I'm in 20016 and I feel like hardly anyone else does their own yard work. I enjoy it and I think it's good for the kids to see myself and hubby taking care of our home.

F yer neighbors.

We're in 22207, DW does all our gardening and also runs her garden maint. business 2 days a week (when not at her other job).

We get a constant stream of neighbors walking by and saying how great the yard & garden look and what a great job she does.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's one thing I really love about my neighborhood, that it seems like most of us do our own yard work. So when I walk my dogs on the weekend, I see everyone out mulching or planting or edging or whatever. Something about it seems like it's how a neighborhood should be.

It's a solidly middle class (probably lower class by DCUM standards) neighborhood.

Pimmit Hills!!

I was gardening this weekend in PH! (weeding, watering. . )

Our MD neighborhood is about 50-50 with people who use services versus doing in themselves. It's always clear who has a service (very tidy, but no plant variety and trees always over-mulched), who is a gardener (lots of beds with flowers all seasons and native shrubs but lawn often scraggly), and who does their own but doesn't care either way (lawn mown, beds often weedy, and basic shrubs). It's fun to walk around town in the evenings and see the variety as it warms up and everything starts to bloom.

10:20, Do you want a large veggie garden or did it just come with the house?

Veggie gardening is the most labor-intensive type of gardening because it requires more water and pests like to eat your veggies. Start small with a couple of tomato plants and a little basil. Beware that weeds quickly invade any unplanted space, though. You might want to fill the veggie garden with annual flowers until you decide what you want to do with it long-term.

Most perennial herbs are easy to grow unless the soil stays wet.

Information from the University of Maryland extension service is very helpful and applies to Fairfax (if they give different advice based on region of MD go by their recommendations for Southern/Eastern MD).

http://extension.umd.edu/hgic/resource-library/home-and-garden-information-center-publications

In any case, you should probably start mowing the lawn soon so it doesn't get too overgrown. Set the mower height to 3 inches, which is healthier for the grass, and cut 1-2 times per week in the spring. Don't mow when the grass is wet.

My DH and I bought a house on a half acre in Fairfax County a few months ago and neither of us has a clue about how to maintain our yard or a large veggie garden plot in it. And we really don't have a budget for landscaping (certainly not to hire someone). Anyone have suggestions about how and where to start?

I'm with 22:34 - I like my neighborhood in part because most of us do our own yardwork. We're in 22207 near Yorktown HS. I love yardwork season. There's nothing more instantly gratifying than weeding and mowing and edging the lawn and then stepping back to look at what you've done. Spent the weekend planting my veggie garden on Saturday and my tomato/flower garden on Sunday, plus my herb planters and now I can't wait to sit out there with a glass of wine and just chill.

Anonymous wrote:I'm a recent city dweller who was so excited to have a yard and get into gardening this spring. I was out yesterday with my two little kids, weeding, planting, and pulling out what I THOUGHT were maple seedlings (we have three large trees in our yard). Nope. They're poison ivy and we have a huge patch of it growing right next to the kids' playhouse. Kind of killed my gardening enthusiasm! Now I'm just waiting for the rash to show up on everyone, especially me as I'm extremely allergic to PI. ARGH.

Off to start a post on poison ivy removal....

Poison Ivy is a deceptively pretty plant. I pulled some out as a kid thinking it was just the prettiest plant and I wanted to show my mom, and then everyone freaked out. I don't think maples tend to spawn seedlings, I've never seen one even though my parents have always had a few trees (they have 3 acres of land at this point). I'm probably wrong though.

I'm a recent city dweller who was so excited to have a yard and get into gardening this spring. I was out yesterday with my two little kids, weeding, planting, and pulling out what I THOUGHT were maple seedlings (we have three large trees in our yard). Nope. They're poison ivy and we have a huge patch of it growing right next to the kids' playhouse. Kind of killed my gardening enthusiasm! Now I'm just waiting for the rash to show up on everyone, especially me as I'm extremely allergic to PI. ARGH.

Off to start a post on poison ivy removal....

I wish I could do much more! The soil around here is awful; very heavy and hard to dig in anything. We have someone cut the lawn once per week and I do put in smaller perennials and have lots of pots going.

The landscapers around here are TERRIBLE compared to where my beach place is. Much more expense and they rip out anything they can't identify. One company cut down a mature $350 witch hazel - multi-trunked. They just hacked it down to the stumps. WHO DOES THAT?

I love it too I just wish I had more time though. I find it very peaceful and satisfying and it's a fantastic workout!

Anonymous wrote:That's one thing I really love about my neighborhood, that it seems like most of us do our own yard work. So when I walk my dogs on the weekend, I see everyone out mulching or planting or edging or whatever. Something about it seems like it's how a neighborhood should be.

It's a solidly middle class (probably lower class by DCUM standards) neighborhood.

Pimmit Hills!!

That's one thing I really love about my neighborhood, that it seems like most of us do our own yard work. So when I walk my dogs on the weekend, I see everyone out mulching or planting or edging or whatever. Something about it seems like it's how a neighborhood should be.

It's a solidly middle class (probably lower class by DCUM standards) neighborhood.

But isn't it satisfying? I weirdly love gardening, getting my hands in the dirt, adding new plants, moving stuff around, putting mulch and making things look pretty. Most of our neighbors use a service too, OP, and we don't even live in a wealthy area!

Our neighbors in 22207 look at us like we are freaks because we do our own lawn care and landscaping.

that is all.