Articles

Take a Stroll Through Your Yard to Make It Better

October 2015

The optimal window for installing ornamental plants has passed unless you are totally committed to watering often and thoroughly enough to keep new plantings from drying out during winter. However, it’s a fine time to get a jump on other things for next spring.

Grab a cup of coffee or tea and take a stroll around your yard this weekend. Start at the curb and slowly make your way to the back yard.

Make handwritten notes to evaluate the past growing season, both in the vegetable garden and ornamental landscape. Is it time to hit the refresh button and create a whole new look, perhaps something less cluttered and more contemporary? Or maybe a landscape that focuses on growing more plants of functional use, like edibles and pollinators. Understandably so, natives and the 7 Xeric, water conserving principles are appealing to more property owners these days.  

How’s your curb appeal? If you’re selling your home, it can make a big difference as to whether someone keeps on driving or also wants to see the interior. Even if you aren’t moving, strong curb appeal is a gift to yourself, family and neighbors.

What’s the first thing you see when you look towards the front door? Are there trees, shrubs and garden beds that frame and make the entry attractive and easy to access? While there is nothing wrong with creating privacy for a front porch, avoid a fortress-like hedge or confusion as to which door a visitor should be coming to. A light touch can give breathing room.

Front yard pathways that direct a straight line from point A to point B energetically create a passage where you get slammed by the life force. This Feng Shui principle is easily understood if you’ve been in the path of wind or water without something to slow down and deflect this energy. It creates an unsettling, vulnerable feeling.

Does your landscape say autumn in a big way, showcasing plants that may have been somewhat lackluster until now? This is their time to shine, so be sure to have some eye-popping plants to enjoy before the season of silhouettes sets in. It helps us mentally and slowly transition from summer to winter.

The brilliant staghorn sumac scattered around town are like splashes of colorful candy. Fall is a time that certain plants have been waiting for to show off their brilliance and claim their rightful place of value in the landscape. As we’ve come to expect, Autumn Purple Ash trees are subtly yet surely saying fall is here. Let us appreciate them wholeheartedly just in case their populations are undermined by Emerald Ash bore in the years to come.