Many of our clients have walkout basements. Many of them will also have an overhead deck or sunporch above them. The space under the deck is more often than not a dark, empty, wasted space that no one uses, or is an . . . → Read More: Improve your basement walkout with a paver patio]]>

First stages of the walkway leading from the steps to the patio

Many of our clients have walkout basements. Many of them will also have an overhead deck or sunporch above them. The space under the deck is more often than not a dark, empty, wasted space that no one uses, or is an unsightly storage area where anything from basketballs to snowmobiles are stored. Some will have concrete surfaces, probably built by the contractor when they built the house. One of the more common solutions  is to build  a screen, which can be some tall shrubs, lattice work. or fencing. This can work if done right, but usually it  looks like you are just trying to hide that unsightly mess that has been getting bigger and bigger over the last few years.

Jon making sure his paver cut will be "on the money"

So how do you make it attractive and usable at the same time?   We were contacted by a client to solve that issue. They had recently added a sun room to their main floor and wanted to make the walkout space under it usable. They also wanted to add an area for a gas grill. We constructed a paver patio under the sun room, and laid the pavers in a basket weave pattern. We extended the patio to include an area out from under the porch for grilling, changing the paver pattern in that area to running bond. This did a nice job of visually separating the grilling  and seating areas while at the same time  leaving them physically connected. The result was an area that was functional with a great look, along with a great view!

View of the wildlife area, before the paver patio and BBQ areas were finished

Perennials for old fashioned gardens

Davidii phlox

In Northfield, we do a lot of landscaping around older homes. I remember when I was younger, my Mom and Dad would take me to Grandma’s house. I’ll never forget how much I enjoyed looking at all the all the flowers in . . . → Read More: Perennials for old fashioned gardens]]>  

Perennials for old fashioned gardens

Davidii phlox

In Northfield, we do a lot of landscaping around older homes. I remember when I was younger, my Mom and Dad would take me to Grandma’s house. I’ll never forget how much I enjoyed looking at all the all the flowers in her garden. (A sign of things to come?). Grandma Smith would use a lot of them for flower arranging. Grandpa was a pastor, and she would make arrangements for the church alter every Sunday.

Ostrich fern

Other than a few shrubs around the front porch, I can’t recall seeing many houses “formally” landscaped back then. But almost everyone had a flower or vegetable garden of some sort.  Anyway, I like to incorporate some of the more old-fashioned varieties of perennials in my landscape plans. With the tremendous rise in popularity of perennials, a lot of new varieties are finding their way to the market, which makes the truly old fashioned perennials harder to find. I think too many of the older homes are over-landscaped,  like they tried too hard too make it look “contemporary”. To my way of thinking, it takes away from the uniqueness of the older home by covering up some of its best features.

Lily of the Valley

Of course there are the old standbys of peonies, hollyhocks, and lily-of-the-valley, but take a look at the list below. Hopefully, you will find a few that would suite your Grandma’s fancy.

Monarda, Raspberry Wine

Beebalm (Monarda),     Aster Bellflower (Campanula), Bleeding-heart (Dicentra),      Blue Bells (Mertensia), Daylily (Hemerocallis),      Delphinium, Forget-me-nots (Myosotis,)      Hollyhock (Althaea), Foloves (Digitalis),      Gas Plant (Dictamnus),      Jack-in-the-Pulpit (Arisaema), Lily-of-the-Valley (Convallaria),     Lupines, (Lupinus), Monkshood (Aconitum),      Pansies (Viola),       Phlox (creeping and standard garden variety),        Ostrich fern,           Sedum (Both groundcover and var. ‘Autumn Joy’),  Peony (Paeonia),      Primrose (Primula),      Tiger Lily (Lilium).

With the rains and heat that we have had this past summer came some pretty strange, slimy looking stuff appearing in the shredded bark . . . → Read More: What’s that crazy stuff growing on my bark mulch??]]> Every year I get several calls from my customers asking something like this, “What’s that slimy stuff growing in my bark mulch? It looks like a dog threw up in my shrub bed!”

With the rains and heat that we have had this past summer came some pretty strange, slimy looking stuff appearing in the shredded bark mulch in a lot of planting beds. Don’t worry…it’s not an invasion of the War of the Worlds, and a dog hasn’t thrown up in your flower bed.  It’s something called slime mold (AKA dog vomit fungus), and usually appears in mid to late summer, or any time there are extended periods of heat and high humidity. The mold normally starts as a yellowish slime, morphs into a tan “powder puff” (poke it with a stick and you will see the reproductive spores puff out. Just don’t do it to more than one unless you want to spread the spores), and finally to a dark brown dried blob.

Last fall’s apple crop was the best ever on our apple trees. We had more than we could ever use, even after giving away several bushels to  our friends and our church. I have two Harrelson reds and a Honeycrisp apple tree at my home, which is a 3 acre hobby . . . → Read More: Raising Harelson and Honeycrisp apples]]>

Harelson apple

Last fall’s apple crop was the best ever on our apple trees. We had more than we could ever use, even after giving away several bushels to  our friends and our church. I have two Harrelson reds and a Honeycrisp apple tree at my home, which is a 3 acre hobby farm. I’ve had them for about 10-12 years and we’ve had some good yields and bad yields.  Unfortunately, for the first few years, the bad years far outnumbered the good ones.  The Honeycrisp in particular seem to be susceptible to all sorts of damage. I’ve had to learn the hard way how to get best crop that I can from them, and I’m still not sure I got it right, but the yields are improving!

I’m not an apple expert, but this is what I did to get a nice crop of apples:

• Apple maggots have always been my biggest problem. For the first time ever, I trapped Apple Maggot flies to monitor the population and keep the numbers down. I put up sticky traps to trap the apple maggots and also to monitor their occurence on a weekly basis. Each trap is a 4-5” red plastic hollow ball that you put a sticky glue on and hang on the apple tree. I put 3 traps in each tree. Evidently the flies think it is an apple, and they try to lay their eggs on it and get stuck. In this way I could check their weekly activity and relative population to help me determine how often I should spray them.  In addition to monitoring the flies, the traps did help to keep the of maggot fly population down a bit.

• I waited until the first week of July to start spraying, (when the maggot flies begin to hatch). A number of different  sprays work, as long as the directions are followed for timing and amounts to use. Make sure the spray is registered for fruit trees, and are effective against several types of pests. Make sure you DO NOT spray the trees when they are flowering! It will reduce  the bee population which is so vital to pollinating the flowers.  (You’ve probably heard about the decline in bee population anyway). A combination spray of insecticide and fungicide also improve your crop, although all I used was insecticide.

• I stored the apples in our downstairs refrigerator. The inside of any refrigerator is very low in humidity, so I d
  

  Honeycrisp Apple

  ouble bagged the apples in  plain plastic grocery bags. I added just I bit of water to each bag and tied the top shut and made sure the temp was just above freezing. I removed any apples that had bruises or cuts, so they wouldn’t cause the other apples in the bag to ripen too fast and possibly rot. In mid March, I still some Harrelson Reds in our downstairs refrigerator and they were as good and crisp as the day I picked them!  Once they start to loose their crispness, they make great apple crisp!

Mary Jo and I were in Wheaton IL. a while back  to see our daughter Mary Beth, who just graduated from Wheaton college.  We stayed at a Hyatt Hotel in Oakbrook on the campus of McDonald’s corporate headquarters. (Also home of Hamburger University, where new McDonald’s managers and owners get trained. . . . → Read More: The biggest buckeye in the country]]>

Champion Buckeye

Mary Jo and I were in Wheaton IL. a while back  to see our daughter Mary Beth, who just graduated from Wheaton college.  We stayed at a Hyatt Hotel in Oakbrook on the campus of McDonald’s corporate headquarters. (Also home of Hamburger University, where new McDonald’s managers and owners get trained. No joke). We had just checked out and I happened to notice this tree.  I didn’t think much about it, until I saw this sign in front of it. (See picture)

That's me at 6'2"+ under the tree!

It is 150 years old, 73’ high, has a 176′” trunk circumference (That’s a 56” diameter)!  Normal Buckeyes are 30-50’ tall.

The hotel was required to be built a safe distance away to protect the tree’s root system. The tree is fertilized and watered regularly, and cared for by arborists.

Championship status is given only to native and naturalized trees in the United States. Winners are determined by a point system based on the trunk’s circumference and the height and the crown spread of the tree.

The most destructive habit: Worry The greatest joy:  Giving The greatest loss: Loss of self respect The most . . . → Read More: What are the most destructive habits?]]> The following has nothing at all to do with plants, bugs,  or landscaping, but it’s great advice for us all. I have this hanging up in my office; its author is unknown.

The most destructive habit: Worry
The greatest joy:  Giving
The greatest loss: Loss of self respect
The most satisfying work: Helping others
The ugliest personality trait: Selfishness
The most endangered species: Dedicated leaders
Our greatest natural resource: Our youth
The greatest “shot in the arm”: Encouragement
The greatest problem to overcome: Fear
The most effective sleeping pill: Peace of mind
The most crippling failures disease: Excuses
The most powerful force in life: Love
The most dangerous pariah: Gossip
The worst thing to be without: Hope
The deadliest weapon: The tongue
The two most power-filled words: I can
The greatest asset: Faith
The most worthless emotion: Self Pity
The most beautiful attire: Your smile
The most prized possession: Integrity
The most powerful channel of communication: Prayer

“Girdling roots” are roots that grow around other roots or the trunk of the tree, eventually restricting their growth and choking off any nutrients they carry to the rest of the tree. The girdling can be on one side of the trunk, or in more sever cases, . . . → Read More: Urban landscaper: beware of root girdling!]]>

Root girdling on a young tree

“Girdling roots” are roots that grow around other roots or the trunk of the tree, eventually restricting their growth and choking off any nutrients they carry to the rest of the tree. The girdling can be on one side of the trunk, or in more sever cases, will encircle the entire trunk, causing the death of the tree. It is normally found on trees that are have been planted for several years, which gives the girdling roots time to enlarge and restrict the nutrient flow to the rest of the tree.

It is becoming a problem especially in urban locations, where trees are commonly planted in undersized holes in sidewalks along store fronts.

Research has shown that girdling almost always starts when the tree is young, even before it reaches the planting site. It turns out that a large percentage of the trees that experience root girdling were grown in containers to start. Because they are in a container, the roots grow in a circular fashion, and once planted, they continue to grow that way, eventually growing back on themselves or around the trunk.

Another cause of root girdling is planting trees too deep. Make sure you plant them at the “root flare” where the roots start to flare out from the trunk. Also, make sure that the planting hole is plenty large, because if the hole is too small, especially in a tight clay soil, it may have the same effect as planting it in a container.