Benefits of Adding Trees to Your Landscape in Lancaster, PA

Imagine yourself on a hot summer’s day outside enjoying your property. Now picture how much more enjoyable that experience would be if you were under the shade of a tree. Adding trees to your property not only adds the obvious benefits of shade, but many other benefits as well.

Energy Conservation
Trees can help reduce energy costs. The shade trees provide may cut down on cooling costs in the summer. If you don’t have as much sun coming through your windows, not as much heat is coming into your home. Therefore, if you plant trees strategically to block out the sun’s rays, you can effectively reduce cooling costs. Also, trees can act as wind barriers. If planted in the right location, trees can absorb and redirect wind, thus reducing the amount spent on heating your house.

Healthier Air
Planting trees can create better air quality. Trees absorb CO2 and produce oxygen through photosynthesis. The CO2 is absorbed and with the help of water and light, is turned into food for the tree. Through this process extra oxygen is produced and released into the air. This is the oxygen we breathe.

Adding Property Value
The Arbor Day Foundation states that landscaping can add approximately 15 percent more value to a property; especially landscaping that incorporates mature trees. Trees beautify properites. Also according to the Arbor Day Foundation’s research, “83 percent of realtors® believe that mature trees have a ‘strong or moderate impact’ on the salability of homes listed for under $150,000; on homes over $250,000, this perception increases to 98 percent.” Adding trees to your property can make it look more established in its environment.

Privacy
If you live in a neighborhood where houses are close, adding some trees can increase your privacy. Trees can act as a natural barrier between property lines. Trees also help to decrease noise. If you live in a busy area, planting may help reduce noise pollution.

If you’re interested in adding trees to your landscape in Lancaster, PA, contact us for a free esitmate today at 717-898-0041 or stop by our retail plant center. We are located at 2361 Lancaster Road
Manheim, PA 17545.

Proper Pruning Techniques in Lancaster PA

Even though it might not seem like it with the weather we’ve been having in Lancaster, spring is just around the corner. So, you might be thinking ahead to landscaping and what goals you want to accomplish. One of these might be pruning, which should be an annual occurrence. Pruning helps to keep your trees and other plants in great health, and removes unhealthy branches and leaves from otherwise healthy plants.

Before you get out your pruning shears and go to work on your Lancaster PA yard, here are some tips to keep in mind.

Tools

Preparing your tools ahead of time will make the process easier and more efficient. Make sure your shears, saws, loppers and pruners are sharp and clean. Use the right one for the task at hand. Hand pruners should never be used to cut down a large tree branch, while a lopper shouldn’t be the tool for removing unwanted leaves.

Flowering Plants

Prune summer and fall flowering trees, shrubs and other plants in later winter or early spring. Spring flowering trees should be pruned shortly after their flowers are gone.

Fruiting Plants

It’s best to prune most of these when they are dormant. You’ll need to be careful, since you usually only have one opportunity to set the buds for the next crop. These will need to be pruned and tended to on a regular basis, or they will otherwise decline steadily.

Evergreens

These don’t need to be pruned. Never prune an evergreen tree to decrease its size because the tree will become stressed and distorted.

Perennials

These are often the plants that require the most time for pruning. You can’t just prune once and never do it again. Perennials need to be pruned, sheared and deadheaded on a regular basis. Which plants and when comes from experience.

Want us to handle your pruning? Call us today at (717) 898-0041 or Click Here to Request a Free Quote.

Looking Ahead to Landscaping for Spring 2013 in Lancaster PA

Despite the cold, spring will soon be here. So, you should be doing what you can to prepare for the upcoming landscaping, and the experts at Root’s Nurseries, Lancaster County’s favorite plant center, offer these tips:

  • Look at how your flower beds are shaped. If they are all just straight lines, consider adding curves to the edges, or putting in boulders to help break up the flat lines.
  • Evergreens are a great plant choice, as they stay green all year round.
  • Be sure to trim your plants to get the most out of them. Those that are dormant over the winter should be manicured so they look amazing once the weather begins to warm up.
  • Gardening prep should begin while the weather’s cold. Plan where you want new flowers and flowerbeds.

Click here to learn about our landscaping services.

Winterizing Your Landscaping in Manheim PA

If you get joy from your planting beds in the warm months, then you’ll want to winterize your Manheim landscape to get that same feeling next year. There are a number of chores associated with readying the lawn for the next growing season, and here is a quick synopsis of what you should be doing to make sure your landscaping looks just as beautiful next year as it did this year.

Don’t let your lawn get forgotten in fall
Just because the weather has cooled doesn’t mean you shouldn’t stop trying to improve the health of your grass, or at bare minimum trying to keep it as healthy as it is. Be sure to remove broadleaf weeds, have a soil test done and rake leaves.

Winterize annual and vegetable beds
At the top of your agenda should be fall garden care. Take the time to remove old plant matter and use it as compost. Rototilling, while not an absolute necessity, can make spring gardening much easier. If you decide to go forward with rototilling, then apply lime if your pH is too low. Also protect your topsoil with a cover crop or a mulch (great for smaller beds).

Trees and shrubs
One of the best things you can do to get your trees and shrubs through the cold Manheim temperatures is to water the in the fall. Much of the damage they sustain is the result of the inability to draw water from the frozen earth.

Perennial garden beds
These should be cleaned up and mulched. Both of these go together, so you need to do both for your efforts to be rewarded.

Compost bin
Cover up your compost with tarp. To insulate it from the winter weather, put a layer of leaves on top and all around the perimeter.

Also …
Don’t forget to bring in your garden hose and turn off the hose’s water source. Take the time to get your snowblower ready with new oil, a spark plug, belt inspection and a tank of new gas.

Lancaster PA Landscape Designers Turn Yards into Elegant Gardens

Well-designed landscaping can make the difference between just having a nice yard and having an elegant Lancaster PA estate. It takes experience and expertise to determine the proper balance between trees, shrubs, plants and open space. It’s difficult for the inexperienced to design landscaping that will turn your outdoor space into a grand courtyard, or a delicate Japanese garden. This is exactly what landscape designers can do for you.

You’ll want to have the right kind of shade trees and perhaps some evergreen trees to provide a certain amount of privacy. Lancaster landscape designers can help you make the right choices for these, as well as pick the best shrubbery and plants to give your garden vibrant colors all season long. They will also be able to help you attract songbirds if that is what you would like.

You may already have some idea of what you would like in your landscaping scheme. If you do, write it down or make a rough sketch of your ideas. Landscaping designers can do a better job for you if they have an idea of what you already like.

Be sure to include any ideas you have for garden benches, fountains, waterfalls and fish ponds. Your expert Lancaster PA designer will evaluate the lay of the land and suggest how it could best be arranged. Doing a little advance planning will help them arrive at your ideal landscape design more quickly, and it will be more closely aligned with your desires.

Your best option is usually to find landscape designers that are associated with a large nursery. When you have an experienced designer that can also supply, and put the plan in place, you can often get good pricing and better results. The single source/total package eliminates confusion and the finished job will more likely match the plan.