We Work So You Don’t Have To

Many homeowners who are lucky enough to have both a front and back yard will be seen outside all summer constantly landscaping and putting hours of labor into making their yards into the next Botanical Garden. Unfortunately, not everyone has the time and dedication to work on such projects, so call up 3-D Landscape & Design and we’ll take care of all of your planned projects for you! Our Elite staff will be able to add that new fire pit, those lush gardens, and the nice shrubbery while you sit back and relax. So what are you waiting for? The weather’s beautiful and the summer season is almost upon us, so call up 3-D Landscape & Design before it’s to late!

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Grab Some Deals From The Masters

The MSU Extension Master Gardeners of Kalamazoo County invite you to their 5th annual Plant Sale on Friday, May 11, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday, May 12, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. This sale will be held inside the Walnut Room in the County’s Health & Community Services building located at 3299 Gull Road in the Nazareth complex, Kalamazoo. Top quality, locally grown plants will add beauty and delicious fresh produce to your home landscape. Perennials, hanging baskets with both ornamental and edible plants, as well as vegetables and herbs will be available for purchase. Hint: these plants would make beautiful gifts for Mother’s Day. Gardening gifts will also be on sale. Master Gardeners will be happy to help you select plants, as well as carry them to your car. Gardening seminars will be offered free to the public on Saturday. At 9:00 am Edible, Ornamental Landscaping will be explored by Linda Whitlock, MSU Extension Horticulturist. At 10:00 am John Coble, co-owners of Ensata Gardens in Galesburg, will talk about the Different Kinds of Iris. At 11 a.m. Landscaping Tips and Tricks will be shared by Jonathan Richardson, Advanced Master Gardener. This Plant Sale is a fundraiser to help support the MSU Extension Master Gardener Volunteer program in Kalamazoo County. Cash, checks, credit cards and plant sale gift certificates will be accepted for payment.

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Alternative Gardening

Everyone’s desire to dig in started in March with our record high temperatures. After seeing what happened in April when the thermometer dropped, we were reminded not to put our tender plants out quite yet. In about two weeks we should be prepped and ready to put our winter ideas to work. Various organizations’ plant sales around town will offer remarkable savings and new plants to try. If you have not yet started growing vegetables due to your lack of desirable space, we have a couple of great tips. Last year our staff and Master Gardener volunteers added demonstration gardens to our property at 5526 W. Bancroft St., where we experimented with different types of alternate gardens. Our first new garden was a vertical hydroponic system in which planting containers were attached to vertical poles. When I first saw this system installed, I was skeptical due to the small amount of growing space. Three containers were stacked onto each other at an angle, leaving only the corners as the growing space, except for the top container.I am now a true believer, given the yield from this vertical system and recommend any of you to visit our property later in the month to see the garden when it’s planted. We planted another alternative garden system which was basically a tube of landscape fabric, closed at each end, filled with compost, with holes cut into the top for planting. These were designed to be used on decks, patios, driveways, or wherever poor soils were present.

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Mind The Shoreline

Spring is the time of year when shoreline property owners may think about their landscape plans, whether it is small maintenance tasks or major re-landscaping projects. When considering changes, it is important to review community shoreline buffer restrictions. Those regulations are most often part of a township, city, village or county zoning ordinance. Many Michigan communities with lakes or streams within their jurisdictions have these provisions and apply to new construction, additions and major landscape changes. A zoning permit may be required before major landscape projects can be started. County, state or federal regulations and permit requirements may also apply. The best way to find out if a community has shoreline development restrictions is to contact the unit of government that administers zoning. In communities that are not zoned, the county building or planning department is a good starting point. Landscape contractors may or may not be familiar with local regulations.

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Help Your Home “Shine”

Is your landscaping just not doing “it” for you anymore? Do you feel that your landscape is the only thing that keeps your home from really shining? If you answered yes to both of these questions, call up 3-D Landscape & Design and we’ll help you out of your rut and help create a new lush, wonderful, landscape that will help compliment your house in every way. From adding shrubbery and giving the lawn a good mow, to creating a patio and bonfire area to entertain friends, if you ask it, we’ll probably be able to build it! (as long as it meets regulations) Don’t miss out on another summer with a dull and lifeless landscape, call 3-D Landscape & Design today.

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Low-Impact Landscaping Growing Interest

For most people these days, the descriptive word “green” evokes thoughts on diminishing consumption and environmental chivalry, and not necessarily the lush colors of an early spring such as Memphis has seen this year. As the owner of eScape, he has an eye toward the quality of backyard ornamentation, as well as his customers’ overall quality of life. Winter began the organic landscape company last October after a 12-year stint in management with ServiceMaster Landscape. He said the mission of eScape is to offer “sustainable, site-specific landscape design with a focus on using native and zone appropriate plant material, as well as refurbished, recycled and repurposed building materials.” “I feel strongly about it, I think that there is a need and a desire for it,” Winter said of the niche market of organic landscaping. “In terms of landscape design and installation, it’s an easy fit to go green and organic.” Winter said it depends on the expectations of the customer whether or not one can go completely organic, but generally the promised savings in money, time and future labor helps win a customer over. It was savings in precious time that won over East Memphians Marci and John Lambert who, after living in their home for a year and a half and completing some of the necessary yard work makeover themselves, finally succumbed to the pressures and constraints of work and raising two children.

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Creative Landscaping Works Best

What’s the difference between a landscape and a yard? Many might have a problem answering that question, but it’s really a matter of organization and choice of materials. When we reach this time of year, both true gardeners and homeowners who care for their own property seem to get an urge to part company with their TV (at least for a few hours during a day or two) and go out into their yards or landscapes with the desire to plant something. Sedentary tasks during the winter months often get the best of us and we feel the need to go outside and engage in some physical activity. This is the time of year when even sports may take a backseat to gardening and landscape maintenance until we satisfy that need for action. Do let me point out that landscapes which are well-designed do have some advantages over the so-called “yards.” The planned arrangement of both live plants and non-plant materials or objects can not only result in greater year-round beauty, but also in a more user-friendly setting.

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