Landscaping Design on the Main Line

Aardweg Landscaping Newtown Square PA Summer Maintenance Tips

February 21, 2016
by aardweglandscaping
Comments Off on Essential Spring Landscape Maintenance Tasks

Essential Spring Landscape Maintenance Tasks

Spring is such an exciting time of year. After slumbering quietly under blankets of snow and cold, your landscaped garden suddenly shakes off its lethargy and comes to life! Every day is a new revelation! In preparation for this seasonal cavalcade of new growth and color, here are a few spring landscape maintenance tasks for your Philadelphia home you might want to keep in mind.

The final project featured a hardscaped patio and walls covered with Travertine pavers on all surfaces including the pool surround and a custom built pergola. (Image via aardweglandscaping.com – Main Line Philadelphia PA)

Springtime maintenance tasks in the landscaped outdoor living area. (Image via aardweglandscaping.com – Main Line Philadelphia PA)

Clean up perennials and grasses – Those spent blooms or plumes need to be cleared away to make room for fresh greenery. Cut perennials to 2-3” and grasses back to 10-12”. This will instantly bring a fresh tidiness to the garden as well as increase the vitality of the plant.
Divide for new plants – Early spring is the perfect time to divide those fall-blooming treasures. Add them throughout your landscape, and they will have plenty of time to get established before delighting you with an explosion of fresh color later in the growing season.
Prune trees and shrubs lightly – Unless you’re an expert with the shears, it’s best to go easy on springtime pruning, or else you might just sabotage the longed-for color parade. Try to limit the cutting to the removal of deadwood. Or, you could contact a professional landscaper for help with this or any spring landscape maintenance guidelines or schedules for your Philadelphia home and garden.

After slumbering quietly under blankets of snow and cold, your landscaped garden suddenly shakes off its lethargy and comes to life! Every day is a new revelation!

Aardweg Landscaping Newtown Square PA Spring Maintenance Tips

Watch the mulch – With the abundant moisture of the spring season, it is easy for fungus and mold to become an issue, causing unsightly spots in the landscape as well as hazarding the health of your plants. So wait until later on to apply a fresh blanket of mulch to the garden beds.
Pull out the rake – Leaves or no leaves, your newly emerging grass will benefit from a thorough “brushing” – to aerate the soil, prevent thatch buildup and reduce the likelihood of fungal growth.

With spring right around the corner, there’s no time to spare! Get started on these essential spring landscape maintenance tasks for your Philadelphia home garden right away. And let the seasonal show begin!

In 2014, 2015, and 2016 Aardweg Landscaping of Newtown Square, PA received the “Best Of Houzz” award for Customer Satisfaction by Houzz. They also received the exclusive “Recommended” badge for top rated professionals on Houzz in 2015.

Schedule a complimentary on-site consultation to discuss arrangements for landscape design, installation and maintenance with Philadelphia area Aardweg Landscaping by calling 610.355.0703, or send an email using the website contact form.

February 13, 2016
by aardweglandscaping
Comments Off on How to Jump Start Your Philadelphia Spring Garden

How to Jump Start Your Philadelphia Spring Garden

The recent inclement weather may have driven any outdoor landscaping activities to a screeching halt while simultaneously driving the gardening enthusiasts indoors for refuge. However, it can’t hamper the incessant activity of the spring-lover’s mind. And, it often happens that, the more intense the winter weather is, the brighter and more vivid are the visions of grandeur for the Philadelphia spring garden.

What are some things you can do right now to get a head start on the long awaited upcoming growing season?

Estimate future expenses…
It is easy to go crazy with purchases when the spring is in full swing, when everything looks wonderful and vibrant after the long drab winter. So this is the perfect time to take a serious look at your financial allotment for your landscape – and stick to it.

Main Line Landscape design company Aardweg Landscaping Earns Best of Houzz for Customer Satisfaction 2015

Main Line Landscape design company Aardweg Landscaping Formal Garden Design

Think landscape maintenance…
Is your Main Line / Philadelphia yard in need of some routine care in order to get your garden ready for spring planting? Or, does it requires some major cleanup after the havoc caused by the intense weather we experienced in southeastern Pennsylvania this year? It is wise to address these issues before you also have the never-ending growing season activities to consider.

Time to prune…
Grab those recently sharpened garden tools and prune all dead or diseased branches, including anything with a growth pattern that is inconsistent with the preferred shrub or tree aesthetic. Be careful not to to cut any early bloomers such as azaleas or lilacs. From pruning trees and shrubs, shearing perennials, laying fresh mulch, path and hardscape refurbishment — to debris cleanup – now is definitely a less hectic time to plan for these landscape maintenance chores.

Early spring display giving the spring house visual framing. The blue flower is Myosotis.

Schedule early…
If you intend to do a large-scale lawn or garden makeover, it’s a good idea to beat the rush and contact your trusted Philadelphia landscaping company early. This will guarantee you ample time to discuss the myriad of options without the stress of potentially missing any of the growing season.

Don’t be a victim of the winter doldrums. Plan now for the most wonderful spring garden for your Main Line Philadelphia home by reaching out to Aardweg Landscaping.

Schedule a complimentary on-site consultation to discuss arrangements for landscape design, installation and maintenance with Philadelphia area Aardweg Landscaping by calling 610.355.0703, or send an email using the website contact form.

February 10, 2016
by aardweglandscaping
Comments Off on Winter Is the Best Time to Create a Landscaping Design

Winter Is the Best Time to Create a Landscaping Design

At first glance, winter may not seem like the most conducive season for breathtaking landscaping plans. After all, the garden scenery looks pretty bleak, right? But, what if someone told you that it’s actually the perfect time to dream big and create beautiful landscaping designs for Philadelphia homes?

Steve Aardweg of Aardweg Landscaping discussing the proposed design

Steve Aardweg discussing the proposed design

While the landscape may be utterly monochromatic, with garden beauties lying dormant under their cozy blankets of snow, you certainly don’t have to be. Instead, you can be nestled inside the comfort and warmth of your home, have steaming coffee or cocoa at hand, and be actively preparing for a masterpiece to come in the growing season.

So, what can you do now, to plan for the season to come?

First, you can see the structure. With the leaves and flowers removed from the scenery, it is actually easier to see the core features of your lawn and garden. It’s very common, during the height of the growing season, to get distracted from the main points by the blurring sights and sounds of a bustling, colorful garden.

Winter is the perfect time to assess the “bones” of your garden and get a more accurate feel of the flow and pattern of the whole landscape to enable you to more objectively envision the direction you want to go in your landscaping design plan for your Philadelphia home.

Winter is the perfect time to assess the “bones” of your garden and get a more accurate feel of the flow and pattern of the whole landscape.

Secondly, you can visualize the dream. With your ability to see what is comes the potential to see what can be. Once you settle on an overall theme for your landscape, you can then plan for hardscapes, plant selections, accents, seating areas, etc., to complement the garden atmosphere

Aardweg Landscaping Main Line Philadelphia 3D Image Design

3D Photographic Image Design

“The color of springtime is in the flowers; the color of winter is in the imagination,” said Terri Guillemets, and it’s definitely true. So let your active imagination brighten and cheer the long, cold days of winter – and set you on course for the most wonderful landscaping design plan for your Philadelphia home!

Especially appropriate during the winter, Aardweg Landscaping offers photographic image designs composed during the design phase to show you what a proposed design will look like. Photographic image design involves taking a picture of your landscape, and then using a computer program to “add in” certain plants and hardscaping features to enable you to see what the finished result will look like once all of the plants you choose are fully mature.

In 2014, 2015 and 2016 Aardweg Landscaping of Newtown Square, PA received the “Best Of Houzz” award for Customer Satisfaction by Houzz. Schedule a complimentary on-site consultation to discuss arrangements for landscape design, installation and maintenance with Philadelphia area Aardweg Landscaping by calling 610.355.0703, or send an email using the website contact form.

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December 31, 2015
by aardweglandscaping
Comments Off on 2016 Philadelphia Flower Show Theme “Explore America”

2016 Philadelphia Flower Show Theme “Explore America”

While there are many wonderful and memorable details that accompany the cold of winter – warm family gatherings around a fire, hot chocolate, hearty stews – everyone has their limit. And just when the winter doldrums might have you desperately craving a very much absent vibrant burst of floral color from the landscaped Main Line garden… enter majestic landscapes at the 2016 Philadelphia Flower Show.

From March 5-13 of 2016, you can satiate yourself with vivid color and saturate yourself in breathtaking displays, stunning walkways, brilliant artistic structures and professionally hosted workshops – all enabling you to hang on till seasonal springtime color starts to appear in the natural environment.

The Philadelphia Flower Show 2016 Show theme is entitled “Explore America” and it is all about celebrating a century of the National Park Service. The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society and the National Park Service share important common goals including a commitment to “…introduce new generations to the beauty of nature, to be good stewards of our environment, to honor the contributions of individuals to our history, and to build vibrant communities…”.

Sussex County, NJ, Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

How will master landscapers and floral architects capture the grandeur of Yosemite, Shenandoah, Acadia, Yellowstone and many other beloved national parks and majestic landscapes at the 2016 Philadelphia Flower Show? One can only imagine!

As Philadelphia Horticultural Society chief of shows and events Sam Lemheney has predicted, the acclaimed annual botanical exhibition will be “an extraordinary show.” Here are some of the expected details:

From March 5 through 13, 2016 the Pennsylvania Convention Center will be transformed into a veritable paradise of magnificent venues to accommodate variations on the main theme.
Philadelphia Flower Show Display
Guests can meander through the acres upon acres of trails and displays designed to evoke greater knowledge and appreciation for these wonderful parks and period pieces.
In addition to the visual inspiration, there will be enough live music, dining options, play areas and shopping to fill entire days and make those winter blues fade far into the background.

So if you are interested in having your annual Philadelphia Flower Show expectations fulfilled in an explosion of color, mark your calendars to go see the majestic landscapes at the 2016 Show! It will be unforgettable!

Schedule a complimentary on-site consultation with Aardweg Landscaping by calling 610.355.0703; or send an email using the website contact form.

Aardweg Landscaping is a double Houzz award recipient. In 2015 Aardweg Landscaping of Newtown Square, PA received both the “Best Of Houzz” 2015 award for Customer Satisfaction by Houzz, and the exclusive “Recommended” badge for top rated professionals on Houzz.

Main Line Philadelphia Garden Landscaping Design and Maintenance

December 29, 2015
by aardweglandscaping
Comments Off on Main Line Landscaping Design Featuring a Rock Garden

Main Line Landscaping Design Featuring a Rock Garden

Main Line Landscaping Design Featuring a Rock Garden – Image via Aardweg Landscaping, Newtown Square, PA

Planning to incorporate a rock garden in your next landscaping design? Rock gardens offer solutions to landscaping problems, and also add visual interest in the yard. When considering how you can use attractive and interesting rocks in your Main Line residential landscaping design, remember that natural stone is one of the most versatile elements available for a landscaped garden. Adding varying textures and contrasting materials to the flora, rocks provide stability and durability in the landscaped garden, and require little or no maintenance.

Rock Gardens Solve Functional Problems

Many a homeowner or landscape designer when confronted with a rocky, sloping property will wisely consider including a rock garden in the final landscape solution. Using the terrain’s rockiness advantageously and featuring assorted sizes of color-coordinated stone will add the texture and interest needed to create a striking garden.

Rock Gardens Suit Small and Large Garden Areas

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Privacy Fencing Adjacent to Garden with Rock Edge – Image via Aardweg Landscaping

One of the primary factors that influences the layout and design of a rock garden is the available space. If the space is restricted and small, although relatively flat, you can design a raised bed made of carefully selected rocks. This rock garden design won’t be in the way during yard and garden maintenance, nor will it require much upkeep. With a large area, the design objective is to create sprawling, naturalistic combinations of plant and stone focal areas.

Color Coordinated Rocks for the Garden

A careful selection of color-coordinated rocks will form the basic structure for the rock garden. The popular raised bed rock garden typically sits at some elevation above the surrounding ground in the Main Line garden, which requires laying a first course of color coordinated rocks and soil. The color grouping will also affect the plant selection.

Best Plant Selection for the Rock Garden

Main Line Outdoor Living Water Features with Stone – Image via Aardweg Landscaping

Rock gardens are most frequently found in informal cottage garden styles that have a less formal, asymmetrical and organic design. While it is often preferred to select plants based on color and growth requirements, rock-garden plants require good drainage, prefer a sunny area and provide variation in height and texture. The designer arranges the plants in a rock garden design to look natural. Avoid symmetry in the garden, as it looks unnatural in rock garden landscape design.

Some homeowners design rock gardens to exploit rocky slopes in their yards. Others import rocks into yards that are flat and rock-free. It is a demanding and strenuous operation, but the final product is well worth the effort. To learn more about how to incorporate a beautiful rock garden into your next landscape design or outdoor living area, schedule a complimentary on-site consultation with Aardweg Landscaping by calling 610.355.0703; or send an email using the website contact form.

December 28, 2015
by aardweglandscaping
Comments Off on Landscaping Design & Installation Image Gallery and Portfolio

Landscaping Design & Installation Image Gallery and Portfolio

If you’re a southeastern Pennsylvania, Philadelphia or Main Line homeowner who is just not happy with your current lawn and garden situation, have you checked out the beautiful landscaping design images by Aardweg Landscaping to see what could be done to turn your residential property into a thing of wonder and excitement? In Aardweg’s online image gallery, you will find ample fuel for inspiration in the breathtaking portfolio with many before and after Main Line landscaping images revealing high quality residential landscape design and installation work.

Transformations – Some of the most remarkable creations have come from truly humble and obscure beginnings. Regardless of how bland and uninspiring a piece of land might originally be, Aardweg has the resources and expertise to compose stunning rags-to-riches Cinderella stories on a regular basis!

Screening for privacy – These beautiful landscaping design images by Aardweg Landscaping prove that function and utility can be visually pleasing as well when you are seeking to screen an unpleasant view or gain that backyard privacy you desire.

Formal gardens – Let your mind stroll through these highly symmetrical, well-defined gardens that suggest an air of refinement and royalty; pleasantly situated in communities throughout southeastern Pennsylvania, Philadelphia and the Main Line.

Mixed borders – Browse through the tasteful garden tapestries of trees, shrubs, perennials and annuals in these colorful images showing a wide array of arrangement and structure.

Perennial gardens – It takes skill and experience to know how to keep a continuous flow of color in a perennial garden from season to season. These pictures show how splendidly it can be done!

Water features – Would you care for the inclusion of water in your landscape design? Check out the possibilities in ponds, pools, fountains and streams.

Hardscapes and outdoor rooms – When you have delightful scenery, you want a place to be able to enjoy it. From patios to little seating nooks to lovely pathways, you can see a world of potential for an outdoor space that includes dining, recreation and outdoor cooking.

Have these beautiful before and after landscaping images by Aardweg Landscaping sparked your interest?

To see what miracles might be waiting for you in your yard or garden, schedule a complimentary on-site consultation with Aardweg Landscaping by calling 610.355.0703; or send an email using the website contact form.