Posts Tagged ‘lists’

5 Ways to Use Landscaping to Enhance Your Christmas Decorations

by Matt Corrion

The other night I watched the classic holiday comedy, Christmas Vacation.  Clark Griswold provides endless laughs in the course of his struggle with ladders and Christmas lights.  Occasionally, the lights actually work and at one point Clark has the following exchange with “Aunt Bethany”:landscaping and christmas decorations

Aunt Bethany:  Is your house on fire, Clark?
Clark:  No, Aunt Bethany, those are the Christmas lights.

While anyone can load their house up with a gazillion flashing holiday lights and plastic reindeer, there is a lot of planning and work that goes into decorating a home tastefully for the holidays.

Ideally, the entire curb appeal should work together to create a scene that enhances the building and looks like it belongs there.  The shrubs, trees, and other landscaping (along with the structure) are important elements to the scene you are creating.

So, how can landscaping enhance the holiday decor?  Here are 5 ways to plan your landscape to work well with holiday decorations.

1.  Select plants that have good winter interest

Try to use a variety of plants that not only look good in the summer, but also have good winter interest.  There are many trees and shrubs available that have interesting bark and stem color (think red twig dogwood).

Utilize ornamental grasses, shrubs, and perennials that will catch the snow on their stems and branches.  On a cold day or night the snow will glisten in the sunlight or from the glow of holiday lights.

Also, use a mixture of evergreen and semi-evergreen shrubs.  Semi-evergreen shrubs are those such as Fernbush and Broom that have green stems and whose leaves may persist into the winter.

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The 2 Common Types of Rebates Available for Renovating Your Landscaping to Save Water

by Matt Corrion

Landscape rebates are becoming popular across the county as water conservation becomes a bigger issue and more people look for ways to save water.

Population growth is straining Photo of renovated landscapewater supplies and delivery systems, causing many water providers to provide great incentives to reduce water use.  Homeowner’s, businesses, and HOA’s are also looking for ways to trim their budgets and increase their long-term sustainability.

But landscape renovations can get expensive.  Thankfully, there are some great rebates out there that you can take advantage of to help offset the costs.  When you factor in the rebates, as well as significant water and maintenance savings, a landscape renovation can make a lot of sense for your property.

Irrigation Upgrades vs. Turf Removal

Most of the rebates out there focus on 2 main areas: Irrigation Upgrades and Turf Removal.

Irrigation upgrade rebates are offered to water customers to increase the efficiency of their irrigation systems.  Rebates are often offered to install more efficient spray nozzles, rain sensors, and controllers.

The rebates for these items are usually calculated per item installed, for example, $5 per efficient rotary nozzle, and $50 for a rain sensor.  For larger commercial properties there are often limit to the maximum rebate that can be obtained.

Turf removal rebates are geared toward removing areas of high water-use landscaping (usually lawns and turfgrass) and replacing those areas with low water-use landscaping.  The replacement landscaping can consist of  Xeriscape, native plants, and a variety of colorful shrubs, perennials, trees, and ornamental grasses.

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The Best Plants for High Altitude Landscaping

by Matt Corrion

After getting great feedback on my 20 Best Xeriscape Plants for Colorado post, which included a few follow-up requests, I have decided to publish a list of the best high altitude plants for landscaping.

Photo of Blue Globe SpruceThe Challenges of High Elevations

When landscaping at higher elevations, there are many challenges to consider.  The plants themselves are often limited in how cold of winter temperature they can withstand.  And there are also the challenging microclimates, wind, and levels of moisture that can occur at high altitudes.

Grazing deer and elk are also a common problem at higher elevations.  All of these factors should be carefully considered in the design of the landscape.  Consult the USDA Plant Hardiness zones for your local area, and consider working with an experienced landscape architect or garden designer.

It would be a great idea to do some nature walks in your local area to observe the native plants that are thriving naturally, and are well adapted to the various microclimates that can be found in your area.

I have decided to limit the list to plants that I feel will do well above 8,000 ft.   There are several plants that are advertised to do well above 7,500 ft, but I am not comfortable recommending all of them, so lets go with 8,000.

Deciduous Trees

  • Quaking Aspen    Populus tremuloides
  • Canada Red Cherry    Prunus virginiana ‘Canada Red’
  • Russian Hawthorne    Crataegus ambigua
  • Ginnala Maple    Acer ginnala
  • Apple and Crabbaple    Malus (several types)
  • Alder    Alnus tenuifolia
  • Tartarian Maple    Acer tartaricum
  • Birch    Betula (several types)
  • Mountain Ash    Sorbus aucuparia
  • English Oak    Quercus robur

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5 Reasons to Reconsider your Hatred of Juniper Bushes

by Matt Corrion

Juniper bushes are the most despised landscaping plant in existence.  I know this to be true, because 75% of the time that I talk with a homeowner or property owner about renovating their landscape, they say something like “those Junipers have GOT to go!”.

Photo of typical overgrown Juniper bushes

Juniper bushes are common in older landscapes. Here they were not given adequate room, so they have been sheared off along the walkway.

Why is this?  I think there are a few main reasons, aside from the fact that they are prickly beasts that we have all tangled with a one point (either landing in one while playing as a kid, or getting that annoying rash on your arm while trimming them) :

 

1) They were simply overused in the past.  People are just tired of them and want something unique and new.  And since they live for ages and rarely die, they are often the only living survivors guarding the front doors of homes in any older neighborhood.

2) They were not planted with enough room to grow.  Many of the varieties get quite large after say, 20 years, and quickly outgrow the planting bed.  Because they grow too large for their setting they require excessive pruning to keep them at a manageable size.  This pruning then exposes all of the dead old growth inside the base of the plant- ugly!

3) The aforementioned prickliness.   And good luck getting the baseball you were tossing around out of the center of that green monster.

Given these negatives, why then should you consider using Juniper plants in your landscape?

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The Top 10 Benefits of Making Landscaping More Water Efficient

by Matt Corrion

Converting an outdated landscape into landscaping that uses less water is not as hard as you might think.  And there are many benefits!

One of the best ways to do this is to convert your high water-use landscaping into a Xeriscape (pronounced “zeer-escape”).  This can be done anywhere-  from a small home landscape, to a large commercial property.

Many people have an image of Xeriscape as a “sea of rocks, with a few cactus plants”.  But Xeriscape can also be a lush, green and colorful landscape that is interwoven with flowering plants, textures, and beauty throughout each season.  In my opinion it is much more beautiful and interesting than “traditional” landscaping.

The Top 10 Benefits Are:

10.  Less Maintenance
9.  Use Less Water & Better for the Environment
8.  Prevent Water Damage
7.  More Beautiful, Colorful & Unique
6.  Better Wildlife Habitat
5.  Less Fertilizers & Pesticides Needed
4.  Better Suited to Your Site’s Unique Conditions
3.  More Winter Beauty
2.  Better Prepared for Drought
1.  Saves You Money

Now I will discuss each benefit in greater detail and explain what each one can mean for you:
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The 20 Best Xeriscape Plants for Colorado

by Matt Corrion

I often get asked to recommend Xeriscape plants for Colorado landscapes.  This is a difficult task because there are so many to chose from, and I would hate to limit anyone’s pallette to a limited number.  After all, it is the variety in color, textures, and form that makes Xeriscaping so attractive.

That being said, I do think a small list can be helpful to people who are new to the area, or are not familiar with the available plant choices and may be overwhelmed by a catalog of thousands of plants.   Although this is a Colorado list, most of these plants can be used in many places throughout the world depending on the local climate.

  • Fernbush – Chamaebatiaria millefolium    Fernbush is a medium sized shrub with interesting fern-like leaves that persist throughout the winter.  This shrub requires little water or maintenance, and produces clusters of small white flowers in the late spring through early summer.Double Bubblemint
  • Agastache - Agastache ssp.    Agastache, or hummingbird mint, is a fragrant group of colorful perennial herbs that is available in many colors mostly ranging from orange to pink.  The plants are covered with beautiful tubular flowers from mid-summer to fall.  Hummingbirds absolutely love these plants. Read more…
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Simple Landscape Maintenance Tips for Winter

by Matt Corrion

winter landscape

Brrrrr… It’s cold out there!  The last thing you are probably thinking about is landscaping.  Or, if you are like me you already have the itch to get outdoors and are counting the days until spring.  Whether you are a restless home gardener looking for reasons to get outside, or you are performing maintenance on a commercial property and want to do all you can to have it look great some spring, there are many tasks that can be accomplished over winter.  Get the hot chocolate ready!

Key Dates

  • Late February:  Stop any pruning from this point on- spring is right around the corner, and woody plants are developing buds and preparing for the new season.
  • Late March:  Plants will begin to emerge for spring at this time.  As plants (especially Xeriscape plants) emerge and show signs of new growth, begin to remove any heavy mulching that was done to protect them over the winter. Read more…
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Landscape Maintenance Tips for the Fall Season

by Matt Corrion

fall landscapeFall.  When the morning air turns crisp and cool and the leaves begin to float softly to the ground.  Not only is it my favorite season, there are many maintenance tasks to be accomplished in the landscape.  The info below includes tips on what I have found are the most important and useful tasks-  so get out there, have fun with it, and enjoy the autumn weather!

Key Dates

  • Early October:  It is a good idea to winterize your irrigation system and blow out the lines.  Many landscape maintenance companies will provide this service for less than $50, or it is pretty simple to do it yourself.
  • October 15th:  Don’t plant any grasses or perennials after this date.  Many of them won’t survive, and you will have much better luck in the spring. Read more…
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