By Al Warr
Working in the yard has always fascinated me. Trimming the rosebushes, dividing the hostas, and pushing seeds into the dirt keeps me grounded.
The days of late winter have a special appeal. It’s good to get outside again and feel the earth about to renew itself in the flow of the seasons.
It’s a time to give birth to changes in the yard and garden. Ideas that have been rattling around in my head suddenly seem ready to roll out across the landscape. It’s time to make arrangements for the help needed in planning that dreamscape.
***
Adding a patio off the rear is a fairly common undertaking. Then you decide that a fire pit would be nice. And a fish pond. Maybe some lighting. A shrub here and a rosebush there.
Soon your yard is a hodge podge of things.
“People start building in their yards, adding as they go along,” said Sean Murray. “It’s better and more cost effective to follow a plan.”
Murray advises people to develop an overall plan, built around what they like and want. Projects can be small or they can be large, but by following a plan, the pieces come together. Murray can do it all at once or spread projects out over time.
“With some people, we go on 5 or 6 years,” he said. “We provide a free initial consultation and then we prepare a design.” Only then does he get to work.
Murray runs Nature’s Apprentice based in Tewksbury. It dates from 2008. He has some 20 years experience, and all work is done by his half dozen crews. They tackle projects from Bergen to Ocean County. He is already booked to May.
Hardscape design and construction along with natural stone projects make up a big part of his work. Projects can include swimming pools, patios, retaining walls, outdoor kitchens, pavilions and pergolas, fencing, shade structures, and more. See the website for many pictures of completed projects.
“There is no substitute for using natural stones in your yard,” he said. “They’ll add to your construction costs, but the stone will last a lifetime and they look better with age.”
For more information, call 908-255-5665 and visit NaturesApprentice.com.
***
“People give me a wish list, and I design around what they want,” said Rocco Bravoco. He runs RB Landscaping, LLC based in Flemington.
Bravoco has spent the past 35 years in landscaping, from design to installation. He received certification from Cook College at Rutgers in landscape design, and he keeps up with trends in the industry.
“I do lots of outdoor lighting, irrigation and building small ponds,” he told me. “And I complete hardscaping projects, including patios, walls and walkways, driveways and fireplaces.”
Depending on size, ponds can take 4 to 5 days to install, but arrangements must be made weeks ahead. The same is true of irrigation projects, retaining walls and fire pits.
“Each phase of a project is enjoyable, from design to realization,” he said. Being a small business, Bravoco is hands-on for every job.
He works with all kinds of plant materials. Working through clients’ choices, he mixes perennials, shrubs, flowering plants, and more.
“Grasses are very big,” he said. “There are so many different varieties, different colors, tones and sizes.” He mixes grasses in with other plant materials.
For more information, call 908-284-0663 and visit RBLandscapingLLC.com.
***
“Some plants do well in the sun, others in shade,” said Richard Eible. In recommending shrubs, perennials, and other plants, his years of experience comes into play.
Eible runs RA Landscaping & Design LLC, working out of offices in Flemington.
“We do lots of hardscaping, patios, fire pits, walkways, steps, waterfalls, lighting, and more,” he added. “I do the design and then I bring in my crew.”
In addition to professional landscaping, services include construction of outdoor living spaces and drainage, tree care, lawn installation and care, mulching and sodding, along with snow plowing. He will tackle spring cleanups in the waning days of winter.
Eible handles residential and commercial projects. He is located at 264 Routes 202/31 and has been serving central and northern New Jersey since 1994.
For more information, call 732-245-0022 and visit RALandscapingDesign.com.
***
One of my favorite springtime activities is visiting garden centers and growers. It’s sort of like a window-shopping experience.
An exceptional place for this is the Hionis Greenhouses. This is a family operation that started back in 1985 and continues to grow. It’s located at 4 Coddington Road in Whitehouse Station.
The greenhouses and covered growing areas amount to some 13 acres. That’s not all. Outdoor production covers some 65 additional acres. It’s a big place and one of New Jersey’s largest growers of plants and flowers.
Right now in the garden center, you’ll find lots of succulents, pansies, cabbage and kale, container gardens, along with cyclamen and ivies. Soon, there will be an endless procession of Easter lilies, tulips, pansies, daffodils, hydrangeas, and more annuals and perennials than I know the names of.
Hionis Greenhouses should be on every gardener’s list of places to go. It’s open weekdays, 9 to 4, but closed on Saturday and Sunday.
For more information, call 908-534-7710 and visit HionisGreenhouses.com.
Al Warr can be reached at 610-253-0432 or AlWarr16@gmail.com.
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
