The winter blues are fast approaching, but The Landscape Design Center has the perfect solution: Buy an indoor plant or two to add freshness and color to your interior space, and lighten the mood this holiday season.

Quickly dropping outside temperatures put a halt to landscaping activities yearly. Since more time is typically spent indoors, the air you breathe becomes stale with increased amounts of carbon dioxide. Plants are a great way to boost the freshness in your space with the oxygen they produce. The more plants you have, the better the air quality.

According to the science of the U.S. Department of Energy, nearly 350 house plants are needed to make the same amount of oxygen you breathe in each day. While that number is probably too many for you to have, even a few more plants than you have now supplies the added benefit.

Choosing the right plant adds a pop of color to any of the backdrops around your house. There are many types from the ordinary fern to the exotic Bird of Paradise. The amount of light, the size of the plant and its watering needs are all requirements to bear in mind when purchasing greenery.

Let your friends and family reap the benefits and consider giving them the gift of green this year too.

When you are out shopping for your presents around the holidays, head over to the Annapolis Mall and come see us, The Landscape Design Center, at our garden. We are going to be there talking to clients and giving advice on all your landscaping needs.

With over 30 years of experience, we are a full-service, environmentally-conscious landscape design company that specializes in turning your outdoor space into a high quality retreat. Having designers and builders on staff we are able to implement our plans for you from start to finish, not missing any detail in between.

Let us get you through the cold weather now and prepare you to begin your outdoor projects in the spring this holiday season.

As we swelter and simmer in the searing sun, we must stop for a moment to think of our fellow heat victims… our lawns and gardens! Unlike us, they can’t sit in the shade sipping lemonade or relax in front of the air conditioner. They rely on us to help them stay refreshed during dry periods.

One good option that doesn’t waste water, which is a pretty important consideration during a drought, is to install an http://www.hunterindustries.com/”>irrigation system.  These systems drip water slowly, directly to the roots, giving your lawn and garden that long drink of water they so desperately need.

If installing a full irrigation system isn’t in your budget right now, consider installing a hose bib timer with a soaker hose. You’ll get most of the benefit of an irrigation system for a fraction of the price and your plants will love you for it!

Although it might seem like keeping a short lawn will use less water, thus keeping it greener, you will actually be doing it a favor by letting it grow a bit longer. If you cut your grass too short, the grass will get stressed and get burned out. Letting it grow will allow it to “rest” a little, and it will look and feel much healthier in return.

To help drought-proof your garden in the future, consider replacing some of your needier plants with more drought-resistant plants. Some good choices include:

– Shrub roses
– Ornamental grasses
– Sage
– Eucalyptus
– Lavender
– Honeysuckle

As an added benefit, many of these plants are wonderfully fragrant and will give your garden a whole new dimension.

As a last resort, you can always replace the lawn and garden with decorative gravel and cobblestones. They’ll never need watering and will always look nice, regardless of what Mother Nature decides to throw at you!

To talk more about your lawn and garden, and maintaining it in all kinds of weather, come visit us at the First Sunday Festival in Annapolis!

Flowering herbs can add visual appeal to any garden. Herb and vegetable garden design can be fun and creative. The first step is to plot out the area where the garden bed is going to be located. Once the spot is chosen, scale it out on paper to size. Make sure to leave plenty of room for mowing, walking, fences and lighting. Using raised beds can improve water flow through the soil and allow the soil to stay warmer in cooler seasons.

Explore which plants grow well together and what plants do not. Some plants complement another and this is called companion planting. Some plants can be planted while it is still cool while others like it to be warmer. Plants can be staggered throughout the season. A soaker hose running through the garden bed will water the roots where it is needed without damaging the leaves of some plants. Crop rotation helps some crops to grow better. Some plants put nutrients in the soil while others take nutrients from the soil.

Many plants do well in containers and containers save space in the garden. Herbs do well in containers and plants that typically spread out do well in containers and save on space in the garden bed. Small trellises can be used in large containers for tomatoes or cucumbers. Containers can also be used to decorate a deck or walkway.

Alternative insecticides are recommended for control of pests. Chemical pesticides are harmful to the environment and stay on the plant which in most cases is not washed off. The benefits of alternative insecticides are less damage to the environment and less toxic to nontarget organisms. Botanical insecticides work very well and are plant derived.

There are many alternative herbicides to control weeds in the garden. The use of clove oil mixtures, acetic acid and soap based herbicides dehydrated the leaves of weeds. There are many organic herbicides to choose from. The timeline of planting herbs and vegetables occurs over a two month span depending on what veggies are chosen. Cool weather plants and be planted mid March to the first of April. Tender plants need to wait until the soil has warmed considerably around the first to middle of May. Raised beds will be warmer than cultivated in the ground.

Check out our Upcoming Festivals here!

“Thank you for the incredible job of lawn maintenance you do for us every year; it has made such a difference over the years. As your designs continue to mature, our yard just keeps getting better. This year, our home has been amazing thanks to your designs and maintenance. Kudos to your maintenance crews – they keep us looking fantastic.”
-Davis

“Thanks for being so patient with our requests. It’s been great working with you and look forward to future endeavors once we finish up with our remodeling project. Thanks again.”
-Davis

 ”Many thanks. It’s Beautiful.”
-Holingsworth

“Dear Ana, Thank you so much for all your work – we (and the neighbors) love it! Your company’s men treat our yard as if it were their own – the results are beautiful – come again.”
-Thornburg

 ”Ana, Everything looks great! Thanks!”
-Buchanan

“This unsolicited note of commendation is written to express my appreciation for the excellent performance of “Alex”, “Rafael”, “Rolando”, and “Ana” (members of the Landscape Design Center) who recently completed a landscaping project at my home. After a brief discussion of work to be performed, the above crew commenced work on schedule and successfully performed the agreed upon tasks in a professional manner.
You are to be commended for having workers of this high quality in your organization.”
(Alex, Antonio R., Rolando, Ana)
-Ferguson

Now is an optimal time to get the planning stages of your landscaping projects set into motion and completed. Running around to job sites and attempting to get organized will take up much of a landscaper’s time as the warmer months come. Waiting until Spring to get a consultation and design laid out may mean you have to wait as long as the middle of Summer to get the work done.

Your landscape designer wants to offer you a unique setting that you will be able to enjoy and be proud of. It is not through their machinations that the warmer months mean a lesser ability to provide truly personalized service. It is simply a matter of Supply and Demand, the very cornerstones of the business world. You can get an edge on the rest of those Demanding by opting for consultation when Supply is readily available. The additional time will give you and your designer the opportunity to really explore different options and looks for your landscaping.

Creating a beautiful scene that is welcoming is an artistic process the same as painting, sculpting, or writing. The medium of the landscape designer is your exterior products and nature herself. Utilize this extra time to give your landscape designer the opportunity to create a beautiful work of living art for your space. There is no need to wait until Spring or Summer to get the consultation and development process started. In fact, now is the best time to get started.

Job Site Recycling
All extra material and debris is removed from all job sites. We take the debris back to our property where it is separated into different materials. Concrete goes in one pile, fill dirt in another, reusable top soil in another, and finally, wood. Wood, brick, and stone in good condition is kept and reused for applicable landscaping jobs. Other materials that can still be used are donated to the public.

Office Recycling
Although we have tried to make our office as paperless as possible, a true paperless office is a fiction. When dealing with customers and some vendors, paper comes into our office in greater quantities than we would like. We eliminate the printing of useless faxes by having all incoming faxes come into a computer digitally. We can then view and print only what is necessary. If scrap paper is reusable, it gets turned into message pads and note pads. Bills and invoicing is done electronically through email; paper invoices are used only on request. We pay our own bills online whenever this option is possible. In addition, we recycle all of our computer ink cartridges. Old electronic equipment is donated to local community centers, and when unwanted, taking to electronic recycling centers.

Shop Recycling
Going green in the shop was one of our most difficult endeavors, but we are so happy to have completed the recycling programs in this part of the business so we can be a totally green company. Part of process was making employee recycling mandatory. All of our employees are required to recycle not only work-related materials, but also, all personal materials.

Professional landscape design uses the skills of those trained to think of and see details in the landscape that the untrained eye often misses. They also know of many varieties of plants and how they look together, rather than simply the conditions they grow in. Since they go about designing with an artist’s eye, they are able to bring all their knowledge together to make the landscape into a living work of art.

Professional landscape designers not only work with “new” properties; they can rejuvenate old landscapes as well. If you have a landscape that’s just “not doing it” for you, trust a professional designer to know just what’s lacking and how to fix it. Sometimes the difference between lackluster and exciting is simply a matter of knowing what to put where. The addition of a few plants, a new walkway, or some strategically-placed lighting can work wonders when their positioning is done by someone with an experienced eye.

It may be tempting to do your own designing, but it will soon become apparent that there is actually a lot of study involved in making a good landscape design. Like an oil painter, a landscape designer spends many hours and even years learning all about the medium. Someone doing his first landscape design is likely to end up with results similar to someone doing an oil painting for the first time. It may be passable, but not likely to have the Rembrandt-level quality you’re after.

You can have great results the first time by hiring a landscape designer who’s already a seasoned professional. In the Annapolis, Baltimore, Eastern Shore, and DC areas, you can get professional landscape design not only done well, but economically, too at http://www.thelandscapedesigncenter.com. Their professionals come to the property, so they see the actual layout and growing conditions. They will take notes and measurements, and sometimes even pictures so they get a good idea of what needs to be done. An estimate for a full landscape design is then presented. Once they get the go-ahead from you, the actual plan is drawn up and you’re on your way to the perfect landscape for your property.