Category: Landscape Design

Garden Landscape Design Ideas with Tree Pictures, Using Different Types of Trees

Self Reeling Garden Hose Reel

The old Garden Hose Reel meant you had to do the work of winding the water hose back on the reel.

Good News! New designed Hose Reel versions are available,  Pull the hose out to where it is needs, then with a tug, the spring loaded reel will draw in your hose and align it like you would have done manually.

Well good water gardening news!

This Flow Master hose reel will do the reeling for you with it’s heavy spring which pulls the hose back in for storage.

Hose Reel is great for the elderly and those who do not want to fight 50+ feet of heavy hose back onto the reel.

Auto Reel makes the need to water the flowers, pots, filling the pond, hot tub just a lot easier!

Infestation by Gypsy Moth Caterpillar

Will the Gypsy Moth Infestation 2022 be the same as last year?

The Gypsy Moth Caterpillar starts out as an extremely tiny 1/4″ – 60 mm long thin hard to see Caterpillar.  But not for long as they grow quickly eating your broad leaf trees, oak, basswood, maples, larch  … even conifers such as the pine and spruce.

Gypsy Caterpillar Tree infestation will strip a tree of most of it’s leaves.

So what’s the solution?

  1. Tree Service company to inject the tree at the base early before Gypsy Moth Caterpillar has grown too large to kill.
  2. Small trees that are too young, hire a Tree Service to spray the tree’s leaves which kills the Gypsy Moth Caterpillar on contact.  Good option for young and smaller trees that cannot be injected
  3. Extreem infestation, hire flyby air spray to do large areas or multiple neighbours
  4. Wait to Next Year, hope that your trees survive the Gypsy Caterpillar eating frensy

PS The male Gypsy Moth flies around endlessly, not eating, just looking to mate with a female Gypsy Moth.

2022: Moth Pods are laid and ready. If you look at an infected tree’s bark you can see loonie  size whitish-grey pods which contain the eggs to be hatched!

…Hopefully this cold winter might reduce the number of Gypsy Moths in 2022. 

 

Grass Hut with Thatched Palm Leaves

Buying a palapa umbrella, tiki hut, gazebo or grass hut one should consider getting a natural woven palm leaf roof to add to your tropical theme in the backyard, at the hot tub or at the pool.  A design upgrade a Palm leaf roof can be of different products: Mexician Palm, African Reed, Synthetic Palm & Reed to name a few. 

Did you know a good palm leaf roof can last over 10 years in Florida .. add 5 years if in California

Mum Flower Garden Display

Fall mums are a great choice! It makes one’s garden color come back when other trees, shrubs and plants are shutting down for the coming of winter months.

Some prefer the yellow mums in gardens as they seem to hold their flowers longer but mixing in another color adds a needed variety and contrast as seen below.

Save Your Deck!

Repair your wood deck, apply two new coats of stain, then you have more money for other garden improvements.

Deck Repair Decisions:
1. Top Wood plank condition and structure underneath not rotted and soft
2. Clean wood surface, free of BBQ grease, some sand deck … power wash if available
3. Ensure dry and stain coat twice for best look.

Level 2 Deck Repair is going to be expensive. Considerations are

1. Wood prices are up but taking hard look at replacing the entire deck surface.
2. Going to be some structural and rot issues which will add to the budget
3. Ok with the Standard brown wood finish color or going to stain the wood to your own tastes
4. Consider composite decking? If you upgrading from a wood deck you will not have the recommended 12″ stringer spacing needed, pushing you closer towards to a new deck redo!

Stain or Water Seal Your Deck?

Wood Deck is 3-4 years old, in great condition other than losing it pressure treated color. Sunny bleached pressure treated wood deck is being applied with 2 coats of Thompson Water seal to revive the decks appearance and to preserve from wood rot.

Refinishing the wood resulted in great revived new deck appearance!

Wood Deck 3-4 years later!

Water Seal finish was pealing off in areas calling for a new refinish repair. Otherwise beautiful finish has deteriorated away due to water being absorbed into the dry boards and popping off the water seal finish.

Because the woods surface had been clear sealed, one has to sand the decking boards to get back to the raw wood surface.

Refinished the Deck with a semi transparent stain that soaks into the wood, so that next time can just re-stain the deck!

Prefer Wood stain finish as it is easier to recoat one deck!

Wood Mulch Your Garden?

Resisting using wood mulch on your gardens because the wood pieces mix with you nice dark triple loam mix? Yup, that’s one of the downsides!

There are many mulch colors, a few Types of Mulches in bulk are Sawmill black, brown Cedar, white Pine, Playground mulch Utility, basic or uncolored natural utility mulch.

We get it! Consider adding mulch to dryer garden beds that need weed control and to retain water. Leaving other gardens with the black loam!

Mulch Garden Design Ideas

Mulch let’s you work with any shape you wish. These mulch gardens are freeform created by the brick outline which helps hold the mulch away from the earth where begonia flowers will be planted.

The garden edge has been edged and filled with mulch. Mulch can be ordered bulk, but we like the Scotts Mulch Deep Forest Brown over the years!

Why a Storage Shed?

Storing big garden equipment, be it a John Deer Gator, Toro or other lawn equipment, a large shed is one of the best decision you will make that lasts for years!

PS Shed concrete pad adds to your costs, but the trade off is that shed looks professionally finished and is easy to clean, plus stops the years of critters from digging underneath, getting in, making a mess and destroying your equipment.

Pine Board Wood Fence

Solid Wood Fence acts as a solid no see through Privacy Fence by using 1″ thick 12 inch wide rough sawn pine boards.

Fence was given some unique design by increasing the height of every other board to create a castle effect. Reduced fence height when coming to meet a low metal farm gate.

What Type of Flowering Bulb?

Hyacinths can grow in just water because the nutrients are in the bulb!

Hyacinthus is an early bloomer in Spring coming in range of pinks, blues in single or double petal flowers. Hyacinths blooms only once per year and bloom each year as are a perennial plant.A favorite potted plant in the house with of it’s strong fragrant flowers.

A Mother’s Day gift winner!

Tree Garden Design

No Rules Garden Design!

Here an Old tree has been cleaned up and trimmed up .. adds visual interest and center piece to this relatively small garden.

Just got to find that narly bent tree and mount it securely in your garden.

P.S. Driftwood could be another possibly simpler alternate?

Why Pressure Treated?

Here is a example of the cut ends of 2″ green pressure treated deck boards. Shown is the inconsistency of the treatment protection due to how porous the wood is and the lumber’s dryness.

Pressure treated lumber has the cheaper lower price point. Try to price cedar and you may be shocked at the cost of cedar today!

Potted Cedar Tree

Cedar trees planted in large pots is a fast way to dress up a large area of pavement or concrete and can be part of your landscape design.

Potted Evergreen Cedars trees are a fast and easy way to increase your home’s curb appeal with out committing yourself to a lot of digging!

P.S. Square planter is white plastic container about 2′ x 2′ x 20″ high (600x600x500mm) purchased at Lowes.ca

Trim Cedars

Best Cedar Tree trimming time is late Fall or early Spring !

A Cedar tree’s growth generally retains the latest shape created … but a new trimming can bring back the design shape you like best.

Cedar trees can be formed into many shapes.  This is an easy DIY project!

When one is pruning cedars,  some prefer to cut the bottom wider than the top to allow sunlight to the lower branches … more of a Christmas tree or cone shape. Cedars are flexible and as shown in the picture above as cedars are trimmed in more of a column shape.

Trimming cedar trees or hedge can be done most any time of the year. The best time is after spring’s 6-8 week cedar leaf growth period.

Cedar Pruning Caution: Start out slowly and trim a little at a time until your shape starts to develop.  Cutting to deeply into the cedar you will run into the interior branches that have little or no foliage … then you end with a hole in you shape .. not so good!

Tools need are a sharp pair of hand shears for smaller trees … some smaller cedar hedges can be done with shears but with larger cedar hedges one needs an electric or gas shears.

If you have large and tall cedar hedges consider using an arborist as there is some danger and/or skill involved.

Advantages to regular annual pruning is that it keeps the cedar’s shape you want. Regular trimming maintains your cedar’s size and the garden area they take up.