There is one – and just one – situation that calls for topping a tree. And that’s weather damage. I’m referring to the practice of cutting off the leader shoot, leaving only a stump. Or worse, shaping the tree into a giant lollipop. Incredible. This Autumn Flame maple tree (Acer rubrum ‘Autumn Flame’) was damaged by the tornado that came through our neighborhood a couple of years ago. The only reason to top a tree is to make proper smooth cuts to minimize e ..read more

Before and after. Weeping Willow, Crepe Myrtles and a row of Day Lilies all help to control drainage. In this post I’ll present a case study dealing with storm water drainage issues in a yard we maintained. Although someone else is now caring for the property, this example is still instructive. The photos are used with permission of the property owne ..read more

In another post, I teased you with the promise of baring my soul about my lapse of dedication to regular soil samples. Now I’ll tell you of the consequences, and why you should be more diligent. From Clemson University, here is how to collect a proper soil sample. You can get printed sample bags from your local extension office, or put your soil in a plain old sandwich bag. In the latter case, include a card with your name, address, phone number, email addr ..read more

Now that the growing season is booming here in the Southeast, so are the weeds and bugs. Most of us turn to chemicals to control them. And most of the time everything turns out okay. But sometimes things go sideways. Consider, for instance, this story of a guy who mixed 2 pesticides and put it in a soda bottle to use later. You might guess what happened. Yep, when he got hot and needed a drink of water, he grabbed the wrong bottle and took a big swig of his ..read more

Grass Clippings in the Street Can Kill Summer is here, and mowing season has gone crazy. But be very careful to keep grass clippings out of the street (and beds) and on the lawn where they belong. You never know when a motorcycle rider will come by, having a nice outing, then lose control on grass in the road. Things can turn ugly real fast. It’s good business to leave the finished property looking awesome, or at least better than when you arrived. So pleas ..read more

Here in the Transition Zone of the Southeastern US, we have 2 basic kinds of Fescue: Tall (sometimes referred to as Turf Type Tall Fescue – TTTF), and Fine. Both of them are cool season grasses and do best in fall through spring. Fescue prefers the relatively cooler climes of the Piedmont, Foothills and higher elevations of the Appalachians. Its success in the belt of the Transition Zone fills the gap between traditional northern grasses (for example, Blueg ..read more

Transform a problem slope into terraced beds Most of us who have worked in landscaping for more than a month have experienced a slope that’s a problem. Here’s a project we built for a client who lives in a subdivision with yards of about 1/8 acre. From the bottom of the slope to the wall of the next house was about ten feet. It ran the length of the lot, and h ..read more

Lawn burwell (aka, lawn burweed, spurweed, stickerweed) (Soliva sessilis) is a particularly annoying winter weed, as any of you who have stepped on it in the spring will testify. Its growth habit is low and mounded, looks cushiony and soft like spring grass. But don’t go barefoot around burwell! There’s a very good reason why one of its aliases is ‘stickerweed’.  The best tip of all? Don’t let it get started ..read more

In an earlier post about our little greenhouse, I promised to tell you about our rain water collection system and how we use it. So here we go. This will be fairly long, but it’s better to give you all the steps in one go. When we ordered our greenhouse, it was a grand surprise to find out it came with gutters. And there were even fittings on each corner to accept ½ inch smooth hose. We used left over flexible irrigation pipe and parts of old garden hose. E ..read more

How to Set Up a Small Greenhouse Have you ever had occasion to ‘rescue’ plants on your client visits? Wish you had a greenhouse in your backyard to overwinter them, but you’re concerned about setting one up? It’s not as complicated as you might think. And you can use some materials that landscapers commonly have on hand to adapt your grow house to your preference. Before graduating to this ‘hobby’ greenhouse, I messed around with homemade cold frames made o ..read more