r/LandscapingTips

I’m redesigning my front yard and somehow ended up with four different layouts using the same two crabapple trees. Yes, two trees. Yes, four layouts. Yes, I’m aware this is how people accidentally become landscape architects against their will.

Each layout changes where the white‑blossom tree goes, where the pink‑blossom tree goes, and how the garden bed wraps around them..... and now I can’t unsee the pros and cons of every single version. My brain has entered the “stare at the lawn and question my life choices” stage of the project.

Option 1: One big garden island with each tree on either side and a landscaping rock in the middle. Can be centered in the lower lawn OR on a diagonal and a bit to the left??

Option 2: White tree up and left near the hedge, garden, and pink tree down low and on the right.

Option 3: White tree down low and left with a garden around it, pink tree up near house/walkway.

Option 4: Same as 3, BUT with a garden around the pink tree, up nearer the house/walkway and no garden around the white tree.

*When mature, the trees will grow to 20-25 feet tall and 15-20 feet wide, and must be planted at least 15 feet apart

So I need your help: Which layout actually looks the best (balanced, intentional) and not like I let a raccoon design my yard?

Gut reactions, strong opinions, additional options, gentle roasts… all welcome. I’ve been staring at these designs too long to be trusted.

I need advice.. I need to level my lawn, has dips in various areas, but im also worried about how to deal with the grass also.. was thinking of completely starting overs by Tilling the ground, bringing loads of dirt.. than installing SOD. But was being told I don't have to Till.. just install the dirt, killing the old grass and installing the SOD to overlay it.. curious what everyone thinks.. maybe a different method? Thanks for any type of feedback!

Zone 8B - mix of some morning shade and some afternoon sun. Willing to make soil amendments. Sick of boxwoods! But need something that will complement and hopefully can add annuals in front of (willing to extend bed)

Recently bought a house in town that the previous owner had an above ground pool in the backyard. Under, around it he had about a 20 square foot area of sand. It is anywhere between 1 to 3 inches deep. Just using a shovel seems would take way to long. Short of using a front loader or small tractor, I can not think of any other ways to remove the sand. Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

I have a similar front set up and would like to copy. Thanks!

Hey! I have a small portion of yard up front by my driveway. I’m so sick of it tbh

I attached some pics— I’m looking to level it for now, and soon make it into a gravel driveway. The corner end meeting the street is the worse!

How would you do this properly?

Hi all. About a year ago I had a series of mature 24 gallon podocarpus trees planted behind my house. They've really gained some great height since then, but still haven't filled in in the center very much (where you see light in the photo). I've called around and spoke with a few gardeners in my area, and all of them have suggested "topping" or "pinching" the trees by removing material from the top to encourage them to fill in.

Unfortunately, each of them have seemed to suggest a different amount of material that must be removed on the top to accomplish this. AI seems to feel that I would only need to remove as little as 1 to 2 in from the top of the trees to break the "apical dominance" and to encourage them to fill in. Gardner #1 (an arborist) disagreed with this and felt that 6 in off the top would be necessary to encourage the desired thickness. Gardener #2 felt that 6 in would do nothing, and that I need to remove a minimum of 2 to 3 ft from the tops of the trees to encourage thickness.

At this point, I'm not sure who or what to believe. I do know that I hate the idea of removing 3 ft from the top of these beautiful trees, and it would dramatically set back the vertical privacy that I've gained from them. That said, if it's an absolute must to get them to fill in and close these gaps I'll do it. Do you guys have any experience with this or thoughts on the minimum amount of height removal necessary to encourage them to fill in?

We had the concrete steps to our front entrance replaced, and there’s an ugly dead zone left behind (it was ugly before, now worse).

This is in zone 6a. I’m fairly experienced with garden plants and projects, but true landscaping is not my wheelhouse.

What’s something we can diy here that will look decent and keep the ground from eroding or spilling mud into the driveway each time it rains? This area is fairly shaded.

This is about a third of my yard this year, it’s way worse than it ever has been before. Between this and the ground bees, my yard looks like Swiss cheese.

Is there any way to combat this? Can I just fertilize and seed like usual? Maybe silver lining is the loosened up my soil lol.

My backyard is about 70% shade. I have some erosion issues (large protruding roots) and haven't had much luck with grass. Thinking about putting down some K31 grass seed, because I've read it's good for erosion control. Some reviews say it does well in shady areas, and others say not. Any recommendations on the whole back yard would be very welcome! (the landscaping that you see was all done by the previous home owner).

Zone 8B turf type tall fescue. Lawn is about 60 days old and has not had its first cut yet. On week 2 post germination it experienced 2 consecutive days of 87 degree temps with 70 degree lows. Fungicide combo was applied 2 weeks ago

Handyman here, I built this Menards fire pit kit for a customer. I dug down about two inches and used sand underneath for leveling and compacted level with paver and mallet. I'm in Wisconsin, am I cooked? Is it gonna shift and crack from poor foundation? TIA

My palm tree is looking pale. Any way to revive it?

Also, I trimmed my bushes and they are looking bare. Anything I can do to make them look more lush and full?

I live in Central Florida.

We just bought a home, located in MI. Any advice on how to best utilize these spaces around our garage?

Hi all,

I’m looking to revamp my garden. The first photo is taken standing on the decking in the 2nd photo.

Thinking of going low maintenance/modern, but on a budget preferably.

Can people share ideas of how they’d do it? Would really appreciate some inspo!

The first photo is currently, the second is a bad photoshop attempt at imagining what I could do. The area receives full sun and I'm in zone 6.

The added bushes with pale yellow flowers are "hypericum sunny boulevard", hollyhocks in the back against the brick, the other large purple flowering bushes are butterfly bush, close to the ground purple is delosperma, then the other pink short flowers are armeria bloodstone.

These bloom at differing times from late spring to late fall.

What do you think of this plan? Any suggestions? I've never done this before, commentary appreciated

I have so much space but no creativity. What should I add or do to my garden? I know I need more plants but what else?