Leaves provide great insulation and winter homes for many of our pollinators. So before raking them to the curb look for ways to incorporate them into your landscape plans.
Click the image above to follow a link for more information.
Rose Lovers!
Just a reminder; be sure to start prepping your roses for winter as the colder weather continues to move in quickly.
Landscaping for Energy Efficiency
A well designed and energy efficient landscape can reduce your heating, cooling and lighting costs. In certain circumstances, carefully positioned trees and shrubs can save up to 25% of the energy a typical household uses. Energy efficient landscaping has additional benefits such as lower maintenance costs, a reduction in water use, a quieter home and cleaner air. Follow this link for more info on Landscaping for Energy Efficiency.
https://zeroenergyproject.org/.../landscaping-for-energy.../
Why Topping Hurts
Topping is perhaps the most harmful tree pruning practice known. Yet, despite more than 25 years of literature and seminars explaining its harmful effects, topping remains a common practice.
Check out the link below to learn more on Why Topping Hurts.
https://www.treesaregood.org/.../tree.../WhyToppingHurts.pdf
Fall shrubs of interest- Candy Coralberry
With the Halloween season here and bringing extra sweets for all, it's a great time to highlight the Candy™ Coralberry shrub. The benefit is not just ornamental; the flowers will be frequently visited by beneficial pollinators in summer and winter birds will want a share of the berries.
Dividing Perennials
When perennials start to overgrow their installation space, division is an easy maintenance practice to help to work into your spring or fall routines. With fall just about upon us, there may be specific perennials in need of dividing this season.
-Perennials are plants that grow back each year.
-Dividing or splitting a single perennial into multiple plants helps the plant perform better.
-When perennials are divided, there is more space for roots to grow and absorb nutrients and water.
-Dividing perennials can help manage the size of the plant.
-You will have more plants of the same kind to add to your garden when you divide a perennial.
Fall tree of interest
As the fall season starts to roll in, tree leaves are beginning to change and put on a show! The wide-spreading canopy of the American Beech provides great shade in the summer and changing to a beautiful bronze color in the fall. It is a versatile tree, often used in parks, golf courses, acreages, and the forestry industry. Beechnuts are also eaten by birds and mammals, serving as an important food for chipmunks and squirrels.
Ever wonder how old a tree is?
Dendrochronology is the dating and study of annual rings in trees. Each year, as a tree grows, it adds a light ring of new growth to its trunk during the spring and early summer, when growing quickly, and a thinner, dark ring in the fall, when growth is slower. Follow this link to learn more about tree rings!
Design A Bird Friendly Landscape with these Tips
Looking to attract more birds in your backyard gardens? Check out this link on how to design a bird friendly landscape!
https://www.thespruce.com/design-a-bird-friendly-landscape-…
Summer annual planters starting to look droopy?- Try Fall Annuals!
Extend your planters seasonal interest with fall annuals! Fall annuals are perfect for swapping out tired plants in your summer container gardens, tucking into beds and borders for more seasonal color, or adding fresh looks to your front door, patio, or deck for the fall. Fall is a little over a month away!
Use These 8 Backyard Privacy Idea's to Create the Perfect Outdoor Escape
Looking to add more privacy to your backyard, and begin creating your own personal oasis? Check out these 8 tips & tricks perfect for the job.
Summer tree of interest:
Honey-locust is widely planted as a hardy and fast growing ornamental tree. Because of the small leaflets and open crown, the trees cast a light shade that permits shade-tolerant turfgrass and partial-shade perennials to grow underneath. FUN FACT: Pulp of honey locust has sugary taste, hence the name "honey" locust. Native Americans used pulp as sweetener and as a source of food although pulp has been reported to be irritating to the throat and somewhat toxic.
Summer perennial: Asiatic Lily
The lily is incredible for pollinators, attracting insects with its large colorful flowers and tasteful nectar. Certain species of lily are pollinated by wind, while others are pollinated by bees!
What lilies are blooming in your yard?!
Check out this summer perennial!
Coral bells make wonderful edging plants and put on a show when planted in groups. What varieties do you have in your garden?!
The Art of Watering Your Garden
As summer heats up and rainfalls aren't very consistent, keep these watering methods in mind to keep your plants & lawn happy and healthy!
Our peonies have been putting on quite the show at the shop lately!
Fun fact; a peony is one plant you will enjoy for a long time. Peony plants can live to be 100 years and still produce flowers.
Allium, also called Ornamental Onion, is one of the most interesting blooms in the spring and summer garden.
The majority of alliums are bulb-forming; however, there is a handful that grows from rhizomes, the way common chives (Allium schoenoprasum) do.The bulb forming alliums will need to be planted in the fall. The planting depth should be two to three times the diameter of the bulbs. Water them well after planting. Then cross your fingers and wait for spring.
BIRD LOVERS! Keep this in mind while feeding your Orioles this summer.
Having issues with your soil? Here's a fun DIY on how to test your soil pH levels without a kit.
Soil pH or soil reaction is an indication of the acidity or alkalinity of soil and is measured in pH units. The pH scale goes from 0 to 14 with pH 7 as the neutral point. As the amount of hydrogen ions in the soil increases the soil pH decreases thus becoming more acidic. From pH 7 to 0 the soil is increasingly more acidic and from pH 7 to 14 the soil is increasingly more alkaline or basic.
https://www.thespruce.com/how-to-test-soil-acidity-alkalini…
https://www.esf.edu/pubprog/brochure/soilph/soilph.htm
(If still looking to purchase a proper pH kit containing the necessary chemicals and color charts, check your local garden stores)
Working on some Memorial day weekend yard projects the next couple days?
Check out this How To video from the instructors at Fox Valley Tech. on pruning shrubs!
Check additional pruning guidelines on our pruning page here:
https://www.d-dlandscape.com/pruning-guidelines