MENUThe simple answer is, “No.” However, the more complete answer isn’t so simple. Identifying a perfect plant is like defining beauty. Both are in the eye of the beholder. In the case of plants, however, they are living organisms, so a plant that may be perfect in one environment may be totally out of place in another.All this leads back to the landscaping mantra: “Right plant, right place.” If your idea of a perfect plant is one that is low maintenance, don’t plant a shade tolerant plant in bright sun and vice versa. Or don’t plant a drought tolerant plant in a swamp. Today, low maintenance plants are the most sought after because property owners don’t have the time to spend on their landscapes or in the garden.Among the sought after plants in the public’s quest for the perfect plant these days are dwarf and compact plants and reblooming and extended blooming plants. Endless summer hydrangea is an example of an extended blooming plant.I thought about including my list of perfect plants, but that would be just that – my opinion. I realized that when I wrote the last paragraph. I would have included Endless Summer hydrangea on my list. But, hydrangea is one of only a few plants that an avid gardening friend of mine absolutely does not like. Many other readers could also find fault with my list, so I decided to leave that out.Rather than trying to find an absolutely perfect plant species or variety, look for the best plant you can find when you go to the nursery. When buying flowering plants, look for healthy leaves and flower buds. If you buy plants in full bloom, they may be all done flowering when you get them in the ground.When shopping for plants, be sure they look as close to specimens (what the ideal plants look like) as possible. If they are balled and burlap, rootballs should be solid, firm and moist, not dried out or the twine too tight around the trunk. Rootballs should be 10-12 times larger than the trunk.If the plants are in pots, be sure the roots are well established and in firm, moist soil. The roots should not protrude out of the pot nor should they be pot bound. Look for fat leaf or flower buds ready to burst. Also, look for living branches, and no skinned trunk or diseased leaves. In spring, new growth should be evident on conifers.While we cannot identify a perfect plant, following these tips will help you come as close as possible to one.
Traditionally, we’ve planted flowering plants – annuals, perennials, shrubs and even trees – in special, decorative beds, while relegating edible plants to their own nondescript beds. That is all changing now.Integrating edible plants into flower gardens is a new trend. Right? Well, not entirely. Some forward-thinking gardeners have been doing this for years. I even know one gardener who filled the area between his sidewalk and house with tomato plants. Got a great yield as well as a conversation piece. At a Gardenscape show some years ago, an up-and-coming company incorporated veggie plants into a bed of annuals.Now, more and more, people are trying this. As the trend catches on, it’s quite common to visit a neighbor’s home and see tonight’s salad growing among the petunias and marigolds. We don’t know the psychological reason behind this movement, unless it’s viewed as enhancing the garden’s sustainability. However, there are a few practical and aesthetic reasons why it’s a good idea.From an aesthetic standpoint, we usually design flower beds in interesting shapes, while our vegetable gardens are purely utilitarian – rectangular shape, straight rows. Integrating veggies with our flowers eliminates the purely functional “garden.” On the flip side of that coin, however, veggie gardens are usually planted for maximum produce yield. Flower gardens are designed to look nice. Consequently, it may not be practical to plant as many edible plants in a square foot of space as it would be in a dedicated veggie garden.Thinking pragmatically, how would you plant corn in most flower gardens? It would probably look out of place since only sun flowers reach the height of corn. Conversely, the delicate, fern like leaves of carrots are attractive ground cover around flowers.When integrating flowers and veggies, the same planting “rules” or, more accurately, guidelines apply. That is, keep plants the same size clustered together so the bed doesn't look like it has a bad haircut. More practically, borrow a xeriscaping tactic and group plants with similar sun and water requirements into one area. That way, each will be satisfied.If the thought of designing your own integrated, or edible, garden seems mind boggling, we have creative designers who are eager to help guide you through this challenge.
Gardening can be like cooking. Some of the best recipes are the simplest. Those that use a lot of ingredients are complicated to prepare while many recipes with only a few ingredients are tastier and much easier to prepare. Gardens can be beautifully simple and easy to maintain or they can be very complicated and maintenance intensive.If you’re planning a new landscape, a renovated landscape or new gardens within your present landscape, I have a few thoughts for making it simple while lowering your maintenance.Start with native plants. However, you don’t have to limit your palette to native plants. You can mix in introduced plants that have acclimated to this area, if they have built up resistance to insect and disease attacks. The inability to fend off pests is one of the things that has prompted the current native plant movement.It’s a good idea to use local topsoil and soil amendments to help maintain an indigenous environment. If you source hardscape items like pavers and decorative rocks locally, you may be able to save money by reducing freight costs. If you source items like patio furniture and garden art locally, it’s more likely that its style is in sync with local styles and that it can survive in our harsh climate.Using slow growing plants can also reduce the time you spend on garden maintenance. Slow growing plants need less pruning, trimming and shaping. Slower growing perennials don’t need to be divided as often, and slower growing turf grass doesn’t have to be mowed as often.If you are planting trees around electric wires, be sure to plant slow growing trees that won’t grow to more than 20 feet tall. Tree pruning is a significant part of a utility’s annual budget. If enough people plant shorter trees near wires, utilities may be able to hold the line or even reduce rates. They will also be pleasantly surprised when they receive fewer calls from irate citizens upset with the radical pruning standards forced on them.Finally, buy eco-friendly products for your garden. This includes biodegradable nursery pots, organic fertilizers and natural pest controls. This can result in less work for you, happier plants and a cleaner environment.If you would like some advise about simplifying your specific garden, we would be happy to help you.
Have you ever wondered why your landscape needs active management when wild plants live nicely in their natural environments? People ask me that question all the time. In answer, I often use dogs and wolves as an analogy. Wolves get along quite well in the wild, but dogs don’t. When we domesticated wolves, we agreed to care for them and they return the favor in the form of love, loyalty, protection, assistance and other benefits. When we domesticated trees, shrubs and other plants, we agreed to care for them in exchange for benefits they provide us.While it is true that wild plants live nicely in their natural environments, your yard may not be a natural environment for many of the plants in your landscape. Some may be “introduced” plants from other places that have not had the time or ability to adapt to their new environment. Others may be planted in the wrong place on your property. One example that comes to mind is the rhododendron. These are acid loving plants and most of our soil is neutral to alkaline. Rhododendrons also are shade seeking, but may have been planted in full sun.Enough pontificating as to why landscapes need management. Let’s get into how to manage your landscape. The first step is to begin documenting how your garden grows. That means keeping a journal with the history of every cultivated plant. On what date does it bloom and leaf out? When does it defoliate in fall? Make an entry when you fertilize or apply insect or disease treatment, prune or divide perennials.A journal can be a valuable tool in the future for you to identify trends. Growing patterns will become apparent as you look back on your journal over the course of several years. While some variation from an established pattern may be normal or weather related, others may signal changes in the plant that need to be monitored.How deeply you want to get into journaling is up to you. How you do it is also your decision. Some gardeners just use a three-ring binder or a spiral notebook with a page for each plant. They write in their entries by hand. Others have sophisticated programs on their computers or mobile devices. Google “How to make a garden journal” and you will get everything from a list of what should go into a garden journal to complete templates that let you journal electronically. I’m sure there are apps for your mobile devices, too.Journaling may appear to be a lot of work, especially for the casual gardener. However, the information it yields can help you as you make future plans for your landscape.If this sounds like something plant health care professionals do when they set up our Plant Health Care program for customers, it’s exactly what they do. They keep journals for each customer. This is how they can effectively treat pests using material and procedures that are most effective with minimal environmental impact.Although some people enjoy keeping a garden journal, we think that most would prefer to leave that task to a professional. That’s why our Plant Health Care department is growing so fast.
Turfgrass is a high maintenance plant, which means that growing a beautiful lawn requires a significant amount of time and effort. That’s in addition to keeping it mowed.Weeds like crabgrass and dandelions are the scourge of every lawn owner. To keep weeds to a minimum, I recommend both pre and post emergent weed treatment. A pre-emergent crabgrass killer should be applied as your lawn awakens from winter dormancy. Post emergent is not very effective against crabgrass. To fight broadleaf weeds like dandelions, however, post emergent should be applied several times a season.Fertilizing is an important maintenance task. Remember, fertilizer is not plant food. Plants make their own food through photosynthesis. However, nutrients from the soil are part of the photosynthetic process. When these elements have been depleted from the soil, they have to be replenished. That’s what fertilizer does – it replenishes depleted soil nutrients.Depending on the quality of your topsoil and whether you grasscycle (leave grass clippings where they fall), soil nutrients need replenishing several times a year on most residential properties in our area. This is because builders and developers scrape away the topsoil when they build. Sometimes it’s returned to its proper place but more often, it’s trucked away and sold. Inferior topsoil is substituted.Turfgrass works overtime during the growing season, so it has to make lots of food in leaves that have about 1/3 of their length cut off every week. So, the nutrients are quickly absorbed from the soil and have to be replenished by fertilizing the soil. The result is a thick, healthy lawn that can better resist weeds and insects.In many parts of the country, lime has to be spread on lawns. That’s not the case in our area, however. The soil in most parts of the country is acid, or sour. Here it ranges from basic (or neutral) to alkaline (or sweet). Turfgrass prefers its soil on the sweet side, so lime is spread to raise the pH into the basic to alkaline range. Since our soil is already at the pH level for growing grass, raising it would make the soil too alkaline.Insects can also be a significant lawn problem. The two most common lawn insects here are the European chafer and crane fly. Those big, brown bugs that will soon be flying around, smashing into your windows are the adult grubs? They are flying around looking for a mate. After mating, the females lay eggs in your lawn. The newly hatched larvae burrow into the ground and eat the grass roots. If grubs are destroying your lawn, we can apply grub killer in spring, but fall is the better for this application.A lot of area lawns need frequent aeration. Aeration makes holes in the sod and pulls out plugs of sod. Aeration is necessary when soil is compact, and much of our clay soil compacts very easily.Lawn rolling is popular in spring but I don’t recommend rolling because it compacts the soil. After rolling, lawns need to be aerated to undo what the rolling did.The last lawn maintenance need is to check for thatch. Thatch looks like a tangle of straw around the base of the grass plants. While it’s a popular belief that thatch is caused by a build-up of grass clippings, it’s actually a build-up of dead grass plants. Thatch can be raked out or removed by a dethatching machine.Maintaining a healthy, beautiful lawn may sound like a daunting task, but it’s relatively inexpensive to trust this phase of yard care to a professional lawn service like ours. You save the hassle of having to rent machines and apply materials but more importantly, you have the peace of mind of knowing that our professionals are performing these services at the time in the season when they can do the most good, and that’s priceless.
After a brutal winter like this one, the answer to the title question will be obvious now that the snow has melted. It’s amazing what kind of debris was lurking underneath that snow.While you remove debris, keep your eyes peeled for damage to your valuable plants. There may be dead tree and shrub branches and twigs on the ground and damaged branches still on the tree or shrub. All of these branches should be removed.Separate debris, tossing trash into the trash and organic debris like fallen leaves and dead foliage from planting beds in the compost bin. After you’ve removed all the trash, wait for a day when the ground has dried enough for you to walk on it and remove excess mulch from your beds, if you spread extra mulch last fall. Once you are down to no more than three inches, take a rake and fluff up the mulch. This will help it do its job better. If you didn’t spread any extra winter mulch, just fluff the mulch. If it has begun decomposing, you may have to add another inch or so to bring it up to the proper level.While checking for dead and damaged plants, also be alert to animal damage. Deer damage is obvious. They chew the ends off branches at about eye level. You’ll have to look a bit to see rodent damage. Field mice burrow under the snow and nibble on bark at the base of trees and shrubs. The snow hides them nicely, but when the snow melts, their little teeth marks are very visible. Rabbits also chew on the bark, but usually on top of the snow. Given the amount and duration of our snow, we expect to see a considerable amount of animal damage.Look down at the lawn to see if there are any fungal diseases. If there are and they are small, you can rake out the dead grass and the surrounding grass will fill in the spots. Larger dead spots will have to be reseeded after you rake them out.Your ornamental grasses have done their job for the year, so it’s time to cut them back. Using your tool of choice, cut them back very close to the ground – usually two to four inches. The lower you can cut them, the better. You cut them back to let sunlight reach the new grass that will soon sprout up among the stubble. As for tools of choice, I have used everything from hand pruners to high quality manual hedge clippers to electric hedge clippers. As for the old canes, they go in the compost pile.If you didn’t split your overgrown perennials last fall, do it as part of your spring cleaning. Dig up overgrown perennials and split the roots into four sections. Replant one section in the hole you just dug. Replant the others in another part of your garden or give them to friends or to a charity plant sale. We hope you don’t waste any valuable perennials, but leaves or any other debris that dropped off should go right to the compost pile.Last but now least, neaten up hardscapes. Sweep walks, drives, decks and patios. If they are wearing a coating of winter debris, wash it off. If you put your statuary in winter storage, this would be a good time to put it back out for the summer.Why clean up your yard this spring? Because it needs it. You can summarize this blog into a bulleted list and use it as a “To Do” list.
Soon neighborhoods will be abuzz with the ubiquitous sound that breaks the sleepy silence of weekend mornings. Lawnmowers. Will you be one of those? Or will yours be the one that’s coughing and sputtering? It all depends on how you prepare for the mowing season.I admit that I’m not a mechanic. That’s why we have one on staff to keep all of our machinery and vehicles operating. However, I do know the basics of lawnmower maintenance, which is what I am sharing with you today. If your problem gets more complicated, it’s time to take it to a shop and have a mechanic look at it.Now, before the grass greens up and starts growing again, it would be a good time to perform annual maintenance on your lawnmower. Begin by changing the oil and spark plug and check the air filter. If the air filter is washable, wash it. If it’s a paper element, change it if it’s dirty. Also, either sharpen or have the blade sharpened. A sharp blade makes a nice, clean cut; a dull blade rips the grass blades.Finally, set the deck height to three inches. If it’s any lower, you’ll cut the grass too low and actually skive the high spots. Grass that’s mowed higher grows thicker, which discourages weeds. Some people believe that they have to mow less often if they mow shorter. That’s not true. All grass doesn’t grow at the same rate, so you will begin to see unsightly, uneven growth, and you’ll be sacrificing the plant health as well. Compare the grass to a human head. Men with short hair have to visit the barber more often than those with longer hair.When scheduling your mowing, don’t let the grass grow too high. Besides looking unkempt, you’ll have to remove too much grass when you finally do mow. It’s unhealthy for the lawn to remove more than 1/3 of the leaf length. The lawn also looks more interesting and is healthier if you vary your cutting pattern.For safety reasons, proper mowing attire includes long pants and good, heavy shoes. No flip flops. Ideally, a long sleeve shirt should be worn, but you’re less likely to hurt your arms than your legs. Although you’ll likely be wearing sunglasses most of the time, you should wear some sort of eye protection even on cloudy days. Murphy’s law says that, if there’s a rock or other piece of debris in the lawn, your mower will find it and there’s a good chance that it will kick it back toward you.Although most lawnmowers come with grass catchers, these should be used only for very long grass that clumps or leaves rows of clippings out of a side discharge. It’s better to let your clippings just drop to the ground and decompose. Since they’re more than 80 percent water, it won’t take them long for them to disappear, and they will return nutrients to the soil. This practice is called “grasscycling” and proponents say that grasscycling every time you mow can reduce the amount of fertilizer you have to use. At home, I believe in the practice so much that I never catch and bag clippings. If the lawn is so long that it drops in clumps or if I use the side chute and it leaves rows of clippings, I go through with a blower and scatter the clippings so we reap the benefits of the nutrients and passersby don’t see the clumps of grass.
As spring approaches, so does the threat of emerald ash borer. As the weather warms, the metallic green adult borers will emerge from “D” shaped holes in infested ash trees and spend only a couple of weeks outside the tree. There, they will mate, the females will lay eggs and die. But, the next generation will begin its destruction of our area’s beautiful ash trees.The answer to the title question is, I don’t know how vulnerable your ash tree is. Nobody knows. If one or more borers decide your tree is the one in which they want their children to live, your tree is doomed, unless you have taken preventive steps.If you haven’t taken preventive steps and your ash tree continues to be healthy, say a prayer of thanksgiving and call for a preventive treatment. Your luck could run out this season.When you call, our professionals will inspect your tree to be sure that it’s healthy and that the EAB has not set up housekeeping. If not, they will apply a preventive application. If EAB is present, they will determine if treatment can save the tree and make appropriate recommendations.It’s more economical to prevent emerald ash borer than it is to treat it after it has established itself in your ash tree. As a preventive, the product and application method we use needs to be reapplied only every two years. As a treatment, it has to be applied every year. The product is called Treeage, and is only sold to state licensed applicators who have been trained by the manufacturer in the use of its product and application equipment.All preventives and treatments for emerald ash borer have to be applied systemically, either as a soil drench or trunk injection. As a result, EAB prevention or treatment should not be a do-it-yourself project. Only one of the labeled products is available to consumers, but the consumer strength of this product is not sufficient to prevent or kill this insect.Even though EAB treatments are expensive, several decades of preventive treatments cost less than removing and replacing most ash trees. In addition to preventive treatment, you can discourage the EAB by making sure your tree is healthy. This means having it pruned as needed to remove dead, dying, rubbing and broken branches. Good health practices also include mulching and/or composting to add organic matter to the soil and fertilizing if needed.EAB in our area is not a death sentence for every ash tree. Rather, it is a wake up call to tend to this valuable tree’s health needs on a regular basis.
Landscaping adds beauty and value to our property. As I pointed out in a previous blog, it can ad as much a 15 percent to the value of your property. That’s why I recommend careful maintenance.Careful maintenance doesn’t have to be time consuming or expensive. By careful maintenance, we mean efficient maintenance. Here are a few tips on how to carefully maintain your landscape to keep it as healthy as possible:
As you can see, a substantial part of careful landscape maintenance is in the planning. It’s like the old carpenter’s adage, “Measure twice, saw once.” Take sufficient time to plan the maintenance needs of your landscape and you’ll have more time to enjoy its beauty.
While everyone enjoys their outdoor surroundings amid beautiful landscaping, too many view landscaping as an expense. Actually, beautiful landscaping is an investment, a very valuable investment.According to the Gallup polling people, beautiful landscaping can add between seven and 15 percent to the value of your home. This translates to a payback of 100 to 200 percent when you sell your home, according to Money Magazine.Smart Money magazine expands on the previous statistics by reporting that you can boost the resale value of your home by 15 percent, earning back 150 percent or more by spending just five percent of the home value on a high quality, low-maintenance landscape.Money went on to compare landscaping’s payback to other remodeling projects. A remodeled kitchen adds 75 to 125 percent; a bathroom 20 to 120 percent; and a swimming pool 20 to 50 percent.The American Public Power Association notes that landscaping can shade windows and walls, reducing air conditioning costs by up to 50 percent. Trees can reduce temperatures by as much as 9ºF according to American Forests.The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reports that trees can reduce traffic noise by up to 50 percent.I hope you are as surprised as me at these figures. I had heard them all here and there before but had never seen them on a single page. However, a recent issue of Design/Build magazine gathered all of this information and published it on a single page. Very impressive, indeed.If you weren’t planning on any landscape updates or renovations this season, I hope this information will help you rethink the situation.
Poet Joyce Kilmer wrote, “I think that I shall never see, A poem lovely as a tree.” You don’t have to be a romantic, however, to appreciate trees…or shrubs…or even perennials. It’s said that beauty is only skin deep. That’s true for trees, too. When you strip away the bark (figuratively, of course), you find that trees provide us with very real benefits, even the very oxygen we breathe.Here are some of the measurable benefits trees and other landscape plants provide:Air Quality Improvement. Obtained through the filtering process of leaves, plants…
Climate Control. Moderating the effects of sun, wind and rain, results in…
Water Conservation. Trees’ interception of water…
Your landscape is more than just an amenity to look nice and increase your home’s curb appeal. Plants play an important role in keeping our environment in balance. We exhale carbon dioxide, which plants use in photosynthesis, and plants give off oxygen that we need to breathe.I’m not suggesting that you go out and hug a tree today, but I do suggest that you include landscape maintenance in your annual budget. Green plants deserve more than just what’s left over. And, if you would like professional help determining your landscape’s maintenance needs, don’t hesitate to call. (585) 671-5433 or visit www.birchcrestlandscape.com
These days, human health practitioners are advocating wellness care, which is also called preventive care or holistic medicine. It’s a fact that early diagnosis and treatment can often result in less aggressive treatment and a more positive prognosis. The same is true for your landscape plants. For this reason, arborists and landscape contractors have embraced Plant Health Care (PHC).According to the International Society of Arboriculture, the organization that funded the study that first defined PHC, the basic premise behind this care is quite simple. If a plant receives professional care on a regular basis, it will be less susceptible to insect infestations and disease attacks. As a result, natural defenses can be strengthened. Energy that would have been exerted on stress factors can be applied to building up defense systems. Just like human health, plant health improves when stress factors are removed from the environment and check-ups are performed regularly.Here’s how a PHC program works. It begins with a Plant Health Care professional visiting your home. Typically, this professional will be an ISA Certified Arborist or a Certified Nursery & Landscape Professional. He/she will ask you questions to determine your expectations and to set priorities. The PHC professional will then inventory your plant material and take that data back to the office, where it is entered into a database. This database alerts the PHC pro to each plant’s needs and any pests that are likely to attack them.From this data, the PHC pro can formulate a care plan, prioritize with you a treatment schedule and then implement it. PHC pros prefer to treat with natural remedies rather than chemicals. Treatment depends on the severity of any attack and your tolerance for a few bugs. The best remedy may be to do nothing but monitor its progress. Sometimes such problems go away naturally.Monitoring is the key to a successful PHC program, so expect the pro to visit your home about once a month to check for any new pests and monitor the activity of existing pests. You will receive a report after each monitoring visit.Plant Health Care, like human wellness care, is very individualistic. Each yard is different, every homeowner is different. Your desires and expectations are unique and not the same as your neighbors’. For this reason, every plan will be different even if you are neighbors and share the same problems.There are a few things that you should be aware of when considering a PHC program. Natural controls may not wipe out a pest 100 percent. However, they will reduce their numbers. Hopefully, there will be more beneficial bugs to help control the bad bugs because the good bugs will not not killed right along with the bad bugs as they may be with chemical applications. Finally, the PHC pro may not apply anything during a visit. But this is a good thing. The fee you pay for monitoring visits is a professional fee, just like the fee you pay a physician. You are glad to pay the fee if he/she doesn’t find anything wrong with you. Besides, the cost of a PHC program is considerably less than the cost of reactive intervention.Healthy plants naturally enhance their environment. A majestic, mature shade tree certainly looks nicer in the environment than a recently planted sapling. Mature plants also provide us with more oxygen, sequester more carbon, reduce more rainwater runoff, and provide more of every benefit than young plants. Maintaining healthy, mature plants is definitely less costly than removing dead, dying or diseased plants and replacing them with young, healthy plants.Use the winter wisely to look into a Plant Health Care program to protect your valuable landscape. For more on Plant Health Care, click here.
We all know the obvious value of trees – they look nice, provide shade, supply us with fruit and nuts. However, trees also have other values that we may never think of, but they are extremely important to us, possibly even more important than the obvious values.The International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) has identified these important contributions that trees make to our quality of life:
Trees have a dollar value of their own. Tree appraisers, who are usually either Board Certified Master Arborists, consulting arborists or certified arborists, can determine the dollar value of trees and plants by applying a set of criteria agreed upon by the organizations that make up the Council of Tree & Landscape Appraisers. If a tree is damaged or destroyed, you may be able to recapture some or all of your loss through an insurance claim or as a deduction from your federal income tax if you have a valuation by one of the professionals mentioned above.I hope the next time you look at a tree, you’ll see more than a yard ornament that shades you from the summer heat. I hope you’ll look upon it as a living organism, like us, that works hard to make our environment, and our lives, better.
Regardless of the size of your yard, you can enjoy a landscape. One of the ways in which small gardeners can do this is with a keyhole garden.A keystone garden is a raised bed, drought-tolerant, sustainable garden. The plant material choices are whatever you want. In it, you can plant annuals or perennials, veggies or a mix of any or all of them.This garden gets its name from its shape. It is circular with a notch that gives you access to the plants.A wire mesh tube about a foot in diameter and four feet high sprouts out of the center of the circle. This is where you place table scraps and other compostable material, as well as water. The rest of the circle is also filled with compostable material and a top layer of potting soil.Raised beds have several advantages, whether you build a keyhole garden or any other shape. From a design standpoint, they define the garden area. From a practical perspective, it is easier for mobility-challenged people to work in the garden. Also, grass or surrounding plant material doesn't invade your planting bed. From an ecological point of view, raised beds can be designed to use less water, fewer chemicals and be sustainable. The keyhole garden is one example of a sustainable raised bed garden.The keyhole garden is not an end all. I am introducing it to you as a way to get your creative juices flowing on raised bed sustainable gardens for your yard. You don’t have to be a designer to make this happen. All you need to do is share your thoughts with one of our creative landscape designers and have a completely turnkey garden this spring. If you want to invest some sweat equity by doing some of the work, we will be happy to work with you.
Today, people are looking to their smart phones for information on almost everything, including gardening. The Arbor Day Foundation, for example, has an app to help you identify trees. It’s called “What Tree is That?™ and is available at arborday.org/trees/whattree/mobile.cfm.The National Garden Bureau recently published a list of garden apps they had heard about. They ranged from University of Georgia Professor Emeritus Dr. Allan Armitage’s list of greatest perennials and annuals to advice by Purdue University’s Tree Doctor.Gardening knowledge has never been easier to acquire. While it is still fun to browse the gardening section of local bookstores or libraries, few of us have the time. Browsing the Internet is the next best thing, but how many of us take our computers or tablets out in the field? Almost all of us have a smart phone in our pockets. So, why not use it for your avocation as well as your vocation?You can use your smart phone to help you plan for the next gardening season. When you meet with a landscape designer, share your thoughts with him/her by showing pictures from your phone, rather than having to carry books or your computer to the meeting. As the season gets closer, you can use your smart phone to plan your maintenance regimen and communicate it to our office. When you are out getting dirty in the spring and you need a question answered, you can just use your phone.No matter what your gardening question or concern, you can let your fingers do the walking, to quote an ancient ad. More current, regardless of what you are looking for, “there’s an app for that.”
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A rain barrel system allows you to collect the rainwater and use it to water your plants.[/caption]When planning your new landscape or landscape renovations for the spring season, don’t forget water conservation. While this is at the top of the list in many parts of the country, we are quite fortunate here. We have adequate water most of the time, except for infrequent summer droughts. However, being good stewards of the land requires that we not squander this resource. Besides, you are paying for that water by the gallon.When the Garden Writers Foundation conducted its semi-annual garden trends survey last fall, a third of the respondents said they don’t water their landscapes while a quarter have no plans to conserve water. Those who do want to conserve water mentioned using drought tolerant plants, more mulch, drip irrigation and rain barrels.Grouping plants according to their water needs is a basic xeriscaping technique. That way, you can water that area for just the right amount of time and you don’t end up with overwatered and underwatered plants. Reducing your turf area is another xeriscaping technique. Native plants should be best adapted to our climate and, therefore, to the amount of precipitation we receive.Schedule one of our lawn care crews to aerate your lawn in the spring. Aeration loosens soil so water can get to the plant roots quickly. Water just runs off compacted soil. Also, kill or pull weeds so they don’t compete with grass and landscape plants for water.If you already water, modifying your practices can save water, and money. If you have a dehumidifier, consider using that water on plants. The rain barrel idea mentioned above is slowly becoming mainstream. The barrels are specially made for the purpose and attached to the downspouts from your home to collect rainwater. What time do you water? The best time is early in the morning or just before dusk. If you water in the middle of the day, much of it evaporates before it reaches your plants.Last, but not least, if you have a pond fountain, be sure the water is recirculated and that the recirculating mechanism is working properly.Just because water conservation isn't a mandate in our area doesn't mean you shouldn't practice it. Ultimately, you will be helping the environment and insuring the future of our ample water supply. More practically, you will be greatly reducing your water bill.
Have you ever wished for a Japanese Garden? Or an Alpine Garden? Or a desert garden? You don’t have to have a large estate to make your wish come true. You can divide a typical suburban yard into any or all of these theme gardens.During the winter, think about what garden themes you would like right outside your windows. In addition to those listed above, you might want to consider a monochromatic garden in which all plants bloom a single color. White is, arguably, the most popular color for monochrome gardens, followed by black and white.If you are under a lot of stress, you may want a portion of your yard to be a secret garden where you can go and relax. I've seen several of these gardens, the most memorable of which is in an area between the house and a tall stockade fence.A tranquility garden is a variation on this theme. Often, a tranquility garden has a water feature – either a babbling brook, a waterfall or a fountain. The sound of the water helps keep the sounds of the world away as you meditate.A Zen garden is also for relaxing. The focal point of a Zen garden is a swirl of stones or sand that reminds you of flowing water. Asian plants surround this area, contributing to the peaceful mood set by the garden.As you can see, the ideas are limitless. You and your designer decide which garden themes are best for the objectives you are trying to achieve and the transitions you would like between themed gardens.Besides making optimal use of the land, multiple themed gardens in a yard can reduce the amount of maintenance required. This is especially true of lawn mowing. Since a good portion of the area will contain gardens, lawn may only be used in the transition zones. This will mean less watering, less fertilizer and other care products, as well as reduced mowing.Themed gardens will also let you adjust your mood periodically by spending time in gardens representing different cultures and ways of thinking. You will have instant attitude adjustment without ever leaving home.Click here to visit the design page.
Have you seen the latest landscaping trend? It’s outdoor rooms. These are super patios with weather-proof furniture, full kitchens, fountains, garden art and all the comforts of a living room outside.Outdoor rooms are actually an extension of your home, like going from your living room to a family room, except that this room is outdoors. Since your outdoor room will be an extension of your home, it should be professionally designed. You wouldn't think of adding on to your home without first consulting an architect. You wouldn't think of a major redecoration project without the help of an interior designer or decorator. Why would you not consider a landscape designer to help with your outdoor room? Remember, you aren't just doing a little landscaping. You’re building a whole new room – an addition to your home.If you read home and garden magazines, watch similar television program or visit such sites on the Internet, you have seen plenty of outdoor rooms. These can serve as inspiration. Our landscape designers can also show you some of the outdoor rooms they've designed for other local homes to give you additional ideas.Outdoor rooms are exposed to the elements 12 months a year, and this has to be taken into consideration at the design stage. That is true for any climate. Most of the outdoor rooms pictured in various media are in the south, especially the southwest where they are very popular. That means they are exposed, mostly, to rain. In the southeast, some may have to withstand an occasional hurricane and, in the southwest, an occasional sandstorm. Here, however, they have to withstand frequent snow and ice storms every year. This means protecting furniture, plants and appliances in winter.Our designers have the experience to provide for adequately covering furniture and appliances, shutting off water and gas, and working with you to find winter storage for potted plants, even tender tropicals.If you are thinking about a new or expanded patio this spring, think big. Use the winter to research outdoor rooms, formulate your ideas and work with one of our professional designers to make your dream a reality that you can enjoy three seasons of the year.
While we were experiencing subzero weather over the past few weeks, the question of whether these temperatures can kill the emerald ash borer has come up in conversation. It’s common knowledge within the green industry that many overwintering insects die off in such cold temperatures. But what about an insect like the EAB that lives inside the tree, under the bark?After doing a little research, I found the answer in a state that is much colder than ours – Minnesota. Minnesotans posed the question in comments to a blog by Minnesota Public Radio Chief Meteorologist Paul Huttner. So he posed the question to Dr. Lee Frelich, director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Forest Ecology. Here is a concise, edited version of Dr. Frelich’s response:“Winter mortality for emerald ash borer is definitely temperature dependent. The larvae can supercool to a certain point, but they die if they freeze, and there is variability in tolerance among individual insects. A recent study from the Forest Service in Minnesota showed that 5% of the insects die at 0F, 34% at -10F, 79% at -20F and 98% at -30F.“However, there is the question of what temperatures the insects actually experience, since they spend winter under the bark of trees, and some of them close to the ground, where they may be insulated by the bark itself and possibly by the snow.“This insulation effect can have a substantial effect if overnight minimum temperatures take a brief plunge and recover quickly. In such cases minimum temperatures under the bark can be 2-7F warmer than air temperature.”As you can see from the temperatures that Dr. Frelich is quoting, it is unlikely that a significant number of emerald ash borer larvae were killed by our cold temperatures. When spring comes, I recommend continuing your prevention or control regimen for this difficult pest.For more on the Emerald Ash Borer, click here.
The best time to have your trees pruned is before a wind, ice or snow storm. If, however, the storm came first this year, use that as a gentle reminder to prepare for the next storm by having your tree(s) professionally pruned.If your tree(s) suffered damage in storm damage, call us before the next storm. The cost of pruning is much less than the cost to remove a large tree. Add the cost to replace a storm damaged tree to the equation and you have made quite an investment. Don’t worry about the weather. Our arborists are equipped to work in severe weather, and they are tree lovers who hate to see a tree suffer after a storm.If your tree(s) didn’t suffer any damaged but had drooping limbs loaded with snow, call us to schedule pruning before the next storm. If you took photos while trees still had snow on them, our arborists would like to see the pictures when they come to do the pruning. This will help us determine which limbs are too weak to survive the onslaught of additional winter storms. The sooner you call, the better your chance of avoiding storm damage. That will give us time to check out your trees, look at your photos, make a proposal and do the work before they are subjected to any more winter stress.As always, we warn that pruning is not a do-it-yourself project. It is dangerous work in the best of weather, but even more so in the winter. That’s why professional arborists like ours have special training, experience and equipment. We would hate to see you become a statistic for the sake of a few bucks.
What do you do with your food scraps? Adding your vegetable scraps to the compost heap has a number of benefits. For the environment, it reduces the waste stream going into landfills. For your compost pile, vegetative food scraps are often nutrient-rich and high in organic matter, and a good supplement to the dead leaves and grass clippings that make up most of the material.The Garden Media trends report that I have cited quite often indicates that composting is on the rise with 25 percent of households now composting. The survey also mentions a national trend toward mandatory city food scrap waste management and that some cities are offering financial incentives to compost and reduce food waste.Some of the statistics in this survey include the fact that, according to the EPA, Americans generated 35 million tons of food waste, 97 percent of which went into landfills. Only 11.7 percent was composted. Organic matter decomposing in landfills generates 16.2 percent of the nation’s methane gas emissions.Don’t put meat scraps in the compost heap, just vegetative scraps. No special preparation is needed. All you have to do is dump your food scraps into the bin among the leaves, grass clipping and other yard waste. Continue to keep turning the compost just as you have, or should have, been doing right along. Keep adding and churning and you should have some of the richest, must nutrient-rich compost you’ve ever seen when the gardening season begins.Closer to the gardening season, I will write about how to apply compost and brew compost tea. Meanwhile, keep on scrapping and turning.
We just had our first significant snowfall and I had to cringe when I drove around the area. People were actually knocking snow off trees with snow shovels and brooms. Some were just shaking it off, which is just as bad. Brushing with your hands is the only technique that is not harmful to the tree.Last January, I wrote about the dangers to both you and the tree when you shake or knock off snow or ice. How soon we forget! So, once again I’ll remind you before the next big snowstorm.Nature built evergreen trees (technically conifers) to carry heavy snow loads. Their soft wood is much more resilient than hardwoods. That’s why hardwoods lose their leaves in winter – to lighten the weight on their branches and discourage snow from sticking. At this time of year, however, there are still some deciduous trees with some or all of their leaves intact. This is putting enough stress on the branches without adding the additional stress of whacking the branches with a shovel or broom or shaking them with your hands.Notice the shape of your evergreens. They are cone shaped. While snow build-up may cause the branches to droop more than normal, they will spring right back when the snow melts and the added weight is removed. As it melts, the snow slides off the branches naturally, just as it does in the woods.If you try to help evergreens shed snow faster, branches are apt to break when they snap back, rather than returning to their natural shape gradually. Remember, it is you standing under the tree right where the branches, snow or chards of ice fall. Also, your shaking, sweeping and beating action can cause an avalanche of snow to fall on you.Removing ice can also cause injury to you, as well as damage to the tree. Ice falling from the upper branches can injure you as you stand under the branches. The stress to branches from removing ice can also cause them to crack internally.The next time you feel sorry for that poor, snow-covered evergreen in your yard, remember how nature designed it. Watch the snow gradually melt and slide from its branches and the branches return to their natural positions. It can actually be relaxing.
When the winter starts to get you down, think spring. It will come; it always does. Knowing what’s in and what’s out in gardening can make your yard the most beautiful and the most stylish on your street.Two surveys were our sources for this blog. One was conducted by the Garden Writers Association Foundation and the other by the Garden Media Group.According to the Garden Media survey, lawn & garden expenditures are the third highest non-essential purchase category after Christmas and weight loss methods. The Garden Writers Foundation interviewed a random sample of homeowners who said that they planned to spend an average of $100 more on their yards and landscapes in 2013 over their 2012 expenditures. In fact, they spent about the same – $500. In 2014, however, they plan to spend even more – $615 on average. The total expenditure in all of North America in 2011 was $58 billion with $28 billion spent on plants, shrubs and bulbs.There was also a change in where they said they would buy their gardening material and supplies and where they did. Last spring, mass merchants were the preferred destination. The post season survey found that 39 percent bought at garden centers while 37 percent went to mass merchants.Technology is entering the garden as well. One in 10 respondent to the Garden Writer Foundation survey use their smartphones in their gardening activities. This survey also asked about two social concerns – water conservation and interest in organic gardening.When it comes to conserving water, 28 percent used more mulch, 17 percent used drought-tolerant plants, another 15 percent used drip irrigation and 12 percent used rain barrels. Thirty percent of consumers say they don’t water, while slightly over one-quarter (28%) haven’t made any plans to conserve water.The Garden Writers Association Foundation also asked respondents to rate their interest level in organic gardening. Food gardening, earth friendly gardening, organic gardening, native plants, web-based gardening information and garden blogs were mentioned in that order.I hope this information is helpful as you plan for the 2014 landscaping/gardening season. It gives you the data you need to either follow the trends or do your own thing.
That title may seem impossible when you look out the window at a sea of white after a fresh snowfall. With a little planning, you can easily and inexpensively add some color to you landscape. Not a big splash of bright color like spring, mind you, but enough muted tones to break up the single color monotony. It may not happen this year, but surely next winter.If you didn't have an opportunity to plant winter-interest plants in the fall, plan now and plant in the spring. Before we get too much snow, research winter interest plants and take note of where these plants may look best. Take some photos of these locations and then revisit them again after more snow is on the ground. Is it still an attractive space for winter-interest plants?There are a number of plants that can add winter color, even in deep snow. Ornamental grasses are used for this purpose most often. Proportionally sized clumps of ornamental grasses can break up large areas of snow. These easily maintained plants can also be used for accents year round.Dead ornamental grass leaves and fuzzy seed heads provide the tan color as they poke up through the snow. These attractive seed heads blowing in the breeze give ornamental grasses their winter interest.Brown ornamental grass leaves will have served their purpose as soon as the snow melts. So, they should be cut off at the base of the clump in early spring. You can use a string trimmer or an electric or manual hedge trimmer. In a pinch, I've even used loppers. New, green leaves will grow from the roots. In fall, these tall, leaf-like blades will turn tan again.Witch hazel is a shrub that may be one of several shapes. It is hardy in zones 4 through 8, which covers most of the east coast from northern Maine to the Carolinas. Witch hazel is a late bloomer that flowers from October to December. Its yellow flowers break up nicely the expanse of white snow or shades of gray that envelope our landscapes in late fall and early winter.Dogwoods’ red branches can also break up winter monotony. However, be careful of what dogwood variety you buy. Some, like eastern dogwood (Cornus florida), are very attractive to insects and disease.Winter doesn’t have to be endless weeks of white and gray monotones. However, adding color may take a little creativity. Making winter color plants blend in with the overall landscape design year round is a bit more challenging than simply planting predictable spring flowers. Remember, we have landscape designers who can help you out if you want a word of advice from a pro, or even a complete design.
The winter ascending on our corner of the world might provide the incentive to take stock in that landscape you enjoy watching out the window. Ask yourself a series of questions:
We believe that most will answer that they have done interior renovations within the last five-to-10 years. The number who answered that they have never renovated their landscape will be in the majority also.Few people would live in homes with outdated appliances, decades old paint and wall coverings, or colored bathroom fixtures. They renovate when their décor goes out of style.Because plants are alive, however, many think landscapes were intended to live forever without any changes. Outdoor tastes do change, and your landscape is the measure of your home’s curb appeal.May I suggest that you use the winter wisely to consider changes you’d like to make to your landscape this spring? This doesn’t mean cutting down large, mature trees and yanking out every shrub. It means designing around these mature plants because they form the framework, or skeleton, of your landscape.However, if your shrubs have become “overmature,” it might be time to replace them. For example, Taxus (yews) that you have sheared and sheared over the years may have gaping holes in the foliage. This would be a good time to replace them as part of your yard renovation. This time, consider plants that will always fit their spaces, eliminating the need to shear them each year.Growers have developed new flowering plants and new cultivars of your old favorites. Be bold and adventurous and select annuals and perennials that are in style. Most of all, though, select them because you like them. You can give the old perennials to friends or donate them to a charity plant sale.If you don’t know where to start with your renovation plans, one of our landscape designers would be happy to help you. Designers are under less of a time crunch and can spend more time with you during the winter than they can during the growing season when they also have to oversee installations.Remember, your landscape is a reflection of who you are, and you only get one chance to make a good first impression.
