Mulching your landscaping or garden beds in the fall

 

Yes, it is a really good idea to mulch your garden or landscaping in fall. Why? There’s a long winter ahead, especially if you live in Nebraska or Iowa, and you want to make sure that come spring, you’ll be all ready to plant.

When vegetable gardens and annual flowers have been harvested or are dead, garden mulching can begin!

Remember these basic guidelines when preparing to mulch your landscaping or garden:

• Remove plant debris from gardens
• Don’t let weeds remain in your garden or landscaping beds, because you will have to deal with them in spring if you don’t now
• Now you’re ready for roto-tilling your soil
• If using leaves as a garden mulch, shred them first (for example, by running the lawn mower over them before collecting them)

Why it’s important to clean and protect your hardscape

Your Hardscape (brick pavers, retaining walls, natural stone work) were chosen because it offers long lasting beauty. But the beauty of these materials is not impervious to the harsh environment that we have here in Nebraska. Don’t forget that taking care of your hardscape areas is just as important as managing your landscaping. It’s really important to clean and protect your hardscape, to preserve its original appearance.

Keep your driveway, rocks, pavers and walkways clean by power washing two to three times throughout the fall months. Be sure to remove any oil, rust, tars, and efflorescence (the whitening that occurs naturally as water evaporates bringing salts to the surface) from your hardscape. Hardware stores carry various stone and concrete cleaning products like Naptha or mineral spirits, which can help you clean deep and stubborn stains much easier. Maintaining your hardscape annually will help prevent any stains from becoming permanent.

 

 

Enhance your yard with landscape lighting

Landscape lighting can make your outdoor space both more functional and beautiful. Lighting can enhance the overall design of your landscaping, while illuminated paths and seating areas will help you and your guests to safely enjoy your outdoor space more easily.

Types of Outdoor Lighting

There are a number of types of landscape lighting to choose from. They offer a range of features and benefits regarding style, light intensity, light color, length of life, initial price, energy efficiency, and ease of installation. Some energy-efficient options are LED, solar and low-voltage lighting.

LED (light-emitting diodes) lighting in particular is growing in popularity due to its energy efficiency, long life and range of choices in light strength and color.

Solar lighting: These lights charge in the daytime, then light up at night. They are not particularly powerful, but can work well to delimit a pathway.

Low-voltage landscape lighting uses a transformer to reduce the voltage carried through its wiring. This makes them simple to install in the ground. This type of lighting can be used in a variety of ways, while providing cost savings. Some examples are path lighting to mark the edge of walkways or lighting to display garden beds or garden statuary. You can use low-voltage lighting to display small trees; larger trees will probably require stronger light sources, such as metal halide lamps.

Finally, functional lighting is important too. This includes lighting decks and patios to allow you to see what you’re doing.

Where to start? Landscaping project basics – Focal Points

A great way to begin your landscaping project is by deciding on some focal points to place around your yard. These focal points can include various types of trees, big shrubs and tall ornamental grasses. Additionally, structures can also be focal points. These landscaping structures could be a patio or an outdoor living space, a walkway, a retaining wall or even a pond. Once these are in place, the rest of your landscaping details can fill in the additional space. Need some help with your landscaping goals? Contact Arbor Hills, we will be more then happy to help you with a landscaping layout and plan. Not sure about which trees and shrubs would work best for your landscape? We can help you with that too. 

Before you start landscaping

Before you start landscaping, you need to consider the impact of the plants to home systems like water pipes, gutters, roofing materials and air conditioning units. You should also consider the kind of maintenance a certain plant needs and if the site could allow these plants to live. Also, you need to make sure that you will place the elements in a right manner that it could not block the sight of passersby and drivers. If you need any help with planning your landscape, call Arbor Hills Landscaping in Omaha. We will come out and do a site visit, help answer any questions you may have, and give you a solid landscaping plan for your yard.

Landscaping ideas for your yard this Spring

It’s obvious, landscaping and tree planting can really enhance the beauty and enjoyment of your property.

Flowering trees are beautiful for any yard, especially during spring. Trees can even save you money on your household energy costs when placed correctly for shading the home.

A “tree wall” is also perfect for those harsh Nebraska winds. Especially if you live on acreage or in a place with low tree coverage.

This year, popularity is growing for an “outdoor living room”. While it can be beautiful,  it is important that the outdoor living and entertaining space fits your personality, family’s needs and budget. This is a perfect example of a backyard “living room” with a fire-pit and lovely patio.

Another popular landscaping idea this spring is unique walls and pathways. Building brick paths and stone walls creates a great flow for your yard. Brick and stone paths are a great way to transition from front yard to back yard.

We hope we’ve helped you drum up some great landscaping ideas that will help enhance your yard. If you need any help with your landscaping plans, please call Arbor Hills. We would be happy to help you with any questions.