How long do trees live?

 Here is a neat link from Virginia Tech, showing the probable lifespans of many different types of trees.  For instance, the Bald Cypress.  You might pay anywhere from $300 to $500 to install this tree; what are you getting for your money?  A landscape addition for -- 600 years on average.  And 1,800 years if it lives to the maximum.  Now that's value!

On more reasonable timescales, when you plant a tree you certainly want something that will thrive and grow for  30 or 40 years and beyond.  As the Virginia Tech link shows, most trees should exceed such time periods easily.  But this comes with a caveat: different trees are different.  That is, there are good trees and bad trees, which is why it's important to seek professional help in selecting and installing trees.

Iles Farm - Ben's Creek Nursery

July - Play it By Ear

"Play it by ear." That's the advice for July we get from Marie Iannotti of About.com. Not very specific, is she? However, that's the problem with July, it's not very specific either.  With its intermittent rainfall and fluctuating temperatures, July waffles between the growth days of early Summer and the dog-days to come.

Even so, Ms. Iannotti gives us a nice list of things we might do in July - assuming we have the ear to hear what our garden needs!

To Prune or Not To Prune

Pruning is one of those year-round garden activities - but not everything should be pruned at the same time. Kathleen Huddy of goodhousekeeping.com consults "the experts: horticulturalists, gardening associations, and master gardeners," and gives us a year round guide on what and when to prune.

A Mulch in Time Makes a Nice Design!

As we reported way back in 2010, mulch is an important building block of your yard and garden. However, it can also bring a distinctive flourish to a yard design, as one of our customers can attest!

Summer Heat!

Let's face it: summer heat can be really, really hot. And as we watch our lawns go brown, our flowers wilt, and our shrubberies shrug, we feel we have to do something, anything, to help our plants. However, Julie Day of dannylipford.com tells us that

It’s easy to overdo it in hot weather, especially if you’re an attentive gardener who believes you can coax your plants back if you only work hard enough. Ironically, during the heat of midsummer, sometimes the best thing you can do is to leave your plants alone – many chores we consider “TLC” will only stress plants further.

In other words, we can actually care too much - and end up hurting what we are trying to help! Read the whole article for some summer gardening do's and don'ts.

Welcome to the Islands!

Many of the properties we manage have small islands of plantings, accents to the larger landscape, each with its own unique design depending on the tastes and preferences of the owners. Herewith some photos of islands, some simple, some ornate, but all of them interesting - at least for landscape wonks like us!

So, grab an umbrella drink and come to the islands!

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