With a little ingenuity and Knock Out roses you can transform your landscape into a real stunner.

(ARA) – You only get one chance for your home to make a first impression. With a little help from Mother Nature, you can demand a second look from passersby with a show-stopping front yard.

“Every canvas needs to start fresh and clean,” says James A. Baggett, editor of Country Gardens Magazine. “So roll up your sleeves, stick your hands in the dirt and get ready to personalize your yard with color and style.”

With a little ingenuity you can transform a ho-hum landscape into a real stunner with these simple tips that add professional-looking curb appeal to your home:

* First things first
You can’t enhance anything until you have a clean slate. So mow the lawn, get rid of the weeds, rake up and dispose of any leaves, edge the sidewalks and remove the grass growing between concrete seams and brick pavers. Prune the trees — especially the ones near or touching the roof — and add a layer of dark, natural mulch to any flower beds or under trees.

* Cover up the bald spots
Now you need to take a good look at your yard. How can you enhance your best features and minimize your worst? Here’s a great trick: Print photos in black and white and you’ll easily see the problem areas. Determine what “flaws” you want to fix. To update your look, fill empty spaces and add interest to a drab corner or “hide” unsightly spots with colorful, ever-blooming plants like the very popular shrub roses in The Knock Out family (www.TheKnockOutFamily.com). Available in seven shades ranging from raspberry pink to soft yellow, there is a Knock Out rose to fit any homeowner’s taste and landscaping style while providing year-round curb appeal.

Add interest to a drab corner or "hide" unsightly spots with colorful, ever-blooming Knock Out shrub roses.

* Put out the welcome mat
The entry garden is the most visible garden space and sets the mood for your entire home. Whether formal or relaxed, it should draw your eye toward the front door. Plant a pair of carefully pruned boxwoods on either side of the front door to add symmetry. Add a light fixture that matches the home’s exterior and shows your personal taste.

* Contain yourself
For those with minimal or no yard, or if you just want the elegance and ease of containers, pot up pretty annuals and perennials around your entrance, mailbox or along the front walk. To have striking color year after year, use perennials for fistfuls of continuous blooms that help stretch your dollars. Yellow and red are hot colors this year so plant the newest Sunny Knock Out rose paired with your favorite red annuals to be in step with the latest trends.

* Express yourself
Decorate a garden with a favorite antique, treasured collectible or statue. Look for objects such as driftwood, rocks or even empty mailboxes to punctuate certain areas. Use color to attract the eye. Paint your front door a bold, welcoming color or try a bright, punchy color on the shutters.

* Plan for sustainability
Look for plants that are easy to grow, save water and don’t require a lot of work. Pick plants that are native to your area for low-maintenance beauty. Eco-friendly shrub roses are a great choice, especially when paired with perennials for year-round color.

Baggett thinks shrub roses are perfect for first-time homeowners since they are extremely easy to grow and are low-maintenance. “Shrub roses give you a lot of bang for your buck,” he says. “They are really no work for the homeowner — and don’t require spraying, harsh chemicals, pruning, deadheading or lots of water. They bloom from May to the first hard frost in the late fall, offering season-long color and visual impact in the home landscape.”

The most popular shrub roses are The Knock Out Family of roses. They are available in seven shades ranging from hot raspberry pink to soft yellow, fitting any homeowner’s taste and landscape style while providing continuous year-round curb appeal.

Enjoy the days you get outside to renew your yard and garden. You’ll have folks taking a second look. For more information on The Knock Out Family of roses visit www.theknockoutrose.com.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

Tags: curb appeal, gardens, landscape planning, shrub roses

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An adult deer eats between 6 and 10 pounds of food per day, but all-natural repellents can stop critters from destroying your plants.

(ARA) – When Bambi invites all his friends to dinner, make sure it’s not in your yard. If you don’t protect your landscaping, Bambi and his friends will be crunching tulips like candy and popping peas right off the vine. You can bet they’ll be stealing your prize tomatoes this summer and munching your mums in the fall. 

With deer tipping the 30 million population mark and suburban sprawl on the rise, it’s no wonder these unwanted creatures are cruising your neighborhood and destroying your yard in the process. 

“We garden to create our own private patch of Eden and escape the demands of daily life,” says Rhonda Massingham Hart, author of Deerproofing Your Yard & Garden. “When deer violate these living sanctuaries they damage more than plants. They hurt us.” 

It’s more than frustrating to spend your time, effort, and money to turn your yard into a haven only to find your new flowers and shrubs have been mowed down by hungry deer and rabbits. It’s expensive. With an adult deer eating between 6 and 10 pounds of food per day, deer damage costs homeowners millions of dollars annually. 

* There goes the neighborhood … one bite at a time. 
The expansion of suburbs, roads and golf courses is creating perfect “deer smorgasbords” with tender young shrubs, pretty flowers, lush lawns and now abundant vegetable gardens at their taking. The truth is, no plants are truly “deer proof.” 

“Deer are creatures of habit and stay near a good food source — like your backyard,” says Dave Mizejewski, naturalist with the National Wildlife Association. “And they’re not afraid of city life so a lush garden or lawn is a magnet for hungry deer and rabbits.” 

* Oh, deer … what to do? 
Forget putting a radio blaring in your azaleas, fabric softener sheets strewn over your flowers or soap dangling from tree branches. Bambi and friends will enjoy the music as they play with the soap and dine alfresco using the sheets as placemats. 

But be forewarned: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. 

According to Mizejewski, “It’s much easier to prevent critter damage than it is to stop the foraging cycle once it’s begun. Repellents are designed to smell or taste bad to critters.” He recommends all-natural repellents that stop critters from eating your plants, are safe for the environment and don’t harm wildlife. 

* Back off, Bambi. 
Deer rely heavily on their super-sensitive noses to find food and sense danger, but it’s also their Achilles’ heel. 

That’s why a liberal application of a proven effective, all-season deer repellent such as Liquid Fence Deer & Rabbit Repellent on and around landscaped gardens stops unwanted visitors cold from dining on plants they find irresistible. 

It works on “scent” and dries odorless to us but not to deer and rabbits, so they don’t have to take a bite to be effective — unlike other repellents that require the deer to “munch away.” Once they get a sniff, even rabbits will be hopping back to the forest and not toward your carrots or pansies. 

In today’s economy, you really can’t afford not to protect your valuable plants and yard. “Folks spend too much time and money on the perfect plants to let the deer and rabbits spoil it all by eating them,” says world-renown horticulturist, native plant breeder and author Dr. Allan Armitage. 

“I’ve been a fan of Liquid Fence Deer & Rabbit Repellent since my first application years ago,” he says. “It’s the No. 1 repellent on the market, and I wouldn’t trust my garden to anything else.” 

* Garden Survival Guide 
Armitage recommends spraying a repellent in the spring as soon as the tender shoots appear, and around all plants, trees and shrubs. 

And you don’t need to buy different repellents to rotate applications and reapply weekly to see great results. Rotating repellents is an urban myth. 

Today folks are looking for ways to save “green” while they “go green.” Liquid Fence Deer & Rabbit Repellent is actually less expensive than the green alternatives so you can feel good that it’s safe for the environment as well as your kids, pets, plants and your wallet. 

Repellent should be applied monthly and can withstand about 1 inch of rain. It’s a good idea to reapply after a heavy downpour of an inch or more. 

* All Together Now 
And if Bambi invites his other friends — rabbits, geese, moles, snakes and other unwanted critters, The Liquid Fence Company has a complete line of natural, environmentally safe solutions to keep them out of the garden and in the woods. 

For more information visit www.liquidfence.com. 

Courtesy of ARAcontent

Tags: deer repellents, deerproofing your lawn, prevent deer

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This week we’re featuring some beautiful Springtime blooms from around the world – we hope you enjoy!

photo credit: CoreForce

photo credit: CoreForce

Crabapple Tree:

photo credit: Carissa GoodNCrazy

photo credit: Shootingsnow

Pomegranate Bloom

photo credit: patti haskins

Tags: blooms, crabapple, pomegranate, pomegranate bloom, springtime

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This week I thought I’d post pictures of my very favorite trees for landscaping – weeping willows…

“weeping willows on a path:”

photo credit: sashafatcat

“Getty Museum orange leaves glowing:”

photo credit: Lindsay N. Kelly

“Weeping Willow:”

photo credit: spakattacks

“Boston Common Pond:”

photo credit: jillclardy

Tags: pictures of weeping willows, weeping willow trees, weeping willows

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This week we’ve picked our favorite water gardens, fountains, and plants to show off here – enjoy!

Fountain in the Children’s Garden in the Conservatory

photo credit: unforth

Water Curtain

photo credit: unforth

Lotus in a Pond

photo credit: Sudhamshu

Morning Glory

photo credit: sherrattsam

Tags: lotus, Morning Glory, pictures of water gardens, water garden photos

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Thinking of adding trees to your landscape?  Take a look at these beautiful photos of trees that we picked from flickr, enjoy their beauty, and maybe even get some ideas brewing!

photo credit: ny156uk

photo credit: mrhayata

Although this looks like a park, creating natural overhead arches with trees is always a great way to create a shady respite in one’s yard.

photo credit: Uscè

photo credit: Valerie Everett

Tags: photos of trees, pictures of trees, tree pictures, Trees

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Welcome to the first in a weekly series where we display our favorite flickr landscaping photos each week – we hope you find some beauty, ideas, and inspiration in them!

photo credit: Ganymedes Costagravas

photo credit: La Citta Vita

photo credit: eli.pousson

Tags: flickr, Landscaping Photos

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(ARA) – Have you ever looked outside and noticed your neighbor’s front yard painted with colorful lines or covered with flags?

Despite its appearance, it’s not yard graffiti, but rather temporary markings to show the approximate location of underground utility lines on the property. Underground utility lines can be found in the front or backyard and include all of the service lines such as water, gas and communication lines that bring service from the street into your home.

The experts at the Common Grounds Alliance, an association dedicated to ensuring public safety through underground utility damage prevention practices, share their guide to the colorful markings:

* Red markings represent electric power lines, cables, conduit and lighting cables.
* Yellow markings represent gas, oil, steam petroleum or gaseous materials.
* Orange markings represent communication, alarm or signal lines.
* Blue markings represent potable water lines.
* Green markings represent sewer and drain lines.
* Purple markings represent reclaimed water, irrigation and slurry lines.
* Pink markings represent temporary survey lines.
* White markings represent proposed excavation.

If you are planning a yard project that requires you to dig, follow your neighbor’s example and contact your local one call center by dialing 811 to have underground lines properly marked. Striking a single line can result in personal harm, costly fines, inconvenient outages or property damages.

No matter the type of project — installing a mailbox, putting in a fence, planting trees or shrubbery, building a patio or deck, excavating a new garden area — make sure to call 811 at least two business days prior to digging to have your site properly marked.

When you dial 811, a local one call center representative will collect your information and notify local utility companies of your intent to dig. A professional locator will then visit the dig site to mark the approximate location of all underground utility lines with spray paint or flags. Once your digging site has been marked, it is safe to begin digging around the marked areas.

Contact your local one call center at 811 before every dig, or visit www.Call811.com for more safe digging and state-specific information.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

Tags: 811, Common Grounds Alliance, electric power lines, power lines, public safety, underground lines, when to dig, yard digging

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(ARA) – Segmental retaining wall systems are one of the most versatile tools available to the do-it-yourself landscaper. Besides traditional walls designed to hold back soil, these innovative systems also can be used to build a whole array of landscaping features.

“Fire pits, outdoor kitchens, seat walls, stairs, columns, tables, even plantable walls that become a part of the landscape are possible for homeowners willing to invest a little creativity and sweat equity in their yard,” says Shannon McGregor of Patio Town, a Minnesota landscape supplies retailer. “With the right system, the only limit is your imagination.”

The Versa-Green plantable wall system will really grow on you. It features a hollow core in each wall unit for plantings and will accommodate an irrigation system.

So imagine yourself entertaining guests around a built-in grill in your back yard. Using a retaining wall system like Versa-Lok, you can create a freestanding kitchen island wrapped around a grill and refrigerator and topped with a granite slab. The solid concrete blocks can be modified and configured to accommodate appliances and utility connections.

One of the most popular backyard features for DIY landscapers is a fire pit surrounded by a patio and seat walls made from retaining wall units.

“A circular or square patio is built around a cast-iron fire ring, and matching seat walls ring the patio,” says McGregor. “It’s a terrific project for someone who wants an affordable, easy-to-install backyard makeover.”

Why cook indoors when you can create your own outdoor kitchen? Solid retaining wall units can be easily cut to fit a grill or refrigerator and topped with a nice stone slab.

Several courses of pavers may be used to encircle the fire ring. The seat walls are simply freestanding walls built at an appropriate sitting height. These may be capped with bullnose pavers for added comfort.

Freestanding columns constructed from split wall units stacked and glued in a four-square pattern make an attractive landscape feature that can be used to perform a variety of functions. Standing alone at the end of a driveway or on either end of a freestanding wall, columns can be finished with natural or cast stone caps. Install wrought iron between columns to create elegant fencing. Columns can be built around the posts of a pergola to add a touch of class to a garden space, spa or even front entry. Or make a table from a column topped with a natural or cast stone slab.

“The Versa-Lok system is especially design-friendly because it uses solid units that can be easily cut or split to fit any application,” explains Austin Keay, owner of AKeay Landscaping in North Branch, Minn. “Even stairs can be built with this system.”

With the most versatile retaining wall systems, you can also build stairs, freestanding walls and columns using the same product.

Retaining wall units are stacked in tiers to make the stair’s base pedestal. Stair treads are made from wall cap units, pavers or precast treads. The stairs can be fully inset into a wall or exposed on one or both sides.

“These are kind of like the building blocks of landscaping. You can do almost anything with them,” says Keay. “Hot tub enclosures, raised paver or natural stone patios, mail box stands — we’ve done it all.”

Some homeowners prefer the look of greenery to hardscaping but still need a high-performance retaining wall. The new Versa-Green plantable wall system by Versa-Lok gives them the best of both worlds.

“Versa-Green is a natural option in situations where significant soil retention is required in a wall but visibility of the wall isn’t wanted,” says McGregor. “Plantings in each individual wall unit grow up to conceal the courses above or hang down to cover the wall below. Eventually, the wall appears to grow right into the landscape, much like a vertical garden. The result is a functional wall that becomes a living part of your landscape.”

Working with segmental retaining wall systems doesn’t require a lot of expensive tools. Those that may be needed — concrete saw or block splitter, for example — can be rented on a daily basis or your supplier may have them available.

Many retailers like Patio Town offer DIY seminars on retaining wall and paver installation as well.

“Investing in landscaping is a sure way to add value to your home,” McGregor concludes. “That, coupled with an increasing trend toward entertaining at home, make segmental retaining wall systems an appealing solution for the do-it-yourselfer with a bit of imagination.”

For further information about Versa-Lok Retaining Wall Systems, visit www.versa-lok.com or call (800) 770-4525.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

Tags: plantable wall system, retaining wall systems, retaining walls

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Sipping coffee on your back deck on a beautiful fall morning, you look up and gasp — there in your suburban oasis stands a small herd of deer. For a moment you pause, enchanted. An instant later, as the deer begin to munch on your landscape, you realize they’re just not as awestruck by the encounter as you are.

You don’t have to be a wildlife expert to know that after generations of dwelling in close proximity to humans, modern deer aren’t afraid of us anymore. What’s more, they no longer fear many of the traditional repellents some homeowners still use to protect shrubs, trees and landscaping. So when cool weather comes along and the natural landscape dies, deer have to start foraging for food sources. And they aren’t afraid to walk right into your yard and help themselves to your well-watered, well-established evergreens.

Even just a few deer can cause significant damage to your landscaping. “A single whitetail deer can consume, on average, 8 to 12 pounds of foliage a day,” says James Messina of Messina Wildlife Management. “In many areas of the country, deer overpopulation is a serious problem. With nowhere to go and not much left to eat in the dead of winter, deer can wreak havoc on shrubs, trees and gardens, and destroy new buds and leaves before they have a chance to grow, ruining your prospects for any spring growth.”

Hungry and bold, deer move into residential areas in the winter, and the damage they do in the cold weather will affect your landscape’s health next spring. Traditional animal repellents are also less effective than they were decades ago, Messina notes.

“That’s because those repellents rely on a bad smell — like the stench of a rotting carcass — to fool animals into thinking a predator’s kill is in the area and the predator may be returning for it,” he says. “But the number of predators has actually declined, and deer know it. They’re less afraid of predators, so relying on scare tactics has a greater tendency to fail over time.”

Some wildlife has also built up a resistance to chemical deterrents. Plus, increasingly eco-conscious homeowners prefer not to put potentially harmful chemicals into the environment. Other more lethal alternatives are not only inhumane but illegal in most parts of the country.

More homeowners are turning to organic alternatives, like Deer Stopper, a repellent formulated from plant extracts. This organic option works because it confronts deer by using their natural repulsion to certain plant smells and tastes rather than relying on fear.

“We know that deer will eat over 500 different types of plants,” Messina says. “Normally, they’re quite discriminating. But in fall and winter, when food is harder to find, they become less picky and much more of a threat to suburban landscapes. Still, like many wild animals, deer rely on taste and smell to judge if a food may be harmful to them. If your backyard foliage tastes or smells unpleasant to them, one bite and they’ll move on.”

An effective taste deterrent, Deer Stopper is 100 percent organic and completely safe for use on all types of plants — from vegetables to trees, flowers to shrubs. The Organic Materials Review Institute lists it as approved for use by organic growers. The smell- and taste-based technology also eliminates the need for a foul odor, so Deer Stopper actually smells good to humans. Lightly mist vegetation once a month, even during the cold and snowy winter to keep deer away all season long. To learn more, or to find retail locations, visit www.messinawildlife.com.

“In the early 1900s, there were probably only about half a million deer spread out over the country,” Messina says. “Today, there are more than 15 million. Deer, it turns out, adapt quite well to life in suburbia. Keeping them away from residential and commercial landscaping can help everyone — deer and homeowners — co-exist more happily together.”

Courtesy of ARAcontent

Tags: Deer, whitetail deer

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