Water Wise

Water is a very precious resource we have and in Nebraska I think we sometimes take it for granted. Here are a few interesting water facts from MUD's website:

1. Only 1 percent of the earth's water is available for drinking.
2. Typical households consume 50 percent of their water on the lawn.
3. You can survive about a month without food, but only 5-7 days without water.
4. A person should consume 2 quarts of water per day to maintain health.
5. A small drip from a leaky faucet can waste about 3,000 gallons of water per year. A leaky toilet can waste as much as 200 gallons of water per day.
6. On average about 70 percent of water use is for landscaping.

I live in a forested neighborhood with lots of shade and am protected by the wind as well, so when I built my house 8 years ago I decided not to install a sprinkler system. This year I am proud to say I never had to water my fescue lawn. The lawn looks great and is thriving. We did have an unsually cool summer with timely rains so everything worked out perfect. Normally I will water 6-10 times per year starting in July and ending in early September. My landscape takes very little water as well. The native grasses, shrubs and trees are very drought resistent and easy to maintain.

As we consider some of these water facts I hope we all take the time to value our very precious resource. Please contact us if you would like to have Greenlife Gardens help you conserve water in your lawn or landscape.

Cory Wehrbein

GARDENING $EN$E

Growing your own vegetable garden can be very rewarding personally and monetarily. Vegetable production creates a sense of security for the consumer and can also be a money saver. You can control the quality of your food and be aware of the environment in which it is produced so there is less need to be concerned about where and how your food was produced and with what it was treated during the growing process.

Transportation costs of your veggies are on the rise and you can save some money by cutting out the middle man. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a pound of tomatoes from the store will cost you about $1.77 per pound whereas a pound of homegrown tomatoes will cost you around 25 cents. Don’t waste your time and money growing vegetables that you don’t like. Consider growing foods that your family consumes more of and be cognizant of the going price for those foods that cost you more at the grocery store checkout.

Here at Greenlife Gardens we will be growing our own vegetable trial garden and are really looking forward to a great 2009 harvest season. Have fun and get excited about the upcoming growing season. Grab a seed catalog and start dreaming up your own personal produce section! We tend to appreciate things more when we work for them.

-Alyssa Eyman

Spring Turf Care

Spring is a very important time of the year when it comes to turf care. What you do in April/May really sets the tone for what your lawn will be doing in the summer months and into the fall. Here are some very simple tips that when implemented can make a very big difference in the health of your lawn.

Please feel free to call us at Greenlife Gardens with ANY turf care questions.

Here are a few practical tips for keeping a healthy lawns:
1. Keep mower blades SHARP!
2. Mulch your grass clippings. Research shows mulched lawns are healthier than a lawn that is bagged.
3. Watch your mowing height. You should never remove more than 1/3rd of the grass blade.
4. Don’t forget to put down pre-emergent fertilizer. Mid-April to early May is the perfect time for this. Not applying will have you fighting crab-grass all year.
5. Watch your water. Don’t over water your lawn. A lawn needs a lot less water than most people realize. The best time to water is in the morning. This helps prevent fungus and mold.
Watering Tip: Simply turning your sprinklers on for a couple minutes in the mid-afternoon (especially into the summer months) can reduce the surface temperature of the lawn. This can help your lawn avoid a “burned” look.

Zach Higginson
Turf Care Extraordinaire

Meet Devyn

If you stay in touch with this blog you are going to see a wealth of valuable information from updates on pest controls to age-old wisdom for garden maintenance. I, however, will not be offering information like this on a very consistent basis. My modus operendi will revolve around comic relief and general commentary on the goings-on at Greenlife so you have the chance to get to know us as your personal landscape professionals.

In line with that vision, allow me to introduce myself. I have been working for Greenlife Gardens (GLG) since May of last year (2008). It was random chance that I even found the posting for the landscape “foreman” position on Criagslist. (Titles like “foreman” are a very loose concept with us. Leadership structure is much more organic at GLG than conventional models allow.) I grew up in south-central Nebraska spending much of my childhood playing in the woods on the banks of the Platte River, competing in every sport I could, and participating in every extra-curricular activity I could find. Yes, I am a Type-A extroverted personality…and I am ok with that. I came to Omaha in 2002 after graduating high school looking for where I would fit in the great, big, adult work world. Landscaping is where I landed. I love transforming spaces to be unique and beautiful. I love working with homeowners to realize the design vision created by our wonderful designers. And most of all, I love meeting new clients and opening a door for years of quality landscape care. See you in the field!

-Devyn L.

Winter Pruning

Hey everyone, just a little reminder from your Greenlife garden maintenance staff. Now is a great time to do some winter pruning on your trees and woody shrubs. You don't want to do all of them however, because some bloom on last seasons growth (lilacs) and some can't recover from the pruning wound during the winter (yews).

Here are a couple tips and things to look for when pruning:

- Look for crossing branches, and prune one of them
- Look for branches that are occupying the same space
- Look for branches that are rubbing against each other
- Look for diseased or broken branches and remove them

It's also good to just take a step back and look at the overall shape of the tree or shrub. I know that I can get so focused on one area, and then I'll step back and see some lopsided and weird looking shrubs. We like to keep our plant material looking as natural as if you found it in nature.

If you have any pruning questions, just leave a comment or feel free to give us a call at 402-593-7651

brett w koehn
project manager

Inspiration For Winter

Around this time of year we at Greenlife Gardens start to get very excited about sunny days and spring flowers. To help us stay motivated here are some good winter reads:

1. Garden Design, magazine
2. Dwell, magazine
3. Garden Masterclass by John Brookes
4. Gardening with Nature by James Van Sweden
5. Azure, magazine

Really, any book or magazine that allows us to dream about gardens and architecture are helpful and insightful.

Cory Wehrbein