March Service Highlight: Original Ideas for Landscape Additions

By Frank Stewart, Landscape Manager

If you have been established in your home a while, your landscaping may be complete and your gardening consists mainly of on-going maintenance. Perhaps you are looking for ideas for new additions this year without making drastic changes to existing landscaping. I would like to give a quick overview of a few practices that perhaps you haven’t considered yet:

• Install a knot garden: again, eliminate some lawn mowing by choosing a somewhat private location and creating a knot garden or other contemplative or meditative type of bed. The knot garden is typically a low hedge woven to resemble ancient celtic knot work, inter-planted with various herbs and flowers.

• Create a pondless waterfall: many homeowners are intimidated by the prospect of a pond in their landscape and the maintenance that it entails. Consider a pondless waterfall feature with little or no maintenance issues but many benefits. The therapeutic sound of cascading water can buffer traffic noise considerably. A natural waterfall is beautiful to look and serves as a continual water source for pets and wildlife, including butterflies and birds.

• Construct a decorative garden shed: a shed that is custom-built using green building techniques that just fits in a little corner of the garden can be ornamental and extremely useful for handy access to tools and supplies. Consider window boxes and a matching potting bench for an extra touch. Think beyond the common pre-built sheds.

• Add an edible garden: select a sunny spot in the lawn with good drainage and install an all-edible garden bed. Reduce your lawn mowing and your grocery bill at the same time! Combine fruit and nut trees, berry-producing shrubs, vegetables, herbs and edible flowers. This bed can be in addition to the traditional vegetable garden. My favorites include serviceberries and black raspberries.

• Utilize rain water catchment: even the most complete landscape can offer opportunities to collect rain water and re-use it in the garden. This can be as simple as a rain barrel or a more complex system.

• Border existing beds with flagstone: use natural flagstone from local quarries to create low border walls on your existing beds and eliminate the need for future edging.

• Install a rain garden: transform a low-lying, moist area of the lawn into a beautiful ornamental garden or correct a drainage issue with this ecologically sound practice.

This is just a brief overview of several services. We will discuss each one in more detail in future newsletters. For more ideas or more information on any of these environmentally friendly practices, please call for an appointment or stop by.