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A supplement to the Delphos Herald April 2011
2 • The Herald Spring Home & Garden • April 2011
Bulk Landscape Material
Bulk Decorative Gravel
Mulch
•Chocolate Brown • Kingston Red • Maylan Black• Meramac • Rose • Slatescope• Sunset Light • Vera White
Flagstones
•Dove Gray • Gray Gorge • Green River• Michigan Sandstone • Midnight Blue• Pocono Blend • Red Steppers • Silver Mist•Black Mulch • Brown Mulch• Gold Mulch • Red Mulch
We offer a wide variety of products to help care foryour pond, lawn and garden.
202 N. Main St., Continental, OH 45831
419-596-3896 Fax: 419-596-3895wollam@bright.net
Wollam AgCenter
419-238-5650
www.AlexanderBebout.com/Kitchens
Has your kitchen passedits expiration date?
Kitchens • Baths • Appliances
WE CAN HELP!
10098 LINCOLN HWY.VAN WERT
ARA — Building your own outdoorparadise can be a daunting, yet rewardingproject. Before you invest your time andmoney, it’s a good idea to consider thecomponents of a successful landscape orpatio project.A great place to start is to look for profes
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sional landscaping design ideas on the web.Web sites like www.landscapingnetwork.com offer design tips from professionals tohelp you get your project off the ground.“Building a poorly designed landscapecan cost just as much as building a welldesigned one,” says landscape design expertMaureen Gilmer. “When you’re forkingover big bucks to create the outdoor livingspace or garden of your dreams, it pays toget the design just right.”Gilmer offers the following tips on howto avoid five common landscape designmistakes:Common mistake: Choosing the wrongsize for your patioHow to avoid it: Of all patio sizingtips, making sure your patio’s dimensionswork with your concept for patio furni
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ture arrangements may be the most impor
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tant. For example, your patio should be atleast 10-by-10 feet to accommodate chairsaround a table with a 5-foot diameter. If you’re crunched for space, consider differ
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ent furniture options, or creatively adjustyour surfaces to add space behind the areaswhere chairs will be placed.
Common mistake:
Creating a discon
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nect between indoors and outdoors
How to avoid it:
Consistent use of col
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ors, materials and even plants between yourpatio and adjacent indoor space can makeyour patio seem like an extension of yourhome. Design consistency makes each placeseem bigger and more useful when yourpatio doors are open.
Common mistake:
Inconsistent outdoordesign
How to avoid it:
Piecemeal design canoccur when you take on one project withoutthinking about its long-term impact on youroutdoor space as a whole. For this reason,it can be helpful to sit down and develop aflexible master plan for your outdoor space,which will allow you to complete your ulti
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mate design goals in phases without com
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promising the look and feel of your yard.Consulting with a professional landscapedesigner may be helpful when developingthis plan.
Common mistake:
Plants that don’t fityour space
How to avoid it:
Choosing plants thatwill fit in a designated space when theyreach maturity can help ensure your yardand patio don’t become overgrown. Plantsthat need to be sheered to fit their spacesoften don’t look as beautiful as a plant that’sallowed to flower and flourish. Choosingplants that survive well in your climate willalso save you time and effort when it comesto lawn maintenance.
Common mistake:
Misunderstandingthe importance of good designIt’s exciting to tackle an outdoor project,but when you forget to think about the bigpicture, the project can sometimes turn outto be less than what you had hoped for. If you don’t have the time to learn the basicsof landscape design yourself, it might bea good idea to hire a professional. A gooddesigner should be able to show you a port
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folio of projects he or she has worked on soyou can get an idea of whether their work iscompatible with your desires. If you needhelp finding a landscape designer in yourarea, check out the directory at www.land
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scapingnetwork.com.For additional resources, visit theAssociation of Professional LandscapeDesigner’s (APLD) web site.
How to avoid five common landscaping and patio mistakes
The Herald Spring Home & Garden • April 2011 • 3
DREAM...DESIGN...BUILD
R.E. Becker Builders, Inc.
Building Your New Home On A Foundation of Trust & Value
FOUR MODEL HOMES ON DISPLAY
Mon-Fri, 9-5pm, Sat, 10-4pm, Sun. 1-4pm or anytime by appt.I-75 and State Route 33 (East) - Wapakoneta, OH 45895
1-800-738-7406 www.rebeckerbuilders.com
Let the professionals at R.E. Becker Builders help you
CUSTOM DESIGN YOUR NEW HOME
RAGER
HomeImprovement Inc.
John A. Rager
• Vinyl Siding• Room Additions• Garages• Interior Remodeling• Replacement Windows & Doors
vanwert.com/rager jarager@bright.net
419-238-1564
Serving the areafor 50 years
Why pay more?
We grow our own!
1745 N. Cole St.
FLOWERSVEGETABLE PLANTSHANGING BASKETS
Just Northof Robb Ave.
OPEN 7 DAYS & HOLIDAYS 8-8 225-7002
ARA — Gardeners know that mulch is agreat-looking layer of topping on the soil ingardens and landscapes, but mulch is so muchmore than just a decorative cover. Mirroringthe leaf layer found on a forest floor, mulchcovering can benefit both plants and soil.There are many different types of mulchto consider. Some mulch contains leaves andbark that decompose and break down overtime, while others contain things like pebblesand shredded tires.Mulch’s benefits run much deeper thanbeauty.• A mulch layer can moderate the soiltemperature reducing the effects of extremeheat or cold.• Soil condition may be improved by thedecomposing matter from mulch that pro-vides plants with added nutrition.• Mulching a garden creates the idealenvironment for earthworms and beneficialorganisms.• If heavy rains or soil erosion is an issue,mulch can help reduce these effects. Weedswill find it difficult to become establishedand grow in a mulched area.Using mulch in the flower and vegetablegarden is always a good idea. Not only doesit “finish” a bed, but it also creates a paththrough the garden, even during wet condi-tions. Use mulch to create trails throughplanting areas or even non-planted areas,such as under a swing set to prevent erosion,or around a bird feeder to prevent fallenseeds from germinating. Mulch is not justfor gardens and landscaping anymore. Use atwo-inch layer of mulch at the top of indoorplant containers to help cover unsightly soil,conserve water and keep them looking great.Available varieties of mulching materialsare diverse and nearly limitless. Most prefer-able however, are mulches that break downover time and add to the nutritional make-up,or tilth, of soil. Most commonly used mulch-ing materials are: bark or wood chips, leaves,grass clippings, straw or hay, newspaper,pine needles, cocoa shells and compost. Eachoffers unique benefits, depending on use.• Wood chip or bark mulches offera nice “finished” look, while providingnumerous benefits and requiring very littleupkeep. These types of mulch are alsoreadily available nationwide. Scotts NatureScapes Advanced Mulch provides evenmore benefits than the average wood mulch.Although most bark-based mulches losecolor and fade to gray after a few weeks,Nature Scapes mulch has a one-year colorguarantee. So, if new mulch is added to yourlandscaping more than once a year, NatureScapes can help to save time and money. Inaddition, the Water Smart technology usedin this product has a water-channeling prop-erty that prevents over watering in flowersand produces beds by channeling waterdirectly to the roots. This helps use up to 30percent less water.• Leaves and grass clippings have theadded bonus of being free. However, leaveswill need to be chopped up with a mowerfirst and left to compost over the winter forthe best value to the garden. Grass clippingsdecompose quickly and are not as attractiveas some other forms of mulch. Both of thesematerials are better capitalized on if simplychopped up and left on the lawn for a layerof mulch added directly to grass.• Straw or hay is inexpensive, but maycontain seeds that will germinate in the gar-den.• Newspaper is also cheap, but will needto be wet down first, and then covered withanother type of mulch to prevent it fromblowing away.• Pine needles may drastically increase thesoil acidity and are best limited to mulchingaround acid-loving plants such as blueberriesand rhododendrons.• Cocoa shells are becoming popular inmany areas because of the unique look, butthis is not advisable for pet owners. Wheningested by pets, the cocoa shells may causeillness.• Compost is always a great idea becauseit not only adds nutritional value to the soil,but also is an excellent way to recycle waste.For maximum effect, a 3- to 4-inch layerof compost is required. This is often usedin conjunction with another form of mulch,such as wood chips or bark.Mulch may not get the glory in the gardenor landscape it deserves, but this often-over-looked cousin of soil has a lot to offer. Evenif you just use mulch for its neat appearance,you will still reap all of its wonderful ben-efits.
Mulch 101: Get to know the unsung hero of the garden
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