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

January 2012     

    


Northampton Nursery

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Northampton Building Solutions

Happy New Year from Northampton
The entire Northampton family would like to wish you and yours a Happy New Year and best wishes for 2012. As we begin a new year, it is the perfect time to remind ourselves of things we are thankful for: our families, our friends and, yes, our customers, future customers and business associates. We appreciate all of you whom we have had the opportunity to work with and look forward to working with new friends and clients in the months ahead.  

Landscaping

LandscapeTipTips from the Pros
Two Crucial Elements for Your Hardscaping Project

When the start of a new year comes each January, many people like to sit down and do some planning. And one thing many homeowners start thinking about is how hardscaping could improve the beauty or use of their yard. New patios, walkways, fire pits and designer driveways all can add impact and interest to a home's outside areas. But two things are crucial for a successful hardscaping project, and they need to be addressed right from the start. Whatever you plan to do, you need to assess the lay of the land on your property, and then you need to make sure you lay a solid foundation on which to build. Surveying the space in advance will ensure that your project takes into consideration the slope of the land, whether there are potential drainage problems, what obstacles need to be worked around, and how they will be dealt with. Equally important is making sure your project has a sound foundation. Foundations are one of the most important parts of a hardscaping project, if not THE most important. A homeowner won't see the foundation in the end, but it is what makes everything else work the way it is designed. A properly designed foundation not only will preserve the beauty of your hardscaping; it will also pay dividends down the road should you move or choose to sell your home.

Plant of the MonthPlantMonth
Snow Fountain Cherry
Cherry Tree

When January locks in with cold weather, many gardeners give themselves strength by remembering that spring is just a couple months away. And nothing says spring like flowering trees and shrubs. One of the most beautiful and appealing is the Snow Fountain Cherry. As the name implies, the branches of this specimen tree cascade with white flowers in the spring, creating the effect of a Snow Fountain. And the flowers themselves are beautiful - showy double blooms that are fragrant and attract butterflies. Snow fountains like full sun, and their compact form makes them a handsome addition to any spot in the yard. With a mature height of just 15 feet and a spread of 12, they are especially effective in tighter spaces. In summer, the flowers produce small, black fruits that are inedible for people but still attract birds. The summer foliage features petite, dark green leaves that turn yellow to orange in the fall. Trees should be staked when young to ensure solid growth.

 

TimeToIt's Time To...  
Start Thinking About What You'd Like to Do This Spring

Even if the weather is mild, January is not a great month for being outside. But it's a great time to tend to house plants and get ready for spring.
  • Turn and prune house plants regularly to keep them shapely. Pinch back new growth to promote bushy plants.
  • You can force hyacinth, paperwhite narcissus and lily-of-the-valley bulbs to bloom indoors, in a shallow bowl of water or in pots.
  • To clean crusty clay pots, add one cup each of white vinegar and household bleach to a gallon of warm water and soak the pots. For heavily crusted pots, scrub with a steel wool pad after soaking for 12 hours. Rinse well with fresh water after cleaning.
  • When searching garden catalogs for new vegetable varieties, look for those with improved insect and/or disease resistance and those with tolerance to drought.
  • By the way, don't wait until late in the winter to order catalog seeds. Many varieties sell out early.
  • If the ground becomes at all workable this month, get out and turn the soil. This not only will expose insect eggs to the effects of winter and hungry birds, but the freezing will help to break apart heavy clods of dirt.
  • If you use salt to melt ice on driveways or walkways, be careful not to pile snow from these areas on your perennials or where melting snow will drain onto them.

Masterpiece Project

Masterpiece

Great Collaboration Created a Showcase Kitchen     

Crown molding and subdued colors create a feeling of elegance in this masterpiece kitchen.
The center island houses a wine fridge.

We love creating masterpiece projects for homeowners that will give them pleasure for years to come. We also like being asked by professionals we respect to collaborate on projects. That happened recently when a kitchen designer we work with was designing a kitchen for a new vacation home that was being constructed. Reico Kitchen & Bath had seen our work in other places, and it was rewarding to be asked to work with them on a project that had "masterpiece" written all over it. The kitchen has a wide open floor plan, great light, gleaming KitchenAid stainless steel appliances and a subdued and classy color scheme that ties everything together. But the Merillat-Masterpiece cabinetry is what gives this kitchen a feeling of elegance, with classically modeled facades and crown molding throughout. The oversized island, which is the centerpiece of the room, was also one of the most challenging aspects of the project. With a built-in prep sink and an under-counter wine fridge, it was designed to house key functional features, as well as to be a social gathering spot. Yet it needed to have the same clean and attractive look of the cabinetry we installed to house the refrigerator and wall oven. We achieved that by placing false door fronts on the sides of the island to echo the paneled look of the room and topped it off with a green granite counter top. At the end of the day, our Reico designer friends were thrilled with how our collaboration turned out, and the homeowner couldn't have been more pleased. It was a different route to a masterpiece, but a really satisfying one nonetheless.

Remodeling Trend  

RemodelTrendFamilies Are Creating Multi-Generational Homes

With Baby Boomers caring for aging parents and young adults moving back home, one of the significant trends in housing is the growth of multi-generational homes. The number of households including three generations rose to almost 5.1 million in 2010 from 3.9 million a decade earlier, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and Bloomberg News. Mother-in-law suites have always been with us, but today's families are taking them a step further. Instead of a simple wing for an in-law, families are looking at second master bedrooms, complete with kitchenettes and even separate entrances. While families always should check with local zoning to see what is allowed in a neighborhood, "this is a niche area that appears to be solid and growing," Stephen Melman of the National Association of Home Builders told Bloomberg. One room that should get special attention for multi-generational families is the main kitchen. Experts suggest varying countertop heights, for example, so that they'll be easier to use for people in wheelchairs or seniors who prefer to sit while preparing meals. And pay attention to hardware. Older hands may have trouble grasping or pulling certain types of cabinetry hardware, and larger drawer and cabinet pulls may be easier to use. "Living in a multi-generational home can be a great experience, but it can also be very challenging," says design expert Sarah Reep of KraftMaid Cabinetry. "It's important to take each generation's ideas and needs into consideration."

 


Home Improvement 

HomeImproveClose the Door on Energy Loss with Simple Steps    
January is a month when cold weather drives most people inside. It's also a month when you want to make sure you're keeping all that cold weather OUTSIDE. If there's a problem, you'll find it in January, since now is when we often get the coldest weather of the year. Start with your doors. They may be closed, but are they really keeping your heat in and the elements out? Use a lighted candle to follow the outline of the door around the door frame on a windy day. You'll see the candle flicker at every point air is entering. Then touch your door on a really cold day. If you feel the exterior temperature on the inside surface, your door may not have adequate insulation. On a bright day, stand back from the door and look for daylight flowing through cracks. If light is coming in, so is external air. Then take a close look at your weather stripping. Low-quality weather stripping can lose its compression over time, opening the door to air leaks. If your weather stripping is flat or cracked, replace it. Finally, check out the door sill. Try to slide a piece of paper under your door. If you can, you need to adjust or replace your bottom sweep, which is supposed to prevent air and moisture from getting in. You may even need to re-level your sill, if it has settled. Settling can open gaps for air, but can be corrected with shims you can get from a hardware store. "The door opening can be a major source of energy loss," says John Kufner, a manager for entry door systems for the Therma-Tru company. "But there are some simple solutions consumers can take to reduce air infiltration."
Living Green & Well

GreenPenn State Leading the Way in Green Roof Research

As the popularity of green construction grows, one approach has sparked interest from both businesses and homeowners. Green roofs - in which roof surfaces are planted with grasses or other vegetation - have drawn attention as a way to manage storm water, increase insulation, reduce energy loss, improve air quality and provide a way to reduce carbon dioxide that contributes to global warming. Some of the most interesting research on green roofs is being done in Pennsylvania at the Center for Green Roof Research at Penn State. The center was founded 10 years ago to promote the use of green roofs in North America through research, teaching and outreach. It was the first research facility to install test green roofs on replicated buildings, and its research has included studies on storm water runoff, waterproofing, energy consumption, insulation values, optimum soil mixes and which plants grow most successfully and effectively for green roofs. The center has installed green roofs on buildings at a variety of sites on the Penn State campus. To learn more about the main Penn State Center for Green Roof Research, click here

Check Out Our Video Series 
On our website we're now featuring our expanded 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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