Evergreens for Year-Round Beauty and Function
In Southwestern Ontario’s warmer months, nature abounds with colour, vibrancy, and life. But come late fall, many plant, shrub, and tree species go dormant, sleeping off the current year and preparing for the next. The exception of course is the evergreen, as showy...
Precast and Natural Stone Retaining Walls
Retaining walls can enhance both the appearance and function of your lawn and garden. Some DIYers may opt for wood when building a retaining wall. After all, timber and ties are easier to cut and install, and less expensive than stone options. Unfortunately, the...
What’s Your Landscape Design Style?
Landscaping is a fantastic way to upgrade your home’s exterior. Done right, it improves curb appeal and enhances your enjoyment and the functionality of your outdoor environment. And, like the clothing and home décor you choose, landscaping also provides an excellent...
Flagstone Look on a Paver Budget
When it comes to patio and walkway construction, flagstone is one of the most sought-after materials. Known for its natural and elegantly rustic appearance, flagstone has been used to enhance outdoor living areas for decades. Some homeowners are singularly focused and...
Landscape Planning Apps & Tools
Plan your landscaping with the help of apps and platforms specifically designed to allow you to better visualize your newly renovated space before contacting A Touch of Dutch Landscaping & Garden Services.
Turn Your Pool Area into an Oasis with Landscaping
Enjoy living in your backyard, not just swimming in your pool When adding a pool to your backyard, the actual installation of the pool is only half the job. The other half is comprised of what goes around the pool to give your backyard oasis polish and make the area...
Increase Curb Appeal of Your Home with Landscaping
Enhance the appearance and enjoyment of your home on any budget First impressions are lasting impressions. And this is as true of your home’s appearance as it is your personal appearance. Little updates can go a long way. Of course, extensive updates can as well....
Lawn & Garden Prep Series – Pruning
Episode 4 - Pruning Pruning is something that many DIY gardeners do, but if you're not careful, you could be negatively impacting the health and growth of your trees and shrubs. Johan Bossers discusses the variables that determine when and how to prune.
Lawn & Garden Prep Series – Dethatch and Use Grass Clippings
Lawn & Garden Prep Episode 3 - Dethatching & Using Grass Clippings Johan discusses what thatch is and when you need to do something. You'll also learn how to use grass clippings by adding them to your compost or gardens.
Lawn & Garden Prep Series – Mulching
Episode 2 - Mulching In the second episode of this series, Johan discusses using mulch to help retain moisture and minimize weeds.
Lawn & Garden Prep Series – Edging
Episode 1 - Edging In this series, we're sharing fundamental DIY tips for preparing your lawn and garden for the upcoming season. Here, Johan discusses when, why and how to edge around your softscaping and hardscaping.
Lawn Care 101 – Aerating & Rolling
In our final video of the Lawn Care series, Johan discusses rolling and aerating - when to do it and why you may not need to.
Lawn Care 101 – Choosing Grass Seed
In this video you'll learn how to choose the right all-purpose grass seed for our hardiness zone in Southwestern Ontario.
Lawn Care 101 – Overseeding
In this video, Johan discusses when and why to overseed your lawn.
Lawn Care 101 – Fertilizing
This video covers both when to fertilize and how to choose the right fertilizer for your lawn.
Lawn Care 101 – Raking
Our first video of this segment is super straightforward, but some get it wrong. Check out this quick video to ensure you're not causing more harm than good to your lawn and its root system when raking.
Why Choose Native Ontario Plants
There have been myriad reports over the past few months from backyard birders about the decrease in visitors to their feeders. If you’ve noticed this too, you’ll be pleased to know there are things we can each do to radically reverse the decline of small wildlife in our yards.
Fall Colour – Extending the Enjoyment of Your Gardens
Most of us would be hard pressed to find a person who doesn’t love the colours of fall. Yes, winter will inevitably follow fall, and probably earlier than we’d like. But, in the meantime, we’ve still got warm daytime temperatures, cool evenings, and so much colour to...
Weed Control
Where weeds come from There are several classifications and definitions of weeds. However, in the very simplest terms, a weed is an unwanted plant in your lawn or garden. No plant that’s perceived as a weed today has always been a weed. Once upon a time, they lived in...
Creating a Low-Maintenance Garden
What to expect with low-maintenance landscaping When we’re consulting with clients about their goals for new landscaping projects, by far the most requested characteristic is “low-maintenance”. But keep in mind that “low-maintenance” doesn’t mean “no maintenance”, so...
Retaining Walls, Pathways, and Patios – Oh My!
Enhance the comfort and beauty of your yard with hardscaping Hardscaping is probably not a term you use very often, but it’s actually a common facet of landscaping. In fact, you probably have some hardscaping elements in your yard. The “hard” in hardscaping refers to...
Choosing Native Ontario Plants for Your Garden
Native plants are those that have thrived in their original region for centuries. Just like native animals, they have evolved over the years to adapt to changes in their environment. In the last half of the twentieth century, the ever-burgeoning global marketplace...
Spring Clean Your Pond or Water Feature
If you’re lucky enough to have a pond and/or water feature in your yard, you’ll be positively itching to start enjoying it again this year. But before you fire up the pump(s), a bit of maintenance is needed to ensure the health and longevity of the water feature and...
Spring Maintenance: Lawn & Garden Cleanup
Once again, it’s the time of year we wait for all winter… Spring! While the planting and growing season is more than a month off, you can prepare now by cleaning up and preparing your lawn and gardens. If appropriate for our hardiness zone here in Stratford and Perth...
Planning and Design Tips for Your Garden
When it comes to garden design, many people know what they like when they see it, but just don’t know how to transform their garden from its current state to what they envision. There’s a lot to consider – your preferred style, available space, soil type, irrigation,...
Add Winter Interest to Your Gardens
Most of us here in Southwestern Ontario prefer the warmer months. But when the snow falls it’s nice to still be able to enjoy your outdoor landscape, even from indoors. Visual interest in winter doesn’t have to come just from urns, wreaths, and garland that gets taken...
Protect Your Lawn, Garden, Trees, and Shrubs from Winter
In Southwestern Ontario, we’re generally finishing up putting our lawns and gardens to bed for the winter. While some do very little but cut back spent seed heads and dead foliage, others employ measures to cover and protect every tree, shrub, and plant on their...
Fall-ing for Ornamental Grasses
Ornamental grasses have long been a staple in landscape design, offering a contemporary edge to flower beds, acting as natural privacy screens, and adding visual interest, especially this time of year. And they’re fairly hardy, which means than we can...
Why Fall is the Best Time to Seed or Sod Your Lawn
When we reach September, we tend to start thinking about putting our lawn and gardens to bed for the winter season. However, the onset of cooler nights with sunny, warm days is the perfect combination for establishing a healthy lawn. The absence of extreme...
Pruning Tips and Techniques for Healthy Trees and Shrubs
Learning how to properly prune trees and shrubs is an essential skill that will help keep them healthy and beautiful. Below, we’re going to share some pruning basics, discussing not only how to prune but also when.
How much water does my grass need?
Landscaping design companies like us install and maintain a lot of grass every season. We sod, we seed, we cut, we weed. New lawns look great – green, lush, and weed-free. But often, maintaining a healthy lawn can be trying, and one of the biggest...