Plant of the Week: Mazus

Mazus is a low growing perennial plant that is well suited to moist, shady areas. Mazus makes a fantastic ground cover because it fills in bare areas quickly, but because it is shallow routed, it is not aggressive or invasive.  Our favorite areas to plant mazus are to fill in gaps surrounding dry laid flagstone, in rock gardens, between stone steppers, and at the base of water features. Mazus makes a colorful groundcover with flowers blooming from late spring through mid summer in a variety of colors.

A Kane Mothers' Day Tradition

Josh Kane never has to worry about what to get his mom for Mothers' Day. Back when Josh started his landscaping business in his early teens, his mom asked him to plant summer annuals in their front landscape beds. So for the past 22 years, rain or shine, Josh has planted pink vincas for his mom to show his appreciation for all that she does.

Over the past couple years, Josh has began recruiting his little ones to help with this Kane Mothers' Day tradition. While he may have lost some efficiency with these amateur gardeners, along with the flowers, these two cuties help brighten up the garden and "Mimi's" Day.

A very Happy Mothers' Day to Marli Kane, on of the most loving, giving, and nurturing mothers and grandmothers we know!

Water, Water Everywhere!

Some things you just can’t predict on jobs.  After tearing down a patio that was poorly built by another company (that we will leave unnamed) years ago, we came across this underground spring.  We knew the area just past the patio was frequently wet, however, since we could not find many of the drain pipes that were supposed to have been installed by the previous company (that we will leave unnamed), we attributed poor drainage as the cause of the soggy lawn.  Springs are often more obvious in, well, the“spring” time when the water table is higher due to frequent rains and the snow melts from the winter.  We often find springs in the Ashburn / Leesburg area due to the high levels of limestone in the soil.  Using some creative solutions and a lot of pipe and gravel we will redirect the water coming up from the spring to allow the project to be built properly this time around.

Plant of the Week: P.J.M. Rhododendron

Many people confuse azalea plants with Rhododendrons. So what is the difference? To put it simply, all azaleas are Rhododendrons (the capital "R" signifying the plant genus), but not all Rhododendrons are azaleas. The genus Rhododendron is in the heath family which also includes such plants as  blueberries, cranberries, and mountain laurels. Most members of the heath family need an acidic soil to grow.

This week's Plant of the Week, the P.J.M. rhododendron is considered to be one of the hardiest of the rhododendrons, in terms of withstanding not only cold, but also heat and sun, and are much more soil adapatable. Varieties of P.J.M. are available with either pinkish-lavender or white flowers and grow to an overall size of approximately 4’ x 4’ at maturity. These rhododenrons make excellent foundation plantings especially when grouped together as a shrub border and prefer partial shade to full sun. P.J.M. Rhododendrons are also a popular choice for landscapes because they provide year round interest, with flowers in the spring, green suumer foliage, and mahogony winter color.

Plant of the Week: Lilac

Lilacs are a very popular spring-flowering shrub because they are hardy, easy to grow, and low maintenance. Lilacs produce abundant, colorful flower clusters with a sweet, memorable fragrance. They have deep green leaves and large, oval clusters of compound blooms that come in 7 colors: deep purple, lavender, blue, red, pink, white, or creamy yellow. The fragrant flowers are good for cutting for flower arrangements and attractive to butterflies. Lilac shrubs can grow from 5 to 15 feet tall, depending on the variety so it is important to space multiple lilac shrubs 5 to 15 feet apart, depending on the variety. Also, make sure to plant them in a site where they will get full sun—at least 6 hours. If lilacs don't get enough sun, they will not bloom well.

Outdoor Rooms

Do you ever think of your outdoor living spaces as  “outdoor rooms?”   Just as a house has “interior rooms” defined by walls, ceilings, doors and view windows, an “outdoor room” is similarly defined to create a comfortable and pleasurable experience. 

An arbor can be used to create an entry “door” to your space, 

which could be further defined by spatial "walls created with plantings

boulders,

or stone.

A pergola, 

the overhead canopy of well-placed trees,

or pavilion structure can be used to create  “ceilings.”

All these elements, and many others, can be professionally designed to come together and create an outdoor room with a comfortable human scale that opens up into higher and wider views of interest.  What is the state of your outdoor rooms? 

If you feel something is lacking in your “outdoor room” experience, give us a call at Kane Landscapes, Inc.

and we would welcome the opportunity meet with you to create a vision that excites you.

Plant of the Week: Dogwood Tree

While this March was  lacking in color  due to the  delay in arrival of Spring, we are now  seeing an abundance of color in April, especially with all of the flowering trees blooming at the same time. Normally, at this point in spring, the cherry blossoms would have shed their flowers, and dogwoods would now be at their peak. 

This weeks Plant of the Week, the Flowering dogwood, is a  smaller ornamental tree that typically grows to a height of 35 to 40 feet (10 to 12 m). This low-branched tree produces creamy-white flowers with 4 petals each in early spring. It is a deciduous tree, meaning it looses its leaves in the fall. Dogwoods thrive in forested, shady areas under other hardwoods and pines. If your landscape boarders a wooded area, consider the dogwood to provide year round interest and color, with the flowers in the spring, bright red/purple leaves and fruit, in the fall, and black or brown alligator-skin like bark in the winter.