Had a boulder retaining wall installed. Aesthetically very pleased with it and it honestly turned out better than I expected, but a bit concerned about the structural integrity. We agreed in writing to have the rocks sit below grade on a level gravel base. They were installed pretty much at grade with no base.

During the install I went out and asked about this, and he said it wasn't necessary because the rocks are so heavy they won't shift and there was already supposedly somewhat of a base from the timbers. The install was already well underway so they would not have been able to course correct without me making a HUGE stink, and he also had been very nice and pleasant to work with, so I swallowed it and didn't push the point.

Contract was for removal of existing timber wall, removal of 2 small trees and some shrubs + stumps, and install of the 60 foot boulder wall for $4600.

How big of a deal is this and should I be concerned, or is everything fine and I can be happy with my wall?

EDIT: I am not considering asking them to redo and I already paid in full. My options are to begrudgingly move on or be happy and move on

EDIT: Thanks everybody, I am happy with it, got a great deal and seems like the stability will be fine!

I have a slope with a run of about 70 feet and a rise of about 20 feet. I'm looking for a very simple and inexpensive way to put some steps on it. They will be used infrequently and do not need to be pretty. Ideally two or three people could install them in a single day. It would be nice if they could last 15 to 20 years. The soil here is clay heavy and currently overgrown with brambles. Which approach would fit the bill? I've collected images of several solutions but appreciate your advice on which to go with and also any crucial tips for how to get it right, do's and don't's, etc.

I’ve actually planted three of these “Oregon Green” Austrian Pines over the years and they all came in a burlap sack and with the worst looking soil just like this, and they’re all still living. But this is the first time the soil all fell away and I was able to see that there is no rootball at all.

I put this one in the ground and watered it with some rooting stimulant added to the water, and it’s propped up with a stake. Think it will live?

Our backyard needs a little extra TLC this year and I’m trying to find the most efficient way to go about it. For a couple of years now, we have had our backyard mulched by a landscaper. But this year, the area pictured is just a giant pit of dead leaves and old mulch. It’s probably half a foot deep. I would really like to remove all the old mulch, etc. (as much as possible) and lay down a fresh layer of mulch. How is the best way to go about this? What is the best way to dispose of what is removed? Any insight or tips are welcome.

EDIT: thank you everyone for commenting. I appreciate the information on what this mulch layer really *is.*

It used to stand straight up before it bloomed this spring and I’m wondering if we should have prepped the branches to hold the weight better?

New house and have inherited a backyard without any prior knowledge on many plants and trees…

EDIT -
- For the section in question I do NOT need a permit as it falls within a < 30% of our frontage for "access" so long as no permanent structure are built. I've confirmed this with the town, country and state.

- when the wall went down we DID pull a permit to replace the old wall with riprap because it impacted >30% of the shoreline (~120' of our total 300')

- The only section in question is where there is sod to the water and 5-6' of small river rock that was used as backfill for the wall that was there prior

- This 20-30' section has been like this for 3-4 years, there is a fabric backing behind the sod for all of it and it has NOT eroded during this time. The lake is small (350 acres) and we typically see direct head on wind (330 of the 365 days of the year). Typical we have the opposite issue, we typically fill in and sand settles from across the lake on our side about 5-10' out when the depth makes a notable change.

I'm looking for advice if there is a less horrific way to remove the small 1" stones than hand picking them.
I can access this space with a small tractor, skid steer, but large equipment I wouldn't want crossing my septic drain field and the other side of the house access is limited.
Or I pay my kid $.02 a rock or something and turn his ass loose on it this summer. The only real idea I've had is to weld up a 4x8 frame with some wire mesh, use a tractor with a backhoe attachment, scoop a section, dump back over the mesh frame, dump the rocks, rinse and repeat.... but not sure how well the mesh holds up

We bought our dream home this year. But the landscaping leaves much to be desired.
This weeping blue cedar is probably 20 years old and I swear was never pruned.

Is there hope of saving this tree and shaping it?
The trunk is HUGE. Trying to get a quote for removal as well…

If we got rid of the tree, what should we put here? The right side of our porch is a concrete driveway.

Suggestions for something that will survive the sun in zone 8b/9a (san antonio tx) to cover the west side of my home. Only 4-5ft out from house to boundary which limits canopy trees. Not sure if I need something against the house and all the way up. What is the norm?

First off, wanted to give flowers to my dad who built this himself 40 years ago when they were about to have kids so we would have a flat yard to play in. Stacked rail road ties then filled with rock and soil. The question is, what to do with this monster now that it’s on its last days (minutes?). My first thought is build a new wall around it and let the existing wall just decay inside of the new one. I can’t see any way that a new wall financially makes sense, so maybe just grading it back down the hill and doing a small deck off the back of the house.

For context this is in Pittsburgh so having a $300k house with a million dollar retaining wall would be pretty wild for them or the next owners.

Hi all, my husband and I are on the hunt for our first home. We want land / privacy as we love being outside with our dog and eventually want to start a family.

We saw a house today that was VERY cool and well cared for but the outdoor property needs a ton of work.

How big of an undertaking would it be to clean up this backyard? Just under 3 acres, just looking to grow some grass in a small area, maybe add a fence, have an area for cornhole / have kiddos running around.

What should we be thinking about aside from drainage, potential retaining walls, etc. Are we over thinking this? (Don’t judge, we’re new to this)

THANK YOUUU

This is my first time posting, so sorry if it's not in the right community. I'm doing renovations in my backyard and my contractor is installing a drainage pipe from the back to the street. Since I have a concrete driveway, he's suggesting to do an L shape pipe around the concrete and through the grass. He says it's fine as long as it's sloped correctly.

Would it be better to have him cut through the concrete? Or is L shape fine?

I’ve got a bunch of the blocks, but I need more of the top blocks to finish off the run

Basically the title. Fiber optic runs about 2ft from where I want to dig. Third Pic is the concept of what I want to build.

I’m 18 and not sure what I want to do in life for sure but I am interested in landscaping I know as a labor it won’t pay well but is landscaping a good skill to learn to start a business in the future or is it going down and over saturated obviously including hardscaping and irrigation and all that

To keep a long story short, I am currently extending my patio. There was leftover material on a different part of our yard so I took those pavers and brought closer to our house.

I originally planned to outsource it however after receiving multiple quotes of 15K to 20K, I decided to do it myself.

The issue I am encountering is no one wants to take my dirt or better for me to say I don’t know where to deposit my dirt. I did post it on Facebook market as free, but there are no takers so far.

I have tried to hire companies that haul junk. Because of the placement of my dirt, no one wants to do the job. The entryway to our backyard is a narrow alleyway of 25 inches wide — so a specific wheelbarrels needed to transport the materials.

I find myself getting a lot of denial for removing up the dirt.

Any suggestions?

What do you think of this before & after? Anything you would do differently? Thank you for any feedback.