Sandra asks…
Things to keep in mind for landscape design?
I am currently trying plan a design for my backyard landscape, does anyone know of anythings I should keep in mind? I live in zone 10b and have dogs and know that I want something relatively low maintainance. What are things that are more on the actual design side that I should think about?
Suntan answers:
Several things.
1. Water movement and pooling – if you have areas that are more wet, look for plants that prefer wet soil.
2. Sun – obviously know what type of light the plant likes.
3. PH. Plants that like a higher pH soil are happier next to the house in most soils. Typically, the foundation of a house is concrete which leaks lime into the soil.
4. Roots – most trees should be 10 feet from the house. Be careful with Silver Maple, Cherry and Redwood. Trees like these can actually push in the walls of a submerged basement, tear up sidewalks and wreak havoc.
5. Compatibility. Some plants are toxic to other plants. Black Walnut will kill just about everything around it.
6. Size at maturity. People buy “cute” shrubs because they like the flowers or color. 10 years later, they’re living in Sleeping Beauty’s castle, surrounded by a jungle.
7. Color arrangement. Consider different layers – light greens, white, reds, etc. Don’t just use monotone green. Contrast the color of the house with a shrub, then put another contrast in front of that. If you have room – 3 layers is very luxurious looking.
8. Maintenance. If you don’t want to trim or divide, look for things that grow more slowly. In 10b, you probably use Bermuda grass? Consider putting in solid flowerbed edging to stop or severely deter invasive runners. If you have Fescue, you don’t have to worry as much.
9. Flowers. Leave limited space for annuals if you want some really amazing color. Otherwise, look at some perennials. Note, however, that Perennials get bigger and bigger each year.
10. Fire. This is more an issue in dry climates. Consider rock against the house rather than mulch. Mulch is very VERY flamable in hot dry weather. Even in the moderate areas of the Northeast, it’s not uncommon for catastrophic fires to start in flowerbeds when someone flips a burning cigarette into someone’s yard and it lands in the mulch.
11. Shade – put deciduous trees around the south and west sides. The leaves will reduce your power bills in the summer. But they will drop their leaves in the winter allowing that sun to warm the house. Of course – in 10b, this might not matter! Go with Palm Trees!
12. Go Native. Look for plants that are native to your area. They’re more likely to survive weather cycles. Imported plants are most prone to escape and cause environmental problems. Look at Honeysuckle in the Northeast, Kudzu in the South, etc.
Donald asks…
Do you think dogs can’t be happy living outside?
Someone told me our dog can’t be happy living outside. I’m fourteen and it was never my decision, but our spoodle Zachary (Zak) lives outside pretty much all the time. We live in Australia so he’s not to cold, we’ve designed an area for him that’s under shelter and is protected from the wind, and he has plenty of room to run around outside which he does a lot. Personally I think it’s best for him because he’s very active and playful and there wouldn’t be room for him in our small house, compared to our very large backyard full of more stimulating things for him.
Here’s a video of him; can you honestly watch this and say that this dog looks unhappy and neglected? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDLz-IFvnV0
Suntan answers:
It really depends on the breed. Some breeds are really clingy while others are fine. No way a clingy breed should be left outside.
Laura asks…
What do you think of this idea for a television show?
A failed/aspiring documentary film director goes back to his hometown to make a documentary about the California Condor. While he’s there he decides to go see the house he grew up in. When shows up to his old house, the guy owning it is the strangest person he has ever met. Imagine a guy who is 6’7″ 300lbs, has a beard and extremely long curly hair, wearing a hawaiian shirt and a pair of khaki dress pants with croc sandles, and talks with a lisp. So he gets a tour of the house, and is amazed at what he sees. The man has made some of the most incredible and revolutionary inventions and artwork of the century. Like a working perpetual energy machine (which he made just so he could grow large quantities of marijuana and be completely of the grid), beautiful sculptures, designs for compact jetpacks, extremely high tech computers, etc. weird stuff like that. And his house is completely filled with all sorts of animals (without any cages), rabbits, hamsters, ferrets, maybe a donkey in the backyard, tortoises, a couple of dogs and a ton of cats. And as the story goes on you find out that this guy inherited millions of dollars from his parents (who hated him), and was homeless in Hawaii until his parents and entire family died in a plane accident. So when he got the money he bought a house in Northern California to look for the legendary Sasquatch.
And the episodes just different adventures and problems that the guy runs into through out his life. Like going on Sasquatch expeditions, DEA and police snooping around his house, people trying to steal his inventions, meeting women (now that would be an interesting episode), and just things of that nature.
And i forgot to add the director would end his documentary on the Condors and make it just about this guy.
Suntan answers:
Sounds…interesting.
Who would you cast?
Whats the film style? Documentary? Sitcom? Etc.
Is it a drama? Comedy? Action series?
What network are you going for? Disney for family? A&E? History?
Still to many open ended questions. You would NOT want to pitch it quite yet until those questions above are answered and have at LEAST 25 themes/ideas for the first season.
Overall, its nothing more than just a start – should really dig in deeper and develop the characters more. Unless it was a comedy on fox/abc, or a history show on the history channel or discovery….I probably wouldnt watch.
Ken asks…
What do you think about this TV SHOW idea?
A failed/aspiring documentary film director goes back to his hometown to make a documentary about the California Condor. While he’s there he decides to go see the house he grew up in. When he shows up at his old house, the current owner is the strangest guy he has ever met. He’s 6’7″ 300lbs, has a beard and extremely long, curly hair with a hawaiian shirt and a pair of khaki dress pants with croc sandles, and talks with a lisp.
The fat guy gives the film director a tour of his house, and he is amazed at what he sees. The man has made some incredible and revolutionary inventions and artwork of the century. Like a working perpetual energy machine (which he made just so he could grow large quantities of marijuana and be completely off the grid), beautiful sculptures, designs for compact jetpacks, extremely high tech computers (for brazilian fart porn) and weird stuff like that. And his house is completely filled with all sorts of animals, rabbits, hamsters, ferrets, maybe a donkey in the backyard, tortoises, a couple of dogs and a ton of cats. He acts like a staunch, but he has a homo crush on the guy who works at McDonalds, who he honest to God thinks is Snoop Dogg. And the story goes on, and you find out that he inherited millions from his parents (who hated him) and was homeless in Hawaii until his parents and entire family died in a plane accident. So when he got the money he bought a house in Northern California to look for the legendary Sasquatch.
And the episodes center around different adventures and problems the guy runs into through out his journey for the sasquatch (and his homo crush on the guy from McDonalds), going on Sasquatch expeditions, DEA and police snooping around his house, stakeouts, people trying to steal his inventions/marijuana, meeting women, and **** like that.
And the director would end his documentary on the Condors and just make it about this guy, and he puts his short documentary webisodes on the net as they go from place to place. The style will be comedy/mockumentary style. Weird **** will happen, and he will have 1 pervert Mexican friend called Spicy Churro who smokes most of his stash and girls hate him coz hes a creep
yeah you can nigga
BASICALLY, A GANJA SMOKING FAT GUY WHO CRACKS THE FAT OVER SNOOP DOGG, IS ON A MISSION TO FIND A SASQUATCH IN CALIFORNIA. HE MAKES AMAZING INVENTIONS, LIKE SUPER DUPER SMART COMPUTERS, SO HE CAN WATCH BRAZILIAN FART PORN (TO DISTRACT HIM FROM HIS LOVE FOR SNOOP DOGG AKA THE GUY WHO WORKS AT MCDONALDS) AND IT FOLLOWS HIS ADVENTURE AROUND THE USA TRYING TO FIND A SASQUATCH OKAYYYYYY
Suntan answers:
Ahh too much at this time of night
James asks…
Backyard like a warzone. Ideas for landscaping?
My family bought a do-up house and have spent a lot of time on the inside, and are ready to start on the outside. We have a long narrow yard with a terribly uneven lawn and an area at the end of the section where the lawn is so choked with tree roots that we can’t even get a spade in the soil. We want landscaping that will hold up with a dog and three children, but can’t afford any major hard landscaping work at the moment after spending lots indoors. Can anyone suggest links to good gardening websites with lanscape plan ideas or ideas for garden design on a tight budget?
Suntan answers:
HGTV.com is the one that comes to mind. But talk to your local garden center for ideas too.
Might I suggest a lot of mulch and curvy lines to draw attention away from how narrow your yard is? And for that area that has all the tree roots- if you can’t get them out, perhaps you can build a piece of garden statuary in it.
Good luck!
Good luck!
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