Northampton Nursery and Building SOlutions
Courtesy of Northampton Nursery & Northampton Building Solutions   

June 2011    

    



Northampton Nursery

In This Issue
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If you're considering any home improvements - interior, exterior, landscape, hardscape - give us a call. And share our number with your friends - we'd like to help them, too!

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Northampton Building Solutions

Landscaping
LandscapingProTipTips from the Pros
Give Your Yard a Focal Point

To create a beautiful landscape for your yard, you need to focus. More precisely, you need to provide a focal point around which to group your features and plantings. A focal point can be a fountain, a gazebo, an unusual shrub or a flower bed that will attract attention by its color or variety. How do you know where the focal point should be? Start by standing in the spot from which you most often view your yard. In the front, it may be the point at which your home comes into view on the street, or the point at which you turn into the driveway. In the back it may be the view from a picture window or a spot on a patio or porch. Where does your eye usually go when you stand in that spot? Focus, and think what would make the spot the most memorable to you. Then imagine how you could build the rest of your landscape around that location. Ideally, you would want to arrange features and plantings so that they would lead your eye from one attraction to the next. You could start at one side and place plantings that would lead you across the yard by color or shape. Or you could start at a spot in the foreground and work back to the rear. In the end, you want to create a landscape that not only is beautiful but satisfying to you. A landscape that expresses your personality and preferences. A landscape that is yours and yours alone.

PlantMonthPlant of the Month
Cranesbill Geraniums

Cranesbill GeraniumCranesbill geraniums can be a beautiful and low-maintenance addition to any landscape. But they are not to be confused with the annual plants called geraniums that are sold in so many reds and pinks at nurseries each year. Cranesbills are hardy perennials that come in a wide variety of heights and shapes and in colors ranging from deep blue to vibrant purple to pink to white. They have a simpler, more delicate flower than their common namesake, usually featuring just five petals rather than the gaudier globe of bloom you get with the annual. Cranesbills get their name from the shape of their seed pod, and there are more than 400 species to choose from. Cranesbills will spread easily, because the "bills" of the pods pop open to the touch and shoot seeds across the landscape. Because they come in heights ranging from 8-10 inches to 3 feet, cranesbills are extremely versatile, providing both low borders and higher banks for the back of gardens. They prefer light shade to full sun and do best if the soil is well-drained. Originally cultivated from wild alpine plants, cranesbill geraniums are hardy against cold and can bloom from spring to first frost.

LandTrendLandscaping Trend
Homeowners Taking a Fresh Look at Gazebos

It's no secret that we like gazebos. We like them so much, in fact, that we feature one in the masthead at the top of this newsletter. Gazebos can be a versatile and beautiful addition to a yard. They can be large or small, a place to extend your outdoor living space or simply a visual accent to bring your landscape alive. However they are used, gazebos provide a centerpiece for your yard, the focal point we talked about in this month's landscaping "Tips from the Pros." More and more homeowners are taking a fresh look at gazebos as a way give a yard the pizzazz of a vacation spot right at home. If you have a larger yard, you can create a gazebo that can be a special gathering place for friends or a refuge of peace and quiet if you need to occasionally get away from the bustle of your home. Many people furnish their gazebos with comfortable furniture and lighting that can make them seem like another den or living room. Others decorate them with hanging plants and use them to provide privacy around hot tubs. And many now are building them adjacent or atop patios to extend their space for entertaining. (In this region, you probably will want to screen your gazebo, unless you are among the fortunate who do not have mosquitoes.) If you do not have a large yard, you still can benefit from a gazebo. A small, well-placed gazebo can make any garden distinctive by setting off or highlighting your flowers and other plantings. For many homeowners, a gazebo just completes the picture.
                     

Masterpiece Project

MasterpieceA Solution That Provides the Best of Two Worlds
Coughlin
Dan's new patio space creates the feel of a courtyard between two raised decks.
We've said it before, but one of the most satisfying things about working with homeowners is finding better ways to give them what they want. Even if they aren't sure what they want when they start talking to us. Dan had a home in Blue Bell with a deck that stretched across the back of the house. It had been there a while and was showing its age - loose rails, splitting boards, nails popping up just waiting to snag a shoe. He knew he needed to do something about the deck, but he couldn't decide if he should just build a new one or replace it with a patio of cut pavers. We sat down with Dan and listened as he described how he was being pulled in two directions. Then we put on our thinking caps and came up with a solution that gives him the best of both worlds. If part of him wanted a deck and part wanted a patio, why not have both? And that's what we did, creating a new patio space flanked by decks on either side. The patio was designed to be the centerpiece of the project, with a circular shape, a sitting wall and a ground level opening to the yard beyond. The flanking decks, made from the handsome composite decking materials now available, create the feeling that the patio is a kind of courtyard when you step down into it. At the end of the day, Dan was happy he couldn't decide between a new deck and a patio, because he now has both. And we got the satisfaction of finding a creative - and total - solution by thinking outside the box. In our business, THAT is the best of both worlds.

Would you like a project like this for your home? Ask the team at Northampton Nursery & Northampton Building Solutions how we can help turn your dreams into reality.

It's Time To ... 

ItsTimeToGo for Color When Filling Out Your Flower Beds
June, as the song says, is the month when things start "busting out all over." It's also the time to finish those final tasks to set up your yard for summer.
  • It's a great time for planting just about anything - annuals, perennials and all manner of trees and shrubs.
  • Fill in those last open spots in your beds with plants that will give you immediate color: marigolds, petunias, geraniums, zinnias and snap dragons, for example.
  • Fertilize annuals, perennials and flowering shrubs and trees with a slow-release plant food that contains nitrogen, sulfate of potash, iron and other micro-nutrients for overall growth and development.
  • Plant vegetables and herbs in containers and grow them on decks, patios or other small spaces. Use potting mix when planting, but watch closely to make sure the pots don't dry out, especially when the temperatures warm. (At the same time, make sure your patio containers have at least one hole in the bottom to ensure proper drainage.)
  • Cut back any chrysanthemums that have re-appeared from last year to half their height. This will ensure bushy, full growth and a better fall display of flowers.
  • Disbud chrysanthemum flowers to secure large, beautiful blooms on straight, strong stems. To disbud, remove the small side buds along the stems which form in the angles of the leaves. This will allow all of the food reserves to be used for one large flower rather than many smaller ones.

 

Home Improvement 

HomeImprovementWood Floors Can Improve Indoor Air Quality

Everyone can see that wood floors add beauty and warmth to interior rooms. But did you know that they also can improve air quality? A recent Life Cycle Analysis of wood flooring conducted by researchers at the University of Wisconsin supports this belief. The study compared five different floor coverings in regard to four substances considered to be harmful to the atmosphere: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen oxide and particulate matter. All these substances contribute to human respiratory ailments and more broadly to atmospheric warming. The results of the study show that wood flooring had no emissions for methane, nitrogen oxide and other particulates, and minimal emissions for carbon dioxide. Wood floors also have the benefit of not harboring dust, mold, animal dander, allergens, micro organisms or harmful pesticides that can be tracked in from outdoors. Because they can be easily cleaned with a soft-bristle broom, dust mop or vacuum, they can significantly improve indoor air quality, researchers found.
Living Green & Well

GreenDemand for Green Products Continues to Grow

Things have been slow in parts of the construction world, but one area keeps gaining momentum. Interest in green building products continues to grow and is expected to increase by 13 percent a year through the year 2015. That's the word in a forecast by the Freedonia Group, a Cleveland-based research firm, according to the ProSales online magazine. Buoyed by environmental concerns, stricter building codes, increased availability of materials and a rebounding construction industry, green products will be a $71 billion market nationally in 2015, Freedonia predicts. What products will be in highest demand? According to the study, demand for concrete made from recycled materials is expected to soar by 24 percent annually between 2010 and 2015, while green insulation sales will increase 14 percent a year. Growing at 12 percent a year will be sales of doors made from sustainable materials and green floor coverings and carpets made from fast-growing natural resources such as bamboo and cork. Sales of flooring itself will not be growing at that high a rate, Freedonia predicts, because many flooring products already are considered green.
Check Out Our Video Series
On our website we're now featuring our new Northampton Nursery Video Series, in which we show how we work and share our ideas for creating home masterpieces. Click on this link to view.

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