landscaping ideas | Gardening

Pike Nurseries: Landscaping your yard

ATLANTA –

Time to get our hands dirty! Melodie McDanal of Pike Nurseries joined Good Day Atlanta’s Paul Milliken at a home to go over some great ideas on how to landscape your yard!

Tips:

Landscape Basics

Shade — The majority of Atlanta and surrounding areas have large, well established tree. This creates beauty lowers air conditioning costs, but can stump homeowners who are trying to landscape. There are great plants with varying textures that can be used in shady areas.
- Focal Area — In a smaller garden or a front landscape, it’s nice to have a focal point, such as a Camellia Sasanqua which is a great medium size tree. Flowers in fall winter when most other things aren’t in bloom are a great idea.
- Design In Layers
  - Layer 1 – Tall
    - Camellia Sasanqua
  - Layer 2 – Medium
    - Outto luyken laurel
      - Medium growing shrub that can take partial sun
      - Gets small white cone flowers in spring
  - Layer 3 – Medium to Low
    - Gumpo Azaleas
      - Compact, flowering shrub that only gets about 2 feet tall
      - White, pink or red flowers in late spring/early summer
  - Layer 4 – Annual Color
    - Change out seasonally
      - Fall
        
        Asters, Pansies, Violas, Ornamental Cabbage Kale
    - Try to design so that the color leads your eye to the front door
Adding Privacy – Low Maintenance Area

Adding Privacy — Most homeowners want to create their own retreat and have some privacy. You can get privacy in a few ways: a Fence or lattice could add a climbing plant/vine for added interest color, or use plants for privacysuch as Sky Pencil Holly or Ligustrum.

Low Maintenance

Ground Covers

This homeowner wanted something very low maintenance

Groundcovers– Mondo Grass requires very little care, and is a grass that doesn’t need to be mowed!

Shrubs

To give an area some height and greenery, one can use dwarf abelia. Dwarf abelia is low maintenance and can be pruned to size if desired

Hide Eye Sores

The water meter doesn’t go with the natural landscape. You can plant in front of the water meter so it’s hidde. Hydrangeas are a more flexible plant so a water meter will still be accessible

Mulch

The area is mulched which will help the soil retain water but will also keep the weeds down.

You can play with different kinds of mulches for different textures and to outline walkways.

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Homes Calendar

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This weekend

Landscape tour: Pick up some great landscaping ideas while helping the Ottawa Hospital Womenâ€™s Breast Health Centre in a fundraising garden tour Saturday and Sunday. Check out both hardscaping and gardening designs at seven stops in Stonebridge, including an award-winning property. The tour runs from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. both days. Tickets are $20 each, available at: Welwyn Wong Landscape Design, 7 Claver St.; GreenScape, 2-54 Cleopatra Dr.; Design First Interiors, 270 Richmond Rd. or online for $25 using PayPal. For details, visit welwynwong.com.

All about kitchens: Find out about the latest products available for kitchens, bathrooms and closets as Laurysen Kitchens hosts a reno show Saturday with more than a dozen of its suppliers and industry partners. It runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Laurysenâ€™s showroom, 2415 Carp Rd., just north of the Queensway Admission is free, but youâ€™re asked to bring a non-perishable food item for the Ottawa Food Bank. For details, visit laurysenkitchens.com.

Next weekend

Studio tour: Check out a diverse collection of arts and crafts in the annual Artists in Their Environment Studio Tour. Using the autumn colours around Chelsea and Wakefield as a backdrop, 24 artists and craftspeople will open their doors from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 22, 23, 28 and 29 to show off paintings, furniture, photography, pottery and more. Admission is free. Brochures are available to download at tourcw.com. For details, contact Janice Moorhead at janice@wakenet.ca or 819-459-2079.

Ladiesâ€™ day: Enjoy an afternoon of great food, decor, personal care and fashion as builders Tartan and Tamarack stage a free and informative day with their 15 model homes at Findlay Creek as a backdrop. Get tips, sit in on workshops, have a complimentary manicure and much more from noon to 4 p.m. Sept. 23 at 2894 Findlay Creek Dr. For details, call 613-822-0443 or visit findlaycreek.com.

Coming

Home show: Looking to beef up your living space? Then head to the Home Design Show. Find inspiration, products and advice from the likes of HGTVâ€™s Scott McGillivray, Andrew Downward and Karen Sealy, among others. The show runs Sept. 28 to 30 at the CE Centre. Tickets are $12 (children 17 and under admitted free). For details, visit homeanddesignshow.ca.

Art show: Check out a juried art show and sale featuring a variety of Ottawa-area artists in support of the Experimental Farm. For the Love of the Farm will take place Oct. 6 to 8 from noon to 6 p.m. at the farmâ€™s building 72, east off the Prince of Wales roundabout. Admission is free. For details, call 613-230-3276 or visit friendsofthefarm.ca.

Email information about homes-related events to homes@ottawacitizen.com.

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Garden: An chance to get expert, oomph-adding ideas – The Virginian

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By Mary Reid Barrow
Virginian-Pilot correspondent
© September 9, 2012

VIRGINIA BEACH

Has your garden suddenly become too shady because all the big trees have grown even bigger?

Is too much sun beating down on your shade-loving plants because you lost a tree in a nor’easter last fall?

Have the vines you used to love taken over your yard?

Has your landscaping shrubbery grown so big you can’t see out of your windows?

Has your garden just plain lost its oomph?

If so, the Virginia Beach Master Gardener Fall Festival from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Hampton Roads Agricultural Research and Extension Center on Diamond Springs Road may be just the event you need for inspiration.

Every year, the master gardeners put on their annual garden party for gardeners and flower lovers. You’ll find a plant sale, a plant doctor, demonstrations on topics ranging from composting to pruning, butterflies and displays created by nonprofit organizations.

You also can tour the property and see the rain garden, buffer garden, compost demonstration area and more.

Throughout the day, there will be special programs, such as “Pot It Up,” all about planting decorative flower pots for fall, or “The Right Tree,” a talk about how to pick the tree that will be the right size and shape for your yard and will adapt to the yard’s environment.

And for that garden of yours that has lost all it’s oomph, Mike Andruczyk, a horticulture extension agent in Chesapeake, will have some suggestions. He’ll speak on “Starting Fresh, the Secret to Garden Make-overs.”

“My talk is on change in the garden,” Andruczyk said, “which deals with everything from a new pest or disease to dealing with an overgrown or changing landscape.”

Andruczyk said he knows everyone’s situation will be a little different, but he hopes he’ll have quick-fix ideas for a lot of the issues gardeners face, whether it be clean up after a big storm, a wet summer or an insect invasion – the major and minor disasters that strike in the garden.

“We’ll be looking at problems as they come up in the yard and what you can do about them,” he explained

For example, Andruczyk said, if suddenly your shade plants are in the sun because of a downed tree or branch, a quick fix would be to install a shade cloth. Long-term solutions range from moving the vulnerable plants, to installing quick-growing plants that will provide shade.

For a yard that is overgrown, Andruczyk will talk about when and how to prune back shrubbery. He will also discuss times when it might be necessary to bite the bullet and get rid of some plants.

Drainage issues are becoming more common as the climate warms, Andruczyk said. He will have suggestions for soil that is too wet. Solutions include everything from building a rain garden to vertical mulching. Vertical mulching is a technique where you auger holes up to 2-feet deep in the ground and fill with mulch to allow water to seep in.

If you suddenly, find a downed tree in your yard after a storm, be creative, Andruczyk said. Instead of chopping it up, you could leave it there to provide habitat for woodpeckers. Or, make it into a bench or even carve it into an eagle!

“It will be all about working with what you have,” he added, “making it work for you with as little work as possible.”

Mary Reid Barrow, barrow1@cox.net

Follow Mary Reid Barrow’s blog at www.hamptonroads.com/maryreidbarrow.

going?

What “Turn Over A New Leaf,” the Virginia Beach Master Gardener Fall Festival

Where Hampton Roads Agricultural Research and Extension Center, 1444 Diamond Springs Road, Virginia Beach

When 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 16

Cost Free

Info www.vbmg.org

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A Landscape Good Enough to Eat — How to Get Started Growing Your Own Fruit

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My daughter was sure that the ruffled purple cabbages in the fall planting outside a fancy hotel were not the same kind of cabbages that we eat: “But they’re so pretty! They don’t look like the kind of cabbage we put into soup.” (But in fact those elegant landscape plants are cabbages!)

My daughter’s observation came about the same time our neighbors beautified the fence by planting vines with pretty heart-shaped leaves and long purple beans (which turn green when you steam them up to eat). Blueberry bushes started showing up here and there in cities and towns as decorative shrubs (with an extra perk – blueberries!). Landscapers started planting cherry trees not just for their spectacular spring blossoms but also for their fruit for pies or eating.

Edible landscaping

Edible landscaping has moved in quietly, as more people feel hungry for the flavor of fresh produce free of invisible pesticide residue and are looking for ways to incorporate food-producing plants into their landscape plans. In the twentieth century, many gardeners felt a sharp distinction between the formal landscape plan designed to frame a building with ornamental trees and shrubs and flowers on one hand and a garden or farm field or orchard for growing food on the other. In the last decade, gardeners who might have previously shied away from the messiness associated with growing food have found that carefully chosen and maintained edible plants can add to the beauty and interest of the landscape.

Plus, it’s fun to trade predictable landscaping favorites for plants or trees that give you something more than shade or color. They give you food.

While there are vegetables and herbs that can hold their own in a flower bed –- soft green lettuces, bright red hot peppers, variegated sage – this column is focused on fruits in the edible landscape.

Exploring the Idea of an Edible Landscape

Careful planning for any kind of landscaping project is important, because we are talking about investing years of time and effort. This is different from trying out a new vegetable in the garden for a season.

Visiting farmers’ markets or farm stands is one way of thinking ahead and exploring the taste of locally grow-able varieties of grapes, berries, plums, peaches and apples. Visiting the Arboretum’s shrub and vine collection can show you what to expect a mature highbush or lowbush blueberry will look like and give you ideas about using vines in your own landscape (who knew that a kiwi vine could grow in our neighborhood?).

The Nanking cherry is worth checking out if your landscape could use a dense ornamental hedge with lots of flowers and fruit. A spring stroll on Peter’s Hill in the Arb will give you an idea of the beauty of a mature apple or crabapple tree in bloom. (It makes you think of Anne of Green Gables when she first saw the lane of apple trees she named The White Way of Delight.)

First Steps: Blueberries? Grapes? (and why I would not choose raspberries for landscaping)

For those just easing into the fruited edible landscape, blueberries could be a good way to begin. Like most fruits, they require well-drained soil, preferably a gentle slope, and full sun. Blueberry bushes provide blossoms in the spring, stunning foliage in the fall, and berries loaded with antioxidants. It’s a good idea to have at least three different varieties within 100 feet of one another to provide cross-pollination. (Also ideally at least one bush per blueberry-eater in the family.)

Of course blueberries don’t provide the rich drama of heavy-laden fruit trees, but they have the advantage of relative freedom from the pests and diseases that plague most fruit trees and they mature much faster.

What do blueberries bushes need? That well-drained soil needs to be relatively acid; they also benefit from mulching (a two inch layer of oak leaves and pine needles helps keep soil acid) and very regular watering. Once a year you could prune them. And you can begin to harvest berries two years after you plant (see what I mean about needing to plan ahead?). If you pull the blooms off a bush the first year so that the plant gives all its energy to getting established, you can expect to pick a couple of pints the second year, a couple of quarts the third year, and crops measured in gallons from the fourth or fifth year on.

Grapes!

An alternative choice for a first step into edible landscaping is grapes. Probably the biggest impact you could make on your landscape – a real WOW – would be the introduction of a grape arbor, which can frame a walkway or transform a blank spot in the backyard into a shaded alcove. The grape vines take off right away, doing their business of twining and climbing, and they start producing delicious fruit in the second or third year after planting.

When I was growing up I thought that the only grapes that grew in New England were Concords, those wonderful dark blue ones with the cloudy surface that you take into your mouth and then squish. The fruit pops out of its skin (it’s called a slip-skin fruit), and you have a mouthful of unusual musky or “foxy” flavors going on. When we made grape pies, the skins were an essential part of the recipe. They are first separated from the pulp, and then after the seeds are removed, mixed back in.

The grapes were such a unique taste of New England that when we moved out to California and I was feeling far away, whenever I saw a box of Concord grapes in the market I had the warm feeling of seeing someone from home.

Nowadays there are all kinds of varieties of grapes available for New England gardeners: red and white and pink as well as purple. And they do well. Some friends of mine in East Boston planted their vines in 2010 and this summer there were plenty of clusters of sweet grapes hanging among the lush leaves.

While red and purple grapes are supposed to be especially beneficial for the antioxidants they provide, they are not alone in New England’s edible landscape. According to the nutrition researchers at Tufts, the fruits with the most antioxidant power are prunes (dried plums), raisins (dried grapes), blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, plums, oranges, red grapes, and cherries (in that order). Except for the oranges, we can grow all of them right here in Boston!

About those raspberries…

So some raspberry fan is questioning why I didn’t choose to focus on those berries as an easy first step into edible landscaping — especially because of the attractive financial savings involved. Raspberries at the store are wildly expensive and start to go bad almost before you get them home, while homegrown raspberries are there for the picking and glow with exquisite flavor and freshness throughout the season. Our younger daughter planted raspberries last year and has been reveling in luscious berry desserts this summer.

But there are some downsides to growing raspberries and blackberries; they need good air circulation — which means giving them lots of room — and cane fruits (such as raspberries) require the construction of trellises of horizontal wires to keep them neat and upright. (My stylish aunt approved of well-maintained raspberries as the only berries she would harvest, because the berries were right there on the top of the bush where she could pick them without having to bend down. She always wore her high heels when picking berries.)

And, I need to be honest about my relationship with raspberries: I hate thorns, and an experience I had trying to bring order to an overgrown patch of berry brambles some years ago has made it impossible for me to mention raspberries and easy in the same sentence. And delicious as they are, raspberries can look scruffy toward the end of the season, just when blueberries are strutting their fall foliage, so they don’t hit my all-star list of landscaping favorites. My daughter would strongly disagree with me on this one.

The Beauty and Bedevilment of Fruit Trees

A larger step into edible landscaping with fruits is the category of fruit trees. Trees are the pillars on which landscapes depend. Their shape, flowers, foliage and fruit can determine the success of a landscape plan. Planting berries or grapes is a relatively low-risk investment of time compared to the decision to plant and maintain fruit trees.

I’ve always dreamed of growing a tree or two of my Dad’s favorite Northern Spy apples, an all purpose flavorful apple that is great in pies. When we were growing up we made a pilgrimage each fall to an orchard that grew Spies. On the way home the sharp aroma of the heirloom apples filled the car, pleasantly mixing with the expectation of the pies and applesauce to come. It was my job to cut the apples and cook them with their skins on and then smoosh the soft chunks around against the sides of the food mill so that the tart-sweet pink applesauce came through its holes. (In these modern days when fibre is a virtue, I smoosh less and leave the skins in the sauce.)

But nostalgia aside, fruit trees are susceptible to disease, and their fruits are vulnerable to insects. It’s no wonder commercial orchardists are out spraying their trees and then back again whenever there is a heavy mist that threatens to dilute the chemicals they just finished spraying.

Honest graft

Why it is so difficult to grow fruit trees, especially that all-American apple tree? One reason may lie in the history of the apple and its long manipulation by humans.

Apples don’t grow “true to seed;” that is, if you plant the seed of an apple you like, you are not likely to reap fruit of the same size, color, taste, or texture. In fact, the five seeds in one apple could result in five trees that have very different apples. There are a crazy number of variables.

Over time, people have found ways of getting the kinds of apples they wanted by grafting the branch of a tree with desirable apples into a trunk with a healthy set of apple tree roots. (This was already taking place thousands of years ago!) If you look closely at an apple tree you can usually see where the graft took place.

Grafting is a fascinating process. JP plant-lover and political activist Brian Cady couldn’t resist trying his hand at it earlier this season. His mother’s peach tree has suffered every spring from peach leaf curl, which causes the leaves to drop off and stresses the tree so much it produces little fruit. Brian found a variety of peach tree which is resistant to peach leaf curl and grafted a branch of it into his mother’s peach tree. Brian had been thinking about grafting ever since he heard about this amazing process of joining trees as a kid. He actually tried to graft a twig from one tree into another as a youngster (not realizing that even though the leaves looked similar, one of the trees was a mountain ash and the other a honey locust).

In any case, for thousands of years gardeners have experimented with apple trees. The ancient Greeks wrote essays about their grafting techniques. The Romans spread knowledge of the fruit through their empire, and French Huguenots and English Puritans came to pride themselves on their orchards. There were always new characteristics to introduce: flavor, color, cold tolerance,resistance to a specific disease, increased productivity, and so on. English settlers brought their best young apple trees with them to America.

So what does this long history of grafting and tweaking for specific characteristics have to do with the challenges of growing apple trees? Jeremy Dick, the Boston Natural Areas Network horticulturalist, speculates that the trees we are growing today have been so manipulated in their long relationship with humans that their natural resistance to diseases and pests may have been weakened and the trees made more vulnerable. Many of the apple trees we grow today are vulnerable to scab, scale, cedar-apple rust, fire blight, powdery mildew, sooty blotch, bitter pit, apple maggot fly, codling moth, mice, voles, and so on.

It is possible to grow your fruit trees organically; there are sprays of natural chemicals to help protect the trees and their fruit. Some folks say that cherries are easier to grow than other fruits; they don’t need to be pruned as regularly, and the plagues and pests don’t seem to affect fruit production.

But the reward of trees full of fruit comes at the price of continued attention. There are specific points in the season when a problem needs to be addressed: a time to set your codling moth traps and a time to protect your fruits from plum curculio by spraying them with a dilute clay solution which irritates the insects. It is a daunting task, protecting a tree from disease and predators.

Hmm. About those Northern Spy apples I wanted to grow — I just checked on the web for local growers and discovered that there is an orchard in Harvard, Mass. where I can get my Northern Spy fix.

Preparing the site

If you decide to add some fruit — berries, shrub cherries, vines or trees — to the landscape next spring, right now is the time to choose and prepare the spot where you want to plant (remember to plan a space for the full-sized plants). All the fruits we’ve mentioned prefer well-drained soil, a gentle slope if possible, and full sun. Actually sunny south or western slopes may be too much of a good thing, because in the winter these slopes tend to warm up (and warm plants up) before the danger of frost has passed.

Remember to think about pollinators; how many bushes or trees will you need to insure a good harvest? All apple trees require a second variety of apple tree for pollination (just about any apple or crabapple within a quarter mile will do; in our part of Boston that is probably not a problem). Some pears, plums, peaches, and blueberries appear to be self-pollinating, but a second variety may foster more abundant pollination – and therefore fuller fruit baskets.

Once you’ve chosen the right place, you need to test your soil. While blueberries like acid soil (pH 4.0 – 5), soil for grapes should be less acid (5.8 – 7). Soil for fruit trees should be between pH 5.5 and 8, toward the higher end for peaches and the lower end for apples. The test results should give suggestions of amendments to adjust the acidity.

Now you can begin to apply compost and/or soil amendments over the whole area where you plan to dig the hole(s) next spring. Fedco has a tree planting guide that is useful, except that our Boston soil is usually already so rich in calcium that it probably doesn’t need any more. Adding seaweed to the mix is always a good idea.

And once you’ve done your planning and preparation you can relax for the winter with dreams of fresh fruit as part of your landscape in coming years. You might even have time to explore the fascinating history of apples further in Michael Pollan’s Botany of Desire, Frank Browning’s prize-winning Apples, or the beautiful book by Brookline author Amy Traverso, The Apple Lover’s Cookbook.

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Aiming to hit pay dirt

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Casa Grande Union High School will be the test case for a possible change in district landscaping services.

The CGUHS District Governing Board, which contracts for food and transportation services, wants to find out if grounds-keeping services can be performed by an outside vendor at a lower cost, with better results.

Superintendent Shannon Goodsell said CGUHS found itself at the beginning of the school year with one groundskeeper and two positions open. Facilities Director Tim Mace thought it might be cheaper to keep the groundskeeper on campus during the day and hire a contract vendor to do the rest of the work.

Goodsell said school officials calculated the salaries and benefits to find the break-even point and published a request for proposals.

Mace, Goodsell and CGUHS Principal Chris Paulson formed a

committee to write criteria for scoring the proposals. Four companies responded to the 42-page request for proposals.

Goodsell said Epifini Landscaping Inc. submitted the best ideas and bid.

“Overall we think we’re going to be able to save anywhere from $20,000 to $25,000 (this year) on this idea,” he said.

Epifini is a Casa Grande business owned by former CGUHS science teacher Greg Perez. Perez estimated it would take a total of 60 man hours a week to keep the campus looking good. The contract runs for one year.

“It’s a pretty active campus,” Perez said. “Those fields are going non-stop.”

He will meet with coaches to find out how they want the fields to look and how tall they want the grass. His crews also will take care of the irrigation system from the valves down.

“If we hit a sprinkler head, we pay for it,” Perez said.

Mace expects “it to look like the best campus in the state.”

If the one-year trial goes well, two more annual renewals are possible before the district would have to go out for bid again, Perez said.

Board member Scott Lehman asked if the district could save more money if the contract were extended districtwide.

“Considerable,” Perez responded.

Board member Donna Zimmerman said the board has had bad experiences with contractors before.

“But it’s nice it’s a local contractor,” Lehman said. “We know what’s going on.”

Lehman asked if the district could sell its landscaping equipment if the contract were extended to the other campuses.

Mace said he would like the district to keep its landscaping equipment for the time being.

“If in six months, it is degrading,” he said, “well then, we’ve got to go a different route.” If, however, the year goes well, the district could think about selling its equipment.

Zimmerman said that if the district sold its equipment and a vendor did not work out five years from now, the district would be forced to contract with another vendor — just like it has with buses.

“The resale value is not incredibly substantial,” Goodsell said.

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Flagstone Patio Information: New Design Ideas at LandscapingNetwork.com

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This beautiful flagstone patio incorporates lush greenery to create a one of a kind look. Photo: Classic Masonry Ltd.

Flagstone has become an ideal material for patio construction because of its many benefits.

Calimesa, CA (PRWEB) September 07, 2012

LandscapingNetwork.com, the leader for landscaping information online, has published new content covering flagstone patio information. Offering design ideas, cost and benefit information, patterns and layout ideas, and much more, new articles, along with an extensive flagstone patio gallery, give consumers everything needed to design a new flagstone patio.

Flagstone has become an ideal material for patio construction because of its many benefits. Unlike a concrete patio that has a solid surface, a flagstone patio includes narrow joints that allow water to permeate the surface, instead of running off. This, along with a variety of color options, makes flagstone a material of choice for designers.

Broken into convenient sections, homeowners can browse through a number of articles that highlight various aspects of the patio design process, including flagstone cost information, detailed information on popular patio patterns and layouts, planting options and more. Also, included throughout these articles are professional tips for creating the ultimate flagstone patio design.

And for consumers needing more inspiration, the site offers an extensive gallery of flagstone patios for further design ideas.

For more flagstone patio ideas and information, visit LandscapingNetwork.com.

Article photos courtesy of Classic Masonry Ltd in Putnam Valley, NY and Sisson Landscapes in Great Falls, VA.

About LandscapingNetwork.com

LandscapingNetwork.com works with a team of professional landscape designers and writers to bring together the very best landscaping resources and information available. Homeowners, landscape designers and architects, builders and more can also stay up-to-date through the site’s extensive collection of articles, landscaping photos and videos on landscape design ideas, products and more.

For consumers ready to turn their landscaping design dreams into reality, the site offers an easy-to-use Find a Contractor directory to find local landscape contractors and designers throughout the United States and Canada.

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The long haul

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Scott Lauersen isn’t just looking to deliver quality service – he’s creating quality customers because of his long-term approach to landscape management and landscaping. Seekers of instant gratification and rock-bottom prices can go elsewhere – Lauersen calls those price shoppers “free agents.” That’s not Lauersen’s game, because his crews go into every job with an attitude that they’re in it for the long haul.

“We establish relationships with our customers,” says Lauersen, president of Lauersen Lawn Landscape in Hawley, Pa., a leisure destination in the Pocono Mountains with lakes, golf courses and plenty of outdoor recreation. “We come in and take care of their immediate needs, whatever they are looking to accomplish right then. But we always have an eye on what we need to accomplish down the road – what they envision for their properties.”

Lauersen’s background as an office manager at a Lawn Doctor franchise, followed by a role at a golf course in the Poconos, planted the seeds for systems and high standards that he carries out today in his business, which launched in fall 2003. With a career of learning under his belt, Lauersen was prepared to put his skills to practice in his own venture. And his ideas were quite different than other mow-and-go maintenance start-ups.

“I was looking to establish a business where I could employ a number of people, pay them comfortably, put a name out there and then move into doing more high-end work,” says Lauersen, relating that the company’s service menu spans from maintenance to hardscape installation, a favorite of his. About 65 percent of the primarily residential business falls into the maintenance/lawn care category, with one dedicated crew of three men who focus on these efforts. The landscape crew manages installation jobs.

After nine years in business, Lauersen has very gradually grown the company to employ five professionals – his maintenance foreman has 20 years of experience – and cultivated a client base that appreciates quality care. “We find that through our process, we create quality customers who are committed to the company, and we are committed to them,” he says.

Committed customers. Finishing touches are a big deal for Lauersen Lawn Landscape. If cutting a lawn takes longer because the crew uses a diamond striping technique, actually going over the lawn two times, then so be it. “We don’t leave anything looking shoddy,” Lauersen says simply. “We’ll take the extra time to do what is needed.”

Lauersen sets the stage for a different experience when he first meets with clients.

“I try to determine their long-term goals for their lawn and landscape,” he relates. “A landscape is constantly evolving with the growth of plants, and things age. So we start by asking, ‘Where do you see your landscape and property moving in the future years?’ Then, we try to cater to that desire.”

After understanding clients’ ultimate goals for their properties, Lauersen builds a maintenance, lawn care and/or landscaping program to suit their specific needs.

For example, a maintenance client with a neglected yard wants thick, lush grass – a showcase lawn, as Lauersen puts it. Knowing this, Lauersen examines the lawn to determine its current state, diagnosing any weed or disease issues and identifying any trouble spots – dry patches, areas that get less/more sun, less/more moisture, etc. He performs a full workup, just as a doctor might do during a physical exam.

From there, he presents a plan to the client, helping them understand the cultural steps necessary to improve the troubled lawn.

“We give them our plan of attack that might start with removing weeds,” he says. “Or, we may determine that we need to thicken the turf right out of the gate, so we see the lawn and get it to the point where we can use weed control products and improve the color.”

Lauersen checks soil pH. He digs into the turf profile for answers rather than signing up clients for a cookie-cutter program. “It’s not an overnight process,” he says of the way his company cares for lawns. “You know you have to dedicate some time and procedures to get the lawn to the point where the client has the showcase lawn they want.”

But that’s OK with Lauersen, and it’s fine with customers, too, because they understand that they are investing in a process, not paying for a transaction: a cut, a fertilizer application, a weed treatment. Lauersen draws them a vivid picture of their future lawn, then walks them through the steps of getting there.

We offer a quality proposition, not speed and quantity,” Lauersen sums up.

The same approach is applied to the landscaping side of the business. Lauersen may need to explain to customers why a bed looks so sparsely planted. “I sue plant spacing so they won’t have problems of looking overgrown,” he says. And he helps plan installation projects in stages so clients can bite off small portions at a time, or make mini-investments, if you will.

Not only does this long-term approach set realistic expectations for results, it ultimately keeps clients on board. “We have customers that came to us our first year and we continue to get people signed back on for service,” Lauersen says.

Gradual Growth. Lauersen’s growth over the years mirrors his business philosophy of taking time to do things right. He’s not in a rush to hit a certain revenue target, recognizing that organic growth doesn’t happen overnight. He’s patient. Of course, he’s eager to continue driving the business to the next level, but he’s not making any fast moves.

“We have had steady growth year after year—we haven’t had any windfall growth or acquisitions that would help us grow exponentially,” says Lauersen, adding that a business proposition like this is not off the table. “We are always looking that way,” he muses.

But job one has been establishing customer relationships and building a solid reputation the community. And Lauersen has tuned out much of the maintenance competition in his area to do this. “It’s difficult to compete with a company that doesn’t have the overhead staff, payroll taxes or insurance,” he says of contractors who entered the field when the economy slipped. “They just started pulling mowers around on their pick-ups with no signage, no overhead.”

That’s true most everywhere, and Lauersen easily differentiates himself from these operations. And, really, he isn’t competing for the same customers anyway. “I’m quick to recognize someone who is simply shopping,” he says. “I’ll say, ‘I’m not here to just come in and knock out your lawn and get cash. We are a professional company. So, if your bottom line is to get the bottom-line price, we are not the company for you.’”

That said, Lauersen watches his bottom line very carefully, part of growing a successful business. And he has learned, sometimes the hard way, that slow and steady is the way to grow for his firm. “I would definitely say don’t get ahead of yourself with payroll, with machinery, with trucks,” he relates. “You get to a point where that absorbs all of your cash flow. You want to settle in. Don’t grow too fast.”

Lauersen reached a point in the past where he had hired extra workers and built the staff up to seven people. “It was fantastic as far as having who you needed for what you needed, but at the same time, we were getting too heavy on payroll,” he says. “So we reined that in and focused on being more efficient with who we have and what they do.”

Lauersen’s five-man team can handle most tasks without subcontracting, though certain tasks are worth hiring out. For example, if the company is working on a significant installation project, Lauersen will bring in an excavating company to prep the site. “You can hire a guy who has his own equipment and insurance and seat time on an excavator, and he can do the job more effectively than we could,” he says.

Looking forward, Lauersen says the next growth move he’d like to make is bringing on an administrative employee to help manage office tasks. This will free him up to spend more time in the field managing and selling new work. Before that can happen, the business will need to scale up in the field so Lauersen can feel secure that a comfortable paycheck will be available for this new employee. “It’s a cash flow decision,” he confirms.

And so goes business.

Lauersen is optimistic about growth for the company, and he looks forward to continuing to build his client base and perhaps focus even more on some of the installation projects he enjoys. “I’d like to get to a point where we are doing more outdoor living projects,” he says, though adding that maintenance is a significant focus at the business, and one that helps sustain a company if times are tough because of the recurring revenue. “We’re going to continue on the track we are on and take advantage of the good market here,” he says.

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For the love of the garden

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TYLER, TX (KLTV) –

The smell of flowers, long hours working in the garden and a beautiful landscaped result. No, it’s not spring time, but it is time again for Idea garden to shine.

The Smith County Master Gardeners are hosting “First Tuesday in the Garden” on Tuesday, September 4th, at noon in the Idea Garden at the Tyler Rose Garden. This program is free, open to the public, and about an hour long.

The lectures will be held on the first Tuesday of every month and are designed to help people with landscaping and gardening basics.

The Idea Garden is located in the southeast corner of the Rose Garden with ample parking available outside of the southeast gate. Garden coordinator Sue Adee said the Idea garden is all about educating people and growing their love for gardening.

“The Idea Garden is a multi-purpose educational garden. It’s here to bring ideas and new innovations to the gardeners of East Texas and Smith County,” Adee said.

Sue Adee has been the coordinator for the Idea Garden and a member of the Smith County Master Gardeners since it was founded in 1994.

The master gardeners are a volunteer organization of about 150 people who work every Tuesday in the Idea Garden in the Tyler Rose Garden.

“We work year round. We don’t work a whole lot in December and January, but we work every Tuesday as long as it isn’t raining or sleeting or freezing,” Adee said.

Members of the garden take classes provided by Texas A M University on gardening specific to the East Texas area. They use that knowledge to beautify the Idea Garden and teach other East Texans about local plant life and soil.

“You can get back to nature, it’s relaxing, you get to watch something grow, it’s nature. It just takes you back to your roots,” Adee said.

The group also has educational programs for school children starting as young as four-years-old through their Junior Master Gardeners program.

Also, the East Texas State Fair on September 21 through 30, has an Agriworld building with exhibits from several organizations, including the Smith County Master Gardeners. There are walk through exhibits and the fair hosts school children during the morning hours of the fair for mini learning sessions about gardening, agriculture, beekeeping and other related topics.

Copyright 2012 KLTV. All rights reserved.

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Norwich officials pitch harbor ideas to state

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City leaders on Tuesday made their pitch to a pair of top-ranking state officials about their vision for a $5.4 million rehabilitation of Norwich’s waterfront district.

Mayor Peter Nystrom hopes the delegation’s meeting with Daniel Esty, commissioner of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, and Catherine Smith, head of the Department of Economic and Community Development, eventually will lead to an infusion of state aid to a trio of development projects. Among them is a $3.5 million proposal to move Norwich’s boat launch to Shipping Street.

Officials also hope to create a new wharf area that includes a pedestrian walkway to Howard T. Brown Memorial Park, and to turn the park itself into a “world-class public gathering place.” To do that, they would improve landscaping, install a fixed pier and remove many impervious surfaces.

“It was a very productive meeting,” Nystrom said. “We have established contacts to continue an exchange of information.

The hour-long session at Hartford’s Legislative Office Building stemmed from a June 20 letter sent to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy by Nystrom and City Manager Alan Bergren to explore possible state funding to help pay for waterfront development projects.

Jason Vincent, a senior economic development associate at Norwich Community Development Corp., made the trip on Tuesday and came away confident.

“The goal was to hook them on a story on how we might make the harbor more of an asset for the city and the region,” he said. “I think ideas like that have to be ambitious.”

City Council President Pro Tempore Peter Desaulniers said repurposing Norwich’s waterfront is vital if planners hope to expand local economic development.

“If we can get in there and have a new boat launch, it’s money well spent and win for everybody,” he said. “This could have an economic effect on the whole state.”

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Landscaping Marketing Ideas and Strategy from ByReputation’s New …

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With organic search engine optimization, local search directories, and content marketing, ByReputation offers landscaping marketing a new service to help bring in new customers.

(PRWEB) September 05, 2012

With organic search engine optimization, local search directories, and content marketing, ByReputation offers landscaping marketing as a new service to help bring in new customers. If you would like to get a free landscaping marketing consult from an expert, then please click on the link below:

Get a Free Landscaping Marketing Consult

Landscaping can now have their site rank increased to the top search engines such as Google, Bling, and Yahoo with ByReputation’s new search engine optimization. The search engine optimization searches past sites for key phrases and words with high conversion rates. Then the page factors are filtered through and adjusted by a search engine specialist in order to place them at the top of the search algorithm. To finalize things, penguin safe and white hat only techniques begin an ongoing off page optimization for the site.

Local search directories play an important role in landscaping marketing. Customers give local directories such as Yellowbook, Superpages, Yelp, and Yahoo Local over 100 million views a month. By focusing on the top 30 local directories, local landscaping businesses are much more likely to be found by new customers with ByReputation placing the landscaping’s directory towards the top over the other local competitors.

Content marketing is the last piece to successful landscaping marketing service. Articles are written explaining the process of landscaping marketing with a focused blog written two to three times a week. By keeping a consistent update of these content blogs, the Google freshness score is increased for the landscaping marketer’s domain allowing them to be placed at a higher rank within the search engine.

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