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Landscape Design and Gardening Newsletter
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Issue#609
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Written by Steve Boulden
Owner of S&S Designed Landscaping,LLC
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Most Recent Landscaping Lesson
Welcome to another great issue of your landscape design
and gardening newsletter.
I'm proud to say that this publication now goes out to over
12,000 loyal subscribers. Many of whom have been with me
since the beginning. I guess that says a lot for the quality of
content that I try to deliver.
There's an old saying that states, "you can have everything in
life that you want if you just help enough people get what they
want". I'm finding that to be so true. Anyway.....
Autumn is coming on quickly. I know that a lot of folks are
puting their landscaping and gardening ventures aside until
Spring. But not here in the Desert Southwest. Projects are
actually starting to pick up as the weather cools off.
However, if you're in an area that's getting ready to hibernate
for the Winter, just keep these lessons handy until Spring fever
hits. There's some good stuff in here.
This issue I'm going to share with you the largest estate
design I've ever created. And while most folks don't have a yard
of this size, there are a lot of different landscaping ideas that can be
discovered from just this one creation.
And as usual, I'll share some of my other amazing gardening
wisdom, new additions, and other stuff.
So let's get going.
Steve Boulden,
S&S Design
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IN THIS ISSUE
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o Landscaping Lesson - A Large Estate
o Teaching The Pup To Poop In The House - This Is Cute
o Xeriscaping - One Principle Applies To All Gardening
o RSS Feed - This Newsletter Now Available Through RSS
o Newest Additions To The Site
o Last Issues Lesson
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Landscaping Lesson - A Very Large Estate
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Since this design is so large I'm going to first show you the
entire layout and then break down the backyard and pool area
into different sections. This way I can explain the theory and
reason behind each section in more detail.
I'll explain most of the design on the first screen but there's
just too much to explain and get a visual on one page.
The first picture is too large to fit on most computer screens
so you'll probably have to scroll to get a look at it all.
You can see this landscaping lesson at:
Large Estate Landscaping Lesson
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Teaching The Pup To Poop In The House
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We just finished a design project for a client that required
seed planting the lawn area in the backyard where her dogs
normally had the freedom to run and carry out their daily
duties.
However, the newly planted lawn created a problem for the client
as she couldn't allow the dogs to run freely all day while she
was at work. Until the lawn is fairly established, they would
naturally but unintentionally tear up our work.
The solution? Oh, you gotta see this. It's an indoor dog potty
and puppy training system that can come in handy in a lot of
different situations. Here's the link:
Teach The Pup
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Xeriscaping - One Principle Applies To All Gardening
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Xeriscaping - Pronounced zee - ri - scape - ing
Not zero scaping.
While the principles of xeriscaping generally apply to low water
use water wise gardening and landscaping, at least one principle
can be applied in all gardening situations.
The proper grouping of plants according to their individual
water requirements is not only a good idea for conserving
natural resources but is also very important to the overall
health of plants. Too much or too little water can keep plants
from growing and producing to their full potential.
One reason is that nutrient uptake is effected by the amount of
moisture in the soil. Nitrogen for instance is taken up more
readily when the soil is wet. And just how wet the soil needs to
be is determined by the specific nature of individual plants.
So knowing a little bit about the plants you use is important.
You can find plenty of resources and information on plants at
the following links:
Garden And Landscaping Plant Databases
Plant Encyclopedias
Garden Planting Ideas
Another reason is that different plants have different
requirements for the amount of oxygen and air they need around
their root systems.
Some plants such as bog plants are just fine if their root
systems never dry out but will suffer if they do. And some
plants require that the soil dry out in order to get some air
and oxygen around the root systems. They need it to survive
and produce properly.
You see, water and air displace each other in the
soil. While it may not seem possible for air to get in between
the tiny dirt particles down in the soil, it does (or should
if your soil is correct) when the soil dries out.
And in turn, water pushes the air out of the way when it is
applied.
So the point to everything I just said is this - If you want
your plants to grow, be healthy, and produce to their full
potential, you should group plants that like a lot of water
with other plants that like a lot of water and vise versa.
You can read more about this and other principles of xeriscaping
at: Xeriscaping Ideas
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Newest Additions To The Site
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The new additions may or may not pertain to you. In that case
you can just ignore this update and expect the next issue to be
out within the next two weeks.
The newest additions?
1st.....
Even though the landscape design site is a site for do it
yourselfers, I still get a lot of requests to either create
landscapes and designs or to recommend a good contractor in
other areas of the country.
However, being the small operation that my company is, I don't
have time to do more than local designs and until now I didn't
have a clue about designers and contractors in other parts of
the country.
So what I've done is sought out and teamed up with a company
that pre screens certified and bonded landscape design
professionals in other areas of the country that are willing to
consult with you and give you a q - u - o - t - e for their
services.
This company does this as a f - r - e - e service. And you can
also describe your budget when you're filling out the
application form. Getting the right contractor is only half of
it. Getting v - a - l - u - e is just as important.
Like I said {FIRSTNAME}, this may or may not be something that
even applies to you.
However, it still may be worth looking into as getting a
professional may not be as c - o - s - t - l - y as you might
expect. It's something that's worth knowing in case you're
still stumped after going through all the diy information on my
site.
You can find the new page on my site at:
Landscaping Contractor Companies
The second addition.....
Is basically the same thing except for being in the area of
home improvement or basically anything construction.
I realize that you and other subscribers may also be planning
other home improvement projects besides landscaping. So I
thought that this may be a great service as well.
You can get a q - u - o - t - e on other home improvement
projects from building sunrooms and decks to building custom
homes to waterproofing or window installation to almost anything
construction. You can check out this service at:
Home Improvement Project Quotes
What makes both of these services so good is that folks will be
competing to make you their client. And that means you'll be
getting a better deal than if your choices are just hometown.
I hope you find these new services helpful.
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If you missed the lesson in the last issue, you can see it at:
Curb Appeal Landscaping
Also, you can see all the examples, lessons, and plans that are
online at:
Free Landscaping Ideas Gallery
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That's all for this issue.
If you have questions or comments, feel free to email me at:
steve@the-landscape-design-site.com
Steve Boulden
S&S Designed Landscaping,LLC
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