Landscaping Tips – Naperville

What to take into consideration

There are many things that you need to consider when doing a landscaping project in Naperville. The city of Naperville has a very long winter, starting in late November and ending in late March, or sometimes April. It also has a long summer, starting in mid-June and ending in late September. The weather is a very important factor to consider when doing landscaping projects. The weather will influence which plants and trees you should choose, and when and how should you place them. It would be a mistake to pick trees and plants that are not suitable for Naperville’s weather.

If you want to get inspiration for landscaping in Naperville, there are three great examples that are within the area and that you can visit at your earliest convenience. One is the Morton Arboretum, in Lisle, Illinois, which is a public garden and outdoor museum with a library, herbarium, and program in tree research. The Morton Arboretum website has plenty of information about landscaping and gardening in general, as well as lawn care and plenty of advice and tips that you can implement. Read more here. They also have courses and seminars on how to make your landscape better. For example, they teach you how to harness nature’s power to make it into a beautiful landscape. Read more here.

Another great example is Cantigny Park. Cantigny Park is a 500-acre park in Wheaton, Illinois, 30 miles west of Chicago and very close to the city of Naperville. As you can read in their website, Cantigny Park offers a variety of free and discounted admissions programs, including: Free admission on the first Wednesday of every month. Free admission on Armed Forces Day, McCormick Day, Constitution Day and Veterans Day. Quoting the Wikipedia article, “The Cantigny estate includes ornamental landscapes and gardens covering about 30 acres. Highlights include the Rose Garden and the one-acre Idea Garden, designed to educate and inspire home gardeners. The original design of the gardens was the work of noted German-American landscape architect Franz Lipp.” The gardens are a great example of a typical Midwest display landscape.

What to do

You will need to consider the amount, intensity, and duration of direct or partial sunlight on each portion of your landscape. Every single aspect affects your landscaping project. You should take into consideration how much sunlight, which will determine what plants and trees to install, and where to place elements like patios or sitting areas. No two houses are created equal. As we said before, the weather will also set the tone and style for the design. The soil is also a key factor. Whether your backyard has claylike, sandy, or another type of soil, different materials will have different reactions. The orientation of your home and your backyard also plays a crucial role. Some areas will thrive at certain points of the day. Also, the natural architecture of your garden, whether it already has trees, how much grass, tall plants, flowers, are in existence. Good landscaping projects will take advantage of all these factors.

It is key to identify your yard. A good place to start is with the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone map. The Hardiness is the ability of a plant to endure cold weather. Naperville has had historically cold winters. It is considered within a hardiness zone of 5. Plant classified in zone 5 should be able to withstand temperatures that drop from -10F to -20F. There are four categories of landscaping microclimates: Deep shade, shade, partial shade and full sun. It is best that a professional advices you when picking which. Precipitation is also a key factor. You should know the average yearly rainfall or minimum temperatures. Otherwise, not taking these into consideration will result in dead or brown grass, dead flowers, and flooded pathways. Experienced landscapers often look at regional data to determine the kinds of greenery likely to thrive in your specific environment.

Also, you should consider which hardscaping projects you want to do along with the landscaping. This is why hiring an accomplished and experienced firm helps. Doing it yourself, as we said in our last post, can be very expensive in the long run. Below, the first photo is 480 sq. ft. brick paver patio with a seat-wall that will not get used because most people don’t want to sit on seat walls around the fire pit. This project will cost the client around $12,000. Because it is not designed correctly, the homeowner will use it about four times per month. The project will gain 0% to 30% resale value. So the real cost of this patio is $3,600.

The next two photos are the same house designed by an outdoor living design firm. The patio space is around 380 sq. ft. with a seat wall, grill area, steppers, water feature, fire table with a pergola. The design matches the proportion of the home, and the materials used will mimic the interior space blending both indoor and outdoor together. This space will be used up to 3 times per week, 12 times per month, and will be the envy of the block. The price tag on this project will be around $35,000. A design outdoor living space will return %94 to 112% of its value. The total cost over time for this project is $2,100. That said, you should really assess if you are actually saving money by not doing a full outdoor living hardscaping project. Hiring a professional company, like Cs Enterprise Landscape Inc, is crucial.

Why you should perform maintenance in your lawn

We have previously discussed on the benefits of landscaping. Besides the additional value it adds to your home, there are multiple ways that landscaping can help your house. In this post we talk about tips to maintain your landscape. It is key to perform regular maintenance in any landscaping project that you have. Unlike other services which are set and forget, landscaping requires constant attention. Plants are growing, living things. This means that you have to constantly pay attention to your yard. Also, because weather in the midwest is constantly changing, your plants are not going to be in the same state in the spring as they are in the summer. In the spring, after winter cools off the soil, your yard might need a revamping.

Also, fertilization is a great way to maintain landscapes. It is one of those regular things that you simply cannot afford to neglect. Every year, when fall ends, you have to apply a final dose of fertilizer to your grass. Because the winter can devastate the health of your landscape, the lawn has to absorb those nutrients so it remains strong and healthy throughout the winter, and ready to explode into growth when things warm up again. Smothering can greatly affect your lawn. Before the really cold weather comes, carefully remove any debris from the lawn. Smothered grass is less disease resilient and may totally die. If you simply let things go, you run the risk of having to do all the things again. As we said before, landscaping is not a set and forget, but it is a constantly growing and changing collection of living things.

Landscaping lighting is a wonderful way to add color and appeal to your home after dark. Most of these lights are very easy to install and operate on a low amount of electricity, with some even using solar power. Landscaping lights can be purchased at most home improvement stores as well as on the internet. They are available in many shapes, colors, and sizes. The prices vary depending on what you are in the market for. With so many options, you are sure to find exactly what you are searching for.