. At the end of this drain is a hole that was filled with large rocks. Yes, that is something of a "dry well" and it may not be legal.

The hole isn't more than 3' deep and not even that wide. The large rocks were covered with soil and sod.

With the roof gutter, the French drain is really no longer needed but I decided to leave the bricks in place. The bricks provide a curb between the lawn and bark along the basement wall. So, it is "curbing" and I'm wondering if something like that may be of help for you - a curb that covers a drain.

Of course, the drain would then run below the sod as it moves water across your lawn.

Not a planting idea but you may need engineering plans before anything else.

Steve

 

[NwMtGardener]

Yeah...do the french drain first. It will save you a headache later to get the water issue resolved. My husband and i put one in along the back wall of our house, right between the sidewalk and house, just like yours, and ran it under the walk to the other side, where we also put in something like Steve's dry well. There aren't TOO many laws about this kind of stuff in MT, so i suppose ours is legal!

It really just ends up being a mostly labor project, we dug out 2' down along the house for, oh, 20' or so!!! Then we ran the perforated drain pipe down the grade to our deeper hole on the other side of the walk, and backfilled with larger drain rock. I guess that was the largest expense, we got a dumptruck load of rock delivered - we had another area to do betweeen the house and garage, so we used LOTS. BONUS - all the dirt we moved we put into a raised bed for our veggies.

Its kind of disappointing to not jump right into fun stuff like picking out plants and arranging beds, but it will be worth it in the long run!!

 

[ontheairship]

Yeah...do the french drain first. It will save you a headache later to get the water issue resolved. My husband and i put one in along the back wall of our house, right between the sidewalk and house, just like yours, and ran it under the walk to the other side, where we also put in something like Steve's dry well. There aren't TOO many laws about this kind of stuff in MT, so i suppose ours is legal!

It really just ends up being a mostly labor project, we dug out 2' down along the house for, oh, 20' or so!!! Then we ran the perforated drain pipe down the grade to our deeper hole on the other side of the walk, and backfilled with larger drain rock. I guess that was the largest expense, we got a dumptruck load of rock delivered - we had another area to do betweeen the house and garage, so we used LOTS. BONUS - all the dirt we moved we put into a raised bed for our veggies.

Its kind of disappointing to not jump right into fun stuff like picking out plants and arranging beds, but it will be worth it in the long run!!

Do you think we could just reuse the white rocks from the flowerbeds? Also did you mean it should go here:
<a href="http://s7.photobucket.com/albums/y257/J-Cuban/?action=view&amp;current=drain1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y257/J-Cuban/drain1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

or here:
<a href="http://s7.photobucket.com/albums/y257/J-Cuban/?action=view&amp;current=drain2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y257/J-Cuban/drain2.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

I think my neighbor may have one that runs down their fence line and to the sidewalk. How exactly does it drain? will there neeed to be an exit hole? And lastly can I put sod down over it? Theirs has gravel all the way to the surface.

 

[NwMtGardener]

Well hrmm, your img links aren't showing up right on my computer in your second post, ontheairship. But maybe i can describe what i would do better...

In your first post, the 4th picture down shows that little strip of white rock on the left hand side of your sidewalk. Thats where i would start digging. A LOT of digging! I'm really not sure how far you should go down but we went 2 feet down, and removed all the dirt. If there's not much slope down your sidewalk, start closest to the house maybe at 1 and a half feet down, then gradually go deeper, so you have a grade to get the water moving. Then tunnel straight under the sidewalk into the other flower bed. I would continue your drainage ditch all the way to wherever you want that flowerbed to stop. Then dig a DEEPER hole, like maybe 3 feet down. Then lay perforated drainage pipe all down your new french drain, right to the pit at the bottom. Then backfill with larger rock. You could save all your white rock and put it back on top for a nice decorative look, but i'm thinking your going to need a lot more rock to fill in this huge ditch you just dug!!

I'm certainly no expert though, we only did this once!! Maybe someone else has some thoughts on how deep you need to go down, maybe you dont have to go as far as we did???

 

[NwMtGardener]

Oh, Forgot a few things - i dont think you would need to run it all the way out to the road, like your neighbors did, the point of the big pit at the bottom is to give the water a place to hang out while it slowly percolates down into the soil, rather than just adding to runoff problems on the street. I dont think you would need to cover it with sod if you're stopping in the flower bed, but it sounds like Steve's is grass covered? Ours is just gravel.

 

[ontheairship]

sorry about the link. I just shaded in two different areas of where I thought you were saying it would go but from your explanation both pictures were right lol. Thank you for the step by step directions, they will really help. I can already imagine this being a several day all day project. How big is your trench compared to how big mine will be and how much gravel/rocks did you use? Just so I have an idea of what I will need.

I figure we could pull all the rocks up at the same time we dig the trench and we will need to pick out plants then as well. Any suggestions? I don't want to be left with a giant dirt bed that will turn to mud the second it rains and I know if I put it off I'll never get to planting lol.

 

[NwMtGardener]

I'm not going to give any advice on what plants to pick out for florida, way different climate where i live! I did forget to mention tho that i would not put dirt, grass or plants in the little strip beside your sidewalk... It looks like the roof runoff may hit right in that little strip? If so, i would leave that area rock only, and plant in the bigger bed on the other side of the walk. As far as amount of rock, measure the three dimensions you"ll be digging, and tell the rock people - they"ll help you figure out how many cubic yards you'll need, and what tyoe of rock you want for drainage. Good luck, yes definitely take several days, and take pictures as you go and post them for us!!

 

[shadetech]

May I suggest you put up gutter and downspouts? Tie these into your "french drains" and much of your water problem will be solved before it becomes a problem.

henry