Monthly Archives: July 2010

Tips for High Altitude Landscaping

Posted on by
Reply

Maintaining a pretty landscape in high altitudes or mountainous areas can be frustrating. It’s not the easiest thing to deal with. However, if you know your soil types and what kinds of plants, flowers and foliage works best with your soil, you can have a landscape to be proud of.

Mountains in Wyoming

Photo credit: Destination360

When working with mountain soil, it’s important to remember that this kind of soil has to be re-worked if you want something to grow, according to Backyard Landscaping Ideas. Their suggestion is to find plants that can stand up to cold weather and deer, aw well as producing before the first autumn frost. It was also suggested to choose plants that can tolerate shade and fallen needles of evergreen trees.

The soil in mountain regions varies from place to place. Some areas might have soil that is rather sandy, while other areas might have soil that is clay-like. Backyard Landscaping Ideas offers the reminder that mountain soil usually has stones and pebbles that must be taken out prior to planting. The important thing to remember when dealing with mountain soil is not to rush through the process of determining what kind of soil you have and how to pre-treat it prior to planting.

Backyard Landscaping Ideas has tons of suggestions on how to take care of your soil and what kind of plants, trees and shrubs to plant and how to plant them, and how to create fabulous rock and alpine gardens, as well as an alpine meadow. Here are some examples of what you can do in a mountainous landscape:

The lady rose is a great choice for rose lovers living in high altitudes. They usually thrive in this type of setting.

Evergreen wild cranberries make a great choice as their shrubs make great wind blockers and they produce some yummy fruit!

An alpine meadow is easy to create when you have a large, flat area that would don’t want to mow. Just plant a mix of wild flowers in that area!

Visit Backyard Landscaping Ideas for more details on how to create the perfect high altitude landscape.

Photo credit (in order of appearance): Destination360.com Mountains in Wyoming, Roselocator.com, Agroatlas.ru, and Worldofstock.com.

Making Your Pool Party-Ready!

Posted on by
1

Imagination and creativity are key concepts when you are decorating for a pool party. It’s your party so make it original and individual. But before you hit up the local party supply store, there are a few things to keep in mind:

  • Time of day: The time of day you plan to have your party is very critical when planning a pool party. Late morning to early afternoon hours are good for kids’ parties and picnics when your guests will mainly be swimming. At afternoon and evening parties the pool will be more of a decoration as the events become more formal, like baby showers and wedding receptions.
  • Decorations and Accessories: Now the fun begins! Use colorful objects like toys and floats for morning parties. Beach balls and volleyballs are great for kids and adults. In the afternoon, less is better. Add a few floating decorations on the pool and use confetti, balloons and other types of décor. At evening parties, close the pool off to swimmers by using floating candles or flowers and put out some lamps for lighting and decorative purposes.
  • Central location: The pool will be the center of the party, so decorate from the pool and continue outward. This gives attention to the pool as the focal point and allows you to easily see which spots are empty.
  • Special effects: If you’ve got the budget for it, make your pool party really stand out by hiring a dj or band. You could go over the top for decorations as well.

While a plain swimming pool can be a lot of fun, you can make it better with a little creativity, regardless of your budget. Just remember to clean your pool really well before and after the party.

Photo credit: Donna Griffith via Canadian House & Home

How to Choose the Perfect Grass for Your Landscape

Posted on by
Reply

When choosing the type of grass that’s best for your landscape, there are many different things to take into consideration like whether your lawn is new or old, what part of the country you live in and what type of landscape design you’re trying to achieve. Phase One Landscapes encourages you to take a look at a tip list  organized by PlantCare.com to help determine what type of grass will be best for your yard. Take a look at a few of the tips below.

Colors Of Grass To Choose

The most popular color of grass is dark green. Everyone wants a deep shade of green for his or her landscape. The only problem with this is that some of your new grass will be invaded with other lighter shades of green. If you prefer dark grass but have light green grass now, choose a turf that blends well because over time, the grass you did not plant will take over the new grass. Lighter shades of green are just as pretty.

leaf a on lawn

Types Of Grass

Native or exotic grasses will come in all sizes and shapes with a variety made fro every landscape idea and location. It does not matter if you have hot or cold weather, moist or dry, you will be able to find the right grass for you. There are grasses that grow better in the shade as well as grasses that do best in the hot sun. The key is to choose the best one for your situation.

Get Down To The Roots

Before you get started on planting your new grass, remember some important factors. Determine the size of the area that you are planting, along with the location, and the soil conditions. You can go to any home and garden center and ask them what the best types of grass are best for you.

Visit PlantCare.com to view the entire guide.

Photo Credit: Plant Care

Underground Garden Garage Saves Space

Posted on by
Reply

Talk about a new, innovative way to use your garden AND park your car! This Cardok is an electro-hydraulic elevator system, via UrbanGardens, stores your car eight feet underground and is camouflaged by your garden above.

This Porsche Garden was part of the Royal Horticultural Society Show at Hampton Court back in July of 2008, part of Flemond Warland’s award-winning garden design installation.

Photo Credit: Waldo Pepper

The Japanese Beetle is Currently Under Quarantine in Colorado

Posted on by
Reply

While you’re out in the garden this summer, keep a close eye out for Japanese Beetles. The insect pest is currently under quarantine in Colorado, according to Landscape Online. The Colorado Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Agriculture  are working to ensure that future introductions of this pest are prevented.

From Landscape Online.com:

The Japanese beetle is most frequently moved from state to state in infested nursery stock and soil. Currently, all trees, shrubs, sod and ornamental grasses brought into Colorado from infested states to the east, must first be certified by the state of origin to be free of Japanese beetle. While it is illegal to knowingly move plants and soil infested with Japanese beetle into the state, it is also illegal to knowingly move plants and soil infested with Japanese beetle within the state.

With the support of the Colorado Nursery and Greenhouse Association, CDA requires that all plant material imported from states East of Colorado, including New Mexico, must meet Japanese beetle quarantine criteria. Commercial nurseries, sod farms and landscape contractors are making sure the stock they import meets the quarantine criteria. Those that do not ensure that imported stock meets the quarantine are subject to fines.

A list of registered nurseries and landscape contractors can be found at here and click on ”Nursery Program.”

Subscribe to Phase One Landscapes’ Blog and Receive Posts in Your E-mail!

Posted on by
Reply

Keep up with all the latest blog posts from Phase One Landscapes the minute they’re out!  By subscribing to the blog,  you can receive our posts through your e-mail account.

To begin receiving our posts, you must register your e-mail address with us.  You can register by submitting your e-mail address  subscription box on the blog’s homepage. You’ll get a subscription confirmation in your inbox, which you need to read in order to activate the subscription.

Once you are registered, you will receive an e-mail from Google’s FeedBurner each time we post new information on our blog.  From the e-mail, you can read the post in your inbox or choose to visit our blog directly.

Follow these simple steps and you’re done!

Preventing Lawn Diseases

Posted on by
Reply

Even the most stunning of home facades can be marred simply because of fungi.  Unsightly law problems are often caused by one or several fungal diseases that can leave grass brown and brittle and really create an eyesore. In fact, there are over 400 species of fungi that are known to inhabit lawns and about 100 of them are potentially harmful, quickly turning a green and vibrant lawn into a brown, decaying, ugly patch. Fortunately though, the majority are seasonal and don’t do any permanent damage. But zeroing in on which is which can be tricky. Click here to see HGTV’s complete “Preventing Lawn Diseases” article with tips for spotting and treating harmful lawn fungi.

Photo Credit: HGTV

Denver Celebrates Independence Day!

Posted on by
Reply

Phase One Landscapes would like to wish everyone a safe and happy Fourth of July weekend! Take a look below at some of the fun Independence Day festivities going on around Denver.

* Fireworks at Coors Field after the Colorado Rockies’ evening games on FRIDAY, July 2 and SATURDAY July 3 against the San Francisco Giants. Tickets required. For more information call (800) 388-7625 or 303-762-5437 or go to ColoradoRockies.com.

* Fireworks at Invesco Field at Mile High on July 4 following Outlaws Lacrosse game. Learn more at InvescoFieldAtMileHigh.com

* Blues Traveler Concert at Red Rocks Amphitheatre. The concert begins at 6 p.m. Red Rocks provides a good view of the fireworks show downtown. For more information contact: 303-830-TIXS.

* The 18th Annual Cherry Creek Arts Festival will be taking place July 3-5. The arts festival weekend event is a world-class and award-winning celebration of the visual, culinary and performing arts. The CCAF is located in Denver’s Cherry Creek North Business District, from 2nd to 3rd, on the six streets starting on Clayton through Steele. Learn more info at CherryArts.org.

More events listed on Denver’s City Web site or Denver.about.com.