Mark's Landscaping Blog  

Mark Keightley, Owner of Artistic Landscapes

Featured Article: Koi Ponds 101

Mark Keightley, owner of Artistic Landscapes in Atlanta, Ga., has been building koi ponds for more than a decade. “The moving water and the moving fish really add focal points that no ‘still’ landscape can match,” he says.

Featured Article: Koi Ponds 101 by Patrick White

Artistic Landscapes wins more

 awards in 2009

December 7, 2009

Artistic Landscapes is proud to announce that the Weeg Residence landscape has been recognized for its excellence by leaders in the green industry. The project received the Grand award in the 2009 Professional Landscape Awards, presented by the Metro Atlanta Landscape and Turf Association (MALTA). In addition, the Fezco residence received an award of distinction for seasonal color.

MALTA promotes professionalism, adherence to industry standards and education. The association’s annual Professional Landscape Awards program serves all three goals.

The 2009 awards included 63 entries in 12 categories, encompassing installation, maintenance, seasonal color, green innovations, and community service. MALTA members submitted photographs and project descriptions which were judged by a panel of industry experts without knowledge of company names. Entries do not compete against each other; they are evaluated using criteria specific to the category to determine the award earned.

Judges’ Choice: For the one grand award winner in the installation, maintenance, and seasonal color categories that “WOW”ed the judges

Grand: For projects that greatly exceeded all criteria

Distinction: For projects that were superior overall

Merit: For projects that met the category standard

Recognition: For projects in the Green Innovations and Community Service categories only

Photos and descriptions of winning projects will be presented by emcee Bruce Holliday, Landscape Architect, at the annual awards banquet on January 19, 2010. Company representatives will receive award plaques and a well-deserved ovation from their peers.

 The banquet is sponsored by John Deere Landscapes, Buck Jones Nursery, and Atlanta Home Improvement Magazine.

 Photos of award entries can be viewed at MALTA’s website: www.maltalandscape.com.

 For more information about MALTA, call 770-732-9832, email info@maltalandscape.com, or visit www.maltalandscape.com.

The Perfect Backyard

Your backyard can be the perfect vacation retreat that you can enjoy 52 weeks a year.  Your investment in your backyard retreat increases the value of your home, reduces stress and adds enjoyment to your every day life.  It can be enjoyed at all hours, especially in the evenings when your home from work and on weekends.  Work at home?  Your outdoor living space can also serve as an office.  Today’s technologies make it all possible.  Your yard can also go green, and be environmentally friendly.

A home is not where you live your life; it’s how you live your life.

We all have our own ideas about what our perfect backyard resort would include.  My favorites touch the senses and reduce stress.  I especially enjoy the crackling fire in a gorgeous stone fireplace.  You may prefer a fire pit for roasting marshmallows and hot dogs.  The night is not complete without the sound of running water from your waterfall into a beautiful Koi pond or swimming pool.  For entertaining nothing beats an outdoor kitchen emitting the aroma of great barbeque with a refrigerator and bar for your favorite cold drinks. Lounge on a stone or paver patio with tables and stone benches, maybe a hammock or couch.  Some may enjoy a high def television mounted above your fireplace or on the wall of your veranda.  Walk on pathways leading to outdoor garden rooms.  Enjoy the view of gorgeous landscaping with beautiful trees and flowers.  Here are a few ideas to wet your appetite

Outdoor Living

A rapidly growing number of Atlantans are leaving their homes and heading outdoors to their outdoor living rooms to cook, congregate, and enjoy its ambiance.  The outdoor living room includes a fireplace or fire pit, a cooking station, and comfortable furniture and is something Americans have been investing increasingly large sums of money in for the last decade. In a 2005 survey taken by the Hearth, Patio & Barbeque Association, Americans spent nearly $150 billion on home remodeling and one-third of that went towards outdoor living areas. The survey also showed that 80 percent of Americans feel that an outdoor living space is important to them. And while 35 percent already have one, 34 percent are planning to design one in the next few years, at which point, 67 percent plan to purchase an outdoor fireplace or pit. The American Society of Landscape Architects confirms this: Fire pits and outdoor fireplaces top their list of biggest trends for 2007.  Bottom line – sales of outside fireplaces are blazing.

Outdoor Kitchens

An outdoor kitchen is the place to grill your favorite foods and store your favorite beverages.  Outdoor kitchens include outdoor grills, usually natural gas or propane.  These range in price from $ 500 to over $ 5,000.  These can be as simple as less expensive units sold at The Home Depot, to contractor grade Grills from BBQ Galore, to top of the line, wallet busting grills from Viking. My favorite for great tasting food is good old charcoal or mesquite wood.  The newest trend for this type of cooking is in a grill called the “Green Egg.” 

Outdoor Dining Areas

With a great paver or stone patio, your outdoor table is a great place to gather and enjoy great company with great food.  Dining outside uses all our senses, in turn, enhancing our palate and tickling our taste buds.  An inviting outdoor dining area can be a fun place as well as a sensual one.  Your plans may call for throwing hot dogs on the grill for the kids or uncorking a favorite bottle of vino for that special someone by candle light.  An outdoor dining area is guaranteed to be an outdoor living room where tall tales are told and special memories are made to last a lifetime.

What will you put on your outdoor dining room Wish List?

Fireplaces and Fire Pits

 An outdoor fireplace or fire pit is the focal point of an outdoor living room.  After you have dined on your favorite barbeque and while enjoying your favorite beverage, sitting around a warm fire is the perfect place to tell stories and create special memories that will last a lifetime.

 Which do you like better, a stone fireplace or fire pit?

 Outdoor Offices

Many folks work from home now, so it just makes sense to make sure your outdoor living areas is wired properly for computing and that you have an outdoor table suitable for working. 

 Wish you were reading this from your outdoor office right now?

Koi ponds and Waterfalls

No backyard is complete without the sound of flowing water.  A beautiful waterfall is a great focal point for any backyard.  Add to that a beautiful water garden filled with beautiful and entertaining Koi and you have an attention getter that never loses interest.

Outdoor Structures

Several types of outdoor structures are used in today’s outdoor living environments.  Below is a description of several outdoor structures.

A Veranda is a roofed open-walled gallery or porch attached to a home or structure that includes a railing.  Verandas are also called a Loggia.  Loggias are considered part of the home or structure, but are open-aired on at least one side.  Their purpose is to offer protection from the sun and rain.

Lanai is the sixth largest island in Hawaii.  A lanai in housing terms is a living room that is open to the outdoors on one or more sides.  A Lanai is furnished very similar to an indoor living room. 

Porticos are compliments of Greek culture. A portico (from Italian) is a porch that is leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns. This idea first appeared in Ancient Greece and has influenced many cultures, including most Western cultures.  A common Portico in America is a raise room over a driveway supported by columns where the vehicle can drive under, creating an elegant carport.

Courtyards are open-aired rooms but the surrounding home structures are its "walls." They do not have any covering and the sky serves as the roof to a courtyard. The earliest courtyards were known to be in Iran and China.

A pergola is a garden feature forming a shaded walk or passageway of pillars that support cross beams and a sturdy open lattice, upon which woody vines are trained. Modern pergola designs tend to favor wood over stone structures, and are thus more affordable and increasing in popularity. Generally, pergolas are either made from a weather-resistant wood, such as Red Cedar or Redwood, or are painted white.

Pavilions are small garden outbuildings sited a short distance from the main residence, whose architecture makes it an object of pleasure. Large or small, there is usually a connection with relaxation and pleasure in its intended use. A pavilion built to take advantage of a view is referred to as a gazebo.  My favorite pavilion was an outdoor poolside tavern complete with a bar, tables and chairs and a television.

Gazebos are considered to be pavilion structures and are usually situated to provide ideal views of surrounding landscape... thus; it comes from Latin meaning "beautiful view." Often octagon in design, they are mostly free-standing but may be attached to the residence in some fashion. They are also referred to as a "summer house" or belvedere." They are roofed with open sides that can be easily screened.

Cabanas are free-standing "rooms" detached from the home ranging in size from changing room to suite-like. They may be enclosed with walls or have "walls" of curtains or decorative drapes. Often found by bodies of water as dressing rooms, they are becoming a popular poolside addition.

Wish you had a room like one of these to retreat to after a long day at work?

Yard Gaming Areas

Artificial putting greens and sport courts are becoming popular.   A sport court can combine a basketball court with tennis and volleyball courts on special outdoor surfaces.  Artificial putting greens can be fun but they are not as true as a regular golf green.  Artificial grasses can be used in shadier areas where grass does not grow well or for the homeowner who does not want any grass. Horseshoe Pits are also easily constructed in any backyard.

The Perfect Lawn

The secrets to a perfect lawn are based in knowledge and planning more than in painstaking hard work. To achieve the perfect lawn, you need:
1. A great landscape design.
2. A water-smart irrigation system.
3. The proper fertilization
4. Consistent lawn maintenance.

Landscape Design

The best grasses for the perfect lawn are Bermuda and Zeon Zoysia. The best Bermuda varieties are Tifway 419 and Tifsport. Warm season grasses such as Bermuda and Zoysia grown from seed are inferior to sterile hybrid sod. Do not over seed these grasses. Tifsport may be mowed at a lower height. These grasses should be installed using sod from a high quality turf farm such as North Georgia Turf.

The sod should be installed on well drained soil. If there are wet areas due to poor grading or low lying areas, fix these issues by changing the grade or installing a French drain to allow excess water to drain away.

Top soil can be brought in (a 2 inch depth is sufficient) if the native soil is poor. The soil should be loose enough to allow root penetration but not so loose that the yard is full of foot prints. The soil should be free of rocks. Manual raking or a rock hound on a bobcat can accomplish this. New sod should always be rolled to eliminate air pockets, provide good contact with the grass roots to the soil, and to smooth the lawn to give the mowed lawn its best and even appearance.

In summer, the grass should receive at least 8 hours of sun light for optimum growth and beauty. Shaded areas will have thinning turf more prone to weed development, especially Poanna, an annual bluegrass. Shaded areas should be plant beds, annual beds or hardscapes.

The shape of the yard should be designed to maximize the curb appeal of your home. The landscape design often centers on visually leading your eyes to the front door and maximizing the curb appeal there. The sides of the property are used to frame the yard with beautiful shrubs, flowers and specimen trees such as Japanese Maples, Crape Myrtles and dogwoods.  Avoid River Birches and Bradford Pears.  The beds bordering the lawn may contain attractive boulders, or raised mounded beds. The design should not be property line to driveway grass with a tree planted in front of the front door.

Once the proper design and grass type are accomplished, next we focus on its care. Taking care of the above items first will keep you from spending time and money maintaining a less than optimum yard. Doing it right the first time yields the best and most cost effective results. A talented, knowledgeable and experienced professional can help a lot in this regard.

Water Smart Irrigation

A great lawn should be evenly watered when needed. Consider irrigating annual beds separately from the grass. A rain sensor should be used on the irrigation controller to prevent watering during and after sufficient rain. The system should be well designed by an experienced landscape professional to assure proper watering, with all spray heads properly placed and adjusted. Watering needs are dependent on temperature and sunshine. Zoysia roots are shallow compared to Bermuda. More frequent watering may be necessary for Zoysia. 

Proper Fertilization

A soil test can be used to determine the best nutrient requirements for your yard. Call your county extension agent to coordinate this.
A lawn fertilization company operates on a very cost competitive basis. They most likely will apply less fertilizer than your yard needs to look its absolute best. To achieve the perfect lawn, we use a granular fertilizer on a somewhat heavier application. We use the sprinkler system to water immediately after application and we water more frequently during the first week. We use a well balanced fertilizer (13-13-13) for the spring green up (Late April in Atlanta) and a fertilizer such as 24-4-8 in the summer. Pre-emergent should be applied in late October and February.

Core-aeration and Topdressing

Hard compacted soils and lumpy or wavy terrain will prohibit your yard from looking its best. Core-aeration and topdressing the turf with ½” or less of sandy loam topsoil in May can give your turf better roots and evenness for appearance and mowing. We fertilize after core-aeration but before applying the thin coat of topsoil. Applying the topsoil too thick wick kill the grass underneath.

Consistent Lawn Maintenance

Your lawn grows most rapidly in May and early June. It may be necessary to cut the grass twice per week. The key is to avoid cutting more than ½” of turf at any one cutting. Allowing the grass to get very high and then scalping it back is very damaging, and leaves the brown grass blades exposed, providing brown spots in your green lawn. Heavy riding mowers can leave ruts in your yard, especially when the soil is wet. The wider the cutting blade on your lawn mower, the more likely you are to deep scalp marks in areas where your grass is not level. You lawn mower blades should be sharp! You want to cut the grass, not tear it. Torn blades look less attractive.