Dreaming of an Outdoor Living Area for Winter?

Who says being left out in the cold is a bad thing?  The best part of the changing weather is walking in a winter wonderland – especially when you’re in the comfort of your own backyard.  This year, decide to take advantage of the winter chill by expanding your outdoor living area.  Be surrounded by the best New Jersey landscaping in your neighborhood, and take in the beauty all winter long while remaining in comfort.

Here are some ways you, too, can enjoy your outdoor living area all year ‘round:

·       Plant something new – planting in fall/winter eliminates the need to weed, since weeds are usually dead by the time the weather cools.

·       Put in a firepit – the natural stone retaining walls will protect your indoor and outdoor living areas from unexpected flare ups, drifting ash and flyaway sparks.

·       Install an outdoor kitchen – this will keep your kitchen and curtains clean from the build-up of cooking grease that seems to accumulate so easily in winter.

·       Consider an outdoor fireplace – stone fireplaces can be designed to match your already existing décor, and provide a romantic getaway for cuddling – or a family-friendly evening of toasting marshmallows.

·       Update your lighting – lighting can change the ambiance of your entire backyard, while adding an extra measure of security to your home.

This year, there’s no need to look longingly at your lawn – because with the right preparation, you’ll be able to enjoy your outdoor spaces for the entire year!  So put on your mittens and grab a cup of your favorite hot cocoa, and allow yourself to be transformed by the beauty of your own home.  If you’re looking for ideas, Jersey Landscaping is the right place to find them!

Jersey Landscaping : How to Prepare your Landscape for Winter

The weather is changing.  It feels as though we just started fall and already it’s cold enough to be winter on some days.  As I have spent many years trying to beautify my landscape, I dread this time of year due to the amount of work involved – however it makes a difference.  There is so much clean up to be done before the NJ winter sets in and freezes over my property.  I have found that the better I prepare my lawn for winter, the better my spring landscape will look.  In the quest for the best NJ landscaping on my block, I have finally come up with a plan on how to prepare my lawn for winter!

What should I do to prepare my landscape for winter?

• Remove leaves that cover grass or plantings – since leaves can suffocate the underlying areas, they should be removed by blowing or raking away
• Remove plants that did not make it – sometimes weather and  location do not agree with the plant
• Prune overgrown shrubs – enhances the natural growth
• Remove branch limbs that have fallen – limbs coverings can also cause suffocation
• Winterized your sprinklers – with temperatures dropping, water should be drained
• Apply a winter feed fertilizer to your lawn – this provides nutrients that will help growth in the spring

 ALL of these steps are all critical in establishing a healthy and well kept nj landscape for winter and the following seasons.

Now take a look around at your clean outdoor areas - you are ready to consider your options for landscaping winter ideas!  Stay warm inside dreaming of what you will plant in the spring.  Let the fun begin – Jersey Landscaping can provide more ideas and tips on how to prepare your landscape for winter and beyond.

Jersey Landscaping : Outdoor Illumination

Don’t let your beautiful landscape disappear after dark.  As the nights are getting longer, take advantage and consider landscape lighting.  As you gaze out into your yard, your efforts should be highlighted.  Design lighting plans can highlight your landscape designs including gardens, walkways, and fire pits.  If you want to fully enjoy the beauty of your property with your family or friends at night, outdoor illumination should be considered.  There are many available options in design lighting plans.  You can chose to light a small area of maybe a walkway to your entire property.  The professionals at JerseyLandscape will help you select the best outdoor lighting system that will meet your needs and budget.  If you already invested in designing your landscape, you will want to enhance it for nighttime activities with lighting. 

Besides the visualization aspect of outdoor illumination, safety and security should be taken into account.  With landscape lighting, the areas into and surrounding your home can feel safe.  Lighting up your walkway will not only help you find the path to your home, it will let others know they can be seen.  Go to bed feeling secure that those you love inside your house will be safe with the outside areas light up.  Don’t give intruders the opportunity to invade your privacy.  Landscape lighting will not only brighten up your outside property, it will give you peace of mind.

Jersey Landscaping : Light your Yard with a Moonscape

There is a new trend in lighting your landscape - it is called Moonscaping.  There is nothing like the full moon shining over us – it creates a beautiful setting.  The atmosphere created from the natural moon can be duplicated through a custom outdoor lighting.  Landscape illumination can make your property feel almost magical.  Whether you are looking for peaceful surroundings to sit at night with your family or have a large gathering in your outdoor oasis – consider moonscape lighting.  You will be able to expand your living environment from your home out into your garden or backyard.  All of your efforts can be highlighted with custom outdoor lighting.  Nature is wonderful to look at during the day and there is no reason to miss out when it is dark. 

Custom outdoor lighting options are endless.  Jersey Landscaping can create and implement any landscape illumination for your home or business.  The team at Jersey Landscaping has tremendous experience in outdoor lighting.  They will help you not only in landscape design that can be viewed during the day, but will enhance your evening landscape with the best outdoor lighting system.  You will instantly feel tranquil with moonscape lighting – try it!  Don’t miss out - shine the light outside.  You will not have to wait for the full moon each month with moonscape lighting – every night can be a full moon.  Enjoy your property any time of day.

Jersey Landscaping : Light Up Your New Jersey Landscape Design with a Fire Pit

What better way to usher in autumn's chilly weather than by relaxing outdoors huddled around a flickering fire?  Of course for most of us, just piling up wood somewhere in the yard and starting a fire is not exactly the best option. An open fire is hard to control and is a real mess to clean up. You need a place that helps control the fire, and that’s safe and easy to clean up.  Homeowners who want the pleasures of an outside fire have discovered the value of a patio fire pit.

These days, homeowners are increasing the value of their homes and improving the relaxation potential of their backyards with fire pit landscaping. Patio fire pits offer a cozy natural gathering place where friends and family can roast marshmallows, drink nightcaps or simply gaze at the flames in solitary meditation. Patio fire pits, and those installed on your deck or elsewhere in your backyard, make it possible for you to enjoy an outdoor oasis night after night right in your own backyard. And with a wide variety of styles available to choose from, there's sure to be an outdoor fire pit that will suit your taste and complement your overall residential landscape design. 

So, what exactly is a fire pit? It’s basically any structure that contains and controls an exterior fire. Most fire pits are one to two feet high, and can be built in any shape desired by you and your residential landscape design company.  Although circular tends to be the most common shape, square, rectangular or even irregular structures can be attractive in different settings. Some fire pits burn wood and others burn propane or other gas. When you’re deciding which to go with, you’ll discover both types have pros and cons. Gas pits are instant start - instant stop, which is an excellent safety feature.  They’re easier to clean up because there are no ashes to dispose of, and they don’t leave you smelling like smoke after you’ve spent time near it. But the requirement of substantial pipe fitting and professional hookups for safety end up making gas pits quite expensive. Wood pits offer the look and feel of a true campfire. All you need is some fire wood and a spark, and you’re on your way. Of course, wood pits require a lot more nurturing and attention to keep the flames going.

Ultimately, how simple or elaborate the outdoor fire pit is will be determined mostly by your taste and budget. Whether you have your heart set on a simple outdoor fire pit or want to jazz up your outdoor space with enhanced features like an outdoor stone fireplace, statuary, stone wall or complete outdoor kitchen, New Jersey landscape design company Jersey Landscaping will work with you to create the landscape and hardscape you’ve always dreamed of -- and at a cost you can afford.

Jersey Landscaping : Keeping Deer out of Your NJ Landscape

One of the most common challenges any homeowner faces, regardless of where he or she lives, is keeping deer off the yard. A misplaced deer can do a season’s worth of damage, or more, in just a few minutes. Don’t let your New Jerseylandscaping efforts go to waste—following a few rules will go a long way towards keeping these gorgeous but pesky animals away from your plants and gardens!

—Make sure your most valuable plants and gardens are surrounded by a fence at least 10 feet high. There’s no need to build yourself a fortress by erecting a 10-foot high fence around the entire house, but make sure to protect your valuable plants and gardens. The fences need to be sturdy, obviously, and also entrenched in the ground so that the deer can’t burrow in and sneak through small holes.

—Welcome the deer into your backyard—with food that is located far from your favorite plants and gardens. There’s nothing wrong with meeting the deer halfway, so to speak, especially in the more rural areas of New Jersey where deer are plentiful. Place deer-friendly foods such as apples, corn, mushrooms, nuts, peas and sweet potatoes in your yard but far away from the areas you are trying to protect.

—Use a combination of motion sensors and compact discs as a deer deterrent. Sounds like an odd deer prevention team, but the motion sensors will flash a light at the deer after sunset and a compact disc aimed at them during the day will send them running in the other direction.

You’ve worked hard to make your New Jersey landscaping something to be proud of. Don’t let the deer ruin it—protect your plants and flowers with these simple tips today!

Jersey Landscaping : New Jersey Residential Landscaping

The good thing about New Jersey residential landscaping is there is no limit to what you can do to enhance the appearance and value of your property—on either end of the spectrum. If you have enough money and time to hire a NJ landscaper and oversee the progress of a major overhaul of your outdoor spaces, that’s fantastic. Yet New Jersey landscaping design projects can also be tackled with a minimal amount of expense and effort.

In New Jersey, residential landscaping options are available for part or all of your spaces – from backyard gardens to property borders and curb-appeal-oriented entryways. In the front of your property, there are many projects that an experienced NJ landscaper can help you undertake. From something as simple and as uncomplicated as installing a walkway, to something more complex involving re-paving a driveway or adding fences and/or hedges, the scope and scale of the work is all up to you. These “mini-projects” can often be completed in as little as a weekend, yet they will give your home that brand-new feel and, if you choose fences and/or hedges, you’ll also get a little bit of much-wanted privacy and exclusivity.

It doesn’t take much to turn the back or side yard into an oasis free of the hustle and bustle of the busy street in front of your home. A little New Jersey residential landscaping can go a long way—begin your search for a qualified NJ landscaper to help you with your projects today!

Jersey Landscaping : Lawn Care In New Jersey

Lawn care in New Jersey is a more challenging endeavor than in other areas of the country. For better or worse, we get all four seasons here, which means our lawns take a beating in the winter and the spring and can endure feast or famine conditions during the long, hot and often dry summer. But don’t let Mother Nature intimidate you—New Jersey lawn care can be far more invigorating than frustrating!

Taking care of lawns in New Jersey requires attentiveness and determination. There can be no letting up in the upkeep and maintenance of the lawn once the elements attack it. That means constant raking of leaves and branches in the fall as well as cleaning the lawn once winter is over and picking up branches following windy days in the spring. Come summer, if drought-like conditions exist, homeowners must religiously water their lawns to ensure the grass and plants don’t die or consider one of the many options available for New Jersey residential irrigation systems installation.

Lawns that are free of debris will grow much faster—and remain healthier looking—than those that are strewn with debris. Lawn care in New Jersey certainly isn’t easy, but paying constant attention to your property will allow you to have a lawn you are proud of year-round!

Jersey Landscaping : Home Improvement Projects for the Outdoors

Home improvement projects don’t have to just take place inside! Indeed, you can put the summer months to good use by handling some projects in the front of the house that will make your property “pop” to visitors and make it feel like new to you as well! Here are some suggestions for outdoor home improvement projects to embark upon as the weather heats up:

—Pave the driveway. This is probably something you’ll have to hire somebody to complete, but few things enhance the appearance of a house as quickly as a freshly paved driveway. Add to the ambiance with paving stones along the edge of your new driveway or consider some decorative shrubbery or plantings at each corner.

—Build a new walkway. Looking for something to liven up the front yard? How about a walkway leading to the front door? You can use a variety of paving stones, in a myriad of colors and shapes. Either way, you’ll have a conversation piece for visitors—and, depending on where you place the walkway, a smaller lawn to mow!

—Build a low decorative wall or walls on each side of the driveway or renovate the ones that you already have. This is a project that will take most of the summer if you are building the walls from scratch, but what an eye-catcher it will be when it’s complete! This is something you’ll have as much fun planning as executing as you decide what kind of rock or stone should be featured in the wall.

Jersey Landscaping : Outdoor Home Improvements

It’s summer time and the living is easy—unless, of course, you have been waiting all year for summer to arrive so that you can tackle some home improvement projects. In that case, your work is just beginning! Don’t fret though—there are some outdoor home improvement projects that will enhance the appearance of your home while minimizing the amount of time you spend sweating in the hot sun!

—Pressure wash the house: Homeowners know their houses will get dirty—there’s no avoiding it—but accept it as a fact of life because washing a house isn’t as easy as washing a car. Well, that is true, but pressure washing the house is certainly something you can accomplish on your own with a minimal investment and in a minimal amount of time. Pressure washers retail for as little as $100 and will quite literally make your house look like new.

—Paint the house: Maybe not the whole thing, but touching up the areas of the house seen most often by visitors—the outside stairs, porches and decks—will really make your home stand out from the rest. This is also something you can accomplish in the early morning or post-dinner hours, before and after the hottest temperatures of the day.

—Stain the house: If you don’t want to paint the house, a good staining of the decks, porches and stairs can bring out the natural color of the wood and protect it from the elements in the same amount of time it takes to paint those parts of the property.

—And of course, landscape! Don’t forget to feed, weed and fertilize your flower beds, vegetable garden, or any other water feature or landscape design you want to keep looking its best all year long.

Jersey Landscaping : Creating a BBQ pit

One of the best parts of summer is backyard barbeques. But as good as it is to throw some hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill, you can make summer’s finest tradition even better—and broaden your menu choices—by building a BBQ pit in your backyard!

Building a BBQ pit sounds like a daunting task, and it’s certainly tougher than buying a grill at the store. But it’s a rewarding endeavor that can be accomplished by anyone with a little bit of patience, a little bit of time and a good plan. The latter is the most important part—a BBQ pit will become a permanent part of your backyard, so you don’t want to make a mistake or change your mind about a design halfway through.

Know how big a pit you want to build—the most popular measurement for a BBQ pit is 24 inches in diameter by 18 inches deep. Most BBQ pits are made of brick, which means the pit will need a sturdy base such as cinderblock. Most importantly, make sure it is built in a wide-open area. You don’t want trees or parts of the house hanging over the BBQ pit and creating a potentially hazardous situation.

One important element people often forget in building a BBQ pit is how difficult it can be to clean one. So try and construct a pit which you can access from the back—that’ll make it much easier to empty out the ashes.

Building a BBQ pit will take much of the summer, but just imagine the fun you’ll have toasting the fruits of your labors on Labor Day weekend! Enjoy your BBQ pit and the chance to have the best barbeque food in the world in your very own backyard!

Jersey Landscaping:Planting in the Summer

The day you thought would never come during a long and cold winter is here. The ground thawed long ago, the sun is beating down on you, you’re on vacation and you can’t think of a better way to spend that time than by embarking upon some yard work! On one hand, there’s no limit to what you can do in your yard during the summer. On the other, there ARE only so many days in the summer and on your vacation so plan accordingly to maximize your productivity!

It’s a good idea to concentrate on one area of the yard. Do you want to improve the landscaping? Perhaps you want to plant a tree, or at least some perennial plants. Or maybe you just want to enjoy the fruits of your labors in your own garden. Decide what it is you want to do before you head outside and concentrate on that throughout the summer.

Making a plan and sticking to it will enhance your enjoyment of the experience while also giving you a better idea of your long-term goals. As much as you’d like to improve and enhance everything at once, it’s impossible to do so. But working on the yard in segments each summer can lead you to an ultimate—and ultimately very satisfying—goal.

Planting is one of the most relaxing ways imaginable to spend the summer. Your vision of the final product will get you out of bed early in the morning and perhaps even leave you too excited to sleep at night! Get to work on devising a plan today and make your summer yard work as enjoyable as possible!

Jersey Landscaping:Preparing a Pool for Summer

The long winter is over, Memorial Day has come and gone and the kids are counting down the number of days left in the school year. That can only mean one thing—summer is almost here! And with summer, of course, comes refreshing dips in the pool. It almost seems cruel, after waiting so long to enjoy the hot weather, to NOT be able to jump in the pool the first time the temperature hits 85 degrees. But, alas, life is not that simple. The good news is a little pre-emptive maintenance will make it easier for you to take advantage of your pool as soon as it gets hot enough to do so.

First, of course, take off the pool cover! If there is any water on the cover, make sure it drains away from the pool, not into it. Sweep the cover and clean it with any number of cleaners that will get rid of any stains and prepare it to be stored away for the summer.

Secondly, fill the pool with fresh water and make sure all the equipment in the pool—filter, pump and skimmer basket—is working. Get rid of any debris that has gathered in the pool, fill the pool up to the middle or so of the skimmer and start circulating the water—it’s important to conduct a test run before anybody actually uses the pool to ensure everything is fine and operational.

Confirm that the pool water is clean and all the chemicals are working properly by taking a sample between 24 and 48 hours after the water has begun circulating. Test the sanitizer and pH levels to make sure everything is balanced and ready to handle a summer of fun in the pool!

Jersey Landscaping : Adding on a Patio

With the better weather finally here, it’s time to think of home improvement projects that will enhance your enjoyment of summer. One of the most popular springtime activities for homeowners is building a patio, which is not only a timely addition but a potentially profitable one as well.

Those pondering a patio should first know what kind of purpose they want it to serve. Is it going to be simply a place to stretch out on a chair, relax with the family and maybe fire up the grill? If that’s the case, then a traditional open-air patio is your best choice, and your biggest decision will be whether to make it a brick or a wood base.

Or is it going to be an extension of the living room and kitchen, i.e. a place where you host guests? If so, a covered patio is for you. Covered patios offer families a multitude of additional options, both from a design and entertainment perspective. With a covered patio, you can do just about everything you’d do in the house, including watch TV and sprawl out on furniture you specially selected for the patio. And depending on how much you protect the patio from the outside elements (whether it is screened or contained); it can be a year-round destination for you and your friends.

No matter what you do, the patio is a pivotal addition to the short- and long-term value of the house. If you ever decide to sell the house, the patio will surely appeal to any potential buyers. But those thoughts are for another day. Build a patio now and turn this summer into the most enjoyable one yet!

Jersey Landscaping : Putting in a Pool

The winter that seemed as if it would never end finally has (probably—hopefully). Before you know it, Memorial Day and the unofficial start to summer will be here. And if you’re tired of staring out the window pining for the pool and beautifully sculpted pool area landscaping that your neighbors have, well, there’s no better time than right now to join in on the fun!

Putting in a pool is perhaps the biggest and most impactful decision a homeowner can make. A pool will forever change the landscape of your property, and if you make the right choice, it will be there as long as you are.  Plus, proper landscaping around the pool and patio area can add ambiance and create an oasis of fun and relaxation right in your own back yard! With some carefully placed shrubbery, some summer blooms, and the right trees for shade, your pool and patio area can become the focal point of your home as well as the ideal site for hours of spring, summer and fall fun – with everything from barbecues to pool parties, and more!

Whether you and your family are just looking to pass the summer days away by lounging lazily in the pool or you’re looking to stay in shape in the water, a pool is a great investment. So, too, is the landscaping around your outdoor sitting areas. If you’re like most New Jersey homeowners, you have neighbors on all sides, so make sure that, when you create the layout of your pool area, you include plenty of natural landscaping elements to ensure your privacy.  Strategically-placed pagodas, stone walls, and conifers can keep out prying eyes as well as add a decorative touch to your backyard landscape. 

While it’s important to look to the added value of your home when putting in a pool, you can’t ignore the many hours of tranquility or splish-splashing fun that you’ll be able to enjoy when everyone else is sweating it out this summer. Good luck diving into the pool-building process, and don’t forget to leave room in your budget for the landscaping!