Category: CBA Outdoor Services - page 2

Growing A Lush Green Lawn

Posted on June 18, 2014 by Creative Programs and Systems

Green lush lawn is something all homeowners dream of. Summertime is filled with backyard picnics and serves as the backdrop for many games of bocce ball and horseshoes. Whether you hire a professional lawn care company or you do it yourself here are some things to consider in your quest to have the perfect lawn.

The first rule whether your lawn is mowed by a professional landscaping company or by you yourself is the one third rule. The one third rule states that cutting more than a third of the grass blades length with cause undue stress to your lawn. When your lawn is cut too short it can become burnt by the sun and will eventually being incapable of thriving.

The next rule of thumb when it comes to landscaping, lawn care and the length of your blades of grass it is pertinent to understand that the longer your grass the deeper the grass roots will be. Roots that are deep within the soil will withstand times of drought better, as well as pests and diseases.

When it comes to mowing your lawn and the lawns appearance a sharp mower blade will help. Clean cut grass with a sharp mower blade gives your home and landscape the curb appeal all homeowners’ desire.

The next step in having a healthy lawn is to fertilize. Fertilizer gives your lawns appearance a fresh, green, crisp look. The time to apply fertilizer will defer between areas so it is crucial that you check with a lawn care professional to ensure that you are applying fertilizer at the correct time of year to obtain the best results possible.

When it comes to diagnosing problems within your lawn consult with a professional lawn care provider. A number of issues arise with lawns throughout the season including brown spots from fungal diseases or insects. To care for these areas or to prevent them all together be sure to contact local lawn care professionals for advice on treatment or to conduct proper treatment for your lawns care.

When it comes to watering your landscaping and grass make sure that you are deep watering. All landscaping needs to be encouraged to develop and grow deep roots. When watering note that one inch of water is required to actively grow twelve inches of soil. Deep watering every three days is better for your lawn than infrequent watering every day.

The irrigation of your lawn is just as important as any other piece of your landscaping. A great way to check to make sure the entire lawn is irrigated properly is to purchase five straight sided cake pans and place them throughout your lawn. When watering it is important to take note of how much water is accumulating in each pan. If the pans are getting the same amount of water throughout the lawn you are sure to have adequate irrigation systems in place. If this is not the case you will want to adjust your sprinkler system or meet with a lawn care specialist to discuss better placement of your lawns watering system.

CBA Outdoor Services is a local landscape design firm offering services throughout Livingston and Wayne Counties. For more information on the services they offer to both commercial and residential clients look online at http://cbaoutdoors.com/.

CBA Outdoor Services

Closing Sprinkler Systems, Fall Yard Maintenance, Lawn care, Lawn Mowing, Pruning Shrubs, Spring Yard Cleanup, Sprinkler System Opening, Tree Trimming

Spring and Summer Maintenance For Your Lawn

Posted on May 27, 2014 by Creative Programs and Systems

As winter turns to spring and spring into summer there are several things that need to be done to your landscape to prevent it from looking run down. Spring clean-up on landscaping as well as summer maintenance can turn an okay landscape into major curb appeal for your home. Don’t think you have the time or drive for spring lawn clean up or summer maintenance? Look into hiring a local landscaper to help. Many landscape companies employ ground crews who are in charge of lawn mowing, mulching, brush clearing; the laborious work when it comes to a home’s landscape. Don’t be led to believe that all landscapers only work to design and install the landscape for your home as most also provide year round maintenance to ensure that your lawn is in top shape no matter the season.

Upon your lawns initial spring consultation the landscape crew will come in and evaluate the lawn and survey the damage that was created from the winter. This includes anything from evaluating the damage from animal waste and urine to moles and bare patches left from the harsh winter. Most often patch seeding takes place as well as fertilization, aerate and watering.

Lawn maintenance teams in the north also look for “snow mold”. Snow mold is a disease that occurs on your lawn when blades of grass become stuck together and prevent new grass from growing. It basically created a grass mat that will need to be gently remedied. This can be done with a light raking to the area and an early mowing. This helps to break up the grass as well as mulch up the dead grass from your last mow before winter. Mowing also helps to mulch in any let over leaves and materials that are still covering the lawn. Of course a good light raking will help with this as well.

Any plants that are highly susceptible to frost should be left covered until two weeks after the last frost for your area. The quickest way to ruin a beautiful rose bush is introducing it before the fear of frost is completely eliminated. In some areas this could take until Memorial Day or later. Once it is decided that the fear of frost is gone the plants can be uncovered. This is the perfect time to address the plants health. First remove any dead or blackened areas of the plant then prune the branches down to healthy wood right above where the leaf buds. Wait to add mulch to the area in order for the ground to warm thoroughly. Mulching too soon keeps the cold around the plants root system therefore inhibiting seasonal growth.

Your landscape team will check over all plants, shrubs and trees in the yard and recommend options in care if needed. The spring and summer seasons are meant for enjoying the outdoors and becoming one with your surroundings. This can easily be achieved in your very own yard by hiring a lawn maintenance crew to provide care for your lawn and gardens.

Perfect Landscape Design From The Start When You Hire The Professionals

Posted on April 21, 2014 by Creative Programs and Systems

When you finally make the decision to landscape your home it is important to hire a landscape designer. When it comes to hiring a professional many homeowners are concerned with the expense hiring a designer will add to the budget. This is however far from the truth; hiring a landscape professional can actually save you money. Landscape designers have the connections to wholesale supplies as well as the know how to get exactly what is needed for your space the first time. Trial and error doesn’t exist when using a professional landscaper as they know what is needed for the soil type, sunlight and overall outdoor environment.

If the home and landscape is new to you try to live in the space for a season or two before making any radical changes in the landscape. After a season you will see what it is that you enjoy about the existing space and how you will be using the area. It will also give you the opportunity to see what needs to be changed. The worst thing you can do is dive in and start ripping things out and replacing them without getting a true sense of the landscape and yard.

After you have had time to identify the qualities of the landscape that you enjoy and those that need to be changed it is time to seek out a landscape design team. This is the tricky part. Many people consider themselves landscaping experts. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth. When hiring a landscape designer look for someone with proper certifications. You should look at their technical background and referrals. Hire a landscaper based on a combination of their experience and education.

When you meet with the landscaper it is important to become prepared. You should have a collection of ideas that you are interested in pursuing for in your own landscape. This could include pictures from similar homes in your neighborhood, ideas from magazines as well as ideas from the internet. You may pull together a variety of elements but any good designer will be able to take and pull the elements into one creating a personal space that is unique to your home.

If you would like to involve your family and get their opinions now is the perfect time. Once you break ground on one idea you won’t be able to make drastic changes to the original plan without wasting time and money. Your husband may desire a shed for his tools, the children may want to include a play structure, consider a small garden and what about a campfire pit? All elements should be considered in an original plan.

Complete a wish list of plants and flowers that interest you. Your landscape design team will look at the requirements in your region, the climate, sun exposure and soil type to determine which elements can be included in your final design.

Together you and your landscape design team will develop a plan that is within your budget, maintenance ability, as well as taking into consideration elements that you desire.

CBA Outdoor Services

boulders in landscapes, budget friendly landscaping companies, Closing Sprinkler Systems, commercial lawn care, Fall Yard Maintenance, installing retaining walls in landscaping, Landscape redesign, landscaping renovations, Lawn care, Lawn Mowing, Pruning Shrubs, residential lawn mowing, Spring Yard Cleanup, Sprinkler System Opening, Tree Trimming

Embracing The Small Details Of Your Home

Posted on March 18, 2014 by Creative Programs and Systems

It is amazing how the little things affect how you feel about your home whether you are just buying it or have lived there a life time. Small flaws or perfect details, it all adds up and affects the overall feeling you have about your home. For me I can go interior to exterior, room by room and point out all that is right and all that needs improvement; how those details reflect my overall feelings when I am at my home.

Let’s begin where every first impression begins, the exterior of the home, the curb appeal and landscaping. With my home I knew from the moment we pulled up that I was in love. We would be purchasing this home. The large, welcoming French doors and the full landscape were all pieces that made this home our home. There were however a few exterior landscape changes that didn’t tickle my fancy straight away. For instance, we live on a river and with any river landscape there needs to be a feeling of true nature and outdoors. This was missing.

The family before us loved a clean kept riverfront. To me this just wasn’t what living on the water was about. So we began to change up the riverfront landscape with assistance from a landscape designer that specialized in waterfront property. It was wonderful to work with someone who could look at the lawn from a landscape and maintenance perspective and bring together exactly what we were looking for. It did take about two years to full cultivate the native plants with the new rocky-river border but the end product, docks and all is the perfect landscape for our home. Every time I come home and see the landscape I instantly feel relaxed and at peace. It makes me feel at one with nature.

The interior still to this day has many imperfections. They truly make the space feel like home. Imperfections in the tiles grout makes me feel like the space is loved and lived in to its fullest. The perfection is in the tiles. They are the perfect combination of rust red, brown, blues and yellows that create flooring that allows you to feel that every detail has been thought of.

One of the homes major imperfections is found in the ceiling. This is the one imperfection, yet to be fixed that makes me feel uneasy. The tape around our ceiling has started to peel. The home is older and we have been told that unless we are willing to peel up the old tape and add new as well as plaster the space again the ceiling will stay this way. This is not happening. The work that would need to be done is not work that can be done in a home that is being lived in.

Knowing that this one imperfection leaves me uneasy I have been diligent in researching easy fixes. One I have recently come up with that I do believe is the perfect fix for the ceiling is to add crown molding. It will cover up the separating tape and it is my hope that it will leave me feeling the same way I do about the tile and landscape; completely at peace.

It is amazing how the little imperfections and tiny pleasures within our home can create such rich feelings that can leave us so complete or incomplete.

CBA Outdoor Services

Creating A Favorable First Impression With Your Landscaping

Posted on February 20, 2014 by Creative Programs and Systems - Updated March 20, 2014

A well maintained landscape only increases the overall value of your home and neighborhood. In home remodeling it isn’t only bathroom and kitchen design that matters when it comes to increasing worth. A landscape that is well designed only enhances curb appeal and creates a favorable first impression.

A landscape contractor provides a diverse assortment of services. Most offer a combination of services including; landscape design plans, lawn care and maintenance, mowing, sprinklers, walkways and more.

Finding a team of experts in landscaping services will be easier when using the tips below.

1) First things first define your landscape needs. Are you looking for lawn care such as mowing and maintenance or are you looking to create a new landscape all together. Landscape companies can come in weekly, monthly or anything in between depending on your needs.

Before contacting a landscaper define what you are looking to get out to their services and the relationship you desire. Decide what time of time commitment you are looking for. It will help the landscaper as well because they may not be able to handle your needs. If you need your lawn mowed every week but they don’t time slots available for that you will not want to waste your time or theirs interviewing them.

2) Set a budget and stick to it. It is easy to get overwhelmed with decisions when in the middle of the chaos and new landscape options. Plants can easily sway your budget out of control. Have a budget and stick to it. If you have a monthly budget of a hundred bucks a month you may not be able to afford to get your lawn cut every week, you may need to reevaluate what you can afford. Maybe you will have to only have lawn service once every two weeks to stick within your budget.

3) If you are having your landscaping completely overhauled with a new design consider your timeline. Do you need the landscape done before a graduation or other event being held at the house? Make sure the landscape design artist have people available to get the job done in the time frame you need it done otherwise you will have to look to someone who can.

4) So many things go into choosing a company. Consider the length of time the landscaper has been in business and the referrals from others that have used their services. Time in business doesn’t always guarantee that they will do a great job however time often brings with it experience. Referrals are an excellent way to see what type of work that the team of landscape experts can do. You will see a variety of landscapes and maintenance achieved by the contractor and their team.

When finally deciding upon a company make sure that you are overseeing the work done on your landscape with the designer. This was you can catch any errors or adjustments needed prior to the job being complete. It is harder to fix something after it is completed thank if you catch it mid process. It is also important in maintenance and lawn care that you keep up on what is being done and that you address any issues as they arise. Seeing weeds the day after the crew has been to your home to maintain the lawn is unacceptable is one of those things you should address to makes sure you are getting exactly what you are paying for.

CBA Outdoor Services

The Added Value In Your Landscape Design When Hiring A Professional Landscaper

Posted on January 20, 2014 by Creative Programs and Systems - Updated March 20, 2014

It is hard to believe but spring is right around the corner. Many homeowners get the itch for an upgrade to their landscaping when spring hits the north. It may be our itch to get outside or our desire to see lush green lawns with dark brown mulch after the white landscape we grow accustomed to in the winter. When contemplating a new landscape design consider if you are going to do the work yourself or if you are looking to hire a professional landscaper. There is no right or wrong answer to this question as there are definite advantages and disadvantages to both.

There are certain conditions it is better to hire a landscaper. One of those is if you are planning a major change to a larger area of your lawn. At first it might seem like it would be more expensive to hire someone however, when you take into consideration the amount of time and money you will spend trying out different options you are probably saving yourself a chunk hiring someone. A professional will make sure things are done correctly the first time. There is no need for trial and error.

It is also better to hire a professional if you have a particular style in mind for your new lawn. Creating a theme or particular style is often difficult and a professional landscaper will be able to design and layout the different options available before money is spent on plants and accessories for the landscape.

A landscape designer does all of the work from preparations to final installations. This flow allows the lawn to develop more naturally. Their experience is necessary when choosing appropriate plants to thrive in your lighting and soil. Think of all the time and money that is wasted if you install plants that are not appropriate for the level of sun, rain or soil nutrients you have. All of this is foreign to most homeowners. Even with research we often over calculate the sun shade ratio and water allotment that will be needed to grow a beautiful landscape.

I do believe that most homeowners can take on the challenge of landscaping on a smaller scale such as when you are looking for a little change. Installing a Koa pond for instance is not a huge monetary investment and is something that is easy enough to achieve in a long weekend. Home supply stores sell kits that basically make it fool proof.

When you are looking to create an oasis in a small backyard and have the time to learn the art of landscape then by all means as a homeowner take it on. When your canvas is small there is not a lot of room to make mistakes. Large designs require detailed instructions that are just not necessary when talking about a smaller space.

Hiring a lawn maintenance team is well worth the extra funds when you are lounging on the beach instead of pruning trees or mowing lawns. Once the initial design for your lawn is in place consider hiring a lawn care company to maintain the art that was created in your landscape. Curb appeal is the number one seller of homes and trust me lush well maintained green lawn enhances the curb appeal of any home.

CBA Outdoor Services