roses – The Deck and Patio Company

Gallery

Valentine Roses: Red Isn’t The Only Color We Love

Valentine’s Day Dinner/Red Rose

Red roses are always a great option for your Valentine and for a Valentine’s own garden plans. Indeed, for Valentine’s you’ll find that most of the focus on roses will be on the “red” rose, which are known for symbolizing love and passion.

But there are other options that have strong appeal.

“One thing we’ve learned in our landscaping work at Deck and Patio,” says our owner Dave Stockwell, “is red isn’t the only rose color that people love. And not only are there very different rose colors, there are also beautiful variations of red.”

But you don’t have to take just our word. The editor of the Los Angeles floral trade publication has been quoted as saying, “Studies show that women don’t necessarily prefer red roses. Indeed, most women prefer another color.”

Examples of Landscaping with ‘Other’ Roses

Orange (Apricot-Pink) Roses

One beautiful choice Deck and Patio made was this stunning apricot-pink rose bed that we planted next to our client’s pool. “Such a brightly hued plant gets attention,” says Dave, “and in smaller spaces like this, the dramatic color helps the landscape recede behind it — causing the overall area to seem larger.”

It is arguable that “orange” roses like these have the most attitude in the rose family. These beauties are known for enthusiasm, not to mention passion.

The color also suggests a sense of significance and even urgency — perhaps just the right color to draw your loved ones outside on a warm summer day.

Pink Roses

When it comes to pink roses — like these beautiful ones planted and cared for by Deck and Patio — their color symbolizes gentleness and poetic romance, making them another great choice for Valentine’s Day.

They are extremely delicate and graceful and make an exquisite statement in any garden.

Yellow Roses

Traditionally, yellow roses symbolize friendship but they are so sunny that they spread joy to anyone who stops to smell them.

The very earliest yellow roses discovered by Europeans was in the Middle East. But when they brought them home, they noticed they lacked the red rose’s enticing scent.

Through cultivation since then, however, the yellow rose boasts the same lovely fragrance as their sister flora. You simply can’t go wrong giving yellow roses or planting a garden blooming with sunny yellow roses.

Caring for Roses

Mystic Rose – Photo/Sandra Vultaggio

Whatever their color, roses need a bit of care in your garden.

Sandra Vultaggio, a local Horticulture expert, says roses should be planted in the sun.

“Also, they need a good amount of air circulation around them,” she says. “Strictly avoid overhead irrigation or sprinkler heads. They will get more disease that way because viruses prefer wet environments. Keep them watered at the roots through a drip system or soaker hose.”

Sandra adds that the best time to plant is really any time throughout the growing season. “An ideal time would be early in the season — April or May.”

Knockout Rose

“Contrary to popular belief,” adds Dave Stockwell, “while knockout roses are extremely hardy and withstand blights, that doesn’t mean they don’t need some care like fertilizer, pruning and water. Also, some knockouts have succumbed to rosette disease. But if you do the basics, and keep an eye out for any strange looking bright red shoots, these are a great choice.”

Because of their hardiness, Deck and Patio gets a lot of requests for knockout roses, partly because they bloom for a long time throughout growing season and are much easier to care for. They are known to be disease and insect resistant which has made them quite popular.

New Love Rose

Here’s to all the Valentines of 2023! Whether it is roses on the big day or for your gardens. Let the color rose you love bring love to your day.

By June Sullivan|2023-02-09T14:32:42-05:00February 9th, 2023|Backyard Maintenance, Backyard Refurbishments, Backyard Upgrades, Gardening, Gift Ideas, Landscaping, Outdoor Living, outdoor maintenance, Plantings/Pondscapes, Plants, Pool Surrounds, Seasonal Landscapes|Comments Off

Gallery

For Mother’s Day Flowers: Think ‘Aquatic’

If Mom has a backyard pond, stream or water fountain, rather than giving her the usual bouquet, how about gifting her plants for her outdoor waterscape.

Plants for Water Fountains

Aquascape Inc. Garden Fountain

A water fountain that is set in a basin is the perfect spot for adding flowers and greenery. Consider free-floating plants which are perfect for a fountain garden.

Tip: Don’t forget a bit of Miracle Gro. In a fountain basin, floaters won’t get nutrients from other decaying plants that are found in ponds, etc., so they’ll need some nutrients.

Another tip: Put these plants in the calmest section of the fountain’s basin so they don’t get too much water splashed on them. If the basin is large enough, perhaps there’s room for a few koi as well. Koi and aquatic plants work well together in keeping a healthy waterscape.

Here’s a very short video of the sounds and beauty of a fountain-garden.

Deck and Patio Built Pond

Aquascape Inc., in St. Charles, IL — the country’s leading experts on all things pond and water gardens — describes the basic groups of aquatic plants as:

Water Lilies Lotus
Marginal Plants Water Lily-like Plants
Floating Plants Submerged Plants

And don’t worry if you’re choosing the right plant. Ponds are all the more beautiful with a variety of greenery and color.

“In fact, the best designs for ponds and water gardens utilize a wide mixture of plants in different heights, textures and color from at least three of the above groups,” says Deck and Patio’s Dave Stockwell.

“This gives the most natural look. When installing these, at Deck and Patio we don’t do it in a symmetrical way. We find that a more random placement provides the most natural look.”

And when it comes to gift giving, “random” makes the choosing all the easier.

Here’s some more aquatic plant ideas:

Aquatic Plants and Pond Landscaping (Long Island/NY):

The tall aquatic plant on the left of the pond (canna lily) offers a nice tall statement. It thrives in water conditions that are 70-80 degrees F, with a pH of 6.5-7.5.

They’re also easy to care for, love natural light and are ideally suited near the edges of a pond. The weeping hemlock at the top right in the photo flourishes in moist soil and offers a bit of shade which helps balance the water temperature.

Aquatic Plants (Long Island/NY):

So think water garden plants for this mother’s day. These plants will live a long time in their water bed. And with the outdoor season coming fast toward us, Mom will thank you indeed for the extra color and texture around her favorite sitting spot.

By June Sullivan|2022-05-05T13:14:21-05:00May 5th, 2022|Backyard Escapes, Backyard Refurbishments, Deck and Patios, Fountains, Gardening, Koi Ponds, Landscaping, Living Landscapes, Outdoor Living, outdoor maintenance, Plantings/Pondscapes, Plants, Ponds & Water Features, Serenity Escapes, Streams, Sustainable Water Features|Comments Off

Gallery

There’s More to Aquatic Plants Than Meets the Eye

Plants Attract Delightful Creatures

It is true that water gardens — and the plants installed in and around them — are delightful to look at.

And they attract equally delightful creatures: chirping birds, flapping butterflies, and croaking frogs.

But there’s more to it all than what meets the eye. “For an ideal water garden eco-system, the key is maintaining clean, healthy water.

“Pond filtration systems do a lot, as do waterfalls etc. which aerate and oxygenate the water. But at the end of the day, a huge part of creating a healthy system is the water landscaping you do,” says our own Dave Stockwell.

Aquatic floaters and marginals, says Dave, are perfect for gobbling up the excess nutrients that are produced by any pond fish and excessive plant algae growth. They also help by reducing sunlight in the pond, which helps control the growth of algae.

Plants such as water lilies and irises feed on the nutrients (algae or small primitive unwanted plant life) in the pond water, and produce oxygen while they provide shade and food for the small creatures attracted to the water garden.

Submerged plants (e.g., anacharis, parrot’s feather or hornwort) will also release oxygen.

Aquatic Plants

Deck and Patio Built Pond

The gurus of all things pond/water garden — Aquascape Inc., in St. Charles, IL — list the basic groups of aquatic plants as:

Water Lilies
Lotus
Marginal Plants
Water Lily-like Plants
Floating Plants Submerged Plants.

“An ideal pond mixes plant heights, textures and color from at least three of these groups,” says Dave. “This gives the most natural look. We also don’t install plants in a symmetrical way. A more random placement looks the most natural.”

“Remember, that while nutrients sound like a good thing, too many in your water garden, and your pond water changes dramatically,” says Dave.

“However, despite the fact that aquatic plants eat up unwanted nutrients, too many plants or plant material will also contribute to an over abundance of nutrients. When plants die in the fall, they fall back in the pond, adding to the problem. We recommend cutting them back before this happens in order to have healthy water.”

But don’t fret if your pond water has a slight tint to it. Crystal clear water has no nutrients. You want some algae, diatoms, protozoans, etc. because they offer a diverse food source for pond fish, frogs, and plants. It’s all about choosing the right plants and keeping them all in balance.

Aquatic Plants and Pond Landscaping

The tall aquatic plant on the left of this Deck and Patio pond (a canna lily) thrives in water conditions that are 70-80 degrees F, with a pH of 6.5-7.5.

They’re also easy to care for, love natural light and are ideally suited near the edges of a pond. The weeping hemlock at the top right in the photo flourishes in moist soil and offers a bit of shade which helps balance the water temperature.

Landscaping Around Ponds and Water Features

This photo was taken just after we built the pond. Lily pads, and other in-pond aquatic plants, had yet to be added. But we had installed some attractive peripheral landscaping using plants that like moist, but well-draining soil.

These do well around a pond but not in one. The red/pink flowers in the foreground are roses. To the right of them are variegated hydrangea and to the left are variegated hosta. All of these plants attract birds and butterflies.

Aquatic Plants

In addition to the canna lily, this pond boasts water lilies — both tropical and hardy ones. The pinkish coneflowers on the right of this Deck and Patio pond are not aquatic and are not in the water but are perfect edging plants as they attract desirable wildlife — one of the reasons we love our ponds.

“Pondless” Waterfall Landscaping

Pink petunias add a bright statement away from where the waterfalls spill and seep into the ground. Close to the waterfall area we added grassy plants like Liriope that thrive in moist soil.

By June Sullivan|2021-04-08T13:36:08-05:00April 8th, 2021|Aquascape Biofalls, Backyard Escapes, Backyard Upgrades, Gardening, Koi Ponds, Landscaping, Living Landscapes, Outdoor Living, outdoor maintenance, Plantings/Pondscapes, Plants, Pondless Waterfalls, Ponds & Water Features, Seasonal Landscapes, Serenity Escapes, Updating Landscape|Comments Off

Gallery

Landscaping Tip: Rose Beds Don’t Have To Be Red

Updated 1-25-24

With Valentine’s Day less than three weeks away, it’s the perfect time to think about roses — and all the wonderful colorful options available for your Valentine or to plant in your garden. And as our headline suggests, not all rose beds need to be red.

Representing love and passion, red roses are, indeed, a perfect fit for a day devoted to romantic love. But roses can say “Be Mine” without having to be red.

“If there’s one thing we’ve learned at Deck and Patio in our landscaping work,” says our owner Dave Stockwell, “red isn’t the only rose color that people love.”

Peach

June Sullivan’Recent Florist Order

Let’s start with peach roses. A few week’s ago, the writer of this blog needed to send roses. And when asking the florist if they had some in Pantone’s color of the year — Peach Fuzz — they were clearly ready for the question, enthusiastically responding, “Oh yes!” The photo shown here (left) is my order being made up by that florist.

Why choose peach? Peach roses, experts say, symbolize “sincerity, friendship, gratitude, and genuineness” and are appropriate for friends and business colleagues. Not to mention roses are delightful in a romantic peach hue — perfect for your ‘pretty in peach’ Valentine. Also, a darker peachy apricot, for example, can be lovely in your flower beds (see a little further below).

Apricot-Pink

Orange (Apricot-Pink) Roses

Take for example this stunning apricot-pink rose that one of our designers added to landscaping around a client’s pool.

Such a dramatic hued plant gets attention. And in smaller spaces like this, it helps the landscape to recede behind it — causing the overall area to seem larger.

As for this color: without a doubt “orange” roses have the most attitude in the rose family. These beauties are known for enthusiasm, not to mention passion.

The color also suggests a sense of significance and even urgency — perhaps just the right color to draw your loved ones outside on a warm summer day.

Pink

Pink Roses

When it comes to pink roses — like these beautiful ones planted and cared for by Deck and Patio — their color symbolizes gentleness and poetic romance, making them another great choice for Valentine’s Day.

They are extremely delicate and graceful and make an exquisite statement in any garden.

Yellow

Yellow Roses

Traditionally, yellow roses suggest friendship. But they are so sunny that they spread joy to anyone who stops to smell them.

The very earliest yellow roses discovered by Europeans were in the Middle East. But when they brought them home, they noticed they lacked the red rose’s enticing scent.

Through caring and cultivation the yellow rose soon claimed the same aromatic fragrance as their sister flora. You simply can’t go wrong with a garden blooming with sunny yellow roses.

Red

Red Roses

Last, but by no means least, red roses!

When landscaping around a pond we installed for Deck and Patio clients, we planted red roses around it (foreground).

These vibrant reds blend beautifully with the variegated hydrangea to their right and the variegated hosta to their left.

All the plants pictured here will attract birds and butterflies. But the dramatic red rose is the eye-catcher.

Needless to say: Red roses symbolize love and romance like no other and also suggest perfection and beauty.

Valentine’s Day Dinner/Red Rose

As a Valentine’s Day gift, or as a dramatic element in your garden, it’s a perfect choice.

Caring for Roses

Mystic Rose – Photo/Sandra Vultaggio

Whatever their color, roses need a bit of care in your garden.

Horticulture expert Sandra Vultaggio, says roses should be planted in the sun.

“Also, they need a good amount of air circulation around them,” she says. “Strictly avoid overhead irrigation or sprinkler heads. They will get more disease that way because viruses prefer wet environments. Keep them watered at the roots through a drip system or soaker hose.”

Sandra adds that the best time to plant is really any time throughout the growing season. “An ideal time would be early in the season — April or May.”

Knockout Rose

Deck and Patio gets a lot of requests for knockout roses, partly because they bloom for a long time throughout growing season and are much easier to care for.

They are also known to be disease and insect resistant which has made them quite popular.

“Contrary to popular belief,” adds Deck and Patio owner Dave Stockwell, “while knock out roses are extremely hardy and withstand blights, that doesn’t mean they don’t need some care like fertilizer, pruning and water.

Also, some knockouts have succumbed to rosette disease. But if you do the basics, and keep an eye out for any strange looking bright red shoots, these are a great choice.”

By June Sullivan|2024-01-26T17:37:24-05:00February 11th, 2021|Creative Design, Gardening, Landscape Planning, Landscaping, Outdoor Living, Plants, Seasonal Landscapes, Updating Landscape|Comments Off

Gallery

Healthy Water Garden Eco-system Includes Delightful Aquatic Plants

Updated 3-21-24

Deck and Patio has designed and built over 300 ponds across Long Island and New York City boroughs. Not only do we create them, we also maintain them. And one key element that helps maintain the waterscape is the presence of aquatic plants.

You’ll see today some of Deck and Patio’s favorite aquatic plants which brighten and help purify any water garden. But we’re also including some recent ideas suggested by our favorite supplier of all water garden needs — Aquascape, Inc., (St. Charles, IL)

CreepingJenny

Aquascape loves, for example, “Creeping Jenny” Pond Plants. These beauties make great marginal plants. They enjoy moist soil or water up to one-inch deep, “making an excellent choice to soften edges of rocks. It’s also prolific, but also easily pulled and therefore easy to manage.”

Pickerel Plant

As Aquascape explains, this lovely plant is available in blue, white, and pink lavender spiked flowers. “Pickerel is a great choice for ponds because of its shiny, green heart-shaped foliage. The blooms are long lasting and create a beautiful display when planted in masses. It grows about 24-30″ in height and performs well in Zones 4-10.”

Cardinal Flower

Another popular beauty is the “Cardinal Flower.” “Plant this pretty flower along the shallow edges of your pond and watch the birds flock to it,” says Aquascape. Its deep burgundy foliage sets off the vibrant red flowers. The leaves are up to eight inches long and the plant can grow as tall as three feet. Cardinal flower performs best in Zones 5-9.”

We were delighted to note that water lilies are still recommended as a popular plant. Indeed, it’s worth checking out the entire Aquascape post for the other several beautiful plants highlighted

As a final update: After reading our earlier post below, and if you still doubt that aquatic plants are capable of purifying pond water, etc., check out this fascinating new feature on how lettuce absorbs pollutants. After reading, you may want to eat less lettuce, but you’ll be confident in a plant’s ability to help clean your water garden.

Now to some of our own Deck and Patio projects already completed and maintained:

“The key to an ideal water garden eco-system is maintaining clean, healthy water,” says our own Dave Stockwell. “It is then that you attract and support delightful wildlife such as birds, butterflies, frogs, etc.”

Pond filtration systems and operating waterfalls are a big part of keeping water clean and oxygenated (aerated), adds Dave. “However, another major part of creating and maintaining a healthy water garden system is the aquatic and surrounding landscaping you do.”

Beautiful Lotus aquatic plant

Aquatic Plants

Aquascape Inc., in St. Charles, IL — the country’s leading experts on all things pond and water gardens — describes the basic groups of aquatic plants as:

Water Lilies Lotus

Marginal Plants Water Lily-like Plants

Floating Plants Submerged Plants

“The best designs for ponds and water gardens utilize a wide mixture of plants in different heights, textures and color from at least three of the above groups,” says Dave. “This gives the most natural look. When installing these, at Deck and Patio we don’t do it in a symmetrical way. We find that a more random placement provides the most natural look.”

Aquatic Plants and Pond Landscaping (Long Island/NY):

The tall aquatic plant on the left of the pond (canna lily) offers a nice tall statement. It thrives in water conditions that are 70-80 degrees F, with a pH of 6.5-7.5. They’re also easy to care for, love natural light and are ideally suited near the edges of a pond. The weeping hemlock at the top right in the photo flourishes in moist soil and offers a bit of shade which helps balance the water temperature.

But there’s more to aquatic plants than aesthetics. Plants such as water lilies and irises feed on the nutrients (algae or small primitive unwanted plant life) in the pond water, and produce oxygen while they provide shade and food for small creatures attracted to the water garden.

Aquatic floaters and marginals, adds Dave, are perfect for gobbling up the excess nutrients that are produced by any pond fish and excessive plant algae growth. They also help by reducing sunlight in the pond, which also controls the growth of algae.

Aquatic Plant: Arable Hornwort

One submerged plant, arable hornwort, is a great example of plants that eat up algae and will also release oxygen.

“Remember, that while nutrients sound like a good thing, too many in your water garden, and your pond water changes dramatically,” says Dave. “However, despite the fact that aquatic plants eat up unwanted nutrients, too many plants or plant material will also contribute to an over abundance of nutrients. For example, when plants die in the fall, they fall back in the pond, adding to the problem. We recommend cutting them back before this happens in order to have healthy water.”

Dave says not to fret if your pond water has a slight tint to it. “Crystal clear water has no nutrients. You want some algae, diatoms, protozoans, etc. because they offer a diverse food source for pond fish, frogs, and plants. It’s all about choosing the right plants and keeping them all in balance.

To complete an enchanting water garden eco-system, the plants you put in around your water feature’s edge will aid in attracting birds, butterflies, pollinators, etc. No pond/water feature will be completely free of algae but it can be kept in check and in a natural way.

Aquatic Plants (Deck and Patio Project /Long Island/NY):

In addition to the canna lily, this pond boasts water lilies — both tropical and hardy ones. The pinkish coneflowers on the right are not aquatic and are not in the water but are perfect edging plants as they attract desirable wildlife — one of the reasons we love our ponds.

_____________

Waterfall Bonus: Keeping the garden’s water circulating using a pump, or adding waterfalls, will help prevent mosquito larvae from hatching.

Note: Feature Photo at top of page is a Deck and Patio pond.

By June Sullivan|2024-03-21T13:20:18-05:00May 22nd, 2019|Aquascape Biofalls, Creative Design, Gardening, Koi Ponds, Landscaping, Living Landscapes, Moss Rock and Stones, Outdoor Living, outdoor maintenance, Plantings/Pondscapes, Plants, Ponds & Water Features, Updating Landscape|Comments Off

Deck and Patio Landscaping: A Rose By Any Other Color

Pretty much everyone loves roses. We love their smell. Their vivid colors. Also their ruffled petals and high-rise cups. It’s also a flower that’s just as beautiful as a bud as when it’s in full bloom.

Valentine’s Day Dinner/Red Rose

With Valentine’s Day approaching, most of the focus on roses will be on the “red” rose. Known for symbolizing love and passion, it’s a perfect fit for a day devoted to romantic love.

But if there’s one thing we’ve learned at Deck and Patio in our landscaping work — red isn’t the only rose color that people love.

Apparently we’re not alone in noticing it. Bruce Wright, editor of the Los Angles-based floral trade publication, has been quoted as saying, “Studies show that women don’t necessarily prefer red roses. “Indeed, most women prefer another color.”

Orange (apricot-pink) roses

Take for example this stunning apricot-pink rose that one of our designers added to landscaping around a client’s pool.

Such a dramatic hued plant gets attention, and in smaller spaces like this, it helps the landscape to recede behind it — causing the overall area to seem larger.

As for this color: without a doubt “orange” roses have the most attitude in the rose family. These beauties are known for enthusiasm, not to mention passion.

The color also suggests a sense of significance and even urgency — perhaps just the right color to draw your loved ones outside on a warm summer day.

Pink Roses

When it comes to pink roses — like these beautiful ones planted and cared for by Deck and Patio — their color symbolizes gentleness and poetic romance, making them another great choice for Valentine’s Day.

They are extremely delicate and graceful and make an exquisite statement in any garden.

Yellow Roses

Traditionally, yellow roses symbolize friendship but they are so sunny that they spread joy to anyone who stops to smell them.

The very earliest yellow roses discovered by Europeans was in the Middle East. But when they brought them home, they noticed they lacked the red rose’s enticing scent.

Through caring and cultivation the yellow rose soon claimed the same aromatic fragrance as their sister flora. You simply can’t go wrong with a garden blooming with sunny yellow roses.

Red Roses

And last, but by no means least, red roses! We planted red roses (foreground) when landscaping around a pond we installed for two of our clients. They blend beautifully with the variegated hydrangea to the right of them and the variegated hosta to the left.

All the plants pictured will attract birds and butterflies. But the dramatic red rose is the eye-catcher.

Needless to say: red roses symbolize love and romance like no other flower and also suggest perfection and beauty. As a Valentine’s Day gift or as a dramatic element in your garden, it’s a perfect choice.

Mystic Rose – Photo/Sandra Vultaggio

Caring for Roses

Whatever their color, roses need a bit of care in your garden.

Sandra Vultaggio, Horticulture Consultant at Suffolk County’s Cornell Cooperative Extension, says roses should be planted in the sun.

“Also, they need a good amount of air circulation around them,” she says. “Strictly avoid overhead irrigation or sprinkler heads. They will get more disease that way because viruses prefer wet environments. Keep them watered at the roots through a drip system or soaker hose.”

Sandra adds that the best time to plant is really any time throughout the growing season. “An ideal time would be early in the season — April or May.”

Knockout Rose

Deck and Patio gets a lot of requests for knockout roses, partly because they bloom for a long time throughout growing season and are much easier to care for.

They are known to be disease and insect resistant which has made them quite popular.

“Contrary to popular belief,” adds Deck and Patio owner Dave Stockwell, “while knock out roses are extremely hardy and withstand blights, that doesn’t mean they don’t need some care like fertilizer, pruning and water. Also, some knockouts have succumbed to rosette disease. But if you do the basics, and keep an eye out for any strange looking bright red shoots, these are a great choice.”

By June Sullivan|2018-02-08T13:25:45-05:00February 8th, 2018|Gardening, Landscaping, outdoor maintenance, Plantings/Pondscapes, Seasonal Landscapes|Comments Off

Gallery

The Benefits of Aquatic Plants and Water Garden Landscaping

Water Gardens, and the plants installed in and around them, are delightful to look at. They also attract creatures that offer a daily open-air symphony: chirping birds, flapping butterflies, and croaking frogs.

For an ideal water garden eco-system, the key is maintaining clean, healthy water. Pond filtration systems do a lot, as do waterfalls etc. that aerate and oxygenate the water. But at the end of the day, a huge part of creating a healthy system is the water landscaping you do.

Deck and Patio Built Pond

Aquatic Plants

The gurus of all things pond/water garden — Aquascape Inc., in St. Charles, IL — list the basic groups of aquatic plants as:

Water Lilies
Lotus
Marginal Plants
Water Lily-like Plants
Floating Plants Submerged Plants.

“An ideal pond mixes plant heights, textures and color from at least three of these groups,” says Dave Stockwell, owner of Deck and Patio. “This gives the most natural look. We also don’t install plants in a symmetrical way. A more random placement looks the most natural.”

But there’s more to it than aesthetics. Plants such as water lilies and irises feed on the nutrients (algae or small primitive unwanted plant life) in the pond water, and produce oxygen while they provide shade and food for small creatures attracted to the water garden.

Aquatic floaters and marginals, adds Dave, are perfect for gobbling up the excess nutrients that are produced by any pond fish and excessive plant algae growth. They also help by reducing sunlight in the pond, which also helps control the growth of algae.

Submerged plants (e.g., anacharis, parrot’s feather or hornwort) will also release oxygen.

“Remember, that while nutrients sound like a good thing, too many in your water garden, and your pond water changes dramatically,” says Dave. “However, despite the fact that aquatic plants eat up unwanted nutrients, too many plants or plant material will also contribute to an over abundance of nutrients. For example, when plants die in the fall, they fall back in the pond, adding to the problem. We recommend cutting them back before this happens in order to have healthy water.”

Dave says not to fret if your pond water has a slight tint to it. “Crystal clear water has no nutrients. You want some algae, diatoms, protozoans, etc. because they offer a diverse food source for pond fish, frogs, and plants. It’s all about choosing the right plants and keeping them all in balance.

To complete an enchanting water garden eco-system, the plants you put in around your water feature’s edge will aid in attracting birds, butterflies, pollinators, etc.

No pond/water feature will be completely free of algae but it can be kept in check and in a natural way — providing you with a daily outdoor natural symphony.

Aquatic Plants and Pond Landscaping:

The tall aquatic plant on the left of the pond (a canna lily) thrives in water conditions that are 70-80 degrees F, with a pH of 6.5-7.5. They’re also easy to care for, love natural light and are ideally suited near the edges of a pond. The weeping hemlock at the top right in the photo flourishes in moist soil and offers a bit of shade which helps balance the water temperature.

Landscaping Around Ponds and Water Features:

This photo was taken just after we built the pond. Lily pads, and other in-pond aquatic plants, had yet to be added. But we had installed some attractive peripheral landscaping using plants that like moist, but well-draining soil. These do well around a pond but not in one. The red/pink flowers in the foreground are roses. To the right of them are variegated hydrangea and to the left are variegated hosta. All of these plants attract birds and butterflies.

Aquatic Plants:

In addition to the canna lily, this pond boasts water lilies — both tropical and hardy ones. The pinkish coneflowers on the right are not aquatic and are not in the water but are perfect edging plants as they attract desirable wildlife — one of the reasons we love our ponds.

“Pondless” Waterfall Landscaping:

Pink petunias add a bright statement away from where the waterfalls spill and seep into the ground. Close to the waterfall area we added grassy plants like Liriope that thrive in moist soil.

By June Sullivan|2017-03-23T14:52:19-05:00March 23rd, 2017|Gardening, Koi Ponds, Landscaping, Living Landscapes, Plantings/Pondscapes, Pondless Waterfalls, Ponds & Water Features, Uncategorized, Updating Landscape|0 Comments

2016 Interior Design Trends: The Influence of Beautiful Landscapes
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2016 Interior Design Trends: The Influence of Beautiful Landscapes

When it comes to interior design trends, it seems everything’s coming up roses…and hydrangeas…and crawling vines. For 2016 and beyond, experts say we can expect to see lots of horticulture-inspired fabrics and wall coverings, living walls (vertical gardens), and décor-to-your-door monthly floral arrangement clubs brightening our homes.

One creative artist and designer is in the forefront of reimagining horticulture-inspired wall coverings as art. New York City’s own Candice Kaye (Candice Kaye Design) offers an array of beautiful landscape-influenced art in her 2016 collections of wall fabrics, for example.

“It was forest designers who first caught my attention. They had rented a house and decorated it with flowers and vines,” says Kaye. “It looked just like the outdoors and that really moved me. I love studying how the flowers lay out, their bright colors, and how vines and flowers all work together. I think the recent trend in interior design is partly because of social media. People can appreciate all the beautiful interiors being created and that inspires them to want the same for themselves.”

Fortunately, Mother Nature seems limitless in what she can inspire. In Deck and Patio’s own landscaping work, we enjoy choosing from myriad colors and textures of flowers, shrubs and flowering trees in order to create beautiful, yet, individual, outdoor escapes for clients — be the projects large or small.

“In recent years, the ever-rising demand for outdoor landscaped retreats can’t help but go hand-in-hand with a desire to bring all this beauty inside,” says Dave Stockwell, owner of Deck and Patio. “Be it through expansive windows in the home, or the latest upsurge in outdoor pavilions and four season rooms, it’s a fact that once you experience a beautiful outdoor landscape, you want to live it all the time — indoors as well as out.”

With permission from Kaye, we have juxtaposed below a few of her beautiful wall covering creations against selected photos of our own landscaping projects. These are followed with two great examples of horticulture being interchangeable as indoor and outdoor experiences.

Enjoy!

These apricot-pink roses were chosen by Deck and Patio’s Marc Wiener for a client. “Such bright plants attract attention and cause the landscape to recede behind them, making the overall area to appear larger,” says Wiener.

Candice Kaye experimented with a little whimsy as she developed her custom “Roses Are Blue” design for a client. “I like to capture what’s been done by Nature, but also make it more exciting by playing with scale and letting florals dominate in a design,” she says.

Candice Kaye experimented with a little whimsy as she developed her elegant “Roses Are Blue” design for a client. “I like to capture what’s been done by Nature, but also make it more exciting by playing with scale and letting florals dominate in a design,” she says.

“Water lilies are very popular aquatic plants for backyard ponds. They not only offer vibrant color but they offer shade for pond fish and contribute in a positive way to an overall healthy eco-system,” says Dave Stockwell.

Kaye’s “Exotic” design for her Summer Collection includes a hint of an aquatic plant we particularly love — water lilies. “I love putting together combination of various flowers I love, in soft, but striking, hues and shapes,” says Kaye.

Kaye’s “Collection N Twelve” boasts a dramatic striped wall covering with a captivating, if subtle, vine design inspired by her outdoor nature walks.

For these clients, Deck and Patio created a walk-through private woodland path for quiet moments of contemplation when strolling from one area to another.

One design idea that enlivens both interior and exterior space with real flowers is the living wall. Deck and Patio’s Marc Wiener recently installed on a backyard wall in busy New York City.

“There are many type of Living Walls; interior and exterior, permanent or seasonal walls, and then there is the ‘Plug n Play’ (manufactured and trademarked by Green Living Technologies, International or GLTi),” says Wiener. “Drip irrigation is set up on alternating rows and trickles down to each row below; excess water is either captured or drains. Plants are set on an angle with their holes faced downward so the roots/soil can sap up water via wicking effect.”

Container Gardening for Indoors and Out

One other clever idea that can enhance both interiors and exteriors is container gardening. This beautiful collection of hydrangeas in easy-to-move containers means they can be placed wherever the activity is happing in the yard — or bring them inside to enhance your interior design.

In sum: It appears that our love of the outdoors doesn’t seem to be fading any time soon. So! Gather ye rosebuds while (or where) ye may!