The holidays are here and it’s time to decorate! We all love to look at the festive decorations that grace houses and businesses as we go through the holiday season.
We get to see everything from a simple charming string of lights gracing the eves to a massive computer operated program that coordinates the lights to music creating a multi-sensory experience. Whether big or small, lights and decorations are a beautiful way to express the season.
When it comes to decorating your own landscape, Pacific Vista Landscape Services would like to offer some suggestions to make your life easier. Here is an easy list of things you definitely want to do and some things you probably want to avoid.
Do this:
Be sure to highlight architectural or landscape features. Do you love something about your house or yard? Show it off!
Consider your homes’ placement. If your house sits farther back on your lot, consider using strands of lights with larger bulbs for higher visibility.
Be practical. This about where the lights will be in relation to the driveway or any walkways. Avoid putting strands right across the walkway which would create a trip hazard.
Plan ahead. Make sure you have outdoor safe lights and enough extension cords. Also be sure you have enough lights to do the job you want to accomplish.
Check your lights before you hang them. There’s little that is more annoying than finding out a strand doesn’t work after you’ve already put them up.
Be neighbor friendly. Avoid loud decorations, like the blowup décor. Also aim your projection lights so they don’t shine at the neighbor’s home.
Used correctly, projection LED lights are an easy way to decorate and can look great not just on the house, but on plants and hedges too. One unit can light a large area, takes less electricity, and no strings of lights to deal with, and clean-up is easy!
Avoid this:
Light everything in the yard, unless you get it professionally done with the correct equipment to do so safely.
Allow some wow factor by using “blank” space in your decoration. It can certainly add an extra punch to the lights without overdoing.
On the other end of the scale, don’t leave your decorations unbalanced and looking incomplete. Plan out your decorations and make sure it looks complete.
Try to avoid mixing LED and traditional lights and instead pick one style. It will keep your decorations looking cleaner.
Don’t overload the circuits. Take care to keep safety at the top of the list when decorating. Using the correct amount of lights on one circuit is important. Plus, how can you enjoy your lights if something blows, then the whole house is dark.
Finally, when you are decorating, don’t step on the top rung of a ladder. Safety first!
Pacific Vista Landscaping wants you to be safe this holiday season but also encourages you to enjoy the festivities. Be sure to take those precautions but have fun when decorating your yard. Happy Holidays!
As the weather changes to fall and the nights in Southern California become cooler, a great way to continue using your backyard is with the addition of a fire feature like a fire pit or fireplace. They add warmth and ambiance to a cool evening and extend the amount of time you can enjoy your outdoor spaces.
There are so many options to consider when adding a fire feature to your landscape. The best thing is that you have a myriad of options to best fit the space you are designing. Plus you can add outdoor living space around your fire pit or fireplace, designing seating with comfy and colorful cushions, outdoor furniture, or even built-in benches. The sky is the limit when designing your outdoor space focused around a fire feature.
Here are some ideas of what to consider before planning a fire feature and dreaming of those cool nights around a warm file:
Consider Your Cost
How much you want to spend on your outdoor area can largely influence the direction which you take your fire feature design. Costs can be as low as $100 for a small fire pit, one where you buy your own stones and dig the hole yourself, or comes as a kit purchased at a big box store. At the other end of the scale, a large built -in fireplace can run several thousand dollars, especially when seating design is added.
Permanent or Portable
A good idea when planning your fire feature space is to determine how portable or permanent you wish to make the space. Do you want the fire pit to be a focal feature in the yard, or something lightweight and potentially portable?
For permanent designs, you generally want to take into consideration the materials that are used on the house or in the garden and try to match those materials. Permanent can be a DIY job where you use a pre-made kit from the store, or you can fully customize with a landscape professional to do your design and build it.
Options for portable fire pits are also varied, there are fire bowls, fire tables, and chimney-style options and all come in a range of materials and can fit anyone’s needs.
Anyway you go, you should ensure you are using the proper stones and materials to ensure the safety of your space. Make the fire pit proportional to the size of your yard, and be sure you have room for seating and circulation.
Consider the Requirements
Many communities have minimum guidelines of distance from neighboring yards, and from your home. There may be permitting requirements when designing and installing a permanent fire pit. Finally, check with local officials to see if there are bans on certain styles of fire pits, such as open fire designs.
Of course, Pacific Vista Landscape is available to make your fire feature design plans come together without the major headache of figuring out all the design, and permitting requirements all on your own. Just make a call and we will help you get setup with your dream fire pit or fireplace, and before you know it, you’ll be relaxing in your new outdoor area, enjoying a nice warm fire, and making s’mores!
When working on your landscape and garden areas, an important concept to consider is mulching. There are many benefits to mulching! Number one is water conservation and it can add a fresh, finished look to your landscape. So here is some basic information of the types of mulch, the benefits of mulching, and some how-to’s.
Types of Mulch
There are two basic types of mulch; organic and inorganic. Organic mulch is comprised of natural materials that will break down over time and add nutrients to the soil. Inorganic mulch is made up of material (like rock) that won’t decompose.
Organic Mulch
Organic mulch comes in many forms like grass clippings or wood chips from tree bark, or even shredded redwood, and each has consideration of where they might best work for your landscape.
Grass clippings are great when you have a lawn, they can be used in vegetable gardens or under bushes but be sure not to use any clippings treated with herbicides or pesticides.
Woodchips are great for water conservation, preventing soil erosion, and weed control.
Cocoa mulch is an interesting and unusual option, it should applied in a thinner layer and is beautiful with a rich dark color. Bonus, it has a chocolatey smell that lasts 2-3 weeks. The downside, cocoa mulch is pricier but it does last longer as you use less. (Note: cocoa mulch does contain theobromine and caffeine, ingredients that harm dogs. If a 50-pound dog swallows 5.3 ounces, seizures can occur; 9 ounces can cause death).
Straw is a great option, especially for vegetable gardens. If you choose this option, be sure to ask for clean, weed-free straw and if you are able, take the time to treat the straw before laying it down as straw can contain viable seeds.
Chopped leaves, a handy option in the fall as they are a readily available source, but be sure to chop them up with a lawnmower fitted with a grass catcher first. Otherwise, the leaves might become matted. Wet leaves after applying them to keep them from blowing away.
Inorganic Mulch
Inorganic mulch is often available in forms like rock, lava rock, stone, and even recycled tires.
Recycled tire is a great option when planning to mulch around play areas for kids and comes in bright fun colors like red and orange. This material seems to have an impact absorption which also adds a little bit of safety to the landscaping as well.
Lava Rock is lighter weight than traditional stone and it has a lovely finished quality to nice areas. It might cost a bit more for the initial investment, but that will pay off as lava rock lasts forever. A couple notes: be sure to place in an area that doesn’t require much gardening maintenance as the edges are sharp. Also, be sure of where you put it, once lava rock is down, it is difficult to move.
Stone is commonly used in xeriscape gardening. It is handy as it absorbs heat during the day and release it to the plants at night. This also lasts longer and you can do with a thinner layer to cover the ground. However, the heat absorption bonus can cause faster water evaporation from soil and is most frequently with dark-colored stones.
Benefits
There are many great reasons to use mulch in your garden or landscaping. To name a few mulching:
Protects soil from erosion
Reduces compaction from the impact of heavy rains
Conserves moisture, reducing the need for frequent watering
Maintains a more even soil temperature
Keeps fruits and vegetables clean
Keeps feet clean, allowing access to garden even when damp
Provides a “finished” look to a garden/landscape
Fall and winter: insulate plants.
Spring and summer: hold in moisture and decrease weeds.
How-To
When mulching, you will need to look at the specific type of mulch you are using to determine the best amount to use. You will find that certain mulches like rock or grass clippings will need thinner layers. When piled too thickly, grass clippings clump, and become slimy as it decomposes creating a less than pleasant odor. Rock can get too heavy if too much is used. So take care in how much you use when choosing your mulch type.
Overall, for wood (pieces and shredded alike) the rule of thumb is your application should be about a four-inch layer over most of the area. Near the plant, however, barely cover ground as it will hold in too much moisture and cause the plant to rot. Newer trees, be sure to keep a space of six-inches between the tree and the mulch also to prevent rotting.
Remember when using wood product, it will leach nitrogen from the soil as it breaks down so be sure to add a fertilizer with nitrogen additive to the soil prior to laying your mulch.
Final note, typically organic mulches will need to be replenished about every six months.
There are many options and style available for mulching and Pacific Vista Landscape Services wants to help you find the perfect one for your home or business. When planning a garden or preparing to change your landscaping, be sure to contact Pacific Vista and we would be happy to discuss the best option for your plans!
