Selecting the Right Landscape Designer and Contractor

January 30, 2012 at 10:14 pm · Filed under Landscape Services

By Mark Gibbons, Bookcliff Gardens (Landscape Architect)

Choosing the right landscape designer or contractor for your next outdoor improvement project can be intimidating.  Selecting a design professional can become a little easier when you know what to look for in a company and the qualifications of their employees.

First, a professional landscape designer can help to create a very aesthetically pleasing and functional design that can be used when planning or implementing your next outdoor project.  You want to be sure to hire the right person to do the job.  Start by doing your homework on potential designers before making initial contact.  You may want to make a list of questions to present at your first site interview.  Some questions may be what are the designer qualifications?  How many years have they been practicing in their field?  Are they a member of any trade or professional organization such as ASLA, (American Society of Landscape Architects), or ALCC, (Associated Landscape Contractors of Colorado)?   These are national organizations which often promote education and professionalism within the green industry.  It shows that the person is serious about their profession, keeps up with new trends and is dedicated to landscape industry standards.

Other important considerations when interviewing and selecting a designer is to find out what their knowledge and experience is on working with local soils, plants and climates in your area.  Ask for previous job references, and then go take a look at these projects in person. Do they provide a design proposal outlining scope of work and design fees prior to your commitment to hiring them?  Is he or she willing to work closely with you to find out your budget constraints and plan that into your design. Do they listen to you when you express your needs and desires for your landscape or garden area?  Ask to see their design graphics portfolio to get a feel for their design talent.

Once you have selected the right design person and you have your plans in place, you may want to consider bids from various landscape contractors to install you’re project.  Many of the questions and considerations are the same when considering what contractor to use.  Their experience, job references and professionalism are just as important.  What kind of insurances do they carry?  How about their service record?  Do they stand behind their services and products with a guarantee?  How do they charge for follow up services for repairs or replacements?

Once your landscape plan is in hand and you’ve made your selections of qualified designer and construction firm, it’s time to begin your project.  By taking the extra time to properly select the right people, you have truly increased your odds for a successful landscape improvement project with fewer problems.  It is worth the effort to have a landscape you’ll enjoy, while adding lasting value to your property.

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Landscape Design Services-Let’s Get Creative

January 12, 2012 at 9:40 pm · Filed under Landscape Services

By Mark Gibbons, Bookcliff Gardens (Landscape Architect)

As a homeowner in the valley, you already know the challenges to having a beautiful yard.  Bookcliff Gardens provides design services to help our customers plan, design and layout their yards.  Time spent with our design staff can make a big difference in the success of yard development, overall long term beauty, and establishment of a gorgeous landscape.

Bookcliff Gardens design department provides a full list of services you may consider when planning your next landscape project.  These design services listed below provide value at all levels depending on the project complexity, owners’ wants and desires, and design information needed for your next landscape project.

Level One-Design Consultations:  Personal consults are provided on an hourly basis with a designer meeting you on site or at Bookcliff Gardens office.  At this meeting, our design staff can answer your general questions regarding yard design, grading and drainage issues, soil prep, plant selection or any other landscape questions you may have.  During our visit we can provide quick conceptual sketch drawings to convey our design ideas.  Many times this is an economical way to obtain good information and establish initial ideas for the layout of your yard.   It’s an easy way to help jump start your successful design development and planning.  Costs for providing these services vary depending upon the location of the project within the Grand Valley.  This service has proved to be economical for most homeowners and is charged out at an hourly rate which will include travel time to get to your project site.

Level Two-Preliminary Yard Design:  This level of service provides a preliminary plan either with or without actual yard measurements. A preliminary plan better defines actual concept design ideas for your yard, based upon actual yard dimensions.  This level of service provides the initial phases of design drawing development which can be used for laying out your yard.  Often a preliminary drawing can be revised or developed further to establish final design ideas.  General planting information can be presented on the drawing.

Level Three-Final Design Drawings:  After working with a customer through the preliminary design phase, final design drawings can be provided.  These drawings further develop design ideas and provide more detailed information regarding development of your landscape.  The final design drawings serve as working blueprint for homeowners to use in working with a contractor to receive bids, and to provide further information regarding specific plant material location and numbers.  This type of detailed drawing development can save homeowners money in long term planning, implementation and phasing of landscape installation from beginning to end.  Other benefits of developing design drawings in early stages of landscape development are to provide project cost information and budget preparation.  Also the design drawings can be used to plan, design and layout irrigation systems before work begins in the field.

Any one of these design service options can be useful to a homeowner, depending on their project budget, needs and/or complexity of their landscape project, and the amount of design information needed.  Give Bookcliff Gardens Landscape Department a call today at (970) 242-7769 to set up an initial site visit.  Let’s discuss design services and costs to help you creatively plan your next landscape project.

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Winter care of Houseplants

December 23, 2011 at 4:26 am · Filed under Uncategorized

I have a few houseplants that just don’t seem very happy through the winter. I don’t really treat them any differently than any other time of year. Is there something I should be doing differently?

Actually, that’s a good question as houseplants often do need different care through the winter months. One of the main things that you can do is to adjust your watering schedule. Shorter, cooler days and less air movement (windows are closed and swamp coolers are off) cause many houseplants to slow their growth and sometimes become almost dormant. Consequently they don’t take in as much water. An easy way to check your houseplants is to simply stick a finger down into the soil. If it’s dry, give it a nice soaking, making sure to drain any standing water from its saucer, and then let it dry out slightly before watering again.

 After that, be sure to keep an eye on them! Watch for any insect problems (common when plants are over-watered) so you can correct the problem early on. If you catch them early, it’s fairly easy to get rid of pests, but once the plant is overrun it can be much more difficult. If you do see insects and aren’t positive what they are, the best thing to do is to catch a few in a Ziploc bag and drop them by for identification. Proper identification is the key to getting the problem fixed. There are actually some insects that could be beneficial to your houseplants and killing them off might do more harm to the plant than good.

The final thing you can do to help your houseplants through the winter is to give them an occasional shower! They like to be clean, and need the dust cleared off their leaves every so often. Depending upon the size of your plants, you could use the kitchen sink spray or put it into the bathtub and turn on the shower. Be sure to clean off the undersides of the leaves too. Contrary to what some people think, a shower once a month does help keep insects down and does not encourage diseases.

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Winter Care of Pampas Grass/Transplanting Aspens

December 15, 2011 at 11:59 am · Filed under Uncategorized

I would like to know how to care for my hardy pampas and dwarf pampas grass for the winter. Also can the “feathers” be used for decoration in the home?

Taking care of any ornamental grass is pretty easy. The main thing you have to do is to cut the brown, dead foliage down sometime before spring. Many people leave the foliage on their plant through the winter as it adds some texture and interest to an otherwise bland winter landscape. However, if you want to get out in the yard and just get things cleaned up, it’s okay to cut the foliage back in the fall. Just make sure that the foliage is dried up before you cut it back. If you decide to wait until spring to do the cutting just be sure to do it early before the new shoots of grass begin to emerge. I’d figure on getting it done before the end of March. If the grass has started to sprout when you cut it back, you’ll cut off the new shoots and those cut ends will turn brown giving your grass an unkempt, ratty appearance (at least temporarily).

One trick in cutting back most ornamental grasses that I’ve learned is to tie up the foliage with some twine before cutting. You’ll end up with some funny-looking “pony tail” looking affairs. Tie the grass tightly so the bundle doesn’t fall apart. I then use a regular wood crosscut saw to cut the foliage off. You can use pruning shears, but it’s a lot of work and believe me, your hand will feel it when you’re done! The saw makes the job much easier and once it’s cut off, the old grass is already bundled up for disposal—no raking or cleanup needed.

The seed plumes are great to use in dried arrangements or other decorations. You may want to spray the plume with some spray acrylic to hold the plume together. If you don’t, the seeds can come off and make a bit of a mess.

When is the best time to transplant aspen trees?

For most deciduous plants I like to transplant in early spring before the leave start to emerge. That’s usually March down here, probably in April up your way. However, for Aspen trees I’ve had slightly better success transplanting in the fall. Obviously, it’s too late to do it this year, but if you are willing to wait, you could do it next year; and there’s really no problem transplanting the tree next spring.

I’m assuming that you’re digging up a tree in one spot and moving it to another. If you’re talking about planting a tree from a garden center that’s in a pot or balled and burlapped, then any time will work.
I would like to know how to care for my hardy pampas and dwarf pampas grass for the winter. Also can the “feathers” be used for decoration in the home?

Taking care of any ornamental grass is pretty easy. The main thing you have to do is to cut the brown, dead foliage down sometime before spring. Many people leave the foliage on their plant through the winter as it adds some texture and interest to an otherwise bland winter landscape. However, if you want to get out in the yard and just get things cleaned up, it’s okay to cut the foliage back in the fall. Just make sure that the foliage is dried up before you cut it back. If you decide to wait until spring to do the cutting just be sure to do it early before the new shoots of grass begin to emerge. I’d figure on getting it done before the end of March. If the grass has started to sprout when you cut it back, you’ll cut off the new shoots and those cut ends will turn brown giving your grass an unkempt, ratty appearance (at least temporarily).

One trick in cutting back most ornamental grasses that I’ve learned is to tie up the foliage with some twine before cutting. You’ll end up with some funny-looking “pony tail” looking affairs. Tie the grass tightly so the bundle doesn’t fall apart. I then use a regular wood crosscut saw to cut the foliage off. You can use pruning shears, but it’s a lot of work and believe me, your hand will feel it when you’re done! The saw makes the job much easier and once it’s cut off, the old grass is already bundled up for disposal—no raking or cleanup needed.

The seed plumes are great to use in dried arrangements or other decorations. You may want to spray the plume with some spray acrylic to hold the plume together. If you don’t, the seeds can come off and make a bit of a mess.

When is the best time to transplant aspen trees?

For most deciduous plants I like to transplant in early spring before the leave start to emerge. That’s usually March down here, probably in April up your way. However, for Aspen trees I’ve had slightly better success transplanting in the fall. Obviously, it’s too late to do it this year, but if you are willing to wait, you could do it next year; and there’s really no problem transplanting the tree next spring.

I’m assuming that you’re digging up a tree in one spot and moving it to another. If you’re talking about planting a tree from a garden center that’s in a pot or balled and burlapped, then any time will work.

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Kill Annual Weeds Before They Start!

March 25, 2011 at 4:12 pm · Filed under Weed Control -Preemergent

  Did you know you can get a head start on killing annual weeds … even this early in the growing season? It’s true! Bookcliff Gardens carries three different pre-emergents. One is an organic corn-gluten based product. The other two products are by Hi-Yield. Hi-Yield Crabgrass Control kills weedy annual grasses like foxtail and cheatgrass, while Hi-Yield Turf & Ornamental kills weedy grasses and broadleaf annual weeds.

   You can kill weedy grasses and broadleaf weeds like kochia, spurge & goatheads by putting a pre-emergent on the ground in late March to early April. Pre-emergents work by keeping weed seeds from germinating in the first place. The result is a big reduction in the number of baby weeds that sprout in the spring! Fewer weed plants in spring & summer mean fewer weed seeds blowing around your yard later in the season.

  Here’s a trick for knowing when to apply pre-emergent. Watch for the forsythia to start blooming in your neighborhood. The early spring blooming shrub begins to bloom when temperatures warm up a bit in spring, and the blooming happens just before weed seeds start to germinate! When you see forsythia blooming, it’s time for pre-emergent. Here in the Grand Valley, timing can vary three weeks or more between forsythia blooming in Palisade, compared to when the flowers appear in Fruita. Keeping your eye out for the forsythia can save you a boat-load of work later in the season.

A couple exceptions to spring pre-emergent application are purple mustard and cheatgrass. These guys overwinter as little tiny plants, so you apply pre-emergent in October to keep their populations in check.

  For tough customers like goatheads, it’s a good idea to apply pre-emergent twice… with the second application being in late May to early June.

  A  little preventative medicine now can help keep your place weed free!

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Organic Gardening Pt. 3

March 24, 2011 at 10:41 am · Filed under Organic Gardening

I’m thinking I’d like to start an organic vegetable garden in my back yard. What do I need to do?

(Part 3)Thanks, Scott

There is a lot of information about organic gardening. In the last two articles I covered general information about organic gardening and the basic principles of Integrated Pest Management. We’ll finish up with the final components of Integrated Pest Management which include Cultural, Mechanical and Chemical Controls.

Cultural Control

involves employing cultural practices that enhance healthy plant growth and discourage pests. There are a number of different things that fall into this category:

  • Plant pest resistant plants and varieties. This isn’t always an option, but you’d be surprised how many garden plants do have some built-in resistance to specific problems.
  • Proper siting of plants. This is simply putting the right plant in the right spot. A plant that’s under stress because it’s not in the situation it needs will have more problems with insect and disease pests.
  • Good garden preparation which mostly consists of good soil preparation, planting at the proper time of year, planting properly. This again gets to facilitating a strong, vigorous, pest resistant plant.
  • Fertilization. In your case, you’ll want organic fertilizers of which there are loads of them available out in the marketplace.
  • Proper watering. So basic but so important to having healthy, vigorous plants!
  • Crop Rotation. There are some pest problems that can build up over time if the same crop is grown in the same plot year after year after year. While not always possible, moving things around prevents, or at least delays the onset of some of these issues.
  • Sanitation. Simply removing infected or infested tissue and plants and controlling weeds that may harbor pests. This method also includes being sure to use pest free materials in the garden.
  • Companion Planting is growing different plants together that results in pest deterrence or in other benefits to your garden plants. There are whole books written on this topic, do a little research online to see some of the possibilities out there.
Mechanical Control

simply means using practices or devices to kill or exclude pests.

  • Barriers. This includes a number of different methods such as row covers. These light fabrics that go over your vegetables are surprisingly effective at keeping a number of insect and disease problems from occurring as well as shading and cooling your plants. This type of control also includes collars around plants and the use of such products as Tanglefoot.
  • Mulches. Mulches can help tremendously in controlling weeds. Plastic mulch on the ground can reduce rots, especially in strawberries. In addition, a mulch layer reduces water loss and shades and insulates the soil which results in a more vigorous plant.
  • Syringing. This is simply spraying your plants with a water mist to reduce heat stress during the summer. A hard jet of water is also a tremendously effective way to control Spider Mites and Aphids by knocking them off of the plant.
  • Hand Picking of large pests or weeds. This needs to be done consistently and frequently to be effective but is easy if you’re out scouting in the garden consistently.
  • Cultivation. Stirring up the soil is extremely effective at killing young weed seedlings as well as exposing insect eggs and pupa to surface to be done in by natural control.
  • Traps. These are devices that attract plant pests in to be killed or diverted away from our garden plants. This type of control includes such things as sticky cards for White Fly to bowls of beer for slugs to more sophisticated pheromone traps used for a variety of different pests.
Chemical Control

involves applying something to the plant or the soil to control a pest. Some of these products are not toxic poisons, but relatively benign naturally occurring products. Others are naturally occurring, but quite toxic. Often, the most benign product will be used first, graduating to stronger materials as the need warrants. One thing to remember is that the newer pesticides tend to be less toxic with fewer health and environmental hazards. Here are the five basic groups of pesticides used in the yard. The first four are suitable for organic gardening:

  • Botanicals are derived from plants and include materials like Pyrethrum, Rotenone, Neem, Sabadilla, Nicotine, Etc.
  • Microbials are living organisms we apply that control or deter pests. This is essentially Biological Pest Control which I discussed last week, but since it involves “spraying stuff” on your plants, I listed it here as well. This includes things like Bacillus thuringiensis (sold as B.T., Thuricide, Mosquito Dunks or Dipel), Nolo Bait and others.
  • Inorganic pesticides are mineral based products. It includes such things as Sulfur, Copper, and Diatomaceous Earth.
  • Soaps and Oils are very popular pesticides. They work physically on the pest a number of ways such as stripping away a pest’s natural coating, coagulation of eggs, or suffocation.
  • Synthetic Chemical Pesticides. These aren’t the ones you’d want to use in an organic garden but these are the ones most folks reach for. There are a variety of different choices out there, and the good news with the newer ones as I mentioned before is that they’re much safer and are used in much, much lower concentrations that the old products we used to use.

I haven’t even begun to talk about the details of fertilizing, companion planting, etc. but hopefully, this will give you a start on your project.

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Organic Gardening Pt. 2

March 24, 2011 at 10:38 am · Filed under Organic Gardening

I’m thinking I’d like to start an organic vegetable garden in my back yard. What do I need to do?

(Part 2)

I ended last week’s article by listing the basic principals of Integrated Pest Management. Let’s get into a little detail about each one:

  1. Scouting. Regularly walk through garden to see what’s going on to catch any problems that may be developing and nip them in the bud. It is much easier and cheaper to control pest problems this way. Be observant; look for small, subtle things. Walking through the garden every day or two will help. If you miss something today, chances are you’ll see it tomorrow or the next day. You’ll also be better tuned in to changes that are happening in the garden. Besides, it’s such a joy to spend just a few minutes each day strolling through the garden!
  2. Identification and Knowledge. Now that you’re keeping a good eye on things, it is absolutely crucial that you know what it is you’ve found in the garden and then what can be done about it. Is this the beginning of a plague that means the end of your garden or is it something benign or even beneficial? There’s no substitute for experience, but having some garden books can help you to get started. You can always bring a sample to a good local independent nursery or to the Extension office for identification and some recommendations for control, if needed. Try to learn about the pest. Are there control measures you don’t know about? Is there something in their life cycle that can be taken advantage of? Use garden books, talk to experts, talk to fellow gardeners, and use the internet!
  3. Establish a Threshold. Once you know what it is you’re dealing with and before you jump to the next step, decide how big the problem needs to be before taking action to control it. There are some pest problems that require quick action; that’s why proper identification and knowledge is important before deciding this step. Keep in mind that there can be a different threshold for different people. There is no one size that fits all. Some people are more comfortable with more bugs in the garden while others are not. Where the plant is or how it’s going to be used will often dictate different thresholds. For example, there’s a difference between how many Aphids I’ll tolerate on shrub roses blooming out in the yard and how many I’ll tolerate for cutting roses that I’m going to put on my dining room table!
  4. Control. IPM is designed to minimize or even eliminate the spraying of synthetic pesticides while achieving effective pest control. There are a variety of pest control techniques besides spraying with pesticides. The best control is achieved by using a variety of these techniques in an integrated or coordinated manner to optimize their effectiveness (hence the name, Integrated Pest Management). IPM generally employs more benign control measures first and withholds chemical spraying as a final resort. Here are the five basic types of pest control:
Natural Pest Control

is also known as abiotic pest control—this is basically the weather. Don’t know about you, but I don’t have a lot of control over this; however, it is significant in controlling most pests. An especially cold winter or a dry spring can kill off a good number of pests. Though we can’t employ this method at will, it can be helpful in predicting how big or small a particular pest problem may be later on in the season so we can be ready for it when it does occur. We can also occasionally take advantage of it by exposing pests to the full brunt of the weather to kill them off.

Biological Pest Control

consists of naturally occurring life forms (other insects, mites, fungi, bacteria, etc.) that prey on or disable destructive pests. Most of us rely on these agents naturally introducing themselves into our garden (whether we know it or not!) but you can also purchase many different biological agents to artificially add them to the garden. This really gets back to the basic principal of proper identification. I know that there are people out there who want to kill anything “bug-like” in the garden that’s moving. The truth of the matter is that a majority (usually a big majority) of the insects in our yards are beneficial or, at worst, neutral.I’ll finish up with Cultural, Mechanical and Chemical Control next week and then you should have some good, basic information to get you started.

Thanks, Scott

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Organic gardening

March 23, 2011 at 11:20 am · Filed under Organic Gardening

I’m thinking I’d like to start an organic vegetable garden in my backyard. What do I need to do?

— Scott

You’ve asked a pretty big question. There are a variety of different methods of organic gardening and it seems like everyone has an opinion, but let me give you a couple of basics to get you started.

Before I get to that, though, keep in mind that organic gardening takes a bit more time in the garden on your part (not an altogether bad thing), perhaps a bit more work and a more forgiving attitude about less than perfect produce.

The first thing to do is to provide great soil for your plants.

Whether this is done through amending or replacing the existing soil, there really is no “organic gardening” without this step. The thinking behind this is that if you have good soil you’ll have strong and healthy roots, which translates into strong and healthy plants that produce better and are better able to fend off insect and disease problems.

I think anyone who gardens — organic or not — would benefit from heeding this advice.

There are recommendations about building raised beds and filling them with planting mixes. This is the quickest and perhaps easiest way to get where you want to be, but it can be expensive.

Most people opt to amend the soil they already have by incorporating a good amount of well-decomposed organic matter. I’d plan on covering your garden area with a 2-inch or even 3-inch deep layer and Rototill it into the soil to a depth of 6–12 inches.

Keep in mind improving the soil is a slow, gradual process. This initial amending only gets you started. I think it’s a good idea to mix in some organic matter late in the fall every year after the garden has frozen down. You’ll really see some great growing soil after several years of this.

The amendment you use should be organic in nature if you want to stay purely that way. Only use products that have no added synthetic fertilizers to speed up the composting process.

I wouldn’t use straight manure either. It’s cheap and relatively available, but it will be fairly salty and if your soil is already the salty side, you could run into some trouble. If you’re not sure about your salt level, take a soil sample out to the Colorado State University Extension office for a free and quick salt test.

I like adding a bit of manure when I do amend soil (unless, of course, the soil is salty to begin with).

I like using a variety of different amendments. They provide different benefits to the soil, just don’t depend solely on manure to do the job.

Your primary material should be compost or a decomposed wood product. These materials tend to be a bit coarser than manures, and they do a better job of breaking up our native, heavy clay soils.

I suppose the biggest question people have about organic gardening is how to control insect and disease pests.

The way I usually tell people to approach the issue is with a system called Integrated Pest Management (IPM). It’s not a totally organic way of pest control per se, but it covers the important basics of organic pest control and is easily adapted into an organic pest control program (or into a nonorganic one for that matter).

Here are the basic principals of IPM:

1. Scouting

2. Identification and Knowledge

3. Establish a Threshold

4. Control

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