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Winter is Wonderful!

Here are some things to think about…

First, deer repellent or fencing? If you did not already fence your property with a 7-8′ high metal or plastic mesh or grid material, it’s probably already too late! The ground in the northeast has frozen early. It seems the extended dry period has ended and we have received much needed rainfall. Excellent for plants as the root systems should be fully hydrated before they enter their dormant winter cycle. This early freeze poses other practical challenges however, such as making it difficult if not impossible to install fence post. Keep in mind, if you’re going to successfully exclude deer from your property by fencing you should consider the following; Additional height by single strand wire up to ten feet above the fence. This increases height without violating building code restrictions. If the snow is three feet deep, the fencing is lower too! Gates and or cattle grates may be required. Electric gates sometimes get stuck when electric fails or snow and ice block mechanisms or moving parts. Allow access for oil tank or any other utilities etc, that may need to be available(see other blogs for more info). Occasionally walk the property and especially the perimeter to insure there are no fallen trees or branches compromising the enclosure.

I personally prefer to avoid temporary as well as permanent fencing for deer. From an ecological standpoint it disrupts the natural biotic corridors. Directing the foraging herds to your neighbors is not real friendly. Once again, if we design landscapes with natural barriers as well as selecting more deer resistant natives, our landscapes will easily be more sustainable with less maintenance and use fewer resources. To deter deer browse/damage I suggest Deer Free/ Winter Armor. This product is basically a white pepper and latex based formulation which serves as both a repellent and anti-dessicant. We mix it slightly stronger than the recommended rate. It promoted and marketed to last up to six months! I would happily settle for three.

Winter is the perfect time to prune your dormant fruit trees as well as other deciduous trees and shrubs. Eliminate dead branches, cross branching, sucker shoots etc.. Inspect your property for animal sign (tracks, well worn game paths, etc.). Look at areas you may want to add or remove wood and brush piles. Many but not all creatures are hibernating. Being aware of your wildlife inventory can be a source of pleasure as well as help you understand the dynamics of wildlife management. Which brings us to habitat. If you desire to encourage birds in winter, be sure you provide a water source, shelter, food etc.. Their are many good resources for info including National Wildlife Federation, Audubon and Wild Birds Unlimited to name a few. Have fun enjoying and learning about your wildlife.

Forest or woodlot management is something to consider in winter. A great resource for this is Northern Woodlands Magazine. You may also look at the storm water issues on your site or property. These may include flow paths, sheet flow, surface as well as subsurface water. Does water accumulate in some areas only in winter potentially creating safely or liability issues? What do you do for snow and ice control. That’s a whole different animal!

Aside from enjoying the wonderful winter environment outdoors there is so much you can do to improve and enhance your indoor spaces, both in terms in aesthetic appearance and health. Indoor plants or plantscapes can add so much enjoyment and value. By bringing nature into your home you can clean the air and refresh the senses. Consider an aquarium, terrarium, fairy garden or indoor water feature to make life indoors in winter more fun and interesting.

Finally, there is no better time to design, plan and schedule your landscape design projects. Why wait? Spring becomes summer and summer, fall fast enough. Don’t wait and let another year go by. Start Now !

Remember good design is not priceless but bad design is…..

Jay Archer, President

914-560-6570

jay@greenjaylandscapedesign.com

Danger! Rough road ahead !

Why does no one talk about the fall drought we are experiencing? Is it true that we just don’t care or are unaware and insensitive to the natural world around us as well as the needs of our landscapes? Even if you have an underground irrigation system to water your lawns and landscape beds, I’m willing to bet it has been turned off for winter. We are at a deficit when it comes to rainfall. It has been unusually warm, dry and now windy.

In spring, plants need water in the form of snowmelt, ground water and rainfall to produce leaves, flowers, etc. In the spring drought we experienced this past year (actually two years in a row) the plants were stressed during what usually would be a lush time. The plants have the option of producing less leaf growth and flowers to conserve energy. In the fall, however, plants and especially trees need to transfer energy to the root systems to produce food. When normal weather conditions (whatever that is) don’t provide adequate resources for healthy growth, we must compensate.

The real danger to the plants is the desiccation and drying of roots, twigs and stems causing die back, weakness and possibly, in extreme cases, death. It is very hard to determine by observation if a woody plant is stressed in winter.

These are recommendations for improving your landscapes’ health and survivability:

First, and most important, Water,Water,Water! Put out an impulse lawn sprinkler and leave it in each area for an hour.

Next, apply an anti-dessicant spray to reduce winter burn, especially to evergreens.
Lastly, deep root feeding of specimen trees and shrubs will insure you have adequately hydrated the root zone before the ground freezes and the roots freeze dry. This is most critical. If we do not get at least a couple of inches of rain before the ground freezes, usually soon after Thanksgiving in our area, plant systems could be exposed to a freeze drying effect. If the ground freezes without moisture the delicate root hairs may be freeze dried or damaged, limiting the plants ability to uptake water from the roots. This damage may not be obviously visible in one or more seasons.

Take the time to care for your landscape now and have the peace of mind that you have done everything you could to help and protect your plants, landscape and investment in your property.

This is the best way to insure you will continue to enjoy your ‘Landscape for Better Living’.

Post Script: I am a huge advocate for organic, naturally sustainable landscaping. Now is a good time for organic fertilizers for your lawns, trees and shrubs. Acid-loving plants require elemental sulfur in much of our area to adjust the ph. Also, apply calcitic lime and/or gypsum, if needed (based on soil test). I use and recommend bio-stimulants to improve the soil biology as well.

Don’t forget snowplow reflectors and deer repellant!

Jay Archer, President

914-560-6570

jay@greenjaylandscapedesign.com

This naturally beautiful landscape was the setting for a very interesting wetland restoration. The large pond pictured is actually part of the Mill River system. To improve the water quality, stabilize the soil, increase the habitat value and bio-diversity a planting plan was produced.

Care was taken not to disturb the existing soil surface and riverbank. No significant grading or ‘cut and fill’ was employed. The property already had extensive ornamental landscaping and was very well maintained by a gardening group. The homeowner was very receptive to implementing a native plant plan. The challenge was to seamlessly integrate the existing more formal gardens and traditional landscape with the ‘new’ native plant communities. The area involved was quite large affording the opportunity to introduce large sweeps, drifts and masses of plants.

By staggering the plant groups crosspollination and movement was encouraged. An already varied and active bird population was present. It was very easy to increase to variety and species. Plants were planted from seed, plugs (tubelings or eco-plugs) as well as containers and balled and burlapped. A healthy mix of perennials, grasses shrubs and small trees made up what was to become a lovely composition. There are several approaches to planting trees and shrubs in a natural, native landscape. They revolve primarily around whether trees and shrubs act as bird perches, which contribute to an increase in invasive species as a result of bird droppings.

My feeling is that restoration is hard to define. If we accept that all landscapes have been altered and manipulated by both man and nature (fire, flood events etc.) than what are we returning to what? The East coast was primarily forest. Stop mowing your lawn and find out how quickly it will revert to a sylvan setting! I had a cartoon on my desk, which reminded me of how we must muster our own resources and energy to create positive change in our environment for our health as well as artistic and spiritual enrichment. The image was of a minister with a white banded collar looking over a garden wall at a gardener on his knees (sic) while commenting: “Isn’t it amazing what the hand of God can do my son?”, the gardeners response was: “Yea father you should have seen it when God had it all to himself”.

Working with nature is rewarding in so many ways. Aside from the obvious aesthetic advantages of improving the appearance, the tangible physical benefits even short term are many. From a human and public health perspective the increase in insect-eaters aided in control of mosquito and tick populations, thereby reducing or even eliminating the threat of infectious diseases such as Lyme and West Nile. When designing natural landscape or using bio-mimicry as a model it can be useful to resource government agencies such as National Resource Conservation Service, National Wildlife Federation, or the NY Westchester County Native Plant Center. In nature we find serenity and salvation. Celebrate life!

Live the Life You Love

Jay Archer, President

914-560-6570

jay@greenjaylandscapedesign.com

One of the newest exciting trends in landscape design is bringing nature and natural landscaping into the interior design space. In this case it’s at Garden State Koi’s Warwick, New York facility. Over the course of last winter they constructed this beautiful display garden featuring ponds, streams, waterfalls as well as landscape planting and even artificial turf. A most inspiring and impressive display. We are in the design development phase of a project which includes an indoor water feature as well as terrarium and aquarium. It promises to be a one of a kind, awesome, exciting, challenging and fun project.

Originally we made the trip to Garden State Koi to buy plants for our ‘Secret Garden of Celestial Happiness’, which is finished now (recently featured in the Great Outdoors column by Bill Lawyer in The Rye Record newspaper) and is a great success and model of ecological landscape design/build, organics and sustainable horticulture. We set out to visit Waterford Gardens but were very disappointed by the selection and quality of plant material available. They are better for fish apparently. GSK, however, was great! In September the selection of plants, still flowering, was excellent. They even had hard to get lava rock and biologicals. Their staff was knowledgable and helpful. The experience could not have been better, the plants and fish we purchased are doing great.

The power and dynamics of water never cease to amaze me! Our world is mostly water as are our bodies yet the percentage of fresh water on planet Earth is only somewhere around 0.03 percent! Drinking or potable water is our most essential, precious natural resource for terrestrial life on earth. You can live a month, some of us fatty’s even longer, without food, three days at best without clean water and three minutes without fresh air. Remember, aside from the benefit to your senses, sight sound etc., there are real potential health benefits. Water and plant systems clean the air and produce oxygen. If you need to be reminded go see Robert Redford in ‘All is Lost’.

The possibilities to create beautiful art with water as endless! Check out the National Aquarium in Baltimore or of special interest for fans of fresh water aquariums, Takashi Amano’s Nature Aquarium World. It’s a wonderful experience to study and enjoy life and nature in the comforts of your home or business setting. Peaceful, soothing and wonderful to behold, the visual as well as the sound of falling water infuses energy, beauty and harmony to your space.

Let us help you realize your dream. We live and breathe to make it real!

Jay Archer, President

914-560-6570

jay@greenjaylandscapedesign.com

We are blessed with such a wealth of wonderful natural resources and material in Westchester. There is a rich diversity of geology which creates opportunities to craft unique individual design features in the landscape. Depending on access and availability natural stone can be easily incorporated into a landscape. Whether for retaining walls, paths, steps, patios or just for effect, stone lends itself to organic, naturalistic forms and shapes. So instead of burying or discarding natural stone (which also meets sustainability standards as opposed to trucking or importing stone from other geographical regions where it does not conform to local geology in appearance), I say, let it speak! Let it sing with its own voice. Working with natural elements has many advantages and rewards. Not just the catch phrases or keywords of sustainability but real tangible savings in time and money. Aren’t things complicated enough without our going out of our way to make things appear exotic and expensive (not that I don”t like those solutions where appropriate as well)?

In my considerable experience working with the land, if we are open to allowing the contours and natural elements present in our beautiful world to participate in our design process we are more likely to accidentally invite good fortune to accompany our work. I look forward to the light of each new day shining on our ever changing and evolving life and landscape experience.

Oh by the way did I forget to mention some of the awesome attributes of natural stone. For instance, the deer don’t eat it. It doesn’t need water, light or pruning… well you get the idea.. no maintenance. So have fun and let us Design with Stone! Oh and don’t forget about Earth, Sky and Water! Actually that’s the project on the lake that we’re presently working on.

Wouldn’t you like to know… Stay Tuned and… Enjoy Life!

Jay Archer, President

914-560-6570

jay@greenjaylandscapedesign.com

Many homeowners, businesses and institutions (both public and private) spend a considerable amount of time, money and resources in an effort to present an attractive appearance by investing in landscape services.

This may be by hiring a professional Landscape Architect, Landscape Designer, Contractor or Nursery to improve the appearance of the landscape. The intention and motivation is to make the property or site more appealing to the eye of the beholder. Whether this is to increase property value (which it should), curb appeal, encourage traffic and interest in the business or place or simply to enjoy the view, there is a qualitative difference between a professional premium service provider and a sub-par amateur result or performance.

I have often said: “good design is not priceless, bad design is… priceless”. That said, once the landscape is installed, renovated, rehabilitated or enhanced, the next most important part is maintaining it. Who’s going to do it? Do they have the necessary skills, knowledge, education and resources to provide the level of service required to maintain the landscape to reach maturity and beyond? Will your expectations be met? Will communication be necessary or will work be performed on a regularly scheduled basis according to what is truly required (i.e. proper pruning of plants when they should be pruned according to horticultural principals)?

There are great resources at your disposal. When it comes to landscaping and gardening services there are many local, national and international organizations, that serve designers, contractors as well as the public and private consumers. Organizations, I like are; Ecological Landscape Association, Association of Professional Landscape Designers, Grassroots Healthy Lawn Program(they are an independent non-profit). I am also a member of The New York State Turf and Landscape Association. To be honest, I have an issue with that organization because they refuse to list members on their web site, which makes me question what do they actually do for contractors, homeowners or their communities.

For horticulture you can’t beat the Cornell Cooperative Extension. This is your tax money at work. In addition to community and education programs they offer services such soil testing, plant disease and insect problem diagnosis etc. There is actually a human being you can speak to if you call your local office and ask for the horticultural agent. I particularly like their Master Gardeners program. If you want to know what to prune and when, the bible is Michael Dirr’s Manual of Woody Plants.

As always, I highly recommend hiring a qualified professional to maintain your beautiful and valuable landscape.

May your landscape bring you peace and joy…always.

Jay Archer, President

914-560-6570

jay@greenjaylandscapedesign.com

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