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Five Ways to Attract Wildlife to Your Backyard

by A Touch of Dutch Landscaping | Jan 4, 2023 | Flowers, Gardening, Hardscaping, Landscape Design, Native Plants, Ponds, Shrubs, Trees, Water Features

If you are looking for ways to attract wildlife to your backyard, then you have come to the right place! In this blog post, we’ll be exploring different methods for attracting and nurturing wildlife in an eco-friendly way. We will discuss how native plants can provide food and habitat, which water sources are best suited for animals, how to create safe shelters, and much more. By the end of this blog post, you’ll have all the tips and tricks required to turn your backyard into a thriving habitat for various types of animals.

Plant a variety of native plants that provide food and habitat.

Planting a variety of native plants is one of the best ways to attract wildlife to your backyard. Native plants provide food in the form of berries and nuts, as well as providing shelter and nesting materials. They also help to increase biodiversity, which helps promote healthier ecosystems for animals to thrive in. Planting native trees, shrubs, wildflowers, and grasses will create a space that allows for birds, insects, and other animals to find food and shelter from predators. Not only do these plants have benefits for wildlife but they require less maintenance than non-native plants since they are accustomed to the local soil conditions and climate.

Provide water sources, such as bird baths and small ponds.

Provide water source for wildlife pollinators pond waterfall bubbler Providing a source of water is essential for wildlife in your backyard. Bird baths and small ponds are excellent methods of providing a source of water. Not only do they help to attract birds and other animals, but they also give them a safe source of hydration. If you are looking to create a bird bath or pond, make sure it is shallow enough that there is no risk of drowning.Additionally, place rocks or pebbles in the water to provide areas where animals can drink safely without having to enter the water. One caveat: ensure your water source doesn’t freeze over by keeping water moving (with a bubbler or waterfall) or add a small heater to keep it usable. By adding these water sources you will be able to keep birds and other animals safe, hydrated, and happy in your backyard.

Keep pets indoors or away from areas of wildlife activity.

Keep pets indoors to avoid scaring off wildlife from your backyard Keeping pets indoors or away from areas of wildlife activity is an important part of protecting wildlife in your backyard. Cats and dogs may be attracted to the small animals in your yard, such as birds, rodents, or other creatures. It is best to keep these pets inside or restrain them while they are outside so they do not disturb or harm any wildlife.Additionally, make sure that any outdoor dog runs are not set up in areas where wildlife likes to rest and feed. By taking these extra steps you can ensure that both your pets and the local wildlife stay safe and happy.

Create a shelter for wildlife with logs, brush piles, birdhouses, and nesting boxes.

Creating a shelter for wildlife can be a great way to improve your backyard habitat. Logs, brush piles, birdhouses, and nesting boxes are all excellent places for animals to take refuge from harsh weather or predators. Logs provide shelter underneath and can also be used by birds as perching spots.Brush piles offer animals tall grasses and shrubs to hide in while keeping warm. Birdhouses and nesting boxes give birds and small animals a safe place to build their homes. All of these structures will help create an inviting environment for wildlife in your backyard.

Leave some areas of your garden undisturbed.

undisturbed flower garden hyacinth daffodils hummingbird moth Providing undisturbed areas in your garden is a great way to support local wildlife. By leaving some areas of your garden untouched, you are giving animals the chance to make their own homes without interruption from people or pets.This can take the form of wild patches of grass, untended corners of your yard, or piles of sticks and logs that provide harborage for small creatures. Even if it seems like doing nothing is best, keeping these areas free from human activity and disturbance will be beneficial to the wildlife that makes use of them.

With a few simple changes and an open mind, you can transform your backyard into a hub of biodiversity, where birds, amphibians, mammals, and insects come together to build their homes. Create shelters with logs, brush piles, birdhouses, and nesting boxes to attract wildlife to your backyard. Leave some areas of your garden undisturbed for animals to make their own homes. Once you get started on making your backyard more wildlife-friendly, there’s no telling all the types of critters that will call it home.

Colourful Landscaping Ideas

by A Touch of Dutch Landscaping | Apr 30, 2022 | Flowers, Foliage, Gardening, Landscape Design, Native Plants, Shrubs, Softscaping, Trees

While having a lush, green landscape can be beautiful, most homeowners want colourful landscaping ideas so they can enjoy at least a pop of colour to liven up their gardens.

And while many look to tropicals and/or annuals for added colour, there’s a wide range of hardy perennials in a full spectrum of hues that you can plant to achieve this in Southwestern Ontario.

Adding colour to your landscaping doesn’t just increase your enjoyment of your outdoor spaces, but it enhances curb appeal and also attracts a wide variety of birds, butterflies, bees, and other pollinators to your gardens.

Some birds are attracted to flowers and garden décor that are the same colour as their plumage, especially when the hunt for a mate is on. For example, orioles are attracted to orange and hummingbirds find reds, pinks, and purples appealing.

It’s interesting to note that white can signal danger to different species of birds, so landscaping that’s resplendent with white flowering plants, shrubs, and trees may see limited avian visitors.

That said, butterflies are attracted to white flowers in addition to plants and flowers in vibrant shades of red, purple, pink, orange, and yellow. They also prefer to feed in full sun.

During the transitional months of April and May, we start to see trees and shrubs fill out and spring-flowering plants and trees exhibit beautiful colour, many with fragrant blooms.

Colourful Landscaping Ideas for Spring

Trees and shrubs that will increase the colour quotient in spring include:

Forsythia – brilliant yellow blooms
Weigela – trumpet-shaped white, pink, fuchsia, or red blooms
Dappled Willow – sprays of white and pale pink petals at stem tips
Flowering Dogwood
Deutzia – showy stems of white blooms and gorgeous fall foliage

Some of the plants and flowers that steal the scene in the spring include:

Catmint – clusters of purple-blue flowers, much like lavender
Hellebores – five-petal, open-faced flowers in a range of striking colours
Irises – tall stalks with large, orchid-like flowers in various colours
Pasque Flower – mounds of short purple-petaled flowers with large bright yellow centres
Spring Bulbs – tulips, hyacinths, daffodils, grape hyacinths

Colourful Landscaping Ideas for Summer

Shrubs and plants whose colour peaks in the summer include:

Spirea
Butterfly Bush
Penstemon
Daylilies
Upright Phlox
Coneflower
Campanula
Cranesbill Geraniums
Hydrangeas

Colourful Landscaping Ideas for Fall

While fall is typically viewed as a transitional season, the gateway to winter, there are a wide variety of plants, shrubs, and trees that are at their colourful best in September and October:

Burning Bush
Sweet Spire
Tiger Eyed Sumac
Rose of Sharon
Fothergilla
Sedum
Asters
Black-Eyed Susan
False Sunflower

Colourful Landscaping Ideas for Winter

Even winter can’t bleach the colour out of every plant, shrub, and tree. The following provide beautiful contrast against an otherwise colourless landscape:

Red Twig Dogwood
Yellow Twig Dogwood
Euonymus
False Cypress
Winterberry
Holly
Cotoneaster
Juniper
Boxwood

Most importantly, if you want to keep colour in your gardens all year long with perennials, we recommend selecting a few of the above suggestions from each seasonal category. That way, as colour is fading from one season’s showy selections, the next season’s perennials will take centre stage.

We often consult with clients who are interested in low-maintenance options but still want visual interest and colour in their gardens. If you need assistance selecting the right plants, trees, and shrubs for your landscape, contact us.

Add Privacy with Landscaping

by A Touch of Dutch Landscaping | Mar 12, 2022 | Fencing, Foliage, Gardening, Landscape Design, Native Plants, Shrubs, Softscaping, Trees

Often, when homeowners want to add privacy to their yards, they think of walls and fences made from stone and/or wood. And sometimes solid structures like these are needed if the goal is to keep people and animals in or out.

However, if you simply want to break up visual sightlines, add privacy with landscaping including plants, shrubs, and trees. And if you’re looking for inspiration, here are some of our favourites that we incorporate into landscaping projects when clients desire increased privacy from neighbours.

Evergreen Options

Emerald Cedar

Although, slower growing than other cedars, the Emerald Cedar is a vibrant green, dense, cone-shaped evergreen that grows quite tall (4 metres) and can survive (preferably in full sun) for 30+ years.

Black Cedar

Although cone-shaped like the Emerald variety, the darker-coloured Black Cedar has a wider base, making it an excellent choice for windbreaks and perimeter hedges. They are a faster-growing shrub and can survive for 50+ years topping out at approximately 5 metres in height.

Yew (Taxus canadensis)

The Canadian Yew, the most prevalent of yews in Southwestern Ontario, is a vibrant green with dense limbs of soft, flat needles. While it does grow quite wide (up to 7 feet) it maxes out at only 4 feet in height, making it a candidate for low hedges and topiaries. Bright red berries mature in late summer to early fall, providing visual contrast against green foliage.

Spruce

While Black, White, and Red Spruces are indigenous, the Norway and Colorado/Blue varieties also thrive in Southwestern Ontario (hardiness zone 5). Generally speaking, Spruce trees are quite hardy with dense foliage, and reaching heights of 20-25 metres. This option is better planted away from buildings and other structures, with plenty of room between each, if planting in a row/group.

Upright Juniper

Low-maintenance and hardy, upright Juniper varieties like the Wichita blue and Ontario green juniper mature quickly with dense foliage that makes them a great alternative to fences and privacy walls. Junipers can be planted fairly close together as they are narrow, but grow to approximately 15 feet tall.

Deciduous Options

American Hornbeam

This hardwood can reach 15 metres tall and provides ample privacy with its densely packed leaves, which turn a brilliant red in the fall.

English Oak

The English Oak can grow to 60 feet tall and just as wide, though many varieties start out in a more cone-shaped habit before spreading out. These trees can live well beyond 100 years. There’s also a narrower variety more suited to tight spaces.

Privet

The fast-growing Privet makes a great privacy hedge with its dense, glossy, oval-shaped leaves. It flowers in the early summer, and yields non-edible fruit after flowering concludes.

Ninebark

A popular hedge choice in landscaping, the Common Ninebark’s leaves are a yellowish-green and grow in dense arrangements with seasonal flowers clusters. It is a fast-growing shrub, reaching up to 10 feet high and 8 feet wide.

Large Ornamental Grasses

Ornamental grasses that thrive in Southwestern Ontario come in a wide range of shapes, colours, and sizes. Feather Reed Grass and Fountain Grass both grow to about 3 feet tall and make good low privacy screens. But if you’re looking for complete privacy, tall varieties like those of the Miscanthus genus are your best bet. They work great in conjunction with fence panels, planted in a standalone cluster, or lining the perimeter of a deck or patio. A word of warning though, Miscanthus can become invasive, if not managed with regular splitting and cutting back to the ground.

Add privacy with Miscanthus ornamental grass

Although these suggestions can help you get started, you might benefit from expert advice and installation, ensuring that the right varieties of trees to add privacy with landscaping are chosen. Contact us any time for assistance with enhancing the privacy of your yard.

Drought-Tolerant Landscaping

by A Touch of Dutch Landscaping | Jun 2, 2021 | Flowers, Foliage, Gardening, Native Plants, Shrubs, Trees

With the dog days of summer mere weeks away, homeowners want to spend more time outside, but not necessarily more time working in their gardens.

One of the most common requests we receive when working with new landscaping clients is for a low-maintenance design. This usually means, very little work in terms of watering, weeding, dead-heading, and pruning.

While no garden or flowerbed, is maintenance-free, we’ve put together some tips below to help you minimize your gardening workload, so you can maximize relaxation this summer.

Drought Tolerant Honeysuckle Vine (Lonicera)

Honeysuckle (Lonicera)

Stave off drought with these tips

Before we look at plants that tolerate hot, dry conditions well, let’s talk about your soil. Generally, plants enjoy soil that drains well. Soil that doesn’t (typically clay-based soil) can contribute to root rot and may claim otherwise healthy plants. However, soil that drains well can quickly become too dry in hot, windy, and/or dry weather.

The key to maintaining soil moisture is mulch. We recommend a thick layer (three to four inches) of mulch on flowerbeds and around trees. Mulch comes in a variety of types and colours and not only helps soil maintain moisture, but also helps keep weeds to a minimum, and gradually breaks down to help nourish the soil.

Another tip for maintaining a drought-tolerant and sustainable landscape is to collect run-off rainwater in a rain barrel. Strategically placed under a downspout close to your gardens, harvested rainwater can get your plants, shrubs, and trees through the drier spells of summer.

Coral Bells (Heuchera mirachantha)

Drought-tolerant plants for Southwestern Ontario summers

Generally speaking, the more established a plant or tree is, and the deeper the root system, the better it will tolerate drought. That generally takes care of trees and evergreen shrubs, but you’ll still need to tend to well-established deciduous shrubs and perennials during spells of extreme dryness.

The following are a small sampling of drought-tolerant species.

Perennials

Honeysuckle Vine (Lonicera)
Fragrant and colourful, the honeysuckle can be trained on a trellis or arbour and is a favourite of pollinators and hummingbirds.

Daylily (Hemerrocalis)

Coral Bells (Heuchera mirachantha)

Foliage ranges from purple and red to bright green and plant produces tiny, bell-like flowers. Mounding and provides excellent ground cover in shade gardens.

Daylily (Hemerrocalis)
Available in an extremely wide range of colours with both solid and variegated foliage, the exotic-looking flowers of these super-hardy perennials also attract pollinators.

Switch Grass (Panicum virgatum)
This sturdy grass provides dense mounds of colour (depending on the variety) including yellow, green, red, and purple. Flowers stretch on thin stalks above foliage.

Lenten Rose (Helleborus occidentalis)

Lenten Rose (Helleborus occidentalis)
Has sturdy foliage and blooms in early spring, bringing shades of pink, purple, blue, green, and yellow to your garden. Prefers shade or dappled sunlight.

Shrubs

False Cypress (Chamaecyperas psifera)
This evergreen species lends dense structure to gardens. With foliage in a range of colours from gold to emerald green and blue, it’s great for adding both privacy and visual interest.

Yew (Taxus)

Yew (Taxus)
This dense shrub can be planted on its own, but is commonly planted in a row to create a hedge or natural privacy screen. Female specimens develop showy, red berries.

Panicle Hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata)
Beautiful clustered blooms in pale green and white to pale and vibrant pink. Browning flowers/seedheads remain on shrubs well into winter, providing visual interest and (when planted near a food source) a place for winter birds to perch.

Butterfly Bush (Buddleia)
Blooming in mid-summer, the long clusters of flowers in bold hues attract butterflies and last until first frost, providing colour when most other flowers’ blooming periods have ended.

Butterfly Bush (Buddleia)

Sumac (Rhus typhina)
Ranging in size from compact to large, this shrub’s feathery foliage is bright green during the warmer months, but is better known for its eye-catching fall colours including bright yellow, orange, and red.

Succulents

While not native to our region, succulents are the camels of the plant world, maintaining an internal water supply that sees them through long periods of drought. However, not all succulents can survive Ontario winters, so we do need to be somewhat selective unless we transplant to pots to bring indoors for the winter months.

Sedum Autumn Joy (Herbstfreude)

There are a couple winter-hardy selections that add visual interest and are incredibly low-maintenance. The Autumn Sedum, which is a lower growing perennial, blooms in the fall, providing dashes of colour when many other flowering plants are already spent. And Sempervivum (commonly known as “Hens & Chicks”) is hardy in flowerbeds and rocks gardens, but also works well in containers, both outdoors and indoors.

While these tips may provide you with information that helps you determine a general direction in which you’d like to take your landscaping, you might not have the tools, equipment, or time to create the beautiful, low-maintenance outdoor experience you’re hoping for. We invite you to contact us any time for assistance with landscaping design and installation.

Increase Your Home’s Value with Landscaping

by A Touch of Dutch Landscaping | May 6, 2021 | Fencing, Flowers, Hardscaping, Landscape Design, Maintenance, Native Plants, Patios, Ponds, Retaining Walls, Shrubs, Softscaping, Trees, Walkways, Water Features

With the current circumstances – stay-at-home orders and a crazy local housing market – many homeowners are opting to invest in their homes. Money that would otherwise be spent on travel, entertainment, consumer goods, etc. is directed instead to home improvement.

Done right, this can potentially increase a home’s value. However, the value of your home isn’t just about what you can get for it when you sell, but also the enjoyment you get out of it while you live there. So, let’s discuss a few ways to enhance both your quality of life and the monetary value of your home.

Curb Appeal

improve curb appeal to increase the value of your home If you search online for ways to increase a home’s value, one method that almost invariably tops the list is to increase your home’s curb appeal. After all, the front of your home provides the first impression for potential buyers, whether they’re passing by or viewing your home online.

Improving curb appeal doesn’t have to be complicated. The most important thing to do is keep things tidy by weeding, edging, and mulching your flowerbeds, pruning your trees and shrubs when appropriate, and aerating, fertilizing, and dethatching your lawn.

Minimal Maintenance

Low maintenance perennials with mulch and stone walkway If you’re looking to upgrade your home’s exterior – front, sides, or back – consider updates that will enhance livability, functionality, and practicality. Not only will this maximize your enjoyment, but when it comes time to sell, potential buyers will be able to see themselves relaxing in, rather than working on, the yard and gardens.

One way to add low-maintenance beauty to your landscape, is to include native varieties among the trees, shrubs and plants you choose. Native Ontario plant species are well-acclimated to our conditions, so require very little extra care over that which Mother Nature provides. Native species also attract native birds and smaller pollinators, which is an added bonus.

Hardscaping

Hardscaping stone patio and surrounding flowerbeds improve outdoor living area and add value Walkways, patios, and retaining walls are gratifying additions to a home’s exterior. In keeping with the theme of minimal maintenance, though – a focus of almost every one of our customers – we recommend being mindful of the materials you use.

Wood decking has historically been inexpensive but does have a limited life span and also can require quite a bit of maintenance to keep it looking good and hazard-free. Poured smooth, brushed, or stamped concrete can make a great patio or walkway, but durability can be an issue and maintenance is required in the form of cleaning and sealing.

For optimal durability and ease of maintenance, precast or natural stone pavers are ideal. The range of colours, textures, and styles is virtually limitless and a stone patio or walkway can be straight/square or round/curvy, so you can be sure to find the right look to complement your home’s exterior.

And if you like the look of stone, smaller-sized decorative stone like river rock, lava rock, quartz, peastone, granite, and dolomite can be used in lieu of mulch in flowerbeds, in between large pavers in walkways and patios, and in and around water features.

Visual Impact

Visual impact adds value to your home lush gardens around pool Plants, trees, and shrubs can be used to camouflage imperfections, add privacy, and enhance the existing beauty around your home’s exterior and yard. For example, an exposed foundation can make a home appear old and unkempt. But, planting a balanced selection of plants and shrubs appropriate for the location’s sun exposure can add depth and colour, providing a welcome distraction from your foundation’s drab, grey expanse.

Exposure to winds or neighbouring properties can make backyard living less enjoyable than it should be. Planting a row of trees, shrubs, or ornamental grass can add shelter and/or privacy. Consider mixing shrubs or grasses with fence panels for increased visual interest.

Serenity

Water feature bubbling rock serene serenity peaceful atmosphere Add unique atmosphere to your outdoor living areas, walkways, and/or front entrance with lighting and water. Ponds, streams, waterfalls, fountains, and bubbling rocks add an audio-visual element that has a universally relaxing effect. And including lighting along walkways, trees, water features, pools, and patios enhances outdoor safety and enjoyment after the sun goes down.

There are a multitude of ways to improve your landscaping for added quality of life and value. Starting with a plan can help you get focused and establish a budget. If you’re planning some upgrades this year, but don’t want to go it alone, we’re here to help. Drop us a note to let us know what your goals are and we’ll help you get there.

Gardening Tools – Using the Right Ones for the Job

by A Touch of Dutch Landscaping | Feb 4, 2021 | Gardening, Lawn care, Maintenance, Shrubs, Softscaping, Trees

Now that we’ve gotten halfway through winter and the daylight hours are increasing, our thoughts are turning to the approaching spring season. You might be starting some seedlings indoors or planning for a garden expansion or landscaping overhaul using some online planning tools.

We figure it’s never too early to share some DIY gardening tips for beginners and veterans alike.

This month, we’re focusing on gardening tools. Here are a few suggestions and tips for selecting the right tools and getting the most out of each one.

Use the Right Tools

There’s a reason we put this tip first. It’s important. Besides your hands and maybe a decent pair of gardening gloves, there are a few fundamental tools that can make quick work of most projects.

Spade and Shovel

Although these terms are sometimes used interchangeably, they are different tools, each with its own set of unique capabilities. But both are foundational to your gardening toolbox. A spade tends to have a shorter handle and their flat blade makes them great for digging trenches, edging, and cutting into sod. A shovel has a longer handle, helping with leverage when digging holes and lifting soil. Its pointed blade helps with breaking materials apart as well.

Garden Trowel

This tool is a handheld version of a shovel, that allows gardeners to scoop and move smaller quantities of earth with more precision. Great for planting seeds, seedlings, and small plants. And great for potting and re-potting as well.

Hand Pruners or Secateurs

You’ll find that this is one tool that gets used often, spring, summer, and fall. Used for trimming soft stems and woody branches up to about a half inch thick, they’re perfect for trimming shrubs, hedges, bushes, and small trees. They also come in super handy when trimming everything back during fall clean-up.

Hoe or Cultivator

Like the garden rake, a hoe is also good for breaking up soil clumps, as well as moving and leveling it out. The smaller width and solid working surface means it can fit in tight spaces and move earth and mulch more efficiently.

Leaf and Garden Rakes

When you think of a rake, you probably think of the upside down fan-shaped leaf rake. Of course, these are a must-have for homeowners with any size of lawn. There’s just nothing that compares when trying to gather fallen leaves, sticks, and other debris on grass.

garden tools rakes trolley summer spring A garden rake on the other hand, is a bit heavier and has one flat row of short steel tines. If you want to transfer, level out, and/or comb through soil, this is the device for the job. Other types of rakes include the hand rake, shrub rake, and thatch rake – all nice to have as well, but we wouldn’t consider them fundamental.

Wheelbarrow or Garden Cart

While it may take up a bit of room in your garage or shed, a wheelbarrow or garden cart is indispensable when you need to move large, heavy plants, shrubs, and materials around your yard. If you’re short on storage space, there are garden carts available that can be folded down to a fairly compact size when not in use.

Of course there are a plethora of additional and more specialized gardening tools and gadgets that are nice to have. A few we’d recommend in addition to the above tools are:

Lopper – for trimming and pruning thicker, woody branches

Edging Tool – you can edge a garden with a shovel, but this purpose-built tool does a much nicer job

Rain Gauge – such a simple tool that helps keep you from over- or under-watering

Soil Knife – has multiple purposes, from quick weeding and trimming, to cutting sod and dividing plants

Pitch Fork – great for moving mulch; like a pitch fork but with more tines that are more closely spaced

Clippers – great for shaping hedges and trimming excess growth

When you’re selecting tools, you don’t have to buy the most expensive of everything. Keep in mind though that you generally get what you pay for. So, if you don’t want to replace your tools every season, invest wisely and clean, maintain, and store them properly. Finally, it’s best to use tools for their intended purposes only to help avoid breaking them or injuring yourself.

Of course, if you find you lack the tools, time, or expertise to add landscaping or manage your existing lawn and garden, contact us to discuss how we can help.

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