Landscaping Ideas

2006-06-09T21:09:00.000+02:00

I want to express my sincere thank you to everybody who visited Lawncareessentials.com, the response was HUGE!

Landscaping Ideas

IT'S HERE!

2006-05-24T16:41:00.000+02:00

It's Finally Ready!!

The lawncare site www.lawncareessentials.com is live! Please visit lawncareessentials.com and browse around for anylawn related tip, resource or product!!

Landscaping Ideas - Great Sites!

2006-05-09T21:59:00.000+02:00

Landscaping Ideas:
Spotlight on....

These are two of the best sources out there for anything lawn/gardening-related.

Yardiac.com - The Ultimate Garden Center

"Back Yards" have become "outdoor living spaces". In fact, most people view the yard as an extension of their home. We supply the knowledge, products, and service to create the yard of your dreams. Yardiac.com has combined the peaceful and informative experience you obtain from a traditional garden center while providing savings and the product selections found in the large discount chains.

Gardens Alive!

Gardens Alive!™ offers high quality lawn and garden products that work with nature. In using our products you may feel confident that you are doing your part in protecting the environment. At the same time, you will be maintaining a beautiful and healthy lawn or garden that will be the envy of your friends and neighbors.

Please visit my Lawn Maintenance Blog also.

Landscaping Ideas

2006-04-21T01:28:00.000+02:00

Landscaping Ideas :

Front Yard Landscaping Ideas - How To Plant And Care For Shrubs - By Thad Pickering

Caring for both trees and shrubs is basically done in a very similar manner. The one major difference though, is that a tree usually only has one trunk, whereas a shrub can have several stems or trunks. And the planting of both trees and shrubs can be a little different too, so let's discuss the best way to plant shrubs in your home landscape.

It wasn't all that long ago that getting shrubs that were not only beautiful but also hardy was difficult to do. But today, there are many more varieties available including hybrids that greatly expand the choices for most do it yourself home landscapers. You can now find appropriate shrubs that provide outstanding color, bloom in various seasons, cover spots that grass simply won't grow in, and accomplish other purposes in your landscape design, no matter what region of the country you live in.

Shrubs stake out the middle ground in landscaping designs, as they are larger than flowers and yet smaller than trees. So they aid immeasurably in providing a varied and balance landscape theme. They can help soften the lines of a home, they can act as a decorative background for flowers, and they can even hide some things that you don't want to be seen. On top of that, they add character and shape to a yard, allowing you to trim and cultivate them as you wish. They also tend to be able to grow and reach maturity very rapidly, and last a long time.

To plant shrubs, it's usually best to choose early spring as the most favorable time. This gives the shrub a good long stretch of favorable weather in which to get well established. If you happen to live in parts of the country that are more mild year-round, you may be able to extend that planting season even into the wintertime. But generally speaking, for most parts of the country, springtime is when you want to start thinking about planting your shrubs for the next year.

The main reason for planting failure is dry roots and there are steps that can be taken to solve that After getting your shrub from the nursery, be sure to water it as soon as you can. It's often best to keep them in shade at least at first, mulch the ground around them, and you may even decide to prune back the shrub at this point, depending on the age of the plant. The older the shrub, the more it will need to be pruned back initially. That's why you often come out ahead of the game if you just buy less expensive, smaller shrubs to begin with. And although some plants like forsythia and azaleas can be moved while they are in flower, you should wait to move most shrubs until the flowering is done.

For some shrubs, who lose leaf moisture in the wintertime, you will need to be sure to water in the fall before the ground freezes. These include azaleas, rhododendron, and certain broadleaf evergreens.

Some folks are very hesitant to prune shrubs, but actually this helps keep them young and vigorous. Try to prune out the older branches first, and cut as close to the ground as you can. Many shrubs need pruning almost every year, especially if they have dead branches left over from wintertime, such as hydrangeas, deutzias, and privets. Others just need to head their flower heads pruned off after blooming like azaleas, magnolias and rhododendron.

With just a little bit of time and attention as mentioned above, you can insure that your shrubs stay looking beautiful year in and year out, and always reflect well on your landscaping design.

Thad Pickering writes on many consumer related topics including home improvement. You can find free landscaping ideas and front yard landscaping ideas by visiting our Home Improvement website.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Thad_Pickering

Landscaping Ideas

Landscaping Ideas- FREE Gardening Ebook

2006-04-18T17:46:00.000+02:00

Landscaping Ideas -
Freebie!

Download this gardening ebook (.pdf, so right-click and select "save as") completely free.
Enjoy!

Check back soon for more Landscaping Ideas!

Landscaping Ideas - Why Good Gardening Tools Are Essential

2006-04-01T01:28:00.000+02:00

Landscaping Ideas

Gardening has become one of the most beloved hobbies around the world.
A lot of people have taken up this activity, and are producing some great results.
If you decide to seriously start participating in this great world of gardening, the very first thing you have to do is acquire a solid set of tools.

Gardening is not just about putting plants in the ground, the cultivation is a very important
aspect, so investing in good tools is a must. It may seem an awful lot of money to purchase high quality gardening tools, especially with the more low-cost alternatives. But when buying your tools you must ask yourself: how much are you willing to put into the future of your garden?

The most important thing to consider is this: spending (what seems to be) a lot of money on
high quality gardening tools, virtually guarantees that you’re purchasing products that will last. If you decide to spend less money in the beginning, you will quickly realize that your tools must be replaced, because they’re not manufactured by high standards. So, in the end you will have to spend more money to purchase the right gardening tools. That’s why it’s important to make that investment early on.

While you’re looking for tools, be sure to check online as well as offline stores.
Take your time to shop around and when you’re sure you have looked pretty much everywhere that’s worth looking, make your decision on buying the best possible set of gardening tools for your new found hobby.

Be sure to visit my Lawn Maintenance Blog.
Landscaping Ideas

Landscaping Ideas - Your Dream Garden

2006-03-23T16:58:00.000+01:00

Landscaping Ideas -
Your Dream Garden
By Theresa Sontag

Have you dreamed about what your garden could look like? Whenever you browse garden catalogs filled with colorful flowers, shrubs, trees and pictures of beautifully landscaped yards, the choices seem endless. Not only are you asking yourself “What type tree should go here?” you also need to consider if ponds and garden sculptures should be considered, and if so, what type! Before investing your money ordering hundreds of plants or giving up because you cannot decide what you really want, here are a few things to consider.

A common concern in landscaping is creating a lovely, private environment. While fencing can provide immediate privacy, consider a buffer strip of shrubbery between your home environment and the one next door. Many shrubs will grow quickly and act as a screen while providing habitat for a variety of birds. Consider planting shrubs native to your area because they are usually well adapted to local conditions and may provide the best habitat for local wildlife. Some other issues to consider: whether the plants have special characteristics, such as whether they produce flowers or fruits, how large they will be at maturity and how much maintenance they require to remain healthy and in scale with your yard. Check with a local nursery or garden center for recommendations.

If you always thought it would be fun to have a pond, go for it! With the variety of materials now available, anyone can have a garden pond, regardless of the size of your yard. If you have the space available, you can build one right in the ground. You can purchase a pre-formed mold or dig a hole and line it with a plastic pond liner. If space is limited, a simpler and space efficient type of pond consists of a plastic lined barrel or tub. Just add water, plants, a pump, and even fish and you have a pond for your patio. Be sure to consider sources of electricity if you intend to add a pump. Also, make sure you use caution and take security measures if small children have access to your garden and the pond. Another factor to consider is maintenance. A pond can require a lot of effort to keep it clear of algae, leaves, and debris.

If you do not want to spend your weekends maintaining a yard, turn part of it into a wildflower garden. Depending on where you live, this could be a prairie, desert landscape, or alpine garden. Check on local zoning ordinances. Some communities have not yet recognized the value of "native landscaping" and may consider this a nuisance area. If you want a more maintained yard, consider ground covers instead of grass and use mulch to control weeds in foundation plantings and flower beds.

When selecting plants, you must make sure they are adapted to your area. Consider the low and high temperatures the plant will tolerate, amount of moisture, amount of sunlight, and soil characteristics. You also need to ask yourself: Do you want an annual that will need replanting every year or a perennial that comes up year after year? Do you want cut flowers for inside your home or to give to friends?

Another to consider is native plants. They are usually better adapted to local conditions and need little maintenance. Be cautious about introducing exotic species such as bamboo or purple loosestrife that will become invasive. Some of these plants are prohibited in many states.

Above all, you should choose what you like. There is an enormous variety of plants that will provide food and shelter to a wide variety of wildlife and will give you the color and ambiance of your dreams.

Theresa Sontag is an avid gardener. For more gardening tips and
resources on creating lush, vibrant gardens, visit Gardening-How-To.com, Rose Garden-How-To.com and The Garden Review.com!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Theresa_Sontag

Landscaping Ideas

Landscaping Ideas

2006-03-11T19:31:00.000+01:00

Landscaping Ideas -
Some Practical Ideas For Designing Your Own Landscape
By Ken Asselin

Designing your own landscape, can be both exciting and challenging. If you are considering such a project, here are some practical ideas and suggestions.

Planning the Project
Planning your landscape design is the first and most important step. Take the time to gather the information you will need to make your decisions on the elements you wish to include in your landscape design. Will you want a deck, patio, foot paths, walkways, a pond? What type of plants, trees, flowers, and ground cover will you want to use? You should research books, articles, and landscape design magazines to help you make these decisions. This will pay off in the end by saving you money, time, and frustration, enabeling you end up with a beautifully finished project to be proud of.

The Design
The landscape design is your next step. You will need to make a layout of the area to be landscaped, as close to scale as possible, and with accurate measurements. Many landscape design planning guides that will give you step-by-step instructions are available on the internet for free, and books or eBooks are abundant. Once your landscape design layout is done you can began to place your elements on the layout pad. This should be your first or preliminary plan and as you progess, changes can be transfered to your secondary or updated plans. Changing your mind often is just fine. After all this is just on paper at this point and you have not spent any money or performed any labor yet. Experimenting with a few plans is necessary before you come up the final landscape design. A well planned landscape will never look the same in different seasons. Plan your landscape design to change with the seasons. You should attempt to design your landscape as maintenance free as possible.

Landscape Design Software
If it is hard for you to visualize your finished landscape design by just looking at your layout, there is some very good landscape design software available. Much of the landscape design software was originally developed for professional landscapers, but since has been modified for the beginner who wants to do-it-themselves. There are many do-it-yourslef landscape design software programs available today. Landscape design software lets you see a virtual picture of the landscape design and enables you to move items around and see the changes you make come to life. Some software allows you to import a photo of your home or building and designs the landscape around the photo. Most landscape design software programs offer advise on using and placing the many different elements available today in your landscape design. A well designed landscape will always change with time, abd some of the landscape design software available will allow you to view your landscape as it matures. You can see what it will look like 5 or 10 years from now when the trees have grown and the plants matured.

Gardens
Many people like to incorparate a garden in their landscape design. Gardens can be tucked away in the corner of an area, or be the focal point of the entire landscape design. Gardens can even be stragecly placed among the plants, flowers and trees so they blend in with the entire landscape design. If you like to garden, dont overlook all the garden design possiblities when planning your landscape design.

Ken Asselin is webmaster for the Article Selections Guide series of websites.
His 40 plus years experience in retail marketing, bring a fresh outlook to website development and promotion.

You can visit his Landscape Designs site at: http://www.landscape.selectionsguide.com/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ken_Asselin

Landscaping Ideas

Landscaping Ideas - Buying Healthy Plants

2006-03-07T19:45:00.000+01:00

Landscaping Ideas -
Buying Healthy Plants

When buying plants for your garden it really pays off to do some homework and be absolutely sure what you’re buying. The tips can help you a great deal with your decisions.

Always analyze the leaves and stems to make sure they don’t have plagues nor diseases: stained leaves, holes in the leaves... the purchase of an ill plant will result in infection of the rest of your plants in your garden.

Avoid plants whose roots come out through the drainage holes of the flowerpots; it’s an indication that they’ve been waiting too long for a transplant; the same can be said of plants that have slight root formation on the surface of the soil.

The plant must have perfectly taken root. Verify that the plant is well stabilized by giving the stem a slight pull; it shouldn’t come out with ease. This can happen when plants are removed from the soil too soon and put in a pot to be sold, without it having taken root properly.

Avoid plants that display an unequal development on each side.

Winter it is not a good time to buy interior plants because the house is heated, and has dry air and less luminosity. These are conditions very different from those in let’s say a gardening center. The change can kill them.

Inspect the leaves and stems to be certain they don’t have insects or suspicious spots.

Remove the root ball from the pot to watch the roots. It shouldn’t fall apart when removing, because that would be signal of bad rooting.

The roots must be abundant, with a nice clear color which indicates good health and growth, and not blackish, which indicates rottenness.

But if there are roots in excess, it means that this plant has spent too much time in that pot and should have already been moved to a larger container.

Avoid buying plants if they have roots showing outside the pot..

Is it’s a flower plant you’re buying, choose those that still have lots of closed buds.

Remember, garden care takes a lot of patience; especially if you want to have a garden that stands out.

Check back soon for more great landscaping ideas.

Also, please visit my Lawn Maintenance Blog.

Landscaping Ideas

2006-03-06T16:55:00.000+01:00

Hi everyone and welcome to my landscaping ideas blog!
I will be posting all kinds of resources and other stuff regarding landscaping ideas.

So check this blog out frequently for landscaping ideas and tips!