As westerners, we are often compelled to try to control and plan all design aspects of what we want when constructing something. We try to anticipate every little detail so we don't make a mistake. Although you will still need to organize and draw out your Japanese garden design, plus determine the shape of your landscape and what you desire for your garden, you should also allow yourself to "go with the flow" and let it "speak to you" as your garden takes shape. In other words, allow for improvisation and ideas to emerge rather than being rigid in sticking to your original design plan.
Before any work begins within the yard itself, a basic garden plan should be drawn up to help you formulate your ideas and the placement of elements. There are several questions you need to address to help with this process:
1) Do you already have an existing garden in the area where you wish to incorporate a Japanese garden style? If so, what type of garden is it (flower garden, English garden, rustic wildflower garden, etc.)?
2) Will you be able to integrate your current garden into the new Japanese garden plan? What aspects and features will remain and what will have to be moved, replaced or removed entirely?
3) What style of Japanese garden are you most interested in - tea garden, courtyard garden, stroll garden, pond and island garden, Zen rock garden or a combination of two or more? For very small areas, you will most likely stick to only one style. For those that have a large landscape, you can have your choice of any of the styles to suit your desires and landscape area.
4) How large is the area of the site that you are considering using? Does it have natural hills and valleys? Are there any elements, such a stream, already present? Take a good visual view of your selected site and note down all the details on paper. Take measurements as well, so you know the exact area size you will be working with.
5) What elements and features are important to you? For example, do you wish to add a waterfall, water basin, or a rock arrangement? Would you like one small area to feature a Zen garden? Is a stepping-stone pathway that leads to a gate appealing?
6) Will you be building this garden by yourself or will you have help? The size, design and amount of work to create your Japanese garden will affect this answer. Obviously, building a very large stroll garden by yourself would take forever and be impractical.
7) If you plan to use large boulders or plant more mature trees (rather than saplings), how will you get them into your garden? Is there room and access for large machinery to help with placement? Keep in mind boulders and large trees are extremely heavy.
8) Will your garden be formal, semi-formal, or informal (rustic)?
9) Many Japanese gardens are actually built around a theme. Do you have a theme in mind for your garden? An example of a theme would be a miniaturized version of "The Bridge To Heaven", which is a marble and stone bridge that spans the famous Dragon Beard Ditch in China. This bridge was built over 600 years ago to allow the Ming and Qing emperors to cross over on their way to the Temple of Heaven. Your theme could even revolve around a smaller replica or area of an original famous garden of Japan. Read books and view photographs of existing gardens to get some ideas.
10) What do you want to achieve with your garden? Will it be used primarily for meditation? Do you wish to incorporate a strolling pathway with new visual delights beyond each curve? Do you want the invigorating sounds of water, such as a waterfall or fast moving stream? Will it be a place to sit quietly and contemplate nature? Understanding the concept behind the garden design is important.
In conclusion, these types of questions should be contemplated carefully and answered thoroughly before you begin to put your design down on paper, otherwise you could end up with a garden that holds no meaning for you or your visitors. A Japanese garden should have a "reason for being." What are your reasons?
Duncanville Lawn Care
Duncanville Landscaping
Friday, February 12, 2010
Is Landscape Fabric Even Necessary In Landscaping?
Landscaping fabrics are by no means an answer to a no maintenance landscape. I know a lot of folks are under the impression that they can simply buy it, place it, cover it, and forget it. Forever.
First. There is no such thing as a no maintenance landscape. In many instances landscape fabric can make your life a lot easier. However, there is an upside and a downside to using it. And as with most everything else, proper installation and maintenance is required if you intend to use it.
Landscape fabrics have their applications. They aren’t necessary in all applications but might be preferred in regards to the type of groundcover you use.
Our company uses weed barrier in 95% of the designs we create. It’s the nature of our business as we use decorative rock as the preferred groundcover around here. When using rock for groundcover and path work, it’s necessary to have a separator between the soil and groundcover. Otherwise, you’ll have mud rocks by the first rain storm.
In theory you should be able to use almost anything as a separator. I’ve seen do it yourselfers use anything from plastics to newspapers and cardboard boxes to old carpet remnants. Of course, as a professional, I can’t use or even suggest something like this to my clients. You’re on your own there.
Now personally, on any given project, I would much rather do away with fabrics altogether. I prefer to create living soil planting areas that are mulched and tended rather than being covered and forgotten. However, some areas are simply too large to apply this method and some folks just outright prefer to cover an area with decorative rock.
Both mulched living beds and rock beds underlain with fabric will require some work to keep them beautiful. Neither is maintenance free. As long as there is wind, rain dirt, and blown in seed, there will be something for you to do in your yard.
When we create a design using landscaping fabric and rock, I make the client aware of a few things. 1) There will be blown in seed and dirt. 2) Something will have to be done about it to keep it from accumulating. I assure them that with the quality of fabric we use, nothing will grow in from the bottom. However, we have no control of what blows in on the top.
Spraying the unwanted weeds with herbicide will take care of the weed problem. However, this does nothing for the dirt, leaf, and plant particles that are hiding under your rocks. And if you allow these to accumulate, they’ll continue to accumulate and you will never get rid of them. So periodic maintenance is required even if you do use landscaping fabric.
Periodically using a blower on your bedding areas will slow down the accumulation of dirt and in some cases eliminate it altogether. How easy and thorough this is depends a lot on the type and size of rock you use.
Small pea gravel accumulates and holds onto dirt, and is harder to clean than rock of a 1 ½" + nature. Not only does it hold onto dirt but has a tendency to be blown all around when being cleaned with a blower. Pea gravel works well for paths, walkways, and smaller areas but I don’t recommend it for covering larger areas.
As far as using landscape fabric under bark and mulch covered beds? In many cases this can actually be easier to take care of than living beds or rock covered areas as it can easily be picked up and replaced every few years. This will keep your landscape always looking new without having to blow dirt or mulch beds.
Remember. There’s no such thing as a no maintenance landscape. Landscape fabrics can make things easier in many applications but like everything else, they require a little bit of keeping up. No, they aren’t necessary in all landscaping applications. However, I believe you’ll find them to be your best choice for many groundcover applications.
Mansfield Lawn Care
Mansfield Landscaping
First. There is no such thing as a no maintenance landscape. In many instances landscape fabric can make your life a lot easier. However, there is an upside and a downside to using it. And as with most everything else, proper installation and maintenance is required if you intend to use it.
Landscape fabrics have their applications. They aren’t necessary in all applications but might be preferred in regards to the type of groundcover you use.
Our company uses weed barrier in 95% of the designs we create. It’s the nature of our business as we use decorative rock as the preferred groundcover around here. When using rock for groundcover and path work, it’s necessary to have a separator between the soil and groundcover. Otherwise, you’ll have mud rocks by the first rain storm.
In theory you should be able to use almost anything as a separator. I’ve seen do it yourselfers use anything from plastics to newspapers and cardboard boxes to old carpet remnants. Of course, as a professional, I can’t use or even suggest something like this to my clients. You’re on your own there.
Now personally, on any given project, I would much rather do away with fabrics altogether. I prefer to create living soil planting areas that are mulched and tended rather than being covered and forgotten. However, some areas are simply too large to apply this method and some folks just outright prefer to cover an area with decorative rock.
Both mulched living beds and rock beds underlain with fabric will require some work to keep them beautiful. Neither is maintenance free. As long as there is wind, rain dirt, and blown in seed, there will be something for you to do in your yard.
When we create a design using landscaping fabric and rock, I make the client aware of a few things. 1) There will be blown in seed and dirt. 2) Something will have to be done about it to keep it from accumulating. I assure them that with the quality of fabric we use, nothing will grow in from the bottom. However, we have no control of what blows in on the top.
Spraying the unwanted weeds with herbicide will take care of the weed problem. However, this does nothing for the dirt, leaf, and plant particles that are hiding under your rocks. And if you allow these to accumulate, they’ll continue to accumulate and you will never get rid of them. So periodic maintenance is required even if you do use landscaping fabric.
Periodically using a blower on your bedding areas will slow down the accumulation of dirt and in some cases eliminate it altogether. How easy and thorough this is depends a lot on the type and size of rock you use.
Small pea gravel accumulates and holds onto dirt, and is harder to clean than rock of a 1 ½" + nature. Not only does it hold onto dirt but has a tendency to be blown all around when being cleaned with a blower. Pea gravel works well for paths, walkways, and smaller areas but I don’t recommend it for covering larger areas.
As far as using landscape fabric under bark and mulch covered beds? In many cases this can actually be easier to take care of than living beds or rock covered areas as it can easily be picked up and replaced every few years. This will keep your landscape always looking new without having to blow dirt or mulch beds.
Remember. There’s no such thing as a no maintenance landscape. Landscape fabrics can make things easier in many applications but like everything else, they require a little bit of keeping up. No, they aren’t necessary in all landscaping applications. However, I believe you’ll find them to be your best choice for many groundcover applications.
Mansfield Lawn Care
Mansfield Landscaping
Improvements in Robotic Lawn Mowers
Robotic lawn mowers are creeping their way in to everyday American life. Like the dishwasher, they were really more trouble than they were worth in the beginning. But technological advances have made the robotic lawn mower practical.
Robotic lawn mowers can now mow on a time schedule and return to the charging base all season long without human intervention, this is the breakthrough that makes them truly useful.
An advanced feature on at least one model is the self-programmable mode. As these robotic lawn mowers work they determine the size of the yard and how fast the grass is growing, when they go back to their charging base they calculate the next time they need to come out to keep the grass at the optimal height.
Rain sensors are becoming standard equipment. When it starts to rain or the sprinkler system activates, they return to their charging base. Mowing in the rain was a major complaint for early adopters.
Some robotic lawn mowers even have a wet grass detection system. Rain sensors are a step in the right direction, but it is the wet grass detection system that cures the problem. Heavy or long periods of rain can leave the grass wet and the ground soft for days. Heavier robotic lawn mowers could get stuck and dig trenches losing traction and spinning tires. Keeping bags of sand handy was just considered part of robotic lawn mower ownership.
Light weight lithium ion batteries allow mowers to cut longer and recharge much faster. In fact some can recharge in as little as 4 hours allowing the mower to go out twice a day if needed.
In addition to faster recharge times, lithium ion batteries do not have the ‘memory’ problems associated with lead acid batteries. Basically the memory effect is caused when a battery is not fully discharged on a consistent basis, they remember the shortened life cycle, reducing the useful length of time until the need to recharge.
Robotic lawn mowers have become more reliable too. The addition of thermistors that detect when motors are overheating and less heat sensitive circuit boards and higher quality components extend the life expectancy past 10 years, about the same as a new quality riding lawn mower.
Robotic lawn mowers are now pretty much maintenance free. Changing the blade once a year and winter storage is about all the attention needed on a routine basis.
Robotic lawnmowers are now able to handle yards as small as 1/8 acre up to 5 acres. Depending on the model, they can handle slopes of up to 30 degrees. All major brands of robotic lawn mowers are waterproof and can remain outdoors all mowing season long.
Residential robotic lawn mowers require a perimeter wire similar to an electric dog fence to be laid prior to operating. Laying the wire is a one-time event that will last the life of the mower.
Setting the perimeter wire is probably the scariest part of purchasing a robotic lawn mower. It is not difficult to stake the wire in place. It usually takes about 3 hours for 1,000 ft. of wire. The wire need not be buried as the grass and roots will grow over it in about 2-3 weeks.
If the mower should cross the wire boundary it will immediately stop. So there is no need to worry about it running away or mowing the neighbor’s yard.
Operating the robotic lawn mower is simple, actually easier than programming a VCR. In theory, programming the mowing schedule need only be done at the beginning of the season. The LCD screens have full instructions and are easy to read.
There are quite a number of internet sites that have detailed information about specific features of the different models of robotic lawn mowers. Hopefully this general description will give readers the interest to look into these new appliances.
Midlothian Lawn Care
Midlothian Landscaping
Robotic lawn mowers can now mow on a time schedule and return to the charging base all season long without human intervention, this is the breakthrough that makes them truly useful.
An advanced feature on at least one model is the self-programmable mode. As these robotic lawn mowers work they determine the size of the yard and how fast the grass is growing, when they go back to their charging base they calculate the next time they need to come out to keep the grass at the optimal height.
Rain sensors are becoming standard equipment. When it starts to rain or the sprinkler system activates, they return to their charging base. Mowing in the rain was a major complaint for early adopters.
Some robotic lawn mowers even have a wet grass detection system. Rain sensors are a step in the right direction, but it is the wet grass detection system that cures the problem. Heavy or long periods of rain can leave the grass wet and the ground soft for days. Heavier robotic lawn mowers could get stuck and dig trenches losing traction and spinning tires. Keeping bags of sand handy was just considered part of robotic lawn mower ownership.
Light weight lithium ion batteries allow mowers to cut longer and recharge much faster. In fact some can recharge in as little as 4 hours allowing the mower to go out twice a day if needed.
In addition to faster recharge times, lithium ion batteries do not have the ‘memory’ problems associated with lead acid batteries. Basically the memory effect is caused when a battery is not fully discharged on a consistent basis, they remember the shortened life cycle, reducing the useful length of time until the need to recharge.
Robotic lawn mowers have become more reliable too. The addition of thermistors that detect when motors are overheating and less heat sensitive circuit boards and higher quality components extend the life expectancy past 10 years, about the same as a new quality riding lawn mower.
Robotic lawn mowers are now pretty much maintenance free. Changing the blade once a year and winter storage is about all the attention needed on a routine basis.
Robotic lawnmowers are now able to handle yards as small as 1/8 acre up to 5 acres. Depending on the model, they can handle slopes of up to 30 degrees. All major brands of robotic lawn mowers are waterproof and can remain outdoors all mowing season long.
Residential robotic lawn mowers require a perimeter wire similar to an electric dog fence to be laid prior to operating. Laying the wire is a one-time event that will last the life of the mower.
Setting the perimeter wire is probably the scariest part of purchasing a robotic lawn mower. It is not difficult to stake the wire in place. It usually takes about 3 hours for 1,000 ft. of wire. The wire need not be buried as the grass and roots will grow over it in about 2-3 weeks.
If the mower should cross the wire boundary it will immediately stop. So there is no need to worry about it running away or mowing the neighbor’s yard.
Operating the robotic lawn mower is simple, actually easier than programming a VCR. In theory, programming the mowing schedule need only be done at the beginning of the season. The LCD screens have full instructions and are easy to read.
There are quite a number of internet sites that have detailed information about specific features of the different models of robotic lawn mowers. Hopefully this general description will give readers the interest to look into these new appliances.
Midlothian Lawn Care
Midlothian Landscaping
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