Ever have a BTD moment you weren't sure you could even do?

[statsman]

Our 2019 house was built in a housing tract of ~120 houses in the Edwards Plateau/Hill Country section of Central Texas. The backward has about 2,400 sq ft of planting space that is currently all Bermuda grass (ugh!). Worse than that, dig down 1" or so under the grass, and there is limestone. Lots of it. Almost as bad is the lot slopes downward from the back fence to the front of the property.

The good news is any substantial rain (rare these days, it seems) will flow to either side of our house, in the grass away from the foundation and patio, between us and both next door neighbors. At least there isn't much in the way of standing water after a lot of rainfall, and if there is, it's in a few low spots in the backyard and one side lawn.

We would love to have at least half of the backyard lawn removed and replaced with a planting area for shrubs, perennials, and maybe some vegetables. I don't think the Bermuda grass, invasive as it is, is rooted all that deeply into and between the limestone. But I can't imagine what this will require and whether this is even possible. If it is, I sense a large BTD moment.

 

[38Chevy454]

You need to kill the grass with RoundUp or similar herbicide. Once dead and brown, you can remove it. You will need to bring in good topsoil if you want any plants to grow in the area, beyond native plants that can live in the low topsoil.

 

[statsman]

Removing the Bermuda is the least of my problems. It will be the limestone and drainage issues that would break the bank, and probably tearing up the front yard to get to it.

 

[audreyh1]

If you are up on the Edward’s Plateau you will have almost no topsoil unless you are in a valley.That’s just the way it is. Grass seems to do fine on that shallow soil layer - have you tried St. Augustine Grass instead of Bermuda? Raised beds for flowers etc. are necessary.

 

[tfudtuckerpucker]

One thing I learned from living in your area- don't assume you can plant a tree or shrub wherever you like. All those live oak trees there have found a crack between limestone slabs to get their roots to water. Once I even used a jackhammer to plant a tree, but ended up with a shallow pan carved in the limestone. You can spend a ton of money hauling in topsoil if you want. But you can't choose where to plant trees or large shrubs.

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

To prepare for replacing an old fence, we had about 4-5,000 square feet of bamboo removed, roots and all, and the area resodded. I think it was about $4-5K 15 years ago, and of course the cost will vary by region. (We're in a VHCOL suburb in the mid-Atlantic.) IMO it was totally worth it, as it feels like our yard grew in size. Hope that helps.

 

[statsman]

If you are up on the Edward’s Plateau you will have almost no topsoil unless you are in a valley.That’s just the way it is. Grass seems to do fine on that shallow soil layer - have you tried St. Augustine Grass instead of Bermuda? Raised beds for flowers etc. are necessary.

I think there is some clay in the soil here. Just not a lot of it, but enough to where wildflowers and weeds do just fine around the city in open land. When they landscaped the front yard, they built up the soil in the area 8' from the house, which I have since extended out to about 9'. Given it was partly topsoil on the lot they used as filler, it was quite rocky. They brought in some topsoil and compost for filler, but they didn't do a lot.

Over the course of 4+ years, I have added topsoil and also amended this area multiple times when planting and re-planting/moving shrubs and perennials. I now have a foot deep of workable, living soil (the earthworms and some grubs are sure numerous there). Because the lot slopes downward toward the street, any excess water in this main front bed will drain away from the bed. If this were a planting bed built over flat, hard-to-drain limestone, I think standing water under any created soil would become a long-term issue.

I have no interest in planting a tree or large shrubs in the backyard. Mostly shrubs under 6' high and some perennials. It's what we have in the front yard outside of the two Live Oak trees the builder planted by direction of the city. Not a fan of Live Oaks.

 

[kgtest]

I have an interesting setup where their is drainage to a lake that runs somewhat through my backyard. We've been on a historic drought, but when I moved in, it had flooded all the way up to my back door (lower walkout 2 story). This was after the PO had done "some" stuff to re-grade. My neighbors would have a small lake that I would treat for misquitos every spring.

I spent a lot of time and sweat equity plus a bit of dough myself to improve things. No limestone, but lots of clay where I am so I needed LOTS of topsoil. Hauled it all in. I think I had over 20 yards in total I hauled in. Then quite a few yards in hard scapes, as well as mulch.

We placed and did all of the work ourselves. Built a few retaining walls, removed shrubs and trees. I actually had to start a tree service to manage my property. I still have at least 3 more trees to remove, if not 4... 2 are dead. And then I can probably start replanting.

Long story short, the neighbors are super impressed with what we managed to accomplish. I was trying to address drainage and we also added some gutters. I think when the floods do come this next round we will be much better protected.

 

[statsman]

kgtest, I think what you described sounds worse than our situation. The ground here may be mostly limestone, but at least with the slope of the lot and the grading of the lawns downward away from the house foundation, patio, and front porch, any large rainstorms will flow toward the front of the lot through the lawns and down the street to the water/flood control zone.

 

[aja8888]

St. Augustine grass will grow on concrete if you routinely fertilize and water it.

 

[pjigar]

This one is so easy. Just do raised beds spaced enough to have drainage space in between. Follow the slop lengthwise for a proper drainage.. Once you raise beds, you will never go back. The side walls can be cheap cedar fence pickets, or 2x6 treated wood or anything fancy like metal, moulded plastic, cedar 2x6, etc.

If BTD is your aim then you can do "Mel's mix": Equal part coarse vermiculite, peat moss and compost. Or if you have a large area on budget then you can try "My mix": Till native (clay for us) soil or added top soil, till again with 3" of expanded shale, till one more time with 3" of compost. Side walls on raised beds are optional!

 

[statsman]

This one is so easy. Just do raised beds spaced enough to have drainage space in between. Follow the slop lengthwise for a proper drainage.. Once you raise beds, you will never go back. The side walls can be cheap cedar fence pickets, or 2x6 treated wood or anything fancy like metal, moulded plastic, cedar 2x6, etc.

For shrubs and perennials? I could see it if this were for a vegetable and fruit garden, along with plants for cut flower arrangements. Having a hard time visualizing this for plantings that would be more casual in design.

Side walls on raised beds are optional!

So, raised mounds? Sounds like a wash-out issue waiting to happen, especially for any mulch layered on the top of the soil. This all sounds intriguing, but I wish I could see this in action.

 

[pjigar]

For shrubs and perennials? I could see it if this were for a vegetable and fruit garden, along with plants for cut flower arrangements. Having a hard time visualizing this.


So, raised mounds? Sounds like a wash-out issue waiting to happen, especially for any mulch layered on the top of the soil. This all sounds intriguing, but I wish I could see this in action.

Yes, raised mounds at strategic locations where you need them. Washout can be minimized if you mulch around and on the mounds. You can do decorative rock boarders if that appeals you. Basically the idea is to raise the ground rather than digging it.

PS: I have attached couple of images: Imagine the concrete being the raised mound to "imagine" what you will end up with.

 

[statsman]

Well, the project is in stall mode as I can't get someone out to modify the backyard. Nearly all of them just want to jackhammer spots in the Bermuda grass and plant large shrubs or trees there. We want to be able to plant small/medium shrubs and perennials.

The other option of using raised beds doesn't have the approval of DW. Too boring looking to have plants in straight-line raised neds unless we're doing a vegetable garden (we aren't). So, the crappy looking Bermuda just sits on a 70' wide by 32' deep spot.

Maybe our kid will move to someplace like North Carolina for a new job and we will just follow. Working in clay, which has its own challenges, is far more doable than what passes for soil here in our part of Central Texas/Edwards Plateau.

 

[skyking1]

In terms of dough, you can probably rent a 26 or 35 sized mini and a hammer for about 2k per week.
Fly me down for a couple of days for a lesson, and now you know how to fish, so to speak
It would make short work of any tree and shrub locations you desired. The rest is bringing in the plantings and soil.
I can show you pictures of the destruction of a 40,000 pound reinforced concrete hot tub and water feature for comparison.