Monthly Archives: April 2012

Lifescape at the ALCC Planet Day of Service

Lifescape Associates had the pleasure of  participating in the ALCC Planet Day of Service on last Friday, April 20th. This great event took place at the Excelsior Youth Center and was for an extremely good cause. This event was really cool because the center is a school for at-risk young women (ages 11 to 18) and it’s building a raised beds gardens for the girls.

“The project includes installing pathways to 14 raised plant beds as well as installing the wooden planters and soil. Community volunteers have been working with a student club for two seasons and now through the combined efforts of these volunteers and ALCC volunteers and suppliers, the students will have first-class garden.” – ALCC.com

Lifescape was able to introduce the girls to the great group of women on our team, who reached out as role models for the girls and talked about the opportunities for women in the landscape design industry.

Please take a look at www.alcc.com for more information about the day.

 

3 Ways your Landscaping can Pay you Back

Did you know that investing in your landscaping can pay you back? We’re not simply talking in your home’s worth, but bringing more value to your environment and your own well-being. Take a look at three ways your landscaping can pay you back.

1. Can cut cooling costs – cooling costs can be lowered as much as 25% by carefully selecting and placing trees around your home. Also, shading your air conditioning unit can increase its effectiveness by 10%.

2. Vegetable gardens can pay back times two -The amount of money you spend on growing your own vegetables can bring back 7 to 10 times the initial investment in your own locally-grown produce. The second way a vegetable garden can pay you back is by burning calories. It’s a fact that 45 minutes of gardening can burn as much calories as 30 minutes of aerobics?

3. Energy that comes back – Water and maintenance used to keep plants healthy don’t go down the drain when you consider things like turf grass, which serves as a natural filter to reduce pollution by purifying the water passing through its root zone.

Are you ready to find out more about how investing in your landscaping can pay you, your family, and your community back? Contact a designer at Lifescape for more information. 303-831-8310

Source: ALCC.com, Photo Credit: www.today.colostate.edu

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


7 Weed Fighting Tips

Most of us are happy for an early spring, but one ugly truth remains that the early arrival of spring, just enough natural precipitation and hand watering gets the weeds taking off like mad. If you are in the midst of battling wild weeds, here are seven strategic tips that the ALCC wants you to know:

1. You must use fertilizer. Weeds thrive in lawns that are not fertilized.

2. Drying them out, will not help kill them. Don’t let drought-stressed weeds fool you. They may look on the brink of death, but they are not.

3. Know your weed before you pull it. Make sure you get all the root out too, or it will grow back.

4. Know your weed treatment’s limitations. Weed treatments range in what type of weeds they effect from broad leaf weeds to any plant period.

5. Make sure follow the product label. You’ll want to know what the product is good for and where it might do more harm than good.

6. Is there a breeze? Be aware that the treatment can drift even in a slight breeze.

7. The best strategy in the weed war is always the offense. The best success comes from being proactive first.

How do you usually treat weeds in your Colorado lawn and/or garden?

 

 

Photo via coloradoweedbusters.com

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

3 Reasons to hire a Landscape Professional

When it comes to regular menial yard work, you may hate it, but it is something you can take care of yourself for the most part. However, there comes a time when the problems you have in your lawn can be a bit too much for you to handle and you’ll need to call a Denver landscaping professional in order to help you find a solution and implement it.

Take a look at three top reasons you should hire a landscape professional:

1. You have a specific issue that requires certain horticulture knowledge. For example, you don’t know what is wrong with a particular tree in your yard, why plants never seem to grow in a certain section of your landscape, or your best options for an outdoor living space.

2. You do not have the skill nor the time to do what is needed. It’s hard to get things done around the landscape when you are always running low on time, and you do not know have the know-how nor the tools/equipment to efficiently do what needs to be done.

3. It’s not a safe job for you. If the work that need’s to be done calls for climbing a tree, operating heavy machinery or moving heavy landscape materials, you most definitely need a landscape contractor’s help. Plus, you can not just dig anywhere.  It’s the law to call for a utility locate before doing any digging takes place.

Lifescape Associates can  help you get your Colorado landscape healthy and beautiful whether in the planning stages of building a new home or wanting to revamp the landscape of your current home. Just give us a call at 303-831-8310.

 Source: Alcc.com

 

 

 

 

 

What your Lawn Needs from You

Did you know there was a science to lawn care. It’s not a complicated science, but still science nonetheless. Take a look at these four things researchers at Colorado State University (CSU) and experienced professionals had to say about lawn care.

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1. Water – Check your soil moisture by sticking a screwdriver into the soil. Hard and resistant soil needs water, so if this is the case, allow water to soak at least at a good 3 inches into the soil, when it starts to run off or puddle, then stop watering.

2. Fertilizer – Wait until May to fertilize your lawns. You can apply it early, but only for the reason of “weed and feed”, which helps to control germination in early-season weeds.

3. Aeration – Be strategic about aerating your dry lawn. To get optimum benefits of aerating, your soil needs to be moist.

4. Mowing – Knowing how low to mow is very important. Standard Kentucky bluegrass lawn wants to be about 3-4″ tall, by nature. Set your mower height at 3″ and don’t cut off more than 1/3 of the total height of the grass.

Are you having issues with your Denver or Boulder area lawn?

Source: alcc.com