Winter Masonry

Wintertime, the night air is vibrantly crisp, and a dull white expanse of snow spreads out beneath punctuate bright stars scattered across the Heavens. This is an opportune time to sit with your family on the backyard stone patio, relax and brown marshmallows over a toasty fire brightly dancing in the outdoor chimney or fire pit.  This is a seasonal experience you don't want to miss, so contact your landscape mason ahead of time, before the first winter snows covers the last traces of green in the outdoor ground cover.  

Go over a checklist of to-dos with your contractor. Be certain your chimney and or fire-pit are clean and in good working order, fix any cracks in your patio's stone work. Enhance your backyard visual effects by trimming all summer blooming bushes (after their leaves turn), and installing outdoor lighting to give visitors the best night view of your yard's features.  Add color to your otherwise drab winterscape by putting in winter plants such as lenten roses, colored-twig dogwoods, or winter foliage conifers.     

If the snow days are still a bit off, you might be able to complete a last minute masonry project. With modern heating technology, outdoor construction companies can work all year around in most locations. Cement loses its hydration when temperatures drop below 40 degrees, but the modern mason is fully prepared to implement sophisticated winter procedures.

Outdoor builders employ a variety of techniques to keep their workers and the cement warm. This may include warming the mortar in an outdoor enclosure or enclosing the whole construction area in poly-draped work areas. Powerful propane heaters generate warm air that can be pumped throughout the site. Masons adapt cement to winter conditions by using bulk delivered dry, unfrozen ingredients, which are mixed with pre-warmed water. Type III, quick drying cement, increases the available heat.  Instead of traditional straw, stone-workers use insulating blankets, electric blankets, or heat lamps to retain the heat of cement hydration for extended periods.

Take advantage of all that your outdoor landscape and masonry can offer you to enjoy this year's winter's beauty!  

For the best in winter masonry contact the Turf Barbers. 2929 Quinlan Street Yorktown Heights, NY 10598; +1 914-302-2469; http://www.trufbarbers.com   

Fall Landscaping Tips

Landscaping Yorktown Heights, NY

Fall is an ideal time for landscaping. Want to make hardscape changes? You can replace paving, make raised beds, re-shape, re-lay out, make paths, build retaining walls, removing unwanted plants. Fall is also a good time for pool and paver installation.

When it comes to softscape landscaping, fall is the time to enjoy your garden and enjoy the fall colors. Maintenance gardening will allow to make the most of the fruits of hard work throughout the spring and summer.   Important fall landscape activities include pulling off dead flowers, trimming bushes.  Fall is a time to tidy up your camellias by removing spent blossoms, and picking up fallen one. Pick off dead flowers from rhododendrons and azaleas, which are at their peak in the fall. 

Fall is a good time for adding many plants and trees, because they have time to develop hardy root systems that will get them through the winter and ready to go next spring. Fall id also a good time to reflect on new landscape changes. You can get great ideas by attending flower shows, open gardens, and visiting garden shops. You can add style to your landscape by sharpening edges of your lawn and flow bed. You can create focal points of interest by adding a circular bed, outdoor artwork, or interesting borders of wood.  

Finally, you can consult with your landscaper. After thoroughly enjoying your home's softscape, which you worked so hard to create and nurture throughout the spring and summer, use the late fall to sit down and plan changes to your overall landscape design.  Agree on major design changes with your landscaper, make a down payment, make a start on the project if there's time, and the work will have top priority when landscaping begins anew in the spring.

For expert landscaping in the Westchester and Putnam County areas, contract the Turf Barbers. 2929 Quinlan Street Yorktown Heights, NY 10598; +1 914-302-2469; http://www.trufbarbers.com  

When is the Best Time to Hire a Landscaper?

Fall is the best time to hire a landscaping company! In the fall work slows down and landscapers are hungry for business. This means prices drop and availability rises. In the spring and summer, you must book ahead to schedule a landscaper, but in the fall you can get service almost immediately. You can count on the highest quality work as landscapers are not pressured to finish the job so they can get on to the next assignment.

Conveniently, the fall is the best time for planting trees and grass; planting spring bulbs such as tulips, daffodils, and crocus; and putting in perennials in a timely fashion so that they will make a big spring time show. 

Best of all, landscapers are hungry for assignments that take them through to the winter shutdown.  And that works out great for customers, because scheduling is easier in the fall, and if the work shuts down due to cold weather and snow, it will start up again with top priority in the spring. (And here's a little tip. Pay your landscaper a good chunk of the fee in the fall. Don't stint, because fall work, such as edging, aerating, and planting are important and time consuming. At the same time, save part of the fee for the spring. This will be an incentive for the landscaper to return early and finish the work that didn't get completed in the late fall.) So even though its getting towards late fall, and you're not sure how much longer your landscaper can work, put in your bid now. Agree on the work and make a down payment and you're sure to get top priority in the early spring, when the ground thaws and the weather starts to warm, signaling that it's time for landscaping to resume.

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For top notch landscaping in Yorktown Heights, NY, Westchester County and Putnam County, contract the Turf Barbers. 929 Quinlan St, Yorktown Heights, NY 10598, United States; +1 914-302-2469; http://www.trufbarbers.com  

When is the Best Time to Seed Your Grass?

The ideal time to seed new grass or fill in bare patches of grass with over seeding is in the early fall. Grass planted in the early fall (with at least 30-60 days of growing before the first frost) will have time to germinate and put down solid roots that will withstand the winter. Next spring the established seedlings will outgrow early season weeds and take off, forming strong plants that can withstand the summer's stressful heat. 

Before laying down seed, loosen the soil with a heavy rake (or light rake if there is some per-existent grass). Make sure there is no mulch or thatch that will prevent the seeds from making contact with the ground. Apply the seeds by hand or with a fertilizer spreader that will distribute them evenly over the designated area. Next gently rake them into the earth so that most are covered by a thin 1/2 inch layer of soil. When applied this way, some seeds will be showing, but that's not a problem as the others will be covered and even the exposed seeds can germinate provided they are in direct contact with the soil. Be sure to cover the newly planted seeds with alight mulch.

Proper watering is essential for successful lawn growth. Newly planted seeds should be lightly watered 2-3 times a day so that moisture reaches down to a depth of 2-3 inches.  Water in early AM, before direct sunlight shines on the grass and again in early evening, but not too late or fungus may grow in wet ground during the chilly night. You mustn't let the soil dry out at any time during the first 30 -60 days, when seeds are germinating and putting down their root system. Letting the soil dry out will cause the delicate seedlings to die.

When the new grass reaches a height of 3 – 3/5 inches you can do the first mowing and revert to normal grass watering patterns.

For expert lawn care in the Westchester and Putnam County areas, contract the Turf Barbers. 929 Quinlan St, Yorktown Heights, NY 10598, United States; +1 914-302-2469; http://www.trufbarbers.com    

Summer Lawn Fertilization Tips

Lush Summer Lawn

It is tempting to do a light mid-summer lawn fertilization, because it sometimes produces a rapid rich luscious green lawn growth. Sometimes, on the other hand, it thins lawn growth or even turns the grass brown (fertillizer burn). Scotts makes a mid-summer fertilizer mix (light on nitrogen) and claims it won't burn the grass. In the fine print, though, Scott's warns homeowners not to use the mix if the temperatures will be rising above 90 degrees. Other fertilizers which claim their supplement is specially adapted for summer are "Seed Starter" - the numbers are 10-10-10, and "Turf tone" by Espoma, which has almost the same formula. 

But what is the truth about summer fertilizing? First off, summer grass is not actively growing. What, you are thinking, my grass grows and I mow the lawn every summer. Yes, but active grass growth means the tiny plants are storing food in the roots, growing and developing the root system, forming rhizomes, and tillering (producing new shoots).  During the hot stressful summer, the blades grow, but the plant is, if anything, utilizing and not storing root food. And it is best to give grass fertilizer when the grass in the active growth mode. Fertilizing in the summer causes unnatural rapid shoot growth. Underground the roots become flimsy and succulent, unable to penetrate deep into the soil like healthy roots. So even if the above ground grass growth looks vital and green, underground you are damaging the plant. Over time you will compromise the plant's health, making it vulnerable to stress, and impairing its growth. 

Fertilizing with an organic supplement is a healthy alternative to summer fertilization. Organic mixes such as Milorganite, soy bean meal, and others feed soil organisms and not the roots. Soil organisms contribute to healthy grass growth and also slowly metabolize the supplement, turning it into nitrogen that will be available for the grass growing seasons. Synthetic fertilizers, on the other hand, (Scott's et al) feed the grass and cause the unnatural harmful growth alluded to above. So this summer or the next, if you must fertilize mid-summer, choose a healthy organic supplement instead of a synthetic fertilizer.

For expert lawn care in the Westchester and Putnam County areas, contract the Turf Barbers. 929 Quinlan St, Yorktown Heights, NY 10598, United States; +1 914-302-2469; http://www.trufbarbers.com  

Summer Lawn Fertilization

Lush Summer Lawn

It is tempting to do a light mid-summer lawn fertilization, because it sometimes produces a rapid rich luscious green lawn growth. Sometimes, on the other hand, it thins lawn growth or even turns the grass brown (fertillizer burn). Scotts makes a mid-summer fertilizer mix (light on nitrogen) and claims it won't burn the grass. In the fine print, though, Scott's warns homeowners not to use the mix if the temperatures will be rising above 90 degrees. Other fertilizers which claim their supplement is specially adapted for summer are "Seed Starter" - the numbers are 10-10-10, and "Turf tone" by Espoma, which has almost the same formula. 

But what is the truth about summer fertilizing? First off, summer grass is not actively growing. What, you are thinking, my grass grows and I mow the lawn every summer. Yes, but active grass growth means the tiny plants are storing food in the roots, growing and developing the root system, forming rhizomes, and tillering (producing new shoots).  During the hot stressful summer, the blades grow, but the plant is, if anything, utilizing and not storing root food. And it is best to give grass fertilizer when the grass in the active growth mode. Fertilizing in the summer causes unnatural rapid shoot growth. Underground the roots become flimsy and succulent, unable to penetrate deep into the soil like healthy roots. So even if the above ground grass growth looks vital and green, underground you are damaging the plant. Over time you will compromise the plant's health, making it vulnerable to stress, and impairing its growth. 

Fertilizing with an organic supplement is a healthy alternative to summer fertilization. Organic mixes such as Milorganite, soy bean meal, and others feed soil organisms and not the roots. Soil organisms contribute to healthy grass growth and also slowly metabolize the supplement, turning it into nitrogen that will be available for the grass growing seasons. Synthetic fertilizers, on the other hand, (Scott's et al) feed the grass and cause the unnatural harmful growth alluded to above. So this summer or the next, if you must fertilize mid-summer, choose a healthy organic supplement instead of a synthetic fertilizer.

For expert lawn care in the Westchester and Putnam County areas, contract the Turf Barbers. 929 Quinlan St, Yorktown Heights, NY 10598, United States; +1 914-302-2469; http://www.trufbarbers.com  

Stone Wall Aesthetics

An Attractive Stone Wall

Stone walls, especially those consisting of irregularly shaped field stones, may seem far removed from the realm of aesthetics; however, even the most lugubrious natural constructions are bound by aesthetic principles, and those produced by amateurs are readily discernible by their lack of conformity to these ideals of outdoor masonry composition. Common wall design aesthetic errors, which can even be committed by professionals, include misaligned patterns, staggered height of the wall caps (top of the wall), lack of unity in the construction, and lack of a sense of conformity with the look of the local environment.  

Blending a wall's appearance with the local structures and scenery - be it urban or rural – is an essential artistic consideration. A single wall segment that is out of place will be distracting and will diminish the visual appeal of the overall project. There are several creative effects which every mason should be mindful about when designing and erecting an outdoor stone edifice.  Top of the wall lines that are smooth and curvilinear are desirable. Varying stone color either by selection or stone staining can enhance the aesthetics of the project. Transitions in a repeating pattern must be handled delicately when constructing a wall with a tapering height or when creating corners.  The further away a typical viewer will be, the coarser the wall features should be. When constructing a wall that has directional changes, the mason must be careful to create attractive horizontal or curvilinear wall angle changes.   

Don't be fooled into thinking stone walls are bulky mechanical constructions with no artistic merit. That may be somewhat true of a "do it yourself" project, but walls created by professional masons and landscapers will often have a seemingly random stone placement that belies the skill and planning of the artisan who created it.   

For expert stone wall construction in the Yorktown Heights, Westchester County , Putnam County area, contact the Turf Barbers;929 Quinlan St, Yorktown Heights, NY 10598, United States; +1 914-302-2469