greenjayadmin

We are very often posed with the challenge of creating a level, usable space where there is a slope, depression or uneven grade. There are many creative solutions available to us as designers.

The first question is how great a slope or issue is presented. Is this area regulated by wetlands, building codes etc.? Is it steep enough to be considered a steep slope. If so it may fall under the NYSDEC steep slope permit. Will the project require engineering?

What about a budget? What is the actual value in improving the area in question? How will it be used and what function will it serve?

These are typically design questions. What are the views, how will the proposed changes affect property values etc?

Terracing is an ancient technique used to level a grade. Very often masonry retaining walls with subsurface drainage are constructed.

One method we employ is rip rap retaining features. This process uses natural stone to define and support grade changes. The natural appearance has advantages as well as the substantial cost savings involved in design and construction.

According to the Universities which we rely upon for our horticultural information and recommendations Cornell, Amherst UMass, Yukon, Connecticut, Rutgers, New Jersey, This has been the driest, hottest three month period in over one hundred years! Talk about stress… we have not even seen the beginning of the effect on our plants and landscapes.

Even if you have a highly functioning irrigation system and a decent amount of shade to help cool the soil surface and reduce evapotranspiration, your plants are being exposed to a prolonged period of weather which is in no way conducive to health and happiness. Aside from sun scalding, lack of water, diseases and insect pests…they have not gotten a break, a reprieve from the stress associated with prolonged drought and heat.

One of the problems is the root zone has not been allowed to cool. Most of our landscape plants, especially new plantings, have shallow root systems.

The water table in most places is very low. We desperately need a weeks worth of drenching rain! Doesn’t look like we are going to get it! Most of our landscapes are not designed for this kind of weather environment.

We are absolutely in emergency rescue and recovery mode ! Most evergreens, for instance, won’t show signs of stress until it’s to late to save them. Many of our lawns are in need of repair and/or renovation. Be proactive. Do something to help before it’s to late. Conserving resources starts with protecting what we already have.

What to do:

Water you landscape deeply.

Run irrigation or manual sprinklers or both for one hour per area every three to four days. Best time to do that and avoid feeding fungus during periods of high humidity is early morning between the hours of 5-9 am. Properly prune trees and shrubs, not in the heat of the day, reducing the surface areas and strengthening plants. Mulch if necessary to cool the soil and retain moisture. Do not cultivate the soil, or let your gardening or lawn service provider cultivate the soil around perennials, trees and shrubs. Exposing the fragile roots further stresses the plants. Remove excess thatch or dead grass layers from your lawn.

There is never a better time to Go Green… Sustainably Organic…

Mow your lawn high or skip it. Use bio-stimulants instead of high nitrogen, salt based, synthetic fertilizers. Use Yucca to make the water wetter ! Do soil test so you can adjust ph and correct deficiencies in the soil. Applying natural source organics or earth products now will help plants recover and strengthen their immune systems. This will lead to more beautiful, healthy plants and landscapes.

Take a break, enjoy life!

We will create a garden for all seasons featuring edible fruits, vegetables and aromatic herbs. In the fall you will enjoy flowering perennials and annuals as well as an assortment of fragrant herbs. For architectural interest, we will place one pink dogwood and three flowering Hawthorn, which will attract a wild variety of birds. Your layered garden will include tall perennials for cutting and flowering arrangements, annuals for continual bloom, ornamental vegetables (peppers, cabbage, etc.) as well as edible fruits and vegetables.

A handful of clethra and blueberries will extend and continue your theme from your berry garden. Flowering bulbs will be planted in the fall to increase and extend your joyous spring color. In addition to planting and cultivating your edible garden with companion plants selected for their capacity to attract beneficial insects and insure sustainable organic development, a spectacular dahlia display will be a highlight of your summer garden.

Your raised garden beds will be constructed of the finest premium compost topsoil, sand and peat blend to allow for maximum growth/production. You will easily be able to meander and wander through your lush edible garden. Although the outward appearance will be consistent with your reasonably formal landscape composition, all the beautiful natural elements will work together and speak as a symphony.

We will open up the hedge along the driveway and install a stepping stone pathway, which will lead into the yard to the platform to your new shed. We will repurpose one ilex stead from the opening of the hedge and add 3 additional ilex steads to block/shield the new shed. We will transplant and divide your existing hosta to make a curved hosta bed along the hedge to the right of the pathway to soften the lines and perimeter of your lawn.

The shade garden will be further expanded to create a dominant focal point to be viewed from the house and patio and will extend through the old vegetable garden area to meet with the generator, screening/wraparound and your new edible garden and landscape. This will complete your backyard composition and landscape improvement.

An option we really love for your garden is the inclusion of the four colorful containers to give variety, texture and height to allow for relocating both indoors and out. I especially like the idea of growing small lemon trees.

Designing, developing and constructing this landscape has truly been a labor of love! We are so fortunate in Westchester to have such naturally beautiful settings to work with! In this case we had a wide open rear yard which served as a blank canvas for our artistic composition to unfold. Situated on a tidal estuary facing southeast, we found a perfect opportunity for improving the landscape ecology in a post Sandy world.

Starting by a well developed landscape concept plan, we conceived of a dynamic composition who’s unifying theme was nature, native plants for birds and butterflies and a fresh water swimming pool with a stream, waterfall and lovely bog garden as a bio-filter and landscape feature.

Originally a wooden deck was proposed but changed to a custom masonry patio (as a result of permitting issues). As always, storm water management played an important role in design development and construction methods. In addition to excavating a large volume of poor quality fill and construction debris from the site we also employed decompation, soil amendments, sub-grade piping and drainage as well as vertical trenching and mulching for the tree roots.

State of the art technologies were employed with the help of Conservation Technology, Baltimore, MD.(www.conservationtechnology.com), for the unique natural swimming pond and water feature. We even created a shady moss garden with material supplied by our good friends at Sticks and Stones Farm in Newtown, Connecticut (www.sticksandstonesfarm.com).

The word heavenly came up frequently by visitors to this stunning one of a kind landscape and has been described as one of the towns best landscapes/gardens.

Everything starts with an idea, a dream, a desire…in this case we were lucky enough to have a client would believed and invested in us with full faith and trust.

A truly marvelous experience all around. This is truly a model of ecological landscaping and an example of Green landscape design. We will be maintaining this property, naturally, sustainably, organic, with great pride!

[Below: BEFORE photo]

It’s been a long, hot, dry summer…and it’s not over! Our lawns are made up of cool season grasses. That means they do best during cool and moderate temperature seasons. That does not describe this summers weather pattern! Aside from the fact that this has been one of the driest summers on record, it has also been one of the hottest and most humid. Humidity in particular is our enemy.

Lack of air circulation and stagnation in conjunction with consistent humidity favors lawn disease and fungus which weaken the grass plants natural immune system. This results in poor turf grass performance in terms of appearance and in extreme cases leads to decay and death of areas/sections of turf. Extreme heat favors insect pests as well.

All of these factors, which are pretty much beyond our control as homeowners or turf managers, pose challenges to maintaining lawns by organic methods.

There are things we can do to help. First, be sure not to water at night. It’s bad enough we may have thunder storms and showers over nite which typically don’t help with irrigation because the water either evaporates of keeps the grass surface moist which contributes to fungus problems.

Now is the ideal time to improve your lawns quality and performance. Soil testing is helpful in that it provides valuable information regarding correctable and identifiable problems with your site, soil and plants. If your ph level is out of desired range it can be adjusted by adding limestone or elemental sulfur. If your soil/lawn lacks organic matter, compost can be added. If you have a calcium deficiency gypsum can be added etc..

Once you have addressed the soils needs to create optimum conditions. You are ready to attach the lawn surface. Many older lawns have built up a substantial thatch layer. This is the dead grass layer between the healthy green shoots and the roots. If the thatch is to thick it will make watering difficult while creating habitat for insect pests. This can be physically removed by mechanical means or treated biologically or both.

Next and most critical is reseeding. Nothing will improve your lawns performance more than improving the variety, diversity and density of your lawn by reseeding with quality seed.

This is best done by mechanical means.

This has been a banner year for crabgrass so you may want to kill those areas first if they are going to inhibit successful seeding. Crabgrass loves hot, dry conditions with poor, shallow soil. We usually use a soil probe to check and see if soil depth is a problem. This is especially common around pools, walkways, patios, driveways etc.

Sometimes it is best to reconsider whether lawn is the appropriate choice for your landscape area. If you struggle from year to year because of poor air circulation and are unable to remove or prune trees to relieve the condition, maybe ground cover would be a better alternative.

Same may be true of poorly drained areas. A rain garden or landscaping with plants more suited to water and soil requirements might be more functional and attractive. These alternatives to lawn may also mean reduced costs in terms of sustainable management.

As designers we should ask ourselves what is the purpose or function of the lawn surface and what are the resources and management requirements (irrigation, fertilization, mowing etc.) needed to sustain turf as a landscape feature. What is the overall value of the lawn areas in reference to overall property value?

Before, during and after design and construction we should reevaluate the overall appearance and functionality of our landscape in terms of resource management. We are spoiled in the Northeast! We generally do not have floods, hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes or severely extended droughts which limit our landscapes in terms of designing with resource management in mind.

Be kind to our land and it will serve us well!

The perfect lawn provides a dramatic contrast between the browns and greens of the woodland and the blooming flower beds.

The addition of perennial pocket gardens with the woodland backdrop break up the large lawn creating interest by enticing the visitor to wander around the grounds, viewing the gardens from each perspective.

The hot tub placement guaranteed optimum use by its proximity to the french doors at the entrance to the new addition.

Care was taken to insure the classic character of the masonry was consistent vet creatively fresh throughout the landscape. This meant attention to details like the curved corners.

greenjayadmin

Footer