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Spiny Redberry

The Spiny Redberry stays green all year and is native to northern Baja and coastal areas. It grows in the chaparral with companion plants like Coastal Sage Scrub. It’s a great choice for adding year-round color to your coastal property.

Why the Spiny Redberry Belongs in Your Garden

Spiny Redberry is an attractive, beneficial shrub. Some of its landscaping benefits are:

• It’s evergreen
• The glossy red berries brighten your yard
• Dense leaves and height of six to eight feet make it perfect for a privacy hedge
• It looks great in natural landscaping

An evergreen shrub with bright red berries dresses up your yard over the winter. The “berries” are actually drupes, small fleshy fruits containing one or two seeds. The Chumash tribe created yellow dye from the roots and used it on buckskin. Some Native American tribes ate the fruit. The Kumeyaay fed the drupes to pet mockingbirds.

The Spiny Redberry’s flowers aren’t impressive. In order for the shrub to pollinate and produce berries, you’ll need at least two plants. The leaf points are as sharp as thorns and the leaves can cause mild cases of contact dermatitis, so it’s best to keep these shrubs away from where children and pets play. The sharp leaves make the shrubs good privacy hedges, and a natural fence looks much nicer than stockade fencing. A Spiny Redberry enhances the curb appeal of your property, and the sharp leaves deter intruders and some wildlife.

The Spiny Redberry and Wildlife

Every wildlife garden should have a couple of Spiny Redberry shrubs. Mockingbirds, bluebirds and other songbirds love to dine on the fruits. If you want more birds in your yard, plant a pair of these shrubs.

The Hermes copper butterfly, a small butterfly with yellow and brown wings like autumn leaves and a furry, silver-gray body, reproduces only on Spiny Redberry shrubs. Hermes copper butterflies are increasingly rare, almost officially endangered, due to habitat loss caused by wildfires and humans building further and further into the butterflies’ traditional territories. By planting Spiny Redberries, you’re providing a home for the Hermes copper and you get to enjoy their beauty.

Landscaping with the Spiny Redberry

Environmentally friendly (or eco-friendly) landscaping involves using native, drought tolerant plants, recycled landscaping materials and solar lights. It’s also called sustainable landscaping. It reduces water use, works around your existing plants and encourages planting trees, shrubs and perennial flowers. You can use broken concrete in a tiered garden or plant perennials so that they grow inside half a damaged terracotta planter and spill out onto the ground.

Spiny Redberry and its companion plant, Coastal Sage Scrub, are ideal selections for sustainable landscaping. Coastal Sage Scrub is a short, full shrub with grayish-green leaves. It shares nutrients with Spiny Redberry during extreme droughts. Both look great as part of rock gardens, grow in rocky, sandy soil and prevent soil erosion.

Things to Remember:
• Wear gardening gloves when watering or pruning Spiny Redberry
• Plant multiple shrubs together
• Keep a water source close to shrubs for wildlife

Contact us to inquire about our stock of Spiny Redberries.

7 Household Plants with Benefits You Didn’t Know About

Seven Household Plants with Benefits You Didn’t Know About

We bring plants into our homes, give them as gifts and take them to invalids. Is there more to the keeping and giving of houseplants than simple beauty and a little cheer when you can’t get outside? After you read about some common beneficial houseplants and herbs, you may look at the plant on your desk differently.

Houseplant Air Filtering Benefits

Trees absorb harmful carbon dioxide-based pollutants and recycle them into oxygen. Houseplants do the same. We learn more every day about the potential dangers of a polluted home or workplace. Everything from carpet to fabric softener emits some degree of chemical pollution. Some of the best plants for cleaning the air in your home are:

• Boston Fern
• Spider Plant
• Chrysanthemum (Garden Mum, common)
• Snake Plant (Snakeplant)

You probably have a Boston Fern hanging on your porch or patio. Bring it indoors. This household standard is perfect for the kitchen and doesn’t require direct light. Another good spot for a Boston Fern is the laundry room.

Spider Plants are frequently seen in offices. Does your co-worker pour on the cologne or use scented laundry detergents? Add Spider Plants to your work area. They help remove formaldehyde and xylene from the air.

Chrysanthemums make great gifts because they’re hardy and, when trimmed properly, can flourish inside all year. They add color to any room. Cuttings are easy to root in water. One chrysanthemum can lead to a whole window full of beauty, and cleaner air.

You may have a Snake Plant and not even know it. They have tall, sturdy, pointed leaves. The leaf color varies from grass green to true green, striped with white. It’s a good plant for the office because it will still be healthy if no one waters it during your vacation. Snake Plants like a dry environment.

Other Houseplant Health Benefits

Some of your favorite plants clean the air and have additional health benefits. Others are healthy and tasty. Our suggestions are:

• Aloe Vera
• Mint
• Basil

Got a minor cut or burn? Snap off the tip of an aloe leaf and apply the gel. Aloe works its air-cleaning magic at night, so you may like to keep a plant in the bedroom as well as the kitchen.

Mint repels insects outdoors and indoors. Keep a plant in a sunny kitchen window. Pinch off leaves, freeze in ice cubes and add to your drinks.

Basil is delicious, easy to grow in windows that receive full sun most of the day and has anti-inflammatory benefits.

A Healthy Indoor Garden

The plants discussed here are ideal for experienced gardeners and people who just want a few plants around the house and kitchen. They’re easy to maintain. Plants from your landscaper are healthier than those from big box stores.

For a well-rounded indoor garden with a variety of health benefits, contact us. We’ll work with you to find plants that suit your lifestyle.

Things to Remember:
• Most air-cleaning plants need lots of light
• Keep humidity-loving plants in the kitchen or bath
• Plants and herbs aren’t substitutes for medical care

Contact us to learn about our selection of beneficial houseplants.

What Plants and Flowers Are Known to Cause the Most Allergies?

Allergies to plants are on the rise. Adults who have never experienced allergy symptoms are suddenly reaching for tissues and making appointments with allergists. Whether allergies are a new problem for you or you’re used to sneezing and itchy eyes, this info about the worst plants for allergy sufferers can help you make the best of spring and summer.

Pollen

Intensely fragrant flowers may make you sneeze, but that’s a reaction to a strong scent. Pollen causes allergy symptoms. Indications of serious plant allergies are asthma and tightness in the throat. See your doctor if you have difficulty breathing, new allergy symptoms or your allergies worsen.
Skin reactions after handling a plant are caused by toxic oils. See a doctor for any skin problem like hives or a rash after touching a plant.

The Worst Plant Pollens

The worst and most pervasive plant pollens come from trees and grass. You can’t get away from tree and grass pollen. Tree pollen is at its height in spring. Grass pollen is a problem from spring through summer. All you can do is be prepared with allergy relief medications, avoid parking your car directly under trees and try to stay inside when someone is mowing grass. 

Trees and grasses with particularly irritating pollens are:

• Elm
• Maple
• Mulberry
• Oak
• Pecan
• Bermuda grass
• Mountain cedar
• Rye grass

If you’re highly allergic to mold, make sure to have dead leaves removed from your yard so that they don’t decay and produce molds that will make you miserable in the fall.

Wildflower Pollens

Your landscaper can remove irritating wildflowers from your property. That may alleviate some of your allergy symptoms and enable you to enjoy your yard and patio. Some of the worst wildflowers for allergy sufferers are:

• Pigweed
• Ragweed
• Daisies
• Forsythia
• Sunflowers
• Wisteria

Pigweed, also known as stinging nettle, is an unattractive wildflower second only to ragweed in terms of highly allergenic pollen.

Goldenrod takes the rap for ragweed’s ferocious allergy-inducing pollen. The plants look similar, and goldenrod is often more visible, making it seem to be the source of your allergy.

If you have allergies, you may want to avoid daisies. Even Gerbera daisies can make you sneeze.

Forsythia grows wild but is also a popular flowering shrub used in landscaping. It flowers in late spring and is a major cause of plant allergies.

Who doesn’t love sunflowers? They grow wild along roadsides and are used to edge vegetable gardens and fences. Most people don’t know that they’re a major source of allergen-producing pollen.

Beautiful blue wisteria is another landscaping shrub that can wreak havoc on allergy sufferers. Wisteria grows wild as a vine and can be abundant. Removing it from your property means digging up the root, and if you’re already ill from allergies, it’s a job for a pro.

Things to Remember:
• Trees and grasses are the worst sources of pollen
• Skin and breathing reactions to plants require medical attention
• A landscaper can remove bothersome wildflowers

Make this year easier for the allergy sufferers in your family by setting up an appointment to remove problematic plants.

How to Grow Award-Winning Roses?

Growing prize-winning roses is a skill developed over time. Before your roses can win awards, you must learn what goes into creating the perfect bloom. These tips will help you go from a casual rose gardener to a proud pro.

What Do Roses Need?
Roses need three essentials to flourish. They are:

• Sun
• Perfect soil
• Support or height management

Roses love the sun. Plant your roses in an area of your garden that receives full sun all day. If that’s not possible, place roses on the east side of your garden.

Before planting roses, test your soil’s pH. Your landscaper can perform the test for you. The best roses grow in soil with a pH between six and seven.

This means that your soil is slightly acidic to neutral. The low end of neutral on the pH scale, 6.5 to 6.6, gives you the best chance of prize-winning roses. Your landscaper can advise you on ways to bring your soil to the perfect pH.

Shrub roses, or rosebushes, may need the support of rose stakes. Prune roses after the last frost and remove dead wood when shrubs begin producing.

How Do I Care for Roses?
Roses need care to produce a winning flower. The basics of rose care include:

• Watering
• Fertilizer
• Aphid control

In addition to an inch of water per week at the base of the plant, roses need a weekly light bath. You can give your roses a shower on a sunny day. Use the light setting on your garden hose nozzle. If you’re only tending a couple of shrubs, you can use a large spray bottle.

Landscapers advise using fertilizer on roses no more than every six weeks.

If your roses have leaves with holes, are dropping petals or just not thriving, look for tiny, pale green aphids on the stems and undersides of leaves. An inexpensive, old-school solution to aphid control is to combine one part dish soap and three parts water in a spray bottle and spray stems and the undersides of leaves regularly. The dish soap should be the regular type, not “ultra,” degreasing or antibacterial.

What Type of Rose Should I Grow?
Prize-winning roses don’t only come from shrub roses. Other varieties to choose from are:
• Miniature roses
• Climbing roses
• Tree roses
• Groundcover roses
For prize-worthy shrub roses, prune and leave only four canes (branches) on the bush for the largest blooms.

You can grow miniature roses in extra-large planters on sunny patios.

Climbing roses are probably the easiest for beginners wanting to break into rose-growing competitions. You’ll need a sturdy wooden trellis.

Tree roses are spectacular landscape elements. They require some expertise in height management and pruning.

Take care to keep fertilizer off the leaves and blooms of groundcover roses to avoid burns. Water with a hose or sprinkler set to the lowest setting. Be careful not to overwater.

Things to Remember:
• Roses need sun
• Soil pH must be neutral
• Keep an eye out for aphids

Are you ready to grow your own prize-winning roses? Contact us today to see how we can help.

What’s the Best Way To Clean a Backyard Pond?

Water elements are the jewels in your landscaping crown. People love backyard ponds for many reasons.

Some homeowners just enjoy the look of a pond, while others have always dreamed of a koi pond.

If you’ve designed your landscaping to create a relaxing atmosphere, a pond is the perfect place for enjoying nature.

Like all landscaping elements, ponds require cleaning and maintenance.

Before Installing a Pond

A pond comes with responsibility. Some things to think about when planning your pond are:
• Wildlife
• Mosquitoes
• Plant life
• Maintenance
• Location
• Filtration systems

Backyard ponds are great landscaping features and enjoyable for the whole family.

Just be prepared for frequent maintenance.

First Steps

The first thing to ask your landscaper is what part of your property is most suitable for a pond.

You should place your pond in an area of your property that’s level and shaded or partially shaded.

You should discuss mosquito management with your landscaper.

Dragonflies will find your pond and eat mosquitoes, as will frogs and bats, and wildlife will drink there, especially during periods of drought.

We strongly recommend against using insecticides that could harm beneficial wildlife.

Use pond-specific enzymes instead.

Insecticides may also harm natural aquatic plants and plants like water lilies that you add to your pond. Filtration systems make cleaning easier and discourage mosquito breeding.

Cleaning Your Backyard Pond

Decorative ponds without koi should be cleaned in the spring.

Don’t forget frogs and frog spawn.

Clean your pond before frog spawn appears.

Frogs are beneficial, insect-controlling backyard wildlife.

Experts advise letting your established pond go as long as five years between cleanings.

The key to a clean, healthy pond is to think of it as a small swimming pool and use small nets to remove anything that can rot and spoil the water.

Cool temps (under 70F) are best for pond cleaning day.

Fish are easier to move on a cool day rather than a warm day.

Your landscaper may also suggest removing floating decorative plants to avoid damage.

Never totally drain your pond.

Leave a few inches of water, and don’t forget that you’ll need to replace pond enzymes as well as water.

Cleaning a backyard pond is a task that takes up most of the day, but much of that time is gradually refilling the pond.

Check the water temperature before and after cleaning.

When the water is back to pre-cleaning temp, you can safely replace plants and koi.

Don’t discard all the “dirty” water because it contains good bacteria that your pond needs.

Are You Ready for Koi?

Koi are gorgeous creatures that require feeding and extra care.

Koi ponds are spectacular, but you don’t have to add fish to your backyard pond to make it attractive and interesting.

Things to Remember:
• Pond cleaning should be infrequent
• Clean decorative ponds in spring
• Ponds with fish should be cleaned on cool days

If you want a backyard pond for your yard contact us at (805) 773-5395.

Is Your Landscaping Ready for Spring?

Stormy winter winds off the ocean have done a number on your property. Your yard needs spring-cleaning. Where do you start? We’ll help you get your landscaping ready for spring with lists and tips prepared by pros.

Start Here

Walking your property is the first thing to do when preparing your landscaping for spring. Look for:

• Damaged trees
• Hardscape deterioration
• Lightning damage

Broken tree branches, damage to retaining walls and stone pathways and non-working lights are dangers to you and your family and should be addressed first. We recommend hiring a professional landscaper handle these problems. Landscapers have the equipment to deal with broken branches in the tallest trees. Broken or dead branches and trees must be removed before they fall and leave you with an expensive roof or car repair.

A retaining wall with a foundation crack is a disaster waiting to happen. Scheduling an immediate repair will prevent a huge cleanup and the time and expense of rebuilding a collapsed wall.

Outdoor lighting always needs maintenance after a harsh coastal winter. If you have extensive lighting, let someone else do the job of cleaning fixtures and repairing and replacing components.

Sprucing Up Your Landscaping

When you’re going over your property, keep an eye out for major eyesores and problems like:

• Ragged or overgrown shrubs
• Areas of dead grass
• Holes in the ground
• Damaged fencing

Pruning and shaping up shrubs is an early spring necessity. Getting your shrubbery back in shape will give your landscaping an immediate lift and make the plant grow fuller foliage and more flowers.

A landscaper can overseed thin grass or seed an area with no grass. Landscapers can also protect grass seed from birds, squirrels and other wildlife.

Speaking of wildlife, holes in the ground mean that something is tunneling. The tunnels could be moles or rats. They could also be snake holes. Note where they are and show them to your landscaper. In addition to possibly housing vermin, extensive tunnels can cause soil collapse and injuries.

A damaged fence reduces your home’s curb appeal and doesn’t do its job of keeping your kids and pets in your yard and other pets in their own yards. If your fence is painted or stained, it may need cosmetic attention after a winter of scouring winds.

Improving Your Landscaping

Common post-winter landscaping issues are:

• Dead plants
• Soil erosion
• Additions to landscaping

You can address soil erosion in a couple of ways. You can replace soil, plant shrubs that help prevent erosion or do both. Everyone loses a few plants over winter, so planting flowering shrubs or attractive grasses is a good idea.

Have you been thinking about additions to your landscaping or even “redecorating?” Now is a great time to start prepping flower and garden beds and adding new plants.

Things to Remember:
• Look for dangerous winter damage
• Up your property’s curb appeal
• Deal with soil erosion

Appointment slots are filling up fast. Call or email us to reserve your time.

How Landscaping Makes Commercial Properties More Appealing

Curb appeal is a term that most people associate with homeowners trying to make a house for sale more attractive to potential buyers. Using landscaping to improve the curb appeal of your business is a form of advertising that works. You can see this for yourself by checking out the parking lots of businesses with no landscaping and businesses with attractive landscaping.

The Importance of Landscaping for Your Business

Potential customers, clients and patients get their first impression of your business from the outside. A building with nothing but grass, asphalt and tinted windows seems severe and unappealing. A poorly maintained parking lot, unhealthy grass and untended flowers are customer turn-offs. Customers prefer an office or store with a neat, welcoming exterior.

A Landscaping Checklist for Your Business

Checking out other businesses will give you some ideas about what you need to improve at your business. Landscaping basics to consider are:

• Grass
• Drought tolerant plants
• Trees
• Hardscaping
• Flowers in window boxes or large planters
• Shrubs

You can choose a simple or exotic them for your landscaping. Read on for some easy ways to spruce up your business right away.

Plant Suggestions for Your Business

Artificial turf is an option for the grassy areas of your business’s lawn, especially if you haven’t been able to keep real grass alive. Your landscaper can also show you resilient grasses. If you choose real grass, you don’t have to worry about maintaining it. A landscaper will do everything from mowing grass to pruning trees.

Native grasses are a good choice for parking lot islands. Pampas Grass is a common landscaping plant, but it requires a lot of care to avoid a winter “ugly stage.” Deer Grass (Muhlenbergia rigens) is less dramatic but more interesting than Pampas Grass. It’s also low maintenance.

Crepe Myrtle is a perfect flowering tree for your business. When pruned correctly, it won’t grow too tall or look unkempt. The dramatic red or deep pink petals provide weeks of beauty in the spring. The tree produces no fruit, so there’s no mess. Customers love a parking lot with decorative trees just big enough to provide a little shade. If you have enough room for several Crepe Myrtles, consider planting them in a row before parking spaces.

Hardscaping includes features like rock gardens and retaining walls. Succulents and rock gardens go well together. Hens-And-Chicks, also called Biddies-And-Chicks, are succulents that reproduce and require so little water that they are referred to as “air plants.” They grow best on top of natural pebbles.

Flowering plants in containers outside your windows and flanking your door are an easy way to have year-round color. Your employees can water and deadhead flowers, and your landscaper can replace flowers on a seasonal basis.

Lavender provides beauty and smells fantastic. It’s most often used at parking lot entrances and exits, but it can go in your sunny flowerbed.

Things to Remember:
• Good landscaping makes customers stop at your business
• An attractive workplace improves employee morale
• Customers love shaded parking areas

Contact us today to arrange a makeover for your business. No business is too large or too small.

How to Maintain Artificial Lawns

An artificial lawn may be the best choice for your family’s needs. Today’s artificial lawns are incredibly lifelike but require maintenance to look their best.

How is Artificial Turf Made?

Artificial turf has been in use for 60 years. It was first used in football stadiums. Makers of artificial turf spent 30 years improving it based on feedback from sports teams. Today’s artificial turf looks and feels like real grass, and is available in a variety of grass “species.”

The backing used in the highest quality artificial turf is little different from the tires on your car. It’s tough and weather-resistant. It does deteriorate over time like a car tire, but it’s easy for a landscaper to replace sections as they age.

The blades of top quality artificial grass are made from nylon cut into the same shape, width and length as the grass of the ideal lawn. The middle layer between the grass and the base is designed to provide a cushioned surface for walking, sports and children at play. Every element down to the thread that pulls the elements of a section of artificial turf together is designed for strength, longevity and a natural appearance.

Why Choose an Artificial Lawn?

The main reason to choose an artificial lawn is to avoid mowing grass. Other reasons to go with artificial turf are:

• Consistent color and texture
• No watering needed
• It’s great for high traffic areas
• No bare or thin spots
• It looks natural edged with live plants

Artificial lawns bear up well under the natural activities of families with children and pets. Your children can play in the same area every day without killing grass and leaving you with an unattractive area of dirt, and synthetic turf will never yellow after the family dog visits it.

Maintaining Your Artificial Lawn

All landscaping, including hardscapes, rock gardens and artificial laws require maintenance to keep them looking their best. Artificial turf in particular requires care to preserve its realistic and clean appearance.

Artificial lawns are built on top of existing lawns made up of dirt and all the fauna and flora that live in dirt. Your landscaper will level and smooth your yard before installing artificial turf. Depending on UV light damage, physical wear and tear and weather, your artificial lawn will require replacement to preserve its beauty.

How can you extend the life of your artificial lawn? You can maintain your lawn by:

• Weekly cleaning with water
• Monthly raking
• Immediately picking up after pets
• Contacting your landscaper for unusual cleanups
• Contacting your landscaper for weed/mold/mildew issues

Rinsing down your lawn is like sweeping your floors. Raking is like vacuuming. Cleaning up after each pet visit to the lawn is just common sense.

The landscaper who installed the turf should handle oil spills and other chemical spills.

Weeds and fungi growths are signs that your synthetic turf is deteriorating.

Things to Remember:
• Artificial lawns are low maintenance, not no maintenance
• Today’s artificial turf feels and looks like real grass
• You can incorporate live plants into an artificial lawn

The best time to install your artificial lawn is early spring, so contact us today.

California Drought Status 2018

Wouldn’t it be great to know California’s projected 2018 drought status when you start planning your landscaping and garden?

That information is already becoming available through forecasts based on 2017 drought conditions.

This blog will help you understand projected weather forecasts for the state of California, focusing on the Pismo Beach area.

Knowing now what your drought status may be in July allows you to make the best landscaping decisions.

Drought Probable for Areas of California in 2018

U.S. government scientists and meteorologists are predicting a high probability of drought for Southern California this year.

Northern California will likely not be affected by significant drought. Southern California has received almost no rain since last October.

Lack of significant rainfall is expected to continue through early spring. Central California will also be affected by drought in 2018.

Planning for a Beautiful Yard Despite Drought

Your landscaper can provide you with a wide variety of drought tolerant plants, including:

• Flowering plants
• Shrubs
• Native grasses
• Succulents

A pro can flesh out your landscaping with features like hardscapes. Hardscapes can be both functional and decorative.

Pathways, retaining walls and patios are hardscapes.

If you live in the southernmost part of California, combining a rock garden with drought resistant plants is an excellent choice for your 2018 decorative garden.

Things to Do Today

Now is the best time to set up an appointment with your landscaper so that you can get a jump on preparing your lawn for drought conditions throughout the spring and summer. The first things your landscaper will do are:

• Irrigation system maintenance and repair
• Water element inspection and repair
• Safety checks on retaining walls
• A health survey of trees on your property

Repair and maintenance of sprinkler systems and waterfalls is essential to keeping your water usage at acceptable levels during the 2018 drought.

Landscapers will be booked up soon due to the continuing drought, so make an early appointment.

Effects of the Forecasted Drought on California Gardeners

Farmers and home gardeners always struggle during severe droughts and early freezes.

Fruit trees are the first food-producing plants people think of during Southern California droughts.

Make sure that your trees are healthy now so you’ll have homegrown citrus fruits this summer.

Don’t give up on your kitchen garden plans.

There are many low water vegetable varieties that you can grow.

Some popular low water vegetables are:

• Mini sweet/bell peppers
• Eggplant
• Greens
• Swiss chard

If you plan to grow tomatoes this year, we recommend container gardening.

Cherry, grape, plum and Roma tomatoes are great choices for large planters.

Some herbs, like basil, flourish in full sun and don’t require much water.

Other drought tolerant herbs are rosemary, sage and savory.

Herbs that need extra care should do well in pots at the edge of a shaded patio.

We suggest clay pots for any potted plant to reduce both excess heat and root or bulb rot.

Things to Remember:
• Start landscaping planning now to beat the heat
• Maintain irrigation systems for responsible water usage
• Choose low water decorative plants and vegetables

We are booking appointments for 2018 spring and summer landscaping. Contact us today for your consultation.