May Question of the Month - Which Celebrity Would you Most Like To Have Mow Your Lawn?

May Question Of The Month

Which Celebrity Would You Most Like To Have Mow Your Lawn?

• William Levy - from Val in Silver Spring, Maryland
• Rafael Nadal or Christiano Ronaldo - from Janet in Florence, Italy
• Jennifer Anniston from Lee in Longmeadow, Massachusets
• 80's Soloflex Man from Kelly in Springfield, Virginia
• McSteamy from Diane
• Ashton Kutcher from Lauren in Washington, DC
• Matthew Fox or Matthew McConaughe from Christina in Burke, Virginia
• Brooke Burke or Alyssa Milano from Ed in Baltimore, Maryland
• One of the Kardashian girls from Joy in Las Vegas, Nevada (she says she needs a good laugh!)
• Darth Vader from John in Poolesville, Maryland

Allentuck Landscaping Co. Lends A Hand At Jubilee House in Rockville, Maryland

The Allentuck Landscaping Crew Does It's Magic

Members of well-reputed professional landscape firm Allentuck Landscaping Co. descended on Jubilee House in Rockville, Maryland today to lend a hand and spruce up the landscape on the property. Five members of its well trained staff took part in the event, the sixth year Allentuck Landscaping Co. has donated services to Jubilee House.

The Allentuck Landscaping Co. project is part of a nationwide “Day of Service” initiated by national Professional Landcare Network lawn and landscape association PLANET, with the goal of giving it’s over 4,200 member companies and affiliates an opportunity to plan, organize, and carry out projects to give back and benefit their local communities.

Allentuck Landscaping Co.’s president, Bruce Allentuck, touts the event’s purpose as a “shining example for members of the lawn and landscape industry to play a publicly vital role as caretaker’s of the world’s green spaces, parks, schools, and public grounds, thereby creating and maintaining a crucial quality-of-life factor in communities across America.”

A perennially recognized leader in community service contributions, Allentuck Landscaping Co. plans and carries out five to eight community service projects every year. “These projects provide the company an opportunity to thank our community for helping us  succeed in our business, but also provide us with an opportunity to foster camaraderie and teamwork,” says Allentuck.

Allentuck Landscaping Co. chose to volunteer at the Jubilee House because it was inspired by Jubilee Association of Maryland’s commitment to providing people with developmental disabilities the support and enrichment they need to fulfill their own lives.

“We are very happy that we could give a little of our “Allentuck Landscaping Co. magic” to such a worth organization.”

Too Much Of A Good Thing

Is it possible to have too many beautiful days? As much as I hate to say it, it is when we have not had any measurable rain since March 2nd. And now, with temperatures expected to reach into the eighties for the next few days, your landscape is going to need a little help.

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Let's start with watering. New plants and newly seeded areas are going to need water. Our watering instructions can be found by clicking the water drop to the right. More established plantings and lawns will probably not need any extra help at this time.

Weeds have been really enjoying this weather and have taken over many lawns and gardens. An application of post emergent herbicide for the lawn should do the trick. Good old fashioned weed pulling for the gardens is the best way to re-gain control.

Be sure to take full advantage of the weather by getting those planting and hardscape projects on the schedule. This is a great time to be landscaping.

Project Profile: A Step Up

Project Profile: A Step Up

Before

After

In this project, our client presented us with several challenges. The driveway was too narrow, access to the front door was inconvenient, and their children wanted to plant herbs and vegetables. Our designers set out to create solutions to these issues and give our client a great landscape.

A two and a half foot high Celtik block wall was constructed along the left side of the driveway. By doing this, we wereable to expand the driveway by three feet giving enough space for car doors to open, bicycles to get past the parked cars, and for trash cans to be wheeled out to the curb.

In the front yard, a slope created a difficult obstacle for walking directly to the front door from the driveway. To solve this, Western Maryland steppers were stacked to create steps. Our client remarked that this gave the feeling of a vacation spot in Maine that she and her family like to spend time at. Plantings of Winter Jasmine, Fountain Grass and a Sangu-Kaku Japanese Maple makes the walk to the front door seem like walking through a garden.

The only sunny spot, other than the front yard, is on the right side of the house. This area was prepared for herbs and vegetables. A Southern Magnolia grown on a trellis was placed against the chimney to serve as a backdrop. Stone steppers lead to the back yard and travel under a stunning Wisteria that gives a magical roof to an area the children like to run through.

"Allentuck Landscaping was fun to work with and really listened to our practical concerns.  And since we are fairly plant-illiterate they asked a lot of questions to figure out what kinds of style and look we like.  We are still admiring it every day when we pull up in front of our house." 

 

Want to add fragrance to your garden? Read this: 

http://tinyurl.com/7pqwwt3

Two good garden related articles in the Washington Post this morning.  

The first one discusses the qualities of Helleborus (Lenten Rose), a wonderful early season bloomer. Read more here: 


http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/home/rediscovering-the-lenten-rose/2012/03/23/gIQArHQogS_story.html


The second article talks about the benefits of using fireplace ash in the garden:


http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/home-garden/the-benefits-of-wood-ash-in-the-garden/2012/03/18/gIQAVBSEgS_story.html

Warning: Cold Weather Tonight

It looks like Mother Nature isn't quite ready to is not quite ready to give up on cold weather. Tonight's forecast is for temperatures in the high 20's to low 30's. This means that some tender plants could be affected.  

Here are some things to consider:

Cover the most tender plants like roses, peonies and xxx with a sheet or newspaper.If you have already planted spring annuals (petunias, begonias etc) or vegetable plants, cover them as well.    

Cover the plants around dinner time tonight and uncover them around 9am tomorrow morning.  

Most plants will come through the cold temperatures just fine. Some of the more tender growth may get burned but will most likely be re-generated.

As a rule, the last frost date in this area is usually around May 10th. This is the date that it is safe to plant summer annuals and vegetables.