Tom Reily Landscape

(831) 335-2102

   Jul 05

Gardening Advice

Santa Cruz Landscaping – Gardening Advice

Santa Cruz Landscape Garden AdviceNeed Garden advice? It’s not that hard to find Santa Cruz landscaping  ideas. You can get it from a gardener, a gardening catalogue, gardening books, gardening magazines, and there’s lots of information on the Internet. Lowes and Home Depot have lots of information too.

There’s variations with every plant, but there is some gardening advice that is universally accepted. And even when your Landcsaping in Santa Cruz.

For example, gardening advice for planting is pretty much uniform. You must place plants where they will have room to grow so they don’t overcrowd each other. Good air flow is a important, and plants should be placed in a position where they will receive adequate amounts of sunlight.

Recommendations will tell you to add some sort of nutrients to the soil to help with plant growth, such as mulch or compost.

Gardening advice on watering plants can be a little more varied, because different kinds of plants need completely different amounts of water.

For example, you wouldn’t need to water a cactus near as much as you’d water a tomato plant. How a often you water will clearly depend on where you live.  Here in the Santa Cruz / Scotts Valley area the temperatures vary greatly.

Gardening advice from anywhere will tell you that your plants not only need to be fertilized when you first plant them, they will need to be fertilized throughout their growing season.

What kind of fertilizer you use will depend on the soil content and pH balance.  Fertilizing will be nothing but a good thing on most all plants.

Compost can be used instead and it is straightforward to find recommendation on how to make a compost pile furthermore when fertilize and compost needs to be used.

Gardening advice on weeds, insects, disease, and how to get rid of them is probably the our most sought after advice in all of gardening. These pests invade all gardens and if you don’t lose them, they will take over and ruin your garden.

There are many completely different chemicals and pesticides that can be used, and gardening advice can usually differ in on which chemicals are better, which are harmful, and which ones are easier to administer.

Gardening isn’t an easy task; you have got to fight against several outside forces, like weather, insects, disease, and weeds. Even the seasoned of gardener will seek out advice once in an while. Who wouldn’t when there are so many forces looking to take your garden out?

There is a heap of general gardening advice on the market that goes for any plant.  If you look a little you can find specific information on any particular plant you need help with.

Gardening advice is relatively simple to search out.   Occasionally you could run across some bad advice  most of  what I’ve detailed in this post is relatively sound and can help with any gardening questions.

Not a do-it-yourself type?  Give us a call at Tom Reily Landscape.  We’ve been beautifying landscape in Santa Cruz and surrounding counties for 20+ years.

Tom Reily Landscaping – Santa Cruz, Ca

310 Laurel St. #1
Santa Cruz, Ca 95060
(831) 335-2102
Fax: (831) 335-3189
email: trl124@aol.com

santa cruz landscaping


   Mar 25

Flower Gardening

Landscaping Santa Cruz – Flower Gardening
stepping stone style - Santa Cruz Landscaper

Flower gardening is becoming more and more popular every year.  Flowers can brighten everyone’s day, they smell nice, and are a great hobby. Landscaping in Santa Cruz  area is simple, inexpensive, and loads of fun.  It can be done for yard decoration, simply as a hobby, or even professionally.

There are some decisions that have to be made before you start.  You must decide if you want:

  • Annuals that live for one season and must be replanted every year
  • Perennials that survive the winter and return again in the summer.

When buying and planting, pay attention to what kind of flowers thrive in your climate as well as the sun requirements.

When flower gardening, you must decide what type of look you want before planting.

For instance, mixing different heights, colors, and varieties of flowers together in a “wild-plant style” will give your garden a meadow look and can be very charming.

If short flowers are planted in the front of your garden and work up to the tallest flowers in the back you will have a “stepping stone style”.

You can order seeds for flower gardening from catalogues or buy them from a nursery.

Most people will go to the nursery and buy actual flowers and then transplant them.

After you have prepared your garden area and bought flowers, it is a good idea to lay the flowers out in the bed to make sure you like the arrangement and that they will be spaced properly.

One of the easiest processes in flower gardening is the planting. If you have seeds just sprinkle them around in the flower bed.

For planting transplants dig a hole just bigger than the flower root ball, pull the container off, and set the flower in the hole green side up as we say in the business.  Cover it with the loose soil and press down firmly, then water.

Maintaining a flower garden is even easier than planting one.  Although they might make it on their own, a bag of organic fertilizer applied in the early spring is a good idea.

Pinch back any blooms after they start to fade and keep them good and watered.

To save yourself work during the next season of flower gardening, rid your garden of all debris and spread out organic nutrients like peat moss or Compost.  Don’t forget to turn over the soil to properly mix in the fertilizer and rake smooth when finished.  If you have perennials planted be careful not to disturb their roots in this process.

Flower gardening is as easy as 1, 2, and 3:

  1. Decide what to plant
  2. Plant it
  3. Water, Water, Water!

Flower gardening is undoubtedly gaining in popularity and gives anyone excellent reason to spend some outdoors and test out their green thumb.

For all your Landscape needs in Santa Cruz and surrounding areas:

Tom Reily Landscaping – Santa Cruz, Ca

310 Laurel St. #1
Santa Cruz, Ca 95060
Ph: (831) 335-2102
Fax: (831) 335-3189

landscaping santa cruz

email: trl124@aol.com


   Nov 18

Solis Home – Los Gatos, Ca – Santa Cruz Landscape

Solis Home – Los Gatos, Ca – Santa Cruz Landscape

Solis Home - Los Gatos, Ca - Tom Reily Landscape

Solis Home - Los Gatos, Ca - Santa Cruz Landscape
Solis Home - Los Gatos, Ca - Santa Cruz Landscape Solis Home - Los Gatos, Ca - Tom Reily Landscape
Solis Home - Los Gatos, Ca - Tom Reily Landscape Solis Home - Los Gatos, Ca - Tom Reily Landscape

Tom Reily Landscape – Santa Cruz, Ca

310 Laurel St. #1
Santa Cruz, Ca 95060

(831) 335-2102
Tom Reily Landscape
Ph: (831) 335-2102
Fax: (831) 335-3189
email: trl124@aol.com


   Nov 12

Lopez Home – Skypark

Lopez Home – Skypark

Lopez-Skypark - Tom Reily Landscape

Lopez-Skypark - Tom Reily Landscape

Tom Reily Landscape – Santa Cruz, Ca

310 Laurel St. #1
Santa Cruz, Ca 95060

(831) 335-2102
Tom Reily Landscape
Ph: (831) 335-2102
Fax: (831) 335-3189
email: trl124@aol.com


   Nov 08

Armer Home-Los Altos, Ca- Santa Cruz Landscape

Armer Home-Los Altos, Ca

Armer-Los Altos, ca Landscape Santa Cruz Armer-Los Altos, ca Landscape Santa Cruz

Armer-Los Altos, ca Santa Cruz Landscape

Armer-Los Altos, ca Santa Cruz Landscape
Armer-Los Altos, ca Santa Cruz Landscape Armer-Los Altos, ca Santa Cruz Landscape

Tom Reily Landscape – Santa Cruz, Ca

310 Laurel St. #1
Santa Cruz, Ca 95060

(831) 335-2102
Tom Reily Landscape
Ph: (831) 335-2102
Fax: (831) 335-3189
email: trl124@aol.com


   Nov 04

Fall Gardening

Landscape Santa Cruz – Fall Gardening

Santa Cruz Landscape fall gardeningMany gardeners do not even consider fall gardening because of the winter frosts that might make an early appearance.  On the contrary, fall gardening will result in excellent vegetables and will extend crops long after spring planted plants are finished. Vegetables produced from during this time are sometimes sweeter and milder than those grow in the summer and offer a brand new taste to the same old veggies.

What you choose to grow during your fall gardening will depend on your available space and what you like to eat, just like spring plants.  Even the crops that enjoy the heat, such as tomatoes, sweet potatoes, okra, and peppers, will produce until frosts hit, which can be pretty late in the year in Santa Cruz areas.  However, there are some plants that will quit towards the end of summer like snap-beans, summer squash, and cucumbers.

If these vegetables are planted around the middle of the summer they can be harvested until the first frosts as well.  Hardy, tough vegetables will grow until the temperature is as low as 20 degrees, but those that aren’t as strong will only be able to grow through light frosts.  Remember that if you have root and tuber plants and the tops are killed by a freeze the edible part can be saved if a large amount of mulch is used.

Make sure and pick the vegetables with the shortest growing season so they can be full grown and harvested before the frost arrives.  Most seed packages will be labeled “early season”, or you can find the seeds boasting the fewest days to maturity.  You may want to go after your seeds for fall gardening in spring or early summer; they are usually not kept in stock towards the end of summer.  If they are stored in a cool and dry location they will keep until you are ready to plant.

In order to know exactly when the best time to start, you must know about when the first hard frost will hit your area.  One of the best ways to tell this is by a Farmer’s Almanac.  They will give you exact dates and are rarely wrong.  You will also need to know exactly how long it is going to take your plants to mature.

To get your soil ready for you must first remove any leftover spring/summer crops and weeds.  Crops leftover from the last season can end up spreading bacteria and disease if left in the garden.  Spread a couple of inches of compost or mulch over the garden area toLandscape Santa Cruz fall gardening increase the nutrients, however, if spring plants were fertilized heavily it may not need much, if any.  Till the top layer of soil, wet it down, and let it set for about 12-24 hours.  Once this has been done, you are ready to start planting.

Many gardeners will run from gardening this time of year so they don’t have to deal with frosts, but if tough, sturdy vegetables are planted they can withstand a few frosts and give you some wonderful tasting produce.  Fall gardening gives you the chance to enjoy your vegetable garden for at least a little bit more time.

Tom Reily Landscape – Santa Cruz, Ca

310 Laurel St. #1
Santa Cruz, Ca 95060
Ph: (831) 335-2102
Fax: (831) 335-3189

Landscape Santa Cruz


   Sep 17

Back Yard Landscaping

Landscape Santa Cruz Ca – Backyard Landscaping

Tom Reily Landscape - Landscape Santa CruzYour backyard landscaping is going to be about many different things but the most important one is your well being. Most people get into backyard landscaping here in Santa Cruz, Ca because you want to change the look and feel of your home.  You want to make it a wonderful place where your family can feel safe and comfortable at all times. It is a great way to add some more peace to your life whether you are alone or you have a large family and kids. You will be able to create a sanctuary in your backyard that you have never had before.

Backyard landscaping does not have to be drastic or hard. You can do your own landscaping or you can hire a contractor to do it all for you. Doing it yourself can be a lot of work, especially if you do not have any experience. There are all kinds of things that you will need to learn about before you start doing your own landscaping. There are alot of excellent books at amazon.com that you can purchase that will give you simple step by step instructions.

You may be able to save some money on the work if you do your own work but if you mess things up, you may end up paying even more to get everything fixed. Here at Tom Reily Landscape we’ve run across this many times!

If you want to get some landscaping done you should only do it yourself if it is going to be a simple and straightforward job. If you need irrigation, planes, and elevations leave it to the professionals that do it for a living. These things take many years of experience.

For professional service Call Tom Reily Landscape Santa Cruz Ca for a free estimate.  We have been making backyard landscapeing dreams come true since 1988.

Tom Reily Landscape – Santa Cruz, Ca

310 Laurel St. #1
Santa Cruz, Ca 95060
(831) 335-2102

Landscape Santa Cruz Ca

 


   Sep 15

Tom Reily Landscape – Levy-Monte Home in Sereno

Tom Reily Landscape – Levy-Monte Home in Serneo

Tom Reily Landscape – Santa Cruz, Ca

310 Laurel St. #1
Santa Cruz, Ca 95060

(831) 335-2102
Tom Reily Landscape
Ph: (831) 335-2102
Fax: (831) 335-3189
email: trl124@aol.com


   Sep 10

Landscape Santa Cruz Ca – Stacknick Home – Saratoga

This Tom Reily Landscape home in Santa Cruz, ca. This is the Stacknick Home in Saratoga

Landscape Santa Cruz ca - Tom Reily landscape

Tom Reily Landscape – Santa Cruz, Ca

310 Laurel St. #1
Santa Cruz, Ca 95060

(831) 335-2102
Tom Reily Landscape
Ph: (831) 335-2102
Fax: (831) 335-3189
email: trl124@aol.com


   Aug 31

Landscape Santa Cruz – Tom Reily Landscape – Hormel Residence

Here are pictures of a landscaping  job in Santa Cruz Ca.  This is the Hormel residence in Scotts Valley.

Click on photo to enlarge.

Hormel-Scotts Valley-landscape santa cruz

Landscape Santa Cruz

landscape santa cruz

Tom Reily Landscape – Santa Cruz, Ca

310 Laurel St. #1
Santa Cruz, Ca 95060

(831) 335-2102
Tom Reily Landscape
Ph: (831) 335-2102
Fax: (831) 335-3189
email: trl124@aol.com

Tom Reily Landscape – Santa Cruz, Ca

310 Laurel St. #1
Santa Cruz, Ca 95060
(831) 335-2102
Landscape Santa Cruz
Ph: (831) 335-2102 Fax: (831) 335-3189 email: trl124@aol.com