Monthly Archives: April 2012

Our Top Most 5 Popular Landscaping Tips

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Readers, we have exciting news to share with you! You may not know it, but we recently came upon the two-year anniversary of our blog and now we’ve reached 200 posts! To celebrate this momentous occasion we’ve decided to look back over the span of the last two years and gather our most popular landscaping tips. These tips aren’t popular simply because we agree with them; they’ve received the most pageviews out of all of our posts. So without further ado, here are our top five most popular landscaping tips:

  1. Driveway Landscape Tips
  2. How to Plant the Perfect Flower Garden on a Slope
  3. Tips for High Altitude Landscaping
  4. Beautify Your Backyard on a Budget
  5. Outdoor Fire Pits: Not Just for the Winter

We hope our landscape design and architecture tips have been and will continue to be helpful to you. If you ever have any questions about the services we provide here at Phase One Landscapes feel free to give us a call at 303-750-6060.

 

The Best Way to Get Rid of Weeds in Your Landscape

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Are you less than thrilled about the dandelions and mallows popping up all throughout your landscape? If so it’s time to do something about them and the best way to get rid of the weeds is to…

  • Fertilize your lawn. Fertilizer makes lawns healthy and weeds don’t thrive in healthy lawns.
  • Know what type of weed it is. Certain weeds such as dandelions should be pulled out at the root, while thistle and bind weed should not because their roots are so deep.
  • Be aware of what your weed killing product will do. Selective products will only kill weeds; non-selective products will kill weeds and any other plants they come in contact with.
  • Follow all directions on the label of your product.
  • Not apply when there is a strong breeze because your product could end up in another area of your landscape harming other plants.

If you need help maintaining your landscape and you reside in the Denver area call Phase One Landscapes at 303-750-6060.

Image from howstuffworks

Simple, Green Landscaping Tips for Earth Day

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On April 22nd Americans all over the country will partake in various efforts to help conserve the environment in celebration of Earth Day, and if you’ve been looking for ways to go green consider starting with your landscape. A few of the simple ways you can go green in your landscape include, but aren’t limited to:

  • Planting all or a majority of native plants instead of those of exotic species.
  • Conserving water by harvesting rainwater, xeriscaping, or watering only when necessary.
  • Using mulch around plants to prevent weeds and hold water.
  • Composting to fertilize your landscape with natural nutrition.
  • Leaving clippings on your lawn or using them as mulch.
  • Restricting your use of pesticides.
  • Strategically placing plants to reduce the heating and cooling costs of your home.

For help getting started or maintaining your landscape with eco-friendly practices contact Phase One Landscapes at 303-750-6060 if you are in the Denver, CO area.

 

How to Choose the Best Plants for Your Landscape

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If our post on the best early-spring blooming flowers inspired you to begin thinking about what other plants you want to add to your landscape we want to make sure you’re on the right track. In order for your landscape to look its best the plants you choose have to be more than aesthetically pleasing, they have to actually work for your yard.

When it comes to choosing the best plants for your landscape:flowers-hargrave

  • Begin researching before you head out shopping.
  • Consider the growing habits of the plant and what size it reach at full maturity.
  • Be aware of your plant hardiness zone and what plants grow best in it.
  • Consider where it needs to be placed in order to thrive, in direct sun or shade.
  • Be knowledgeable of whether or not it’s drought resistant and if you have the time to dedicate to watering.

If you still need help choosing the best plants for your landscape let our staff here at Phase One Landscapes do all the work by giving us a call at 303-750-6060 if you are in the Denver area.

The Best Early-Spring Flowers to Add to Your Landscape

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Are you ready to begin seeing eye-catching, colorful flowers in your landscape? If so we suggest you add a few early-spring blooming flowers to your landscape. And you’re in luck because today we are going to share a list of the best early-spring flowers for the Mountain West that will provide just the right amount of color to get you and your landscape in the spring mood although it’s still cold outside, and it includes:

Pansies

Corsican violet

American pasqueflower

Sweet William

Winter-hardy gazania

Basket of gold

Lungwort

Blue star creeper

Candytuft

For professional help arranging any of these early-spring blooming flowers throughout your landscape call Phase One Landscapes at 303-750-6060 if you are in the Denver area.

Images from Google and Wikipedia

Is it Time for You to Hire a Landscape Professional?

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Are you one of the many homeowners that actually enjoys logging hours working in your landscape, whether it involves regular maintenance or DIY projects? While knowing how to care for your landscape on your own is important do you know when to say when and hire a professional?

It’s time to hire a landscape professional when:

  • You have specific problems such as, you don’t really know what’s wrong with the tree, why plants never grow in one part of the yard or the best options for creating an outdoor living area.
  • It’s not safe or you don’t have the tools to do the job yourself.  You probably need help if your project involves climbing a tree, moving heavy landscape materials or operating machinery like front-end loaders or trenchers.
  • You don’t have the time or expertise that’s needed.  Hiring an expert who has the know-how plus the tools and equipment to get bigger jobs done efficiently may be more cost-effective and time efficient in the long run. (ALCC)
If it’s time for you to hire a landscape professional and your are located in the Denver area contact Phase One Landscapes at 303-750-6060.

All About Organic Fertilizer

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Have you slowly begun to take on a more sustainable lifestyle? If so, chances are that you’re looking for ideas on how to do so in multiple aspects of your life, including your landscape. There are many ways to go green with your lawn and garden; one of them being through the use of organic fertilizer. If you are unfamiliar with organic fertilizer check out this quick rundown…

  • Benefits- Organic fertilizers slowly release nutrients which make them more efficient to use, and when applied properly there’s a smaller chance of run-off into local waterways.
  • Features- The majority of organic fertilizers are composed of plant by-products and animal manure and can be applied in liquid or solid form.
  • Types- Although organic fertilizers are made from a variety of naturally occurring sources the majority of them are composed of a mix including bat guano, bone meal and fish meal.

For help choosing the best organic practices for your landscape call Phase One Landscapes at 307-750-6060 if you reside in the Denver area.

Image from Go Organic Gardening

April is National Landscape Architecture Month!

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Have you been saying that you would redo the design of your landscape, yet you still haven’t got around to it? If this sounds like you then the time is now because April is National Landscape Architecture Month! As our fellow landscape architects across the country begin celebrating our profession and it’s contribution to the public’s well-being through various activities we’d love to do so by helping you extend your living space outdoors.

If you think you may be interested in a new landscape design you may want to consider these ideas:

  • Adding a water or fire feature
  • Creating a small or elaborate garden
  • Adding an outdoor kitchen or living space for your family to enjoy dining alfresco and entertaining
  • Creating pathways throughout your landscape
  • Including a structure for shade such as a pergola or arbor
  • Adding stone walls to create planters

To begin discussing plans for your landscape design contact Phase One Landscapes at 303-750-6060 if you are in the Denver area.