What is the biggest mistake you can make when planning and implementing your landscape? Poor color or placement? No. The biggest mistake in landscaping is to plant invasive, non native species in your landscape. Why?
Your landscape plants can become dangerous to your local environment.
Many of the seemingly innocuous foreign landscape plants used during the last century have now made their way into the wild, and in many cases, they dominate the larger landscape, gradually eliminating the native plants as they eat more and more space.

The invasion has been slow, and hardly noticeable to most people, and each new generation comes to think of the invaders as a part of the landscape, assuming that it has always existed in it’s present form.

The plant once used to decorate aquariums and backyard show ponds, Hydrilla, has become the dominate feature in ponds and lakes throughout much of the Southern United States, and has clogged waterways, and destroyed fishing in many areas.

One common shrub, Asian Privet, has consumed the forest floor in much of the Southeastern United States, taking out natives, both plant and animal as it continues.

There are hundreds of other examples like the Japanese Silk Tree, Kudzu, Johnson grass, and Bahia grass to name a few. These plants were once seen as being beneficial for one purpose or another, but have now become a multimillion dollar problem, and the obvious monetary cost is only the tip of the iceberg. Loss of native species and biodiversity eventually have consequences we may not yet understand. It is difficult to determine what the cost will be to local environments, and consequently, the pocketbook as the invasion continues.

Why you should be concerned about non native species.

Why should all of this be a concern for you? Your choice of landscape plants for your home may determine the extent to which this trend continues. When planning a landscape, make sure that the plants you choose are native to your area. This will not only slow the spread of the exotic invasion, but will also provide immediate and tangible economic benefit to you. Native plants are comfortable in your area, they are used to your climate and conditions, and will require less special care. They have existed where they are because they like the conditions, and are largely immune to local pests and diseases, meaning that there will be fewer pest and disease problems to eat up your hard earned dollars.

You will also be helping to preserve native wildlife, especially birds, and since birds consume insects in large quantities, you will be reducing pests even more. When the birds native to an area lose the plants that they prefer as food, and they are replaced by plants with less nutritive seed, the natives will move away in search of more “native like” surroundings. Keeping your landscape native will help to preserve natural balance.
Native plants

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A well planned landscape can save you lots of money. A lousy one can cost you lots of money.

Whether you hire a landscaper to install your lawn and landscape, or do it yourself, there are some things you should give close attention to aside from the standard design principles commonly followed today. These tips will help to "green" your lawn and landscape, and keep some green in your wallet.

Soil type and irrigation

What could be more green than saving one of our most important natural resources; water? If you have a heavy clay soil, and you want to grow almost any of our common lawn grasses, you should be certain that the soil is amended properly, or top soil added.

If this is not done, you will be at constant odds with mother nature and your pocketbook when the heat of summer arrives. The best practice for lawn grass irrigation is to water deeply, and infrequently, but if you have hard clay soils, and nothing else to absorb and hold the water for the plants, you will have to water more often, using less water each time to achieve similar results. If you attempt to water deeply on clay soils, the result will be excess runoff. When watering more frequently to avoid runoff, you will still need to have the same amount of water, but it will have to be broken up into several smaller increments. Either way, the water used is less efficient. You will lose water to runoff, or evaporation, neither of which is desirable, and in some places, it is even considered criminal!

To avoid this problem, you need to start before the landscape and lawn are installed, or renovated.

Make sure that there is sufficient top soil to become an adequate root zone for your lawn grasses and landscape beds. Plan your irrigation layout carefully to avoid having tree watering or bed watering on the same station with lawn watering. Each of these will require differing amounts of water, and you could end up drowning one type of plant while allowing the others to die of thirst! Be certain that your landscape beds are not built in a basin, and that they have good surface drainage, otherwise the plants being used could suffocate from excessive watering. Be sure to clump your plantings according to water needs and water use. Landscaping is more than just making a drawing, and choosing plants, it involves the proper placement of the plants to achieve the best combination of growing conditions.

Plant and bed placement tips

This tip will help you to save money, and "green" up your homes pest control program: When designing landscape beds, leave yourself a foot or more of space between the plants and the home. Do the same with bark mulch. That extra foot of space between your walls and plants can mean the difference between a full blown insect insurgency, and a healthy symbiotic relation between the great outdoors and the insect and mold free comfort of your indoor living space.

Pests use plants and bark mulch as a covered highway onto and into your home. The further you can keep these 2 elements from your exterior walls the better. You would probably be surprised at the difference just a few inches of space can make when it comes to insects. Instead of using the mulch between the plants and the foundation, try digging a trench, and adding coarse sand with pebbles on top. Tunneling insects like termites will find the sand and pebbles impossible to make a tunnel without having it cave in behind them. Other types of insects will see the space as being a cover-less dead end, and  and you will save yourself a lot of money on pest treatments in the long run.

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Shopping for your utility building

How do you get that just right utility buildings? Go shopping. You don’t have to climb into the car and drive all over town to start this.

You can do it from the comfort of your own home. Search the Internet for buildings like the one you know you will need. Search locally by adding the name of your location. For instance, if you live in a town known as “Example”, search for “utility building Example My State”. Don’t add commas between the words. that will cause the search to serve up results for utility building, and results for Example, and results for My State, all separately. Look through the results of your search. There should be at least some results for utility building businesses close to your area. click on the results, and see if they have what you are looking for. Continue to click on the results until you have the results you are looking for, even if it takes several pages of results to find what you need. Collect the phone numbers and addresses of the most promising dealers. If at first you don’t succeed, try a different search for a different group of words.

Telephone shopping for utility buildings

There is also the good old fashioned phone book. Use it to find local utility building dealers, and call about details. You are already armed with the facts about what you need!

Looking at utility buildings

Now, hop in the car, and take a look at the buildings that you have discovered. There is a good chance that exactly what you are looking for, is setting somewhere on a local lot! If it is not, many dealers can have a utility building custom made for you in short order. In most cases, you will not be charged much, if any, above what the building would cost if it were already setting on a lot.

Deciding where to locate your utility building

Your utility building should be placed where it can be reached easily, and where it does not interfere with lawn and landscape practices. we also need to think about the irrigation system, and how it will interact with the utility building. Some irrigation adjustments may be needed.

Getting your utility building to you

Most buildings are built at a factory like facility, and then delivered to the locations where they are to be displayed and sold. When a utility building is sold on a lot, it will be picked up at that lot, and hauled to it’s new home. That is not the only way it can be done though. A utility building can be built to meet your specific needs, and hauled directly to your place, or they can be built on site. On site building normally requires an on site fee, but this will be partially offset by omitting the cost of a delivery fee. There is always a cost for delivery.

When a dealer tells you that they do not charge for delivery, that simply means that they have figured the cost into the utility building in other places. Free delivery is a gimmick. Look at the quality, and the final cost, and that will determine the buildings true value.

Free utility building delivery?

If you buy a building it will have to be delivered to your site, or built on your site. As for delivery, don’t be fooled by claims of “no delivery fees”! You will be charged a delivery fee, whether it is included in the cost of the building, or charged separately. Fuel and labor are not free, and the cost will be passed on to you in one form or another. If you are looking at two or more companies, free delivery claims should not be the deciding factor. The deciding factor should be value.

What you need to determine is the value of the utility building, and that will be determined by the buildings long term suitability, and the final price. A building made of inferior materials, with poor workmanship will cost you a lot more in maintenance down the road, free delivery or not!

Delivery and placement planning

As for the actual physical delivery, there are a few things that will need a little attention:

• You will probably be asked to give directions when you make your purchase.
• You will also be asked about the surroundings and final placement, and how the building should be oriented on the truck for proper placement.
• Being certain that the route to your house is clear of low hanging limbs or lines will be of tremendous help to your delivery driver.
• Plan for such things as fences, gates, or any other impediments to delivery.
• Know the exact spot where you want your building to be placed ahead of time.
• The delivery crew will level the building on the spot, but the ground should be reasonably level before delivery.

Financing utility buildings

Portable utility building producers and dealers want to sell buildings. That is why they are in the business. For that reason, most will have several financing options available. Of course, everyone loves cash. Most will help you to locate a loan source, and there is also the rent to own option, and some dealers offer ‘90 days same as cash”.

See also: Storage Building Placement

• Renting Or Owning Storage Space
• Choosing The Right Storage Building
• Portable Buildings Need And Uses
• Utility Building Shopping Buying Placement

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To plant trees there are some tools and materials you need. The tree planting tools and materials you will need are a shovel , or something else to dig with, some soil amendments, mulching materials, something to “water the tree in”.

If you have a very large tree to plant, you might want to consider some nylon tie down straps, and some means of moving the tree like a dolly. If you live in a windy area, it might be a good idea to stake the tree to keep it from leaning. This will require stakes long enough and sturdy enough to be driven into the ground, and rope, wire, or cable for tying off. If you choose wire or cable, find something like a section of disused water hose to to protect the tree from the wire or cable. You can cut it to the proper length, and slide it over the tie. Another option is pipe insulation.

You might add to this list , root stimulator. Root stimulator is a fertilizer and nutrient mix that sometimes contains indole butyric acid, a rooting hormone that increases root production. Both those mixes that contain IBA, and those that don’t, seem to offer some help in establishing newly planted trees, and in our experience, they are worth the money spent. Various studies have shown mixed results, so it is up to you.

Assemble all the tools and materials you need, including the trees, as near as possible to the marked planting site. For details on choosing the right site, see: Planting Trees Tree Planting Information Preparation

For details on planting the trees, see: Tree Planting | Planting Trees

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Planting Trees

If you are thinking of planting a tree, or several trees, there are a few things that can make the job easier, safer, and provide better results throughout the life of the trees.

Planting trees using the right tree

Start with the right type of tree for your area, climate, soil type, and existing
conditions. This should be a native tree, that is a tree that grows naturally in
your area. These are better for many reasons, including insect and fungus
resistance, moisture level tolerance, and soil adaptation.

Planting trees in the right place

The trees full grown size should be considered before you ever dig the hole. You do not want to plant a tree that has a mature height of 40 feet in an area where you only have 20 feet of clearance.

Another common mistake is planting trees which expand the canopy outward 40 feet, 10 feet apart. Do not plant a tree with invasive roots next to a concrete slab or drive, it will eventually crack the drive. Don't plant a tree that likes moist conditions in an area that is arid, or a tree that prefers arid conditions in a swamp. The results will be less than satisfying.

Safety in tree placement

After you make a basic placement plan, the first tool you should use for planting trees is your phone. Call up the local utilities and they will get someone to mark lines in your area. Digging into an underground gas line, electric line, or communications cable could ruin your day, or even kill you, then who would water the tree?

Don't just think about what is in the ground, think about what is above the ground. Power lines in the vicinity could end your tree planting career if the
tree you are planting happened to touch one on the way to the hole.

Now you know what kind of tree you need, the best place to plant it for your own safety and the future growth of the tree. Pick out and purchase your tree, and materials for tree planting.

Tree Planting Materials and Tools

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Utility buildings are outdoor structures. Utility buildings, by definition, are buildings which can be used for many purposes. Probably the most common utility building is the portable storage building, and the most common use for such structures is as home storage sheds, but there are many other possibilities.

Utility building uses

• Storage.
• Workshops.
• Offices.
• Home gyms.
• Play houses.
• Tool sheds.
• Game rooms.
• Television rooms.
• Craft and hobby shops.
• Fishing and hunting cabins.
• Guest rooms

This is not an exhaustive list. The imagination is the only limit.

There are other types of utility buildings. Modular steel garages and carports are very popular, and can come as a turnkey package, or as building kits. Wood, metal, and vinyl storage building kits are also available from many manufacturers.

Find storage sheds online

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Landscapes matter

Part four in our pest prevention series

What you do with your landscape has a direct effect on the pest population attempting to enter your home. How you build it, and how you maintain it is a huge factor in indoor pest prevention. Your landscape is an insect and rodent magnet, it will attract them, or it will help to repel them, based on how you manage it, and the plants you have in the landscape.

These are some tips for the homeowner on using landscaping to prevent pest problems.

Vines

Avoid climbing vines attached to the home, especially around windows and other openings. Vines are like a highway for pests. They will work into tiny openings, spreading them wider, and allowing insects and arachnids to piggy back inside.

Shrubs

Shrubs planted too close to the home, or touching the home, allow pests to hide and also provide a roadway to any nearby opening. They should be kept at least one foot from the home, preferably three feet.

Mulch

The mulch in landscape beds can hide a lot of pests. It also provides food sources for pests as it gets older. It can also be a source of fungus. It should be kept at least a foot from the home, preferably three feet.

Trees

Trees should not contact the home in any way. Tree branches in contact with the home provide a roadway for pests onto your home, and eventually into your home. They also may damage gutters and roofs. Poor pruning, or deliberate topping increases pest populations. Bad pruning practices cause the tree to produce unnatural growth that is poorly connected and susceptible to disease and fungus. It opens the tree to pests and disease that feed on the trees juices and provides hiding places for them.

Landscape Plant Choices And Pest Prevention

Your choice of plants to populate your landscape plays a very important role in preventing home pests. As a general rule of thumb, these should be native plants whenever possible.

Native plants for pest control

In fact, the single most important thing you can do to "pest proof" your landscape, is to build it with plants that are native to your area. Native plants will decrease your pest problems, lower your water and nutrient needs, and do a big favor for the environment!

Native plants, are naturally resistant to the types of pests you have in your region, and are already acclimated to your soil types, your weather conditions, and your seasons. Native plants are accustomed to the average annual rainfall in your area, and they won't break out of your landscape and swallow the forests of your area.

Every year we see thousands of acres taken over by "non native," alien pests. They destroy the native plant life and in doing so, destroy the biodiversity of the area. The cost is into the millions for controlling them, and we are just seeing the tip of the botanical iceberg.

Integrated pest management, should start with prevention, and the place to begin is with the right plants for your area. At the very least, you should avoid the use of anything that is known to be "invasive."

Go native, and make your landscape and your world a better place.

Your areas native plants are:

• Acclimated to your temperatures.
• Accustomed to your areas rainfall.
• Accustomed to your seasonal changes
• Resistant to your pests
• They won't eat the local forests or lakes.

So learn about the plants native to your area, and use them in your landscape!

See part 5 in our pest prevention series: Landscape Tree Care And Pest Prevention

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• Backyard Wildlife Habitat Requirements Traditional backyards, with their non native lawn grasses, and non native landscape plants have a few problems.
• Changing Lawn And Landscape Design
  Native habitats and evolving lawn and landscape design Lawn and landscape design is changing to meet the challenges of new water requirements.
• Lawn Alternatives Native Habitats Traditional lawns are expensive Of all the home maintenance operations, lawn care takes the lions share of resources. The average home owner spends more on lawn management than any other aspect of home care.
• Lawn And Garden: Less Lawn More Garden More natural, and native style gardens may offer answers to some of the difficulties facing the homeowner.
• Maintenance Checklist Fences Drives Walks Drives, walks and fences are the forgotten parts of property maintenance. They tend to be lost in the shuffle to maintain other parts of the property.
• Mole Control Mole Prevention Mole Control and Mole Prevention Moles create slightly raised areas along the top of the ground as they tunnel in search of food and shelter.
• Preventing Insects And Rodents: Eliminating Cover Brush weeds and debris as cover // Weeds, brush, and debris feed and hide insects and rodents.
• Reproducing Plants From Hardwood Cuttings Buying shrubs and trees for your landscape can get a little expensive. Having a few replacement plants available in case one dies is nice.
• Tell Us What You Need Home & Garden Survey Tell us what you need, what you would like to know, what home and garden issues are important to you, and we will try to respond with the type of…

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Portable buildings, that is, the common buildings used for outdoor storage, can serve many practical functions around the home, and even in the workplace. There is one spot around the home where work and home life meet on a regular basis and that place is the home lawn and garden. Garden sheds are versatile, and can be used as tool sheds, potting sheds, material storage sheds and more. Garden shed placement is important for your convenience, and for the good of your lawn and garden.

Garden shed uses

Garden buildings can be great for getting your tools and materials organized to make the work a lot easier and less stressful. Garden sheds can be set up with racks to hold tools, shelves to hold materials, ramps for driving or pushing lawn and garden equipment inside, and benches for garden work like potting plants, or sharpening tools.

Garden shed placement and precautions

When setting up your garden building, caution should be used to avoid creating new problems during placement. It would be a sad irony to create more work for yourself by trying to make your work more convenient.

Outdoor sheds and irrigation

Garden sheds should be set up properly to avoid causing problems. If the garden building is placed inside the irrigated area of the yard, the building will block irrigation somewhere, which will prevent a part of your lawn from receiving water. In such cases your irrigation will need to be adjusted to accommodate.

Backyard sheds and lawn layout

The outdoor shed will also change the layout of your lawn, and you will need to decide before placement whether you need it a little closer to the fence or a little further away to accommodate your mowing and trimming.

Garden sheds effects on shade and heat

The new garden shed will also pose a few potential problems that may be less obvious. The building will provide shade over an area that was not shaded before, and it will also intensify the heat from the sun in other places. This can be a problem for shade loving plants which might suffer from the added heat of the sunny side.

Conclusion:

Be sure to plan carefully for available space, making sure everything will fit. Keep in mind that the irrigation, and shade and light situation will change, and make any adjustments in the irrigation system and placement, as well as plant placement in the landscape which might be needed to avoid shade and heat problems related to your garden shed placement.

Garden sheds keep your tools safe and more

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Traditional backyards, with their non native lawn grasses, and non native landscape plants have a few problems. There is now a trend which replaces these with native plants, and less grassy lawn area.

Backyard wildlife habitats can soften the environmental impact of the backyard, and can soften the economic impact to your wallet.

Backyard habitat savings

• Save on lawncare cost
• Are environmentally friendly
• Save water
• Save on pest control costs

To establish a wildlife friendly wildlife habitat project, there are 3 main components:

Backyard wildlife habitat water

All life needs water. Without it survival is impossible. To be able to attract wildlife to your backyard wildlife habitat there will need to be an ample supply on hand and available for the animals you are trying to attract. This can be attained in a number of ways, through naturally occurring sources such as streams, and by less natural means such as rainwater containment, and even by supplying, or supplementing with water from a water supply such as your city supply, or rural coop.

Backyard wildlife habitat food

The species you want in your wildlife habitat will want to eat. Otherwise, they will not stick around. The best method of providing food, is to have an ample supply of plants native to your area. Non native plants usually destroy the balance in the food chain, while native plants provide food in sufficient quantities for the animals native to your area. In some cases, alternative feeding may be needed, but the best method is native plants in a native habitat.

Backyard wildlife habitat cover

Animals need cover, to hide from predators, to nest and protect their young, and for periods of rest. The best cover is natural cover provided by plants native to the area. If it is not possible to provide such a thick dense growth in your habitat, other means can be constructed.

Structures for backyard wildlife habitat cover

A native, natural setting is always preferred, but due to size limitations, or other considerations in residential areas, this may not always be completely possible. In such cases, the use of the most natural, least invasive method is always the best means.

Stone and wood structures can help to supplement your cover for your backyard wildlife habitat. Bird houses, bat houses, butterfly houses and even owl houses can be built or bought.

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