Landscaping & Gardening Information

The following list will guide you to additional information on each aspect of landscaping and gardening.

5 Tips To Get Growing

Some of us have a green thumb and can get any plant to grow.  There are others who have no luck at all.  Sometimes the problem can be to much care and loving.  Follow these five tips and your plants will love you as much as you love them!

Animal Repellents     Deer     Mole & Vole

Nothing is much worse than watching animals and rodents destroy the hundreds of hours you spent gardening and landscaping.  By properly locating animal repellent around your property and home you can save your property from damage.

Arbors-Prebuilt     Build Your Own Arbor - Plans

While some home handymen would prefer to build a landscape or garden arbor or trellis from a set of plans or freehand.  Others may wish to purchase a completed arbor or trellis from a retailer that they can trust.

Garden benches provide a resting place where you can contemplate the world, read a novel, watch mother nature at work and if placed in a shady spot provide the perfect spot to doze off.

Bird Accessories For Your Landscaping

Bring life and color to your landscaping by drawing in local birds to your back and front yards.  Your family will have hours of enjoyment watching them and they provide a tranquil setting for relaxation and pondering world events.

Brick Barbeque Plans

A brick barbeque will enhance any outdoor patio or family gathering area.  Some basic construction knowledge is necessary - building a concrete pad and laying bricks.

Bonsai Basics

I for one, am enthralled by bonsai trees.  They require an enormous amount of care, on a daily basis, but I find them to be one of the most beautiful plants one can have.

Bulb Gardening

A four part series of articles providing information on all aspects of bulb planting and care. 

Bulk Material Calculator

As part of a landscaping project there may come a time when you need to buy materials such as sand, loam, soil, mulch or gravel in bulk.

Container Gardening

Even if you live in a high-rise condominium or have a very small backyard you can enjoy beautiful plants and flowers by using containers and window boxes as your personal landscaping.

The perfect location for a barbeque, and other patio furniture.   Information includes planning and construction.

Design

A well landscaped property adds value while providing an outdoor living space for recreation and relaxation.

Drip Irrigation - 1          Drip Irrigation - 2

Drip irrigation may become the only method of watering plants in the very near future.  The climate is changing, drought is apparent in places that have over the past experienced heavy rainfall.

Electrical -  Landscape Wiring    Landscape Receptacles

Landscape Lighting   Greenhouse Power

If you have a need to provide power in your landscaping project for lighting and motors such as pond pumps, there are some things that you should consider.

Many landscaping projects require a 120 VAC circuit to power lighting and other electrical devices such as pumps for ponds.

Environmentally Conscious Landscaping

Environmental Horticulture Index

When we say; “think green” we are not talking about the color of the pressure treated lumber that you will use for the deck in your landscaping project nor are we talking about making sure that your grass and plants grow well! 

Plant Nutrition	Irrigation
Understanding Fertilizers	Uses for Leaves
Erosion Control	Improving Your Soil
Enhance Your Lawn Health	Tilling the Soil
Reducing Drought Effects	Test Your Soil
Vegetable Garden Fertilizing	Winter Soil Protection
Nutrient Management and its Impact on Water Quality	Winterizing Trees and Shrubs

Fabric

Choosing the correct landscape fabric for weed control can be a very time consuming and frustrating exercise, as anyone who has gone through the process will gladly confirm.

As with any D.I.Y. project, proper planning is the key to a successful project.  Fences can be made out of pre-formed vinyl or plastic sections, pre-built wood sections, and wrought iron.

Fertilizer & Fertilizing Index

Everything you need to know about fertilizers - fertilizing your garden, trees and landscaping!

Gazebos - Free Plans

A gazebo will enhance any landscaping.  It provides shade and a meeting place.  Gazebos are available in kit form or you can design your own or modify another set of plans.

Greenhouses   Supplying Power

The most common type of greenhouse is a square or rectangular, self contained, free standing building with a peaked or curved roof.

During the installation of sprinkler systems or outdoor lighting it is not uncommon to meet up with obstacles that prevent the installer from continuing on.

Mosquitoes & West Nile Virus

There are 3000 different kinds of mosquitoes and a worldwide population of 100 trillion!  Most are in tropical climates, but there are mosquitoes in arctic and desert regions.

Outdoor Living

We landscape our homes to provide an area where we can enjoy the outdoors.  Whether it is for quiet contemplation, enjoying time with the family or having guests, the furnishings we use outdoors can be important to our comfort as those used indoors.

Pavers    Installing Pavers

Interlocking paving stones have become a very popular addition to many landscaping projects.  Made by molding concrete in forms, the pavers come in a variety of textures, colors, shapes, and sizes providing the ability to match and compliment brick and stone veneers used elsewhere on adjacent buildings.

Patio - Concrete

Properly constructed a concrete patio will last for decades with little care and maintenance.  Serious problems with concrete patios only occur when they are not constructed properly in the first instance.

Patio Heaters

Patio heaters used to be a luxury item that you would only see at a restaurant in Nappa Valley, today they are becoming commonplace to many patios, screened in porches and decks.

Pavilions - Free Plans

A pavilion will enhance any landscaping.  It provides shade and a meeting place.  Pavilions are available in kit form or you can design your own or modify another set of plans.

Playhouse - Plans

These project plans are not for the novice as they require someone with substantial wood working experience, and stationary power tools.  Playhouse kits are also available which will save time and possibly a lot of frustration.

Pressure Treated Lumber

If you are building a deck, retaining wall or a swing set for the kids it is highly likely that your material of choice is pressure treated lumber.

Pruning - Overview    Tree Pruning

Pruning is a vital part of plant and tree care. This task can be confusing so we developed the following guide to help you prune properly.

Railway Ties In Landscaping

Using wood railway ties that have been impregnated with creosote in your landscaping project may give you the appearance that you are looking for, but it is important to understand the problems that you may encounter.

Retaining Wall Drainage

Installing or constructing a retaining wall that is taller than a couple of feet requires some thought and planning to ensure that it remains in its installed position and does not move.

Rocks In Landscaping

Rock formations can provide very interesting visual effects as part of a home landscaping project.  A rock formation will give you areas for planting that will highlight properly chosen plants.

Roses - Care & Planting

Roses come in a vast variety of colors, fragrances, heights, bushes and climbers.  Having a beautiful rose plant, be it bush or vine, is not difficult if you take the time to choose the correct location on your property and follow some simple planting rules.

Shed Plans

Sheds provide garden storage and remove clutter.  Having a place to store your outdoor tools will extend their life and make them easier to access when needed.

Shrubs

Woody plants with a mature height of less than 20 feet are usually classified as shrubs.

Sprinkler System Installation

Installing an underground sprinkler system for your lawn, garden, shrubs and trees is not a difficult project, although it does require a strong back in order to dig the trenches that will contain the underground pipes.

Strawberries

Strawberries are easy to grow in the home garden. The plants form foot-wide mounds of lush dark green foliage that can serve as an attractive ground cover.

Themes In Landscaping       Roman/Greek

Why do some homes have such exquisite landscaping while others are continually going through stages of trial and error?

Tools

Having the right tools make's landscaping and gardening easier on you and your plants, trees and shrubs!

The right tool also provides a level of safety.  We are pleased to present some of the finest gardening and landscaping tools in the industry.

Tree Planting

Every year more than one million trees are planted on public and private properties throughout North America, these are not the trees are not planted as a part of a reforestation project

Tomatoes    Heirloom - Care - Grooming     Organic

All tomatoes are either Bushes (determinate) or Vines (indeterminate). Determinate tomatoes stop growing on their own, and produce all of their fruit at once.

Water Feature

A water feature placed strategically in a landscape provides a dynamic element to what is usually a static design.  Water elements provide tranquility and a sense of calm.  The sound and visual effects provided by flowing water are known for their soothing and stress relieving qualities.

If you are building a shed, garage or other wooden structure on a concrete pad it is important that you properly anchor the structure to the pad to avoid having it blown apart or away by high winds.