These were just a few of the many varieties of Cherry trees. Next I'll talk about flowering Crab trees.

This is a snow fountain cherry which is another weeping cherry that can be used in the same way.

This is one of my favorite cherry trees, its a weeping cherry. They work well off the corner of a house  as a center piece with a sweeping bed and surrounding shrubs or alone in a tree ring in the yard.

     I would like to talk about flowering trees. This is a Yoshino Cherry tree. They are bred not to bear fruit as are most ornamental flowering fruit trees. They are so beautiful in the spring when they flower and the use of them are a wonderful addition to your landscape.

Here is another ground cover Juniper called Bar Harbor which is green as opposed to the blue color Blue Chip variety and is planted and spreads the same way.

Note: Pachysandra and Vinca have to be planted like flowers so it is time consuming where as the potted spreading ground cover Juniper varieties are less time consuming. They are all evergreen.

This is another ground cover called Blue Chip juniper. It comes in pots and you plant them 1 or 2 feet apart and they spread and fill in like this.

Here they used pachysandra ground cover instead of mulch or stone which grows in shade or sun.

You can eliminate most of your mulch use by using ground cover plantings like the green vinca used here.

    This is a nice way to use red tipple stone rather than mulch. It makes a nice contrast to the light colored stone wall. You want to put landscape fabric under the stone to prevent weeds and to allow water to penetrate for your plants.

This is an example of the use of colored mulch. Some people like to add color in this way rather than the brown mulch.

When you have any type of pavement bordering your bed, you want to dig an edge about 2 inches down and have the soil and mulch curve down to the edge of the pavement.

When you want to make a bed you can use marker paint to mark the shape of the bed. After you remove the grass you put in topsoil mixed with peat moss. You want to use a flat "D' handle square sharp spade shovel to make a clean straight flowing edge around 3 inches or so deep. You want the soil and mulch to curve down to the bottom of the edge so you can see the 3 inches of edge. This will give a defined edge and you want to turn your weed whacker upward so that you can shave the 3 inch edge for a clean sharp manicured look. 

This bed really beautifies what would have been a plain grass hill. They should have left out the front row of shrubs to allow room to plant some bright colorful annual flowers.

t    This is a good example of how you can enrich the look of a hardscape wall with a slightly raised flower bed which has topsoil just deep enough to plant annual flowers in.

    I want to talk about beds. Cutting out beds on a plain grass property can really make a big improvement. You want to have raised beds for several reasons. One is that you can add good topsoil and mix in peat moss for your plantings to flourish in. Two is that it creates good drainage. Three is that you won't run into rocks or roots when you plant. Four is that it helps show all of your plantings at different levels. Five is that it is so easy to plant annual flowers in even with your hands !

I have been trying to give people good ideas by showing different residential landscapes and giving my opinions, tips, and instructions, I hope I am helping people with their home landscapes.

This is how beautiful you can make your backyard with an eclectic mixture of varieties that make it look like a wonderland of color !

This is another beautiful way to incorporate perennials into your yard. If you have a fence you can make a bed along it and have some beautiful color all season ! These climbing roses really top it off if you have a fence it can entwine with.

This is another way to have a nice perennial garden with a nice hardscape built pond and small waterfall. This can be done yourself but it has a lot of heavy lifting involved and some electrical work. I suggest if you want something as nice as this pond & waterfall scene you should find a good landscape contractor. I have designed and installed similar perennial garden ponds and I found it very rewarding and enjoyable to do. 

Your local garden center can help you select a nice mixture of perennials and many will help design the bed for free if you buy the plant material from them. It can make it easy for you to do with a professional look and you can be proud of your work and impress your guests and neighbors!

This is a nice perennial garden which can help you add color to your yard from spring through fall. You must mix the plants which bloom at different times of the year and there are many that produce flowers continuously throughout the growing season. Many you want to cut down in the winter for a fresh plant to grow again the following season.  

Add caption

I like how this small area has been transformed to show a lot of plant material with the use of hardscaping such as the terracing of stone walls and stairs.

These bordered beds are a nice touch and a good way to create good growing conditions. You can fill the bed with good topsoil mixed with peat moss in which the plants will flourish. It also will have good drainage also. You don't want to fill it up to the top. You want to leave about 3 or 4 inches to allow for mulch or stone top dress. They are easy to install. You want to clear and level the the track in which they will be laid and tamped with a hand tamper. For a better base you may want to dig down 2 inches and fill it in with gravel screanings or sand and level and tamp. These blocks can be found at Home Depot, Lowes etc..... and they have a lip on the rear bottom which interlocks them and sets each level back about 3/4 of an inch.You may want to put landscape fabric on the back side to let water out and prevent mud to seep out. 

returning to class

I have been away for the summer. I am going to continue my landscaping tips and suggestions. I hope I can help some people with their landscaping aspirations.

selecting your spreader

        A drop spreader which drops your material at the width of the spreader is not the way to go. You want a broadcast spreader which has a hopper to hold materials you want to spread on your lawn with real tires which makes it much easier to push over a lawn. It has a whirlybird spinner under it which spreads about a 10 foot swath which you can overlap your passes without missing a spot. It cuts your walking passes by 80% and works better for coverage.

aerator overseeding option

     Another way you can overseed your lawn if you don't want the extra expense of renting an overseeder is to aerate your lawn in four directions and broadcast seed with a broadcast spreader and follow the rest of my overseeding instructions in a previous post.

aerator

          Aerating your lawn is very important and prior to seeding you want to aerate thoroughly with criss crossing your passes in opposite directions. An aerator is a motorized machine with big hollow spikes that take plugs out of your lawn which you don't clean up. This enables oxygen to the root system and other nutrients to penetrate the thatch which builds up under your grass. It also promotes root growth which will thicken your lawn. Other than a first step in the overseeding process, aerating should be done every fall which is the best time to seed and aerate due to the death of certain weeds and crabgrass and the cooler weather which will enable your lawn to thicken and smother out the crabgrass and weeds. You want to put down lime and 10-20-20 fertilizer which is best for root growth and starter fertilizer for new seed.

selecting your seed

I never worked with southern grasses, I worked with northern grasses which are the thickest and greenest. If you are working with shade you want to have a fine fesque mix. I like Kentucky Blue Grass because it has a deep dark green with a slight blueish tint. It spreads its roots and fills in good with proper watering and fertilizer to create a thick lawn which will make it difficult for weeds to penetrate. Blue grass is expensive and you don't need 100% blue grass to get that look. Most good seed mixes have a large percentage of high quality perennial rye grasses and a small percentage of tall fesque that is very durable and dark green as they have been improved by hybreeding. If you have part shade you want about 30% fine fesque in your seed mix. I will talk a little more about seeding at a later date.

When you have a weedy and unattractive lawn with different grasses wanted and unwanted growing the best thing to do is to kill the whole lawn with roundup grass and weed killer and start over. Once the lawn is dead you want to rent an overseeder machine with blades in the front to cut through the thatch down to the underlying soil with a seed hopper on the back of the machine which has seed feeders that run down discs that run directly into the slices cut from the front blades down to the soil below. You must crisscross your passes to seed thoroughly. spread starter fertilizer, lime and gypsum over the whole lawn after.

Please read my comments on the pictures I post.

I am still figuring out how to post the pictures and put my commentary so that it appears with the picture. The way I've been doing it so far is the comment has to be clicked on where it says comments under the picture. I will try to fix this.

hardscaping

random pattern fieldstone walkway

I am a big fan of paver brick walkways and patios. I will show you an example of a circle pattern paver brick dry patio done similarly. Their are different styles, colors, and textures. I will show you many of them.

   I will find some more pictures of landscapes to comment on to give you ideas of what possibilities you could do.

  The sides of the trailer gives you a big billboard to advertise. Make sure the studs are on the inside to give you a big smooth surface.

        If you are starting a landscaping business, you want to have 4 ft sides built with plywood and pressure treated 2x4 studs. You can bolt the studs at the top and bottom of the small steel frame of the equipment trailer I showed in a previous post. You will have to build the front and sides and the ramps will enclose the rear to make a large open top box. This will give you maximum hauling capacity for equipment, trees, shrubs, topsoil, mulch, stone, and debris with the ramps to wheelbarrow material or ballcart trees in and out.

                             This is a nice combination of hardscaping and landscaping. 
       Notice the combination of a high percentage of evergreens, some are gold varigated to give year round color with a splash of annual flowers. The retention wall gives another level where you can put more frontage color with small shrubs where you can add more low lying flowers for additional frontage color. The reddish maple was a good color tree to keep with the color scheme of the house and hardscaping which is the retention wall, stairs, and paver walkway. The use of a white flowering non fruit bearing crab tree or a snow fountain cherry would have given a nice bright neutral color contrast in the place of the second deciduous tree in front of the window on the left.

A great landscaper is more Than just Landscaping

IS YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS JUST RIGHT?  I CAN HELP.
We can think of little that's more relaxing than sitting on a bench, soaking up the sun in a park. We have the tools to help you relax in your surroundings, too.
The landscaping of your home and business says a lot about you. If you want yours to say something as unique as you are, we have troves of beauties.
Flowers are nature's paint; make your landscapes expressive, beautiful, and captivating with the right selection of flora. And help the environment in the process.
Do you consider how well your landscaping integrates with the natural habitat of your area? Has your home or business found harmony with nature?
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Landscaping more than simply plant shrubs, arrange trees, and run watering systems. To create a complete visual package that works takes a great landscaper and a knowledgeable home owner. This takes not only a keen eye for visual detail, but also an expansive knowledge of biology and ecology.

It takes the  most well versed, well rounded, and expressive landscaper. You will absolutely love the work they do for you, whether it's redoing your front yard, new gazebo, industrial complex, or shopping center.

How To Build A Great Trailer

Recommended Start Up Business Equipment List.

This is a trailer that I built and used in my business.  It is ideal and fits the needs of a large or start up landscape business.  If you need instructions on how to build one for yourself, contact me for the question form.

1. 3/4 ton pickup truck  2. Equipment trailer  3, 16 ft  10,000 gvw trailer  4. 48" to 52" walk behind mower  5, Weed wacker trimmer  6. Square edge shovel  7. Long and short digging shovels.  8, Wheel burrow  9.  Wide pitch fork  10. Leaf rake  11. Tree ball cart  12. Edge trimmer  13. Hand held blower  14.  Hand pruners  15.  Laopers   

Contact me for more information on type and the best brands to invest in.

I am trying to learn how to expand my blog with pictures and more ways to help my targeted audience.

Hi I'm Glenn, and I have done landscape design, build, and maintenance in the northeast United States with large landscape companies and built my own business from the ground up. I would like to help people interested in starting their own landscape business with instructions how to pick and build the right trailer for optimum versatile usage and how to design and pick the right plant material and proper installment. I also specialize in lawn renovations, fertilization, and herbicides. I also have great experience in hardscaping.