Taking a look around Westchester County, NY, you may notice that mulching has become a fairly standard practice in landscaping, but there are some serious downsides to this practice if done improperly - namely killing the trees it is supposed to be protecting.
5 Ways to Turn Your Patio Into The Ultimate Outdoor Living Space
Creating a fresh and invigorating outdoor living area provides the perfect space to regroup and enjoy the outdoors, both by yourself or when entertaining friends and family. Aside from the personal benefits of having a versatile patio, it also contributes to increased property value for your Westchester, NY home, opening up opportunities for a future sale.
Stunning Annuals for Westchester County Landscaping
Westchester County offers residents reach of the bright lights and noisy excitement of New York City, with the opportunity to enjoy an easier way of life in communities that vary greatly in lifestyle and real estate. Many residents want a touch of the “bright lights” in their landscape. Annual flowers can do that. They contribute a vibrancy with their colors and interest with their array of shapes and sizes. No matter if you have a postage stamp of a lawn or acres surrounding your home, annuals have a spark that catches your eye and complements the more traditional greenery.
Concrete Pavers vs Natural Stone for your Peekskill Patio
Choosing between concrete pavers and natural stone for your Peekskill, NY patio can be a tough decision to make. Being the primary outdoor space used by you and your family, the choice of surface covering for your patio should be one that you’ll be happy with for many years to come. To help you with your decision, here are some points that outline the pros and cons of each.
Soothing Water Features for Your Cortlandt Manor Property
Whether it is located in the front or the backyard, including a soothing water feature in your Cortlandt Manor, NY landscape design is a must. Water features contribute to a backyard atmosphere of peace and tranquility, and can provide a dynamic focal point for the surrounding areas. Here are some options to consider when it comes to having a soothing water feature installed on your property.
Spring: The Perfect Time of Year for an Outdoor Fireplace
Spring is in the air, and while the temperatures may not be as warm as they could be in Westchester County, an outdoor fireplace is just the thing to help raise the temperature of your outdoor areas and start getting back into your yard. If you don’t already have an outdoor fireplace or are looking into getting one built, here are some tips on achieving a fire feature perfect for springtime use.
4 Best Plants to Introduce to your Landscaping this Spring
If you’re looking to create a spring landscape buzzing with life and filled with outstanding colors and textures, these plants will help you achieve just that. Specially selected for the range of growth hardiness zones of Westchester County (6a -7a), these springtime bloomers will keep your landscape looking fresh and vibrant into the summer.
5 Gorgeous Landscape Designs for Families with Young Children
If, like us, you have young children in your family and want to make your Somers, NY backyard a more child-friendly area, then this article is for you. Here we’ve put together some ideas of how to better create a landscape with your child/children in mind, while still providing space for the grownups as well.
5 Best Oak Trees for your Peekskill Landscaping
The oak is a traditional symbol of strength, wisdom, nobility and longevity in a number of cultures. With some of the oldest oaks alive today believed to be between eight hundred and a thousand years old, and most species living between one hundred and two hundred years, it’s easy to see why this symbolism has endured.
6 Landscape Ideas for Side Yards
Side yards, those often neglected areas that run alongside a home, normally bordered on one side by a boundary wall, tend to remain out of sight and out of mind when it comes to the homeowner’s vision for their property. Although they might seldom see foot traffic, side yards can nonetheless become enchanting corridors or versatile spaces with a little bit of attention and creativity.
Importance of Shape and Form in Landscape Design
In the pursuit of a well-balanced and varied landscape design, shape and form are crucial elements, contributing to various form and style themes. Here we’ll demystify these often obscure terms to help you gain a better understanding of the design process and communicate the vision you might have for your Somers, NY yard to our experienced landscape professionals.
4 Gorgeous Deciduous Trees for your Cortlandt Manor Landscaping
Deciduous trees are ideal for bringing shape, color and shade to your outdoor areas. While they lose their foliage and become bare in winter, they often make up for it with their breathtaking fall coloring. Their shape is generally fuller than their evergreen counterparts, allowing for greater variation and a wider spread for providing shade during the hot summer months.
4 Best Ivy Cultivars for your Westchester County Landscaping
The ivy or Hedera plant is a climber that is adored for its ability to add lush greenery to a landscape all year round, cover walls and building facades for aesthetic purposes and provide a hardy groundcover for areas where grass has difficulty growing. Simultaneously, certain species in certain areas have a tendency to grow uncontrollably and can become noxious if they’re allowed to get out of hand.
5 Gorgeous Vines, Creepers and Climbers
Creeping and climbing vines have a number of handy uses in landscape design, including covering a bare wall, serving as ground cover, providing additional shade when draped over a pergola or obscuring an unattractive structure. Because they grow so quickly, vines are ideal for fast and noticeable changes to landscape aesthetic. And since they take up little to no ground space (unless used as ground cover), they’re perfect for adding vegetation to small outdoor spaces or tiny yards. Here are some versatile options ideal for the climate of Cortlandt, Westchester County and surrounding areas falling under the plant hardiness zone 6b.
Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia)
The Virginia creeper is particularly noted for its fiery fall coloring when the five-pointed leaves transform from an unassuming, mid-range green to blazing orange and crimson. A fast growing vine, the Virginia creeper is ideal for covering relatively smooth surfaces such as exterior walls or boulders. It manages this with the adhesive pads at the end of it’s forked climbing tendrils and can reach a height of 60 feet under optimal conditions.
RELATED: 4 BEST IVY CULTIVARS FOR YOUR WESTCHESTER COUNTY LANDSCAPING
American Wisteria (Wisteria frutescens)
With it’s thick, woody stems, the American wisteria climbing vine can grow up to 50 feet long and bears long bunches of bluish-purple, trumpet shaped flowers in summer. The long, fuzzy pods of seeds borne by the wisteria are also an attractive feature, though these are toxic but non-lethal. Several species of indigenous butterfly are attracted by the wisteria, making it an excellent choice for homeowners looking to attract benevolent insect-life to their yards.
Baltic Ivy (Hedera helix baltica)
A variant of the lighter green English ivy, Baltic ivy is a dark green, densely growing vine that can be used to cover fences, walls or structures, and can also be used as a low growing ground cover. Baltic ivy adheres particularly well to roughly texture surfaces such as brick or stone. Evergreen, extremely resilient to cold, and thriving in shaded areas, Baltic ivy is perfect for maintaining greenery in your yard year round, or adding greenery to patches of ground where grass struggles to grow.
Trumpet Creeper (Campsis radicans)
So called because of the bright red and orange flowers, the trumpet creeper is an eye catching plant that is as tough as it is showy. Thick woody stems ensure extreme resilience to temperatures and aggressive pruning and may in fact require it in order to keep this vigorous grower under control. Although it can strangle other plants, the trumpet creeper is ideal for quickly covering large spaces, bringing color and substance to otherwise bare landscapes.
Chocolate Vine (Akebia quinata)
Originally from East Asia, this vine-like shrub has found a welcoming habitat in the eastern United States. The small, off pink flowers and unusual purple, pod-shaped fruit are a unique touch to a landscape, but perhaps the most attractive attribute of this exotic-looking plant is its scent. From May through to June, the chocolate vine blooms, emitting a strong fragrance somewhere between chocolate and vanilla. The fruit is sweet and edible, though it consists mainly of seeds and a thick skin. The chocolate vine serves as both a functional vine and novelty plant that is sure to draw attention and start conversation.
Choosing the Best Pavers for your Westchester County Patio
The choice of pavers for your new patio is one that could potentially last a lifetime. Therefore, it’s worth making sure the decision is one that will pay off in the long run. In this post we’ll take a look at how you can make the most of this lifetime investment and get the perfect patio paver for your needs.
Professional Snow Service vs. DIY Snow Plowing
5 Top Flowering Perennials for Bringing Color to your Landscape Design
Flowering perennials are ideal for bringing color to your yard year after year and with a spectrum of blooming times, you can ensure that your landscape remains cheerful year round. Here we’ve selected some of our favorite perennials perfect for Cortlandt Manor and surrounding areas falling under plant hardiness zone 6a.
5 Top Landscaping Projects for the New Year
Whether you’re planning on spending more time outdoors in the New Year or are looking to make improvements to your Yorktown backyard, these projects are the perfect new additions to any home. Improve your backyard aesthetic, create leisure space and liven up your outdoor areas with these must haves.
4 Best Juniper Cultivars for your Winter Landscape Design
Juniper is a popular evergreen conifer known for its hardiness and characteristic berry-like cones. Falling under the plant hardiness Zone 6a, Westchester County is ideal for a number of different juniper species. Here we’ve put together some of the best juniper cultivars for Croton-on-Hudson and surrounding areas, for use in your winter landscape design to maintain a thriving yard all year round.
5 Commonly Neglected Aspects of Property Maintenance
An impeccably maintained landscape is something every conscientious homeowner aspires to, but often a few overlooked trouble areas prevent their vision from becoming actualized. Here are just a few such areas that we can help you refine and maintain in order to get the most of your Croton landscape and stop potential property damage caused by neglect of these areas.