Hiring a Pro has its advantages in the landscape

Having a professional landscaper around the yard can help alleviate the headache of maintaining your grounds. Many professional follow industry standards of right times to prune and proper to techniques to care for your gardens. This can be a lot on a homeowner sometimes when you have a busy life. Hiring a professional designer can help you plan on having the landscape of your dreams installed.

            There are a lot of people I see these days either pruning at the wrong time or not using the right equipment for the job. I do understand that this isn`t their line of work but they may not realize that you can hurt or even kill the plant. We follow industry standards and use the monthly garden calendar found on the Missouri Extension office website. The Missouri Botanical Gardens can also be a good reference point for learning how to maintain your gardens. It usually always starts with proper plant selection for the St. Louis area climate. Planting the wrong plant can lead to problems down the road from mother nature. We purchase most of our stock from Garden Heights Nursery in Richmond Heights. They have a good staff with the knowledge to lead anyone in the right direction. They even have a professional designer on staff to help draw out your design.

            Everyone`s got a pretty busy life style these days. From getting the kids to the next soccer game or a night out with friends. You look out your window and see the grass needs to be cut or the Ewe bushes are getting out of control. You say to yourself I`ll get to it, but in Heinz site it doesn`t get down. In worse case you may be cited depending on the municipality you live in. A Professional Landscaper can help alleviate these problems by coming up with a maintenance plan for any size property. Plus, having a nice landscape property can add to the value of your home when the decision comes to put it on the market. We can help with any landscape questions are problems you may have. Feel free to contact us to discuss your options. We will do our best to stair you in the right direction if we don`t have the answer.

When can I begin to plant my spring garden?

Spring has finally arrived in St. Louis, even though the temperatures haven`t stayed warm lately. At least the snow is over, or so we hope. We now just have to work around the rainy month of April--something both plants and a St. Louis gardener loves.   It`s now time to get your shovel and rakes out of the shed and get to work on the spring garden. There are many aspects that go into different spring gardening. From flowers to vegetables, everyone has their own unique garden that they desire.

A good way to start is to clean up all the leaves and twigs that mother nature left behind from the winter months. Cut back ornamentals to get rid of the dead growth, setting the mower to its highest setting makes this process simple rather than being down on all fours. Fertilize and water afterwards to promote new growth.  This is a good time to cut back roses and get rid of the dead wood from the winter. Heavy pruning can also be done with the plant still being dormant, try to never prune the rose bush back more than 18" from the ground. If a winter mulch was in place, remove it now and add organic matter to the soil. A good time to prune back box woods would be to wait after April 15th in the St. Louis Area, this is also the time pre-emergent should be in place to control crabgrass in lawns. 

It may be time to renovate that garden and plant the one you`ve always dreamed of. A lot of nurseries are starting to get there stock in, go out and look for ideas of what to plant. Remember to keep in mind if the growing site is in the shade or gets a lot of sun during the day. Different plants grow in different situations. There is a wide array of plants these days that fits everyone's budget and needs. Try to got down some notes or questions to ask the nursery staff what they suggest. I always suggest going to a garden or nursery and not the local hardware store. They seem to be more informative on what to plant and suggest to your needs. Whatever you decide, do it with a smile on your face and earn your Green Thumb this growing season.

When to start developing your spring garden.

A lot of things on people’s minds are starting to be warmer weather and getting out of the house. This has been a harsh winter for most of the United States. Cabin fever is starting to set in, if it hasn`t already in our minds. Now would be a great time to start thinking about your spring garden and be prepared when this weather does finally change for the better. You still have some time as most of the ground hogs saw there shadow on Ground Hog Day, which means 6 more weeks of winter. I know a lot of people don`t want to hear this. But as they say, being prepared is better than not having a plan.

You may want to completely renovate that old garden or simply add some news plants to your existing garden. The decision is simply up to you, and having a decision will help when you to prepare your plan of attack. Always keep in mind how much sun hits the area or is it completely shaded during the day. Different plants adapt to different areas to help with this factor. Also doing a soil test will help to steer you in the right path of what to do to your soil for the lushest, greenest plants. You can read more on soil testing on website blog.

If you’re not born with a green thumb but still want a garden, we know a great gardener in St. Louis that can help.

How to keep the enthusiastic gardener busy in the winter.

There are a lot of people that hate to see the gardening season come to an end every year with winter. This is a big hobby among a lot of Americans.  "The exact number of people on planet Earth who garden remains to be exactly calculated, but the increasing interest of gardening, for various reasons, is hard to deny. Poll numbers taken in 2008 show that up to 43 million households reported they planed to grow some type of their own food, and increase pf approx. 19% from the year prior." (Excerpt from ask. com). There are a lot of people who have not looked at the possibility of gardening indoors year round. With a couple of steps and some planning it is possible to keep the most avid gardener busy in the winter months.

Of course there is always planning to do before starting any garden. A couple of things that will be needed are as follows: A good area to lay out your garden which can either be a utility room or a warm basement. Seed trays are a necessity as goes with a good starter soil. An electric heating mat will be useful in helping the seeds germinate if the plants aren`t transplanted from the outdoors. Interior growing lights will help to feed the seeds uv rays after they have sprouted.

After you have laid out your area, its time to plant.  Always check your seed packet recommendations when it is a good time to plant. Starting seeds outside first can always be difficult with how the weather changes before the winter months.  As mentioned before, starting seeds indoors isn`t that hard with a heating mat. A heating mat will give the seed a good start and guarantee germination when the soil remains warm. After the seed has sprouted is a good time to install the growing lights and have them remain on 15-17 hrs a day. A crucial time to monitor the soil moisture comes into play once the lights are starting to be used. The lights do help the plant but in turn can suck the moisture away just like the sun.  A seed tray cover can help to retain moisture in the soil. Daily watering is a good thing to practice with indoor seedlings. The heat mat can be removed at this time once the seeds have sprouted and the lights and watering have been applied.

This a good way to extend you harvest season year round and to always have gardening at your finger tips.


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