Green Jay Landscape Design

Green Jay Landscape Design

(914) 560-6570

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Going Organic: Turning your lawn into a naturally beautiful landscape feature and Making your pesticide free, green lawn an asset to your property

 

In Westchester our landscapes are defined and characterized my our lawns and trees. We are truly very fortunate to have so much green space. For many of us as home owners much of our property is lawn or turf grass. Sometimes up to 75% of our total square footage of outdoor space is lawn. That means it is the dominant landscape feature!

 

We don’t always think about our lawn that way. Having been in the lawn business my entire adult life it’s always the first thing I notice when I visit a new property. Same is true when I visit friends or family.

 

Our lawns are not only the first thing we see but the first impression we make. In real estate development we look at what we can do to improve the appearance of a property to increase or maintain value. In landscape and estate management that means we start by looking at the lawn. If the lawn is in bad shape and appears in poor condition it may be an indicator of how a property was maintained inside and out.

 

Consider the amount of time, money and resources that go into maintaining your lawn. Do you mow your own lawn? Do you enjoy it? How long does it take?

 

Do you pay a professional lawn service to mow, fertilize etc.? What is the yearly cost? Are you happy with the results? Is it worth it?

 

Early fall is the ideal time to improve your lawn by going organic. In the northeast the weather is ideal for growing cool season turf (which is what lawns are made of).

 

The key to the success and sustainability of any landscape is planting the right plant of the highest quality in the right place. That applies to grass seed as much perennials, trees and shrubs.

 

When selecting seed types we have many excellent choices, not only in terms of sun and shade but varieties of seed blends which have the additional advantages of insect and disease resistance.

 

For the highest performance lawn in your landscape we recommend using no less than three blends of quality pure live seed which contain at least three varieties of seed. This will ensure the greatest diversity.

 

Soil test are important! Look for at least 5% OM or organic matter and ph range between 6-7. Very often we find calcium is deficient in the soil. For best results use organic, natural source fertilizers and soil amendments to create optimum growing conditions for your lawn.

 

Of course watering is important.

 

One of the challenges we face with professional lawn care is too much or too little water during periods of high humidity.

 

The resources you put into your lawn and landscape determine the ultimate performance and sustainability of landscapes appearance.

 

This is the time to get started! The fall growing season starts in late August and may continue into December! You will see results this year and insure that you will have a thick, lush green, healthy lawn come spring.

It’s that time again !

We are offering a tour of our special ‘Garden of Celestial Happiness ‘again, Sunday, August 21 @ 10 a.m.
Things are really singing now! The butterflies are free to fly ! Hummingbirds, goldfinches..everybody’s happy!
This is also the peak for native wildflowers blooming on the island! Come visit ‘Haven’ and ‘Paradise’ at the Wetland Wildlife Sanctuary.
A beautiful landscape can bring a smile to our faces, make us feel good, project positive energy in a troubled world and even more than that can serve a higher function. Ecological services in our landscape cannot be overvalued! We don’t just need attractive gardens to look at or pretty flowers to cheer us up, even though that is a powerful purpose for investing in our landscape environment. We need landscapes that produce life giving energy and resources.
Late spring and summer should bring a continuous succession of color and bloom. The varieties of height, color texture etc. are endless in the infinite combinations available to provides us enjoyment and benefit from ecological diversity.
Whether you are in dry shade or in a wet spot there are plants for your site that will succeed and thrive while attracting beneficial insects, birds and wildlife.
Where would we be without bees to pollinate the crops we depend on for food and sustenance? Where would we be without dragon flies, frogs and bats to control the mosquito population? Start somewhere! There are so many wonderful possibilities! Just Google pollinators!
If you want beauty and functionality in you landscape environment…Go Green with Ecological Landscaping!
We live in a forest culture on the east coast. When many of our ancestors came to the new world as immigrants the forest were being cleared for the first or second time. If you stop mowing your lawn in Westchester, in time you probably would not be looking at a meadow but a young forest.

 

That’s fine with me as for most days lately I’m sun blocking with spf110 three times a day because of my fair skin (and good sun block is expensive, trust me I’m an expert on sunburn). Many of our landscapes have dark, damp poorly drained areas with lack of air circulation where lawn does not do well. Watch out for mosquito breeding! Public Health take note!

 

These conditions are common everywhere! I have designed and installed shade gardens from Hastings, Dobbs Ferry and Irvington to Katonah, Bedford and Brewster and everywhere in between! My own predominantly shady native plant garden in Rye is used as an outdoor classroom for environmental education.

 

These underutilized, neglected areas of our landscapes are excellent garden design and landscaping opportunities to improve your health and the appearance of your property while increasing beneficial wildlife habitat. An additional benefit is reducing the need for maintenance. Better resource management (gas, fertilizer, time = $ )!

 

Look to see if you have overgrown vegetation or visible mold on the house/siding, indicating poor air circulation. Not good for respiratory health! Standing or slowly draining water drowning lawn, soil, plants… yuck!

 

Clean it up…clear it out…plant native ferns, moss, shade loving perennials and ground covers…put in a garden path, maybe river rock or boulders…have some fun! Much more attractive…sustainable…and in the end…a very smart investment in your home and landscape!

 

Be part of the growing movement to eliminate toxic pesticides, improve the health, well being, appearance and ecological as well as economic value of our landscapes, homes and communities… Go Green!
Whether you are along the Hudson River from Hastings to Peekskill or along the sound from New Rochelle NY to Greenwich Connecticut your are affected by storm water and wetlands. How we manage rainfall and our fresh water resources is critical to the physical, ecological and economic well being of our communities.
Nothing cleans water better than native wetland plants ! Although we are challenged by climate shift, invasive species, overdevelopment, removal of habitat etc. there is much we can do to improve the health of the landscape environment.
Starting at home we can reduce runoff by more and better landscape planting. Using site appropriate plants according to their water requirements is the key to successful resource management.
Example of better landscape planting are no mow zones, rain gardens stream bank planting, tree groves, fern glades and many more naturalistic, highly productive and attractive landscapes.
Determine where your storm water goes first ! Look at the patterns in the rain. Track the ‘ flow paths’. Does rainwater go into a pipe or a stream. Ask yourself how can I improve the water quality by redirecting or using plants to absorb and or infiltrate to the ground water, Recharge ! Stop contamination and runoff ! Be creative with the possibilities for creating new more attractive and functioning landscapes.

I feel like no contemporary landscape design is complete without a spring flowering bulb display. These wonderful plants add so much cheerfulness to the early spring. They start the season off early and extend our enjoyment of our gardens and landscape for up to six weeks. The varieties of bulbs available to the trade are astounding in their diversity, color and bloom time. In addition to the traditional Dutch tulips, daffodils are a mainstay in many of our landscapes. They are deer proof as well, which means they can be planted anywhere. I also favor the many colors of fragrant hyacinths. Grape hyacinths, silica, dwarf iris and crocus all add a richness of color and texture to the garden. An added benefit to massing bulbs in the perennial border is the reduction in early weed growth.

 

Covering the ground with plants is the key to sustainable plant based design. Another wonderful aspect of bulb planting is the ability to create a dramatic floral display which will continuously be succeeded by the next group of flowering perennials or grasses in sequence. Including bulbs in the original design developed in the spring and summer focuses us on the progression of seasons and the power and the glory of the composition.

It is very important to use bone meal or bulb fertilizer when you plant. We also mix in Mole Med at the recommended rate to repel rodents. This is a castor bean product (natural, organic).

Most of all, bulbs are fun and make us feel good and optimistic about things to come.

 

Jay Archer, President (and Bulb Enthusiast)

914-560-6570

jay@greenjaylandscapedesign.com