Landscaping Design on the Main Line

January 23, 2013
by aardweglandscaping
Comments Off on How to Landscape A Steep Slope in Your Main Line Side Yard or Backyard Garden

How to Landscape A Steep Slope in Your Main Line Side Yard or Backyard Garden

If you live on a hillside, you face some of the most difficult landscaping obstacles and challenges of any. Whether your hill is natural or made from fill, there are three important things to consider when developing and implementing a sloped garden design to ensure that you do not compromise the stability of your home site.

Keep the View
To be sure, you want your landscaping to increase the curb appeal and property value of your home or business; however, if your landscaping obscures the view, it defeats both of these objectives. Existing trees on your slope have deep roots, and removing them may make the soil vulnerable. It is usually better to thin the existing tree canopies to clear a view rather than removing the trees. New trees in your garden design should have low-spreading canopies and be graded near the bottom of the slope to create shade and preserve the view in your Main Line side yard or backyard garden.

Gradually Take Up the Slope
Cutting into a slope compromises its integrity because it removes topsoil, which is rich in microbes and nutrients for your plants. Subsoils are dense and can cause slope failure and landslides in extreme weather. Shorter terraces make it easier to retain healthy soil and have healthier plants. Suitable plants for slopes depend on your region, but experts like Aardweg Landscaping understand the challenges of this difficult landscaping task.

Build for Maintenance
If your slope landscaping design is inaccessible, your plants may become overgrown and put your home at risk for damage by wildfires and other hazards. It is essential to provide open through-ways on your slope in both horizontal and vertical directions so that you or your landscaping maintenance team can access your plants easily and effectively.

Aardweg Landscaping’s professional team of landscapers will help you create a beautiful sloped landscape for your Main Line side yard or backyard garden. We have served Philadelphia and the Main Line for more than 30 years, including the communities of Malvern Borough, Radnor, Tredyffrin, Easttown, East Whiteland, and Willistown Township.

Contact Aardweg Landscaping today to learn about how we can enhance your sloped yard with a beautiful garden design.

Check out Aardweg Landscaping on YouTube and on Houzz.

December 12, 2012
by aardweglandscaping
Comments Off on Hardscaping Surfaces for Your Philadelphia Home

Hardscaping Surfaces for Your Philadelphia Home

Their name belies the gentle and integral role they play in any landscaping design: hardscapes – the stone, brick, pavers and stamped concrete that unify and beautify lush, green outdoor landscapes.

As your Philadelphia yard goes dormant, now is the perfect time to begin envisioning new life for it next year with compelling landscaping ideas that incorporate hardscaping surfaces.

If your yard is like many others, it includes one annoying area that could benefit from a makeover. Often, it’s a forlorn, forgotten spot that’s largely out of sight. Worse, it could the gateway to your home, which might lack a graceful walkway or a retaining wall. Or the trouble spot could be your backyard deck or patio, which could be rejuvenated with the addition of a soothing water feature or gentle garden borders that frame colorful perennials.

With your own trouble spot top-of-mind, consider the full array of hardscaping surfaces:

Wood, which not only makes a strong, durable surface for decking but is an outstanding choice for arbors. These graceful archways usually serve as a gateway from a front yard to back yard.
Concrete is enjoying a resurgence, of sorts, because this long-lasting surface can be colored, stained, stamped and textured in beautiful designs.
Pavers like cobblestone and brick are often laid in sand to create a clean look for walkways, patios and driveways.
Stone surfaces such as limestone, slate, sandstone and quartzite can be cut in a multitude of shapes and sizes before being affixed in concrete for virtually any hardscape project.
Cast stone may look like natural stone but it really is a masonry product that provides functionality to such outdoor elements as door surrounds, columns and planters.

To make your landscaping ideas come to fruition, do what thousands of other homeowners in Strafford, Swarthmore, Villanova, Wayne, Wynnewood, Lower Merion and Newtown Township have done: they’ve relied on the expert eye and creativity of Certified Landscape Designer Steven Aardweg at Aardweg Landscaping. Contact us today for a consultation and transform your Philadelphia home in time for spring.

Check out Aardweg Landscaping on YouTube and on Houzz.

Image by ARNOLD Masonry and Concrete via Flickr

November 19, 2012
by aardweglandscaping
Comments Off on Fall Maintenance Tips for Your Philadelphia Garden Landscape

Fall Maintenance Tips for Your Philadelphia Garden Landscape

The wrath of Hurricane Sandy made it abundantly clear: the weather can pack quite a punch, ravaging a landscape in a few brutal moments after it took hours of painstaking work and effort to create.

The approaching Pennsylvania winter should be relatively tame by comparison, but you still should follow a few proactive maintenance steps to protect your landscape design through the winter.

Aardweg Landscaping Main Line PA Fall Maintenance Storm Erosion

Storm damage has caused soil erosion, flooding and the destruction of landscaped garden areas.

So don’t hang up your clippers and trimmers just yet. Put your gardening clothes on one more time and focus your efforts on a few all-important measures:

Remove dead and withering flowers and annuals. If in doubt, especially about ornamental grasses and perennials, cut them back and wait to see how or if they survive the winter. Hydrangea bushes, for example, can be particular foolers. Remove the dried blossoms, but leave intact the stalks, even if they look withered.
Prune damaged or dead branches and tree limbs and cut back rose bushes about one-third. As trees and bushes go into their winter dormant stage, they should draw only from sustainable energy.
Protect delicate or expensive shrubs and plants in your landscape design under overturned buckets or pots. At the least, wrap them in burlap to protect them from the damaging effects of snow and ice.
Clean up your garden beds, but think ahead before you do so. You’re correct to want to remove leaves and old stalks, but if you are not planning to mulch your landscape design, you may want to leave them to provide an insulating layer of protection.
Spread about 3 inches of fresh mulch around perennials, shrubs and trees to protect the roots and to help them retain moisture during the winter.
Lightly till the soil in your vegetable garden to make your spring effort easier.

If you feel as though the clock is running out on your best fall maintenance efforts, or your landscape design has been damaged or your property eroded by the recent storm, contact Aardweg Landscaping today. We pride ourselves on being the premier landscape resource for homeowners in Strafford, Swarthmore, Villanova, Wayne, Wynnewood, Lower Merion and Newtown Township.

Check out Aardweg Landscaping on YouTube and on Houzz.

Image by Miss Karen via Flickr

October 25, 2012
by aardweglandscaping
Comments Off on How to Create Curb Appeal with Your Eye-Catching Main Line Entryway Garden

How to Create Curb Appeal with Your Eye-Catching Main Line Entryway Garden

It has been said that one of the most important features about your Philadelphia area home is how it appears from the road upon first impression. This sentiment about curb appeal is difficult to argue with, since we know that first impressions are often lasting impressions.

As we come and go to our Main Line area homes on a daily basis, we are reminded of the significance of curb appeal, for different reasons, including:

Curb appeal impacts whether or not we feel good about the appearance of our homes
We have an obligation to our neighbors and family members to keep our homes looking nice
Curb appeal becomes a significant factor for individuals who have listed their homes to sell
Our front yard garden landscape design impacts the overall appearance of our whole property

There are dozens of expert landscaping and property maintenance suggestions that will provide answers on how to create curb appeal. One of the first steps to take when you are considering how to create curb appeal at your home is to evaluate the primary assets of your front yard, and the attractive architectural features of your home, and accentuate the positive.

Adding a Flagstone or brick paver walkway will add a rich texture and character to the main approach to your home; as will low, slow growing plants or ground cover planted alongside the walkway.

At the center of every Main Line front yard garden landscape design is an eye-catching entryway garden. HGTV.com says “Change the look of the garden throughout the year. Give your entry garden seasonal updates with bulbs in spring, annuals in summer, mums in fall and evergreens for winter. Containers can be moved around to alter the look of the garden.”

If your home is set back a distance from the street with a long front walk, a balanced design idea is to plant trees on either side of the walk to create a canopy over the sidewalk. The sidewalk can be lined with attractive plants, appropriately scaled with a variety of plants, shrubs and small trees adding seasonal color.

The Main Line landscape design, maintenance and installation firm of Aardweg Landscaping offers professional front yard garden landscape design. Specializing in Philadelphia landscaping design services, Aardweg Landscaping has been serving customers in Main Line communities such as Ardmore, Bala Cynwyd, Berwyn, Bryn Mawr, Devon, and Gladwyne for over 35 years.

To hear more about how Aardweg Landscaping can help you understand how to create curb appeal with your eye-catching Main Line entryway garden, call us at 610-355-0703, or email us using our online contact web form.

Check out Aardweg Landscaping on YouTube and on Houzz.

Images from the Aardweg Landscaping Portfolio

September 29, 2012
by aardweglandscaping
Comments Off on What Sets Aardweg Landscaping Apart From Other Tri-State Area Landscaping Companies

What Sets Aardweg Landscaping Apart From Other Tri-State Area Landscaping Companies

You have plenty of options for landscaping companies on the Philadelphia Main Line. However, no local companies can match the service and value offered by Aardweg Landscaping. Our professional team has more than 30 years of experience working in your community and those surrounding it, and we take pride in offering personalized service that will meet your needs, whether large or small.

What makes Aardweg Landscaping different than competing landscaping companies? Our service and attention to detail are unmatched.

Aardweg Landscaping offers state-of-the-art technology to give you a picture-perfect preview of what your finished property will look like. With photographic image design, images of your property are digitally enhanced to include the landscaping design in a way with which two-dimensional blueprints cannot compare.

Additionally, Aardweg Landscaping uses the tried and true best practices that landscapers have perfected over years of service. We can create any type of landscape, from structural hardscapes and water features to traditional or Japanese gardens. Whether your property sprawls out over several acres or is condensed into a single quarter, we can optimize your outdoor space, adding beauty and value to your home or business.

If your property lacks security or has drainage problems that need solving, Aardweg Landscaping can remedy these permanently. We design, install and maintain landscapes for businesses and homes throughout your community, expertly matching the style of your architecture to a brand new outdoor area that matches and flows with the architecture.

Whether you’re looking for front yard curb appeal or you long for a backyard in which you are proud to entertain, Aardweg’s team will work with you to come in within your budget, on your schedule and beyond your wildest imagination. We have been “wowing” customers since we started doing business, and we look forward to doing the same for you.

Aardweg Landscaping proudly serves the Main Line, including Haverford, Malvern, Media, Merion, Narberth, Paoli, Rosemont, St. Davids, and Philadelphia. Contact us today at (610) 355-0703 to receive the utmost in professional service, installation and maintenance of landscaping projects for your home or business. When you think Main Line landscaping companies, think Aardweg Landscaping.

Check out Aardweg Landscaping on YouTube and on Houzz.

September 24, 2012
by aardweglandscaping
Comments Off on Backyard Landscaping for Main Line Philadelphia Homes

Backyard Landscaping for Main Line Philadelphia Homes

Landscaping design for the front yard is typically focused on making your house look more appealing from the curb and adding monetary value to your home. While you certainly want to improve your home’s prospective selling price when backyard landscaping, your focus should be on extending the living space of your home with usable outdoor areas. By default, creating a highly functional backyard will add value, so think more about what you want out of the outdoor area of your home than potential returns.

Backyard Garden Landscape Design Philadelphia

If you’re looking for a serene oasis in which to enjoy a quiet book or tea, consider adding a seating area and perhaps a water feature, such as a pond or fountain. Despite the common misconception that they are very costly, fountains come in a variety of styles and prices, so it’s possible to create a soothing backyard landscaping environment in any budget.

If you want your backyard to be the venue for community cookouts, opt for a spacious patio with an outdoor kitchen. A pergola over the patio can provide shade if vines, such as wisteria, grow up its sides and across the canopy. Alternatively, weatherproof fabric shade panels can be placed in the pergola; however, the flowers add a more organic touch and extend your garden into the entertainment space.

Backyard Garden Landscape Design Philadelphia

Neighbors sometimes take interest in what is going on in others’ backyards, and it can detract from your enjoyment of your own property. For those who want to feel secluded from their neighbors in the backyard, privacy screening creates a natural boundary that is too dense to see through. This beautiful alternative to traditional fencing is a great backyard landscaping option for families with older children or without pets.

Whatever your backyard landscaping needs, Aardweg Landscaping has the professional staff that can create a reality out of your ideas. For more than 30 years, Aardweg Landscaping has served the Philadelphia Main Line, including the communities of Ardmore, Bala Cynwyd, Berwyn, Bryn Mawr, Devon, and Gladwyne. Contact us today, and let us help you turn your boring backyard into a beautiful, functional outdoor living space.

Check out Aardweg Landscaping on YouTube and on Houzz.

First image by CrinkleCrankle via Flickr

Second image by Svadlfari via Flickr