4 months ago
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admin
When it comes to lighting up your exterior space in Brisbane City, then turf is the much-needed solution that you have been looking for. The lush green carpet comes with a lot of benefits, some of which will be discussed below. You will also understand the most common types of turf in Brisbane to know how to select the best for your needs.
Six reasons why turf is excellent for your exterior decorations
Year-round green:
Turf can thrive in all seasons without losing its aesthetics, unlike natural grass which can turn brown and quickly disintegrate during summer. Thus, as a resident of Brisbane, it is appropriate to invest in turf to maintain all-year-round green outdoor aesthetics for your home.
Very little maintenance needed:
Turf does not require regular watering or mowing as is in the case of natural grass. You can go for days without watering and it will still be ok. Additionally, you only need to lightly trim the turf once in a while since they do not get up quickly like natural grass.
Water conservation:
Turf is the right solution for water conservation, especially if you happen to dwell in an area where there is a shortage of water for home use, let alone irrigating your outdoor space. This is because turf requires very little water to stay alive and maintain its beautiful appearance.
Instant gratification:
Once installed in place, turf offers immediate gratification and instantly brings the much-needed beauty and aesthetics to a place without having to wait for weeks or months to see the results. It offers a quick solution to emergencies like hosting an event or visitors on short notice.
Versatility:
It is flexible and can be installed in any kind of outdoor space. For example, you can install it on a rooftop terrace, a sprawling lawn or even a small backyard. This is possible since it can take any shape depending on how you mould it.
Common types of turf in Brisbane
In Brisbane, there are many types of turf options that you can select from. Here are some of the most common ones:
Sir Walter Buffalo:
It is known for its lush appearance and smooth texture. It is a popular option for most homeowners in Brisbane. It is known for its drought-tolerant, shade-tolerant and resilient nature, making it suitable for most of outdoor spaces.
Empire Zoysia:
This is also one of the most common types of turf in Brisbane and it is known for its dense growth, vibrant colour and tolerance to heat and drought. With a Brisbane well-known subtropical climate, it is the most suitable solution that requires little maintenance and gives a much-desired outlook.
Wintergreen Couch:
This is a budget-friendly option in Brisbane and is easy to maintain. It can tolerate heavy foot traffic and is convenient for family gatherings and children play in the outdoor spaces. They are also known for their unique appearance with beautiful patterns that add their beauty.
Brisbane’s leading turf solutions offer unique benefits to outdoor spaces including year-round greenery, very little maintenance needed, water conservation, instant gratification and versatility. There are so many kinds of turf and the three most commonly known and used in Brisbane include Sir Walter Buffalo, Empire Zoysia, and Wintergreen Couch. Each of these offers its uniqueness and benefits that can be applicable in different conditions.
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5 years ago
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admin
One of the best ways to add value to a home is to have an outdoor living space designed. And a landscape architect is the best professional that can design and extend your living space as well.
Eloquent Landscape architects in Sydney is capable of designing outdoor kitchens, arbours, fountains, patios, fireplaces/fire pits, and installed seating. Implementing these features to your outdoor space is not only environmentally friendly, but it also provides an inviting ambiance for you, your family, and guests.
Reasons for Hiring a Landscape Architect
Hiring a landscape architect gains your outdoor space multiple benefits, to include:
Create an outdoor design you will love
An outdoor design you love is an instant mood booster. Hiring a landscape architect will not only boost up your outdoor area but also do a design that complies with codes and regulations. A lovely outdoor space becomes a special place to be enjoyed by you, your family and guests over the years.
Systematic plan
Landscape architects are trained to assess the problem and possibility areas of your property. This makes them come up with a systematic plan in choosing the best textures, colours, materials, and styles for your outdoor space. They will guide and help you select the perfect design for your outdoor area and handle all the details of preparation and construction.
Provide you a low-maintenance garden
A landscape architect can provide you a low-maintenance garden as per taste and preference. This means using plants that require less watering and fertilizing. This type of garden can be friendly to insects such as butterflies and bumblebees as well.
Good placement of trees
Trees and shrubs strategically placed in the garden can help lower energy bills. An experienced and professional landscape architect will be able to know the exact locations to place the shrubs and trees to reduce your cooling and heating costs.
Incorporate natural swimming pools
Aquamarine-coloured pools are not the trendy style of today. The trend is with low maintenance and chemical-free natural-looking pools. This makes the all-natural pool a must-have for any large backspace. You can work on having this wonderful feature to your outdoor space with your chosen landscape architect.
Add permeable paving
Sidewalks and patios become lovely to look at when permeable paving is used. Other than that, the paving encourages groundwater recharging as well as reduce runoff. This offers an instant solution for driveways prone to flooding.
Expert design and construction from start to finish
A reliable and professional landscape architect will stay with your project from start to finish. He/she will be working closely with you to ensure that everything you want to be included will be part of the project as long as it is possible. This means that the landscape architect will recommend designs that meet your expectations and follow through after the project is finished.
Creatively design a rain garden
Some backyards flood during the rainy season. A landscape architect provides the perfect solution by constructing a rain garden. A rain garden also provides beneficial insects and birds a natural habitat as well as filter runoff rainwater from lawns and sidewalks. They work and look better than installing a French or storm drain.
Expanding your living space outside as well as increase the value of your home is by having it landscaped professionally. Eloquent Landscape architects in Sydney can help you beautify your property.
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6 years ago
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admin
A house is considered one of the best investments any family can make. More than the budget you set aside for your new home is the anticipation of a happy and a comfortable life, combined with a tranquil environment, which adds up to achieving a lasting peace of mind.
To help you decide on this critical transition in life, here are a few recommendations to consider:
Purchasing a residence within or near a coastal area
Real estate developers entice their clients to buy an area near a coastline for a different living ambiance and a unique sense of comfort and style. This is ideal for people who love the beach and the sun. The breeze coming from the ocean soothes the body and the mind and a walk in the sand keeps the soul warm. Add to your itinerary a quick dip or dive in its pristine waters and customers wouldn’t ask for more than stay.
Considering a home next to an island
Facing an open sea when waking up early in the morning is a once in a lifetime experience. You couldn’t wait to move your feet and conquer your doubts and fear onboard a speedboat for an island hopping experience. The sights and sounds of the roaring sea make you want to stop time and repeat the momentum time and time again.
Taking an after lunch dip on surrounding freshwater lakes
After your body absorbed a lot of salty water as therapy, you can opt to freshen up for the second time on the neighbouring freshwater lakes. It somehow renews your vibe and spirit, making your weekend getaway something that you’ll always anticipate
Spending your late afternoon whale-watching with your family
A hobby for the young and the young at heart. Watching whales swim to and fro, and making their deep-toned squeals removes stress from your body after a day’s work. Children at the same time love the idea of taking a peek out of Sea World for a truly wet and wild experience.
Living and respecting heritage, culture, and tradition
Who else would take pride in the beauty of a national park within your reach except you and your friends? A visit to a stone-throw Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary promotes your love for endangered animals. Truly, a manifestation of your true identity as a native and a natural-borne citizen of your country.
Now that you already had an adventure of a lifetime, it’s now time to decide on the kind of home that you’re going to build your dreams and continue your quest in the future. Take your time to browse from the following options:
A smaller home built on a narrow lot
Ideal for newly-weds or a starting couple. Since you don’t have kids yet or planning to have one or two, the space is just right for maybe three or four individuals. Extra space is intended for a garden, a garage, or a recreation venue. Ensure you are choosing the top builders in Brisbane to build your dream home.
A featured display house or village is not bad after all
Good for those who cannot make up their minds, just yet. Visiting the virtual village over the web or seeing it personally allows home buyers to compare the virtual from the real one.
A single storey home is perfect for 4 to 6 people
If you aren’t expecting your parents for a visit or your friends to stay for a night, then no need to worry about congestion.
Other friendly options to choose from are:
- Flats or apartments
- Double storey homes for extended families
- Dual occupancy homes
- Duplex houses
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6 years ago
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admin
Although you can buy topiaries at the nursery, it can be more rewarding to grow and shape your own. Topiaries are best done with trainable shrubs and vines like rosemary, boxwood and holly, and grow most popularly in the shape of a lollipop.
Use rosemary for a small topiary or holly or boxwood for a larger one. Pot the shrub or plant in rich, quick-draining potting soil for more flexible placement, and to protect the plants with indoor locations during the winter. Put a large stake behind the plant in the pot, and tie the main stem or trunk of the plant to the stake.
Allow the plant to grow for several weeks to months before you attempt to train it. Turn the plant often for even growth in the crown, and water it as necessary for the breed. Cut away suckers or shoots growing low on the trunk.
Train the plant once it reaches the height you want. Decide on your design – one, two or three balls, sitting on top of each other – and trim the plant to that design. Pinch or prune away shoots around your design to leave a rough pattern.
Trim and neaten the remaining foliage to accomplish your desired design. Keep in mind that upward shoots grow more quickly and may distract from the pattern of the topiary.
Trim the topiary every one to two weeks to encourage thicker growth and neatness. Always trim to your desired pattern to control the growth.
Tips: Low light leads to sparse growth, and leads to unsatisfactory topiaries. Make sure your plant gets the light and water it needs for best growth.
Never allow the topiary to flower, as this will destroy the pattern.
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6 years ago
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admin
Plants that require little attention through the year and are generally disease and pest resistant are the ones to include in a low-maintenance garden that cater low maintenance plants. There is enough choice to ensure interest and plenty of colour at all times.
Graceful Grasses For Year-Round Interest
Perennial grasses are easy plants. Once planted, they require very little attention, except occasional removal of dead foliage and old flower heads if they offend. Cutting back the dead foliage to ground level in early spring will encourage lots of new growth.
There are many types to grow, from compact dwarfs to huge plants that reach 2.4m (8 feet) or more. They can be used in beds, either on their own or in mixed plantings, to stunning effect.
Be cautious about mixing grasses among other plants, however, as some are difficult to control, and rampant species will soon take over a bed and become inextricably entwined with other plants, so clump-forming types are best.
The more spreading grasses are better grown in an isolated spot, but the smaller ones will work in a border if you plant them in a large container sunk into the ground, with the rim flush with the surrounding soil. Annual grasses will self-seed unless you deadhead them after flowering.
Ferns For Moist Shade
The intricate foliage of ferns makes these fascinating plants essential for moist, shady corners of any low-maintenance garden, where they will without doubt thrive without any intervention. Many die down in winter, but there are also plenty of evergreen species, and they are varied enough in shape and size to make an interesting planting despite the lack of flowers.
Planting Ferns
Most ferns prefer a moist, shady or partially shaded position, and will do especially well if you take time to prepare the soil by incorporating plenty of organic material. This is very important in an area shaded by a tree or wall, where soil is usually dry. If the soil is impoverished, rake a balanced fertilizer into the surface of the soil when you plant. If planting in late summer, autumn or winter do not use a quick-acting fertilizer.
Water the fern thoroughly about half an hour before planting. It is very important that ferns do not dry out, especially when newly planted.
Make a hole large enough to take the root ball. Firm the fern in carefully. Then water thoroughly so that the surrounding soil is moist down to the depth of the rootball.
To help conserve moisture and maintain a high level of organic material in the soil, mulch thickly. Top up the mulch each spring.
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7 years ago
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admin
Often the only sign of life you may see during the winter are the birds which come into your yard in search of food. Bird feeders are not the only thing that causes winter birds to frequent particular yards in the neighborhood. Planning ahead for the basic needs winter birds have begins with landscaping.
First Things First
Consult a good bird identification book to identify which birds you may expect to stay the winter in your region. The bird book you have should contain range maps for each bird listed. The National Geographic Field Guide to Birds and Kenn Kaufman’s Birds of North America are two excellent pocket guides with this information. A good beginner’s pocket guide is Birds: A Golden Guide published by St. Martin’s Press.
Birds which seem to winter in many sections of the United States include the following: dark-eyed junco, downy woodpecker, red-breasted and white-breasted nuthatches, northern cardinal, song sparrow, house finch, common redpoll, pine siskin, jay (blue or Stellar’s), and chickadee. Decide which of the winter birds you especially wish to attract and concentrate on landscaping for those birds. Some winter birds prefer certain foods and have different habitat needs than others.
Winter Birds Require Food
If you wish to attract winter birds to your yard, your landscaping design should include seed, fruit, and nut bearing perennials, shrubs, and trees which will hang onto their seeds or fruit during the winter months. In combination with bird feeders, your yard and garden plants will provide enough food to satisfy the birds that overwinter in your area.
When selecting perennials and shrubs for your landscape, you must think ahead to what the average snow fall is for your region. If you live in an area with large amounts of snow and you plant perennials or shrubs which hug the ground, they will not be found by the winter birds. Landscaping for winter birds in these regions means selecting perennials and shrubs taller than one or two feet in height.
Know which type of bird likes what type of food+
Here is a list which may help you:
Winter birds which eat only seeds: dark-eyed juncos, red-and white-breasted nuthatches (also eats nuts and insects), common redpolls (also eats insects), pine siskins (also eats insects), chickadees (also eats insects).
Winter birds which eat both seeds and fruit/berries: downy woodpeckers (also eats insects), northern cardinals (also eats insects), song sparrows, house finches, jays (also eats acorns and insects).
Perennial plants in the landscape can supply smaller ground-feeding winter birds with seeds to eat. Look for ornamental grasses with seed heads like little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), prairie dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis), or spear grass (Achnatherum calamagrostis). Juncos, sparrows, and finches enjoy the seeds from these grasses. Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) grows to two or three feet and has a central seed head at which winter birds will peck. Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia) is a native wild flower and like purple coneflower is a natural winter bird feeder. Another interesting landscape idea: stake up a few towering sunflowers against a wall and let the seed heads develop and dry out. Northern cardinals, finches, jays, and chickadees will perch and enjoy their winter meal.
Do not forget that ornamental shrubs often supply winter birds with berries, besides looking beautiful in your winter landscape. Highbush cranberry (Viburnum trilobum) grows up to ten feet, has bright red berries, and is either evergreen or deciduous depending upon your USDA hardiness zone. David Beaulieu, the landscaping guide for About.com, recommends both holly and bayberry shrubs. You must make sure you have both a male and female plant when planting these two species or you will not get the berries so popular with winter birds. The blossoms from rosa rugosa, also known as salt spray rose, will die back and form rose hips, a type of emergency food for winter birds when they can not find other sources.
Trees can provide fruit, nuts, or seeds for winter birds and often tower above your winter landscape. American mountain ash will have some berries well after the cedar waxwings pick it over in the autumn. Woodpeckers and jays eat these leftover berries. Pincherry and chokecherry trees in the landscape provide berries eaten by jays, woodpeckers, and finches among others. The American beech tree is an excellent choice for its nuts which jays, chickadees, and tufted titmice eat. Siskins and redpolls clamor for the birch tree’s tiny cone-like fall seeds, some of which may hang on through part of the winter.
Berry-producing evergreen trees in your landscape like junipers and cedars are favorites of some game birds. The seeds in the cones of pine and spruce trees feed woodpeckers, chickadees, siskins, crossbills, nuthatches, and finches. Evergreen trees perform a function other than food which we will see in the next section.
Some species formerly sought for their food value to winter birds have been discovered to be more invasive than desired. These include sumacs, honeysuckle, red chokecherry, Oriental bittersweet, multiflora roses, Japanese barberry, and privet. The person wishing to plant these species should either select an alternative native species for their landscape or be vigilant about controlling the plant’s growth and distribution.
Winter Birds Require Shelter
If you were outside during the winter on a day when the wind blew harsh and cold, you would seek shelter, wouldn’t you? Winter birds require some kind of shelter as well against strong winds and the cold. Pines and spruces are some of the best trees in the landscape to provide this. Another place winter birds sometimes find temporary shelter is among patches of dried grasses. Although you may be tempted to clean up a brush pile or wood pile, birds find shelter in these areas, too. The winter birds which eat insects as well as other foods find dormant insects hidden under the bark of trees and in brush and wood piles.
Trees and tall shrubs in the landscape provide perches for winter birds taking their turns at bird feeders. For that reason, the smart birdwatcher places his feeders and suet baskets within a short distance of a hedge or other trees and shrubs.
To plan where in your landscape to plant trees, shrubs, or hedges consider where the snow drifts the most and plant so you have a windbreak. The winter birds will benefit from a windbreak as well.
Some birds use the peeling bark from birch trees in building their nests in the spring. Other winter birds utilize the cavities of dead trees to seek shelter. If you choose to keep a dead tree section as part of your landscaping design, an ornamental vine can hide it during most of the rest of the year.
Winter Birds Require Water
One of the most difficult of basic needs to supply to winter birds is the water they require. Birds simply can not maintain the efficiency of their feathers to warm them without baths during the winter. Snow will not take care of a winter bird’s thirst. Terra cotta or clay bird baths may crack with prolonged exposure to cold winter temperatures. Ponddoc.com recommends an electric bird bath deicer for days when the temperatures are freezing. Bird baths need not be elaborate either, according to her. A garbage can lid is shallow enough that even smaller birds will not be frightened to use the water it contains. Of course, if you do not use a deicer to keep the water unfrozen, you will have to use boiling water to unfreeze it or tap the ice out and refill it throughout the day. Use of salt and antifreeze, needless to state, are absolutely forbidden because of the hazards to the health of the winter birds.
Remember . . .
Try to select native plant, shrub, and tree species instead of introducing non-native varieties which may be difficult to prevent from becoming invasive.
A yard that is mostly neatly trimmed lawn with few shrubs or trees attracts few birds. Without the food and shelter a diverse selection of plants brings, your winter landscape will look sparse and unattractive to a winter bird.
Resources:
Buchanan, Rita. The Winter Garden: Plants That Offer Color and Beauty in Every Season of the Year. Taylor’s Weekend Gardening Guides. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1997.
David Beaulieu. “Popular Plants, Ideas for Winter Landscapes: Ideas for Turning Winter Landscapes Into Winter Scenes Worth Painting.” [Online] http://landscaping.about.com/cs/winterlandscaping1/a/winter_shrubs_3.htm
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/attracting/landscaping/plant_groups
http://www.garden.org/subchannels/landscaping/trees?q=show id;=764 page;=3
http://www.ponddoc.com/WhatsUpDoc/WildBirds/WBirdWinterNecessity.htm
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