RI Landscaper 855RILAWNS

Landscaper Serving Southern Rhode Island Since 2001

DIY Christmas Foliage Decor

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Reese Moore has a great write up on how to make wreaths with foraged materials. Seen above are 3 different style wreaths plus some foraged garland! (https://www.compostandcava.com/home/2017/12/5/diy-foraged-christmas-wreaths)

 

This holiday season, impress your guests and neighbors with homemade Christmas decor made from the greenery in your yard! At some point, a lot of hard work went into keeping those plants alive so let them work for you now! The holidays are tough enough on our wallets without going to Michael’s and buying a lot of fake greenery to string up. Save some pennies, enjoy the fresh air, and revel in the pride you’ll feel at creating so much beauty. Pinterest is full of incredible DIY decor ideas but let’s face it, most of us are NOT Martha Stewart and the last thing we need is to waste a bunch of time on a Pinterest fail. We thought it would be helpful to consolidate some ideas that utilize common local plants and aren’t impossible to pull off.

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Photo by James Carrier, https://www.sunset.com/home/decorating/how-to-make-christmas-wreath#wreath-garland-entry
 

1. Wreaths

It may seem daunting, but wreaths really are pretty easy to pull together. Easiest of all is to use a wire frame purchased from the store (which you can reuse for years) but you can also make a frame out of a sturdy branch. There is a really easy to follow tutorial here: https://www.sunset.com/garden/how-to-make-a-wreath . After putting it off for years, I finally tried it and now it is a Christmas tradition.

Some great commonly found materials to use are: fir, pine, juniper, holly, box wood, sage, rosemary, bay leaves, ivy, lavender and, of course, mistletoe.

Foraged Additions: Berries, pine cones, leaves,

Materials: wire, a frame, scissors

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2. Garland

With a little wire and patience, you can make beautiful, fresh garland from foraged material. Simply arrange your trimmings and then start securing it with floral wire. Use one piece of wire to give the garland strength, especially important if you intend to hang it as seen in this photo. If you’re decking a railing or mantle, then you can use the wire on individual pieces and secure directly to the structure itself.  Add in ornaments, pine cones, ribbon, lights, etc. but skip the plastic. Your house will smell and look amazing!

Megan Gilger has fantastic easy DIY garland instructions on The Fresh Exchange Blog

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This simple, elegant planter by Pam from the House of Hawthornes blog is ridiculously easy to make.

 

3. Porch/Exterior Planters

It is so simply to add a little holiday spirit to your entry way or porch by pulling together a quick planter. I can’t stress how simple yet striking these can be. All you really need is a decent pot or urn. Fill it with dirt, old potting soil, rocks, sand, or the foam blocks from the store… literally anything to help the material stay in the way you want it to be arranged.

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4. Finishing touches and small details

Honestly, at Christmas I cover just about every surface imaginable with festive decor. If nothing else, gather some pine cones, trimmings, and holly berries and use them to decorate place settings, mantles, windows, etc.; put that Christmas foliage anywhere you see fit!

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Truthfully, it is so simply and rewarding to go outside and collect some materials that are probably destined for the yard refuse pile/bag anyway and decorate for the holidays with it. A few clippings from your pine tree, some pine cones, some holly… you can literally just lay it on your mantle and it will look festive and elegant. It’s really a win win win win: clean your yard, prune your bushes, get some fresh air, save some money, and have beautiful decor to impress guests! To help your homemade foraged goods last longer, you can spray them with an anti-desiccant but it’s not really necessary. I’ve found my live decor to last the entire month of December (we do keep the house pretty cool though). Here are some tips to keep your creations looking fresh. Exterior fixtures are the easiest to keep looking fresh and will require no attention aside from straightening after a strong wind. So get out there, collect some items, and start creating! This new holiday tradition will be enjoyed by the whole family and we hope to see some festive entryways a we finish up for the season!

Winter Prep: Fall To Do List

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Remember feeling overwhelmed this past spring because it felt like there was so much to do? Clean out garden beds, bring in fresh soil, weed, plant, water, prune, edge, the list goes on and on. We have some great news for you: it doesn’t have to be that hard! We have compiled a to do list so that when spring comes next year, you’re not in the weeds (literally and figuratively). There are steps you can take now that will have your lawn and garden perfectly prepared to sustain and thrive over the winter so that in the spring your lawn looks great and the beds are all prepped and awaiting beautification.

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  1. Test your soil

Testing your soil now and adding any necessary amendments will ensure that once spring arrives the grass will have the nutrients it needs to grow thick and full. Give your grass a head start next spring by improving the soil now.

  2. Aerate

To encourage root development in the spring, aerate your lawn now so that it is able to absorb water and nutrients all winter creating healthy soil for spring growth.

  3. Remove fallen leaves

We’ve said it before but we’ll say it again, leaves left on your lawn invite disease, mold, and suffocate the lawn. Make sure they’re cleared before the snow arrives.


 

 

 


 

4. Clean up rotting plants from gardens

Like leaves, letting old plants rot in your garden beds not only looks bad but also invites disease, fungus, and pests. If you wait until spring to clean out the garden, then any pests that overwintered or laid eggs on those old plants will already have had the chance to infest your garden.

5. Weed

Removing weeds now will position you for much less work in the spring. Again, waiting until spring to weed will give the weeds a chance to thrive and will make your spring and summer job much harder. Especially important is to remove the invasive weeds that root deep… the ones that you can’t dig up without damaging surrounding plants in the summer.

 

 

6. Plant cover crops

This tip applies more to vegetable gardens and beds…Planting cover crops will not only help keep unwanted weeds down but it will also improve the soil. Cover crops add nitrogen, increase organic material in your soil, and help prevent erosion.

7. Mulch

Mulching in the fall or early winter is a huge time saver and benefit to your garden. Mulch helps to retain moisture, regulate soil temperature, improve the soil as it breaks down, will give new growth in early spring a buffer against the cold, and inhibits new weed growth. Your plants will thank you for the warm blanket in the spring.

8. Clean and sharpen tools, service small engines

To prevent spreading any diseases to your plants next season, clean all your tools now before putting them away. Have your lawn mower winterized and get your snow blower ready for the winter.


 

 

Sustainable Leaf Composting

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Ever wondered what happens to all those leaves we haul away? We at 855-RI-LAWNS are incredibly proud and happy to partner with Earth Care Farm to ensure that this organic material is used sustainably to produce compost. Earth Care Farm reroutes tons of leaves, wood chips, food scraps, and coffee grinds which would normally end up sitting in a landfill somewhere and turn it all into nutrient rich compost. It is this very compost that we use whenever we do soil amendments or lawn renovations! They are Rhode Island’s oldest operating farm composter and are a vital member in our community. The service they provide not only redirects items typically sent to a landfill but it also gives homeowners a better option than the pollution laden method of burning leaves. 

 

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We know it can be tempting to rake all those leaves into a heaping pile and burn them, but, while it might be fun for kids especially, it is not a sustainable solution to yard waste. Rather than returning the beneficial organic matter back to the earth in the form of nutrient rich compost, you release harmful toxins and pollution into the air. According to ecologist, Luke Curtis,

Burning a ton of leaves will produce about 117 pounds of carbon monoxide, 41 pounds of particulates (most of them smaller than 10 microns and easily absorbed in the lungs), and at least seven highly carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

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The Washington State Department of Ecology notes that smoke from burning yard waste can be just as harmful as cigarette smoke. Yikes. Burning leaves was a fun pastime, but so was riding in the car without a seatbelt or a carseat. We know better now, so we owe it to our kids to do better.

Unfortunately, it’s also not as simple as letting all those leaves decompose on their own in your flower beds. We talked about this in a blog post a couple years back. Fallen leaves will hold up to five times their weight in water, rivaling even peat moss in water retention levels. Since they retain so much water, these leaves will increase acidity levels and can smother and promote fungal diseases in the lawn underneath. You could pile it all up in the backyard somewhere and wait for the magic to happen, but the resulting dirt will not be the black gold that Earth Care Farm produces.

 

They have been turning organic waste into compost since 1977! The process has been fine tuned over all those years and the resulting compost speaks for itself. The care they take in their process is evident and described here:

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All ingredients are mixed and turned in an aerobically-managed compost process on our farm. We compost the blended ingredients for approximately 1 year to ensure a well cured and finished product. The final production step is the screening of our finished compost to a particle size of 1/2″ or less.  The screened compost then cures an additional 6 months, resulting in a final product that is approximately 18 months old. 

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With such a meticulous and lengthy process, it’s easy to understand how leaves, food scraps, coffee grinds, animal manure, wood shavings, etc could become the fine, rich soil that it does. We know first hand the benefits that this compost provides when used on lawns and gardens. That’s why we use it in our lawn renovations, organic fertilization program, and whenever we amend soil. We are so lucky to have such a wonderful farm in our community and we are happy support them as a business, vital community members, and environmental stewards.

New England Grasses

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855-RI-LAWNS received a call about a lawn emergency.

After our renovation, the lawn looks lush and inviting.

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Here in New England, late summer and early fall are the ideal time to plant grass seed. Cool season grasses are best for our climate and their cycle naturally results in fastest growth when the air temperature is cooler. Planting now will result in fast growth followed by a dormancy period during winter during which the grass will devote it’s energy to establishing a strong, healthy root system. The result for you will be a beautiful, lush, thick lawn in the spring. Selecting the appropriate grass type is important. One must consider your soil health, the intended use of the space (level of traffic), sunlight, and desired maintenance schedule. We’ll break down some of the best turf grasses for New England to make your choice simple and straight forward.

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Kentucky Bluegrass

 

This dark green turf grass grows thick and is exceptionally tolerant of the cold and high traffic. It is moderately tolerant of drought and heat. It is a relatively high maintenance grass as it requires more fertilizer than other cool season grasses, is susceptible to many diseases, and produces a significant amount of thatch (requiring dethatching ever year or two). Most varieties of KBG require a fair amount of sun, though there are some shade tolerant types.

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This grass is ideal for over seeding since it germinates quickly and establishes a strong root system efficiently. It can out compete other grasses so is often used in smaller percentages when mixing with other types of grass. While quite tolerant of cold and wear, it does not tolerate drought or shade well, although there are some varieties which can tolerate light shade. Several varieties contain fungal endophytes which help to ward off many bugs and help make the grass more tolerant of drought.

Perennial Rye Grass

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Fine Fescues

 

There are several varieties of fine fescue grasses all of which lend themselves well to blending and are low maintenance. They are all tolerant of drought and shade and require little fertilization, as they can adapt well to most soil types. They produce minimal thatch and are not prone to many diseases. These grasses do not however tolerate high traffic well, which is why they are frequently blended with other more high traffic tolerant grass.

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UMASS Amherst’s Extension Turf Program has a convenient table of different blends and their ideal use.

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If you want professional help, we’d be happy to asses your lawn damage and it’s needs. Depending on the type of lawn damage and the extent of it, we can recommend one or a group of treatments and amendments. Lawn treatments may vary from the simple addition of an amendment such as lime or a grub control to slice seeding or aerating or to the more labor intensive lawn renovation from either seed, hydroseed or sod. We always inform the homeowner of the benefits and drawbacks of every suggestion.

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Before lawn renovation
Completed job by 855-RILAWNS

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Backyard Apple Growing

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One of my favorite past times is going apple picking at one of the many Rhode Island orchards. I can remember being so shocked by the varieties grown here in Rhode Island. “What? There’s more than just McIntosh, Granny Smith, Fuji, Gala, and Honey Crisp?!” Our economy favors monocultures and of the thousands of varieties which exist, only about 5 different types of apples can be found in most grocery stores. This lack of biodiversity makes plants more susceptible to disease, fungus, and bugs. Thus, most small scale orchards host a much larger variety of species both for economic and environmental reasons. If you have visited local orchards and ever wondered if you could grow apples in your own backyard, then we have a few tips and tricks which should help your venture be fruitful. 

1. You don’t need an orchard!

Apple trees do not necessarily require acres to grow. Dwarf apple trees need as little as 4-8 ft and other full size varieties require about 15-20 ft. Dwarf apple trees lend themselves well to creating a practical hedgerow when grown flat against a lattice or even an existing fence, this is called an espalier. A note here that dwarf varieties are notorious for uprooting and actually need a sturdy something to support them. Just imagine, you could add a tasty and sightly natural fence in your yard!

 
2. Biodiversity is your friend!
You may already know but it’s fairly important to have more than one apple tree for pollination purposes. You may get lucky if you’ve chosen the right variety and/or your neighbor has some apple trees, but many varieties are sterile and those that aren’t will benefit from cross pollination. In addition to yielding more fruit, it’s a good idea to have several apple trees of different varieties for health reasons. This will help ensure that if one of your trees is afflicted by a disease or fungus, your other trees of a different species will be unaffected and able to survive.

3. Organic is hard, but worth it.

According to The Farmer’s Almanac, “many gardeners who swear off pesticides find they need to find, at minimum, an acceptable annual spray treatment for a decent crop.” As mentioned, pollination is an important part of our love affair with apples. Spraying apple blossoms with pesticides while relying on bees to grow said apples is both cruel and unusual. Although apples can be prone to disease, fungus, and pests, it is worth using the many tried and true natural methods to grow your fruit. It’s not only better for you and your neighbors but makes a remarkable difference in the health of our environment. To quote my 2 year old daughters favorite book, Bee and Me by Elle J. McGuiness:

“if it weren’t for us bees, why the plants would be gone. No more peaches. No cherries. No trees to climb on. There’d be no more apples, no flowers to smell. Still, you humans decide you don’t like us that well.”

Most local nurseries will have a variety of species to choose from but mail order sites are an option as well. If you plant an apple tree from seed, then it will likely take 8-10 years before you can taste the fruit of your efforts, so we recommend starting with a young tree from a nursery. All the planting techniques outlined in last months blog are applicable to fruit trees, so reference that and The Farmers Almanac when planting. You’ll need good, well-drained soil, at least 6 hours of sun, and a lot of water at first. I assure you though, this hard work will pay off when you’re kids and grandkids are out crunching apples next year and for years to come. Not to mention the pride you’ll feel when you show up to Thanksgiving with a homemade, home grown apple pie.

 

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