Let the Parade Begin!

Herewith another recent project. This one involved work done in preparation for a local Parade of Homes, wherein we built the landscape from the ground up. UPDATE: see the results of the Parade of Homes competition at the end of this post.

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Colors!

Sioux Crape Myrtle

For all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these "it might have been." So said John Greenleaf Whittier, back around 1856. He wrote in a slightly different context (to say the least!). But what called this to mind for me was a recent visit to our Iles Farm and the sight of our Crape Myrtles bursting with color.

August doesn't usually provide such things, what with the heat and often near drought conditions. So, I thought, what might have been .... the look of YOUR yard in August, if you had just installed some Crapes.

Acoma

Here are some more pictures of our Crapes Myrtles. Most of our varieties are Lagerstroemia fauriei, indica, or some other cross pollinated cultivar, but I give here the more charming common identifier for each. Mainly because I like the whimsy of it all!

12 foot Biloxi

Catawba

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From Soup to Nuts - Continued

For those of you just tuning in, we are posting pictures from one of our latest jobs. This was a large, three month project which we literally took from the ground up. In our previous post, we showed you lots of 'before' pictures; below are a few more 'before' photos, followed by the 'after.'

But first, I just have to post these pictures. The one above shows our customer coming from a direction we weren't expecting to conduct a surprise inspection! Needless to say, we had to stop work and look at this classic car.

 

But now, back to the project. Enjoy! We certainly did.

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From Soup to Nuts

 "Soup to Nuts." Wikipedia tells us (so it has to be true, right?) that this is an "American English idiom conveying the meaning of "from beginning to end". Apparently it is derived from someone's notion of a full course dinner, which begins with soup and ends with a dessert of nuts.

My desserts are usually a little sweeter than that.  But be that as it may, here is a recent 'soup to nuts' project, in which our crews built the lawn and landscape literally from the ground up. From excavation to grading, to installation of irrigation, shrubs, flowers, trees, and sod, this project took 3 months of concentrated work.

The work was so extensive that it will take two posts, just to cover it all!

Herewith the 'before' pictures:

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Do You Know What Time It Is?

August is almost upon us.  People with gardens ought to have a general idea of the needs of their patch of earth each month.  Fortunately, in this internet age there are a plethora of gardening websites providing calendars for gardeners.  Here are a few that we find helpful for August:

The Garden Helper. Annuals, Perrenials, Bulbs, Shrubs, Trees, Fruits, and Vegetables; even Lawn Care.  A comprehensive concise rundown of August tasks for those in the Ben's Creek hardiness zone (7-8).

The Green Mountain Gardener, of the University of Vermont Extension, has some nice tips for those of you of a Northeastern persuasion.

The venerable Farmer's Almanac has a musical allusion followed by some August tips, probably the most important of which is to simply "...sit back, iced tea in hand, and behold all that you have worked for."

Fairy Gardens. Need a pick me up in the August heat? How about some garden color? Fairy Gardens lists some particularly colorful August plants and trees, along with a copious list of to-dos.

Gardener's Paradise. Scroll down for links to tips for bulbs, flowers, vegetables, and more!

This ought to keep you busy through August. Meanwhile, I intend to follow the advice of The Farmer's Almanac and pick up a case of ice tea. After 200 years, they must know something about August.

Cover Up!

Ground cover. This sounds like something you might pull over a wet baseball field, but it actually refers to plantings that perform a variety of useful functions, e.g. preventing soil erosion, weed control, or simply filling in ugly bare patches. However, you don't have to settle for a "plain green" look. Nancy Ondra of Fine Gardening covers all the bases regarding flowering ground covers:

 ...numerous spreading perennials do an equally good job protecting the soil and crowding out weeds while producing a bounty of beautiful blooms. Mass plantings of these easy-care perennials are great for new gardens because just a few can fill plenty of space, easing the strain on your budget. In established landscapes, linking individual shrubs into larger beds with flowering ground covers dramatically cuts down on tedious mowing and trimming chores.

 Let's see, soil protection, easy on the budget, reduces tedious yard chores; what's not to like about flowering ground covers?

Read the whole article here.