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SACRAMENTO (CBS13) Californias drought isnt the end of your yard, as experts say there are plenty of ways to have a beautiful landscape while still conserving water.

Many communities are instilling restrictions on water use, including Sacramento and Roseville which have 20 percent reductions in place.

Sacramentos restrictions go as far as limiting outdoor watering to one day a week, which must be on the weekend. That level of cut can leave a lawn feeling dry.

But Silverado Nursery guru Carly Smith says there are things you can do to beautify your yard.

Theres a lot of plants you can put in your landscape that take minimal water but will still give you the same effect of having lush green landscaping, she said.

One of those plants is the grevillea, which is a native of Australia and requires very low amounts of water. Its the opposite of the horsetail that thrives in water saturated areas.

Water fountains arent something youd think of adding in the middle of a drought, but Smith says its a good addition, since the water recirculates.

She recommends trees, as they create a canopy that will reduce the amount of water that evaporates out of a yard.

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California Drought A Chance To Re-imagine Your Yard

Never underestimate the value of landscaping your home. The Wall Street Journal reported that a homes value can increase by 7 to 14 percent with an attractive landscape. That means that a home with a base worth of $200,000 can now be worth $14,000 to $28,000 more just by adding a moderate landscape. Smart Money Magazine and the American Nursery & Landscape Association indicate that this investment is always recouped and sometimes doubled. They also state that landscaped homes spend five to six weeks less time on the market.

These statistics alone should be an encouragement to homeowners to landscape their homes. But, what about those owners who are not looking to sell any time soon. What value is there for them to landscape their yards?

A yard that is landscaped correctly, not necessarily expensively, will add to the living space of your home. Your yard should not be a no mans land; a place that no one ventures into except to mow. You pay a mortgage on your house and land. You should enjoy as much of it as you can.

A good landscape will provide privacy, tranquility and opportunity. It will give you places to do the things you like to do. These spaces dont just happen in a landscape any more than they do in a house. Architects design houses with rooms and spaces to do the things you have told him you like to do. A yard is the same way. Make a list of activities you would like to do in your yard. This may include doing nothing but, I will bet, that doing nothing also means that you would like it to look nice for you or for the public as they drive past. This is still an activity.

Activities in houses take place in rooms; rooms that are designed for that activity (ie. kitchens for cooking, bedrooms for sleeping, bathrooms for bathing). Yards have areas (spaces) for eating, cooking, playing, relaxing, gardening, bird watching, swimming and anything else your heart desires. Outdoor rooms are created with walls, floors, ceilings, furniture, and accents just like interior rooms. Floors are made of grass, stone, brick, concrete, sand etc. Ceilings are made of trees, overhead structures, overhangs with hanging baskets and umbrellas. Furniture can be traditional benches and tables, but gardens (they take up space in the large room called a yard), fountains, ponds and swimming pools can all be considered to be furniture. Accents in the house are throw pillows, lamps, spots of color. In a landscape, accents are bedding plants, brightly colored patio pots, light poles, and art.

A proper combination of walls, floors, ceilings, furniture, and accents for the activity you wish to do will generate a wonderful landscape fit to meet your needs and increase your living pleasure. (If you would be interested in attending a landscape design class to further explore there concepts please contact the Extension Office at (785) 232-0062 ext. 104 and leave a message.) A landscape design class is being planned for this spring TBA.

Here are a few other benefits to a good landscape.

Lower crime rates and enhanced self-esteem. Landscape projects deter graffiti and other vandalism while increasing community pride and self-esteem for homeowners and neighborhood dwellers.

Stress reduction. It is a proven fact that blood pressure decreases in people with a nice landscape. Working in gardens or just relaxing and enjoying them generate benefits. Improved attention, reduced muscle tension, reduced feelings of fear, anger, aggression, and increased contentment have all been documented as a result of a landscaped yard.

Children who work or play in nice yards cope with stress more easily, learn responsibly, increase in their imaginations, and take ownership of their world more readily.

See the rest here:
Jamie Hancock: Don't underestimate value of landscaping

Note: Just a reminder of our sixth annual Spring into Gardening workshop, set on Feb. 22, from 8:30 a.m. to noon at the LifeSpan Center in Mattoon. Register at http://web.extension.illinois.edu/ccdms/ or by downloading a registration form from the same website, or one may register in person at the Coles County Extension office, 707 Windsor Road, Suite A, Charleston. The cost is $20 per person. For more information, phone the Coles County Extension office, 217-345-7034.

WOW! What a winter this one is turning out to be. I am sick of it already and we are not even half way through, but it has brought with it some pretty incredible scenes outside my windows.

Winter offers a great opportunity to see a trees bark, said a University of Illinois Extension horticulture educator.

Many trees offer spectacular bark, said Rhonda Ferree. Too often people overlook this part of a plants aesthetic qualities. But considering that most deciduous trees and shrubs are without leaves for many long winter months, we should consider using trees and shrubs with good bark character.

The trees most commonly planted for their bark characteristics are white-barked trees. Examples are birch, sycamore, and white poplars.

Some trees are actually more beautiful without foliage because of their bark, she said. Good examples include Acer griseum and Ulmus parvifolia.

Acer griseum goes by the common name of paper bark maple because of its spectacular bark, which is a cinnamon brown that exfoliates to expose rich brown colors.Ulmus parvifolia is also called lacebark elm. It has magnificent bark with mottled combinations of gray, green, orange, and brown. Compared to other elms, it shows considerable disease and insect resistance.

Paper birch trees are very popular but unfortunately do not typically live long in Central Illinois. Two commonly planted white birch trees are white birch (Betula papyrifera) and European white birch (Betula pendula). Both have whitish bark, but the Europeans bark does not peel as much, and with age the trunk becomes black.

Both of these trees are extremely susceptible to the bronze birch borer. Therefore, I do not recommend planting these trees unless you are willing to replace them every few years, Ferree said.

Ferree suggests a better option is to plant a white-barked version of the native river birch (Betula nigra Heritage).

Continue reading here:
Yard & Garden: Many trees offer some spectacular bark

Looking for a job in the outdoors? Signature Landscapes is looking to hire up to 120 new employees before the end of March.

Ajob fair will take place at Signature's landscape headquarters at 3705 Barron Way, Reno from 10:30pm to 1:00pm on Thursday, January 30th. The office is located just off of Longley Lane, east of Meadowood Mall.

Signature Landscapes is hiring for all types of landscape positions. Key jobs include: *Landscape Construction Crew Leader (landscape credentials required) *Landscape Construction Manager (landscape credentials required) *Irrigation Technician (landscape credentials or equivalent required) *Class A Equipment Driver (CDL plus landscape experience required) *Field and Yard Care Specialist

From field and construction labor to irrigation technicians, skilled crew leaders to construction managers.Pay ranges from $10.50 to $22.70 an hour depending on experience.

Training for specialized positions will be provided to select candidates.

Other available positions include arborists, experienced mechanics and equipment operators, just to name a few.

You can also view open positions and apply online at http://www.SigLands.com. For more information, please contact Steve Fine at Signature Landscapes. Call (775) 857-4333 or email steve@siglands.com.

Originally posted here:
Signature Landscapes to Hold Job fair Thursday in Reno

No matter what time of year, Claire Campbell Schuchman is thinking about planting, flowers and landscape design. The master gardener and owner of Exceptional Gardens in Mt. Lebanon is always planning gardens and helping others to plan their own.

The Mt. Lebanon resident will be teaching the three-week Landscape Design Course Feb. 24, March 3 and March 10at Mt. Lebanon Public Library.

One of the best parts of my career is to help others create their own gardens and this gives me that opportunity, she said.

Ms. Schuchman, 57, remembers spending summer days in Dormont helping her grandmother, Clara Miller, with her garden.

Nana was the original organic gardener. We would have a big compost pile and I remember all of her flowers and the birds in the garden, Ms. Schuchman said.

Her own efforts at gardening didnt begin until she moved to Virginia Beach with her husband, Jim, after college when he was in the Navy. Finding herself with a new lawn of sandy soil, she didnt know how to grow grass let alone anything else.

I looked at that yard and said, What am I going to do with all this soil? she said.

Starting with grass seed, Ms. Schuchman said she planted and made a lot of mistakes. Through trial and error, she tried new seeds, plants and composting and was able to get grass and other flowers to grow.

I started getting grass clippings from all of my neighbors and started composting. My neighbors probably thought I was nuts, she laughed.

Ms. Schuchman was also able to pursue another passion of hers while the young couple lived in Virginia Beach. She worked on the 700 Club, a television show hosted by evangelist Pat Robertson.

Excerpt from:
A newsmaker you should know: Master gardener loves creating new plans

KUSA - This little gadget is a spiffy way to create a starry night sky effect inside or outside your home, with thousands of moving pinpoints of light.

Blisslights Spright

The BlissLights Spright provides a different approach to interior and landscape lighting. This durable outdoor-rated landscape light uses laser and holographic technology to project thousands of pin-points of light onto a bedroom wall, on the side of your house, yard, trees, or any other surface.

This light is easy to install and use; you simply plug it in and point it. It uses less power and is more efficient than a standard LED Landscape light. The light offers a 7,000 hour lamp life andconsumes an average of just three watts,using low voltage (12V).

Learn more by visitingwww.blisslights.com

BluApples

BluApples help preserve the edible life of your produce, so you have more time to consume it instead of throwing it away.

BluApple works by absorbing ethylene gas, which is given off naturally by fruits and vegetables. If ethylene gas builds up in your food storage area, it speeds the ripening process and accelerates ripening. You just place one or two of these in your produce bin or fruit bowl.

BluApples use the samescience applied for years to prevent spoilage in industrial environments like ocean liners, trucks and warehouses. It uses the the non-toxic active ingredient sodium permanganate. Each BluApple can absorb ethylene gas in a typical home refrigerator, produce bin or storage container for about three months (after that, refill packets are available).www.thebluapple.com

Snack Ditty Bags & Wich Dittys

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Gadgets: A cool way to light up the night

Winter offers a peaceful opportunity for bird watchers to take stock of their yards.

With fewer chores to tend, we can look over the landscape like a farmer and see what's working and what's not. This is the time to build nest boxes and make a plan for spring landscaping to make the yard more friendly to wildlife year around.

Collectively, homeowners have huge potential to boost habitat for birds. Putting out feeders is mostly for our own enjoyment. Birds rarely lack food as much as they lack habitat - the sum of effective cover available to birds for dealing with weather, escaping predators, nesting and finding a diversity of nutrition.

Providing habitat takes more commitment than providing food, as well as the often ignored necessity of year-round water.

A perfectly manicured yard, dominated by mowed grass, barked flower beds and low maintenance tam junipers can verge on being a biological desert for birds.

Find ways to "rough it up" a little and your yard is more likely to attract house wrens to hunt in the shrub beds. That's all it might take to fill your yard with one of the most beautiful songs in nature this spring when the season finally warms enough to open the windows.

Now's the time to clean out nesting boxes built and put up to make up for the loss of decaying trees and other natural homes for cavity nesters. The bug-eating swallows and bluebirds will be showing up sooner than we might expect. And many birds, such as nuthatches, hang around all year. In the onslaught of bitter weather, they may take refuge in a nest box to sit out the storm.

If you're putting out feeders this winter for year-round resident birds, keep them clean and move them occasionally to reduce the chance of exposing ground feeders to disease from the molding leftovers that fall to the earth.

Always be mindful of placing feeders where they don't provide easy ambush points for free-running cats.

In addition to the seed feeders, put out suet feeders for the woodpeckers. Smear peanut butter occasionally in the bark of a pine tree trunk and watch the nuthatches and chickadees run the bark for the treat.

Link:
Beyond feeding: Birdwatchers create habitat in yards

Q. Could you tell me something about hardscape in the garden, and give me some suggestions for my small Somerville plot of land? Shelby A.S., Somerville

A. Hardscape is a term that refers to the permanent in-organic structures of a landscape such as walkways, patios, retaining walls, arbors, fences, or raised garden beds that are made with hard materials such as bricks, pavers, stone, cement or wood. The Softscape parts of the landscape are the living materials such as plants, grass, shrubs and trees.

Hardscaping helps to define the space. It adds interest, solid form, structure and contrasting texture. It also adds winter interest to the garden. Hardscapes like fountains, birdbaths, statues, benches or large rocks can be used as a focal point in the garden, giving ones eye a place to rest.

For any sized garden, particularly in an urban setting that has so much paved area already, you need to plan very carefully:

Consider the landscaping. Will you be hardscaping the entire area of your yard or just a part of it?

Research draining issues. Consider how the drainage will be affected with hardscape in place. Design the water runoff so it can be captured and used on site.

If you have children that will play in the yard, plan your hardscape with them in mind to keep them engaged in the landscape. Put in a small pond (not too deep) with fish, position large flat rocks or sections of a felled tree in the garden for hopping and climbing.

Create a focal point that your eye will travel to, such as a fountain, small weeping tree, or sculpture.

Q. What can we do in the Boston area that is garden related to help us feed our winter non-gardening woes? Todd & Phil, Belmont

Continued here:
Garden Q&A: Hardscapes and winter events

Youve heard the drought warnings and emergency declarations. You see your utility bill. You know youve got to do something to save water.

With looming cutbacks, its time to rethink the lawn. But what will replace it in the New Front Yard?

Imagine a fertile greenbelt of colorful California native flowers alive with hummingbirds and buzzing with bees. Picture a garden space ripe with home-grown fruit and blueberries. See substantial water savings and no more mowing.

Yet many homeowners are reluctant to take out the turf; they know what the grass looks like and arent quite sold on alternatives. Now that Sacramento city officials have voted to ask residents and businesses to slash water use by 20 percent, however, many consumers will be pushed into action.

This situation offers an opportunity here, said water-efficient landscape expert Cheryl Buckwalter, executive director of EcoLandscape California. Its time to actually take action and do what weve been talking about. If people really started these things some time ago, wed be in a much better position today. But if you start now, well be in a better position in the future.

Landscape irrigation accounts for about 65 percent of household water use in the Sacramento area, according to local water agencies. Turf grass ranks among the thirstiest landscaping, needing 2 inches of water a week (or more) during hot summer months.

Even with cutbacks, that water use adds up quickly: A half-inch of irrigation for a typical front lawn uses as much water as about 104 showers, 52 baths or 52 loads of laundry, according to efficiency experts. Faced with rationing, do you want clean kids and clothes or green grass?

Unless you have horses grazing in front of your house, theres no reason to grow grass there, said Sacramento radio host Farmer Fred Hoffman.

He saw the water savings firsthand at his own 10-acre property in Herald. Hoffman removed about 2,600 square feet of Bermuda grass and replaced it with fruit trees, blueberries and California natives. He slashed his water use for that former turf area by 88 percent.

The sprinklers used 2 gallons a minute, Hoffman observed shortly after the makeover. The drip system uses 1 gallon an hour (once a week). Its a fraction of the water and very low maintenance.

More here:
The ‘New Front Yard’ saves water, supports wildlife

From herbs and seed saving to lawn care, composting and plant diseases, you'll find awide variety of topics at the 18th annual "Nursery School: Lessons in Gardening."

The event will beSaturday, Feb. 22, at the iWireless Center in Moline, sponsored by the University of Illinois Extension and the Unit 7 Master Gardeners.

The day will begin with a keynote address titled"Landscape Design: Basics and Beyond," byMark Dwyer, the director of horticulture at the Rotary Botanical Gardens in Janesville, Wis. He will help youmake the most of your landscape by following simple, goal-based steps.

After that, there will be a choice of16 different classes, including a "make and take" miniature garden session.Participants may choose one class from each of these sessions:

Session 2:10:15-11:30 a.m.

"Tried and True Performers: Annuals and Perennials." How to select, incorporate andcare for a solid cast of performers.Bud LeFevre, Distinctive Gardens, Dixon, Ill.

"Growing Heirloom Vegetables." Choosing theright varieties for your particular space is critical.Seed Savers Exchange, Decorah, Iowa.

"Aromatic Composting and the Bins to Support It." You'll learn how easy and inexpensive it is to compost, as well as the right bin for your use. DaveArensdorf, Unit 7 Master Gardener.

"Newly Emerging Plant Diseases in the Home Landscape." Symptoms and tips on how toavoiddisease problems.Monica David, University of Illinois Extension Master Gardener coordinator.

"Gardening for Birds and Butterflies." Plants and practices to maximize the number of those creatures in your yard.Martha Smith, University of Illinois Extension horticulture educator.

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From herbs to lawns, Nursery School covers many topics