Clean up and prepare for winter by doing the following:

-Rake up old leaves. They are known to cause mold and fungus to grow, especially in planting beds and grass.

-Secure evergreens to prepare for inclement weather. Harsh wind can wreak havoc on them!

-Prune everything that may have a problem dealing with heavy snow. Snow drags down branches, making them brittle. In worst cases, they won’t survive the winter.

-Use burlap to cover sensitive plants, bushes, and trees that have the potential of being damaged by wind or snow.

-Winterize your irrigation system. This will save you thousands if a freeze bursts your pipes!

-Winterize your water feature if it needs it. Or, if you prefer, install heaters to keep your water feature or pond from freezing completely over.

If you have specific questions or would rather hire a professional landscape company to winterize your yards or garden, contact the specialists at The Landscape Design Center. If you plan to visit the Annapolis Mall around the holidays, stop by and see them at their garden. They’ll be there every weekend leading up to the Christmas holiday and are more than happy to answer questions and offer landscape advice. They’d love to meet you, so make sure you stop by and say hello!

For more information, tips and tricks, check out their website: http://thelandscapedesigncenter.com.

Rain barrels can be small and portable or large, built-in tanks that collect runoff water from places like gutters and roofs. The top of the barrel is covered with a screen to keep out dirt, debris, and insects. Water from the barrel can be accessed through a spigot, tap, or hose, depending on the type of barrel purchased. Rain barrels are sold in sizes ranging from 34 to 300 gallons. The necessary size can be determined by using a rainwater yield table such as the table found at http://rainwater.sustainablesources.com/#table3.0. As the chart indicates, hundreds of gallons of usable rainwater runoff can be collected from just one rainy day!

Rain gardens are gardens built in a depression, which allows runoff from roofs, roads, and other built up areas to be directed towards the garden. Although the water will not be saved for later use, as is the case with rain barrels, rain gardens allow for an easier and efficient, natural watering method.

A landscaper can help you determine whether a rain barrel or rain garden will fit your rain harvesting needs. Landscapers can also install a rain barrel, or design and plant a rain garden. The type of plants, size, and depression needed to create a successful rain garden are precise and dependent on the climate where you live, so it’s best to employ a landscaper to help ensure a beautiful and functional rain garden.

Interested in learning more about harvesting rainwater? Check out the festivals coming up! http://thelandscapedesigncenter.com/about.html#calendar

If you have recently moved or purchased a new home and are undergoing the landscaping of an existing area for the first time, planning will allow you to salvage as much as possible in an existing landscape. Before you start digging some of the existing plants or tear down structures, take a little time to plan some ways to preserve some of them to include them in the landscape design you are attempting to create.

There are many additional ways that planning your landscaping needs now will save you money. Consider the cleanup of the yard. One way to spend less on landscaping is to plan for the regular cleanup of the yard in monthly intervals, rather than just doing the cleanup of the yard just once or twice a year. Dong the cleanup of the yard in intervals is usually less costly than doing one major cleanup once a year or every other year.

Another way to cut costs and save spend less on your landscaping, is to plan the irrigation turn on each year. This planning can minimize the amount of water you use and save on water consumption and costs. Regular maintenance of the irrigation system is also important and can also reduce the amount of water and costs used for irrigation of the landscaping. The improper use of landscape irrigation can waste water and be extremely costly.

Don’t skimp on the quality of materials when you are planning for your landscape. More flimsy materials often do not last and end up costing you more money. Planning your landscaping needs right now will allow you to take advantage of future sales and price reductions of quality materials in your landscaping purchases.

Although lawn and landscape maintenance is usually done to improve the aesthetic value of your home, leaving your landscape unattended often leads to other problems later on. Regular maintenance such as tree-trimming is important also as a safety factor and to help prevent damage to your home from dead or unstable tree branches. Regular maintenance can help you spend less in many areas of your landscaping.

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.

The fall usually brings beautiful weather and you should take advantage of this to take care of your lawn. You should mow your lawn and then remove all of the clippings of grass. Leaving the clippings will cause the sunlight to not be able to reach the grass during the winter, therefore denying the lawn of the necessary nutrients it needs to thrive.

Also, make sure that all of the leaves are raked which, depending on the number of trees, can be quite a long and tedious job. Leaves prevent sunlight from reaching the grass and can cause mold on the ground. All of the leaves should be removed before snow falls for the first time.

Remove the weeds from the landscape as they will deplete the nutrients in the ground as well as sprout early in the spring. They should be removed from the roots and mulch should be placed around trees and shrubs in order to protect them from the cold.

If you have birdbaths on your lawn, they should be emptied of water and then removed from the lawn. Use the winter to also repaint any of the ornaments which you may have on the lawn. Do not leave the ornaments on the lawn. If they do not need to be repainted or restored, simply store them in the basement or garage. Freezing rain and snow can deteriorate the ornaments and lead to their inevitable replacement.

Make sure that any outdoor faucets are freeze proof and that the hose is put away and drained of water. If this is not done, water may freeze inside causing either the hose or faucet to burst.

Throughout the winter, walk through the yard every so often and remove any leaves or branches which may have fallen. The winterization of the yard is not a one-day process but can make all of the difference to your lawn.

When we do a job for you and there is debris to remove from the site; it is demoed (i.e. old walkway, decks, stoops, etc), separate from other debris, & taken back to our shop yard or to the necessary facilities, like The Loading Dock.

At our shop yard we have different areas for different debris – concrete, natural waste, fill dirt, re-usable dirt, & pallets.

We keep most of our leftover material (brick & stone) from jobs and try to work them into future jobs. We can also offer discounts on these materials for pick up only.

Contact us for more details: pallets, fill dirt, old concrete brick/fill material, leftover materials, or plastic plant pots.
Recycling in The Office

Much of our office is electronic, however, we realized years ago that we use A LOT of paper products. Between contracts, estimates, pictures, invoices, statements…and more…it could be a tremendous waste…but we don’t let that happen. This is how:

* We have our faxes (junk or not) come into a computer and then we only print out what we need
* We re-use scrap paper for messages and sketching pads
* We have started emailing bills to clients instead of printing them, putting them in an envelope, stamping them and mailing them.
* We do 90% of our bill payment online
* We take all our printer cartridges back to Office Depot to recycle.
* We give all our old computers to the Providence Center. And what they don’t want we take to electronic recycling facilities.

Recycle at our Shop

So much waste comes from our workers, job orders, job sites, and boxes from purchases. We try to separate everything as best we can and put it out on the curb.

As you can see in the picture, ALL employees recycle. It’s just better for everyone!

Though we don’t use a lot of it, “hazardous waste” does come up:

* Oil from the trucks
* Glue/primer from pipe jobs,
* Stain from fencing/deck jobs, etc.
* All of this is disposed of on the Hazardous waste days at our local dump.
* We even take in our old batteries from our digital cameras, timers, radios, and cell phone.
* We do not use dumpsters! All of our waste from jobs is separated an disposed of as previously explained

“I tip my hat to you guys every morning when I look out the sunroom window. We love the new patio. How about that world cup. I’m loving it and watching the matches everyday, then I go out on the patio and seek comfort when my teams don’t win. The patio has magical properties and puts your head in a nice place. Suddenly everything falls into perspective. Take care. Thanks again.”
~Sara

“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

“The place looks incredible! I can’t believe it! I had my Mom come over to see the transformation. She couldn’t get over how fantastic the yard looks-and she loved the bricks by the shed. She wasn’t expecting the sod! But really, the work is incredible! All the work is finally coming together and looks great. You and your guys take the extra time and effort to pull the quality and whole image to perfection. Everything is better than I ever expected. Thank you all for everything!”
And…
“You guys really have gone the extra mile. Not only do I appreciate it, it shows in the final product. I was telling my Mom how most places would just have placed square steppers but your group cut them to soften the look and give it a professional look. Also, things you didn’t have to do like shaping the hill by the stairs and hole so the slope around the stairs looks like a natural level, rather than having the steppers “floating” out there looking out of place. Those attentions to detail and little extras wouldn’t be done by most companies. Please use anything you need for your portfolio. I am beyond impressed with your group!”
For William, Rogelio, Tom, Gilmar
~Roche

The Landscape Design Center has a garden at the Annapolis Mall where you can browse through pictures and pick up information on our company.  Please stop by for a visit to see our professional Landscape Designs.  The Landscape Display is constantly changing for your enjoyment.

We will soon have another garden set up right around the new Crate and Barrel, also in the Annapolis Mall!

Giddings Avenue between Ridgely Avenue & Annapolis Street

We’ve put together a special day for Mom at Annapolis’ Newest & Hippest Market that celebrates LOCAL and GREEN! (Won’t Mom be proud!)

With Free Market Bags for Mom – Sponsored by PNC Bank And complimentary flowers and handmade soaps from Galena Blooms!

All at Annapolis’ newest & hippest Market featuring 30+ vendors offering the Full Spectrum of GREEN!

Produce, Plants & Local Foods!

Green Businesses, Products & Services!

Eco-Friendly & Upcycled Craft & Art!

Vintage, Repurposed & Recycled Furnishings & Accessories! With an emphasis on local vendors & businesses!

Here’s another opportunity to support our Community!

Shop Whole Foods Market in Annapolis on MAY 5. They are donating 5% of their sales to Annapolis’ Lighthouse Shelter

Meet Our May Vendors!

See All Our Vendors at homegrownandgreen.com

Find us on Facebook

• A Touch of Class Jewelry
• Bread by Magnolia Caterers & Art by Jimmy Reynolds
• Randy Berry Jewelry
• Bon Vivant Antiques
• Callinectes Antiques & Oriental Rugs
• Cedarwood Soaps
• Chesapeake Estate Services
• Crispens Farms & Greenhouses
• Cross the Street Vintage & Repurposed Furnishings
• Charlie Dodge Vegetables & Bicycle Part Clocks & Lamps
• E-Clipse Designs
• Earth Alley
• Eve’s Cheese
• Freedom Bakery
• Fulton’s Wood & Crafts
• Galena Blooms
• Global Baskets
• Grand Paws Pet Salon & Spa
• Jacqueline Handley Designs
• The Landscape Design Center
• LMB Antiques
• Lotus Therapeutic Massage
• Love Struck Country Crafts
• Melting Down Creations
• Moonloops
• Nesting Magazine
• Cem Ozkok Old World
• PaperdreamerAltered Art
• Peruvian Trend
• She’s Crafty: recycled jewelry by Jenny Hontz
• Sparkles N Stones
• Taylor’s Turnings
• Twin Pixie Studios
• Uptown Redesigns
• Wimsey Cove Framing & Art

PLUS FREE FACE PAINTING BY CRYSTALOONEYS!

Bring the family & the dog and come spend the day in the charming neighborhood of West Annapolis’ independent locally-owned retail shops, eateries, art gallerys, antiques shops, salons and spas, and specialty services – home to the West Annapolis Art & Antique District , representing 15 different businesses!