Landscaping is not cheap! The old saying ‘you get what you pay for’ is obvious when comparing companies in the landscape industry.
When it comes to landscaping your home, customers often have an idea of what they want it to look like. Through searching websites, flipping pages of that favorite magazine there comes a time to make dreamy ideas into reality. Your first step is contacting local landscape companies in your area to share your ideas with the people that can turn them into the garden of your dreams.
How do you take the estimates prepared by the local professionals and get an apples to apples comparison?
The best option is to research the types of projects completed by certain company’s, meet with them and choose a company to stick with and work through the project. This is similar to when you’re working with a team in building a house; the client is involved in the entire process and you are not limited by the original bid, which can sometimes limit landscape architects.
But if you are on tight budget constraints and want to compare companies bids, here is our recommendation to help you make the best decision for your garden:
1. Make sure each estimate is accompanied by a detailed plan, but understand that a company may not give you their plan in order to protect their intellectual property.
2. Make sure each estimate provides a breakdown of all materials, pricing per unit, labor hours and labor costs. Having a detailed estimate will ensure that the company doing the work is providing what they have discussed. This also provides you with a base estimate if you decide to add or reduce the work while in progress.
3. Make sure each company that you contact maintains all the necessary insurance certificates, local, state and federal licensing requirements. Often landscape companies are operated as home-based businesses. This business operators don’t always have the necessary insurance and license in place.
4. Make sure each company provides a detailed list of contact numbers so you may contact them to discuss your estimate.
5. It is recommended that you meet at the companies office and go over the plans as well as review all the plants, materials and accessories to get a full understanding of all the parts of your project. This gives you an opportunity to see the sizes, colors and textures before they arrive at your home.
6. Be confident in your landscape professional, feel free to ask their qualifications for giving you this advice!
7. Lastly, ask to review completed projects of similar landscape styles so you can have a visual idea of what you are buying.
The Garden Gates offers a wide range of services for the New Orleans homeowner. Our trained staff of professionals hold all the necessary licenses, insurance and eduction to provide you with the best service. Check out our Qualified Professionals Now!
Here in Metairie, Louisiana plants survive in hardiness zones from 8b to 9a. Because of the climate we experience…some 70 degree days some 30 degree days there are some important tips one needs to know when working on or preparing ones garden for the upcoming spring.
#1 Today is a great day to plant! Just as tomorrow and the next day and the day after! As long as a shovel can get into the dirt so can the roots of a plant. It is because the ground hardly freezes here that we are blessed with the ability to start plants on their growth journey a little early. It is actually better to plant in the winter then the spring or summer in New Orleans. The main plant parts may be in a dormant state but the roots of the plant are actively seeking water and nutrients year-round. Because of the root stimulation the plant can be much more prepared to take on the heat of the summer with an extra few months of root growth.
#2 Mulch! Mulch! Mulch! Now that the fall leaf color (not that there is much in New Orleans) has made its way into the trash or compost pile its time to add a fresh layer of crushed pine needle much to help keep moisture in the soil around plants. Winters tend to dry plants out especially if there is no mulch.
#3 Pruning is a great idea on plants not flowering in the spring. As long as the plant flowers after April, pruning is recommend during the winter. Choose a cool day to do it so as not to stunt new growth which may occur on warmer days.
#4 Stay off your turf! Let it remain dormant if it is a warm season grass, it can not regenerate to repair itself when it gets into the dormant state.
#5 If you do not have a plan for your garden or yard now is a perfect time to work with a Landscape Architect on preparing the perfect atmosphere for your outdoor living. Set up a consultation at the Garden Gates today!
Jesse Edmondson, ASSOCIATE ASLA
CHRISTMAS TREES DELIVERED FREE
The Garden Gates having its roots as a landscape company, people would think of the winter as a slower time of year….
The idea of Christmas Trees Delivered Free program is to not only provide the New Orleans area with the highest quality trees avaliable, it is to keep the talented landscape employees busy.
Chad and Beth Harris figured out by delivering the trees we may even have to hire more people! Just another reason to shop at The Garden Gates.
THE GARDEN GATES DELIVERY TRUCK
The Garden Gate is gearing up for our favorite time of year..Christmas Tree Arrival!
The Trees arrive November 16th and we will have to move all of our beautiful fall annuals/perennials to other homes throughout New Orleans.
Get your fall color looking great before the holiday season, stop in now!
Amos' Famous Baskets
Amos says, “Now listen here, Thanksgiving is right around the corner, if people want their yard to look good they need to plant and fertilize this weekend.”
Don’t make the old rooster angry, come in and get your fall color!
I went all week starring at my almost finished patio and bare bed; dreaming of the final product. Now it is done and it feels so good I can’t stop smiling!!! The final steps took me one more day. I was up with the sun and so I was able to relax in the afternoon and enjoy my hard work.
The first phase of completing my project was to put Quick Crete in between the pavers to solidify it so we can roll over it with our trash cans. Spray the area with water so the sand sinks and compacts under the stones. Then go back and re-level some of the stones that are low or wobbly. You can do this the day before, because you want the area dry before putting down the Quick Crete. We did this in one day, so while I was letting the area dry I went ahead and started my bed prep.
Prepping the bed is really easy. I did this all by myself, just take your time and throughly clean the area. First map out where you want the bed to go. You can use your garden hose or spray paint (don’t worry it fades after you mow the grass). 
Once you have established your line follow it with a shovel separating the grass and bed with a small 3″ trench. If you do this a head of time you can spray Round up inside the bed and kill all the weeds. That way when you go to remove the debris it comes up much easier. I like to do things the hard way so I just used my shovel and scraped the old grass form the bed and pulled all the weeds. I then applied a thin layer of Amaze to the bare area.
Amaze is a great chemical. It prohibits the growth of the weed seeds that you don’t see in your bed. It works for almost all weeds accept torpedo grass (because the roots are too deep). The only draw back is that it is not environmentally friendly. I have searched far and wide for similar products that do the same thing with out being harmful; so far no luck. The closest thing would be corn gluten (which has received very poor ratings) or a landscape cloth (which is time consuming and unreliable). When they develop a good weed preventive that isn’t harmful you will be the first to know.
On to the next step, put your dirt in the bed. You want to use a good organic soil, stinky is a good thing. Build up your bed about 4″. You want enough soil, so when you plant your plants you are using your existing soil and new soil. Level out your bed sloping away from the house and toward the street. This should be slight, you don’t want to create mountains in your front yard and you do not need a swamp near your slab. A gentle sloped bed is ideal. Lightly coat the top with more Amaze and a high nitrogen fertilizer,
mix in the top two inches.
The fun part, place your plants according to your design. Now Stop….go get some water and sit down in front of your bed and placed plants. While you are hydrating look at the spacing of your plants. 3 gallon plants should be spaced 36″ on center, 1 gallon plants about 12″ on center depending on the variety. Do not put your 4″ plants out until after you mulch.
This is the best way to think about the spacing of your plants…how much maintenance do you want to do? Plants that are planted close together are going to become a hedge row; which will require pruning. Plants placed far apart are going to become a specimen plant. Use the guidelines above for an average shrub and for most designs. I my design I have a combination of these practices. I planted my camellias close together as well as my boxwood; both of these are to create a hedge effect. The rest of my plants are spaced properly so I don’t have to tend to those as much.
Enough of all this relaxing….time to plant your plants. Make sure and leave about 1″ of the root ball above your existing grade. This helps the plant breath. Tweak your irrigation system. I ran a small drip head to each major grouping of plants as well as where my annuals and ground cover are going to be located.
Now lets talk mulch. This is so important to your bed health. Despite all the critics out there that believe we are killing trees by using mulch, they are wrong. Pine needle mulch is the best, it is environmentally sound because it is harvested off of the forest and doesn’t require the cutting of trees. Cypress is rather controversial; sick to Grade A cypress. It is harvested from Florida cypress that is cut from lumber and the mulch is a by product. So, as long as they are using cypress in buildings there will always be this mulch. I use pine needle mulch and that is what I recommend to you. Mulch keeps the moisture in and the weeds out, it also adds valuable nutrients to the bed.
Once you have mulched place your 4″ flowers and ground cover according to the design. Plant by moving the mulch and soil directly under the plant, remove sleeve and drop in. When this is done water throughly, with hose and test irrigation system.
At this point the patio is dry. Eric pored the dry Quick Crete and I swept it into the cracks, making sure that it is completely filled. 
I then sprayed it with the hose saturating the concrete and rinsing off any dust on the stones themselves. Concrete takes awhile to dry even if it has an accelerator in it like Quick Crete. We will not be using the patio for a few more days, but when it is finished drying it will be so easy to use.
This project took about 6 weeks from start to finish. I now have a master plan to follow for my other projects around the house. The total cost was well under $1000.00 because I did it myself. The Gardening Made Simple Program is designed to save you money. The cost of labor is usually around 50 to 60% of the overall cost, sometimes more with hardscaping. If you have the will, we have the knowledge. In the end you will feel so good that you did it yourself and your yard is the envy of the neighborhood.
Steps to digging a perfect garden trench
Start with laying a garden hose on the ground to define the shape of the new planting area. The hose will give you a guideline to follow. You will need to use a sharp digging shovel to dig a v-type trench.
Select a sharp flat shovel to cut the trench.
Hold your spade at about 45 degrees, with its sharpened head on the edge line. Put your foot on the head and guide it at a 45-degree angle 3 inches into the soil.
Lift out the grass and soil and toss it into your wheelbarrow. Take a step to one side and make another cut and toss to match the first. Continue down the line you’ve drawn until the entire edge is dug out.
The trench should be 3 inches deep, sloping up to 3 inches wide at the top. Let the lawn grow right up to one side, with the garden bed meeting the other side.
Mulching, Color and Birth Control
Birth Control for weeds is how you keep the perfect garden without spending countless hours. Apply 1lbs.of Eptam or Amaze per 10’x10’ garden bed using a Earthway handheld spreader set on 3. Apply mulch to a minimum depth of 3”. Use 1-3.3 cubic foot bag per 15 sq. feet of bed area. Layout out all annuals, ground cover and perennials as the Garden Made Simple plan indicates spacing on 8” centers as previously described. Move the mulch back that is under each plant, dig a hole 1 1/2 times the size of the plant and install the plant. Make sure that the plant is planted 1/2” higher than the existing garden beds. Mound the soil to make sure that water will drain away from the plant. Water all that plant materials in thoroughly. This should take around 30 minutes. Make sure to follow the watering guidelines for additional watering instructions.
Now that you have a little direction for your new garden, working in the garden needs to be enjoyable. Plan you gardening activities more like you would a picnic or a day at the beach. Make a list of all the things you’ll need and gather your supplies during the week so you don’t spend your weekend just gathering materials. Next, you can work on apply roundup after work on Monday or Tuesday because it needs a few days to begin working. When Saturday roles around, get an early start and work at a steady pace making sure to take breaks and drink plenty of water. Gardening burns approximately 7-10 calories per minute which is equivalent to jogging. You can over garden just like over exercising which will result in aches and pains in your entire body the next day. In the general areas where you are going to install your new garden, clean and remove all debris. If weeds are persistent in the garden, apply round up at 2% solution (typically 2 oz of commercial grade round up to a gallon of water and apply using a handheld pump sprayer) Prepare the beds for planting. Use soil conditioner to prepare the planting mixture incorporating it into the existing soil. You will need to use 1 bag for every 15 sq. feet. Make sure the thoroughly work the new soils mixture together with the existing soil using a garden fork. Apply Amaze or Eptam at a rate of 1 lb per 100 sq. feet. Incorporate the pre emergent herbicide in the upper 2” of the soil by raking with a metal leaf rake. These products reduce the population of new weeds in the garden. Add 1.5 pounds of Nursery Special 12-6-6 per 100 sq. feet of bed area. Apply spreading with a handheld Earthway handheld fertilizer spreader.
Begin planting each plant by removing the plant from the container. Loosen the rootball of the plant by loosening the soil with your hands. This will stimulate growth. Dig the hole 1 1/2 times larger than the container. Make sure to create a small mound on the bottom of the hole. This helps will drainage. Place the plant in the hole and backfill with soil. Make sure not to plant to deep. As a rule, plant 1” higher than the soil creating a miniature levee around the plant. This will make sure the plant is not too deep and help with retaining water. Repeat this process until all the plants are installed. Do not install any 4” or 6” annuals, ground cover or perennials at this stage. Using a metal garden rake, regrade the garden bed to provide positive drainage.
Using your Garden Made Simple planting plan, begin placing all your plants as shown in the plan. 4” annuals are spaced 8” part, 1 gallon plants are spaced 18” apart, 3 gallon plants are spaced 36” apart and 5 gallon plants are spaced 48” apart Plant space is accomplished by measuring from the center of one plant to the center of another plant. Face the plants so the best side is facing forward. After all the plants are faced, check plants for spacing and quantity. Make sure you have enough plants or not to many for the planting area. Over planting will cause general decline in the plants in a few years. In addition to general decline, it’s a waste of money.
