Japanese Yew

It’s nearly May (mid-spring), and with warmer-than-normal weather moving through our Zone (Eastern Colorado, all across Kansas and Missouri), a number of our outdoor landscaping clients have been asking us about the types of plants, flowers, shrubs, and trees that can be planted at this time of year. So, before the heat of the summer hits us, we thought this would make for a great article to accompany the other articles at the Westland Landscape blog.

This is a great time to plant around your Kansas City garden. But first, let’s address the issue of the weather. Sure, it seems like the summer months are coming on fast, but we’re only about two weeks ahead of schedule as far as outdoor and ground temperatures are concerned. And even though we could use a little more rain in the Greater Kansas City area, the choices are almost wide open as far as garden and lawn plantings are concerned.

Mid-spring is the second-best time of the year for outdoor planting of all sorts (the first being September). Yes, flowers, shrubs, and trees are in-stock and ready for the ground, so get out a handful of colored pencils and some paper and begin drawing up plans for that new garden or colorful landscaping job you’ve been dreaming about all winter long. There’s not much you can’t plant in the ground at this time. Here at Westland Landscape, as well as the other fine garden stores, we’re only holding on to a small percentage of our stock until the ground warms up a bit more (less-hardy ornamental grasses, crepe myrtle shrubs, Rose of Sharon, and some tropicals just aren’t ready), but you can go to the ground with nearly everything else on the menu.

Our landscape designers have been keeping an eye on trends. The best mid-spring plantings this year include Lilac, Spirea and Barberry shrubs; Hosta, Astilbe and Liriope; Japanese Yews; Shrub Roses; and perennial flowers that include Firewitch Dianthus, Coneflower Asteraceae, and Black-Eyed Susans. And if you’re looking to add an ornamental or flowering tree to your yard, the best time to plant is right now. Kansas City is big on Weeping Cherry Trees, Eastern
Redbuds, Magnolia, White Flowering Crabapple, Dogwood, White Pear, Smokebush and Serviceberry.

Spring is here in Kansas City, but it won’t last long. If the summer does come on any faster or stronger than expected, your new plantings will require no more than a bit of extra watering, so don’t fret over the weather.

So far, the 2012 outdoor planting and growing season looks great. It’s a fine time to get outside and do some landscaping work around the house. Due to the mild winter, we might see an uptick in nuisance bugs – but as soon as the beneficial bugs come out, their numbers will begin to drop off dramatically. While we’re on the subject, it also looks like the best time to spray your trees for bagworms will be between May 15th and June 1st this year.

Having a plan for your landscaping design is a crucial aspect of end-result success. Here at Westland Landscape, we have landscape designers on staff, ready to assist you with whatever creation you can envision. While we’re at it, don’t forget to ask us about paver patios, outdoor kitchens, fireplaces, fire pits, and water features!

Hunter FX Factory San Diego

With quality lighting components, your outdoor lighting system is a landscaping design element that both illuminates the exterior of your home and highlights its best features. At the same time, outdoor lighting provides an element of security for the home and – in certain respects – the neighborhood. There are many outdoor lighting components manufacturers that craft excellent lighting systems. Many of these companies have factories outside the USA.

The FX Luminaire company, a purveyor of well-crafted LED outdoor lighting systems, is located in sunny San Diego, California – and Westland Landscape had the pleasure of attending a two-day advanced lighting design class focusing on LED lighting. The instructors demonstrated a number of leading-edge LED (Light Emitting Diode) products from FX Luminaire.

It is clear that the FX Luminaire company (which is now owned by Hunter Irrigation) is a leader in LED lighting technology for outdoor use. At the end of the two days, we were also treated to a tour of the onsite Hunter Irrigation factory and shown how a number of their products are manufactured. It should be mentioned here that the quality control put into the Hunter Irrigation products is well above the levels of many companies in the industry.

Our trip to San Diego was precipitated by a desire to see exactly how FX Luminaire products are made and to understand how their LED technology was changing the outdoor lighting market. It’s clear to us that LED lighting provides not only an energy savings over traditional outdoor lighting product usage, but it also comes with a much-reduced maintenance cost over time. In addition, many of our customers will be interested to note that outdoor LED lighting is also able to withstand harsh weather conditions through all four seasons here in the Midwest. In the end, everyone from Westland Landscape who attended came away profoundly impressed with the company, their people and the quality control systems used in their manufacturing processes.

Westland Landscape is proud to offer FX Luminaire products. Unlike so many plastic and metal kit lighting systems, the FX product line consists of architectural-grade components that have been engineered with highest-quality non-ferrous materials. What this means to Westland Landscape customers is that FX Luminaire products are reliable and corrosion-resistant (so reliable in fact, that FX Luminaire offers a 10-year Warranty on their lighting products).

FX Luminaire and Hunter Irrigation are two experts in their respective markets – who just happen to be part of the same great company. From what Westland Landscape can tell, their factory and their staff lead the industry in experience and enthusiasm. The lighting systems we saw in San Diego have already been ordered and should be available for customer demo next week (first week of April). We are excited to show our customers what LED lighting can do for the exterior of their home!

By simply adding outdoor accent lighting you can work wonders for the exterior of your home. Lighting installation illuminates the beauty of your house, gives that warm “glow” and display your impressive landscape – even at night. Even a few well-placed lamps and lanterns make great outdoor accessories (always choose outdoor rated fixtures) that can complement the interior too. Highlighting the flower beds and the trees in the yard gives off a sophisticated appeal.

Moreover, we all know that lights are a good deterrent against crimes since a lighted house indicates that someone is at home. Current outdoor accent lighting fixtures can be incorporated with motion detectors and sensors to add more security to your area. A well-lit property is less likely to be victimized by thieves and vandals. For visitors or security personnel who pass by your house at night, your address is more easily identified if the area is lighted.

Practically speaking, it provides light needed for night biking or for playing games with your kids after you come home from work.  You can also have your garden as a venue on a night gathering. The light not only serves its main purpose of illuminating the area but can also become a good venue décor. Various designs are available so there is no reason for you to limit yourself to the traditional outdoor lighting pieces.

Aside from making your house stand out from the dark, outdoor lighting provides security and safety as well. The light shining around your house will surely help you in keeping an eye over your surroundings. And solar accent lights provide light without being too bright, contributing to light pollution.

Most organic mulches must be replenished, but the rate of decomposition varies. Some mulches, such as cypress mulch, remain for many years.  Top dressing with new mulch annually (often for the sake of refreshing the color) creates a buildup to depths that can be unhealthy.

Bottomline…We recommended a mulching depth of 2 to 4 inches.

Benefits of Proper Mulching

• Aesthetics. Certainly mulch can give planting beds a uniform, well-cared-for look.
• A healthy layer of mulch can inhibit certain plant diseases.
• Maintain soil moisture. Evaporation is reduced, and the need for watering can be minimized.
• Improved soil fertility.
• Mulch serves as nature’s insulating blanket. Mulch keeps soils warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer.
• Weed control. A 2- to 4-inch layer of mulch will inhibit the spread of weeds.
• Mulching around trees will guard the tree against trauma from mowers (mower blight).

will offer you more trends on tips about lawn maintenance, the latest landscaping materials, eco-friendly design, installation techniques and more.

We will feature new projects and richer, more focused photo galleries to highlight every option you have available when selecting just the right project to enhance your outdoor living spaces.

Thank you.