Give Your Garden An Expert Touch With A Landscape Designer

Who doesnt desire of seeing a beautifully crafted and delightfully blossoming Garden on opening the windows on early mornings? The sight of fresh leaves & petals, gorgeous colors and sweet scent magnetize all. But the rushing schedules do not allow most to invest hours of hard work and care to craft the Garden of their dreams. Others, though with ample time, find it challenging to design and create something which they can call their dream Garden. This is where a professional Landscape Designer comes into picture. Be it designing, creating or sustaining your outdoor spaces/Gardens, they can do it all. Apart from cutting on your efforts, Expert Designers bring along a number of benefits:

Well versed with fundamental design concepts - Professional Designers know it all. Be it climate, soil texture, variety of plants (endemic & exotic) or color balance - their knowledge encompass every aspect related to Gardens.

Which climate is best for growing what plants, which soil type will suit a particular plant type, how to regenerate the nutrient content of dying soil, which plant varieties look good together, which plants need special care and when, how to grow and space flowering & non-flowering plants so as to get perfect color balance in the Garden - all this and more is known to these professionals. So, when they are around you need not worry about anything. Imagine how relaxing that can be!

Creativity at its best - All that you can think of, a Landscape Designer can create. With numerous ideas, he/she can even give shape & fill colors to your imagination in designing Garden of your desire.

Whether you want your Garden to be a place to relax or as a recreational area; whether
you just want a huge Designer lawn with few exotic flowers or a rich collection of variety of flowering & decorative species; whether you are looking forward to topiaries or pergola designs - a professional Designer can do it for you, all with an immense flavor of creativity. With a blend of living and non-living elements he/she can transform your Garden to be an element of desire & envy among the neighbors.

Guidance not just in beginning, but till the end - Creating a dream Garden is not difficult, maintaining it is! But with Expert help, even maintenance does not pose problems. Professional Designers do not restrict their services to designing, but extends them to building and sustaining of Gardens as well. They offer a range of services which, if taken as a package, can ensure a zero-anxiety Garden for you.

Enhanced property value - Who wouldnt be ready to pay extra for a professionally crafted land? A quality Landscape design augments your property value as it adds curb appeal and a larger living space. Moreover, a professional Landscape Designer knows how to make use of your existing space to create not only a gorgeous but also a functional area that can be enjoyed & desired by all.

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How To Transplant An Established Tree

I recently had a client email me asking for advice about how to move a relatively established tree. In moving any plant, there is always a risk that the plant wont survive. So of course, the best advice is to plan ahead, before you plant.

Flowers of the beautiful Halleria lucida tree

Do some research. Find out how big, how wide, how messy, and how deep the roots will grow when fully grown. The ideal is that you would never have to move a tree once its planted...BUT thats not always possible - circumstances change, and its not always possible to predict the future with any kind certainty.

Moving plants is always a matter of minimising risk - there are no foolproof ways of doing it. And every situation, species, and tree are different...sometimes, I think there is even an element of intuition involved.

But there are some things that you can do to reduce the risk of losing a plant that has been transplanted. Here is my reply to her, giving advice about how to move a particularly delicate tree:

1. Dig the root ball out as deep as possible, and then slightly deeper still (basically a trench all around the tree - leaving as much soil around the roots as is possible that you can still physically move),
2. Trim off about a third of the leaves.
3. Leave the plant in place for about 2 weeks to let it get used to having less roots, but all the time giving the roots a little bit of extra water on the root ball as compensation.
4. In about 2 weeks time, get your hole ready, measured and dug,
5. Water the plant and the new location thoroughly.
6. Trim off at least half the remaining leaves,
7. Move the plant as quickly and carefully as possible keeping as much soil around the roots as possible.
8. Try to position it in the same orientation that it was in its previous position.
9. Firm the soil down around the roots and try to wash soil down into any gaps that may have inadvertently formed, (Im not a big fan of using fertilizers when planting unless your soil is terrible, but even then I would rather use copious compost instead)
10. And then leave it for a week or two...it doesnt have much in the way of roots so dont over water.
11. Then wait - it may lose a few more leaves, or even a branch - losing leaves is not a big deal, but keep an eye on the stem. If you notice any rot, then you can trim off the dying branch/trunk and paint the cut section with a tree sealant.
12. Then wait some more...sometimes I have given up hope on plants that look dead for a year or two, and then suddenly they come back...

Generally speaking, the smaller the tree the easier it will be to move. Also, if it was originally planted from a bag as opposed to self seeded, it will transplant easier. Ive also found that trees transplant a lot easier in Autumn.

Weigh up the costs of losing a tree as opposed to keeping it in a place where its not ideal - Is it really worth it?

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