The LawnScapes Design Process

Consultation

Takes place on the job site and is the meeting where we will discuss your needs, preferences, and ideas for your landscaping.  We appreciate you having any measurements, house plans, lot survey, pictures, or any other helpful materials copied and available for the designer to take.  It is a good idea if you go through our design questionnaire before this meeting.  At this meeting we will also provide you with a design contract and upon receiving payment we will add you to the design schedule.  

Site Analysis

This is the phase where we study and visit the site to gain a full understanding of the existing conditions.  We make one more site visit to take measurements, elevations, make note of the sunny and shady spots, elevations, and any other pertinent information required to create a landscape design. 

Schematic Design

In this phase we reconcile the client’s needs and desires with the functional aspects of the site.  During this phase the designer uses a technique call ‘Bubble Diagramming’ to layout the spaces, the pathways between them, and their uses.  Sometimes another meeting is required to discuss these ideas with the client.

Quick Bubble Diagram

Quick Circulation Diagram

Final Plans

This is where the design will be drafted using CAD software.  All elements of the design will be included, and details will be drawn to locate all elements, and to show paving patterns, etc.  When this work is completed a meeting will be scheduled to present the plan, selection of materials, and information on the installation.

Example of a Final Plan

Design Implementation

In this phase we provide the final estimate and proposal for the proposed landscape installation.  Once the proposal is accepted and the initial payment is provided you will be placed on our installation schedule.

LawnScapes Design Services

Masterplan- complete design for your entire property

Landscape Rejuvenation Plan- Plans detailing the removal and replacement of any unhealthy trees, shrubs, and can include transplanting existing plant material. 

Hardscape Plan- Plan detailing walkways, retaining walls, seat walls, and patios.  A hardscape plan Includes proposed materials, dimensions, and paving patterns for the installation.

Landscape Planting Plan- layout plans can detail your entire property or a very small portion of your yard.  These plans include spot plantings, foundation plantings, buffer plantings, shade, native, butterfly, and bird gardens.

Specialty Design Detail- this would include a design for a custom fireplace, bulb plantings, outdoor kitchens, water features, vegetable gardens, perennial plantings (Country Gardens), etc.

Lighting Plan- Layout plan and engineering for outdoor lighting. This includes sizing the transformer, choosing the correct fixtures, and the selecting the correct wire gauge.

Race Street Pier

View of the upper level of the pier and the Ben Franklin Bridge.

               A couple of months ago the Race Street Pier in Philadelphia opened to the public.  Since this was a brand new work of landscape architecture right in my backyard I figured I should take a trip into the city to see it.  I hopped a SEPTA Train at the Malvern Station with my trusty road bike, camera, and my head full of great expectations. 

               The Race Street Pier was formerly known as ‘Pier 11’ and was a rundown unused urban space.  Located right next to the Ben Franklin Bridge and offering dramatic views of the Delaware River, this Pier was ripe for redevelopment.  This is one of the first of many public parks built by the Delaware Waterfront Corporation.  Three designs were presented and ‘The Slice’ won.  I must say as a designer this design is spectacularly dynamic.  Check out all of the designs HERE

The lighting at the end of the pier is quite unique.  Place randomly into the pavers, it really creates a show when viewed from the bridge above or even on ground level.

One of the most striking details is the use of ‘Cor-Ten’ steel for the raised planters.  Cor-Ten steel is meant to rust, protecting it from the any further degradation from climatic forces.  Once it takes on the dramatic brownish, red color the protective barrier has formed.  This material really harkens back to the Piers more humble, industrial beginnings.    

The winning design is dominated by a large, sloping ramp that rises along the north side of the pier.  Constructed of ‘Trex’ wood it should last a very long time.  

Dramatic view of the Ben Franklin Bridge

View from the end of the Pier toward the city.  Notice Comcast Center peaking it's head out of the mist.

Native plantings with Cor-Ten steel planters

If you have any question don't hesitate to visit our web page at www.lawn-scapes.net!

Rose Tips and Tricks

          By far, roses are some the most difficult and rewarding flowering shrubs to grow.  Rose colors can range from white, yellow, orange, pink, and of red.  Some of the most popular rose types are:

-Bush Roses: these roses tend to grow quickly and abundantly.  Many, are more disease resistant than the hybrid teas, floribunda, and grandiflora varieties.

- Creeping Roses:  these tend to grow fairly quickly and lay closer to the ground. 

-Climbing Roses: These roses climb like a vine and include the Georgia State Flower, the Cherokee Rose.

-Hybrid Tea, Floribunda, and Grandiflora: These are the types I am going to cover in this blog.  These tend to be the most finicky and disease prone.  If you put the time and effort in the reward will be big, beautiful, and wonderfully fragrant blooms.

There are several strategies that can be observed to help insure successful rose growth.  One of the easiest things to do to insure proper location and soil composition is to grow your roses in a raised bed or containers.  Choose a wide open area that gets plenty of sun.  I had the best luck growing my rose in a container.  This enabled me to control the soils and location of the rose bush. 

Rose bushes grow best in an area with slightly acidic, well drained soil that gets plenty of sunshine.  The best weather to plant a rose bush is a windless, overcast day in the early Spring.  Planting in the early spring allows plenty of time for the roots to establish themselves during the upcoming growing season.  When planting a rose be absolutely sure to dig a hole that is large enough to allow the roots to spread out in their natural form.  Roses should be planted with the bud union (where the graft is generally) above the soil in a warmer climate and no further than 1”-2” in colder climes.  All roses need to be firmly planted.  To accommodate this need, place the plant into the hole, fill in some soil, and pack firmly with your foot every couple of inches until the hole is filled.  This forces the roots into contact with the soil around them. 

During the growing season I recommend daily maintenance and observation of your rose bushes.  This allows you to be on top of the maintenance and quickly catch any diseases that roses can acquire.   Dead heading rose blooms to encourage new flowers to form.  When dead heading; cut the flower stalk back to the first leaf with five leaflets.  Monitor your roses for disease problems throughout the growing season.  Roses are susceptible to numerous disease problems (too numerous for me to cover in this blog!) but some of the most common are aphids, powdery mildew, and black spot.  Any leaves with black spot can be removed and disposed away from the bushes or you run the risk of contamination of other plants.  I recommend picking up a book with pictures of the disease problems so they can be identified and taken care of.

The first year after planting roses should not be fertilized.  This helps them come to terms with the soil they are planted in.  In subsequent years fertilization should begin as soon as new growth is seen and should not be continued past August.  I have great success with Osmocote scratched into the soil.  Fertilization after each blooming period is recommended because it encourages new blooming.  Mulch the ground around your Rose’s roots to insulate them from changes in temperature and to retain moisture.

Pruning should occur late in the dormant season, after the last hard frost (be very sure of this!) and when the buds start to swell.  Make sure that your pruning shears are extremely sharp and that you have invested in some thick leather gloves.  Pruning cuts should be above a bud that is facing outward from the main stem.  The cut should also slope away from the bud in order to encourage water to drain the opposite direction.  Regular pruning techniques otherwise apply.  You want to eliminate weak branches, dead branches, rubbing branches, and branches that are growing inward.  Also prune to maintain the bush’s shape and form.

That about covers the basics of Rose Gardening, and I do mean the basics.  If you have any questions feel free to ask and I will do my best to give you an answer.    

-Matt