Canada Blooms

Canada Blooms

A little late but you can still catch Canada Blooms today & tomorrow.  A great way to tantalize your senses and get dreaming about outdoor projects. Transforming an ordinary backyard into an outdoor paradise can be easily accomplished with the help of a professionally designed landscape plan.  We all need to get outdoors more.  Nature helps us relax, rejuvenate and re-connect with ourselves, our family and friends. 

This year we had the pleasure to be involved in the building of Landscape Ontario's feature garden.  We really enjoyed working with the many professional association members and thank LO for asking us to be involved. 

Projects 2009

SPRING IS HERE !!!!

I can't believe how fast 2009 went by! Another season of projects designed & built! I've added a few photos of some 2009 projects as we are trying to get the web site updated. Looking forward to the projects we have lined up for this year, some projects from returning clients and some new clients we have began working with. We have met some wonderful people over the years and find it extremely rewarding to be part of their landscape projects. We would like to thank our clients for their support and understanding regarding our daughters hospital admissions last year. We are truly thankful for having clients who understand the importance of family. That said, we learned a few new tricks for juggling business & family and have a increased our staff and support group. Looking forward to a great year! Happy Spring!

Spring Stretch

If you are anything like myself your winter physical activities are limited to snow removal, the occasional skate and less occasional snow shoe excursion. I have no excuses. Although I love to be outdoors I seem to find a gazillion indoor tasks, put off till 'later'. Winter is my hour of 'later'. With this in mind stretching, particularly as we age, is of the utmost importance for your return to outdoor garden activities. For those unfortunate to believe gardening is a chore, stretching may help you change your mind. Gardening can use just about very muscle (especially those that you are unaware of their existence - until you pull one!) Here's some information and stretches recommend from the Canadian Physiotherapy Association (CPA).

http://www.physiotherapy.ca/PublicUploads/222460SMARTGardening.pdf

Without the strain & pain, you may find gardening to be more rejuvenating and rewarding!

There's no better gift to yourself and the planet than adding more green.

Surprise!

For those of us that thought the snow was done, spring was here in true form, April showers, May flowers.......not quite! Several wintery days has left us with over 8 new inches of snow, so heavy my 9ft emerald cedars almost touch the ground. Bent over like exhausted runners at the end of the race but ready to bounce back with a little time and help. If your garden is now blanketed with a carpet of white fluff take comfort in the fact that your spring bulbs and perennials are insulated, waiting again to emerge. The extra snow will also add to the much needed ground moisture plants need for extensive spring growing. The unfortunate victims are the early flowering trees and shrubs whose flower buds where starting to swell in preparation to bloom. Persistent freezing temperatures & ice build up can damage these buds decreasing number of flowers and therefore the number of fruit or berries produced. Not all is doom and gloom! Many plants have adapted to this cycle, but having lots of pollinators (yes that means bees) will help the garden flourish in the long run. I hear the snow melting as I write!

SPRING GREETING

There's no better way to add spring cheer than a fragrant spring planter at your entrance.A basic rule for container making is to use plants with three different forms; spillers ( plants that spill over the containers sides), thrillers (plants that add height and drama) and fillers (plants that are mounding to fill base of thriller). Don't get to crazy with the number of plants, keep it simple instead rely on good proportions with colour and texture. Keep the scale of your plants in mind, i.e. fillers should be approx 1/3 to 2/3 size of the thriller. Your spillers should echo or contrast the colour or texture of the other plants. Plant in good light potting soil, water well and ENJOY!

Home Renovation Tax Credit

GOOD NEWS The Home Renovation Tax Credit can be used for landscaping!

http://www.landscapeontario.com/c?c=1379

http://www.budget.gc.ca/2009/pdf/pamphlet-depliant3-eng.pdf

http://www.canadanursery.com/Page.asp?PageID=122&ContentID=1234

Awards & Media

Cypress Hill design & build is proud to receive another award from Landscape Ontario's Award of Excellence held January 6th 2009.

Each year, Landscape Ontario holds a juried competition to recognize excellence among its members. Only those recieving the highest ranking are awarded. We are every honored to recieve this prestigious award.