Plan Ahead for Spring While Also Making Your Landscaping Shine Today

Just because the ground is cold and trees and plants are sleeping, there are actually many things you can do to enhance your property’s landscaping and help prepare it for spring. And, as experts in landscape design for Elk River and the surrounding areas, we at Advanced Irrigation would like to offer up some tips to get you started. There are even some things you can do to help your landscaping today! So, when you are ready design and install a beautiful new landscape at your unique property, don’t hesitate to give us a call. We can get started right away planning and creating the right 

landscape for you.

When the plants go through their dormant stages in winter, it is a great idea to have a landscape design that has implemented some hardscaping. Eyes will be drawn less to the dormant trees and shrubbery and more to the beautiful hardscaping design on your property. There are so many things that you can do to enjoy your lawn and garden, even while they are covered by snow and ice.

The key to landscape design in winter is how well it was installed. A winter surviving landscape design will need a good solid base and options for drainage. Snow and ice accumulate, mass, ultimately melting. The melt should not pool or sit on the surface of your hardscaping only to refreeze. A landscape design installed via hardscaping professionals should be set up adequately to allow for this.

Do you currently not have the hardscaping or landscape design you desire to enhance your property during the winter months? Hardscaping is a great place to start. The professionals in landscape design here at Advanced Irrigation can install hardscaping items like retaining walls, outdoor fire pits, pergolas, lighting and more. But the key to their aesthetic appeal in wintertime is maintenance. It is important to keep them clear of snow and ice so that they can be a focal point throughout the non growing season.

It is never to early to start planning and enhancing your landscaping! Start gathering inspiration and ideas for what you’d like your landscape design to incorporate and contact the professionals at Advanced Irrigation right away! We would love to talk about what you’re looking for in your landscape, how we can help you maintain your current one this winter (including snow and ice removal) and make a plan of action for spring.

Are you interested in getting some more information on landscape design for your Elk River home or business? Call Advanced Irrigation today at (612) 599-8675 for a free estimate.

Choosing the Best Landscape Design for Your Unique Property

Considering a new landscaper design for your home or business? It is important to work with your landscapers to choose one that is right for your unique property’s needs. And, there are many considerations to take into account, including:

• Do you need a space to entertain guests? 
• Are you in need of an area for a garden? 
• Interested in hardscaping? 
• Looking to build a communal space for employees? 
• Do you need an irrigation system? 
• Have you considered the amount of shade you would like for your landscape design? 

 And these are just some of the questions you should be asking yourself when considering a new landscape design. As professionals in landscape design for Minnetonka and the surrounding areas, we can help you answer these questions and more. Then, we will work with you to design a landscape for your unique wants and needs.

But first, we have a few suggestions to help you get started: 

Will you want to incorporate hardscaping into your landscape design? Retaining walls are some of the most functional types of hardscapes. They either separate garden rooms or areas, or they hold soil up across varying elevations of your home’s landscape. Patios are also great forms of hardscaping. They offer an open area for holding furniture and for relaxation. Patios are lovely hardscapes that can give you even more room to entertain guests or hold outdoor meetings. How about walkways? Our landscape design experts can help you choose where to place those as well.

When it comes to color, composition and design; start thinking of your landscape in terms of plants and flowers that will complement each other but don’t match exactly. Plan to have them planted in groups and not rows. Groups of flowers are easier to maintain, plus they are more interesting to look at rather than rigid straight rows. Also consider plants and flowers that are different heights. Plan to plant them together as well, and it will also make your garden and landscaping more interesting to look at.

Have you considered shade trees? Many lawns and landscapes are fully exposed to constant sun. If you wish to be part of and directly enjoy your property, perhaps in a hammock, sometime you just want to lay in the shade. Why not implement some shade trees into your landscape design? Advanced Irrigation can help you with all of your shade tree needs.

Are you ready to get some more information about landscape design for your Minnetonka home or business? Call Advanced Irrigation at 612-599-8675 or contact us for a Free Estimate.

Landscape Design Care Tips for the Winter

With winter all but here, you have worthwhile things to do that can enhance the winterscape outside your windows, while you sit by the hearth. As a means of landscape design for your Bloomington or nearby home, we will be focusing on your hardscaping--the pavement, the back patio, the harder surfaces that you have had installed around your home. Our technicians in landscape design also install other sorts of hardscaping items like retaining walls, outdoor fire pits, pergolas and lighting. The key to maintaining their aesthetic appeal in wintertime is upkeep. Make sure that they are free of snow and ice so that they can be a focal point throughout the dead months. 

As your plants go through their dormant stages this winter, enjoy a landscape design with a little hardscaping. Your eyes will be drawn less to the trees and shrubbery that you possess and more to the pop that a master in landscape design has added to your property. With so many options as far as what you can do to enjoy your lawn and garden, why not set yourself up to enjoy it all while they sleep or are covered by snow and ice.

You will want to actively take care of your hardscaping during the winter months. If you are not vigilant you can run into a repair project or two after the thaw that could easily have been prevented. Stay on top of your salt usage. If you apply it but let it sit without removing it or the slush generated, it will eat away at or even stain any concrete, paver or stone that has been incorporated into your landscape design. Stay on top of it! In the grand scheme it does not take more than accumulated minutes for de-icer to do its work. Be there to get rid of it when needed. 

If you have had a nice and fancy patio installed, chances are that you have some metal containing furniture placed upon it. Do not leave these items outside to face winter. Take them inside, use them again as you knew them in the spring. A side effect of leaving these metallic items outside is that if they are under snow or ice the rust that emerges will also stain the hardscaping below it.

Installation is what matters most regarding your hardscaping and how it deals with winter. A winter surviving landscape design of this sort will need a good solid base and options for drainage. Snow and ice accumulate, mass, ultimately melting. The melt should not pool or sit on the surface of your hardscaping only to refreeze. A landscape design installed via hardscaping professionals should be set up adequately to allow this to occur. 

If you would like more information on our landscape design skills in Bloomington, call Advanced Irrigation at 612-599-8675, or you can contact us and get a Free Estimate.

Keep Your Landscape Looking and Feeling Cool With Shady Trees

When planting a shade tree, many do not put enough thought into just where and how a shade tree should be added. There are two major things to consider. The first is that you will want to consider planting it somewhere “inland”—streets representing water—and not on the very edge of your property. If you plant shade trees near a street or at a point where municipalities will likely one day implement imminent domain and put a highway through your property, you run the risk of your tree being violated by power lines and the like. Right of way of overhead wires wreaks havoc on a tree, often to the point of eliminating its shading value. Our landscape design team is fully aware of this issue and would seek a location within your property where risk  is minimal.

A second problem involves just how your plant your shade trees. It is often thought to be elegant and regal to implement something of a platform or raised bed—surround by brick or stone—for a noble shade tree.

Problems can quickly arise. This raised bed, especially if it is built high enough to cover any of the trunk, will make life difficult for your shade tree. Soils will remain moist and not drain or feed the as it otherwise would in a standard planting situation. The soil will not aerate properly because it is compacted to that which encases it as well as the weight and understructure of the tree. Bugs and rodents will also find the area more appealing than they otherwise would, which tends towards damaged bark. These factors combine to rob your shade tree of nutrients, drying out and eventually killing your shade tree. It will be a slow death for your beloved tree. Trees grow slow and die slow. The process will start below the soil, near the trunk, working its way through the interior of the tree outward.  

Many lawns and landscapes are fully exposed to constant sun. If you wish to be part of and directly enjoy your property, perhaps in a hammock, sometime you just want to lay in the shade. Why not implement some shade trees into your landscape design? Advanced Irrigation can help you with your shade tree needs with some landscape design for your Minneapolis home. At Advanced Irrigation, our landscape designers are fully aware of just how and where to implement proper yard shading through shade trees. Season veterans all, our designers can assemble a perfect landscape design to please any and all.

If you would like more information on our landscape design skills in Minneapolis, call Advanced Irrigation at 612-599-8675, or you can contact us and get a Free Estimate.

Developing the Perfect Landscape Design

With winter just around the corner, considering landscaping for your yard is probably the furthest thing from your mind. However, fall and winter can be great times to plan what you’d like done in your yard. Some things can be done now, while others will need to wait till spring. Still, if you have a plan already worked out, you can get right to it as soon as the weather warms up again.

There are many things to consider when designing the perfect landscape. You can have something more formal looking or you may choose something with a more casual look that is easier to maintain. We specialize in landscape design in Edina and the surrounding areas, so we want to offer a few suggestions on what to consider when working on your plans.

While you may feel a formal English garden would be great for your home, you might want to reconsider. Formal English gardens require nearly around-the-clock care and maintenance. So, unless you can devote nearly all of your free time to caring for your garden or can afford to hire someone for full-time maintenance, you may want to go a less formal route.

For a more casual look, start thinking of your landscape design in terms of plants and flowers that complement each other but don’t match exactly. Find plants that have similar leaf shape or flowers that have complementary colors. Plan to have them planted in groups and not rows. Groups of flowers are easier to maintain, plus they make the landscape more interesting rather than having everything planted in straight rows.

You should also consider flowers and plants of different heights. In your plan, you can plant them together and it will again give your landscape a more interesting look.

Although Minnesota winters are not known for being mild and sunny, you can still find plants that will bloom even when it’s cold. Consider adding some of these to your landscape design to have a focal point for your garden for every season of the year. You may not make it outside as much during the winter months, but it’s still nice to have something to look at from inside your home when the weather is frightful!

If you need help with your landscape design, you can contact us. We can help you develop a plan that will look great and provide year-round enjoyment. We can even come to your home to set up the landscaping for you by adding plants, flowers and even hardscaping.

Would you like to learn more about landscape design in Edina? Call Advanced Irrigation at 612-599-8675 or you can contact us to get a free estimate.