c/backyard-diy

Used to just toss chicken wire over my garden beds every spring

I did that for years thinking it kept the rabbits out. Last April after a weekend rain I went out and a fat groundhog had just pushed right under it and ate half my kale starts. Switched to a framed hardware cloth box with a hinged lid anchored to the ground with landscape staples. Now nothing gets in. Anybody else find out the hard way that wire on the ground isn't enough?

Been watching neighbors in my cul-de-sac build raised beds and they keep skipping this one step

Every single one of them just piles dirt straight on top of grass without putting down cardboard or landscape fabric underneath. After 3 years of watching my own beds turn into a weed nightmare, I finally asked and they all said they didn't think it mattered - has anyone else seen this catch up with people down the road?

Built a raised bed with treated lumber and my tomatoes are yellowing

I put together a 4x8 foot raised bed last month using pressure treated pine from Home Depot and now my tomato plants are looking sick. A guy at the local nursery said the copper in the treatment can mess with sensitive plants if the soil touches it directly. I lined the inside with heavy plastic but maybe that wasn't enough. Anyone else had issues with treated lumber and veggies?

Tried pouring boiling water on my patio pavers to kill weeds, worked way better than vinegar

I was sick of pulling weeds between the cracks every two weeks, so I boiled a big pot of water and dumped it on a patch last Saturday. The weeds were brown and shriveled by the next morning, and they haven't come back in that spot yet. Anybody else use heat instead of chemicals for this?

That moment I realized my compost bin was just a trash can

I finally figured out why my compost pile was always a slimy, smelly mess. For two years I was dumping in grass clippings and kitchen scraps without a single brown layer. My neighbor came over last Saturday and pointed out how wet and greasy it all looked. Turns out you need a 50/50 mix of greens and browns or it just rots instead of breaking down. Has anyone else made this mistake with their first pile or am I the only one?

Overheard a neighbor say he spends $600 a year on mulch and I almost choked on my coffee

I was out back last weekend re-staining my fence when my new neighbor Bob walks over. He was complaining about how much mulch he buys every spring for his flower beds. He said he drops about $600 a year on the bagged stuff from Home Depot. That got me thinking about how my dad used to just shred his own leaves and use that as mulch for free back in the 90s. Sure it broke down faster but it worked fine and saved a ton of money. Has anyone else switched to leaf mulch or wood chips from a tree service to cut costs?

I finally admit that $200 raised garden bed kit was a rip off

Last spring I dropped $200 on one of those modular raised bed kits from a big box store. Figured it would be easier than building my own. After 8 months the boards are already warping and the corners are pulling apart. Meanwhile my neighbor built his own with untreated pine for like $40. He sealed it himself and it's holding up way better than mine. Anyone else have luck with a specific wood sealer or should I just start over next spring?

Rant: That cheap fence stain I bought at Home Depot peeled off in 2 weeks

I spent last Saturday staining my whole backyard fence in Phoenix, 90 degrees out, sweating like crazy. By the next weekend, big chunks of it were flaking off in the sun and I almost threw the can in the trash. Has anyone else had luck with a specific stain brand that actually holds up here?

Tried building a pond from old pallets. Big mistake.

Got this idea from a Pinterest board. Thought I'd make a cheap backyard pond using free pallets. $40 later with liner and nails, I filled it up. Water poured out faster than my hose could keep up. Learned pallet wood warps and splits when wet. Should have just bought a preformed tub. Anyone else try a cheap pond build that failed?

Learned that untreated cedar only lasts 5 years as raised bed sides

I was building new raised beds last month and figured cedar would last forever like everyone says. Did some digging on a forestry extension site from Oregon State and found out untreated Western Red Cedar in ground contact only lasts 5-7 years max. The rot happens mostly at the soil line where moisture sits. That kinda surprised me because I thought I was buying a 15-year solution. Has anyone here tried using black locust or white oak for longer life on their beds?

Went to that big hardware store near Denver last weekend and saw someone return a half-used bag of concrete mix

The guy behind the counter didn't even blink, just took it back and gave him store credit. Has anyone else seen how lazy the return policies are getting?

That sagging gate project that took me 3 weekends instead of 1 day

Hit 100 square feet of paver patio and realized my slope was off

I was so focused on getting the pattern right I ignored the grade. Water pooled right against the house after a storm. 100 square feet is a lot to tear up and redo. Check your slope every 10 feet. Anyone else mess this up on their first big project?

That moment I flooded my whole backyard trying to install a drip system

I was in Fresno last summer setting up drip irrigation for my veggie beds and somehow cross-threaded the main valve adapter. Water shot out like a fire hose for 10 solid minutes before I found the shutoff (which was buried under three bags of mulch). Has anyone found a foolproof way to test connections without turning the water on full blast?

Chose a $40 hand auger over a gas powered one for post holes and boy was that a mistake

After 3 hours of sweating and only getting 2 holes dug 18 inches deep in clay soil I finally gave up and rented a power auger from Home Depot for $65 finishing the other 6 holes in under an hour has anyone else had better luck with hand tools for hard ground?

I finally looked up how much water my rain barrel really holds

I've had this 55 gallon rain barrel under my downspout for about 2 years now. Never really thought about it much until last week when I was trying to figure out why my tomatoes were still drying out during a dry spell. So I grabbed a 5 gallon bucket and started counting how many trips it would take to fill it up from the barrel. Turned out the barrel only had about 30 gallons in it even after a good storm. I did some digging online and found out that a 1 inch rain on a 1,000 square foot roof gives you around 600 gallons of runoff. That blew my mind. My little backyard setup is barely catching a fraction of what's possible. Anyone else ever do the math on their rain collection and realize they're way undersized?

Overheard my neighbor yelling at his new fence for 20 minutes straight

So I'm out back last Saturday trying to stain my old deck, and my new neighbor is putting up a cedar fence section. He keeps shouting at it like it's gonna listen. Like 'stay level you stupid board' and 'why won't you just fit right.' Honest to god I thought he was on the phone. But nope, just talking to lumber. It got me thinking about how many times I've cussed out a project tool or material when really I just didn't prep right lol. You guys ever catch yourself yelling at inanimate yard stuff during a build?

Shoutout to my cheap paver patio after 3 years holding up

I built a small 8x10 paver patio in my backyard in Phoenix last summer on a $200 budget. Used those plain concrete pavers from Lowe's and just sand between them. Three monsoons and tons of sun later, it's still level and barely any weeds poking through. Anyone else try the low budget paver route and have it actually work out long term?

My neighbor's rosemary bush changed my whole plan

I was digging a new bed out back and my neighbor handed me a clipping of her massive rosemary bush. Said she never bought a single starter plant for it, just kept trimming and replanting for 8 years. Has anyone else gotten way more mileage out of one plant than you expected?

I had to choose between a privacy fence and a hedge row...

Last spring I couldn't decide if I wanted a wooden fence or a line of arborvitae along my back property line. The fence was $2,800 installed, the hedging was about $400 if I did it myself. I went cheap with the hedge, and now 14 months later half of them are dead and my neighbor's dog keeps staring at me through the gaps. Should I just tear them out and get the fence or try replacing the dead ones?

Vent: That $80 rain barrel I installed in April cracked in July

Picked up a plastic rain barrel from a hardware store in town for 80 bucks. Hooked it up to my downspout, thought I was being smart saving water for my tomatoes. Two months later I found a crack along the bottom seam, leaked all over my porch foundation. Anyone else have luck with the metal ones or should I just go back to a hose?

Drove way out to a lumber yard in Modesto last week

They had this massive pile of cedar scraps nobody wanted. The guy said I could take whatever I wanted for free. How do you guys find places like this without driving all over the state?

My paver patio project turned into a 3 day nightmare last week

I spent all Saturday laying a 10x12 paver patio in my backyard, only to realize Sunday morning that I'd forgotten the base gravel layer... Had to rip up 80 pavers and start over. Has anyone else had a project go that sideways on them?

I built a $40 drip irrigation system that works better than my old $200 kit

Finally got tired of dragging hoses around last May so I pieced together a setup from Home Depot using 1/2 inch poly tubing, some 1/4 inch drip lines, and a timer off Amazon. My old Rain Bird kit always clogged at the emitters after two months. This cheap rig has been running since June with zero clogs. Anyone else had better luck with the DIY route over the pre-packaged kits?

TIL I was overcomplicating my raised bed soil mix

For two years I kept buying bags of fancy potting soil and mixing in perlite and vermiculite for my backyard raised beds. Then my neighbor who grows amazing tomatoes just said "use straight topsoil and compost from the landscape supply, 50/50." I tried it this spring with one bed and the veggies are twice as big as my other bed with the store bought mix. Anyone else find out they were wasting money on unnecessary soil amendments?