What does your yard mean to you?    Perhaps a place to retreat or entertain; a playroom, a pantry or a source of creative inspiration.

Even the smallest city yard can be planned around outdoor rooms, each serving its own function and each with its own flavour and feel.

When you’re planning a new yard or a renovation, start the planning process by considering all the different ways you want to use your yard.  Then it becomes possible to work out how those different uses will fit together in a pleasing, user-friendly layout.

Creative use of levels can separate distinct areasSome of the rooms you want might include:

Some of the areas you might want in your yard could include:

A play area for children
A deck or patio for eating with the family
A space for entertaining
Sitting areas under trees or surrounded by beds
A firepit for relaxing in the evenings
A vegetable patch for growing your own food
An area for pets

The list goes on, but once you have established your priorities it becomes possible to plan a yard where the flow from one use to the next is elegant and natural.

Even though we’re talking about rooms, or course your yard can be ‘open plan’ so that one function merges naturally into another.  On the other hand, you can create distinct rooms, for instance with different levels, curved beds, trees and screens.

Check out the photos here to see how patios and decks can be used to create rooms.

Greentree Landscapes has been creating beautiful, functional outdoor environments for their clients for 20 years.  Call Tarance on 403-650-5635 to ask about design and construction services for all your landscaping needs.

Ohio Buckeye with the Buds starting to pop.

When the buds on the Ohio Buckeye start to pop then you know it’s spring in Calgary!

The weather is fabulous, the snow is gone (for now!) and the landscaping season is off to a great start.

Tarance is up at the tree nursery right now, harvesting trees for the season, and they look beautiful.

Email tarance@greentreelandscapes.com to get your consultation process started – the season is filling up fast!

Greentree has been landscaping in Calgary for 20 years.

What a start to the landscaping and gardening season we’re having .  It was such a mild winter and we’ve already had some weather that felt more like summer than spring.

Now it’s raining, and what a great start that is to the growing season.

When the shoots start to poke through the soil and buds are bursting we all want to get out in the yard and enjoy some sunshine and fresh air.  Awesome!

As soon as we are completely done with the cold weather, and fairly confident that we won’t get any of those wet, heavy spring snowfalls, you can go ahead and start planting shrubs and trees.  But a word of caution…

When the soil is wet … put away your shovel

Digging in wet soil damages the molecular structure of the soil and you can end up with soil that is highly compacted, airless and very hard to work with.  It’s best to wait for it to dry out a little before getting in there with your shovel.

You can test to see if the soil is too damp to work by squeezing a small ball of soil in your hand.  If it goes into a solid, damp clump it is too wet.  If, when you poke a finger into the ball, it breaks up and crumbles then you know the soil is dry enough to work with.

Three Reasons Why Spring is a Great Time to Plant New Trees

So, it is important to monitor the condition of the soil before digging, but that doesn’t mean that spring isn’t a wonderful time to plant:

1. The damp weather allows your tree to enjoy plenty of moisture in those important first weeks
2. Your tree will have a chance to settle in before the hot summer weather hits
3. The soil is easier to dig before it’s had a chance to dry out and compact during the summer

And one more reason …

Now you can buy mature-size trees for immediate impact

Our sister company Larchwood Nurseries has a beautiful supply of mature-size trees just arriving in Calgary  from the tree farm in Camrose.

The trees are grown in root control bags which means that a tree with a 50 or 60mm caliper trunk has a root ball small enough for you to collect and plant yourself.  Of course we can install and deliver if that’s what you prefer.

Call Tarance on 403-650-5635 right now to ask about the trees.

A Word of Warning: Don’t Start Your Landscaping With the Fence

It’s very tempting – you have your property, and it seems natural to start by delineating its boundaries.  Particularly if you have dogs that need containing.

Unfortunately, if you start with the fence it’s going to make the rest of your landscaping unnecessarily complicated and costly, because it limits access and means that machinery cannot be brought into the back yard; machinery that would usually be used in the creation of the landscape, and also to bring in trees, sod and hard materials.

So, if you’ve just moved into a new home, make sure you call a landscaper before you think about installing a fence.  You’ll be glad you did!

Plus, Remember to call The Real Greentree – Landscaping in Calgary for 20 Years

When you call or refer Greentree Landscapes, please make sure you call 403-279-9791, or visit www.greentreelandscapes.com.  That way you will be assured of the quality and customer service long associated with Calgary’s only Greentree Landscapes Ltd.

It’s been such a mild winter here in Calgary that we’re all wondering what Spring will bring.

After a couple of very short gardening seasons we’re hoping for a nice early Spring and a long growing season – we’re about due!

Tips For Getting Your Yard Ready for Spring

If you want to take advantage of these beautiful warm days we’re getting, here are a few jobs you can start doing already:

• Clean up the yard by tidying away fallen leaves and other garden waste that has accumulated over the winter
• Now is a pretty good time to prune, but make sure you don’t prune early flowering shrubs such as lilacs or you’ll remove the flower buds, and avoid pruning elms, birch, maples or dogwoods because it will cause excessive sap flow.
• Stain decks and fences – but make sure you pick a day when it’s going to stay mild  and dry overnight.

If you’re planning anything new, this is definitely the time for getting your landscape design in place.  That way you’re in a great position to get your landscaping done in time to enjoy our beautiful Calgary summer weather.  And, remember, if we design and build your landscaping, the design fee is subtracted from the price.

For a free landscape consultation, email tarance@greentreelandscapes.com

The company is calling themselves Greentree Landscaping, or Greentree Eco-Friendly Landscaping and it appears to be a deliberate attempt by them to benefit from the goodwill we have built up in Calgary over the last 20 years.   They have been told by Corporate Registries that they are not to use our name, which they have chosen to ignore.

We first came across them last year when they started charging their supplies to our supplier accounts, up in Edmonton.  An easy fix for us as our suppliers know we don’t operate in Edmonton, but not good for our suppliers who did not get paid.

For now we’ll just have to chalk this up as a flattering case of impersonation.  Let’s hope they don’t muddy the good name that Greentree has built up over 20 years in Calgary.  After all, they haven’t demonstrated much in the way of business ethics so far.

Make sure you stop by to see us at Booth #1021, in Hall D.  We’ve put together some awesome offers just for the show, and we’re featuring some exciting plant materials.

This year’s show is at the Stampede grounds from Thursday 23rd to Sunday 26th of February.

See you there!

and we’re looking forward to another great landscaping season, although we’re really hoping the weather will cooperate a little better than it did last year!

20 Years in Calgary

This year we’re particularly excited as we’re celebrating 20 years of landscaping in Calgary, and we’ve put together some great deals

The weather is awesome, and we’re off to a royal start for the Calgary Stampede 2011.  To celebrate, we’re offering a free shrub* to all our new landscaping clients.

Just say “YAHOO!” when you phone or email for an estimate during stampede, and receive a free shrub with your landscaping project.

(*The variety of shrub will depend on availability but will be a 2-gallon dogwood, potentilla or equivalent.)

So, call 403-279-9791 this week, or email tarance@greentreelandscapes.com.  And remember to say “Yahoo!”

It’s a great way to establish what you’re getting, and avoid any last-minute surprises, for many reasons:

• When you see everything laid down on paper it is much easier for you to get an accurate idea of what your landscape contractor is proposing
• Without the accurate measurements built into the design, it can be very easy to miscalculate what will actually fit where, or how landscape elements will scale within your space
• Your designer will detail exactly what elements or features fit into each space, and will calculate precisely what materials will be required
• When there is a design in place, every member of the landscape construction team knows exactly what has to go where, and the project will always stay in line with your vision

So, except in the simplest of project, it always makes sense to start with a tightly defined design and a clear vision that is shared by everyone.

Call Tarance today on 403-279-9791, or send an email to ask about professional landscape design and construction services.

Before you see your landscape designer or contractor it’s a great idea to have some ideas in your mind.  It gives you a starting point for discussions and consultation, and it helps your landscaper to understand what it is you want.

But, where will you find that inspiration?  The possibilities are really limited only by your imagination, but here are some great starting points:

• Gardening magazines.  Get current editions of as many different publications as you can find, but also consider visiting the library to check out back issues.  Looking through pictures is a fun way to get inspired and excited.
• Gardening books.  Likewise, books offer a wealth of ideas, and can help you work out what is suitable for your area.  Here in Calgary I would definitely recommend The Calgary Gardener I and II, and Gardening Under the Arch.
• Online.  Ezinearticles.com and ehow.com both have some great articles, and there are probably many more if you search.
• Your local horticultural society – they can recommend some local resources which will help you come up with ideas.
• Garden centres – just wondering around the garden centre is a great way to get excited.  Many of them have little display gardens set up, and they also have a good supply of books to browse.

Of course, if you don’t have time for all that research, don’t worry.  Your landscape contractor will be able to give you all the ideas you need.  Just make sure you have some specific ideas of how you want to use your space, what materials and colours you like, what accomodations need to be made for pets or children – those kinds of things.

Of course Greentree Landscapes can help you design the perfect space for your lifestyle.  Call Tarance on 403-279-9791 or email Greentree Landscapes to make an appointment for a free landscaping consultation.