Do you find it difficult to walk past the trays of live plants that start appearing in stores this time of year? Do you spend hours on Pinterest or Better Homes & Gardens daydreaming about projects for your yard? Do you have more ideas than you have time (or...
Everyone loves a beautiful yard. But not many people are expert Northern VA landscapers by trade. This leads to common errors when we try to make our homes and gardens more beautiful, but don’t worry, these mistakes are easy to avoid when you know what they are. ...
There are so many ways to use stone in your landscaping design that we can’t even begin to cover it all in this short article! Stone is magical – it provides so much structure, design, layers, and livelihood to a garden. It is sure to make your yard or garden look...
After a long winter, signs of spring brighten our days and give us hope for a fruitful season to come. Flowering dogwoods, native Eastern redbud trees, and cheerful daffodils speckle gardens and the sides of the road wherever you go. It’s rejuvenating to see these...
A retaining wall, like a house, is a utilitarian structure at its base. The practical uses of retaining walls are to prevent erosion, provide flat land for cultivation, and to fight against gravitational force to keep your land stable. Retaining walls can also be used...
Though many of us long for a simpler, less chaotic life, closer to nature and its rhythms, the fact remains that most of us are not farmers. So while you might know the difference between clay and sand, it’s no shame that you don’t know the difference between topsoil...
Mulch is mulch, is it not? Not exactly. Mulch is a basic term for the subset of organic products used to adorn and protect the ground in your garden; mulch helps to keep plants’ roots warm and nourished while improving the condition of the soil and reducing overall...
Winter is so grey. Most of the trees have shed their leaves and are showing only the pewter and cinnamon shades of their bark. The grass is faded to a bleached olive drab — when it’s not covered by snow, that is. And the slush and the salt stains only highlight how...
The old, drafty houses where the air whistled through on windy days had one significant advantage: the air in them was always fresh. Nowadays, ever-tightening insulation standards means that the homes with the best efficiency also need to have a fan circulating fresh...
For most people, the #1 attribute they look for in their landscaping is “ease of maintenance.” Few people have the time or inclination to deal with fussy landscape installations. And what could be lower maintenance than rocks? Nothing, that’s what. Still, people are...
Oak is a highly valued tree, and has been for thousands of years. It is rich in symbolism and cultural significance. Not only is it the national tree of the United States, it’s also the national tree of England, France, Germany, Poland, Wales, Cyprus, Estonia,...
It might seem a tad absurd to think about drought-tolerant landscaping options in Northern Virginia. We’re technically sub-tropical, you know! This isn’t Arizona — we get loads of rain! And we do — except when we don’t. In the heat of the summer, it might be muggy and...
