Landscape Professionals are unique individuals. In many cases they define the American entrepreneur.  They must have knowledge of many things to be successful. While at a seminar in Ohio Gary Kinman, a well known industry leader had a list of all it takes to be that proven professional. I saw Gary for the first time about 7 years ago and he was the person who changed how I view the green industry and the landscape profession. It was Gary’s list that has inspired me to create my own list of what a landscape professional is. 

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It always disheartens me when I suggest inter locking concrete pavers for a hardscape application and the client has had or heard of a paver job that has “failed”. They complain about shifting, settling, and weeds. These problems are caused by improper excavation, base preparation, base materials choices, compaction, edging installation and maintenance. 

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Yes there are thousands of these volcanoes in the garden state, mulch volcanoes that is. They are formed by unaware home owners and landscapers. The mulch is piled up high around the trunks of trees sometimes as deep as 12 inches. These “volcanoes” are very detrimental to the trees. The mulch causes the trunk to rot (crown rot) damaging the cambium layer located just under the bark. The cambium layer is what moves nutrients from the roots to the branches and leaves of a tree. Mice and other varmints will make their winter homes in these mulch volcanoes for warmth and chew on the tree trunks further damaging the tree. This will cause the trees to be stressed, and prematurely die. If you have mulch volcanoes remove the mulch around the tree and inspect the crown for rot or damage. The proper way to mulch a tree is to apply 2-3 inches of mulch around the bed line and tapering the mulch down to almost no mulch at the trunk. Make sure your mulch does not become matted down and act as a shield to water causing it to run off, if this happens break up the mulch with a rake or cultivator.

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Just about every landscape company I know offers some type of a plant guarantee. Most are a one-year or one growing season guarantee. This often inc...

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Today’s lifestyles have us utilizing our outdoor spaces more and more. We have all heard of the “outdoor room” concept. So how do we achieve this roomy comfortable feeling in our yards? The professional landscape designer knows there is more to landscaping than plants, bricks, and mulch. To create the perfect atmosphere many elements must be carefully considered.

 

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Success is always hard to measure. It always depends on the person’s perspective and understanding. A successful landscape is no different. Beyond good design and proper installation what is needed and what are the obstacles to success? The main obstacle to a professionally designed and installed landscape’s success is managing expectations the client has. Education and communication are the tools I choose to use for this purpose. With these tools a relationship of trust and understanding is built and add to the landscape’s success.

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It is very easy to start off on the wrong foot when planning your landscape project. You stop in at the nursery or garden center and see all those wonderful choices. All the color, texture, and blooms can be intoxicating. You hastily make impulse purchases based on what catches your eye. You bring it home and plant it. Somehow it does not look right. You like the plants all right but what’s wrong? Further down the road many of your plants are struggling for survival and others quickly outgrowing their location. This happens with homeowners as well as with some landscape contractors.

There is a method to invoke to avoid many of these problems. That is the process of planning and design. With home values skyrocketing do you want your home’s curb appeal left to chance? A design, whether done by you or a professional, is important in helping you make important decisions about what you want and of course plant selection.

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Most people will spend time researching a major purchase. If they are buying a major appliance they will often choose a higher priced model that was manufactured by a reputable company over a “bargain” brand. They will pay 30 – 50% more for this item. They do this because they know it will out perform and out last the cheaply made unit. They see the value in it.

So why is it that from my perspective so many people contract the low bidder landscape contractor?

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When I was a kid I always wanted to do what my friends were up to. I would run to my parents and ask if I could also do as my peers. My parents would often say no and I would quickly say but everyone else is doing it! To answer me they would say “if your friends jumped of the Brooklyn Bridge would you”?

This familiar childhood problem can be compared to how most people select the landscape for their homes. They see their neighbors and friends installing a project and they purchase a similar style project at their home.

Our homes already are losing their individuality in these vast developments of modern center hall colonials.

Why would we want our landscapes to be so similar as well? Or if we do have a different style home why should its landscape look alike as well. There is inadequate public appreciation for the value of design and planning in enhancing the quality of life in our communities.

Your landscape should reflect your personality and lifestyle.

Don’t get caught in the “keeping up with the Jones’s” trap. Why not do a web search (or an old fashioned library search) for the history of landscape architecture. Study some of the greats like Frederick Law Olmsted, Beatrix Farrand, Ellen Biddle Shipman, Fletcher Steele and other major influences in garden design. If you read about these people you will come to understand it is not all about a serpentine paver walkway and a collection of varied plants mounded in rock and mulch. They studied spaces, views, textures, shadows, and other nuances that created an experience when you enter their gardens.

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As the weather finally turns to the hot summer time weather a landscape (especially a new one) must be prepared to survive the extreme heat and dry conditions we generally have in July and August here in New Jersey. Many new and even established landscapes develop a host of problems from these conditions and our mismanagement. Water and how we apply and use it will determine our success.

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