Lending A Helping Hand

So where do you find landscape designs? A very useful place to look is the Internet, where many websites are dedicated to providing professional support for any range of landscapers, from amateurs to seasoned professionals just looking for some fresh ideas to make the perfect yard. Of course, there are also several magazines and television channels also chock full of great ideas to get a start on a project. However, one of the great aspects of landscape designs is that they are modular themselves, so you can take bits and pieces of one and combine them with others, like taking different ingredients and coming up with an entirely new design.

Some popular themes of landscape designs are centered around such topics as paths, walls, lighting, and vegetation. They’ll help you answer all your questions about which plants to use, what type of gravel would look best to complement those flower beds, and which stone works best in rainy climates. In that regard, landscape designs are really just the beginning of what you’ll do with your very own yard because you’ll pick and choose to get the perfect combination. Every yard is different, so you’ll want to custom tailor any plans to fit your own setting.

If you’re looking for even more dedicated support for landscape designs, you can always turn to a landscaping company which, for a small fee, will help you get all the ideas you could possibly need to start your project. In fact, they will even do the job for you (for more money of course), so you can enjoy all the beautiful aspects of landscaping without having to work in hot, humid weather yourself.

Of course, many people prefer to save the money and do it themselves, but hiring a landscape design company helps ensure that the job gets done right the first time, potentially saving money in the long run by preventing over purchasing a particular item, like gravel or dirt. Ultimately, landscape designs are a great starting place for any landscaping project.

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Source: landscaping

But wait! Test your soil first, to determine the pH level of your soil and what kind of nutrients you need to add, if any. Is the soil acid or alkaline? Most plants prefer soil that is slightly acidic, but there are some that must have alkaline soil to grow. You can alter the soil’s pH level, but it’s much easier to simply plant for the soil you have.

Now you are ready to plant. Well - almost. Will you plant in groups or singly? If you buy ‘one of everything’ your garden may seem rather spotty. Group plantings are organized, harmonious and you can vary the color for interest.

Before planting out, place your chosen plants around the garden bed in their pots to see how they will look. Re-arrange them until you are satisfied. Grouping plants in sets of threes or fives usually looks better than planting in groups of even numbers. Be sure that you have an interesting combination of colors and textures of plants. Tall plants should go to the back, or the center if your garden will be viewed equally from all sides. Try to keep your plants away from trees. The roots of trees are fiercely competitive and will steal all the nutrients and moisture meant for your flowers.

The right color scheme is one way to maintain the harmony in your garden. Imagine the color of the flowers when they are in bloom. Some colors may clash with others, but can still be planted side-by-side if they have a different blooming season. Foliage color is also important. Many flower plants have silver, gray or purplish foliage that is just as attractive as the flower. This means that they are still attractive well past the blooming season and so have added value.

Source: General Articles

Source: Gardening

If you want to put together your own spring garden designs, you should think a lot about your skill and knowledge of plants. You want to think about color and design, but you also have to think about caring for the various plants that you choose. Some are harder than others to care for, and that can be problematic for those who don’t have a lot of time ..

Source: Gardening

There are many types of garden furniture, and these also come in a wide variety of styles too. So you can purchase furniture not only for its intended use, but also as a decorative item that fits into your overall garden design and theme.

Some of the most popular types of materials for garden furniture include wood of various types, with Teak wood being preferred due to it’s durability and beauty. Iron garden furniture is also popular, but it can be on the heavy side and it also gets extremely hot in arid climates or exposed areas of the garden. Wicker is ..

Source: Garden Furniture

I began searching for some information regarding fungus and other enemies of a nice green lawn. I found a great page on the Internet that really goes into quite a bit of detail about different types, what conditions these fungi and diseases thrive under and there are even photos to help you identify the culprit(s).

Although there is not a photo of “Summer Patch” on the site to which I am referring, it well describes what appears to be plaguing many of the lawns in my neighborhood so the photo to the left is an example. It really highlights the importance of learning about various lawn diseases and fungi.

Sizing the Hole

A good rule of thumb for getting the proper size to dig the hole is to set the container holding the bush or tree on the ground and, with your shovel, draw a circle around the container that is about twice the size of the root ball (container).

As far as depth, I like digging the hole a little deeper then the root ball so that there is a good deal of loose soil around the entire root system. Loose soil is a key because the root system must have the ability to grow without having to push through tightly compacted soil.

Setting the Tree

Once I’ve gotten the hole dug, I mix some of the existing soil with an ‘organic mix’. The organic materials in the mix will continually breakdown and become nutritional down the road. Then I put enough of the mix into the hole to bring the top of the root ball up to ground level. Once this is completed, I set the plant into the hole and fill it in with the remainder of the mix that is left.

The last step is to deeply water the tree so the soil can settle and then mulch the new addition so the moisture will stay in the ground around the root system.

In the previous post, I forgot to include the before photo for visual representation. This is my front lawn before lime (and fertilizer), the second photo is a spot of the lawn that got the fertilizer but no lime.

Lawns Get Heartburn

If you’ve ever had a case of heartburn you can appreciate the problems of too much acid. Your lawn also needs a good balance when it comes to acidity. Many grasses do not grow well in soil that is very acidic. Because of this, many people will  spread lime on the lawn to counteract the acidity in the soil. If you’re the kind of person that has to know the ‘why’, you might find an article on liming your lawn helpful. Otherwise, I’ll explain some things you might want to consider when applying lime to your yard.
Sweet and Green

In my area, the soil is very acidic so I absolutely must apply lime to reduce the acidity. The old-timers in my area call this “sweetening the soil”. Perhaps, this term comes from the sweet smell of the lime itself. I don’t about those things, but I do know that liming your lawn makes a difference. Application is easy. I’ll briefly describe how I prefer to lime my lawn.

I choose to apply most substances to my lawn with a drop spreader and lime is no different. I prefer a drop spreader because many times I apply ‘weed and feed’ and I don’t like having to watch where the fertilizer is being broadcast - if weed and feed gets on a bush or shrub it thinks it is a weed and kills it. However, drop spreaders have disadvantages too.

Multiple Passes With the Lime

Using a drop spreader to apply lime coupled with the dramatic results creates a need for multiple passes. Every place the lime is applied will green up very well and any spot missed will not. If a drop spreader is used, there may be streaks or stripes in the lawn after the application.

To prevent uneven application I like to be sure and overlap wheel with the previous path’s wheel track. Then after I finish all passes, I apply other coat the same way only the paths cross the previous coat like a grid. Sort of like this symbol looks -> #.

After I’ve made my two coats with multiple passes I give it a light watering so that the lime doesn’t wash away. And that’s all there is to it.

My lawn took about a week to start showing results and about three weeks to get completely evenly green. So if your lawn isn’t greening up like you would like it to, you just might give this a shot.