7 Tips For Maintaining Landscaped Gardens In Western Australia’s Hot, Dry Summers

May 23, 2024 The Amateurs Digest 0

One aspect of being based in Western Australia that local landscaping companies have to contend with is the hot, dry climate and the subsequent need to advise clients about the pros and cons of having such weather. Specifically, there will be many plants that either thrive or struggle in Western Australia’s climate and as such it is the former that landscapers will wish to focus on when selecting plants for any landscape design that has been asked for by their clients.

Another crucial aspect of Perth landscapes that professional landscapers in Western Australia will advise clients on is how to maintain their gardens. Those gardens will have long hours of sunlight, extreme heat, and negligible rainfall during the summer months, so maintaining them properly will be key to their thriving rather than struggling. Here are seven tips that landscapers based in Western Australia are likely to pass on to their clients.

Do As Much Maintenance As You Can In The Mornings

This tip is as much for your benefit as it is for your plants. Rather than expose yourself to extreme heat during the long, hot afternoons, it is better if you get an early start and do your maintenance tasks first thing in the morning when it is cooler. In addition, by watering when it is cooler, plants will benefit more as less moisture will evaporate due to temperatures being lower at that time of day.

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How To Compare The Different Soil Types Available For Your Landscape Garden

April 4, 2024 The Amateurs Digest 0

Whilst landscapers have great skills when it comes to designing the layout of a landscaped garden, their knowledge also extends to matters related to horticulture. By that, we are talking about them knowing which plants are suitable within a design, and the conditions which are best suited for each one.

If they did not have that knowledge, whilst they might initially create a great-looking garden, in time it would fail due to plants not growing, lawns looking discoloured due to poor drainage, and any other of the hundreds of other problems that can befall gardens. Thankfully, most landscapers are reputable and will ensure any landscape design they create will produce a garden that is an aesthetic joy, and that everything that grows within that garden will thrive.

A garden that thrives is only possible if the soil within it is suitable for the plants that grow there which brings us to one of those specific areas of knowledge that landscapers have. Knowing the types of soil that exist within a garden, and, where necessary, what soil needs to be added to allow the plants that are planned for it to have the best chances of growing healthily, is highly important.

Although we cannot cover every possibility, we have highlighted below some soil types that you might find in your garden and their various facets. This should allow you to compare them to ascertain which is most suited to your garden and your plans for it.

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7 Online Psychology Secrets That Landscapers Can Use To Increase Website Conversions

7 Online Psychology Secrets That Landscapers Can Use To Increase Website Conversions

July 25, 2023 The Amateurs Digest 0

You might be sure that the business of landscaping does not normally venture into the world of psychology, but it can do. Indeed, when planning a landscaping project, one of the objectives given by the client might be that the landscaping created provides a calming influence with a space for quiet meditation, for example.

Another area where psychology and the landscaping business could be intertwined is on a landscaper’s website. When websites are being designed, the assumption is often that it is merely a mix of technical elements that make the website function and aesthetics when it comes to the website’s appearance. Both certainly apply, but psychology can also be used to make the website’s performance optimal.

What we are talking about here is not some dark art that hypnotizes people into zombies who pick up the phone and call a landscaper. Nor are we suggesting that black-hat tactics are employed within a landscaping business website, such as annoying pop-ups and scripts that make it impossible to click away with ease.

Instead, we are talking about psychological triggers, many of which are unknown to most people, including landscapers, and are often classified as’secrets’. These psychological secrets can be incorporated into the website design of a landscaping business and help that website achieve its aims. As for what some of those psychological secrets are.

Psychology Secret #1 – Clarity

One of the prime objectives of your website’s design is to avoid any risk of confusing visitors. For this reason, your website should have an uncluttered layout, clear calls to action, a simple menu and navigation system, and above all else, avoid using landscaping jargon and terminology that only landscapers would recognize and comprehend. Most of all, give the searcher what they are looking for.

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How Solar Energy Systems Increase Residential Property Values

How Energy Efficient Solar Energy Systems Increase Residential Property Values

January 29, 2023 The Amateurs Digest 0

Solar energy systems are becoming increasingly popular as more and more homeowners look to harness the sun’s power to power their homes with the help of installed equipment that includes solar batteries and solar panels. However, according to the solar experts, this equipment is not just a way to reduce your carbon footprint; it is also a means of significantly increasing the value of your property.

Solar systems do this in several ways, and in this blog post, we will explore these, including those that affect property prices directly and others that do so indirectly. In doing so, we hope to show those of you looking to boost your property’s value why solar panels are a wise investment.

Lower Electricity Bills = Funds for Home Improvements

One of the most significant benefits of installing solar panels is reducing energy costs. You can lower your monthly electricity bills by generating your electricity, and the savings can add up over time. This reduction in outgoing expenses means more funds are available to finance home improvements which will invariably add value to your property.

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Quick Landscape Designs Before a Fast Sale

Quick Landscape Designs Before a Fast Sale

October 18, 2021 The Amateurs Digest 0

When you purchase your ‘forever home,’ you likely want to spend time and money on landscaping since you’re going to be enjoying the results for many years to come.

However, a property you intend to sell may not be one you want to give a complete overhaul, especially as you won’t be there to reap the rewards of your labour.

The problem is, some landscaping can be necessary to make your property stand out on the market for all the right reasons. If you need some ideas on what to do, here are some quick landscape designs before a fast sale.

General Lawn Care

You’ll know it yourself – something as simple as mowing the lawns can make a world of difference to the aesthetics of your yard. Long grass can make a property look unkempt and uncared for, particularly if it’s still being trampled by pets and children.

Spend a weekend mowing the lawns, spreading grass seed over patches, and edging around pathways and fences. You may be surprised at how much of a difference this can make to the overall appeal of your home, alternatively, getting professional lawn care help can go a long way.

Small Entertainment Area

Even though an outdoor entertainment area is not a necessity when selling your home, it gives prospective purchasers one extra area to imagine themselves in before signing on the dotted line. The best part is, creating a small outdoor space when your property lacks one doesn’t have to cost a lot of money.

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10-Steps-To-Landscape-Designing-The-Perfect-Outdoor-Living-Space-300x121

10 Steps To Landscape Designing The Perfect Outdoor Living Space

September 28, 2021 The Amateurs Digest 0

Any landscape designer who knows what they are doing would never dream of designing a garden without following a series of logical steps. Intreeg Landscapes says that the idea that you can ‘make it up as you go along’ does not exist in professional landscaping. While some amateurs might try it that way, it almost certainly will end up with a landscaping project that comes nowhere near its potential as an outdoor living space.

Whether you are a hobbyist gardener, a homeowner wanting their garden landscaped, or someone who might be thinking of a career as a landscape designer or landscape architect, you should know what steps are necessary for a customized outdoor living area. Here are the ten leading steps that professional landscape designers and architects follow when creating an outdoor living space.

Determine The Purpose: The first step is to determine the purpose of the new outdoor living space. The area available will influence this, but regardless, decide if it is for parties and barbecues, quiet relaxation, a fun place for the whole family, or a visual delight.

Create The Layout: Next, you want to create an initial layout. This will need to take into account the space you have, any remaining existing features, and your ideas for new features and furniture. Plus, some accounts must be taken out of the available budget.

Take Account Of The Surroundings: As you continue planning the new outdoor living space, you have to factor in the surroundings and, if applicable, what views there are from the garden. You want to ensure the new design does not block these. Conversely, you can use new bushes and trees to block unsightly views.

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5 Tips To Keep The Soil Healthy Within Your Landscaped Garden

5 Tips To Keep The Soil Healthy Within Your Landscaped Garden

July 23, 2021 The Amateurs Digest 0

There is a simple truth to successful landscaping that every landscaper should be aware of. That truth has nothing to do with how you position features within the design. Nor does it even relate to how much or how little you spend on the project.

We will not keep you in suspense any longer and reveal to you that the success of any landscaping project is highly reliant upon the health of the soil underneath. Hopefully, you have not rolled your eyes, nor sighed, nor, we hope, are you planning to click away thinking that soil has nothing to do with any landscaping design you are planning because the fact is it does.

If the soil in which you are going to be planting bushes, shrubs, trees or even a new lawn is not up to standard then you are heading for some difficulties and disappointments. That soil may have insufficient nutrients to sustain anything you plant in it, its consistency might be unsuitable for landscaping, it could have poor drainage, and in the worst-case scenario, it may even contain toxins, which are dangerous to plants, animals, and most worryingly, humans. The easiest solution for helping grass grow is to have the area go through the vertimowing process.

Rather than dwell on the worst of what could happen if your soil is unhealthy, we prefer to highlight some ways in which you can ensure that the health of your soil is sufficient for you to plan, implement and enjoy your landscaping design. With that being the case, here are 5 tips concerning soil health that every landscaper should be able to follow without too much difficulty.

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Ensure Your Soil Stays Healthy

5 Ways To Ensure Your Soil Stays Healthy

March 3, 2021 The Amateurs Digest 0

For any landscape design or garden, the health of the grass, flowers, bushes, and shrubs within them rely on many things, but perhaps more than anything, it is the soil they are planted in. Regardless of how large or small any landscaping project you are undertaking is, one thing they have in common in order to exist is to be located on soil that is healthy and can provide plants living in it with nutrients.

Property maintenance and landscaping experts told us having healthy soil is something that some landscape designers and gardeners overlook as they become preoccupied with deciding what features to include and what the layout is going to be. Whilst each of them, and the many other elements of a landscaping project are important, they are but nothing if the soil underneath is lifeless and worse, toxic.

One point to note is that healthy soil is about more than just what all the plants are going to be rooted in, important though it may be. In addition, soil has other important roles which include, drainage, the prevention of erosion, and they are also the base that support features within a landscape design such as walls, pathways, and decking.

As you can see the success of any landscape design is very much reliant on the soil, so the next step is to discover how exactly we can ensure that the soil underneath is the healthy soil that we need and stays that way. Here are 5 ways that can be achieved.

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Why You Should Only Entrust Your Garden Maintenance Business’s SEO Management To Professionals

Why You Should Only Entrust Your Garden Maintenance Business’s SEO Management To Professionals

January 16, 2021 The Amateurs Digest 0

Only you will know how much local competition your garden maintenance business has, but even if there is only one other company in your area, you will still have potential customers of yours signing up with that competitor. If the competition is fierce, then you must do all you can to have an edge over those other garden maintenance companies, and according to an expert SEO company, the best way to achieve this is ranking high on Google.

With your website coming out on top whenever a potential customer searches for solutions relating to garden maintenance, if you have effective SEO in place then it is your website those searching will see, and not those of your competitors. Now, that might sound like an ideal scenario, but is not one that you can achieve in one day, one week, and even getting to the top of Google within a month takes some doing.

SEO, and trying to rank the pages of your website for a range of appropriate keywords, is a long-term project that takes a lot of planning, plenty of effort, and a strategic approach to every element of that project. This is why the vast majority of business owners employ others to do it all for them so that they can focus on running their business.

When we say ‘others’, there are options as to who you entrust with the management of your SEO campaign, but if you want it done professionally and wish to see sustainable results with regards to your rankings on Google, then an SEO agency is the only real solution. Here are some of the reasons why that is the case.

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3 Tips To Make Your Business Premises A Cleaner And Healthier Workplace

3 Tips To Make Your Business Premises A Cleaner And Healthier Workplace

December 8, 2020 The Amateurs Digest 0

Maintaining a healthy work environment often means taking action in several ways. One would be to hire a professional cleaning company to ensure that you and your staff operate so that cleanliness and health are part of your daily routine.

In addition, and with recent events still a significant focus around the world, many of us are learning to work in new ways, and part of that is driven by the increasing need for hygiene, not only for our well-being but for the well-being of our colleagues and customers.

Providing a healthy and hygienic environment for its staff and customers is essential in these uncertain times. It can be the difference between a business surviving or not.

Here are three simple but highly effective ways of helping your business stay healthy.

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Plants for Shady Yard

Battling Shade: What Plants will Thrive in Your Shady Yard

September 16, 2019 The Amateurs Digest 0

Many homeowners see the shady portions of their property as a nuisance. How on earth are you supposed to get anything to grow? While it can take some serious brainstorming with your landscape design company during the design process, you will quickly discover that shade can be a blessing rather than a curse.

According to Landscapers Network you should think about how effortlessly plants prosper in woodland environments. Any shady area in your property should be able to do the same. Identify the nutrient content you require, add organic matter, then choose moisture and shade-loving plants that will adore their new environment. Here are a few of the many plants that will likely thrive.

Never Never Plants

If you’re tired of the dark, doom, and gloom of your shady yard, then it could be time to invest in a never never plant. Also known as grey star, it’s a plant that prefers shade, but can also handle sunshine.

They add vibrancy and brightness to any shady area and also require minimal maintenance. Never say never to a never never plant. (more…)

Turf Lawn

The Right Variety of Roll on Turf

January 10, 2018 The Amateurs Digest 0

One of the challenges a homeowner has is being able to grow a full, lush lawn in an area that is mostly in the shade. When the natural conditions seem to be working against sunny growth of plants such as grass, a keen gardener and homeowner needs to look at some of the different varieties that exist to fulfil their needs. If you really want beautiful, manicured lawns, you need to visit a turf farm.

While a shady area presents a challenge, it can still be covered in a lush, dark green grass which will improve the home’s appearance and satisfy the finicky homeowner who wants that even look over the whole lawn. There are a couple of varieties of grass that do quite well in shady areas, out of the sun.

Matilda Soft Buffalo – this is a durable salt tolerant Australian grass and is suitable for areas next to the pool and houses close to the coast. It is a broad leaf appearance and rich green in colour. It requires about 40mm of water a week (not a lot), and is suitable for both shade and full sun. Buffalo grass standouts because of the surface runners, but the root system is fairly shallow, grows horizontally and doesn’t take over the whole yard. Perfect for under tress (shade), shrubs and dense foliage. If you’re looking for a grass that suits all conditions but satisfies you shady areas, then Matilda Soft Buffalo is a great choice.

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Local Landscaping

New Trends In Landscaping

June 21, 2017 The Amateurs Digest 0

According to professional landscapers, Lone Pine Landscapes, the domain of Landscaping is witnessing newer trends. The modern trends in Landscape design deal with comparatively larger areas of the landscape. Some of these trends are listed below:

Grand Scale Local solutions
New landscaping projects are attempting to service the necessities of increasing populations at a local level. These projects often require private as well as public funding. Landscape architects are devising solutions to create better cities and communities with the help from local people and the state government.

Climate Adaptation
Recent research and landscape practices are focusing on climate adaptation via climate change solutions. This move is accomplished by using the elements of climate adaptation for creating holistic design solutions adaptable to changing environmental conditions. Under this step, urban spaces can be designed to better adapt to the changing environment.

Alternative Transport Modes
Nowadays, people are increasingly embracing ride-sharing. Also, established car companies, as well as start-up tech companies, are competing for autonomous vehicles. The state governments are developing initiatives as well as regulations to design spaces and services for targeting new technologies. With increasing use of autonomous vehicles as well as ride sharing; the need for parking lots and wide road lanes gets highly reduced. In turn, needs for the areas required for drop-off and pick up riders at airports, offices, train/subway stations, retail districts, and tourist precincts increases.

Nature
We asked the experts at www.jsbearthmoving.com.au and they said Landscape architecture designers are creating more designs that mimic and emulate nature. As a trend, the ephemerality, as well as the messiness of nature, is transformed in a structured manner for creating beautiful landscapes.

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landscape-design

Latest Trends in Landscape Design

August 24, 2016 The Amateurs Digest 0

Older people would remember that some years ago the latest trend was to bring the outside in with the use of floor to ceiling windows and some landscape design elements repeated inside. Nowadays one of the latest trends is to take the inside out. According to villa experts Easy Villas this is done by creating comfortable outdoor spaces that mimic the inside or creating an oasis to give you the feeling that you are on holidays in a nice villa. There are outdoor kitchens, comfortable seating, fire pits  or a chiminea to create warmth and solid pavement of some kind underfoot so we don’t get muddy feet should it rain.

In fact, there is often a roof over the space in order to shelter us from a sudden shower, or shade of some kind – perhaps from a sail – and don’t forget the windbreak. This can be a stone wall, or a lattice with vines growing over it, a clear plastic ‘wall’ or almost anything else that will create a little bit of shelter from the prevailing breeze.

Another trend is the use of water features. Once these were only seen in mansion landscapes, but the upsurge of smaller water features that can be easily installed by the amateur has made them available to everyone. What is now seen is a mid-cost water feature that does need to be installed by a professional, but is still not as expensive as what is often seen in the garden of a millionaire.

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garden-pots

8 Advantages of Choosing Light Garden Pots

February 18, 2016 The Amateurs Digest 0

Whether you have a high-rise apartment with a balcony, or live at ground level growing plants in pots is something that many people take great enjoyment in. Older people find digging and weeding in a garden difficult, so turn to using garden pots for their gardening needs. High rise dwellers don’t have any option but to use pots for their gardening activities.

There are several advantages to choosing light pots for your gardening activities: –

  • One trouble with many pots is their weight. If you suffer from a bad back, lifting a heavy pot is impossible – sometimes it’s impossible even if you don’t have a bad back. Moving the pot and plant together is a job that requires a lot of muscle. A lighter pot is much easier to move without risking injury.
  • If you live in a high rise there are usually load limits to balconies. A heavy pot filled with potting mix and a well grown plant could well exceed that limit. Certainly, several pots are likely to. Knowing that you are even close to the limit would make you want to stay off the balcony in case it all went tumbling down.
  • Lighter pots are much easier to move around on the balcony so you can adjust the position of those potted plants as they grow to take advantage of the sun or the shade, whichever is needed.
  • You can move it more easily when you need to sweep or clean behind or under it.
  • There is no need to worry about the load limit, so you can sit in peace and enjoy your plants and the sun or cool breeze in the evenings.

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swimming-pool

How to Take the Stress Out of Installing a Swimming Pool

February 9, 2013 The Amateurs Digest 0

Concrete swimming pools are a pretty significant investment, but having a pool will really enhance your lifestyle as you can take a dip in private anytime you want to. But everything must be done correctly. When you install a pool, that’s not the only thing that needs to be done. You need proper landscaping, an automatic pool cleaner, and a professionally installed glass pool fence by Clear Az Glass Fencing.

Experienced pool and landscaping company Principal Pools + Landscapes advises that if you choose a company that does the pool and nothing else, there will be a lot of hassle and stress as you try to get someone in to install the safety fence and then another company to attend to the landscaping so your pool doesn’t look like it’s sitting on an alien planet with heaps of soil or rock spread over what was once your lawn.

Take the least stressful way out and choose builders that also do landscaping and fencing. They can discuss the size and shape of your pool and ensure that it will fit nicely into your property. They will get all the necessary council permissions and then start building your concrete pool. All you have to do is watch and enjoy their daily progress.

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landscape-design

How to Make Your Landscape Dreams Come True

March 24, 2012 The Amateurs Digest 0

Many people dream of having a beautifully landscaped area surrounding their home, but they just can’t seem to make it come true. This is mostly because they don’t have the time or the expertise to design something that will suit their home. landscape design is easy – for the right person. Someone who has been trained in creating a beautiful garden using all the many elements that are available, can bring your dreams to fruition.

A qualified professional understands what works and what does not and can also bring your lifestyle needs into the equation to create a garden that really suits the home and your needs as well. For instance, if you have little children, you will need to be careful about any water features you might want. Toddlers don’t understand the risk of falling in or how to get themselves out. But with older children you can find something larger and deeper for your water feature without having to worry.

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