Tag Archives: tips

Enjoy Your Landscape and Let Us Take Care of Maintenance

An existing landscape that isn’t working for you may not need a complete overhaul for you to be able to enjoy your landscape again. We have customers who like their landscape but need to make a few changes. Perhaps the loss of key plants left holes to fill in. A good maintenance visit may be just what you need to get your landscape ready for a refresh. With a well-maintained landscape, it is easy to see where a few tweaks can make a difference. Sometimes a landscape is just missing a wow factor, so adding more color or structure can refresh a tired look. We can tweak your existing landscape to be anything you want it to be. Simply tell us what your vision is, and we’ll choose the right plants for the job.  

A Carefree Landscape with Lots of Color


This home, in South Overland Park, was professionally landscaped several years ago, but the owner wanted to make a few changes. She likes to spend time in her pool and enjoy the landscape from the water as well as from a raised screened porch and from her vantage points inside the house. Some of the originally installed plants failed in her yard for varying reasons, but she still wanted to get a full-coverage look and interesting spaces. Her ultimate goal was to have a carefree landscape that is interesting and full of colors without all the mess. Letting us take care of maintenance allows her to enjoy the view.

Landscape-With-ColorLandscaping Image

Layering Creates Interest through Fullness and Variety


The row of large evergreens along the pool already created a nice privacy fence. We moved a mass of tall grasses to create a layer, mixing a new texture and then repositioned a row of low growing Coreopsis in front of that for even more depth and variety. In other areas, we added masses of groundcovers and low-growing perennials for color that comes back every year. The hardscape lends itself to the goal of interesting places with paths that lead you out of the space. We lined the existing walkways and bed spaces with decorative gravel to correct drainage and allow water to run off as needed without sacrificing aesthetics.

Landscape-Layering

Containers Add a Splash of Color around the Pool

We also planted a large number of containers that are placed around the pool as well as in the beds to add constant seasonal color without worrying about space limitations like in the case of perennials that might have short bloom cycles. There’s no limit to what you can put in a container to fill a space perfectly. And they’re portable, so you can change your mind and move them around.

Landscape ContainersContainer Decorations Around Pool

These pictures showcase how an existing landscape can be tweaked to enclose a space and create a gorgeous backdrop of beauty. This is a constantly evolving garden that changes every year. Greenleaf will be there next year to help transform it into a beautiful, colorful, vibrant landscape again. Front, back, sides and even poolside – wherever you need help, we have the answer.

If you need help with landscaping or maintenance, call the gardening pros at Greenleaf to help. Call (816) 916-5171 or contact us online.

The “Wait Not Wade” Woes – Planting in Wet Soil

planting plants in wet soil

If you are anything like us, you’re itching to get outside, you’re always thinking about being outside, and when you have an opportune moment not preoccupied with other “things”, you are outside.

So, you just got home from work, or it’s the weekend and time to plant those plants that have been sitting on the deck or driveway in containers for days, weeks, months (hope you own a nursery).

While this excitement to exercise your green thumb helps the world go round, it can also have reverse effects on your garden beds and landscape if Mother Nature is beckoning us to wait.

Related Read: Be Ready for Spring with Landscape Maintenance

Wet Soil Compacts Easily

Planting in wet soil or when it is raining ES NO BUENO. Not only can anything and everything that you touch get caked with muddy soil, but everywhere you step, the soil begins to compact.

Compacting the soil is bad because it removes the air pockets your plants’ roots will seek as they grow (or don’t, if you have not hung up the gloves yet). It’s good to wait a few days after a heavy rain to allow the soil to dry out a bit. If you time it “perfectly” you could dig easily and water minimally.

When Your Schedule Won’t Allow You to Wait to Plant

Adding compost and things like peat moss can also help to create those air pockets mentioned previously if waiting a couple days is out of the question. Also, if the area where you are planting is very wet or dry frequently, you might investigate why this is, consider planting in another location, amend the soil, or fix the landscaping to alleviate the issue. The team at Greenleaf can help if you have questions.

From all of us to you, we hope your planting season is off to a great start for future beginnings!

If you need garden or landscaping help, give us a call at (816) 916-5171 or contact us online.