This is the Facebook contest you don't want to miss, with up to $5,000 in prizes! Entering is EASY ... just go to our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/LandPatterns) and give us your e-mail & phone number and you'll automatically be entered to win.
But there's more! Share this promotion on your own Facebook page & you'll get your name entered TWICE into the drawing. Additionally, for every five (5) friends you share this promotion with, we'll enter your name into the drawing again. Have 100 friends? Share it with all of them & receive 20 entries. The more you share the more chances you have to WIN one of four FABULOUS prizes.
The winner will get to pick one of the following:
1. ONE YEAR RESIDENTIAL MAINTENANCE (Up to $5,000.00 value) LandPatterns will meet with the winning homeowner and prepare a professional grounds management program to provide 12 months of residential maintenance to include mowing, edging, bed maintenance, shrub and ground cover pruning/trimming, lawn and bed fertilization and irrigation monitoring. Limits: Residence must be in the normal maintenance service area.
2. FRONT YARD MAKEOVER (Up to $5,000.00 value) LandPatterns will meet with the winning home owner and develop a front yard planting plan to prune, shape and/or remove and replace the existing plants to improve the "curb appeal" of the house. Limits: Residence must be in the metropolitan area.
3. LANDSCAPE MASTERPLAN (Up to $3,500.00 value) The landscape designers will meet with the winning homeowner to develop a landscape master plan for the residence by one of our award winning designers. Your master plan may include planting schemes, outdoor kitchens and/or entertainment centers, water features, lighting, grading and drainage, play yards, outdoor activity areas or whatever it is that you desire. We will also include cost estimates for all items included in the overall master plan. Limits: Residence must be in the metropolitan area.
4. IRRIGATION SYSTEM UPGRADE (Up to $2,000 value) Install Rainbird ESPSMT Irrigation Controller (Smart Clock) and adjust irrigation system to maximize water use. The ESPSMT uses a weather station to monitor water evaporation and plant transpiration as a result of wind, heat, rainfall, etc. and delivers only the amount of water needed for each area of your yard. Average savings on irrigation water can be as much as 50% depending on previous use. Keep your landscape beautiful and conserve our natural resources.
A beautifully designed landscape doesn't have to fade to black when the sun goes down. To the contrary, sometimes a landscape is best enjoyed at night, through artfully arranged outdoor lighting.
The warm glow of outdoor lighting works to invoke relaxation, to highlight trees and other plants that may not be the stars of the landscape during the day and to provide an interesting backdrop for your evening entertainment. The right landscape lighting not only illuminates a pathway or flowerbed, but also increases your curb appeal and adds ambiance and atmosphere.
"Like" us on Facebook and stay connected to view photos of our latest landscape lighting projects and more!
Jeanne and I recently spent an extended weekend with some friends in the Ouachita Mountains. Only three to four hours from Dallas, it is a great place to get away this time of year. With mild days and cool nights you can hike, bike, use the ATV trails or just relax and enjoy the surroundings. Southeast Oklahoma and Arkansas have many cabins, campsites,and hotels to choose from. The leaves should be turning soon to add a blanket of color. Hope you also take a little time to get away and take advantage of what nature has to offer.
If you are you having something "help" with your lawn work overnight and it turns out like this, chances are it is the handiwork of the small mammal of Texas, the Armadillo. Digging for insects, the armadillo can be quite destructive. There is really no effective cure for this except for trapping the animal and relocating it. Homeowners will try to rid the area of the insects that they eat, but in doing so, many beneficial insects are destroyed. If they become used to eating in a certain area, they will often dig more holes in search of food, causing more damage before moving on. Store-bought repellents have proven to be less than effective, but live animal traps often do the trick. Live traps can be borrowed from your local animal control unit and they will relocate the animal for you. Good luck!
By Marc Funderburk September 27th, 2011 @ 5:30 a.m
Marilyn has taken up canning over the past couple of summers. She has the time and we have friends who have gardens and orchards from which we harvest our bounty. Jams, jellies and pickels were the order of business this year even though this summer was slim pickens. What we don't eat at home we give to our church and they use the jams and jellies to prepare sandwiches for the various shelters in the area. The pressure cooker is my grandmother's. I still remember spending summers on their farm, sleeping in the root cellar, not a basement but a real root cellar, and marveling at all the jars of canned goods. She put up everything for the long winters in North Dakota. Vegetables, fruits, chicken, you name it and she canned it. For my mother and her family, canning was an essential part of life. They lived off the bounty of the earth in the summer and made sure they put up enough to carry them through the winter and into the next planting season. Today we hop in the car, go to the store and get what we need. We don't worry about "putting up enough" to carry us through. And maybe that's why we're in the pickle we are today. We need to appreciate what we have, make hay while the sun is shinning and lay up for hard times. My mother and her family didn't have it easy but they had it good.
As many of you may know I gather inspiration from my garden and my neighborhood. I like walking my dog, Nola, early in the morning before the world awakes. I find owls perched after a night of hunting, bats are still flittering in search of the last insects before the sun comes up, leaves continue to fall and create beautiful patterns that I notice as Nola stops to read the newspaper at every mail box. (If you own a beagle you'll know what I'm talking about.) Beauty abounds in nature at all times of the year but I find the fall a great time for reflection and inspiration. We've had a tough summer and the drought is still with us and probably will be for quite some time. We should all take time to enjoy the change in the weather and realize that life is in the details. Stop and smell the roses, drink deeply from the fall's springs and remember you may only live once but there is the hope even in death, just look at the beauty of fall leaves and the promise of life they bring.
Boxelder Bugs (also known as red-shouldered bugs) proliferate in hot, dry weather, so it's no surprise that we have seen quite a few of them in the field lately. Although they cause relatively little damage to their host plants, they can be alarming because they group in large numbers. Their bodies are black or brownish-black and they have red shoulders and borders of the abdomen. The Boxelder Bug tends to live on boxelders, golden raintrees, and fruit trees such as peaches and plums and, as seen below, yaupon hollies.
Though they tend to cause little damage, you have organic methods of removal if you so choose. You can remove fruits or seeds from the host plant that they are feeding on, you can sweep or vacuum them, or if you are particularly bothered by their presence, you can remove the host tree altogether.
After several unsuccessful attempts to establish St. Augustine grass in the very shady yard, we installed a variety of Zoysia Grass called Zeon. The grass was installed in late May and is performing very well, even through this hot spell. If you are having trouble with establishing a lawn in dense shade, this may be the answer you are looking for.
Also shown here is the same grass in bright sun which was installed in July. It is also performing well in these conditions. We will continue to monitor the performance throughout the winter months, but so far it is doing well.
June's severely hot and dry weather has brought an early infestation of Chinch Bugs in many DFW lawns. The Chinch Bugs themselves are too small to detect visually, but the the havoc they wreak can be a very big eyesore. Damage is often noticed in the areas of the lawn that get the most direct and longest-lasting sunlight, and areas surrounding sidewalks and roads. The symptoms include quickly yellowing then browning patches, and if the Chinch Bugs are not treated, you will have to replace the grass. Treatments include organic and conventional insecticides and proper watering techniques. If you think you might have a Chinch Bug infestation, call or email us and we will check for you.
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