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We won’t know if all the scurrying around by state officials in NY and NJ will prove to be a series of smart moves or a huge waste of resources and undo fear rattling till hurricane Irene passes by. One thing for sure if nothing was done and it turns out that this storm does damage in those two states the Mayor of NYC and the Governor on NJ would have been run out of office on a rail.

I’m not sure what officials here in NH and across the border in VT are doing to get ready for all the rain and high winds being forecast but I’m sure they have crews on-alert. About all we can do on our own is to make sure we have extra water put aside and some food that does not require cooking or refrigeration, we all know many in New England will lose power for many hours as the storm passes through.

On a brighter note, this morning I ran across an article titled  Sonoma Garden A Showcase detailing how a community center reduced their water bills by 70% by rethinking their lawns and plantings. Here’s an excerpt.

“Today, the huge bills and the thirsty lawn are gone, replaced by a garden designed to use 70percent less water by introducing drought-tolerant native plants and efficient irrigation. The garden doesn’t just save water, it’s also sustainable, intended to have little long-term effect on the environment.”  Read the whole article Sonoma Garden A Showcase.  

Have a great and safe weekend everybody.

Related posts:

1. Lots of Rain in New England
2. New Hampshire’s Rainy May

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The smell of autumn was in the air when I ventured outside this morning and as well all say every year at this time, wow summer went by really quickly. Of course we still have months of good weather so don’t get into a tizzy and start polishing your snow blower just yet.

I ran across a short piece this morning titled Be Proactive In Your Garden and with the time fast approaching to put our gardens to bed for the winter it is a good reminder.

“Proactive gardening is simply doing the important things to ensure the health of your garden before you see a problem. It’s providing the best growing environment, including sunlight, great soil and putting the right plant in the right place. It’s spacing your plants appropriately for air circulation and sunlight; it’s watering properly and using plenty of mulch.”

And staying with the theme of auttumn I ran across a great piece about indoor gardening that is avaialbe in Michagan. It seems that the county is offering rasied plots in their 30,000 sg foot greenhouse allowing you to grow veggies and plants all through the cold weather.. Now is this a good idea or what.

“Oakland County is now providing an option for gardeners who want to continue growing plants and veggies through the cold winter months. They’ve got 30,000 square feet of prime greenhouse space in Waterford and it is all up for grabs.“  Green Thumbs Can Toil In The Soil This Winter.

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1. Small Can Be Big in Landscaping

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It’s looking like we are in for an extend period this week where the temperatures will hover in the mid nineties and above during the day. It’s time to make sure that the ice cube trays are filled, gallons of lemonade are chilled and at the ready for every thirsty landscaper and gardener and each and every air conditioner is working at its peak.

I ran across an article this morning from the Worcester Telegram & Gazette that I thought I would share with everyone out there in the landscaping world. The author Paul Rogers writes that for gardeners there are two good times to sit down and read a good gardening book. The two times he sites are the Winter and when the hot weather makes working outside uncomfortable or even dangerous. You can read his recommendations here in the article titled Summer Reading List for Gardeners and leave a comment after you check it out.

At BND.com I ran across an article talking about a demonstration garden in Illinois, “Its purpose is to show people what plants can be easily grown in this area to beautify yards, landscape businesses and attract bees and butterflies.”  When it comes to something like landscaping and gardening nothing works like a demonstration of the real thing. The article is titled Taking Care of Creation, Master Gardeners Show How It’s Done.

At PRO Landscape Supply we also believe that showing you how things might look in your landscaping project can be really helpful, that’s why we have a huge garden of pavers installed for you to walk around and look at. Stop on by and take a leisurely stroll to check out many of the designs and colors that we offer.

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1. Summer & Landscaping Go Together
2. Integrating Vegetable Gardens Into Landscape Design

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I saw an interesting story this morning over at the San Francisco Chronicle talking about how as part of a recovery program teens are asked to volunteer to work in the organic gardens at the center where they reside. “In addition to contributing to a healthy diet, gardening gets teens outdoors and involved in a hands-on activity. Surrounded by the peacefulness of nature, the garden can be a meditative place to relax in between therapy sessions, educational lectures and 12-Step meetings. It also introduces teens to various recovery concepts and builds their confidence.” To those of us who love gardening and landscaping it comes as no surprise that working in a garden can have huge benefits to how these troubled teens view themselves and the world around them. Good luck to all of them.

Another story about getting kids involved in gardening comes from the Northampton Chronicle in the UK. It seems that their idea center around getting kids to visit and get involved with the gardening movement at an early age. “The youngsters learn about the different parts of the plants that get eaten whether it is the flower of a cauliflower, the stem of some celery or the root of a carrot. And they have a tasting session to really get the idea.”  In addition to getting more people involved the food grown is distributed locally to those in need, seems to me it’s a win all around for this project and who knows how many bright and creative landscaping minds will be sparked by their time spend at the community gardens.

And finally today I saw that in Antioch, Illinois they just dedicated more space to expand the community gardens for residents. For just 25.00 you get the rights to grow veggies and flowers in a 10×12 foot plot of land. The town trustees are thinking of expanding the number of plots next year from the current twenty because of demand. Besides the obvious benefit to the community of civic pride and neighborliness people in the project will be giving some of the produce to a local project to help families that are in need.

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1. Gardening Mistakes & Urban Gardening Revisited
2. It’s Gardening Time – Get Outside

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I came across an interesting article this morning in the Seattle Times titled No Space For Plants. The story is a well written primer on vertical gardening and very friendly to all levels of expertise. I’ve always loved vines and flowers that cover brick walls, it seems to bring a serenity into the yard that was not there before the plantings matured.

Here’s an excerpt from this story “The trendiest vertical gardening technique is living walls — fences, patio walls or other surfaces covered in plants, flowers, succulents, even fruits and vegetables.”

I like the idea of living walls, growing up I always liked how some of my neighbors used trellises covered in vines and flowers to mark out different areas of the yard. The trellis were kind of magical portals into places like the vegetable garden, the pool, the yard itself and even the gardening shed had a trellis covered in green. But you don’t need to erect a trellis in order to create a vertical garden, you can use almost any vertical surface in your yard.

On another note, I came across this video about the University of Maine’s gardening program. The gardens are open to the public. So if you are traveling to Maine this summer check out the U of Maine in Orono.

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1. Small Can Be Big in Landscaping
2. Mulch Catches Fire? And Other Landscaping Thoughts

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We are lucky here in the Northeast when it comes to abundant water and unlike many parts of the country we rarely experience drought or rationing of water as they do in many other parts of the country.

I thought I would bring up this topic since we are heading into the July and August hot weather when we use lots of water not only to keep us healthy and happy but also to keep our prized landscaping healthy and happy.

I came across an article from an online paper located in Ala and thought I’d share some of the thoughts about water savings with you. In the article they ask a number of questions that may be something we can ponder as we go about our week.

• Why do we flush toilets with clean drinking water?

• Why do we not capture and recycle rainwater off buildings?

• Why do we over-irrigate our lawns to the point of runoff or right after a thunderstorm?

• Why do we spend money on bottled water when the tap is already paid for?

• Why do we trash up roadsides leading to streams and eventually lakes and groundwater — our sources of drinking water?

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After a very rainy May and a kind of rainy June it seems like July is just what we have been waiting for. The sun has been shining more then at anytime this summer and as I drive around the greater Manchester, NH area I see more and more people and contractors rolling up their sleeves to complete this years landscaping projects.

Coming up this week on the island of Nantucket the annual Green Thumb flower show sponsored by Nantucket Garden Club will take place on July 13th at the Coffin School located on Winter Street. Sounds to me like a perfect excuse to jump on the ferry and spend a glorious day on the island of Nantucket. The flower show is open to the public from 10:00 AM to 4:30 PM and there is no charge though donations are excepted. It might be a good idea to call before you board the ferry just to make sure nothing has changed. The visitors Center phone number is 508-228-0925 .. And if anyone attends I hope you will comment on this post when you return.

And for those of you looking for something closer to home I want to suggest a trip to Boston for a day of visiting the Rose Kennedy Greenway. The Greenway is a collection of 5 parks that were created from reclaimed land that was exposed when much of Boston’s elevated highways were placed underground during the Big-Dig. the parks are located in Boston’s North End, Wharf Distract, Dewey Square, Chinatown and Fort Point Channel. Each of the Rose Kennedy Greenway parks offers something different vibrant and without a doubt is worth a trip to see even if you have been there many times.

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Now that summer is in full swing many of us will be jumping into landscaping and gardening with all the free time we have. Before you start putting in lots of hours making your yard and gardens beautiful you might want to read this article titled, Celebrate National Gardening Day without injury. The article has some good common sense ideas for avoiding injury while doing the gardening we love.

I’m not sure the term Sumo Gardening will catch on but you might find the story of one gardeners struggle to keeps things moving forward in her yard.

Finally today I came across the most amazing idea I have seen in a long time, the company is called Farmscape and is located in Calif. The PBS article tells the story of how a number of neighbors got together and hired Farmscape to help them build a number of raised gardens and teach them to have green thumbs. Is this a great idea or what. You can read all about it here Farmscape helps home gardeners make their brown thumbs greener Just think of the benefits of learning and getting fresh produce as well. Happy Landscaping and Gardening.

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Most of us in New England have not had to worry about watering our lawns during the month of May, with all the rain our sprinkler systems have had an extended holiday. But the rain will not last forever and when the dry days of summer come along we will be firing up our water delivery systems so as to not lose our lawns and gardens.

Have you thought of integrating satellites to control when your sprinklers turn on and how much water they deliver. You read that right. “satellites”. More and more satellites are being used to make our lives easier and in the case of water lawns and gardens satellites can save on the amount of water used and tell you sprinklers when and where to turn on. I’m sure someone will create an iPhone or Droid app soon so you can communicate with your sprinkler system when you are halfway around the world.

I ran across an interesting group while surfing on the web. The group is called the Quiet Garden Movement. This movement was started by Quaker members in England to build more spaces affording people space to reflect, relax and just chill out. I think it is a great idea and one I hope will spread to more groups and individuals as a way to promote time for quiet reflection.

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I don”t know any landscaper or gardener that does not like lots of rain to fall during the growing season but pretty much to the person everyone would prefer that it fell during the late night hours. I’m sure it has not rained everyday in May but as I sit and look out the window I can’t just now remember the last stretch of sunny days. But what can you do, weather is just what it is and if you are anything like me you have lots of projects you can do in doors or between the sprinkles, just think of all the beauty that will unfold because of all this rain.

This morning I read a short story about the opening of a new public garden in Beacon NY that is inviting the community to participate in the planting of trees and shrubs within the garden. The residents also can volunteer to tend many of the plants and trees that will later as they mature transplanted to public areas with the municipality.

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