Five New Year’s Resolutions for your Landscape!

This is the time of year when we promise ourselves that we’ll make a change and start being better at something. For all the garden lovers and homeowners out there, I would like to suggest five New Year’s resolutions to consider implementing for 2011. It may seem a bit tacky or rude, but making recommendation to clients for their gardens is part of my daily routine, so in that spirit I present five New Year’s resolutions for the home landscape.

Repeat after me, I resolve to:

1   Severely limit or completely eliminate chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides! Seems like a no-brainer right? Not so fast. A quick stop at any garden center or big box nursery section reveals a plethora of chemical “solutions” (read: problems) for just about any problem (read: symptom). We have come a long way in the last few years my friends, but we still have a ways to go.

2  Start a compost bin! This is one of the easiest and most effective ways to lower your trash output and provide you with material to build soil health. Enough said!

3  Come to terms with my lawn! This one should have dozen exclamation points after it. As homeowners, Americans have developed an overactive adolescent crush on large expanses of lawn (read any symbolism you like into that one!). Lawns are boring, vast, resource sucking spaces, not meant to be tucked into every corner and under every tree. Now before you banish me to the Arctic Circle, I am not anti-lawn. When sculpted into the landscape, with enough room allowed for personal use and cared for organically, lawns are a beautiful functional part of any well designed landscape.

4  Not be afraid to stretch my garden’s legs! A quick drive through any suburban neighborhood reveals a major aesthetic problem with today’s landscapes, “The Foundation Planting”. UGH! Your yards are bigger than you think people and there is no need to shove all the plants in your garden up against the house in a bed that’s six feet deep. Expand the planting beds, and for this you’ll need to eliminate some lawn (see previous suggestion), but by doing so you will achieve a better balance in your landscape and the house will not look like it’s holding its breath trying to fit into a small space.

5  Experiment with foliage! (not what you’re thinking) There is a vast array of foliage color, size and texture in the plant world and it is here that good planting design begins. Mixing and matching plants with interesting foliage will provide year round interest, and any blossoms will just be icing on the cake!

Well there you have it, five simple resolutions that will make your landscape environmentally friendly, sustainable, and the envy of the neighborhood. Please consider any or all of them for your garden for 2011. Now, I’m off to build a worm bin!

Happy New Year, and please share your gardening resolutions for 2011, love to hear them!

Scott

Ultimate Backyard Makeover 2010 – Honoring a Local Hero! Pt. 3

As we continued on with our Backyard Makeover, my cell phone began to ring. Offers were coming in to help with the project, in fact at one point I thought we might have too many people running around the site. Calls came in from John Borovicka’s Carpenter’s Union Local 43, as well as Local 24, with which he had been working the day he died. John’s Union brothers were great, they showed up asked what needed to be done, and got to work. They agreed to finish up the trim work on the sauna addition John had started, install a screen door for the space, and helped out with the Memorial garden, by pouring the slab for the Granite bench. It was quite a site, seeing some of Connecticut’s best bridge builders, pouring a slab that only measured 14 inches by 42 inches. The scale of this project was much smaller than they were used to, but they handled it with the same precision reserved for our state’s major roadways.

Locals 43 and 24 finishing the sauna addtion exterior

Making the forms for our slab

The slab must be level

A job well done!

While the Union guys were seeing to their tasks, our crews lead by Readco Landscaping, were busy working on the sitting wall and patio under the watchful eye of our Director and camera crew. Construction had to be halted from time to time, but Readco did a great job staying on schedule.

Our Director would not miss a shot

At times it feels like fish in a fishbowl

Sometime during the afternoon hours on Wednesday, a woman walked down into the backyard carrying two large plastic containers. We were use to friends stopping by at this point, but could not imagine what she was bringing by. Maureen, and her family, are good friends with the Borovicka’s, and she began to tell us of the many times John had been to their house to help with repairs and projects. Tears filled her eyes as she told us of John’s generosity, and that she had brought us cookies and peanut butter bars to say thanks for all that we were doing. Her story warmed our hearts, and the treats were delicious. Unknowingly though, she had broken one of the rules of dealing with contractors and stray dogs; If you feed them they might never leave!

As the stories and visits continued a renewed sense of what we were really there for kept us focused on finishing on time, and the wrap party planned for the end of the week.

Check back in to see what else lay in store for the Borovicka backyard!

Scott

www.blueheronlandscapes.com

Ultimate Backyard Makeover 2010 – Honoring a Local Hero! Pt. 2

John Borovicka had donated much of his time to “Christmas in April”. On one project the crew could not finish the work on a particular house, so John went back on his own time, and finished the work by himself. The homeowner grateful for the extra effort John had shown on her behalf, offered to pay John for his work, but John declined, saying he was glad to be of help. Being of little means, the woman insisted on compensating John for his time so she paid what she could, a can of peaches, a bag of peanuts, and the coupons she had clipped from her newspaper that week.

These are the stories Linda Borovicka began to share with us as we began work on her backyard. Each story bringing a smile, and at the same, causing a sinking feeling that came from deep within. We have caught only a glimpse of the person John Borovicka was, but it was clear he was special.

Day one of the shoot was a mix of setting up camera shots and interviewing the principles. Our host, Fox 61’s Sarah Cody would be leading us through the week interviewing vendors, and checking in with me from time to time for updates on the project. My job is to create the overall layout of the project, schedule the work, apprise the camera crew of who they would be interviewing and filming each day, making sure materials arrive as needed, and keeping the Fox61 people up to date on the progress. Although it seems like a lot of work, my job has been easy, thanks to the fantastic efforts of each of the following parties involved;

Our Host Sarah checks here notes with two of our producers.

Dunning Sand and Gravel would be supplying all the hardscape materials. Readco management is supplying the labor needed to install the patio, grade and excavate, site cleanup, and just about everything else needed, including a couple of special projects at my request. More about those in a later post. Salem Country Gardens would supply the planting plan, the plants and the planting labor. Carefree Small Buildings a 10 x 12 shed. Giant Oak Power is supplying a Mower, and Big Y, food for the wrap party. We received a few last minute and surprise gifts, and we’ll find out about those later also.

Ben from Dunning Sand and Gravel chats with Drew from Readco about the upcoming week.

Our Director John, Checks the footage of the tree work.

Our job meeting the previous Friday with the principle contractors had gone well, and I had sensed that this group would be great team to work with. Not wanting to step on their generosity, I had laid out my ideas and rough schedule, and waited anxiously for Monday to arrive. What I found out, is that I had underestimated the generosity of this group. Here we were on day one, and already Dunning Sand and Gravel was dropping off a dumpster and a mini-excavator, and Readco had had called in Sullivan Tree Experts, to remove an oak that stood in the way of John’s patio (both companies had already kicked in more than they had pledged). I knew instantly that this would be an exciting week!

With the tree work finished and rain moving in, we cleaned up and headed home.

Check back in to follow our story, as we Honor a local hero from Vernon, CT!

I hope you find special people to build your team with!

Scott

www.blueheronlandscapes.com

Ultimate Backyard Makeover 2010 – Honoring a Local Hero!

This past Monday, we began shooting the second “WTIC Fox 61 Ultimate Backyard Makeover”. I was fortunate again this year to be asked to serve as landscape designer/project manager. We have a great group of vendors participating this year, and a very nice family to work for. The Borovicka’s of Vernon, CT. will receive a wonderful new backyard, but they have recently suffered a tragic loss. This is their story.

The recently finished addition.

John Borovicka was a master carpenter with the Carpenters Union, Local 43. He was a doting father to Bethany and Kimmie, father-in-Law to Sid, and loving husband to Linda. He plied his trade during the day building bridges and working on various construction projects throughout Connecticut for O&G Industries. On nights and weekends over the years, John built the house the family lived in, the deck and gazebo they dined and relaxed on, and landscaped the yard they played in. John’s efforts didn’t stop with the family home though, as he regularly helped out neighbors, friends and family with any project they needed help on. He volunteered with Christmas in April, his Church, drove the High School Band instruments on trips, and brought his daughters to dance class, even dancing with them every once in a while. John was proud family man, and a devoted community volunteer. And, unbeknownst to him, he was soon to be a grandfather. Last fall John began working on the last part of the yard.

The patio area.

After recently completing an addition in which they placed a sauna, John had intended to construct a patio and sitting wall just outside. He prepped the area, did some drainage work, and put away his tools as winter began to set in. The plan was to get right back at it this spring, but tragically in November, John lost his life in a workplace accident. The patio and steps would remain unfinished, the family would lose the center of their world, and the community would lose a hero.

Here is where our story begins, as Kimmie Borovicka napped on the couch with the TV on. She awoke to hear the announcer say something about a Backyard Makeover contest, but didn’t hear the details. She ran to tell her mother and sister, and after a thorough search, they found the Fox61 website and sent in a picture and an essay. All this, one week before the contest began.

Bethany, Linda, and Kimmie, outside the addition.

The Borovickas entry was selected as one of three finalists, and their story was posted on the website to allow fans to vote for the winner. After a week of voting the Borovickas, with over half of the vote, were declared the winners. In just two short weeks, the Borovickas, still grieving from their loss, went from wondering what they would do with this unfinished area, to welcoming in our crews to carry on John’s work. It is our hope that what we provide, will in some small way give them comfort as they remember a great man.

In upcoming posts, we’ll find out exactly what the Borovickas have won, meet the contractors that will finish the work John started, and create their Ultimate Backyard.

I hope you all have a hero to lean on,

Scott

http://www.blueheronlandscapes.com

Winter Wonderland!

I like winter, I always have. The cold, crisp air is invigorating. I love the excitement of watching a storm move up the east coast, and waking up to a new coating of snow. The stark beauty of a winter landscape, the return of our migratory winged friends, and even a simple walk in the frozen woods with the dog will heighten my senses. For those of us who operate seasonal businesses and for those that are gardeners, there are other benefits. Winter signals the end of a long busy season of work. It’s a time with many industry trade shows, seminars, and flower shows to attend, at which we will further our education and reacquaint ourselves with distant colleagues. Winter affords us a chance to stop and take stock of the year and all its successes and failures, it allows us to recharge our batteries, and best of all, we get to start planning for next season’s activities.

Now, before you think the cold temperatures have frozen my brain synapses, I don’t like everything about winter. I don’t like heavy slushy snowstorms, of which we see plenty. The sight of dirty sand and soil foiled up on the roadside snow banks by snowplows is quite unsightly. And even though he is a very nice man, I don’t like seeing the oilman on such a regular basis. These images, images of the dark side of winter, these fill me with thoughts of sipping Pina Coladas somewhere on a tropical beach!

By the time late February and early March roll around, I’ll be getting sick of the cold temps and the lack of greenery. Until then, seeing old friends and family at so many holiday parties, the beautiful fluffy snows of January and February, and old man winter’s many other benefits, will be enough to lift my spirits, as anticipation builds for those first spring crocus to pop through the late winter snows. See now, even that snowy image made you smile didn’t it. Go ahead you can admit it, we know already.

How do you feel about winter? Please leave a comment below, I would love to hear your thoughts!

Stay warm,

Scott

www.blueheronlandscapes.com

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More RAIN!

Another day of rain yesterday, and honestly, I am struggling to find the silver lining. Here are a few positives; the reservoirs are full, lawns are staying green and the irrigation systems are not being used as much (Yeah!), most of the wet weather has been spaced out enough to limit basement water (Double Yeah!). What I am most excited about though is the crop of mushrooms that have appeared in our yard. Have a look!

It’s Hard to outdo Mother Nature, when it comes to simple beauty, and I look forward to moments like these. Truly, it’s the little things that make life enjoyable.

See you in the mushroom garden,

Scott

www.blueheronlandscapes.com

When the cat’s away…..

Recent events have kept me from attending to all the details that keep each project moving along smoothly, and that has caused there to be a little downtime for the crew. When faced with idle time in the past, I could usually trust that my crew would keep themselves busy in some sort of constructive fashion. My current crew, consisting of 2 college aged males on the otherhand, upon finding themselves with some empty time, decided they would rather exercise their ceative muscles. When instructed to move an existing pile of brick, they instead decided to build a monument any mason was sure to be proud of. So, move it they did. All that was left was to sit back and soak up the accolades.

So my friends, I give you – “Pile of Brick”, by Justin and Mike.

Now in the past, I may have over reacted to this kind of “tom-foolery”, but I have matured over the years, and have learned to accept things for what they are. After all, they could have used their idle time in all manner of degenerate ways (that’s a story for another time!).  No, this time I took into account that the customer was fairly amused, and that their actions didn’t leave me with any repairs or the need to replace anything (which is also a story for another time!), instead I focused on the positive, and….. promoted them.

I am pleased to introduce the new Vice President and Executive Assisant, of material storage and brick stacking for Blue Heron! (I’ll let them decide which is which).

Now if I could only find their time cards……..

See you in thegarden!

Scott

www.blueheronlandscapes.com

Encore! Well…. maybe just a do-over.

To those of you that tuned it to watch “The Ultimate Backyard Makeover” on FOX 61 this past Saturday, I must first say thank you. Not only did you perservere through a long blog series, you went the extra yard. Now, if you found yourself saying “what the heck was that?”, you are not alone. Apparently there were some technical difficulties in the Fox 61 control room, and half of the show did not make it on air, so if you didn’t get it, it wasn’t you. Fox 61 will be re-airing the the show in all its glory again this Saturday (Same Bat Time, Same Bat Channel) and this time you’ll get to see the whole thing.

So if you have it in you to give it one more try for cause, please tune in. Oh and just in case, better have a copy of your favorite movie to watch if things go awry again. I think I’ll rent moonstruck……

See you in the garden,

Scott

A deserving Family and 15 Minutes for Blue Heron

Epilogue

Promoting a small business can be a daunting task. Finding the right venue to get your message out, getting ad copy just right and staying within a budget, all can test the reserve of even the most creative soul. That’s why, when the Backyard Makeover project presented itself, I gladly jumped onboard. A role in a televised production, on a local station, professionally filmed and produced, would surely provide needed exposure and credibility for Blue Heron Landscape Design. Most of the other participants, already advertisers with Fox 61, undoubtedly also knew of the value of this exposure, and also were quick to sign on. With stars in our eyes, we arrived, prepared for our companies expected fortunes.

Fate, I have always maintained, has a sense of humor, it seems, that it also has a sense of purpose. Here was a group of companies determined to take advantage of a brilliant opportunity, unexpectedly finding a greater purpose; Present a very deserving family with a private place of respite that they would not otherwise be able to afford. Now, I don’t mean to make our homeowners out as destitute, for they are not. Simply good people, that life threw one too many curve balls. And by no means are we, the participants meant to appear as saints, most assuredly we are not. This rather simply, became a feel good story that would benefit both sides in ways that neither could have imagined, and that is good story to tell.

Thank you to WTIC FOX 61, for providing this opportunity, and thank you to each of the other participants for making my job easier. Special thanks to Ron and the crew at R-N-L Enterprises, for without them we never would have pulled this off. And, thank you to you, readers, for the opportunity to tell this story, I know time is precious, and this has been a long blog. I hope you have enjoyed it.

Now, I must go, it just started to rain again, and I think I left my tools outside……

Follow this link to more pictures of the project from start to finish. http://www.flickr.com/photos/blueheronlandscapes/sets/72157620605924926/

See you in the Garden,

Scott

www.blueheronlandscapes.com

The FOX 61 Ultimate Backyard Makeover is scheduled to run Saturday June 27^th at 12:30 pm. Please tune in! And feel free to email me any comments, even those less flattering.

A deserving Family and 15 Minutes for Blue Heron

Each one of us, or so we were told by Andy Warhol, will be famous for fifteen minutes. And so, comes the time for Blue Heron Landscape Design. While pumping gas one day, I returned a call to a Ron, a Landscape Contractor friend of mine, who had left a message for me regarding a “Backyard Makeover” show the local Fox affiliate was preparing. They were looking for a Landscape Designer to head up the project, and would I be interested in being that person. He explained they need someone to look at the winner’s yard and come up with a plan for all the goodies that had been donated by the other participants, and oversee the construction and delivery of the “Ultimate Backyard”. This was right up my alley, so with eye towards exposure for the company, and the chance to help out a deserving candidate, I jumped in and set my alarm for fifteen minutes.

Several weeks later, I had heard that a winner had been chosen, and that the project was ready to commence. So I waited for a call….. and I waited for a call….. and, on Monday June 8^th, while pumping gas at that same station (que the eerie music) my phone rang. “Hi Scott its Bruce from Fox 61, are you ready for your fifteen minutes?” The plan was for me to meet the homeowner and then be interviewed on camera by the producer, and….could I be there in three hours? and they would like the project finished by Friday (yes that same week!) so production could air the final product the following Saturday? The fast paced reality of TV had shed its light on Blue Heron, and I was not amused.

WTIC Fox 61 was looking for a deserving family within its broadcasting area, that had a problem backyard, and story to go with it. Almost one hundred submitted applications, which were narrowed down to the three most worthy. These three were presented on Fox 61’s website and a winner was chosen. Here is the winning entry:

I would love to win this contest for my husband and my daughter.    We bought our home several years ago seeing much potential in the run down, unkempt back yard.  Little did we know then that I would be diagnosed with MS a year later and become unable to work or help much with the physical activity it would take to transform the gardens and lawn.    In December, we had a baby who was born with a congenital heart defect and required surgery just last month.  Now that she’s home and recovering faster than anyone could imagine, my husband has been very intent on creating a play space for her in our backyard.    I think he envisions many things for our daughter, but a safe deck (our stairs are being propped up with kitty litter buckets!) and grass would be the simplest luxuries!  We see so many possibilities when we look out our windows – we simply lack the time, energy, and funds to realize our dream backyard.

Later that day, after having rearranged a considerably busy schedule, I met with the winners and the film crew, and we were off and running. The homeowners Matt and Jamie, along with their daughter Adeline, couldn’t have been nicer, and were very appreciative of what was about to happen to their yard.

Tomorrow, we’ll look in on the contractor meeting, See what each is donating, and encounter several obstacles in the project. Until then……

See you in the Garden,

Scott

www.blueheronlandscapes.com

The FOX 61 Ultimate Backyard Makeover is scheduled to run on June 27^th at 12:30 pm. Please tune in!