Does your yard have unusable space due to sloping terrain, standing water, unruly vines or overgrown plants? WNC homeowners are no strangers to invasive plant species and hilly or mountainous land. These seemingly overwhelming landscape challenges present the prime opportunity for creating your zones of comfort with hardscaping elements.
The leaves are fallin’ and TPS is haulin’ (them away)! WNC is on the cusp of autumn’s glorious color symphony, but around the corner those vivid hues will dot your lawn and start to expire, leaving you a messy mound to clean up. Wouldn’t you rather be enjoying this season’s activities than cleaning up your yard? TPS Landscaping is booking appointments for Leaf Removal services, and there are several reasons to call and have this chore done for you.
Just because the weather is cooling and a large part of the growing season is over, doesn’t mean your curb appeal has to go away too!
Fall can be an excellent time to rev up your home’s curb appeal, even through the winter when the rest of your lawn might be sparse. Keep reading below for fall curb appeal tips!
Thoughtful landscape design is the key to creating that outdoor oasis you’ve always wanted, whether you have a tiny courtyard in the urban area or a large estate in the country. If you’re looking for a simple guide to help you come up with landscape ideas from scratch, keep reading for our breakdown of everything we’ve chosen for you to consider!
Fall is officially here, and we wanted to let you know that fall is one of the best times to begin planting various flowers, late-season veggies, and more!
The cooler weather brings about several benefits like fewer bugs and pests, and tolerable weather, and can give you a chance to start thinking about how you may want to extend your growing season.
Many flower bulbs are planted around this time of year and traditional veggies such as pumpkins, squashes, kale, broccoli, and more cold-hardy plants are often planted as well.
Keep reading below for why fall is an excellent time to start planting!
Mulching is a horticulture practice that has been around for quite a long time. In short, mulching involves spreading a layer of material on the ground around your prized plants to help protect them from the elements. There are a variety of materials used for mulching, and they all have their own unique benefits and draw backs.
As the weather cools down and the warm foliage of leaves begin to fall and fade from the trees, this doesn’t mean that your yard has to fall short. Whether you live in an environment with longer and much colder winters or simply revamping your outdoor space for the chillier months of the year, there are plenty of landscaping ideas to keep your home looking great.
An important factor to consider is height. You’re going to want to choose varieties that are tall enough to stay visible throughout average snowfall in your region. Another great tip is to choose species that will attract wildlife like birds to admire during winter and liven up your home when it’s cold outside. Some characteristics to look for are berries that attract birds, sturdy branches to catch snow, attractive bark, evergreen foliage and branch patterns.
Keep reading for our list of beautiful winter plants that can give your home that extra sparkle this winter!
Maybe you’ve tried a few DIY projects in the past but find they don’t end up the way that you hoped they would. Maybe the cost of professional landscaping services has you trying to DIY things to save money, only to find out it needs repair months later at a much higher cost than it would have if you’d gone the professional route. That’s where professional landscaping services come in!
Many people worry about the cost of landscaping design services, and it’s understandable. When considering the costs of a project, it can be overwhelming, especially if you are attempting to do it yourself. But it doesn’t have to be overwhelming, and we’re going to tell you why you should invest in professional landscape design services. Keep reading to learn more about the benefits of hiring a professional landscape designer for your landscaping needs.
In Western North Carolina, it’s not a surprising fact that we get a whole lot of rain and wind, especially up in these mountains. As this past summer showed us with a lot of flooding and flood damage to many of the surrounding local communities, it’s become even more important to try and safeguard your property and landscaping from the elements. A great way to prevent some weather-related incidents here in the mountains is to build a retaining wall.
What is a retaining wall?
A retaining wall is a structure that holds or retains the soil behind it. They can be built from a variety of materials, but are most commonly made from concrete, rocks or boulders.
They offer many benefits to the homeowner, and some of those benefits are listed below!
Although the holiday season is approaching, it is never too early to start thinking about hiring a landscaper for next year. Aside from the interior part of your home, it is also important that the exterior is well- taken care of! A good landscape design is important to a home. It increases the value of the property while also allowing us to do outdoor activities!
Landscaping can be hard work for anyone. You need to mow the grass, water flowers and prune trees. With a professional crew, like TPS, you can avoid all these hassles. There are a lot of benefits to hiring a landscaper, such as: freeing up time for yourself so that you can spend more time with your family, reduce your risk for injuries, save some money and more.
Before you begin your search for a landscaper, don’t just go with the lowest bidder. Save yourself time and money in the long-run by asking these questions up front.
There are few things so at-home during the holidays as poinsettias. These bright red (or white!) flowers with rich green foliage are popular during the holiday season and you can find them just about anywhere. They add visual interest to people’s environments, are easy to find, and generally affordable too, lending to their popularity.
However, as popular and pretty as these plants are, they are also toxic to pets and small children. If you have either at home, you may worry about them ingesting these plants and might be looking for non-toxic alternatives.
Keep reading for our recommendations!
It may or may not surprise you that there are many different types of rakes and they all have a specific purpose. Finding the right rake for your yard cleanup job can make the job easier, more efficient, and help you get the desired results from your yard cleanup jobs. Rakes are one of those garden tools that help make gardening a whole lot easier, and their use is not to be underestimated!
We’re going to go through 5 of the most popular rakes for different jobs, so keep reading below!
Halloween is just right around the corner and what a better way to get into the spirit than getting festive and decorating! If you’re not confident in your crafting skills or you’re running out of ideas and need to step it up, have no fear, you will find ideas that are suitable for beginners and spook-tacular decorations that will spice up your porch, door and yard for this spooky season!
When you think of greenhouses, you probably think that they are for professional gardeners only, but we are here to offer insight on why your garden needs a greenhouse, even if you’re not particularly green thumbed!
Greenhouses provide an ideal environment for efficient growing, longer growing seasons, are environmentally friendly, cost-efficient and more!
As the fall weather is approaching and gets colder, the humidity in the air plummets, making the environment more hostile to delicate plants during colder months. With a green house, however, the opposite is true- the humidity and warm air stays in and keeps the elements out, making it a suitable place to lengthen your growing season for seasonal plants.
Greenhouses offer a controlled climate for growing, protection against swinging temperatures – whether at the beginning or the end of planting season; and it won’t put your plants at risk. This allows you to plant weeks or even months longer than initially possible.
When you close your eyes and visualize nature, one of the first things that comes to mind is likely a body of water, or a trickling creek or stream. The healing power of water has been noted for centuries. Afterall, being ¾ water ourselves, it’s no surprise that we love water and water features, especially if we have the opportunity to add it to our homes and gardens. Whether you prefer a pool for those hot days, a hot tub for those cool days or a birdbath or waterfall fixture, there are many benefits to having water features as part of your landscape.
What is Compost?
Composting is a growing trend throughout the U.S. With recent emphasis on reducing waste and protecting the environment, composting has seen a surge in popularity. By composting, you can reduce landfill wastes by 30% and help the soil too! Compost is a vital product to farmers and home gardeners alike, and it’s super easy to start a compost pile.
Mature compost is a stable material with content that enriches the soil and can help plants and flowers grow. It is called “humus” and is typically dark brown or black, and it has a soil like, earthy smell. Good compost should never smell like rot, and if it does, something is wrong!
Compost is created by combining organic waste products such as fruit and vegetable peels, cuttings and other uneaten food waste. Yard trimmings and herbivorous manures also can contribute to the making of compost. Wood chips, ash, and dead leaves are also examples of what compost is made of.
In order for compost to be successful, it must be left to degrade over time and be subjected to high temperatures in order to kill seeds, pathogens and other undesirable aspects of organic waste products.
Fall is prime season to break out the bulbs for planting. Many Spring-blooming flowers need an overwintering period in order to bloom nice and bright when the weather begins to warm up. Some of your standard bulbs may be daffodils or tulips but they go so far beyond that, that there is one for every flower preference and color.
Whether you prefer your blooms to be purple, white, yellow or blue, there is one for you!
As the summer season begins to fade into fall, leaves start changing colors, the sky turns a bit bluer, and pumpkin patches begin to grace the rural roads of Western NC. Pair that with the ever-popular apple cider and pumpkin spice lattes popping up in coffee shops across the state.
Your summer crops have likely died off at this point, leaving your yard littered with brown or beige plants that are well past their time or barely hanging on for those last warm, sunny days. You may have slowed down on your lawncare routine as you prepare to put away your garden tools and lawn mowers for the season, saving them for their next debut in spring. Weeds, overgrown grass and hedges are indicative of the change in seasons.
You may be ready to rest and call it quits for the season, but alas, there are still things to be done!
Since the weather is cooling down, you’re given the unique opportunity to take advantage of more tolerable temps, making summer clean up a little easier on the ol’ bones, as well as being able to plant bulbs for springtime flowers, and planting cool weather veggie crops. Below are some tips for fall gardening and clean up success!
Ball and Burlap (otherwise known as B&B) trees have been planted, allowed to grow, then dug up and sold to nurseries, where they can be kept for several months. They’re sold with their root balls wrapped in — you guessed it — burlap, which is usually covered with a wire cage to protect it. While B&B trees are more difficult to handle than bare-root trees due to their maturity, they’re also generally hardier and will give you the look of a tree that’s been established in your lawn.
B&B trees can be planted anytime during the growing season. They sometimes need to be lifted by machinery, as they can be quite heavy. Follow these seven steps to successfully plant a B&B tree: