Greenscapes of Madison Awarded Best Of Houzz 2016

Greenscapes of Madison

Awarded Best Of Houzz 2016

Over 35 Million Monthly Unique Users Nominated Best Home Building,

Remodeling and Design Professionals in North America and Around the World

Madison, Wi, January 10th, 2016 – Greenscapes of Madison has won “Best Of Customer Service” on Houzz®, the leading platform for home remodeling and design. The premier landscape design, construction, and maintenance contractor was chosen by the more than 35 million monthly unique users that comprise the Houzz community from among more than one million active home building, remodeling and design industry professionals.

The Best Of Houzz is awarded annually in three categories: Design, Customer Service and Photography. Design award winners’ work was the most popular among the more than 35 million monthly users on Houzz. Customer Service honors are based on several factors, including the number and quality of client reviews a professional received in 2015. Architecture and interior design photographers whose images were most popular are recognized with the Photography award. A “Best Of Houzz 2016” badge will appear on winners’ profiles, as a sign of  their commitment to excellence. These badges help homeowners identify popular and top-rated home professionals in every metro area on Houzz.

“Anyone building, remodeling or decorating looks to Houzz for the most talented and service-oriented professionals” said Liza Hausman, vice president of Industry Marketing for Houzz. “We’re so pleased to recognize Greenscapes voted one of our “Best of Houzz” professionals by our enormous community of homeowners and design enthusiasts actively remodeling and decorating their homes.”

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About Greenscapes

Our team of professionals offer superior customer service setting a high standard for innovative design and quality construction. Greenscapes provides award-winning landscape maintenance for commercial, condominium, and residential properties. Our snow removal services for Commercial properties in the Madison area offer reliable care with an unmatched attention to detail.

About Houzz

Houzz is the leading platform for home remodeling and design, providing people with everything they need to improve their homes from start to finish – online or from a mobile device. From decorating a small room to building a custom home and everything in between, Houzz connects millions of homeowners, home design enthusiasts and home improvement professionals across the country and around the world. With the largest residential design database in the world and a vibrant community empowered by technology, Houzz is the easiest way for people to find inspiration, get advice, buy products and hire the professionals they need to help turn their ideas 

Happy Holidays!

At the holiday season, 

our thoughts turn gratefully to those who have made our progress possible. 

It is in this spirit that we say... 

Thank you and best wishes 

for the holidays and happy New Year.

Holiday Lighting, How to spend less and get more.

According to Home Advisor the average holiday lighting installation nationally is $774. This may not seem like a huge investment to spread a little holiday cheer in the neighborhood right? How about after 5 years at an average of $3,870? Does it still sound like a good investment? Are you also putting up orange lights for Halloween? What about your summer landscape lighting, how much do you spend maintaining old light bulbs and replacing transformers?

What if we can combine all of your seasonal lighting with your summer landscape lighting? Using the Luxor ZDC we can accomplish this and even more. With a few swipes on your smart phone you can instantly dim and change colors of each light individually. At Christmas time you can change your lights to red, green and white without ever leaving the house. No more climbing trees, messing with tangled wires or falling off a roof. Having a Green Bay Packer party this Sunday? With some simple programming, you can click on your previously programmed GO PACK setting and instantly your lights turn to green and gold. Badgers are on tonight? Click your BUCKY program and go red! Once installed, you are set for every event, holiday by using your existing landscape lighting.

Learn more on our website or complete the contact form here.

The Dummies' Guide to Winter Ponds in Wisconsin

It's getting to be that dreaded time of the year again in the Madison area. A few months filled with angst wondering if your finned friends will emerge from winter unscathed. Hopefully you have taken some recent steps to ensure that will be the case. You stopped fertilizing the plants long ago and you haven't fed the fish since the water temperatures went below 55 degrees. You have cut back the plants and either netted the pond or have removed any fallen leaves that worked their way into it. Take advantage of the video I posted above to learn more. In the meantime, here's a quick reference list provided by Aquascapes:

• To shut your pond down, first unplug your pump and pull it out of the water. The pump should be stored in a frost-free location, submerged in a bucket of water to keep the seals from drying.
• If you have fish, a small re-circulating pump that bubbles at the water surface is necessary to oxygenate the water. In all but extremely low temperatures, the bubbling of the pump will also keep a hole open in the ice to allow for a gas exchange, keeping your fish alive. It is not necessary to oxygenate the water or keep a hole open in the ice if you don't have fish.
• If your area experiences long periods of extremely cold weather, you may consider adding a floating de-icer. Controlled by a thermostat, the unit only runs when the water temperature is at or below freezing, heats the water to just above that, and then shuts off again. Ask your installer or local supplier for products to help your pond during the winter.
• If you use a floating de-icer, place it away from the bubbler. The movement of the water can move the heated water away from the de-icer, making it run more than necessary.
• You can also choose to keep the waterfall running. This will require a little babysitting to make sure an ice dam does not form which could cause water to run out of the Pondless® Waterfall/ Pond basin. You will also still need to replace water loss so the pump can continue to function properly (see "The Water Level" above). This extra effort during the winter will reward you with the most beautiful ice formations and patterns around the falls and stream beds.

If it all sounds like too much this year complete this all in one step by signing up for Pond Shut Down Services!

Fall Clean Up Tips for the Madison Area

If you haven't signed up for fall clean up services, it's time to dust off your rake. Other than removing all the leaves, what else should be on your checklist?

1. Winterize your lawn - Think of skipping this step as like sending a bear into hibernation without any stored fat! I'll discuss more on this next month.
2. Watering shouldn't stop. If you have recently planted or potted plants, continue to water them. The easiest rule of thumb here is to water until you have to shut off the spigot for the winter.
3. As mentioned in previous posts Thatch & Aerate. 
4. Cut back and divide. Fall is a great time to tackle division of grasses, hosta, day lily, and other overcrowded plants.
5. Lower your mowing deck again for a slightly lower cut.
6. There's still time for fall planting as well.

5 Quick Tips About Fall Planting in Dane County

"Fall is for Planting" isn't just a marketing slogan. In fact, marketing and impatience is why most consumers complete planting in spring. Fall planting is the best way to get the highest rate of return on your investment as possible. Temperatures are mild, which mean woody plants and perennials will root faster. The typical droughts of August have passed and the cool nights of fall mean turf will establish quickly as well.

Follow these tips for fall plantings success:

1. Whenever possible buy flats or in larger groups. Nurseries and Greenhouses do not want to carry the remaining stock over the winter. The more you buy, the more you save. Look through their inventory and consider completing borders and mass plantings with remaining plant stock. 
2. Check the roots. When choosing perennials and smaller shrubs, pop the pot off and take a look at the roots. Often, staff has been cut down at this point and plant stock may not have been potted up. Fall sales might specifically include root bound plants as it is cheaper to discount them than it is to pot up a size this late in the year. 
3. Have a lot of trees to plant? Consider bare root. We've planted hundreds of bare root trees for long term privacy screens, shade, or wind screens. If you are not in a race to get the largest tree possible, Check online catalogs with excellent customer reviews. Soak them in water for 24 hours as soon as they arrive and then plant away.
4. Pick the plants who have current interest. We tend to shop on impulse and by sections of the yard we are trying to improve. I typically recommend clients complete tasks one a time rather than improving specific areas. Why spend money on a bed edger 5 times? Put in all your beds at once even if you won't plant them all right away. Pay attention to seasonality by shopping for only plants that have current seasonal interest. By only spring flowering plants in spring and buy plants with fall interest in fall.
5. It's ok to go small. Save more money by choosing smaller plants in fall. As mentioned, the larger plants may be root bound anyway. Since you are planting in fall, you wont have water, nutrient and other competition issues with weeds. Most the weed seeds are now dormant and shouldn't be a factor. By the time they are competing with your smaller plant selections, it will already be established and adapted to its new habitat.

Read on

Why We Love September (And You Should, Too!)

September is derived from the latin Septem as it was once the 7th month of the old Roman calendar. We all know 7 is a lucky number. There's 7 wonders of the world, we describe ourselves as being in seventh heaven. Even though it became the 9th month of the year (thanks Caesar?), if you ask me, September is the best month of the year. We kick it off with a three day weekend that signals us to get outside and enjoy the final weeks of summer. It has the best weather of any month and that's true pretty much no matter where you go in the US. Football has reclaimed its rightful place at the helm, and kids are off to school again.

Summer goes by in the blink of an eye and September seems to be a month where we can slow down a little, take a deep breathe, and enjoy. Take stock of what you have accomplished since the snow melted and make a plan to complete what simply fell off the plate. All too often, we don't appreciate being healthy until we get sick. It won't be long before you are relegated to staring into the backyard from your kitchen window dreaming of the perfect weather and green grass. Well guess what? The grass is green and the temperature is perfect. Take a long nap by the pondless waterfall, invite some friends over for a barbecue, or gather the kids by the fire pit for some s'mores this weekend. Make some memories you can call upon this February from that kitchen window.

Aeration: How to Cure Hard-Core Lawns

I hear a lot of people talk about aeration as if it isn't really part of necessary lawn maintenance. It is only for golf courses and the guy who wants the best lawn on the block. You might even have this gentleman as your neighbor. He's the guy you see in his yard at 5:00 in the morning with a dandelion puller while you have your morning coffee. You have already conceded to Mr. Jones and determined since you won't be pulling weeds at 5:00 with him, you probably don't need to aerate like he does either. While Mr. Jones might be completing aeration twice a year, how do you know if and when you should be?

• Typically a compacted lawn is thin. If you haven't changed any other lawn care practices recently and the lawn seems to be getting thinner every season, it's time to aerate. 
• If you now swear that fertilizer is also a waste of time and money, it's time to aerate. Mr. Jones lawn looks great after he fertilizes right? It must be the brand he is using! Fertilizer won't do you much good over compacted soil as it can't penetrate it. The nutrients simply wash away and never reach the roots.
• You seem to have more wash outs than normal after rainfall. Again, if you haven't made any changes to the grade or surrounding area and suddenly mulched or other areas are washing out, it's time to aerate. Just as compacted soil won't allow nutrients to reach the roots of your turf, it won't allow water to infiltrate either.  Not only does this create more runoff, it also forces the turf into drought stress earlier than it normally would.

"OK, OK I get it, but when should I do it?" If it has been awhile and/or you have never completed it before, aerate a few weeks before you fertilize. Then complete an annual aeration about month before our first frost.

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Jobs Done Right

As the saying goes, "If you think hiring a professional is expensive, wait until you hire an amateur."
My son had a recent experience that certainly taught him this. He just turned 16 and we bought him a car. He wanted to upgrade the factory stereo and purchased all the new equipment. Rather than hire a professional he decided it would be cheaper to have a "friend" install it all for him. His friend had "experience". Long story short, his $800 upgrade turned into a $3,000 bill for me. How? This "less expensive" installation blew out the electronic steering module, the head stereo unit, and the new amplifiers he purchased. The car also needed to be jumped every 6 hours with or without the now non-functional stereo connected to the battery. In the end he spent $800 and I spent $3,000 getting it all fixed. After taking his lumps and speaking with the professional who fixed it all he discovered it would have cost $1,700 for the same system he now has if he would have came to them in the first place. It is now professionally installed, warranted, and higher end equipment. To save money he spent $2,100 extra! Wait a minute, I guess I spent $3,000 extra!

I see this every year in the green industry as well. "That's more expensive, another guy proposed something different for much less". I tell all of our customers that 40% of our water feature division alone is completing rebuilds from either other companies or weekend warrior installations. Some people, like my son, just need to find out for themselves the hard way. When the job goes bad and we get a call to rebuild it, my price is now increased. "But some of the work is done shouldn't it be less"? No so fast, there is now more work to complete just to get the job back to a blank slate so we can build a quality feature.

This certainly doesn't mean the most expensive price is the highest quality or best company for the job either. Some businesses just price for higher margins. We pay benefits to our employees so we can retain an educated and dedicated staff. Our equipment is reliable and well maintained, we use higher quality products, we offer warranties, and we carry the proper levels of insurance and complete extensive training. These things cost money and the investment results in projects that exceed customer expectations. It should always be a question of value rather than price. Rarely do two companies propose the exact same design or materials. The question is what are you getting for your money? Two identical boxes can be certainly be priced the same, but one of them may be empty.

Read on

5 Facts About Rainwater Capture That Will Impress Your Friends

About 20% of my spring appointments are for drainage correction issues. A good portion of these properties either have an exposed basement where they really shouldn't or they are the lowest grade of the neighboring properties. There is often no simple surface grade adjustments we can make to alleviate the problem without working sub-grade.

This means we have to find a retention, storage, and/or reuse solution. The ideal solution however would happen "upstream". If a portion of the higher grade properties were also storing and reusing some of their rainwater, the downgrade property most likely wouldn't have a problem to begin with.

Prevention is the Key
As we continue to create more and more impermeable surfaces, rainwater collection and reclamation will become even more important. There are many options to choose from today. My favorite is the Rain Xchange System. Rain barrels are great, but let's be honest, even the terracotta colored plastic versions with formed planters are pretty unsightly. Rain gardens are functional, but they take up a considerable amount of space, don't allow the reuse of water, and in our climate they are attractive as a landscape feature for a very small window of time. The Rain Xchange system by Aquascape not only prefilters the water before capture, it allows for a decorative landscape fountain that is both functional and beautiful. It keeps the water recirculating and oxygenated all while providing visual and acoustic appeal. Add an optional booster pump and connect your garden hose right to the reservoir or even a float valve and water your vegetables or perennials with the stored water. Reduce your water bills, and enhance your landscape all while doing your part to conserve.

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