So you’ve finally decided this is the season you will add an outdoor living space that will give you a place to escape to and take in the sounds, smells and sights of your gorgeous Indiana landscape, as well as provide a comfortable and convenient area to entertain great friends and family. Lawn care experts suggest adding a hexagonal gazebo might just be the perfect avenue to that destination!

Hexagonal gazebos are traditional in appearance, but add a style and sophistication to your Indiana landscape. And although you may choose a design and materials that exude luxury, lawn care specialists say hexagonal gazebos are quite affordable. Furthermore, your property value will increase with this beautiful addition!

Hexagonal gazebos do not have to be one-size-fits-all in style. Lawn care professionals say there are several different options, including whether or not to add benches inside the gazebo and different types of railings. When it comes to topping your hexagonal gazebo, you can choose from a canopy top, an ornamental cupola or more traditional roofing shingles, perhaps to match the roof of your home.

Hexagonal gazebos typically come in 8 foot and 10 foot sizes. Lawn care pros suggest a great way to accentuate your Indiana landscape gazebo is by adding garden lights and seasonal plantings around the gazebo itself. The plants and flowers will give you something beautiful to gaze upon as you relax the day away in your Indiana landscape and the garden lights will allow you to enjoy this outdoor living space even on cool, summer nights.

Contact your local lawn care company today to find out more about adding a hexagonal gazebo to your Indiana landscape this season!

Trying to grow grass can be the bane of anyone’s existence as landscaping experts all know firsthand. You find yourself putting more effort into your lawn than some people put in at the gym, so darn it! You want results! But after weeks of strategically placing grass seed throughout your yard, you might be wondering why your lawn looks so thin and the birds look so fat. Little did you know that friendly flock of flyers is just waiting on their next free meal.

The easiest and possibly thriftiest solution to protect your grass seed, according to landscaping experts, is to buy garden ornaments that will scare the birds away. You can choose non-moving knick-knacks such as owls or snakes, but if the birds are smart, they might figure out these are just decoys. A better option might be to use brightly colored flags or pinwheels, something with a lot of color and movement, which will scare the birds away.

If your local flock seems resistant to the simplicity of this solution, landscaping specialists say it might be time to step it up a notch and pull out the big guns – straw mulch, a solid seed covering and a pat down. Try placing the seed under ¼” of soil and patting down with a shovel. Help keep the seed under the dirt and out of the birds’ mouths by camouflaging it with a straw mulch mixture. Birds do not typically eat straw, though they may steal a few pieces for their nests.

If all else fails, landscaping professionals suggest loosely covering the seed and ground with a plastic tarp might just do the trick. Avoid this scheme in the summer months, however, when the heat of the plastic will impede seed growth.

Birds do love their seed, but don’t be discouraged. Landscaping pros say using one or all of these methods will eventually have your birds flying off to filch someone else’s feed.

Many landscaping companies offer the design and installation of irrigation systems because proper hydration is absolutely vital to creating and maintaining a healthy landscape. Many homeowners find that watering their landscape or garden is more of a guessing game than anything else. Knowing precisely how much water your plants need is important because without enough water, their color and growth will suffer. If you water too much, you run the risk of soil erosion and drowning the roots, and if the watering takes place late in the evening, the development of mold.

Landscaping specialists can help you determine the correct watering procedures, but the installation of a sprinkler system can take the guesswork out of the picture. Hydration systems are designed to give your landscape just the right amount of water without overburdening the roots or causing them to go thirsty. Sprinkler systems can also be programmed to be sensitive to weather conditions, so you are experiencing a few days with heavy rainfall, your sprinkler system will not activate.

Irrigation systems are also designed and installed to make sure every inch of your landscape is covered. Many store-bought and self-installed hydration systems only cover one part of your lawn or landscape, whereas landscaping professionals will know how to install the system so that all your plants benefit.

If you are worried about the cost, think of how much money you waste by watering too much or forgetting to turn the sprinkler off. Professionally installed sprinkler systems can actually save you money, not to mention save water from being wasted.

Call your landscaping company today to find out more about the many benefits of an expertly designed sprinkler system.

There are several different varieties of Indiana mulch to choose from, but many homeowners and commercial property owners seem to prefer cedar Indiana mulch. Cedar Indiana mulch offers the Indiana landscape a hint of rich color, and of course there is the aromatic cedar smell that adds an extra incentive. Cedar Indiana mulch also offers Indiana landscape beds superior protection against soil erosion and compaction, weed growth and protects the roots of your plants from the hot sun. If you think cedar Indiana mulch is only useful when the weather is warm, you’ll be happy to know that Indiana mulch also protects the roots from freezing during spells of cold weather. So now that you know all the benefits of cedar Indiana mulch, you may wonder how you can make your own.

In order to make your own cedar Indiana mulch, according to professional Indiana landscapers, you will need cured cedar wood in the form of a stump or logs, a chainsaw, a hatchet and a hammer. Using the chainsaw, cut the cedar stump or the logs into two-inch sections, stacking the pieces atop one another. Once you have a complete stack, use the chainsaw to cut vertically down the stack again in one- to two-inch sections. Gather the stack back together and proceed to perform another vertical cut, this time forming a crosshatch pattern. All of the resulting wood shavings and pieces will serve as part of your Indiana mulch.

You will still have some smaller pieces that need to be broken up into tinier pieces. Use your hammer and hatchet to bust them up in whatever sizes you prefer. Place all the wood in a large container and add an amount of water that is proportionate to the wood chips. Landscaping professionals say for this project, a gallon of water is usually plenty. Make sure all the wood chips have been dampened by the water and let sit for three days. Drain the water from the container and let the cedar Indiana mulch dry in the sun for a day, turning it occasionally to make sure the undersides of the wood chips have a chance to dry out as well. Once all the pieces have dried, you have your very own source of cedar Indiana mulch to adorn your Indiana landscape!

Making your own cedar Indiana mulch may be a fun activity, but perhaps you’re looking for a more professional approach. Call your local Indiana landscaping company and ask about their Indiana mulching services.

Ever wonder what to do with those scraps of food that shouldn’t go down the disposal, but create a terrible smell if left in the garbage for more than a day? Or perhaps you’re looking to enhance the growth of your Indiana landscape plants in a more natural and cost-effective manner? Landscaping experts recommend using your kitchen waste to make your own all-organic Indiana mulch.

The first step in this journey toward a more eco-friendly way to fertilize your Indiana landscape is by choosing the right type of composter. Many Indiana landscapers recommend using worm bins. Filling the bin with live worms, your kitchen waste will be broken down by the worms and voila! You have a nutrient-rich fertilizer for your Indiana landscape! Using a worm bin is also beneficial because you can keep it inside your home if you wish for easy access. The only rule when it comes to worm bins is to not leave it in direct sunlight.

If you’re not sure how to use a worm bin or where to get the materials (or the worms), check with your community’s Department of Water and Power; they may offer worm bins as well as instructions on how to use them.

So what can you throw in the worm bin? The ingredients that make up worm bin Indiana mulch can range from fruit and vegetable rinds and pieces to most Indiana landscape debris, according to Indiana landscaping experts. So instead of throwing your kitchen scraps in the trash, or even to the dog, think about creating your own personal brand of all-organic Indiana mulch.

If making your own Indiana mulch is too much of a hassle but you still want to bring a more organic approach to fertilizing your Indiana landscape, call your local Indiana landscaping company and ask about their organic fertilization program.

When the leaves on the trees start to fall, each year you are faced with a tough decision: to bag, or not to bag, that is the question.

Raking and bagging leaves is a tedious Indiana landscaping chore. It means spending countless hours outside, hoping and praying a gust of wind doesn’t come along and undo all your hard work. However, despite your disdain for this Indiana landscaping have-to, you know that leaving the leaves on the lawn or Indiana landscape isn’t an option. Or is it?

Many homeowners believe in the power of mulching. Landscaping experts say it is a common misunderstanding that using a lawn mower to mulch leaves is bad for your turf or Indiana landscape. Quite the contrary, actually. But mulching the leaves and cutting them up into teeny tiny little bits, you will create a buffet of nutrients and organic matter on which your Indiana landscape can feed and thrive.

In addition to the nutritional benefit and the fact that mulching leaves with a lawn mower requires less time and effort, there is also the environmental benefit. Unless you use the brown leaf bags provided by Lowe’s or The Home Depot, you’re probably filling plastic bags and hoping the garbage men don’t get too nosy when loading your trash into the compactor. These plastic bags will end up in landfills, taking up even more room and putting a material (plastic) into the ground that will never decompose.

So the next time your Indiana landscape is covered with leaves, rev up the mower and get those leaves mulched!

Because Leyland Cyprus trees are coniferous and not deciduous, they are resilient to most diseases and insect infestations that are devastating to other trees. However, because they are coniferous and not deciduous, some of the insects they do attract are among the most harmful when it comes to a tree’s health.

Leyland Cyprus trees still have a few environmental enemies that are capable of severely damaging, if not altogether killing the tree, including bagworms and spider mites. One of the ways to prevent these infestations, as well as the damage that occurs along with the presence of these tree pests, is to engage in helpful tree care practices. As with all plants, Indiana landscaping experts insist that correct pruning procedures must be engaged in order to keep the tree healthy. According to Indiana landscapers, if proper techniques are not followed, the tree can become severely and irreparably injured.

Landscaping specialists say Leyland Cyprus trees will greatly benefit from bi-annual shearing. Over-shearing, which means shearing more than twice a year, can actually weaken the tree and leave it vulnerable to fungal infections. Landscapers recommend spaying the Leyland Cyprus with fungicide immediately after it has been sheared. In addition to fungal infections, the Leyland Cyprus usually only suffers from four other diseases: Seiridium cankers, Botryospaeria, Cereosporidium and Phytopht, also known as root rot. The good news is that with the right preventative care, the Leyland Cyprus may remain unaffected by these diseases.

To find out more about proper Indiana landscaping techniques for the Leyland Cyprus, call your local Indiana landscaper and schedule a consultation.

Winter pruning allows Indiana landscaping experts to fully assess the health and structural integrity of the tree without the interference of foliage. It is important to have this process scheduled early in the winter in order to give Indiana landscaping specialists time to accurately diagnose any problems and devise solutions to keep your Indiana landscape looking beautiful.

Winter is the ideal time for pruning because the limbs can be fully assessed without the weight of foliage on them. Pruning is generally known to encourage growth, so when it occurs during the growing season, new tissue and bark are constantly being added to the branches. When the foliage is no longer on the tree, proper pruning can take place to establish how much dead or decaying material is on the tree.

Pruning during the growing season is encouraged, but can disrupt the tree’s energy. Landscaping authorities say that since leaves are the primary food source for trees, the pruning that goes on during the summer actually decreases the amount of energy the tree is getting. Obviously the tree is capable of getting through the winter on reserved energy sources, so pruning does not have as much of an impact.

Another reason why winter pruning is ideal and beneficial is because the tree is completely dormant, including disease and insect activity. Pruning sometimes makes trees vulnerable to insect infestations and diseases, especially if the pruning techniques aren’t performed correctly and the tree is wounded. If perchance the tree is wounded during winter pruning, it will be able to seal before or during the early spring before insects and diseases become active once again.

For more information on winter pruning, contact your local Indiana landscaping company and schedule a consultation!

Bagworms are often the bane of any homeowner’s existence. These stubborn insects can take a perfectly healthy and beautiful Indiana landscape and destroy it in a matter of months. Their incessant feeding depletes trees and shrubs of the nutrients necessary to keep them alive and thriving, thus killing the plants if there is no intervention.

The presence of bagworms is usually not diagnosed until early June, at which time the introduction of pest control applications is usually effective. The key is to eliminate them before they begin to reproduce, which they do at a rapid rate. If nothing is done about their presence in your trees until mid- to late summer, Indiana landscaping experts say saving your trees might be much more difficult, if not impossible. As time passes, the “bag” becomes thicker, making it more resilient against insecticides.

The primary method used by many Indiana landscaping specialists is removing the bags from the trees and burning them. In addition to this process, professional-grade insecticides are applied to stop reproduction and ward off future infestations.

If you have had problems in the past with bagworms and can’t afford to lose more trees to these destructive critters, contact your local Indiana landscaping professionals and ask them for their help in reducing these populations before it is too late.

Superior Indiana landscaping involves many steps, but perhaps none is as important as proper hydration. After all, a landscape cannot succeed without water. Adequately hydrating your landscape is not an exact science, but it is close. The best plan is to install a sprinkler system that ensures your landscape is watered every day at the same time. Sprinkler systems with a timer are even more ideal, but you still have several options there. Landscaping specialists highly recommend pulsating sprinklers for the best results.

Pulsating sprinkler systems spray water into the air and allow the water to fall back down to the ground in a fine mist. There are five different types of pulsating sprinklers: impulse, traveling, stationary, oscillating and rotary. Impulse sprinklers are the top choice of Indiana landscaping professionals because they cover larger areas.

It is important to know if you have high or low water pressure, as that also factors in to which type of pulsating sprinkler you choose for your Indiana landscaping needs. If you have low water pressure, an H-base is a better choice than a spike-based sprinkler which is better suited for high pressure.

Pulsating sprinklers have the benefit of being designed with gusty winds in mind, as well as low-hanging trees or tall shrubs. The height of the water spray can be adjusted accordingly and since the water is typically sprayed close to the ground, its spray is unaffected by the wind.

If you think a pulsating sprinkler may be beneficial to your lawn, contact your local Indiana landscaping company. Many Indiana landscaping companies also install Indiana irrigation systems, especially since proper hydration makes their job that much easier!