Garden Planting To be satisfied with the plants in your garden, we recommend that you contact us to schedule an on-site consultation. Our consultation service provides: designing ideas, selecting plant materials, planting identification or recommendations, and proposing cost-effectiveness. The first step to attain a healthy garden is the soil quality and its proper preparation. To assure that the plants will flourish in the long run, what it needs more than anything is installing new planting soil or improving the existing soil with compost and other organic matters as needed. If you have been having a drainage issue where the plants will be installed, then the drainage problems need to be solved during the initial design and construction phases of a project rather than afterwards. For your watering convenience, if you already have an irrigation system for your lawn, it could be added to your new planting areas, or an automatic drip irrigation system can be installed. Perennial gardens At the on-site consultation, tell us what type of plants that you want for your garden. Your interests such as plant types, sizes, textures, color of flowers, time of blooming, any wildlife attractions, other desirable ornamental feature. You also will be asked what type of plant that you dislike as well. Keep in mind; if the majority of the plants are deciduous, it's going to have a visual affect in the fall and winter. We recommend that you should select about 40% broadleaf evergreens. To determine which types of plants will thrive, planting area needs to evaluate to see if it has full sun, part sun, or shade. Then we make a plant-list, selecting the kind of plants that are suitable for the sunlight in each location. If any existing plant material doesn't fit your goals or not where you want it, relocate to elsewhere. There's no such thing as a no-maintenance garden but there is such as a thing as a low maintenance garden by selecting plants with little TLC and covering the entire garden area with mulch, slowing down weed growth, retain moisture on the ground in the summer, and protect plants from freezing in the winter. We also offer scheduled yard services or on-call maintenance programs include pruning, weeding, winterizing and yard clean-up. Rock Gardens  A stone garden which is built by incorporating miniature plants and rocks, stones in different colors, sizes and shapes into a natural-looking garden. Miniature plants can be planted anywhere in the garden area, and the large shrubs or trees are usually planted in the back ground as desired. A stone garden is a great way to handle a sloping or to artfully plant any hillside. A great fit for those who want a garden but have a small yard area. Stone garden can be an alternative in replacing lawn area where the turf grass is not shade tolerant, for example, underneath a tree or an area with drainage problem. Stone are relatively low maintenance. Some of the plants might need pruning once a year to maintain their proportions. For weed control, a weed barrier is placed under the mulch before laying down the rocks and stones. The weed barrier still allows water and air passage through the soil but does not allow the weeds to grow. Plants can be added on later, by cutting the hole on the weed barrier before digging a hole for planting. Bamboo Garden Bamboo comes in many varieties, from dwarf plants to stately plants as range from 2 to 50 feet in height (based on when they reach maturity), and the largest specie can grow up to 6" in diameter. It can be used as an excellent backdrop for garden. Bamboo can be planted in a container garden as long as the bamboo maintains their proper moisture and sunlight conditions. There are two main types of bamboo: Clumper and Runner bamboo. Clumper bamboo has a very compact root structure, is genetically incapable of expanding more than few inches a year, and will generally form discrete circular clumps. The clumps slowly enlarge as new culms emerge every year, and may ultimately require anywhere from a 3 to 10 feet area (or more, especially for taller types) in order to reach their mature height, depending on species. The dense root system can exert strong pressure on structures in contact with it, and thus clumpers should be planted at some distance from fences, sidewalks, retaining walls, etc. Clumpers make excellent specimen plants and will also form very dense screens, but more slowly than runners. Except for the Fargesias, clumpers tend to be less cold tolerant than runners. Runner bamboo spreads variously, sending out underground runners (rhizomes) which sometimes range far from the parent plant. Runners fill in the spaces between plantings faster, making them ideal for fast screens, hedges, and the popular open grove look. Bamboo runners may be easily contained, since the rhizomes grow sideways at a depth of only about 2-18 inches. Most are also very cold-hardy and planting can be done at any time of the year.Bamboo Sizes There are four categories of bamboo sizes. The first category is Timber Bamboos, sometimes called giant bamboo. They grow to gigantic proportions. This group ranges from 25 to over 100 feet high. These are the grove forming bamboo that need free range and big space to attain grand heights and thick hard culms. The second category is Mid-size Bamboos. This group ranges from 8 to over 25 feet high. This group's height is excellent for screening, growing hedges and suitable for small spaces, near foundations and large container plantings. The third category is Shrub Bamboos. This group ranges from 3 to over 8 feet. Many will grow with a mounding mass of leaves and very little culm showing. Use for low hedges, boundaries, fillers, foundation, container or pot plantings and for taller houseplants. There are several different leaf colors, variegated leaf and sizes available. The fourth category is Dwarf Bamboos. This group ranges from 1 to over 3 feet high. Use them as ground cover to create patterns and textures of the gardens or in planters. To request an online estimate or an onsite consultation please fill-out this form. Contact Us Ph: (425) 246-3604      Copyright 2010 Envision Landscaping