Landscape Articles | Maintenance and Care

A beautiful, healthy lawn is an investment in your home’s curb appeal that is important to protect. In New England, the summer season is when your lawn is showcased and should appear at its best.

This time of year is when our lawns can look particularly lush and inviting. But, if not very careful, homeowners can find themselves with a very serious weed problem on their hands, quickly discovering that lawn care ...

This time of year, many of us drag out our hoses and sprinklers in an effort to keep our lawns lush and inviting, only to find ourselves mowing down the fresh growth a few days later.

These days, rising grocery store prices are impacting everyone’s wallets — and they’re showing no signs of coming down any time soon. That means if you’re like many people, you are searching for ways to stretch your ...

With a large lawn comes a huge amount of upkeep. Between mowing, weeding, fertilizing and other lawn care chores, you can spend hours each week caring for a large swathe of grass. A huge grassy area may seem ...

Spring and summer are by far the busiest times in the garden, but just because the weather has turned cooler doesn’t mean it’s time to hang up those gardening gloves just yet. There are a lot of tasks that can be ...

Before the mass adoption of chemical pesticides, fertilizers, and mechanized farming equipment in the early 20th century, people had to rely on more natural methods of cultivating plants. Prior to these changes, ...

For an environmentally conscious gardener, managing your garden during a drought is a constant battle between needing to conserve water and keeping your parched plants alive. Drought is often paired with heat waves ...

Home lawn care has been a subject of human interest since around the 11th century, with the Japanese sodding areas around their gardens with turf grasses taken from livestock fields. Since then, with the introduction of ...

There are few better feelings than getting outside and getting lost in your garden. No matter what the task at hand involves, from pruning and weeding to ensure your beds look beautiful, it’s an amazing feeling to ...

In part one of our series comparing ecological cleanups with traditional ones, we discussed the differences between ecological and conventional landscaping. In the second part, we reviewed some of the specific processes ...

We live in a time when humans have a tremendous impact on the environment with agriculture and industry. This is especially true in developed countries – according to research by the University of Michigan, we would ...

Pruning is one of those gardening techniques that many people overcomplicate. While pruning does help a plant grow strong, healthy, and in the proper direction, that doesn’t mean it has to be a complex undertaking that ...

A common misconception we see among homeowners is that it takes tons of time and effort to build and then maintain a yard that provides enjoyment. Many people mistakenly believe that they don’t have enough spare time to ...

A skilled builder can add features like decks, hardscaping, and other attractive structures that make your home better both aesthetically and functionally. Ideally, you want your home’s construction features to ...

With the warmer weather of summer now here to stay in Massachusetts, homeowners will soon start seeing sprouts and seedlings from their early season plantings, if they haven’t already. As your yard grows, it’s important ...

Everyone loves having a healthy yard that is capable of growing many types of interesting, vibrant shrubs and trees. Unfortunately, the presence of unsightly weeds is one of the drawbacks of having a yard that can ...

Now that we’re into June and the summer solstice is only a few weeks away, it’s time for the Earth to show us its natural beauty in the form of colorful, vibrant shrubs and trees. Yet we’ve found that this is also a ...

After battling the forces of winter into the early part of May, it appears to finally be time for consistent warm weather here in Massachusetts! We’ve been dealing with the cold longer than normal this year, which can ...

Using organic methods to take care of your lawn isn’t just better for the environment - it may also be safer for human health. This past summer, a terminally ill former groundskeeper in San Francisco was awarded a $250 ...

In the fall, changing leaves bring the year’s last few splashes of color as flowers, shrubs, and other plants start to become dormant for winter. Even though spring and summer are the main bloom times, there are many ...

Growing vegetables and other edible plants is one of the most rewarding forms of gardening. You get to enjoy the fruits of your labor - literally - with fresh food, spices, and herbs that can be used in delicious meals. ...

Now is the time of year when cold weather approaches and spring blooms are mostly gone. But just because it’s not the beginning of the season doesn’t mean you have no interest in your yard to look forward to. With some ...

With Labor Day now behind us, it’s time to wrap up summer and start preparing for autumn. Though the hot weather is still hanging around right now, before you know it the temperatures will drop and you’ll need a jacket ...

In our previous blog post, we touched on methods to choose, arrange, and support healthy shrubs and trees in your yard. For this post, we will be talking about ways to maintain your yard over the long run. We’ll also ...

In a July 2018 meeting, the Massachusetts Drought Management Task Force declared that the state of Massachusetts was free of drought conditions. This is a sigh of relief for residents of the state who remember the ...

Every yard will eventually face pest problems. Caterpillars stripping leaves in your new vegetable garden and fungus that causes root rot in flowers and shrubs are only a couple of examples of the extensive damage that ...

Once summer hits and you’ve finished all of the work you had planned for spring, it can be tempting to spend your free time enjoying the sun and letting your yard do its own thing. While your yard doesn’t need as much ...

Soil, seeds, and sunlight may be the foundation for a healthy and fruitful garden, but without proper care and attention, you won’t be able to grow the beautiful shrubs and flowers you want. With the right tools for ...

Landscapes that have been properly and professionally designed, installed, and maintained have a pleasing and consistent appearance. Of course the visual will change with the seasons, but it will always be inviting, ...

Growing your own food is healthy, reduces your environmental footprint, and can even reduce stress and improve your mood. But before you jump into buying supplies for a vegetable garden, you’ll want to do some planning. ...

The arrival of March means we are just weeks away from consistently warm weather here in the Massachusetts area. While we’ll certainly see some colder days, it’s also time to start preparing for the spring season. ...

4 Tips to Prepare Your Garden for Warmer Weather Think you can’t garden just because it’s cold outside? Think again! While you may not be able to put in the long, peaceful afternoons in the yard like you can in the ...

Soil is the foundation for a great yard. Without the right soil, you’ll never be able to create a thriving outdoor environment that gives you relaxation, attracts beautiful wildlife, and supports the local habitat. Yet ...

If you’re in the process of creating a new landscaping plan and want a garden that is not only beautiful but good for the environment, you may be thinking about organic methods. There’s an entire movement focused on ...

Water conservation is important: it helps preserve limited natural resources, conserves energy, and saves you money. A properly engineered drip irrigation system can give your plants the exact amount of water that they ...

Perhaps you just bought a new house and want to be sure you maintain your yard sustainably, or you want to transition to organic landscaping to reduce your environmental footprint. Before you start, read this guide to ...

Organic lawn care is not only better for your yard, it improves the environment and human health. But what are the differences between chemical and organic lawn care products? Is there ever a time to use chemical ...

We all know how important it is to take care of the planet, but you may be wondering what you can do to improve your practices. One easy step is to use organic landscaping methods. Adopting these habits is much simpler ...

Being outside, interacting with nature, and actively gardening are beneficial for both emotional and physical health. Simply being in nature can enliven your well-being, and is a welcome break from a sedentary workplace ...

Being from New England I have seen many snow and ice storms come through. It’s important to keep in mind both personal and public safety with winter weather. State workers and highway departments take care of snow ...

Anyone who has installed an impressive landscape of any size knows how much work it can be to keep it up properly. The fact of the matter is that few of us have enough time to get the work done and then have time to ...

When it comes to relaxing in an environment that you find peaceful and inviting, few places can hold a candle to being on your own property and in your own home. Even if you travel to exotic locations and have seen ...

Winter sun, wind, and cold temperatures can damage bark, injure or kill branches, flower buds, and roots. Snow and ice can break branches and ruin entire trees. Winter food shortages force some rodents and deer to feed ...

February is halfway over!! This means it's time to start looking for early signs of spring! There is nothing I love more than looking out from my home office window and seeing a glimmer of hope for warm weather ...