Building a Bench for your Garden

When you create a beautiful refuge in your yard, you want to be able to sit in the midst of your oasis and enjoy it. You can always use portable lawn chairs to relax and enjoy the day but if you build a garden bench, it is a solid piece of furniture that will last forever.

If you construct a bench as a focal point for a flower garden or nook, you can make it any shape, size or color that suits your fancy. Many people like a bench that includes a backrest to make it more comfortable, but the sky is the limit with design.

Most garden benches are made of wood, but there are a variety of options you can use such as stone, concrete, aluminum, and plastic. If you want to make your own out of wood, though, it is important to choose a type that is durable.

When building a bench for your garden, for most people the more simple the design the better. Using a step by step guide helps do-it-yourself types know exactly how much wood and hardware to buy.

However, if you can take a product like wooden pallets and create a bench from them, a lot of the work is already done for you. If you choose to use pallets, you need to get some that are in good shape, as you don’t want wood that is rotted or splintered.

When we built our first bench for our previous home, it was a fairly inexpensive venture because we used wood we already had and it didn’t take much time at all. We had a spot that overlooked a valley and we could see all of the city lights…it was awesome!

Find your happy place and build a bench and a garden around it. You’ll be glad you have a place to relax and enjoy all of your work.

Tips for Midsummer Yard Upkeep

It’s hard to believe that summer is already halfway over, but the busy growing season will be winding down before you know it. Here are some tips for midsummer yard upkeep to preserve your beautiful green oasis.

The heat can definitely take its toll on greenery, so giving your plants and grass some extra attention will help. Here on the Front Range of Colorado it was close to 100 degrees today, making it hard on everything that sits out in the sun.

One midsummer task is putting some fertilizer on your lawn. Our schedule is:

1st application – April 15
2nd application – June 1
3rd application – July 15
4th application – September 1

Be sure to water your lawn the day before you fertilize, let it dry out before application, and then follow up with a light watering to wash the fertilizer off the grass blades and into the ground.

The most important ingredient for your lawn is nitrogen, as grass is constantly growing new blades. Nitrogen is so vital because it is a major component of chlorophyll, the compound by which plants turn sunlight into energy.

If you aren’t familiar with the three numbers that are on a bag of granular fertilizer, here is an explanation:

How can Fertilizer Numbers help you pick the right lawn fertilizer?

The first number represents Nitrogen, the second is Phosphorous, the third is Potassium (or Potash). These numbers are percentages of the total ingredients in the bag. (In case you forget the order, the words are alphabetical, although the letters are not!)Fertilizing Your Grass

Want to sound like a pro? The chemical notations of these elements are N-P-K, a very official designation for fertilizer numbers. Use this term when you shop and impress someone! Triple 15 (15-15-15) has equal amounts of each of these nutrients, or 15% of each. (Triple 16 is almost identical.)

Another tip for midsummer yard upkeep is keeping an eye out for brown patches that appear in your lawn. Your first inclination is that the grass is dry due to the heat of the summer.

However, if you are watering it plenty but the brown patches persist, you very well could have a grub problem. Grubs are the larvae of some sort of beetle that is prevalent in your area and they are destructive.

The eggs are laid early summer and then the grubs hatch and begin to grow. Many times the brown patches don’t show until later in the summer or even early fall, but you don’t want to wait until then to do something about it.

Keeping your lawn pest free is important, but another issue with summer making sure your soil isn’t so compact that it can’t take in water. Everyone loves to be outdoors in the summer to enjoy the weather, but the ground gets somewhat trampled on and compacted.

You should also consider dethatching the grass to help with water penetration. Some mulch is good for the soil, but too much can create a barrier for the moisture.

Dethatching and aerating usually are done later in the summer but as with all lawn care, you are better to stay ahead of the potential issues.

Here’s some details on checking your lawn for excessive thatch:

How To Tell If Your Lawn Needs Dethatching | Bayer Advanced

Visually inspect the lawn. To determine how thick thatch is, examine the lawn closely. Is soil visible between turf crowns? If it isn’t, you’re likely looking at a thatch layer. Can you shove your finger through the visible thatch layer – or is it impenetrable? A thatch layer that’s tough to wedge a finger through needs to be thinned.

Measure the thatch. Another way to examine thatch is to excavate a lawn sample. Use a trowel or spade to remove a wedge-shaped layer of grass and soil about 3 inches thick, or just pry up a small section of turf. Look for the thatch layer lying directly on top of soil. Measure the thickness. A layer thicker than three-quarters of an inch signals it’s time to dethatch.

Using a mower that mulches the grass would eliminate the excess thatch issue as well as spread the nutrients in the cuttings across the yard. Maintaining a healthy lawn will keep weeds and pests out, but it can carry your grass through the cold Colorado winter.

Maintaining Your Vegetable Garden Mid Summer

At this point in the season, your vegetables should be developing nicely. Your tomatoes should have plenty of green fruit, your cucumbers sprawling out and blossoming, and your pepper plants bearing little baby peppers. It’s fun to watch the progress of their growth and anticipate harvesting some healthy veggies.

There are some things you can do to encourage your garden to flourish and produce as much food as possible. For example, plenty of water is critical, especially when they are seedlings. As the plants get established, though, you want to encourage deep root growth by watering deeply but more infrequently.

You also want to feed them with nutrients in the form of fertilizer. Depending on the type of soil and whether it is rich with nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium will make a difference in how much fertilizer you need to add throughout the season.

This post provides more on how to feed your plants:

Summer Maintenance for Your Vegetable Garden – Bonnie Plants

• Continue to feed your plants, even if you added fertilizer at the time of planting; well-fed plants tend to produce more.
• Apply a liquid fertilizer to the heavy feeders—tomatoes, peppers, squash— about every seven to 10 days.
• Apply the fertilizer in a circular band around each plant.
• Never use more fertilizer than is recommended—and when in doubt, apply a little less. Too much fertilizer can burn the roots. Be sure to water afterward to wash fertilizer off the foliage and activate the product.
• Consider also adding organic soil nutrients like compost or aged manure around established plants. This is known as side dressing.
• Avoid applying fertilizer during periods of extreme heat and drought, as this can put added stress on plants.
Another issue for maintaining your vegetable garden mid summer is pests and disease. Plenty of water, feeding, and sunlight go a long way in helping to naturally prevent problems.

However, you need to keep a constant eye out for signs of these critters every day. The first evidence is usually seen in the foliage and the sooner you can remove any plants that have issues the better.
Deciding when to harvest your crop isn’t always easy. Some plants are ready much earlier than others, but you always want to pick them at their peak of flavor.

Even though there are no exact guidelines for timing the harvest, you can start taste-testing them to get a more accurate idea. The optimal time is just before they are fully mature to get the best flavor and texture.

As you can see, very few plants are ready much earlier than July besides a few items like asparagus and rhubarb. Strawberries and lettuce are ready a little sooner, but most are mid July and August.

Some veggies such as watermelons and pumpkins aren’t ripe until September. You really have to be patient for those to be ready for harvest.

I personally cannot wait until my tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers start ripening, as they are my favorites. There is nothing better than fresh vegetables to make a meal healthier and more flavorful.

Commercial Landscaping

With an industrial or residential property, a well-maintained appearance is somewhat representative of your company’s image. Lawn treatment and Landscaping Piclandscape design are not something to ignore, so why not hire a trustworthy commercial landscaping team to deal with the general upkeep. Here at Front Range Landscaping Pros we can create a personalized program specifically designed for your company that will meet not only your business needs and will suit your spending plan as well.

Need A Free Assessment?

We can easily appraise your business property and confidently recommend a grass treatment program that will fit your needs. We can likewise supply weed control along with fertilization and management. We will offer services that make the most of the money you spend. Give the experts from Front Range Landscaping Pros a call today to transform your business or office location!

Potential Commercial Landscaping Services

Weeding
Center Aeration
Disease Control
Fertilization
Flea and Tick Control
Goose Control
Development Regulators
Ornamental and Perennial Fertilization
pH Adjustments
Pre-Emergent Crabgrass Command
Soil Assessment
Soil Conditioners
Surface-Feeding Insect Management
Plant Fertilization
Turf Facility
Grass Renovation

Residential Landscaping

Here at Front Range Landscaping Pros we offer a range of services for both home and office. Our professionals can help any home or property Fall Clean Upowner get the most out of their properties by bringing the area to life with high-quality residential landscaping solutions. There are many different ways that Front Range Landscaping Pros can help a property look top notch.

Home Solutions

• Total Irrigation System Maintenance
• Trimming and Mulching of Landscape Beds
• Autumn Clean-Ups
• Grass De-Thatching
• Trimming of Vegetation and Bushes in Both Summer and Winter Months
• Seasonal Color with Annuals & Persistent Rotation
• Springtime Clean-Ups
• Weed and Pest Control
• Fertilization
• Soil Assessment and Conditioning

If there are solutions that you would want that are not listed, give us a call. We can work with you to make sure that your home or property’s landscaping look its very best!  Our goal is to not only boost your resell value of your home but to design an oasis for your family’s most important occasions.

Professional Landscaping Services

When it involves designing the perfect yard for your home or business, Front Range Landscaping Pros understand what it takes to be successful.Landscape Pic Our specialists realize that there is more to creating a sanctuary in your yard besides just grass and flowers. We supply professional landscaping services to design a plan that will cover all the details so that you get everything you want and still remain within your budget plan.

Professional Plan
This master plan includes the full design scheme for a particular residential or commercial property. The proposal will feature the necessary prep work, the softscape and hardscape strategies, and also any details of specialty layouts and lighting. We promise no surprises or hidden charges!

Hardscape Strategy
This strategy features outlining the chosen section of a property with inanimate objects such as rock, tile, concrete, brick and wood. The plans clarify the construction of structures like maintaining walls, fountains, patio areas, and walkways. Featured in the plan are the dimensions in addition to the types of materials that are proposed and also the overall construction specifics.

Specialized Designs
Our layout covers the specific landscape needs such as arbors, gazebos, flower and vegetable gardens, fire pits, outdoor kitchens, and also covers and water functions. We listen to your wants and needs so you are proud of your unique yard.  We do it all!

Various Other Components
Other strategies can include a lighting plan, irrigation strategies, and also a three-dimensional blueprints of the landscape.
When it comes to our execution and installation, we strive for 100% satisfaction. Our professional landscapers will work closely with initial style and installment process as well as with future maintenance. We always leave your yard cleaned up and ready for show. Your property will definitely be the envy of the neighborhood!
Other Services Include…

• Water components
• Lighting
• Custom Projects
• Water Gardens
• Erosion Command Systems

Call us today at (720) 548-2500 to find out more!

Contact Details:
Front Range Landscaping Pros
7280 E. Euclid Dr
Centennial, CO 80111
(720) 548 - 2500
Website: http://frontrangelandscapingpros.com/
Google Site: https://sites.google.com/site/bestlandscapersindenverco/
Google Folder: https://goo.gl/gHSnc4
Twitter: https://twitter.com/frontrangeland