Early Spring Newsletter April 2010

Spring Cleaning

By Sharon A. Shaw

There is no greater feeling than opening up the windows of your home to let in the warm spring air. Spring cleaning is a wonderful way to freshen a home and invite the outside in, but the yard can also benefit from a good seasonal clean-up.

Heavy winter snow, ice and wind, as we experienced this year, can damage trees and shrubs. Pruning removes these broken branches while improving the shape and controlling the size of the plant. Debris such as leaves twigs and the remains of last years’ flowers should be removed from the garden and a fresh layer of mulch applied. Mulch not only looks great, it also helps to discourage weed growth, retains moisture and may improve soil over time. Growing plants also need proper nutrition to produce lush foliage and colorful blooms.

Plants will benefit from regular mulching and fertilization, but what many people don’t realize is that too much of a good thing can be harmful. Mulch build-up can smother perennials, allow pest and disease to damage trees and deplete soil nutrients, while over fertilization can damage tender roots and buds. Professional landscape maintenance is not just a matter of convenience, the knowledge and experience of a trained landscaper can be crucial to the health and appearance of your garden.

Patios and walkways may also need spring maintenance. A fresh application of sand will stabilize the joints between stones and discourage weed growth there. Cleaning and sealing is also available to brighten and protect pavers. It is important to inspect these hardscape areas for damaged and loose stones before outdoor entertaining begins. During this inspection, check landscape lighting systems for damaged fixtures and dead light bulbs. It is not just a matter of beauty and safety, each dead bulb actually increases the stress on the system and reduces the lifespan of the remaining bulbs.

Once the danger of severe freeze is past, Pansies can be planted to add instant color to landscape beds. If you grow your own vegetables, now is the time to start the seeds of many summer varieties and to plant certain cool season plants outdoors.

We offer all this spring maintenance and mulching to get your own garden and landscape ready for the big show! Give us a call to get on the schedule early; 215-550-5730 in Bucks County or 610-990-6610 on the Main Line

Favorite Recipe:

Dirt Cake

Ingredients

• Plastic container (Ex; Small pot, toy dumptruck) – Wash with soapy water and rinse thoroughly before using.

• (1) package of Oreo cookies (16 ounces)

• (12) ounces of cream cheese, room temperature

• (6) tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

• (4) packages (3.9oz ea) instant chocolate pudding

• (4) 3/4 cups milk

• (1) 16 oz carton frozen whipped topping, thawed

• gummy worms, fruits or faux flowers

(optional; trowel, gloves, toy trucks farm animals…)

Place Oreo cookies in a food processor bowl. Process until mixture resembles coarse dirt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine cream cheese and butter, stir until creamy. Set aside.

In another large bowl, whisk together the instant-pudding mixes and milk, stir until well blended. Using a rubber spatula, fold pudding mixture into cream-cheese mixture. Fold in whipped cream.

In a plastic flowerpot container alternate layers of cookie "dirt" and pudding mixture, starting and ending with cookie "dirt." Chill at least 4 hours or overnight.

Decorate with accessories as desired

Looks like dirt, but tastes great

Seasonal Tasks

Prune for health and shape of plants.

Clean up debris and mulch bed areas.

Fertilize plants.

Check for damaged or loose pavers.

Replenish sand into hardscape joints, clean and seal pavers.

Replace burnt-out bulbs in landscape lighting systems.

Call us to do your spring maintenace, instead!

Additional information can be found on Our Blog and weekly tips on Facebook.

The Secret to Life

I first met Mike McGrath over five years ago during a cold and snowy evening at a home show. There was hardly a visitor in the building and even many of the other vendors had been smart enough not to come out and staff their booths during a storm. So, I was happy to have someone drop by to see my display and asked how he was enjoying the show. If you have ever listened to “You Bet Your Garden” you know that it only took a few words for me to recognize him as the radio show host! As there was hardly another customer there to worry about, we spent quite some time discussing landscape and gardening.

Several months later I reached out to Mike, former editor of Rodales’ Organic Gardening, as I was beginning my career in writing, to get his advice on a possible change in occupation. He graciously invited me to meet him at the WHYY studio in Philadelphia and grab a bite to eat. Over dim-sum I realized that Mikes’ advice was not only wildly entertaining, but also brutally honest. He basically told me that I was crazy to consider the move and shared horror stories of the editorial profession. Instead, he suggested I consider television…..an advancement I’m still working on! He read my work and said that the secret to communicating well is to “Write like you talk,” advice I still consider each time I sit down at the keyboard. We’ve stayed in touch over the years, occasionally getting together after one of his speaking engagements.

What I enjoy most about Mike is his approachability, not just to me; a new writer looking for some tips, but to all of his listeners. The advice he doles out each week on the radio is accessible in the way that it is easy for even new gardeners to comprehend. At the 2011 Bucks Beautiful Garden and Home show where he spoke, Mike stayed well over his allotted time until he had answered the questions of each fan who stood in line to meet him. Though he is extremely well connected and knowledgeable, with an impressive resume Mike McGrath is not a garden snob. He is always quick to assure new disciples of organic gardening that their past sins no longer matter. As he shared at the Bucks Beautiful seminar, “I am a realist, I practice the tenant of constant improvement. As long as you are making it better, go for it.” Now that is good advice we can all use!

Mikes Seven Secrets to Successful Organic Gardening

#1 – Build Raised Beds, less than four foot wide.
Fill with good organic soil, top with compost yearly. Don’t till, stirs up weed seeds

#2- Save your leaves, shred them for use as compost or mulch.
It’s natures’ fertilizer; “On the 8th day God didn’t create Miracle Gro”

#3 – Invite Insectivores
Toads: Provide a water source, such as a saucer on the ground and damp shady cover.
Birds: Offer suet in winter only, stop in spring when they have nested and will need insects.
Beneficial Insects: Don’t use pesticides

#4 – Invite Pollinators, many have beneficial larvae
Offer small compound flowers like yarrow, dill and fennel

#5 – Mulch to prevent weeds, don’t leave a good surface bare.

#6 – Water wisely, plants need water to survive, also need to dry out to build roots
Water deeply once a week, plants need one inch per week.

#7 – Have fun! “If you don’t enjoy it then take up wood-working!”

More information including details on his radio show, speaking engagements and books can be found online at: http://www.whyy.org/91FM/ybyg/index.html

Kent Russell - Good ‘Mean’ Fun!

 

 

Gardeners are not necessarily known for keeping it clean, but Kent Russell really knows how to sling dirt! That is what makes him so good though. At his lecture for the 2011 Bucks Beautiful Garden and Home Show, Kent filled the tables with plants and the seats with fans. They come to hear him dish the dirt on his wealthy clients, clueless audience members, untalented gardeners and his own quirky behavior. Kent needs no microphone when speaking to a packed room. He re-counts one reviewer who called his voice “honking” and laughs maniacally while telling how he overheard an audience member asking a friend “What is he on?” The answer, of course, is nothing - that’s just Kent!

He began his career in horticulture as a child while working at the family business, Russell Gardens in Churchville, PA. Thanks to a keen interest in perennials, Kent was specializing in the propagation, maintenance, and sales of over 1,500 different species by the time he was a teenager. At only 19, he left to establish the renowned Renny-Hortilus Farm Nursery in Wrightstown, PA. This property has since been featured in numerous lifestyle magazines nationwide and the 3,000 peonies Kent planted there continue to thrive and supply bouquets for the New York Flower market.

Of course his fans also come for the plants; a colorful mix of unusual annuals, perennials and shrubs that (unlike the hard to find varieties mentioned by some garden experts) are widely available. He was even selling specimens of the plants discussed in that days seminar. Kent cautions the audience that they if they are unable to find the plants anywhere else, it is because he has already beat them to the garden centers and bought everything in-stock. It’s really a public service though; judging by the mad clamor of gardeners racing, with money in hand, to grab their favorite plant after the seminar concludes, Kent has just prevented dozens of accidents in the parking lots of area garden centers!

Kents’ speaking venues include private clubs, public gardens and events around the Northeast. He speaks their language too, confessing to the recent absurdity of spending three thousand dollars to ship one thousand dollars worth of plant material from Oregon after a visit, while carrying his favorites home on the plane. Kent then raves over the subtle beauty possessed by each of a dozen individual Hellebore varieties, some of which are so new and rare that they are un-named and are so far identified only by the breeders number, to a room of envious gardeners.

Not all of Kents’ clients are such knowledgeable horticulturists though and they are the ones who make the best stories! He tells of the woman who sat beside him on that plane trip, admired the plants and asked. “Do they need water?” At recent lecture Kent introduced a variety of Pink Blueberry to an unappreciative listener who missed the point and only wanted to know if they contained the same beneficial anti-oxidants. Another wealthy client, who does not set foot outside of her home or take any interest in the gardens only asked Kent to plant more witchhazel after it impressed the ladies who came for tea. Of course I don’t do justice to Kens’ stories, you really need to hear the dirt from him.

Kent is listed as a preferred speaker by the Garden Clubs of America for which he speaks frequently, along with other events, including the Newport and Philadelphia Flower Shows. A schedule can be found on his website at www.thegardenguru.com. In addition to seminars, Kent provides gardening and container design services to an elite client list….who, though they supply a few good laughs, remain nameless!

Intelligent Design - Modern Furniture

This is the third installment on the importance of good design. While it is a very general term, most forms of design do share similar principles and objectives, but simply use different tools to accomplish them. (Information was gathered from the company websites, listed below, and biographies)

We are currently building a project for a family who are fans of modern design, with its’ functional, simple and sleek look. They are considering a wonderfully versatile piece of furniture, the Knoll Maya Lin Stones, as a seating option on their patio (pictured above).

I have long admired these pieces and can just imagine the children pulling the lightweight Stones together around a campfire while the adults can use them as casual seating, ottomans and tables. Part of designer Maya Lin's 60th anniversary collection for Knoll, the Stones collection is inspired by the graceful curves of the earth, the seat tops are slightly concave and table top is slightly convex. These multipurpose polyethylene pieces come in several colors and with optional seat cushions.

Even better, I recently learned that Knoll, one of the worlds’ best know modern furniture companies, is based right here in our area with its’ headquarters located in East Greenville, Montgomery County PA! Since 1938, Knoll has been recognized internationally for creating workplace and residential furnishings that inspire, evolve and endure. For over 70 years, Knoll has explored the power of modern design, combining artistic inventions with functional efficiency. Their outdoor furniture collection also includes the aluminum Toledo chair and Pensi table.

Two of the companies most well know designers also have strong ties to our area. From 1946 to 1954, Knoll produced a series of designs by woodworker and craftsman George Nakashima. For Nakashima, who made each of his designs by hand at his workshop in New Hope, Pennsylvania, this was an opportunity to see how craftsmanship and industry could be joined to create pieces of high quality for large-scale production.

George Nakashima (1905-1990) was born in Spokane, Washington, and grew up in the forests of the Olympic Peninsula. He attended the University of Washington, where he initially studied forestry before switching to architecture then earned his master's degree in architecture at MIT in 1930. Nakashima worked for modern architect Antonin Raymond in Tokyo before returning to the United States. He learned to master traditional Japanese hand tools and joinery techniques from Gentaro Hikogawa, a man trained in traditional Japanese carpentry while both were interned at the camps in Minidoka, Idaho during World War Two.

In 1946, Nakashima agreed to have a few of his designs marketed by Knoll. The relationship between Nakashima and Knoll ended in 1954. Then in 2008, Knoll, in collaboration with Mira Nakashima, reintroduced the Nakashima Straight Chair and Splay–Leg Table to its product line. His studio, George Nakashima Woodworker, S.A., still produces most of Nakashima's original designs, as well as his daughter, Mira's.

Designer, Richard Schultz joined Knoll Associates in 1951 and later served as an integral member of the Company's the Design Development Group. Outdoor furniture was his specialty, believing people want to furnish their gardens as carefully as they furnish their homes. Schultz's 1966 Collection and the Petal Collection, featuring the influential Petal table from Knoll, are among the designers best know. Kathryn Hiesinger, The Philadelphia Museum of Arts’ Curator of Decorative Arts after 1700, said "His outdoor furniture is compelling in part because it has been and continues to be at the defining edge of what is formally and technologically modern."

Though he now designs for his own company, Richard Schultz continues to produce sculptural modern furniture. The company operates from a 250-year old stone farmhouse in Pennsylvania where they enjoy views of the furniture covered by snow, nestled in blowing leaves, and hidden in the grass. Richards Shultz Designs also operates a showroom, the company's flagship store, in the Design & Decoration Building in New York proving that the furniture looks just as good outside a traditional home as it does outside a modern masterpiece.

I find this true of most modern furniture, and think the contrast offered between traditional landscapes and modern furnishings is especially appealing.

Knoll offers visits to its’ museum by appointment. Company information, products and viewing details can be found online at www.knoll.com. George Nakashima Woodworker studio is also open to visitors. Details available at www.nakashimawoodworker.com and finally information on Richard Shultz Designs products, showroom and dealers is offered at www.richardschultz.com

Bucks Beautiful Garden and Home Show Ticket Contest

Announcing a contest:

Special Offers, Promotions and Contests for Our Friends!

March 2011

We have two free tickets to give away for the Bucks Beautiful Garden and Home Show!

The tickets are good for any day of the show, March 18 - 20, including the Special Preview Night on Friday featuring wine, hors d'oeuvres and desserts from area restaurants and caterers, a $40 value.

The tickets will go to the fan who can get the most friends to “Like” our facebook page at www.facebook.com/MartinShawLLCpage

Simply have them post they “Love (your) landscape!” after becoming a fan so we know who to credit. If we have not done your project yet they can post “(You) need a new landscape!” After becoming a fan they will also be eligible to compete. You and they do not need to be facebook users to compete, we will count Blog and Newsletter subscriptions as well if they post the phrase to the Comments section.

Contest ends March 14^th, 2010

Good Luck!

We offer Rewards Certificates for every referral! Like us on Facebook and share with friends to earn yours!

Our designer, Sharon Shaw, is chairperson of the The 20th Annual Bucks Beautiful Garden & Home Show which will be held March 18 - 20:

Friday, March 18th – Special Preview Night 5-8p.m. Wine & Hors D’oeuvres — $20 per person

Saturday, March 19th & Sunday, March 20th - 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. - $10 per person, kids under 12 are free

• Beautiful landscape, garden and flower displays!
• Over 90 exhibitors featuring the latest products and services for the garden and home
• Free children’s programs.
  

Seminars with tips and techniques for gardening and home projects - $10 pre-sale, $15 at the door

• Candy in the Garden with Kent Russell
  
• Improve Your Home’s Efficiency Affordably
• Backyard Ponds; Six Simple Steps to Success
• Seven Secrets to Successful Organic Gardens with Mike McGrath
  

Delaware Valley College, 700 E. Butler Avenue, Doylestown, Bucks County.

Spring Cleaning

Spring is in the air! A warm breeze is blowing, soft rain is falling, bulbs are peeking, The Philadelphia Flower Show Begins this weekend and The Bucks Beautiful Garden and Home Show will be taking place March 18th-20th. Here are few tips to help you prepare:

Just like a home the landscape also benefits from a good spring cleaning. Heavy winter snow, ice and wind, as we experienced this year, can damage trees and shrubs. Pruning removes these broken branches while improving the shape and controlling the size of the plant. Debris such as leaves twigs and the remains of last years’ flowers should be removed from the garden and a fresh layer of mulch applied. Mulch not only looks great, it also helps to discourage weed growth, retains moisture and may improve soil over time. Growing plants need proper nutrition to produce lush foliage and colorful blooms. Plants will benefit from regular mulching and fertilization, but what many people don’t realize is that too much of a good thing can be harmful. Mulch build-up can smother perennials, allow pest and disease to damage trees and deplete soil nutrients, while over fertilization can damage tender roots and buds. Professional landscape maintenance is not just a matter of convenience, the knowledge and experience of a trained landscaper can be crucial to the health and appearance of your garden.

Patios and walkways may also need spring maintenance. A fresh application of sand will stabilize the joints between stones and discourage weed growth there. Cleaning and sealing is also available to brighten and protect pavers. It is important to inspect these hardscape areas for damaged and loose stones before outdoor entertaining begins. During this inspection, check landscape lighting systems for damaged fixtures and dead light bulbs. It is not just a matter of beauty and safety, each dead bulb actually increases the stress on the system and reduces the lifespan of the remaining bulbs.

We offer all this spring maintenance and mulching to get your own garden and landscape ready for the big show! Give us a call to get on the schedule early; 215-550-5730 in Bucks County or 610-990-6610 on the Main Line.