Make your landscape more than plants and trees. 

Think "Pottery"!!!

Our team just returned from the Gulf State Horticultural Expo in Mobile, Alabama. The exposure to the latest equipment, plants, trees and decorative elements for your landscape was inspiring. It's always good to attend shows where they push your design skills a little or show you that one little extra that completes the landscape. This year it was pottery. Often enjoyed indoors, pottery, in the form of decorative lawn ornaments, planters, fountains and/or pathway signage, makes a beautiful statement. 

 If this is the year you decided to enjoy your outdoor space more than ever before, consider adding some decorative elements.  We have some ideas for you. The pottery options alone are overwhelming and come in every style, color, combination and size you could image. So when you want to add a little color beyond what mother nature provides and a decorative uniqueness that your neighbor doesn't have, consider pottery.   

Ask "Doc Green"
 
 

Question of the month!

I purchased a lovely fountain during my last trip to Italy and had it installed by the pool.  Unfortunately it is dark when I get home each evening which means I only enjoy it during the summer. Can you recommend lighting to illuminate the fountain and make it a year round focal piece?

Doc Green says, " Night-lighting your landscape offers a creative way to showcase your home and property after dark. Properly placed, lights can dramatize trees; highlight favorite shrubs and palms; and accent statues, fountains and flowerbeds. Like any creative work, the options (including fixtures and finishes) are endless. Call GroundHOG to explore your lighting options."

Doc Green, our veteran horticulturist (a groundhog horticulturist at that!) is absolutely passionate about helping you create beautiful and functional outdoor spaces that are harmonious with the native ecology of our area. This groundhog knows it all! Organic Landscapes, Irrigation, Flowers, NatureScaping, Drainage, and much more!  

Doc Green is happy to answer all of your garden, landscape, and outdoor related questions for FREE. Each month we hope to feature one or two questions with answers that might be helpful to everyone!  
 

ASK DOC GREEN A QUESTION. 
 
 

"Green" Tip of the Month 

Hire local contractors.  It saves fuel; reduces pollution; and supports the local economy. 

Tuesday morning is set aside for members of our team to come together for training. We strive to provide "Outstanding" service for our customers through development of standardized practices, least waste way methods and employee empowerment. During our training sessions we are planning, discussing and working through each service we provide to ensure our procedure for that service is the best practice we can offer our clients and is duplicatable for us as we grow, hire and train new employees. Last week while reviewing our mission statement, we discussed our services at length. As a company, we have collectively narrowed our focus to the services we do well, and work diligently toward being the best provider in our area at those services. 

What do we consider our specialties? Landscape Maintenance, Lawn Care, Landscape Lighting and Irrigation. Call now to see if we fit your needs. We live here, we work here and we plan to stay here.  

Time to Trim Crepe Myrtle Trees!

When it comes to pruning crepe myrtle trees, it would be better to leave them alone than to prune them improperly.

We've all seen over-pruning - people chop back crepe myrtle trees below the knuckles each and every year.

When a crepe myrtle is pruned back too far it has two effects - it reduces the number of blooms that will be produced  during summer and new branches will grow far too long and therefore not be able to support the weight of heavy blooms - particularly when wet. These long branches weep over and often break off during heavy rains.

When a crepe myrtle is pruned properly it will produce twice the number of branches and therefore twice the number of blooms as it did during the previous year and the new branches will be strong enough to support blooms.

Wrong-season pruning would mean November and December. If you trim the crepes in the last two months of the year, and we get a warming trend in January or February, the trees might actually start putting on new growth. That new growth will be highly susceptible to freezing weather should it come on the heals of a warm spell. New growth will also tend to draw the cold right into the plant, causing needless damage to a tree that should be resting in dormancy.

So, the best time to trim crepe myrtle trees is late winter or early spring - just prior to new growth emerging. Call now to get on the schedule for February. 

GroundHOG's New Property Maintenance Model

GroundHOG is changing the way we do business to serve you better. Beginning this Spring, we will move to a full service property management model. If you are currently a property management customer, you know that our landscape and lawn teams service your property separately. Although this has worked well for us in the past, we believe the new model - one complete lawn and landscape team - will service your property completely. So if your contract is for 44 lawn cuts per year and full maintenance, your lawn will be cut and then the crew will provide landscape services per your contract during the 44 cut schedule. No more weeds out of control or hedges taking a natural shape. Our crew will be able to sustain the manicured look you desire with a regular touch. If you are under contract for lawn service only, call us to request pricing information for full property maintenance. We have a plan that fits your needs.

Call us anytime for a FREE estimate for your landscaping project!  1-985-674-9001