Landscaping – Page 11 – Sticks & Stones

Bright ideas for 2018

Are you interested in boosting your sales and barely break a sweat? How about adding decorative lighting the easy way? Idea: add lighting to a patio, an outdoor kitchen, pergola, gazebo, deck or any outdoor living area. Here are two products that can enhance just about any project you have going - or refresh a completed one.

Decostrand from Halco Lighting Technologies is an LED-friendly weatherproof decorative lighting strand that can create a distinctive look to nearly any outdoor space. It operates from a standard, 3 prong 120 volt electrical outlet, so there’s no need to splice into an existing landscape lighting system, and is available in two lengths: 26’ with 12 lamp sockets, and 50’ with 25 sockets.

They are 100% LED compatible. You can lamp them with our 2 watt 150 lumen Halco lamps in either 2700k (natural white) or 2200k (warm white). Other lamps are available as special orders.

A variety of reflector options are available in antique brass, silver, copper, as well as textured bronze and black and multiple strands can be connected end-to-end up to ten strands, based on 4 watt LED lamps.

DecoStrands qualify to receive our current lighting tier discounts for additional savings.

Click here for the manufacturer fact sheet.

From Alliance lighting we bring you the iTimer (Intelligent Astronomical Timer). This little device can make something old seem new again, or satisfy a techie’s hunger for the next latest and greatest doo-dad to show off to the neighbors.

If you are familiar with Alliance’s Bluetooth I-Series transformers, then you’ll love this! The iTimer has the same phone app driven technology as the Bluetooth transformers, but I call it a “plug and play”, which means you can plug any 120v electronic device (like a Decostrand, an Easy Pro Fountain pump, holiday strings of lights, maybe an old stereo in the garage, you get the idea…) and you will have the exact same options that the Bluetooth transformers have… all through your smartphone.

Through the IT app, the unit synchronizes with the time in your region through the global astronomical clock. You may set up your device to turn on and off from sunset to sundown, or to operate for a set amount of hours per day, but in my opinion, the BEST option about this is that you can have it operate at specific times of the day, on whatever day you choose.

For example, let’s say that you want your device on at 7pm and off at 11pm Monday through Thursday, but you want it on from 8pm to 3am on Friday and Saturday, and on Sunday you'll take it easy on the neighbors and have it on at sunset and off after 6 hours. Yes, you can easily set up your iTimer this way. Another neat option: you can have turn your connected device on and off a little bit before sunrise and sunset, without ever updating the time. And of course, you can also control the power manually from your phone, regardless of what day or time it is.

But there is one more benefit that I’d like to add: if you have an existing landscape lighting system, you can still use the iTimer - simply set your system to the always ON setting, and plug the transformer into the iTimer.

These two products will have an immediate impact on both new projects and previously completed jobs. They are fairly inexpensive and easy to install and set up. Both of these products are set up on display and for demonstrations at our Hardscape Center, so please stop in and check them out.

Ultra Violet in 2018

Did you hear? The Pantone color of the Year is "Ultra Violet". Interestingly, both the Landscape Perennial of the Year and the 2018 Shrub of the Year feature violet tones in flower or leaf. Take a closer look, you won't be disappointed!

Purple, violet, lavender, or wine - this color brings in a whole new concept to plant choices and themes for spring. You can work this color into bold designs with yellows, whites, or reds, or create a soothing palette using grays and cream to soften. The choices are abundant when incorporating textures, shades, and different heights to the landscape.

2018 Perennial Plant of the year - Alium ‘Millenium’

What a smart choice for spring. Deer and rabbit resistant but loved by butterflies and bees, this mounded compact allium is a beautiful addition to any landscape. 'Millenium' offers glossy green foliage and rosy purple 2” globe flowers with a maximum plant size at 20” x 15”. It is a perfect size to be a border plant, blend into rock gardens, or alone in a clump to offer texture and color. Easy to grow in moist soils, happy in part shade to full sun, and requires low water needs.

2018 Landscape Plant of the Year- Weigela Spilled Wine^®

This petite delight is a beauty in most landscapes. Dark wine-colored foliage pops against other plantings and structures. From the first leaves of spring the foliage remains dark and intense all season long. Not preferred by deer but enjoyed by butterflies and hummingbirds, the. tubular magenta flowers bloom for a long period beginning in late spring. Easy to grow, this compact bush measures 2-3’ tall x 2-4’ wide. This is an improved, compact version of the popular Wine & Roses^® Weigela and the wide, low habit can be useful almost anywhere in the landscape.

Bad Karma

It has always seemed that many things were just meant to be. Peanut butter and jelly, perhaps the greatest love affair of all time. Romeo and Juliet, Desdemona and Othello, Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth, Ozzie and Harriet, Mork and Mindy, Gertrude and Heathcliffe, Joe and Kirsten, Bonnie and Clyde – the list is endless! But humanity is cursed with its fatal flaws. Peanut butter and jelly – they don’t really mix and the jelly oozes out the side of the bread. Romeo and Juliet are tragic star-crossed lovers. Othello has a serious problem with jealousy. Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth get past their pride issues, but eventually the book has to end. Ozzie and Harriet, as well as Mork and Mindy, get cancelled. Joe and Kirsten’s Days of Wine and Roses turns to Brandy Alexanders – not a good finish. And, a life of crime does not pay off for Bonnie and Clyde.

Plants, or combinations of some plants, can have similar tragic results. Some planting designs look great but eventually nature unleashes it’s fatal flaw. The design of some landscapes brings out the worst in some plant varieties. A number of these ill-fated arborial marriages exist but the coexistence of pears and junipers requires our attention.

The ubiquitous Callery Pears, strong and adaptive growers, are increasingly being bothered with Pear or Trellis Rust. To blame are junipers. And vice versa. Together they create a perfect storm scenario for the fungus, Gymnosporiangium fuscum. This is a dark, bare capsule on junipers which explodes with orange, jelly-like fingers during cold, wet springs. These galls cause dieback in junipers and rust colored spots and scabs on the leaves of pears as well as lesions on their branches. Proximate use of these plants is a marriage gone bad; under certain conditions they bring out their worst attributes.

Removal of affected plant material is part of the solution. Putting appropriate distances between host and parasite plants is another. Callery Pears are great trees for parking lots and streets where drier conditions prevent these fungal outbreaks. Systemic fungicide treatments are available. However, both groups of plants are fairly durable and recuperative. No matter how well they might look together their combination is just bad karma.

Plantings of Pears and Junipers are like the tit for tat relationship of Gertrude and Heathcliffe (if you’re not over 50 - look it up!). There is no real fatal flaw, but a lot of bumps and bruises along the way.

Please check out the linked article for more details.

Trellis Rust Management Update by Dr. David Roberts, MSU

Diversification is key to success!

If you’re reading this, chances are you are involved as a contractor in the Green Industry, whether it’s with plants, pavers, ponds, designs, lighting, or maintenance.

The big question is: Do you do only one aspect of the industry, or do you do many? During my tenure here at Christensen’s, I’ve seen companies come and go, often because they would only focus on one area. Times have changed, and big, easy planting jobs don’t come around as often as they used to - and there’s a lot of competition out there, more than ever since the mid 90’s.

This is where diversification comes in, and chances are that you’ve already been doing it.

An easy one is adding landscape lighting to your planting or hardscaping jobs. If you missed my two-part video on how to install lighting, you can catch up here. Keep in mind that you don’t have to sell a whole new job - lighting is the perfect second-stage enhancement for an earlier project.

Lighting aside, let’s try something different.

When trees, shrubs, and perennials get planted early in the season, many contractors apply fertilizers or soil amendments. How about promoting a fall fertilization program?

Fall is an excellent time to fertilize, even better than planting time. Established plants benefit as well, so don’t overlook customers from previous seasons. Mix in some granular organic fertilizers, such as the Tone series or Florikote slow release blends, and work it into the soil before it freezes. It’s a low-impact job your crew can manage in between fall cleanups.

Everyone knows about pavers, but some feel that they wouldn’t know how or where to begin. DID YOU KNOW: During the winter months and in the early spring, paver supply manufacturers such as Unilock and Rosetta hold how-to instructional seminars? Another handy piece of information: The “Lords of Legos” at the Christensen’s Hardscape Center are always ready to help you with a project.

Have you ever done a pond or water feature? I haven’t either, but I’ve always wanted to. This is another area where many folks don’t know how or where to begin. Like paver manufacturers, pond supply companies like Easy Pro offer seminars and on-site installation courses to help you, wait for it… “get your feet wet”.

If a full-bore pond isn’t right for your customer, consider installing a fountain or waterfall, which we carry a variety of. These are less time consuming, pumps run off of a standard 3-prong outlet, and the impact of such a focal point will definitely create a buzz amongst the neighbors. And seeing as you’re already in the subdivision, chances are you’ll pick up those jobs, and you can keep moving down the street. Not bad!

I have one more tidbit to keep in mind. I look at the Green Industry as a large fraternity/sorority. What does this mean? It’s always a good business tactic to keep up with your contacts and networking, because chances are you will come across another company that specializes in a field that you may be new to, or that you could subcontract on a project if you don’t have the time available on the work schedule.

Here are some examples:
Customer: “Can you do this?”
Contractor: “No, but I know a guy that can!”.

Or

Contractor 1: “My skid loader just tanked on a weeklong project!”
Contractor 2: “I can lend you mine for $XYZ a day so you can finish”.

We all battle the elements and obstacles associated with this industry, and everyone needs a little help from time to time. Knowing “a guy” that can fill the void when we’re in a pinch can make all the difference.

These are some suggestions of ways you can diversify your business, and there is still time to put them in motion yet this season. We want to see you succeed and grow your company year after year and are here to help you out as much as we can along the way.

Get all your material in one shot

Not so many years ago, if you wanted to supply your project with plants, pavers, wall materials and bulk goods, it required trips to several locations to complete a job. Times have changed! Our current inventory includes six different types of mulch, slag, 2 NS sand, 21AA limestone, 6A Limestone for permeable paver applications, and pea stone.

We also carry prime compost and screened topsoil that we store in dedicated, covered bins. Why do we do this? We can keep nearly 160 cubic yards of soil dry so it is ready to go when you need it. Combine that with our extensive plant material, paver, and wall block inventory, we can supply your entire project.

Bulk materials can be picked up or delivered via Christensen’s Hardscape Center for a small portion of what it might cost to pick it up with your truck. If you need large quantities, we will can deliver “Direct” train loads to your yard or Job site.

It’s 92 degrees in Plymouth as I’m writing this. It’s hard to believe that there are only a few months to go in 2017. It will get cold, the weather will turn, and the days will get shorter. Being able to source all of your materials at one location just might save the time you need to be able to wrap up those jobs at the end of the season.

Some of you may know me, but for many of you, I am a new face. I moved to Michigan after College almost 30 years ago. I have worked in the Green Industry as a contractor for most of those years. So, although this is the first time for me to stand on this side of the counter, I have probably been involved with a project similar to the one you’re working on. If you have any questions or have a difficult site, please ask, I am ready to help.

Fall Hazard tree lists explained

It’s fall; it’s planting season for trees and evergreens. This time of the year breathes new business, new opportunities, and new money into the landscape industry.

Spring tree supplies have been exhausted in many varieties. So only what is left, is grown in a pot, or can be dug in the fall will be available. Here’s the bad news. The list of tree varieties that can NOT be dug is very long!

Unlike the spring there is a shorter recovery time for trees as soil temperatures dip below 50 degrees. Root reestablishment and elongation cease. This is significant because a tree loses about 75 to 80 percent of its root mass when dug. One source stated that only 2 to 8 percent of the root survives harvesting. This is extremely significant for evergreens and for trees especially as caliper increases. It’s all about moisture! From the moment a tree is dug until it is planted and prepared for its first long winter, moisture is the most important factor.

Desiccation is a killer.

Factors that lead to desiccation or moisture loss are key to which trees are traditionally fall-dug and those that become part of the "fall hazard" lists:

1. Thin-barked Trees

Gleditsia (Honeylocust) is on most nurseries’ hazard lists. If you have handled locusts you know that you can damage its paper-thin bark without any effort (this is strike one for this Genus).

Acer rubrum (Red Maple) also has a thin bark but is regularly dug in the fall because of its very fibrous root system, but usually in smaller caliper. I have seen maples with serious tip dieback after harder winters and for calipers over 3”. Betula (Birch) as well has thin bark - and has at least two more strikes against it.

2. Harvest Time

Spring or fall trees are usually dormant or breaking dormancy when they are dug. We usually think of full dormancy occurring when a tree’s leaves fall off or as trees have set their buds for the next season. These don’t necessarily happen at the same time. We regularly have tree varieties such as Amelanchier, Acer, Malus (Crabapple), Ginkgo, and Tilia (Linden) fall-dug and shipped with some leaves attached but their buds for the new year are set.

Gleditsia are among the first trees to lose their leaves but this does not help (see below). Quercus (Oak) may set their buds but have leaves that hang on very late in the season and in some cases only release in the late winter or early spring. As such they are considered not to be fully dormant until it is too to dig them.

3. Coarse Roots

If you have never handled bare-root stock this may not mean much to you. Acer, Tilia, and Malus to start have very fibrous root systems and dig very well in the fall. Malus actually seem better with fall digging than spring. One assumes their root systems have begun to recover. Gledtisia (again) have few, large, and very coarse root systems.

Many nut-bearing trees such as Quercus have fewer, tap roots. These types of root systems offer little support to the whole tree for moisture. Many of the these tree types do not die but result in varying types of dieback or thinning. Gleditsia will have tip dieback as well as random branch death from the trunk. Quercus will often have severe branch dieback, resprouting only off the main trunk; a very unsightly recovery usually requiring replacement. Betula despite have a fairly fibrous root system has very shallow roots susceptible to drying out and supports a very heavy branch system. Top dieback and branch death usually occur; these trees will take several seasons to recover.

Trees such as Quercus and others can be dug if they have been spring root-pruned in preparation for a fall harvesting. Many nurseries are not that proactive.

Harvesting practices have changed and advanced through the years but the industry is cautious and conservative. Be aware of fall hazard lists. They may save you much grief and even more money. The good news is that the selection of pot-grown trees is increasing every season.

Christensen's Plant Center Fall Hazard list

Oh deer!

Whitetail deer are beautiful animals. It's surprising to see how successful they are in urban and suburban areas.

You'd better drive with caution, too, especially around dusk and dawn. And where there is one, there are usually others, so watch for deer number two or three to dart across the road. Car crashes are never good for anyone involved.

As nice as it is to see them up close, they come for one thing, to eat our landscapes. We have no one to blame but ourselves for invading their space.

So what can we do to protect our investment? Start by putting the gun down, your neighbor might complain about the holes in their garage.

There is a list of plants that are deer resistant in our new mobile app, but if you already have everything planted or can’t find the same look you want and need to plant those edible deer plants, there are products on the market you can apply to keep the deer out or limit the damage.

Christensen’s carries a couple of products that have been tested over the past 10+ years and have produced good results.

Deer Scram by Epic is a fine granular that is applied as a perimeter defense. This all natural, organic product is easy to use and does not have an offensive odor. The product will last 3-5 weeks before you need to reapply and it works year round. It has the added benefit of being a mild fertilizer.

Liquid Fence Deer & Rabbit Repellent is applied directly on the plants. It has an odor and taste the animals detest. This product will last 2-4 weeks depending on weather. The rain will dilute it quickly and it must be reapplied often.

Sometimes a physical barrier is required, so we also carry Deer Fence. It comes in a 7’ x 100’ roll and can be used to protect a large area.

How to install landscape lighting

Outdoor accent lighting is one of the simplest ways to boost a landscape project from good to GREAT. Whether you are working with an all-new design or enhancing an established landscape, adding low-voltage lighting has a lot going for it.

We carry quality fixtures in a range of finishes to complement any style. Don't overlook using lighting in hardscape projects, too. How about path lighting integrated right into a paver walk? From deck lights to well lights, path lights to wall washes - there is a lighting solution for pretty much any situation.

I've made a short video to show you just how easy it is to work with today's modern lighting products. Take a few minutes to watch - I think you'll be inspired to give outdoor lighting a place in your future designs.

A Hydrangea with fall color? You bet!

Landscapers, what flowering shrub has been exploding in popularity for the last few years, with new varieties hitting the market every few months? What's the plant that your customers request most often - and is versatile enough to use in many situations, is easy care, a reliable bloomer, and comes in different colors?

I'm betting you're thinking HYDRANGEA.

Hydrangea have been extremely popular in the past few seasons, and our biggest sellers are the ‘Endless Summer’ series, 'Annabelle', and ‘Limelight’. The primary focus on hydrangea has always been the showy flowers.

Depending on the variety, they can be pink, blue, white or even green. The pointed panicles of the PG types are dramatically attractive as they age.

Now, fall is just around the corner. It brings a change of season and a chance to enjoy another important landscape feature – fall leaf color, which hydrangea are not known for having.

One of the best flowering shrubs for fall color is the Oakleaf Hydrangea. They will have a stunning maroon to burgundy red fall color. Slow to turn in fall, color improves with each frost. Showy flowers and exfoliating bark make this a plant with year-round interest. The cultivars ‘Alice’ and ‘Ruby Slippers’ are some of our most popular varieties. The dwarf cultivars such as ‘Munchkin’ and ‘Pee Wee’ are slowly gaining in popularity too.

Consider adding Oakleaf Hydrangea to your next installation. They will provide important landscape interest all season long. By trying something different, your project will stand out from the others.

Brilliant options for fall color

Fall is in the air. Hard to believe, isn’t it? Where has the year gone? It is almost time to start planting your bulbs, raking the leaves and fall cleaning the beds. Today I want to talk about plants that we don’t typically think of as being for fall.

We regularly think of mums, aster, burning bush, and trees like Sugar and Red maple as plants we like for fall interest. Lesser known options might be 'Autumn Joy' sedum, Japanese Anemone, and 'Little Henry' Itea.

But let me tell you about some others! Solidago (Goldenrod) with it's bright yellow flowers, Fothergilla with it's burnt orange, red, and yellow leaves, and Chelone (Turtlehead) with it's pink turtle-head-shaped flowers.

Don't overlook Caryopteris - it's blue flowers begin late July and continue into September. This small shrub can be treated like a semi-woody perennial and benefits from cutting back low in the spring.

My all-time fall favorite is Amsonia hubrichtii (Bluestar) - the Perennial Plant of the year in 2011. The foliage turns bright gold and at 2.5’ in the back of the border it stands out like a mini-sun. Some turn red-orange, bronze, purplish and yellow, and all are spectacular.

Another favorite of is Helenium, which grows 2-3’ tall. Also known as Sneezeweed, they bloom in a mix of delicious fall colors - yellow, browns, and red. They typically start blooming in late August and continue well into October.

Mums are great, but there are a lot of options for extending color from summer into fall.

I would feel guilty if I didn’t at least mention Viburnums. They come in so many shapes and sizes and with different colored berries in the fall, how can you go wrong? But wait, there’s more... almost all of them get great fall leaf color. This massive genus of shrubs alone would allow you to have flowers from spring to late summer and then berries and fall color until the snow flies.

Well sorry, but gotta go. This article gave me a great idea for pumpkin carving and I want to go get some cider and donuts and draw it out on paper!

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1. Thin-barked Trees

2. Harvest Time

3. Coarse Roots