More and more environmental concerns are involved in landscaping efforts.  Whether you are just trying to cut down on the waste of water or protect the environment from harmful chemicals the decisions you make about your landscape can have a big effect on the environment.  On that note, here are some landscape contractors that are making headlines in their use of good environmental practices for home landscaping.

Case Construction Equipment announced the three winners of the first Environmental Business Awards, a national program that honors landscape contractors whose work directly benefits the environment or overcomes an environmental challenge.

The winning contractors are:

–  Roger Grothe, Aloha Landscaping, Mendota Heights, Minn., who built the
first green roof on the island of Guam.
–  Eric Hansen, Competitive Lawn Service, Downers Grove, Ill., who
converted his fleet of equipment to run almost entirely on propane.
–  Cabbell Lane, Complete Landscaping Systems, Wichita, Kan., who built
an innovative irrigation system to run on reclaimed water.

Each winning contractor receives a trip for two to the Case Tomahawk Customer Center in Tomahawk, Wis., for a customized hands-on equipment training/operation experience, a $1,000 Case gift card good toward any parts, service, rental or equipment purchase, and special editorial feature about their winning project in the December issue of Lawn & Landscape magazine.

Lawn & Landscape created the Environmental Business Awards to recognize landscape contractors whose work demonstrates a commitment to enhancing or protecting the environment. Case is the exclusive sponsor of the awards.

“Case has a long history of supporting the equipment needs of landscape contractors. This is why we’re pleased to recognize contractors who are doing good work — in every sense of the word,” said Curtis Goettel, marketing manager, Case Construction Equipment.

“Landscape contractors appreciate the performance of Case equipment, especially in situations where protecting the native ecology is crucial. Case compact equipment — with small footprints and excellent flotation characteristics — can get the tough jobs done while helping to protect local environments and existing landscapes.”

Qualifying projects included residential or commercial landscaping (including rooftop gardens and green roofs), wetland remediation, landscape rehabilitation and waterscape installations. For more on the winning projects and information on entering next year’s award competition, visit www.LawnandLandscape.com.

Source: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/emailprcntct?id=3E3ADA2400A0B8E4http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/emailprcntct?id=2979830D51E04639

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The plant materials generally used for hedges are mentioned in other posts. They include the tall background hedges of holly, thorn or wattle; the informal flowering hedges of rose, bridal wreath spirea or barberry; Such evergreens as mugho pine, globe arbor vitae, box or eunonymus (most of which are used as low edgings) and the colorful fruit and-nut hedges of thorn apple, hazlenut, cherry, beach plum, cranberry and quince.

And, of course, there are the formal clipped hedges. Of these, the Amur privet is by far the most widely used. In fact, the privet is used so universally that it is original to choose any of the above for hedging.

Front Yard Landscaping

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The CobraHead.  Great for use in the garden or flower beds.  Get around plants easily.  Gives you the extra reach you need to get into hard to get areas.

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In general, it is the wisest and most economical choice to plant young trees. Planting a mature tree is difficult and, if you have it done professionally is can be a bit pricy. It certainly can transform a landscape overnight though, if you can afford it.  And if a mature tree is needed for a terrace or screening, it may well justify the expense.

Today you can plant trees when in full leaf with the aid of new wilt-proof sprays that seal the leaves against moisture loss until the roots are established. This, however, costs money and entails greater risks than buying your tree and planting it in early spring (the best time) or late fall.

If you are planting a tree over 6 feet tall, it will suffer less setback if moved with a bur-lapped root ball or in a plastic pot.

Since the root system must have fertile soil when it is planted, special steps must be taken. Dig a hole two feet deeper and at least one foot wider each way than the full spread of the roots. The bottom of the hole should be broken up with a pitchfork and thoroughly mixed with peat, leaf mold, loam, etc.

Manure should be used sparingly and only on the top of the hole as it burns the roots. The deeper you can cultivate your hole, the better for your tree. Once it is planted, you can cultivate around it but not under the roots. If you strike a subsoil of building rubble or clay, which you are very apt to find anywhere near a house and in which a tree cannot grow, this subsoil must be removed and good soil, or better still, garden humus, should be substituted for it.

If you are planting a seedling that is not balled and burlapped, you will want to protect it by “heeling in” a vacant planting bed where it may be kept before planting as long as dormant.

This means laying it on its side and covering the roots with good soil. When you take it from the soil, give it a mud bath or “puddle” it.  Puddling protects the roots from exposure to air before planting and also from any air pockets which may exist after planting. Having filled the hole to the depth required by the roots of the plant, flood it with water to settle the soil at the bottom; when this has drained away, place the tree in the position in which it is to grow and settle the soil around it.

Use a stick or shovel handle to work the soil around the roots, and make certain there are no air pockets. Spread the roots out naturally, planting the tree at about the same depth as in the nursery or its former location. When the hole is two-thirds full, trample it down and again fill with water. Don’t firm down the remaining soil, so that the water will drain towards the trunk.

A balled-and-burlapped tree is one dug with a solid ball of rich, heavy loam in which it has been growing in the nursery for years, its root system thus amply covered and protected. The ball is firmed and held in place by a secure covering of twine and burlap. To plant it, set the tree in a hole a trifle lower than it stood in the nursery. Work the soil beneath this depth, as directed above. Dig the hole about twice the size of your ball and plant at once.

If the ground is dry at planting time, fill the hole with water and let it soak away before planting. Cut the burlap at the top when you put the ball in place, rolling it back 3 or 4 inches. Plant ball, burlap and all—the burlap will soon rot away.

After the tree is planted, cutting back is proper. Cut back sharply at least one-third, pruning the branches. It is necessary to brace the tree with wire ropes so that the roots will not be broken by the wind. Use a single wire around the trunk and three guy wires.

For the first year after planting, the more cultivation the better.
 
Keep weeds away, too, with straw or mulch, and strawy manure mulch in the spring and fall will help keep the moisture in the ground.

Technorati Tags: Front Yard Landscaping, Outdoor Landscaping, planting trees

There are two basic types of stone landscaping wall: the dry type, which uses soil to fill the area between the stones, and the mortar type, which uses cement mortar to hold the stones together.

Landscaping Wall Foundations

The foundation of a landscaping wall used for retaining needs to reach below the frost line. Check to find out how deep this is in your area.  A flat wall without buttresses or projections should have a width at the base equal to 1/4th the height of the landscaping wall.  As the wall rises it can taper down to a width about 1/4th the width of the base.

Dry Landscaping Walls

The cheapest way to build a dry stone landscaping wall is to use local stone, using large stones for the main building blocks and smaller stones for the chinks in between the large stones. The very biggest stones should be sorted to use in building the base of the landscaping wall with the medium and smaller stones being using at the top.  If the wall is porous enough you can get away without providing for drainage pipe

The face of the wall should be as flat as possible.  Round stones do not work well for building walls and should not be used.  Stones on one course should overlap the spaces in the lower course.  If a stone does not fit well, earth or smaller stones should be used to stabilize it.

The landscaping wall will be stronger if it slopes back against the area to be retained.  It is common practice in many areas to slope the wall as much as 5-6 inches for each foot of rise.  As the wall rises soil should be packed into any air pockets in the wall and behind the wall.

A landscaping wall can also be used as a wall garden.  This will make it more beautiful and in many cases will also make it stronger because of the plants root systems.  There are many green plants and flowers that will work well for this purpose.  Check with your local nursery.

Mortared Landscaping Walls

Mortared landscaping walls are more permanent and actually easier to build than dry walls. The mortar holds the stones together so it is not as important to make the stones match.  A mixture of 1 part Portland cement to 2 parts sand makes for a good mortar.

Apply mortar liberally to create a bed for each stone that is added.  Areas between stones should be well filled with gravel or smaller stones.

Tight dry walls and any walls using mortar require drainage pipes.  Imbed the drainage pipes around six inches from the lower ground level of the wall at approximately two foot intervals.

Whether a dry wall, or masonry, the top of the wall needs protection. This can be accomplished using broad, flat stones (such as slate) as capstones for your landscaping wall. 

Technorati Tags: Front Yard Landscaping, landscaping wall, Outdoor Landscaping

Evergreen Landscaping Shrubs

At the top of the evergreen list of over 600 species are rhododendron and azaleas.  These ornamental plants are hardy and long-lived.  They have flowers of all shapes, colors and sizes.  The most popular are the Pink Parl, Rhododendron Maximum, Boule de neige, Abraham Lincoln, Lady Armstrong, Everestianum and Caractacus.  Rhododendrons don’t like soil high in lime, and should be protected from winter-burn with lots of humus.

Azaleas like the same conditions as rhododendrons, meaning, partial shade – may also be used for foundation planting; they do well in thin woodlands.

Boxwood has been one of the well-loved landscaping shrubs for generations where winters are not to severe. It can be pruned to make formal rounded shapes.  Unpruned they can grow as high as 20 feet.  It is used as a landscaping shrub for paths and walks.

Euonymus Patens is another of the popular evergreen landscaping shrubs that is hardy. It has glossy green leaves and red berries. Japanese holly, or inkberry, is also popular. Laurel is another of the familiar evergreen landscaping shrubs, used for foundation planting. American mountain laurel has clusters of pink flowers in spring.

Deciduous Landscaping Shrubs

Lilac is probably one of the most liked among the deciduous landscaping shrubs.  Lilac must be grafted either on its own stock or on privet stock. Plant lilac as early in the spring as the soil can be worked.  The common lilac, which has light purple flowers and grows to about 10 feet high, is the best known, but there are several hundred varieties, in white, pinkish-lilac, reddish-lilac and bluish-lilac.

Buddleia, the butterfly bush, grows to 16 feet or more if not killed back by winter damage, and gets its name from the fact that in the summer, butterflies are always seen around it. The buddleia takes many forms: a small-leaved landscaping shrub with small purple flowers; as fascinating a cattleya-pink bush; as flaming violet, a brilliant purple, and as white profusion, a dwarf variety with pure white flowers. Also the Empire blue shrub, the dubonnet, the red glory and white cloud.

Flowering quince (Cydonia) has rose-like flowers and a scarlet bloom in spring. Japanese quince grows to 6 feet; has orange-scarlet flowers.

Deutzia is one of the more easily grown landscaping shrubs, pleasing for the many small flowers it bears in the spring.  Types include the 2- to 3-foot pink deutzia, with its delicate flowers; the pride of Rochester, with large double white flowers, and Deutzia Lemoinei, which has large, pure white flowers.

Other deciduous landscaping shrubs are the dwarf buckeye, which blossoms in July with 12-inch spikes; the chokeberry bush, liked for its decorative fruit; broom, which grows in sandy places and blooms in June and July, and witch hazel, a shrub that grows to 20 feet and has spidery yellow flowers.

Forsythia is a welcome shrub because it needs little care; with its drooping sprays of yellow flowers, it is one of the more useful landscaping shrubs for softening the lines of walls.
 
Hibiscus blooms in August, a rarity, with flowers that are large and purple, or rose-pink or white. It grows to 12 feet if left unpruned. Hydrangea, another of the landscaping shrubs with large blossoms blooming in July and August, is a showy bush, with big blue globe-shaped clusters.

Honeysuckle bushes are landscaping shrubs that are useful for mass planting. Some varieties are especially enjoyable because they blossom in February and March.

Several spirea varieties are found to be useful as screen plantings, particularly because of their dense growth and abundant flowering. Anthony Waterer spirea is a 2-foot bush with white or rose-pink clusters.  Bridal wreath has profuse white clusters in May. Spirea Thunbergii also has white flowers, and Spirea Vanhouttei, 8 feet high with dense white flowers, is used as a living fence.

Viburnum (the popular snowball) is 10 to 12 feet high at maturity and is used for high foundation, screening and hedges. It has white snowball-shaped flowers and foliage turns crimson in fall.

Weigela is popular, too, in many varieties, including the variegated weigela, dwarf landscaping shrubs with rose flowers and variegated silvery leaf. There is also Weigela rosea, with rosy trumpet-shaped flowers, and the new brilliant cardinal landscaping shrubs.

Check out some of our other posts for more on landscaping shrubs.

Technorati Tags: Front Yard Landscaping, landscaping shrubs, Outdoor Landscaping

Fundamental Elements of Garden Landscape Designs

Garden landscape designs should normally includes healthy shade trees and decorative trees, paths or walkways to provide access throughout the landscape for heavy traffic areas to avoid damaging lawns or garden beds and well prepared and planted lawn beds that will provide for a strong healthy lawn that can withstand any environmental challenges or abuse.

A healthy lawn is one of the most neglected elements when it comes to garden landscape designs.  The soil is the most important factor in determining the quality of a lawn and should be given a lot of attention to make sure that you are building your lawn on a good foundation.  Make sure the soil is rich and well draining with lots of loam.  If necessary, plan on bringing in good top soil or soil supplements when preparing your garden landscape designs.

Flower gardens also benefit from having trees to provide limited shade for shade-loving plants and to protect other plants from the full force of the elements.  Again, soil preparation is important when planning your garden landscape designs and the soil quality should be good for several feet under the proposed tree.  It may be worth your while to dig this area out to make sure there are not problems such as buried refuse or heavy rocks that would make it difficult for a tree to thrive.  Many people have spent years on a tree only to find it just won’t grow and progress in a area because of the poor quality of the ground underneath.

Service areas are another important element of garden landscape designs.  The easier and more convenient it is for you to carry out certain tasks in the garden the better chances are that you will do them and not become discouraged or overwhelmed by the work.  Garden landscape designs should be developed that reduce the amount of effort and maintenance that is required and that make the jobs easier because of the layout.  If you have service areas that allow you to keep tools handy and in good condition and that give you places to store landscape materials and supplies it will make everything easier to maintain and will provide a more fulfilling experience for you.

Outdoor living areas are another important element in and garden landscape designs.  This may include play areas, dining areas, entertainment areas, secluded meditation areas or relaxation areas such as a place for a hot tub or outdoor spa.  By including these types of elements in your garden landscape designs you can expand the living area of your home into the outdoors and make for a more elegant and pleasing property overall.

Read some of our other posts for more information and ideas about garden landscape designs.

Technorati Tags: Front Yard Landscaping, garden landscape designs, Outdoor Landscaping

Categories of Soil in Landscaping Gardens

In general, soils can be classified in three main categories; Sand, Silt and Clay.  The soil that is ideal for landscape gardening is made up of all three, and is often called loam or loamy soil.  There has to be the right mixture of each for the best quality garden soil.  Soils that have too much clay will not drain well and will stay too wet.  Soils that are too sandy will drain to quickly and will tend to dry out too quickly.  

All good landscaping garden soils are also held together by humus.  Humus is an organic material that acts as a binding agent in holding the soil together.  Humus helps the landscaping gardens soil in many ways including:  

- Holding in water

- Absorbing sunlight

- Freeing up compounds that are beneficial to plants

- Adds nutrients to the landscape garden soil

- Improves the landscaping gardens soil texture

 
Humus can be added to the soil in organic fertilizers like manure or compost.  These organic fertilizers provide the landscaping gardens soil with the three main elements that are necessary for good soil, namely: bacterial life, water and nutrients.  If you have these you will have the basis for good landscaping gardens

Technorati Tags: Front Yard Landscaping, landscaping gardens, Outdoor Landscaping

1. Clearly Define the Outdoor Landscaping Problem

Take some draft paper and draw a plan of your property or the specific part of your outdoor landscaping you are trying to design.  Mentally divide each part of the  landscape into separate pieces that you can deal with one at a time.  Write down what you want to accomplish in each of these individual areas and how you intend to use them. (i.e. for color, borders, walkways, shade, etc.)

2. Brainstorm Outdoor Landscaping Ideas with Others

There is tremendous power in getting several brains together working on the same challenge.  Your outdoor landscaping is no exception.  Get your friends and family together and go over your list.  Write down as many different ideas as possible in relation to the objectives you outlined for each area.  Don’t worry about how you will do things or anything like that.  Just focus on idea generation without editing.   Encourage everyone to think creatively and avoid being critical of any ideas.  If someone becomes critical of any ideas it will stifle everyone else’s creativity.

3. Daydream!!!  Let Your Creative Subconscious Work For You

Whether awake or asleep, your sub-conscious mind continues to work for you around the clock.  While you are traveling, sleeping, or doing routine chores, feel free to let your mind wander.  Take a break and sleep on it. You may be surprised at how successful switching off your conscious brain can be.

4. Your Outdoor Landscaping Ideas Notebook

Carry a pen with a pocket size pad of paper everywhere you go and capture every idea that you think of.  Don’t tell yourself you’ll write it down later.  Chances are slim that you will remember to do it.  Many of your ideas will be great. Capture them, preserve them, and then apply them to your outdoor landscaping.

Here is another resource for generation Ideas for Outdoor Landscaping

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