How to Maintain Your Yard Lush and Green in Summer?

Wondering how to maintain your yard fresh in sizzling summer? No worries, you are just a few approaches away to make it a breeze.

Watering

Improper watering can stress leaves, be it overwatering or under watering. The best fix is to water deeply and occasionally, which allows the soil to breathe well.

During hot summer, water your yard before the break of dawn to bring down water lost to evaporation. Take care not to drown the yard in shaded areas. If you have sprinklers, plan them in three brief cycles, spaced one hour apart. If it is drip irrigation, experts suggest running it a maximum of three days a week during warmer months. Run your drip system 1-3 hours to soak up the root structure. You may have to vary the length of watering time based on the type of emitter, plant types and soil condition.

To prevent leaf scorching in summer, most trees and grown up shrubs need a good soak once every seven to ten days. Irrigate newer plants as often as necessary till they take root in the new earth.

Lawn care

Do not mow during hot, dry spells. Water up to one inch each week over the summer to keep your lawn thriving.

Walk across your lawn and look back to see if you have left behind ‘footprints’. If the grass takes a longer time to spring upright, it is time to water it. Wilting or folding turf grass is another sign to take to your garden hose.

Allow lawns to grow a little taller in summer to shade the soil. As for fertilizing, do so in the morning and irrigate soon after application.

Pruning

Avoid over-pruning plants during summer to prevent severe sun scald. Whenever you prune, remember to discard only 25 per cent of the canopy in one growing season.

Prune trees after the flowering phase is over; this may be spring for some trees and summer for others.

Mulching

Mulch, be it organic (grass trimmings, bark chips, straw) or inorganic (brick chips, stones) inhibits weed growth; maintains a moist environment in summer conserving water; protects roots; decreases abrupt changes in soil temperature. Add a layer of surface mulch 2 to 3 inches thick to keep your soil cool in summer.

Fertilizing

You may have to choose the right fertilizer, specific to your plants and for the time of the year. As for lawn, make use of slow-release fertilizers in summer. It eliminates excessive top growth seen with fast-acting fertilizers, which means less mowing worries. It is wise to go exactly by the directions on the package.

Pest Control

Keep an eye out for insect infestation or disease in the summer months. The first step to keep pests off your yard is to pick disease-resistant plant varieties. Do not spray insecticides when temperatures soar above 90 degrees. Heat and sun can make some of these chemicals turn poisonous to plants.

Knock off bugs like mites and aphids, with a strong blast of water from your hose. Else, let nature take its course – set helpful "killer" bugs like ladybugs loose to prey on aphids. Keep your landscape free of infested leaves, fallen leaves and rotten plant material, so as not to get caught in managing vicious cycles of pest invasion. Better still, get the advice and assistance of landscape specialists to sit back and be soaked in the joy of a well-kept landscape.

Lighting up Your Landscape?

Your yard is ready with cherry-picked greenery and garden decorations. You are set to visually feast on Mother Nature by day, and by now you are your neighbor’s envy! Why don’t you play with lights to create the magical night atmosphere for your landscape after sundown as well?

Purpose of landscape lighting

Lighting up your landscape revolves around two reasons. One is to set the mood and another is to ensure security. Be it for a romantic evening or a cool hang-out with friends, you would want to create drama or you may want to keep that garden bench under the tree well lit for safety reasons. Simply put, make your yard a blissful outdoor living space by night.

How to go about it?

Before you set off, map your yard and deliberate on the real purpose of lighting up each existing light, vegetation, tall trees, water features or add-ons that you might want toforeground. Take the height of each element into consideration and mull over if it would absorb or reflect light. The thumb rule is to keep lighting minimal. Finally, estimate the costs you can afford.

Styles of Lighting

Uplighting

Landscape uplights are typically installed either at or below ground level to send the light rays up above. They can be used on a deck or patio to send light upward on an umbrella or a tall tree, accentuating the plants around.

Add uplights to your beautiful walls and fence to add visual interest and depth; they also provide no-nonsense pathway illumination.

The most common types of uplights are bullet/spot, wash and well lights.

Bullet lights, like the name signifies come with a narrow spot beam perfect to illuminate your prized plants or any architectural element.

When you want to subtly light up your shrubs and wall surfaces, opt for low diffuse wash lights.

If you would wish to light up the plants, benches or walls from underneath, go in for well lights. They are installed slightly below mark and not visible on the surface.

Downlighting

Downlighting is commonly used to light up outdoor areas such as patios, facades and gazebos by angling down your lights. If you place a light in a tree high in its branch and direct the lamp down, it washes the ground below quite like moonlight; that is why it is also called moonlighting. You get to watch the shadows of branches and leaves dance on the lawn or patio.

Directional Lighting

Accent lighting is probably the most common form of directional lighting. It creates a dramatic atmosphere by highlighting special objects such as sculptures or other architectural features. Added perk? They are usually adjustable, and so you can move them as required.  Maintenance Tips

Though low voltage LED lights are beautiful, demanding low maintenance and costing less, their positioning is most important in outdoor landscape lighting. Place them so as not to hurt people’s eyes. You do not want ground lights to be trampled on by kids too.

Regularly check for exposed wiring and old/broken bulbs along walls and ground.

Choose high quality fixtures to avoid recurrent repairs and replacements.

Use the right cables adequate for the load. Avoid using too many fixtures overloading one transformer.. Engage reputed professionals for intricate electrical work and take the burden  off your shoulders.

Country Garden Landscaping: 5 Great Ideas for You

Do you want to celebrate nature day in and day out? Crafting a country garden exuding old-world charm is the answer then.

A country garden wears a rustic appeal sans specific geometry. Perfect lines and precise curves are a no-no, but carry an informal air around. It is for those looking to have a casual yard with an abundant sprinkling of flowers, herb gardens and a bouquet of garden decorations thoughtfully structured.

Color your front yard

A fresh and lush front yard with colorful flowers is a good starter. Meandering paths through the garden offer an air of mystery.

Buy a mix of annual wildflower seeds and watch the vibrant drama unfold before your eyes. Hollyhocks, wild country blooms like delphiniums, peonies, campanula, and cornflowers are evergreen favorites. Isn’t nectar another good trophy - you get to host bees and butterflies too!

Put in fragrant flowers like sweet pea, oriental lily, and herbs for an added charm. For a touch of romance in the air, add red roses, or hydrangeas.

Added perk - a flower meadow is low on maintenance and no mowing worries.

Country garden decorations

There is no hard rule here. It is your greenscape you can play around with, but make sure not to jam-pack with too many elements.

A country garden is complete with a white picket fence. Add it on for an extraordinary backdrop for the flower meadow.

Get creative with containers. Glam up your yard with brightly painted planters. Convert a weathered wheel barrow, refurbish it with a spray of bright paint or leave it with a distressed look. You can make it a portable garden feature with a set of small herb pots.

Develop micro gardens in old gum boots when they are ready to retire. Paint quirky figures on them. Hang a rustic toolbox repurposed into a planter. Wicker basket, wooden containers, old bath tubs, kitchen sinks and metal buckets come in handy to be repurposed into one-of-its kind plant containers. The high point is you save on money but definitely add a charming allure to your garden.

Your worn out and rusted garden equipment are not for the trash can. Group them in a strategic place in your garden for a vintage appeal.

Take advantage of vertical space. Style your porch hanging a series of vertical planters flowing with color coordinated flowers.

Water feature

A pond is a great addition to a country garden for a cool spot in the warm summer. Frogs and dragonflies may be your visitors or even kingfishers, if you get lucky. Line the little pool of water with pebbles and mini rocks interspersed with water lilies, ornamental grasses and ferns to subdue the rocky texture.

A garden fountain with a favorite sculpture or two adds a classic touch to the atmosphere. You are sure to feel tranquil amidst the sound of flowing water and the dance of light on its surface.

Pave it right

From a good range of paving materials, you need to choose the right one based on your design setting, ease of availability, type of location, and budget.

Sandstone, gravel, slate, granite and limestone are the usual choices but one needs to choose the right material based on local availability, ease of working, durability, underfoot stability, suitability for the location, and maintenance. For professional support, engage a landscaping expert.

Pergola

Another striking and inviting addition is a pergola at the entry with roses trailing over to scent the air. Do you want to ask for more?

Adding Quality to Your Home Life: 4 Useful Landscaping Ideas

It is often the case that you are disturbed by your garden eyesores and those in the immediate neighborhood. Also the passersby are distracted by these monstrosities, instead of being drawn by the pleasant view of your garden.  How would you deal with those irritants?  Here are 4 useful landscaping ideas to add quality to your home life. 

Screening eyesores outside the garden fence

Utility poles that support power, telephone and cable television lines along your fence can surely be an eyesore. Even rooflines in the vicinity can  spoil the view of your landscape.  A tall hedging  and screening seems to be the natural answer to this problem. But it has a diminutive effect on your garden which you wouldn’t like at all.A viable alternative could be to use plants of varying heights and textures in many layers to create a thick and rich floral screen.  This would annul the unseemly distraction of the eyesores outside the garden fence.

Hiding from view installations and fittings within the fence

It is just not the case that all landscaping dampers are outside your fence. There are several ‘insiders’ that demand your attention and action like your HVAC machinery, propane tanks and downspouts. These installations and fittings are utility oriented, and so how well they go with your landscape is generally of the least concern.

However, there is ample diversity of attractive rain cuffs or metal drainpipes available for you  – pleasing to the eye with captivating glaze and polish. You can think of replacing the worn out old order downspouts  with  these new order ones which will surely lend aesthetic support to your landscape. And you won’t regret it.

There is a very pleasant solution with greens to tackle the unwelcome view of the other ‘insiders’ – your HVAC machinery and propane tanks: with the guidance of a landscape expert you can create an aesthetic screening of foliage of different colors, textures, larger and smaller dimensions, and shapes and shadows

Surface Water Draining

You may be a great landscape lover, and yet you may not know that a crucial factor – poor drainage structures – can play havoc with your  landscape. Rainfall is quite essential  for augmentation of ground water level. However, frequent and persistent rainfalls can adversely  affect your landscape. You need to have a good drainage structure in place to maintain quality landscape. 

Noise absorption

May be it’s news to you that your landscape, if properly designed, can help you combat noise pollution inside and around. Woody plants with thick and rough bark, and large and thick leaves can absorb sounds. The wider the taller and the thicker the greenery,the less would be the disturbing noise level.

Best shade plants for your garden

You can brighten up the shaded spots in your landscape with these easy-to-grow floras that come back year after year.

Bigroot Geranium

This is one of the toughest plants that can grow in the shade. Bigroot geranium can handle drought or heat. Moreover, deers and rabbits normally avoid them in search of other flavorsome morsels. This shade plant offers outstanding pink or white flowers. When beautifying your garden, plant bigroot geranium in front of toad lilies to add interest to your landscape.

Toad Lily

Toad lilies are easy-to-grow perennial flowers that are often compared to orchids. The plant can be spotted with purple or blue shades. You can let the toad lily rise up behind a bunch of fern-leafed bleeding heart or medium-sized hostas.

Ajuga

This groundcover is grown primarily for its foliage, but also has beautiful flowers. Ajuga yields dark, glossy green leaves and blue flowers. Some of the varieties of this plant offer multicolored or dark purple foliage, or white or pink flowers. Ajuga grows 6 inches tall. Varieties of purple-leafed ajuga look great with blue hostas.                                                                   

Old-Fashioned Bleeding Heart    

Dicentra spectabilis is one of the favorite plants to grow in shade during late spring and early summer. It produces white or pink heart-shaped flowers that hang from arching, elegant stems. By midsummer, the plant tends to lose its foliage and go dormant. Plant it with hosta and astilbe to ensure there is no barren spot within your garden at any given point.

Astilbe hybrids

These are feathery, plumelike flowers that come in shades of salmon, pink, lavender, and white. They look great beside garden pools. Give them rich, moist soil to grow.

Begonia (Tuberous)

For sizzling color in hanging baskets and pots, these plants make a great option. Flowers come in a variety of shades. Hanging types blossom more abundantly, but upright strains have bigger flowers. These begonias tend to grow best in rich soil and filtered shade. It is important to water them enough to keep the soil moist and mist regularly.

Coleus

The brilliantly colored leaves of the plant range from yellow to pink, ruby, red, orange, and other blends. But for patios that are lightly shaded, partial to lime green hues such as sunny yellow, or lime and brown will do the job brilliantly. Coleus will look great in bright pots.

Hosta

Hostas are easy-to-grow perennial plants. They also provide a great variety of shade. Select from miniatures that can stay only a few inches wide. Look for leaves in shades of blue, green, white, gold, and chartreuse.

Lungwort

These plants have lung-shaped, silvery spots on their foliage. The multi-colored foliage looks great throughout the season, but the plant looks particularly nice when it has clusters of white, pink, and blue flowers during spring. You can team up Lungwort with 'Jack Frost' for a beautiful silver-on-silver play.

Yellow Corydalis

This perennial plant grows in shade and is known to be the longest bloomer. Enjoy the bunch of yellow flowers till frost sets in. The plant is not only popular for its flowers but also for its attractive gray-green leaves. Accent the bright flowers of the plant against hosta foliage or dark green hellebore for an interesting look.

Lamium

Lamium produces bunches of white or pink flowers. This pleasant groundcover can bloom on and off throughout the summer, offering color to the garden for months. And even when it is not in bloom, the silver-infused foliage brightens up the shady corners.

Plant some beautiful flora to add color to your garden even in shade. If you’re unsure about which plant will look best in your garden, make sure you seek advice from a landscaping expert.

Landscaping ideas for smaller spaces

Maximize the effect of your yard with the help of these landscaping ideas that work well for small yards, small gardens, and even backyards.

Create a view with pergolas               

Pergolas and arbors are classic small yard landscaping ideas that help in offering a grand feel to the garden. They are a great way to frame a view. However, if pergolas are not your thing, you can create the same effect with small trees, shrubs, or even pieces of garden art.

Create small zones

Breaking open areas of a small space is a great way to make it seem larger. You can make use of different paths and furniture groupings that divide a small yard and transform it into an attractive and peaceful seating nook.

Make effective use of color

Place bright, bold colors in front of other plants where you'll be able to view them. The rest of the garden landscape that falls beyond the bold colored flora will seem to recede, helping the yard to feel larger.

Using the power of perspective

Straight, long lines trick you into thinking that a small garden or small yard landscape is bigger than it actually is. To take advantage of this, create a focal point by slightly slanting the far ends of the lines toward each other. You can enhance the look by repeating rows of flowers.

Boost the interest of the backyard

Sometimes the best idea for small yard landscaping is to mix it up with interesting elements that provide dramatic visual relief. The mix of lawn, paving materials, container plantings, and hardscape can add enough interest to a back yard garden that you hardly take notice of the size of the yard.

Backyard destination

Create a backyard destination with welcoming chairs and a fire pit. Placing the seating spot right off the patio and creating a secondary seating spot close to the fence helps the small yard to look and feel more spacious.

Take advantage of texture and foliage

Bold and big tropical plants create a green, lush feel, particularly in a small landscape. Their unusual shape and large leaves can change the scale of a backyard to help it seem larger.

Place vertical plants, not horizontal

It's a good idea to look for trees and shrubs that grow vertically. Try using dwarf varieties for a backyard that lacks space. Apart from this, you can use more columnar evergreens.

Create a focal point

Creating a focal point is a great landscaping idea that helps to draw people’s attention and help outdoor spaces look neat and tidy. A simple seating area with vertical planters can offer a peaceful nook.

Skip the Lawn

                                                                             

If you love plants and don’t really need a lawn, and have a small backyard, skip planting grass entirely. Include walking paths and stagger the plants for height.

Streamline the backyard

Decreasing visual clutter is also a great landscaping idea that helps to create a sense of order and calm. The best way to do this is to maintain a devotion to either a few plants, or a single tone of color.

Raise the areas

You can offer a sense of height to a small backyard by raising up plantings. Try formal raised beds and retaining walls combined with other features, such as stairs. You will help create a beautiful visual distraction from the deficiency of square footage.

If beautifying your small yard, garden, or backyard seems difficult then its best to get in touch with landscaping experts. They can offer the best advice and help you create your dream yard.

Landscaping Mistakes that can decrease yard appeal

Neglected and clumsy landscaping does not only spoil the look of a yard, it can also reduce the value of the property and make it difficult to sell. Real estate experts say that bad landscaping is a turnoff for buyers and can increase the total number of days a property remains in the market, which in turn hurts its price.

Here are a few landscaping mistakes that can bust a house’s overall appeal.

Planting with no plan in mind 

Some plant choices, such as begonias can last a season. Others such as trees, can last for a lifetime. So, make sure you take out time to plot and plan a yard that offers maximum appeal and enjoyment. It is best to speak with an expert when planning to renovate your yard. They will provide you with plant lists so that you can install the landscape correctly.

Togetherness

Planting in clusters is a lot better than installing soldier-like single plants all over your yard. But make sure your groups of shrubs, perennials, and trees have enough room to spread, or they will appear overgrown and choked. 

When potting the plants, make sure you find out how wide and high the mature plants will be, and then combine that information with the recommendations given on the planting labels. In the first three years, your garden beds will look prairie-like and airy. But soon they will fill up and transform the look of your curb.

Choosing plants that are not supported by the soil

Don’t give into the catalog plants that look fabulous on paper but are not suitable for the soil in your yard. You’ll end up with plants that demand winter covers, die prematurely, require daily watering, or need other exhaustive efforts to keep them well and alive.

Check the label of the plant to see which region it is best suited for.

Using the same plants everywhere

Avoid the temptation of filling your yard with a single plant species or shrub, which is bound to create a monochromatic, boring landscape. Instead, try mixing things a little. For instance, mix summer-blooming roses, spring-blooming azaleas and autumn- shrubs together. For winter color, try adding shrubs and plants that bloom in the chilly weather. 

Not removing the dead plants

Nothing ruins curb appeal quicker than rows of dying or dead perennials and shrubs. So remove the dearly departed quickly. Plants that have lived their lives make great candidates for compost. But in case your plants have been compromised by infestation or disease, it’s best to put them in plastic bags and throw them into trash.

Weeds allowed to breed

Weeds do not just spoil the landscaping, they start competing with the other plants for food and water. Weeds can also shorten the life of stone, brick, and pavers by budding between mortar cracks.

One of the best ways to stop weeds is to root them up before they start to flower and spread billions of weed seeds across your yard.

A tastefully landscaped yard can certainly add to the appeal of your house and make your experience more enriching. By making sure you do not commit the six mistakes mentioned above, you can surely expect great results from your efforts. However for best results, it is advised to hire a landscaping expert who has the skill and experience of transforming an average looking yard or curb into a scenic beauty.