Tag Archives: Annapolis

Hardscaping Explained

Hardscaping is becoming increasingly popular because it is low maintenance and in times of water shortage, it does not require water at all. While most people use a combination of softscaping and hardscaping in their designs, it is not too uncommon, especially in desert areas, to see a landscape entirely made up of hardscaping elements.

A beautiful outdoor space can make all the difference in how a business or home is perceived. It is called curb appeal, and beautiful curb appeal usually means beautiful landscaping. What many people may not realize that landscaping is divided into two categories. Softscaping is all the living elements in the landscape, such as grass, trees, flowers, and other plants. Hardscaping is the other element of landscaping and includes everything that is not alive. Rock, pavers, waterfalls, driveways, walkways, and retaining walls are all hardscaping. Even wood, although it was once alive, is considered an element of hardscaping.

There are several benefits to hardscaping. One is that it is so low maintenance. It requires little time and effort on your part to keep it beautiful. It is not something you have to water every night, and on hot days when softscaping elements wilt, hardscaping features will not. Another benefit is that hardscaping, for the most part, is permanent.

When planning the layout of the area you will be landscaping, it may be easier to plan your hardscape features first, especially if there are things like large boulders or walls that are too big to move. Design your layout around features like these to compliment them. The next step would be planning where other hardscape elements will go, such as walls or pathways, so that you can arrange the softscape elements to compliment the layout.

Finding a balance between hardscaping and landscaping so that they work together and compliment each other is the key to having a beautiful landscape. For more information on hardscaping or if you are interested in an estimate, check out https://www.ciminellislandscape.com/services/hardscaping/.

Ciminelli’s Green Roofs and Green Walls

A green wall or a green roof may have little to do with paint color but it has a lot to do with the aesthetics of your home. The green concept is derived from its integration of plants and living foliage into the design and structure of the wall and roof itself. In essence, nature becomes the wall and roof itself creating a living and growing part of your home.

Not only are they a beautiful living work of art, they provide tangible benefits to the home in which they thrive. The addition of natural greenery has a cooling effect on the area surrounding it because of the plants natural carbon dioxide exchange. This same exchange process also purifies the air inside of the home creating a safer and healthier place to breathe.

Green roofs and walls also provide a comprehensive benefit during the rainy fall and spring months by reducing water runoff. The living structure works to absorb the excess water around the home. The complex structure also serves as a highly efficient filtration system filtering out harmful pollutants.

Green roofs provide a unique variety of benefits to the home. Conventional roofs are traditionally the greatest source of heat loss due to inadequate insulation. A green roof is a natural insulator and can reduce the need for air conditioning by over 75% in some regions. For regions prone to fire, a green roof may provide the perfect solution due to its significantly lower burning heat load.

Choosing to integrate a green roof or green wall into your home can be a richly beneficial process especially when working with professionals who care about these benefits for homeowners. Matt Ciminelli of Ciminelli’s Landscape Services, Inc. specializes in green roofs and green walls for exactly this reason. One of the first professional groups to achieve the Green Roof Professional Accreditation, Matt utilizes his dedication to best practices, superior design, and quality installation to bring the best in green roofs and walls home to you. Contact Ciminelli’s Landscape to discover how green walls and a green roof can radically reshape the home you live in.

Landscape Lighting: Practical and Attractive Solutions

Landscape lighting makes a dramatic difference in the appearance of the lawn and garden, giving the home or business’ exterior space an inviting glow. Various lights placed strategically can make the outdoors magical or floodlight yard art or objects such as a patriotic flag. Then, the lighting is practical helping to provide the safety of light to lawns, walkways and other outdoor areas. Beautiful and practical, many home and business owners choose some type of lighting for their outdoor space.

Uses for Landscape Lighting

Here are some of the many uses for lights outdoors:

– To highlight a doorway

– To light a pathway

– To spotlight a fountain, flag or other object

– To outline the driveway

– To light up a garden

– To bring light to a gazebo

Enlightening Outdoor Entertaining

At home residences, people who like to entertain in the evenings often install lighting for their lawn, garden, patio or front porch. They want their guests to feel welcome even before they enter the home. Also, they do not want anyone to stumble around in the dark and hurt themselves. Lights help make the yard and driveway safe.

Then for warm nights, outdoors entertainment can be perfect. The evening can be spent on a patio, gazebo or walking about the garden. Cookouts and catered affairs, weddings and other celebrations are wonderful in a lighted yard and garden. The ideas for outdoor entertaining are endless.

Landscape Lighting Goes Green

Many lights for outdoors are energy efficient and environmentally friendly. LED lights use up to 90% less than electric lighting. Solar lights are powered by the sunshine, and battery lanterns use battery power to stay lit. These lighting solutions can be purchased inexpensively.

Enhancing the Landscape with Lighting

The outdoors environment is much more inviting when lit in the evenings, and the lights can be installed for safety and practical reasons. People enhance their landscape with creative lighting solutions that are reasonably priced and glowingly attractive.

Customer Testimonials

Thank you for beautiful transformation in our back yard. It’s gorgeous! Jose – you and your crew were very professional, courteous and innovative. The craftsmanship and detail you put into the stone work and grill were top notch! We look forward to many years of entertaining back there.

The Bergman’s

 

Just a short note to tell you how happy we are with our new front yard. Your crew were courteous and excellent workers. I was so impressed by their initiative. They all took pride in their work. Thank you so much!

Carol and Arnie

 

Thank you very much for all your help with the driveway project. It came out great and we are very pleased with it!

Brian and Sue

Get Ready– Winter is Coming

Bulbs Out, Bulbs In – Winterize A Flower Garden
Remove flowering bulb plants like gladiola and cannas from flower beds before the first frost. Store them indoors in brown paper bags in a moderately warm spot. Plant flowering bulb plants like tulips, belles of the snow, hyacinth and daffodils in autumn.

Pruning Trees And Shrubs With Care
Prune rose bushes and other shrubs with overgrowth before a first frost. Remove all dead limbs and branches from trees and flowering trees in autumn. This is a safety feature during wind storms and heavy snows and also encourages new growth when spring arrives. If trees or shrubs need transplanting to another location, this is the best time of the year to do that. Be sure to ball the roots with native soil before replanting.

Moderate Maintenance Protects Plants And Trees
Mulching plants with a lower tolerance for sub-zero temperatures is the best way to protect them. Mulch can be purchased at most local garden shops. Dried autumn leaves are a natural mulch that nature provides as a covering for soil and plants. Pine needles also help to retain sufficient soil temperatures. Many gardeners find this an economical way to protect their flower gardens.

Winterize The Lawn
Part of the winterizing process should include the lawn. In late summer, make certain the lawn bed has been sufficiently cleared of matted grass. When the first signs of cooler temperatures arrive, it’s time to finish the season with a last layer of fertilizer. Fertilizing lawns in mid-autumn allows the soil to absorb nutrients until the first frost when the lawn begins to lay dormant. This is also a good time to keep weeds in check with an end-of-season weed retardant.

Storing Garden Tools and Other Outdoor Maintenance
Before storing garden tools and watering hose make sure they have been wiped free of debris. Some tools may require a little oil at this time. Remove gasoline from lawn mowers and make sure the underside is free of dead grass and debris. Don’t forget to shut off the exterior water faucet to protect it from ice buildup.

Why Good Drainage is Important for Every Landscape

While it may not be as apparent or beautiful as garden pathways and blooming trees, good drainage is just as important to make any landscape attractive and functional. In fact, without proper drainage, all of the funds spent on beautifying the landscape could be wasted when it erodes or drowns due to improper drainage.

The greatest danger of not having good drainage installed in the landscape is erosion. Throughout the year, rainfall and other precipitation will cause soil runoff in the yard which will literally carry landscaping away with it. Besides wasting money spent on beautiful yards and gardens, erosion can actually decrease the value of the property by lessening yard area and creating sloping ground. Over time, this is especially dangerous near houses or other buildings as it can cause foundations to shift or sink, making the building unsafe to inhabit and leading to expensive home repairs.

If improper drainage is not causing unwanted erosion and runoff, it can still ruin property by collecting in soil and creating standing water puddles. Too much standing water will easily drown grass and other plants, killing vegetation that was intended to make the property more beautiful. Even worse, these puddles of still water can easily become a breeding ground for unwanted insects like mosquitoes. These pests are not only annoying to humans, but they can also transmit harmful diseases to people, pets, and plants nearby. Too much moisture in the soil will cause plant roots to become susceptible to fungus and mold as well.

Good drainage in a landscape will prevent all of these dangers, and also ensure the health and longevity of landscaping. Best of all, professional landscapers have many options for installing drainage solutions that will add to the overall attractiveness of the landscape. Effective drainage is a subtle but crucial way to keep that landscaping looking beautiful for years to come.

Eco Friendly Landscaping

A dirty secret surrounding landscaping is that while the process can make a lawn look stunning, it also has a negative impact on the environment. A lot of landscapers use harsh chemicals and equipment that is anything but energy efficient. If you want to improve the appearance of your yard without harming Mother Nature, you need to find a landscaper that is devoted to minimizing environmental impact. Ciminelli’s Landscape Services uses the following techniques to ensure that all landscaping is eco friendly:

Pervious Surfaces

Although traditional pavement provide a hard surface for cars to drive on, they do not allow rainwater to seep into the ground. Instead, storm water drainage systems must be used to remove surface water. As excess runoff makes its way to the sewer system, it picks up fertilizer, oil, salt and other toxins. These increase pollution and decrease water quality. Pervious surfaces are capable of absorbing several gallons of rainwater every minute. While the concrete of traditional pavement is filled with sand, the space between concrete matter is left open in pervious driveways. This allows rainwater to seep through.

A lot of customers are initially put off by the higher upfront cost required for installing pervious driveways. Although the initial cost is somewhat higher than that of traditional driveways, pervious surfaces can actually save you money in the long run. Pervious driveways last much longer than traditional pavement, meaning that you will not have to have your driveway repaved as often.

Green Roofs and Walls

Not only are green roofs and walls environmentally friendly, they are absolutely stunning. This technique especially looks nice in an urban setting where there is little room for trees and shrubs. These living walls are also quite economical, as they naturally help to cool off the home during the summer months, while increasing a roof life by as much as 50 percent. Green roofs and walls help to filter out pollutants from runoff, while also reducing the overall level of runoff.

Through the use of pervious surfaces and green walls, your home and yard can help keep the environment pristine, while reducing your energy bill and the cost of maintenance.

Beneficial Garden Insects

When planning your eco-friendly garden it is important to consider the essential role insects play in protecting your plants. While all gardens have insects, it is important to remember that not all insects are harmful predators looking to eat your plants and flowers and that many insects serve as garden protectors by feasting on the insects looking to destroy your plants. Gardeners and landscapers who indiscriminately use harmful insecticides will kill both the beneficial insects as well as the harmful ones. A good landscaper or gardner knows how to cultivate and use insects to create a natural environment where helpful insects are fostered and encouraged to take on the job of ridding the garden of harmful insects themselves rather than relying on caustic chemicals to do so. An experienced landscaper knows how to recognize and foster the following beneficial insects in his or her garden.

Green Lacewings. Many gardens have aphid problems. However, a landscaper can fend off a potential aphid infestation by making sure that his or her garden has plenty of these little predators. While the adult Lacewing does not eat aphids the larvae do, and do so voraciously. They are so adept at hunting and eating aphids they have been given the nickname “aphid lions.”

Lady Bugs. This common and beloved insect is quite the predator. It regularly feasts on mites, aphids, mealybugs and more. While Lady Bugs are commonly found in many gardens, if you have recently begun experimenting with eco-friendly landscaping and find your garden lacking then they can easily be purchased through mail-order or through a gardening or landscaping supply store.

Praying Mantis. This unusual looking predator feasts on some of the larger garden pests including caterpillars and beetles, making them a nice garden addition. However, they will also eat helpful insects such as Lady Bugs.

With the addition of these beneficial garden insects and more, soon you will be able to enjoy a garden where those buggy little plant and vegetable garden predators are kept in check without having to resort to toxic chemicals.

Landscaping in Late Summer

If you want to make your home even more beautiful on the outside, you should consider landscaping your home. Landscaping can add a lot of appeal to even the smallest homes and in some cases can even add to the value of the property that your home is on. If you are considering landscaping, there are a few things to keep in mind. One of the most important things is that time of year that you want to do your landscaping in. Some plants can only be planted at certain times of the year and if you plant them at other times they have a less chance of surviving.

Last summer is a great time to landscape because there is a lot of different things that you can do to insure that when next spring comes, your yard will be blooming with beautiful arrangements to make everyone take a long look at your yard. Late August isn’t good for planing, but it is great for the maintenance on your yard so that you can be sure to have a beautiful yard next season.

Use the late summer months to do your weed control and trimming of branches and bushes. You can also use this time to plan out anything you may want to do in September or to start looking at your plans for next year. Don’t over fertilize your plants during this time. Many people think that since some of their plants are not looking very good that they should fertilize more, but this isn’t going to do much good. Make sure that your plants stay watered especially if you live in a place with a hot and dry climate during this time of the year.

It’s also a great time to recondition your yard. You can use a good stiff rake and add a fresh layer of topsoil to make sure that things will be nice and healthy for next season. You can add grass seeds now as well so that your lawn will grown in rich and thick next season. Try to stay away from planting flowers because the heat and upcoming cool weather will just kill them off and not give them a chance to get rooted well.

Native Plantings

For the gardnener who is willing to take a walk on the wild side, landscaping with native plants may be the perfect outlet. With so much emphasis being placed on having manicured lawns and hedges that are neat and well-defined, native plants and trees are often rejected in favor of popular non-natives.

Native Plants Have Staying Power
Indigenous plants adapt to changes in their environment and manage to hang in there from season to season. This means that native require less special treatment to maintain heartiness when used in landscaping and often require less water and fertilizer. Some plants present beautiful flowers in spring to attract pollinating insects then produce fruit in the fall to feed birds and small mammals.

Going Native Benefits The Environment
Because native plantings require less water, gardeners who choose this type of landscaping can expect to reduce water usage significantly. With many municipalities issuing water conservation mandates, using native plants is one way to comply and still enjoy beautiful landscaping.

Native Plantings and Wildlife
Real estate developments often misplace wildlife and when the native plants that they depend upon are destroyed, these animals often relocate. Getting rid of certain critters may be desirable in some ways but such migration often causes an imbalance in the number and type of other pests that are left behind. Birds often use native plants for food and shelter. Eastern Red Cedar trees, for example, are known to attract the Northern Mockingbird, Purple Finch, and the Downy Woodpecker. Many birds feed on specific types of insects which reproduce on certain types of plants. If the plants are destroyed, some insects will go missing and the birds who feed exclusively on them will as well. Also, such a population shift allows harmful insect populations to increase which then require pesticides to control.

Native Planting Adds Biodiversity
There are many native plants to choose from, including trees and flowering plants. Composites, or plants made up of many parts, are excellent for attracting beneficial insects. It is important to research what native plants are preferable before adding native plantings to any landscape.