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Winter Interest in the Landscape

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It is not a secret that the Nebraska winters can be lengthy and bitter.  The landscape garden can help alleviate some of the winter blues by showcasing winter interest through textures, colors and fruits, all which can be showy in the cold when selecting the right plants to do the job!  Here are some examples of how to incorporate plants with winter interest into the landscape as well as some varieties to make it happen.

Attractive bark is an important element in the winter landscape.  Once leaves have fallen and the bark’s surface is exposed, it can be seen in all its wonder.  Some bark is fissured, and some bark is unique for its peeling effect, regardless, bark can offer texture and color to the landscape beds during the winter months.  A few favorite varieties known for their attribute of outstanding bark in the landscape would include the paperbark maple, river birch, and the seven-son flower shrub.

Another key component of winter interest in the landscape beds includes color.  Several plant varieties offer color during the summer with their intense blooms, but it is important to incorporate the plants that offer powerful color during the winter months as well.  Whether it be through stem color or brightly colored persistent fruit, year-round color brightens the landscape beds.  The redosier dogwood, scarlet curls curly willow, beautyberry, holly, and snowberry shrubs all offer either brightly colored stems or a collage of colorful berries for landscape winter interest.

To inquire further about how to incorporate some winter interest into your landscape, contact the All American office at 402-408-0000.

Plant Spotlight – Annual Lantana

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Annual Lantana is a flower that is lavishly swathed through the summer months with vibrantly stained blooms. This shrubby species is available in several garden varieties bearing white, yellow, gold, orange, pink and red flowers; typically the mature blooms in each cluster are a separate color than the newer ones.  Annual Lantana crave full sun and heat to offer their finest show.  Lantana prefer poor soil to deliver strong and colorful blooms.  They are frost-vulnerable, so establish outdoors after the ground has warmed completely and distance the plants about 18 inches apart for maximum results.  To inquire further about how All American can incorporate this bright, fun annual into your landscape beds or containers, call the office at 402-408-0000.

Benefits of a Spring Lawn Aeration

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Your lawn needs a lot of consideration and care in the spring season. It is a challenging moment for your turf as it is in the healing phase for the earth and grass to try to rebound after a long, cold season of compressed dirt and trampled blades and roots. One of the most advantageous steps of lawn care during the spring season is aeration.  Thank goodness for All American’s grounds maintenance services, as lawn aeration, whether spring or fall, is a service offered annually to all of our customers!

Aeration in residential turfgrass areas is a procedure that allows your lawn to exhale. The lawn develops a layer of thatch which is essentially an obsolete layer of dead root mass, leaves and other lawn rubbish built up and blocking the ability of your lawn to breathe. Aerating your lawn involves a process where your lawn will be penetrated with spikes, letting air move through the soil, or little cores of soil will be removed and placed on top of the lawn to let your lawn behave as it should.

Spring aeration is critical to the wellbeing of your lawn and valuable in countless ways. As soon as winter subsides and everything fades and starts to dry, your lawn wants some relief to allow it to decompress and receive nutrients appropriately. Aeration facilitates the relief of the pressure on the soil and soaks up what it needs from both the nutrients you give it and water it gets.  To inquire further about scheduling an All American spring lawn aeration, call the office at 402-408-0000.

Plant Spotlight – Shawnee Brave Bald Cypress

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The Shawnee Brave Bald Cypress is a stately deciduous conifer but watch out!  Unlike other conifers, it loses its needles every fall and grows a new set in the spring.  This bald cypress is a large specimen tree, growing 50-70’ tall with a 20-30‘ spread and a pyramidal growth habit.  Soft, feathery needles turn russet-red in the autumn months before falling to the ground.  Shawnee Brave thrives best in full sun environments and does well in zones 4 – 11.  Shawnee Brave Bald Cypress has proven to be one of the best trees for both wet and dry soils alike.  The specimen prefers acidic soils and may demonstrate chlorotic symptoms in higher pH (alkaline) soils.

This regal conifer, native to the Midwest, is often found in groupings in parks and larger spaces, along streets, and bodies of water, however it makes a magnificent landscape specimen, attracting birds and small wildlife as well as being showy in winter months with its fissured, peeling bark.

To inquire further about how All American can incorporate this beautiful specimen into your landscape, call the office at 402-408-0000.

Annuals for a Splash of Summer Color – Think Now!

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Annual Color Comes in a Variety of Colors and Sizes and Textures to Beautify

Annuals for a Splash of Summer Color – Think Now!

As the autumn months wind down and we move into winter, it is time to start planning for spring and summer annuals for 2020 – what?  That is right.  Most people don’t realize it, but a lot of planning goes into spring and summer color for annuals, whether they are in the ground or for container color. 

The planning process for a landscape company that typically does the annual color installation begins early fall and is not complete until just after the new year.  Benefits of planning your annuals early include plant and variety choice or availability, ordering in quantity if necessary, and locking in pricing for the next year without worry of increased vendor costs.

Color in containers should typically container three items: a spiller, a filler, and a thriller.  Whether you are preparing a container for spring or summer, your preferences or plant choices might differ, but the idea is the same.  A spiller is a plant that trails down the container as a waterfall effect, such as a sweet potato vine or an ivy.  A filler can be many specimens and are usually the main flower color of which there can be more than one type.  Filler options include pansies for spring, and begonias, impatiens, and coleus for summer.  The thriller is the exciting part and can be a live specimen or a fun feature in the design.  Some examples of thrillers include curly willow stems, native grasses and tropical plants.  To inquire further about how All American can add annuals into your landscape, call the office at 402-408-0000.

Plant Spotlight – Low Scape Mound Chokeberry

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Low Scape Mound Chokeberry is a hardy, tolerant, neat yet petite mound of lustrous green leaves that turn to an intense red hue in the fall and juxtapose nicely with the deep purple to black fruit.  In the springtime, the shrub bears several delicate, white blooms that cover the plant.  This plant is inimitable for its low-growing form, making it ideal for mass plantings in ground cover form.  The 2’ x 2’ specimen flourishes in most climate and soil conditions and performs best in full sun to part shade.  Being hardy to zone 3, this beauty provides interest from spring through frost!  To inquire further about how All American can incorporate this versatile shrub into your landscape, call the office at 402-408-0000.

Fire Features for Outdoor Entertaining

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Outdoor Fire Features Come in Several Shapes and Sizes to Make Entertaining Easy and Fun!

Fire is a genuine invite to a gathering, so when integrating a fire pit into your landscape, it is essential to consider where to put it and what to surround it with.  While a fire pit is a component that stands on its own, paying attention to placement in the landscape is important.  A fire pit can be a part of a paver patio, and it is typically a structure that is utilized after a meal and should contain its own space.  Preferably, this space would be close by the central outdoor area, but not too close, and the path connecting them can be well-defined. 

Though the patio you build for your fire pit should be distinct, it will look lost if you do not link it to the home with the resources chosen to build the feature.  For a rustic appearance, contemplate a ground-level fire pit hemmed in an irregular, free-form stone, such as flagstone.  If the idea is a more lustrous flair, you may choose a gas pit, which can be filled with various items.   Remember to be mindful of traffic flow when planning fire pit location, as it is vital to getting a comfy space that will be utilized repeatedly.

To inquire further about how All American can incorporate a fire pit into your landscape, call the office at 402-408-0000.

Plant Spotlight – Fall Fiesta Sugar Maple

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When looking for a shade tree that boasts outstanding fall color, the Fall Fiesta Sugar Maple should not be overlooked!  This maple is a large shade tree, growing 30 – 50’ tall with a symmetrical, oval to upright habit.  The dramatic fall color is its most amazing feature, showcasing hues of red, orange and yellow in the autumn months.  Fall Fiesta thrives best in full sun environments and does well in zones 4 – 7.  Fall Fiesta Sugar Maple has proven to be one of the best Sugar Maple trees for both hot and cold climates.

The Fall Fiesta Sugar Maple is adaptable to soils, but dislikes air pollution and compaction.  Its average texture blends into the landscape but can be balanced by one or two finer or coarser trees or shrubs for an effective composition.  Neither the flowers nor the fruit are ornamentally significant.

To inquire further about how All American can incorporate this beautiful specimen into your landscape, call the office at 402-408-0000.

Fall Color in the Landscape

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Each autumn we delight in the exquisiteness of the booming colors of trees and shrubs in the landscape. The combination of yellow, purple, orange and red is the effect of chemical progressions that take place in the plants as time transforms from summer to winter months.

Throughout the spring and summer months, the foliage of the plants has aided as factories where most of the nourishments essential for the tree’s development are mass-produced. This food-making method occurs in the leaf in several cells comprised of chlorophyll, giving the leaf its green hue. This remarkable chemical captivates from sunlight the energy that is expended in changing carbon dioxide and water to carbohydrates, primarily sugars and starch.

Besides the green pigment are yellow to orange colors, carotenes and xanthophyll pigments which, for example, contribute the orange tint in a carrot. Largely throughout the year these hues are disguised by excessive quantities of green pigment.

Temperature, water, and light contribute an influence on the extent and interval of autumnal color. Subdued temperatures above freezing will support anthocyanin development fabricating brilliant red hues in maple trees. However, a premature frost will wane the vivid red shade. Rainy or gloomy days lean towards an intensification of fall colors. The ideal moment to appreciate fall colors would be on a clear, dry, and cool day.  Welcome the colors, they only befall for a fleeting time each autumn.  To inquire further about how All American can increase fall color in your residential landscape, call the office at 402-408-0000.

Plant Spotlight – Firefly Night Glow Bush Honeysuckle

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With a catch phrase such as “Light It Up!”, how could you go wrong with the brilliant Firefly Night Glow Bush Honeysuckle?  The strong, yellow flowers glow dazzling against the dark red foliage of Night Glow.  Hardy to zone 4, this striking beauty prefers full sun to part shade and grows a maximum of 3 feet by 3 feet, making it ideal for small landscapes or tight spots.  This versatile native dwarf honeysuckle is easy to grow, adapting to a range of soil types, and is a magnet for pollinators.  To inquire further about how All American can incorporate this showy shrub into your landscape, call the office at 402-408-0000.

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