Pretty in Pink

Ah, Spring. My favorite season. Allergies aside, I'm always astonished with the rites of Spring.

For those of you who also count Spring as your favorite season,the sheer delight of a clear blue sky framing pink and white azaleas against flowers like gems draped in your landscape dripping with color, leaves a lasting impression. A time for renewal and discovery.

Frankly, I love discovery. A new plant, an unusual container, or garden art draw me like a moth to a light.

Maybe it's the right brain thing but I love the architectural form and sheer voluptuous volume of colorful ornamental shrubs. Take the new pink blueberry- Vaccinium 'Pink Lemonade'- from Briggs Plant Propagators, for instance. Wow.

Talk about a breakthrough plant! This beauty is a vigorous grower, shows off four seasons of color, grows about 5' X 5' and bears bright pink clusters of plump and juicy, sweet blueberries rich in anti-oxidants, from mid to late season. Berry heaven. Yay!

Pick em' and top them on cakes, make a pink blueberry pie, pink blueberry jam, or like me, unabashedly stuff them into thy mouth as you savor every morsel.

If you dare, leave a few behind for your feathered friends and enjoy the changing season as this beauty reveals orangey leaves in fall and reddish-brown twigs in winter that add color and charm to any garden.

Look for 'Pink Lemonade' at your garden center and wait patiently grasshopper for a season to bedazzle your garden awash in pink blueberries. You won't be disappointed!
~Lynne
GMG

Photos credit: Northcreek Nursery and Briggs Plant Propagators

8 Things Customers Want - Lawn & Landscape Report 2011

I read an interesting special report from Lawn & Landscape magazine. The editors came up with a list of the top eight things consumers want in 2011. During a period of 18 months, the team surveyed a group of 450 people – property managers, building owners, investors, facility managers, apartment owners and homeowners – to find out what was important to them about their landscape and the company they hired to maintain it.

Many of these trends match what we at the Garden Media Group have been saying for years in our GMG Garden Trends Report. Here’s a little taste of the broad trends and and how you can take advantage of them in 2011.

1. Someone to help them out: The Generosity Generation wants to do business with companies that care, that do right by their communities. So support a local cause, donate to a local charity, plant a NWF Certified Native Habitat with American Beauties.


2. A low risk: Make your business a low risk decision. Show you care not just about price but that your products and services will last and you back up your work with credentials.


3. Clear lines of communication: Ask your customers if they want e-mails, text messages, or snail mail from you. And honor it.


4. Transparency: Many homeowners have been burned in the past by fly-by-night contractors. Be clear and professional about pricing, contracts and information on your company. Show you will be around until the job is finished and on their own schedule. Someone they know


5. Be a good neighbor: Sponsor a local farmers market or sports team. Offer to install and tend backyard veggie gardens.


6. Someone to be green: Green is still the big buzzword and clients want to protest their water supply, pets or children . We talked about Save our Society – SOS – almost eight years ago. Think LEED and the Sustainable Sites Initiative. Green project revenue is up 16.8% compared to a 12% drop in traditional projects.


7. To feel at home: People are still staying home. They want calm, green spaces either at home or work. The Association of Perofessional Landscape Designers has lots of great ideas to help with eco-scaping.


8. A good price: Let’s face it, for some, the only thing that matters is the bottom line price. Know your numbers and be clear about why you charge what you do.

For a walk through the survey with editor Chuck Bowen, click on Lawn & Landscape.

Suzi, Garden Media Group

Make a Splash in Your Garden

I'm thinking about taking the plunge and adding a small cast stone fountain to my city garden this month. With so many options out there, I decided to ask our friends at Campania International to put together a few simple tips to help me choose my perfect fountain.

Here's what they said I should keep in mind before heading off to my local garden center:

What’s Your Style?

The most important consideration to keep in mind when selecting the right fountain is the overall style of your home and garden. Whether you have an urban, contemporary or country garden, the fountain should be compatible with your personal style and the aesthetics of your house and garden.

Consider Your Space

Whether on a patio or in the landscape, a free-standing fountain can be a mesmerizing focal point. The size of the fountain that you choose will depend on the size of your garden space.

Although fountains can take center stage in the landscape, you might also consider nestling your fountain in a secluded corner of your garden. Tucked away among the plantings, the fountain will not distract from the overall composition.

What’s Your Desired Outcome? Dramatic or Zen?

If creating a highly dramatic effect is your desire, the classic choice is a larger two- or three-tiered fountain as a focal point for your landscape.

If you want something Zen, look for a more soothing effect in water gently cascading over a cast stone ball. For dramatic night-time illumination, look for freestanding wall fountains with lighting components.

I'll be sure to keep you posted on my selection. In the meantime, check out Campania's website to get inspired --campaniainternational.com.

-Stacey

GMG

Grace Design takes top landscape design award!

Congratulations to Margie Grace of Grace Design Associates, Inc., a Santa Barbara-based landscape design and build company, for being honored the top award – the “International Designer of the Year” by the Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD), the leading trade group for landscape design professionals worldwide.

Grace Design’s winning project was for a Santa Barbara residential design -- an “eco-friendly” home and garden. They also won top honors for that same residence, the “Gold Award for Residential Design.”

Margie's work has been featured in Traditional Home, Better Homes & Gardens, California Homes, Sunset, and California Home +Design magazines.

Cutting the Landscape Design Edge

APLD International Landscape Designer of the Year (second from left) Margie Grace of Grace Designs in Santa Barbara, CA, chats with APLD members at the Portland conference to celebrate the professional organization's 20th anniversary.

Great cutting edge design practices, including sustainable landscaping, hell striping, and rain gardens.

Here we are in a private tour of J. Frank Schmidt and Iseli Nurseries and a private garden of landscape designer Michael Schultz - all in Portland at the APLD 20th Anniversary Conference.