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What are some ideas for some simple landscaping?

Landscaping ideas anyone?

  • I have a front yard that is mostly concrete & black, broken-up asphalt. It is hideous. I want to change it and at least get it to look half way decent. The problem is that I cannot figure out what to do. The concrete is nice and is pretty much a patio, but the asphalt just looks like the road runs into my house. Any ideas what to do with the asphalt? I would love grass or something, but do not want to rip the asphalt out (not sure if the ground underneath is even plantable). Anyway, let me know if you have any ideas for landscaping over asphalt. Thanks!!!

  • Answer:

    Depends on where you live. Lots of places recycle asphalt and concrete chunks as breakwaters. Also, asphalt can be recycled into new road surfaces. Contact your city/county waste disposal folks. They can provide help. If it is a small amount, your garbage can or try the dumpster behind the local store (metaphorically speaking wink, wink). On the other hand, leave it and container garden. Put your plants in pots. In grad school, rented a similar place (all concrete though) once and we used railroad ties, made a 16' x 24' raised lawn (2 ties high), capped with painted 2x10. Imported dirt, seeded it. The landlord liked it so much he reimbursed us. It had the best drainage and was totally weed free. It is still there 15 years later.

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Other answers

Call a landscaper and get an estimate

Ron

you could build one or more raised beds, fill them with dirt and plant flowers or a vegetable garden!

Nathalie D

This is a problem, because you should remove the asphalt, but the EPA thinks the asphalt you pull up is a hazzardous waste, so your disposal costs will be high. You could maybe build a wall (rock/stone or wood/railroad ties) and fill this with dirt to plant. Would need at least 6" of good soil, and maybe another 6" of rocks/sand on the bottom to facilitate drainage.

Jeffrey S

Maybe you can line the area around the asphalt with nice wood, almost like a curb. You sometimes see this in a normal yard to seperate flowerbeds from grass... in your case it would seperate road from yard. Then you can fill the now curbed in area with loose gravel to hind the asphalt. Ask at a local garden store if there are any desert bushes or plants that can grow in loose gravel, there could be a few.

lexie

You can't landscape over asphalt. If you want grass you will have to rip out the asphalt and put down top soil. It will end up being a few thousand of dollars, depending on the size. If you don't want to go through that you can just put lots of potted planters around the asphalt to distract you from the ground. You can also put down AstroTurf over it to hide it cheaply and maintenance free.

Shiner

If you are really clever, you will do what Jeffery says. Water will be the big problem, so be sure to use drought tolerant grass. Also, maybe you can break up enough asphalt to shape into wall units to retain the soil.

A Leighton

I'd rip up the asphalt. The ground underneath should be able to be planted on especially if you use sod or if you add fertilizer. If you leave it there, it will always be a problem in some way or another. Top soil can be bought and hauled in if you have to. I prefer to fix a problem rather than work around it and still have it there.

devilishblueyes

You are going to need at least 6" of soil over it and a way to contain it like metal stripping. Trimming the area with monkey grass may be a good option.

Texas Cowboy

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