Here is a How-To video on replacing an irrigation system spray head.  I am replacing a 4 inch spray head in an irrigation system that was using some off brand spray heads that had started to malfunction.  The process is simple but call us if you need us.

Eagle 20 EW  -  $55.95

Eagle 20 EW is a broad spectrum fungicide that offers exceptional control

of Brown Patch, Zoysia Patch, Dollar Spot, Powdery Mildew and a variety of

other fungus problems.

We have used this product extensively over the past 5 years

and have had great success.

To reduce the cost we sell this product in our own bottles and still

provide all of the label information along with some helpful hints to

maximize your results.

Product Label Here

Over the past few years I have created several Japanese gardens.  I love the Asian garden design with its simplicity and ancient rituals of lanterns and fountains.  The first Japanese garden I created was in my own back yard.  I decided to create a Japanese garden in an area of my back yard that was heavy shade and a very out of the way area of the yard.   I have found that a Japanese style garden can be an excellent solution for those areas that are difficult to come up with a landscaping solution.  Especially those areas with heavy shade and lots of moss.  So many customers ask me what they should do with this type of area and when I suggest this would be a great spot to create a Japanese garden they are very intrigued.

Recently I did some upgrades to my Japanese garden.  Last year we had a flood in Atlanta that swept away a part of the Japanese garden landscape in my backyard so this spring I decided it was a good time to do some improvements from the original design.  Here is a picture of the area of the backyard before I created the Japanese Garden.

I spent a lot of time planning the layout of the Asian style garden.  One of the best resources I found was this book.

One of the elements I wanted to incorporate into my garden was a dry (karesanui) style element.  This would add elements of stones and gravel symbolizing water and islands.   As I researched the symbolism of the elements in this style of garden I realized how important it was to plan the placement and size of the elements I would use to create a Japanese garden.

Other elements in the garden would be a Japanese lantern, sitting rock and a landscape pathway in and out of the garden.  I utilized some borders I found at Home Depot and added some plant material to finish off the garden.  Low voltage landscape lighting was added to accent the garden at night, complete with a little light running to the lantern.

Here is the Japanese Garden after the first construction.

The dry garden is at the low right side of the picture with the path leading into and out of the garden.

You can see a small fountain in the middle of the picture and the Japanese lantern is located to the right. It’s a little hidden behind the privet but you can see the red lantern base.  I actually found the Japanese lantern in the woods of a friend’s house and was lucky enough to have him give it to me.  If you are not as lucky you can find great Japanese lanterns here.

Japanese Lantern

The flood actually washed most of the dry Japanese garden and pathway out.  Most of those upright granite stones and actually the bridge were washed into the drainage ditch that runs through our backyard.  The drainage ditch is what the bridge spans.

As you can see the little fence behind the Japanese garden is pieced together and not doing well so this spring another phase of the reconstruct was to replace the fence line that runs the entire distance of our backyard.  There were actual sections that had just fallen over as you moved to the left of the section you see in this picture.  One of the elements that I have thought about for some time now that I would like to add to the Asian style garden is a bamboo fence.  In fact I priced one out a few years ago, it was not cheap.  But in deciding that this was the year to replace the fence and I was in need of repairing the flood damage to the Japanese garden, it was time to put on the thinking cap and come up with a plan.

What I ended up doing is rebuilding the fence to match what was originally there but stopping right before the Japanese garden and completing the fence line with a bamboo fence.

Again I went back to my trusty Japanese Garden book.  Again, I am telling you, if you are serious about having a Japanese style garden, you need this book.  It is invaluable.

There is a section in the back of the book that shows you how to tie the knots and build the fence.   I came up with a bit of my own design but still tried to keep it as authentic as possible.  After much research in trying to locate bamboo poles I ended up asking a local homeowner if he would let me cut some for my needs.  He was gracious enough to offer his bamboo as a gift.  Its amazing what you can get if you just ask.

Another fantastic resource is this ebook.  This will actually allow you to get started immediately since you just download the book and start planning right now.  The information that has been compiled in this manual is priceless and will give you everything you need to create your meditative masterpiece.

Do It Yourself Japanese Garden

This book will:

• Gives YOU the 5 essential types of Japanese Gardens, and how to choose the right one for you!
• Show’s you how to transform your backyard in a matter of hours.
• Reveals the TRUTH about Japanese Rock Garden principles and the Deep Symbolic meaning behind them!
• Demonstrates easy, step by step sample garden designs for you to follow.
• Helps you choose the right plants, before you begin!
• Assists you to not make the biggest mistake most people make when designing their own Japanese Garden.
• How to successfully bring together all of the essential elements to make the Japanese Garden you have always dreamed of.

Do It Yourself Japanese Garden

The last upgrade I wanted to do was to have a more traditional water feature incorporated into the Japanese garden.  I created a bamboo water pipe fountain out of some of the extra bamboo I had.  It was so easy to make and adds so much to the garden I highly recommend building one of these.  The details are in the books but I will be posting my own instructional soon so sign up for our RSS Feed and stay tuned.

Here are a few pictures of the finished upgrades.

Bamboo fountain falling into stone.

In this picture you can see the little terra cotta soldier with the Buddha sitting in meditation.    You can also see the borders have changed.  I used the cheap landscape timbers you can get at Lowe’s or Home Depot.  I think they are close to $2.00 / each at 8’ long.  I cut them  into sections and set them in the ground as you can see in the picture.  This makes a great border and very inexpensive to do.

If you have any questions please leave a comment, I will be happy to answer any questions you might have.  This is a great project and certainly gives you an incredible look to any garden.

Most of the time we create borders in our landscape designs we don’t use landscape edging borders.  Instead we dig a shallow trench along the edge of the bed island.  This makes a nice crisp edge and also creates a natural catch for the mulch choice you are using in the island. 

The use of landscaping borders becomes a necessity when you are creating a small garden or a specialty garden.  One of the more popular specialty gardens we build are Japanese Gardens.  These simple gardens can be very eye-catching and inexpensive to create.  The trick is to utilize authentic materials in the creation of the garden.  Some of these authentic materials are bamboo and a Japanese Lantern.  You might spend some money on the lantern but it will be the center feature of the garden and will pay off in the long run as this is what really draws your attention.  A great addition to the lantern is to install a low voltage light inside of the lantern so it will light up at night.  Very Cool!!!!

When incorporating bamboo into the garden on of the best ways to do this is to utilize these great little borders into the garden. 

Bamboo Border Black

 
Bamboo Border

These are both great choices for landscape edging borders but the imagination can be the best creator.  We have used granite tumbled stone, landscape timbers cut into pieces, small borders and the list goes on.  The trick is to use a material that naturally fits with the rest of the garden.  This is one of the reasons we never use the cheaper plastic borders.  They are not natural enough and in the end detract from the landscape instead of add to it. 

Another element in a small garden are stepping stones.  Here is a great post and video on how to install stepping stones.

If you have any questions or this video helped you, please leave a comment, they are most appreciated.

The Atlanta landscape starts to take shape with the installation of some plant material. This video spans two days of plantings and the concepts behind some placement. Some of the larger plant material includes Nellie R Stevens, Crepe Myrtle and a variety of smaller plant material including loropetalum, gold mop cypress and some knockout roses. Boulders are positioned to enhance the plant material and the combination of colors and textures really start to give a feel for what the end result of the landscape will be.

Here is the final walk through of the project. At the end of the video is a clip of the before and a fade into the after. Please leave any comments below, they are greatly appreciated.

The project consists of taking the existing garden design and upgrading it with easier to manage pathways, a more garden desirable irrigation system and finishing off the greenhouse with a more stable concrete slab floor.  The greenhouse was flown in from London and is a centerpiece of the garden grounds but has not been used since brought to the states a couple of years ago.  The garden will be finished off with formal hedge plantings and perennials to add interest and color. 

The garden club will then take control and bring the garden alive with their exciting plans for vegetables and flowering plant life.

As the landscape project continues we got lucky and found the dedicated water lines to the garden. Once we tied into the water line we layed out 6 drip zones to efficiently water the garden areas. Once the drip irrigation lines were in we were ready to move forward with the paverstone path system being installed in the middle area of the garden. A red paverstone is used to bring out some of the color of the stones used to build the base of the greenhouse.

Here we see the final stages of the project coming together and the final walk through. We installed needlepoint hollies around the edges of the garden and korean boxwoods around the edges of the small formal planting squares inside of the garden. It gives it a very formal, English garden feel and with the perennials we chose the colors and textures bring the garden to life. Some great before and after pictures are shown at the end of the video.

Atlanta Landscape – Flower Pot from sagacious1 on Vimeo

.

Flower pots can add a great deal of dimension, instant color and charm to a landscape. They can also solve a variety of common landscape problems such as unattractive stairs or not enough ground area to plant flowers and plants.  The art of creating container gardens is highly sought after craft.  In fact, there are companies dedicated to only creating and maintaining container plantings.  The fact is containers are easy  with the right plant material and a few tricks of the trade.  This video is a tutorial on preparing the container for planting, some varieties of plant material suited to planters and methods of installing the plants to give your containers a full, rich look.

If these tips and information help you, please leave a comment.

Happy Planting.

Certainly if you are considering an outdoor room – as you should be – because like I said they are cool then here are some considerations whether you are doing it yourself or just kicking around the idea to see how it fits. 

First thing to do:

Locate a spot in your property with some privacy of a special view or just feels right.  This space can be small, in fact they are easier to decorate but sometimes there might need to be something moved like a shrub or some rearranging to make the space happen.  Let your imagination take you.  You will more than likely add a screen of some kind to create the privacy and give the room effect so keep that in mind when looking.  That kind of leads us into the second thing to do.

Second thing to do:

There are a variety of things you can use to create the screen or wall. It can be created out of a row of planters, existing wood fences or walls, living plants in the garden, or a lattice panel supported by two posts. You are just creating the sense of a wall – it does not need to be solid by any means.  In fact that adds to the character and gives you a sense of security but still have some space.  Let your imagination go here, you can expand an existing wall or create a new one and if space is more in the open you can cement a couple of 4 x 4 posts in the ground with quickset cement (no mixing) and add some simple fencing.  This then becomes a great space for decorating.  My wife and I built a wooden fence in our back yard and we keep giving each other cool items to hand on it.

Third thing to do:

Add a floor and ceiling. There are some great choices for flooring and yes you can spend some money here but I think it is important.  It will impact how you use the space.  There are great stone choices available with a locking dry mortar that does a great job and is fairly easy.  You can just leave the floor dirt or grass or cypress mulch but having a more solid surface will add a great deal to your room.  You can also get the pre-fabbed stone and position them into some pea gravel.  I will add some pages of how-to’s shortly to give you some assistance or send me a message and I will be glad to help you out with some instructions. 

The ceiling can be as simple as the open sky which works great if you are in the shade or plan on using your space more at night but can get a little toasty if that is not the case.  Creating a pergola is something that takes a bit of know how but is certainly not difficult and there are a great many variations of what you could use to create a ceiling effect.  Again – use your imagination and check out some of the ideas other people have come up with.   You never know what you can find at garage sales and a little creativity.

Fouth thing to do:

Furnishing the space is part of the fun.   Consider what you will be doing in your space. Will you need a table for dining, will it just be your meditation space from the world, or will you be entertaining guests here?   Area garage sales are a great place to gather some furnishings.  Maybe you have some old furniture stored away – grab a paint can and freshen it up and put it to use.

And finally:

The best fun there is, accessorizing on a budget!!!  Let your imagination go wild or better yet – I’m sure by now you have seen some pictures of outside rooms and while you are garage shopping for the furniture and other furnishings you will certainly come across some treasures for this final piece.  Most of all have fun and enjoy. 

Follow Up Thoughts.

One of the best sounds to add to your landscape is water and now that you will be spending more time in your landscape , its a must.  You will find a do-it-yourself pond instruction here  but if that doesn’t seem to work for you at least add a small fountain.  You can pick one of those up for practically nothing.  You might even find one at the G-Sales.  Also candles are a great feature at night but be careful.  Fire and Water – WOW – You can’t help but relax now.  If you have any questions or insight please post a comment. 

Happy & Devoted Gardening.

Outdoor rooms have become a design expansion of the modern house to incorporate the pleasures of being outside with a family living space. The concept of an outdoor living space has been around for centuries but because of advancements in lighting, architecture, furniture and appliances the functionality has greatly increased in the modern home.

The possibilities are almost endless but there are a few things you will want to keep in mind when creating your outdoor space. The concept is simple – to blend the outdoor pleasures with the indoor comforts. Basic outdoor spaces tend to include cooking and dining areas. More exotic concepts can have everything from sofas and beds to spas, hot tubs, fireplaces and meditation areas.

The Plan

The first thing to consider is the space you will need. The next thing to consider is: the size of your property and the size of your budget. The space can be large and flowing or small and intimate. Typically the small and intimate rooms will have some form of a border. You could use materials such as fences and arbors or plant material like flower gardens or hedges.

You need to be mindful of the location in relation to natural factors such as how much sunlight and wind will the space experience. Access to power and water and gas may need to be considered. Look at the space from both a daytime and a nighttime perspective to make sure there is no noise or light levels that might be intrusive to your space.

Flooring options are plentiful but you want to consider what your needs will be. If you plan on hosting parties in your space, ease of clean up might be a consideration as well as comfort to your guests. Perhaps you want to maintain a very natural feel to your space and you might stick with what nature provides you with. Lawn or other mulched space might be your preference.

An important feature to the outside room will be the overhead structure. This will provide cover from the elements and define the space. In most cases the overhead structure is a cost-efficient way to improve the function and usability of your outdoor room or kitchen. Some common choices are: awnings, gazebos or pergolas.