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 PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
Our company is changing. By examining our current organizational operations in an ongoing way; we are seeking to improve our delivery of services to current customers and to attract a new clientele. To do this we are:
Change is always difficult. However, a commitment to continually improve our services involves change. "Our Iceberg's Melting", by Joe Kotter, is required reading for all core staff. This fable tells the story of penguins whose resistance to initiate change needed to save their lives and their homes, is overcome with highly creative and clever strategies.
The metaphor provides us with insights and as we discuss the meaning of the book we see it's applications into our own work. The vision we have of Rooney Landscape drives us forward. It is, however, only in our ability to grow and change, take risks, and constantly improve all aspects of our work that the conversation has meaning.
Your feedback to me, to our Account Managers or to anyone on our staff provides needed information for this process of continual improvement to be successful. Call. Write. E-Mail. Our staff is open to suggestions, affirmation and challenges. We need to hear from you. The March issue of Rooney's Roots deals with change - changing your landscape. Two articles "Garden Remodeling - Plan Early" and "The Value of Plants and Landscaping" will help you envision a new kind of landscape environment that can have a major impact on the beauty and value of your home.
Sincerely,
Dave Rooney
President
Rooney Principle: "Each customer will have a single-point of contact for all their landscaping needs." |
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SOMETHING YOU SHOULD KNOW . . . . .
Spring Bed Preparation: Spring is the time when any debris left over from last year should be removed; perennials such as ornamental grasses, Russian Sage or Butterfly Bushes should be cut back or trimmed to 4-6"; deciduous trees and shrubs that bloom in the summer should be pruned. Spring is also perfect for rejuvenation pruning of Red and Yellow Dogwood stems, Spireas and Privet hedges by cutting to the ground to stimulate new growth.
March 10-18 Chicago Flower and Garden Show: The show, previously held at Navy Pier, is now at the Donald E. Stephenson Convention Center in Rosemont. Stop by to enjoy some of the first blossoms of spring and gather your ideas for 2007 projects.
Mid-March - Rooney Spring Clean ups begin.
Daylight Saving Time (DST) Changes - Starting Spring 2007, the start and end dates for daylight-saving time will change in the United States. This change is part of the United States Energy Policy Act of 2005.
Daylight Saving Time is extended one month and begins for most of the United States at: 2 a.m. on the Second Sunday in March (Mar 11th) to 2 a.m. on the First Sunday of November (Nov 4th). Note: DST is NOT observed in Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Arizona. |
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 Creative Backyard Landscaping Ideas To Make Your Neighbors Jealous
Want a backyard you can be proud to show off? With a little creativity, a backyard landscape can be a lot more than some grass and a swing set. Take a look at these uncommon backyard landscaping ideas to get some ideas for your own home.
Touch Garden
Landscaping doesn't have to be all about color. Plants with touchable textures add another element to the gardening experience and are especially good for curious young children and the visually impaired. Once you start looking, you'll be surprised at how many touchable plants there are. Some favorites are papery plants like money plant (Lunaria annual) and Statice (Limonium latifolium), plants with fuzzy leaves like woolly thyme (Thymus praecox), Horehound (Marrubium spp.) and Lamb's ear, and feathery plants like astilbe (Astilbe spp.) and dill (Anethum graveolens). Plant them next to walkways and seating areas to make them even more inviting.
Zen-Style Garden
If you're looking for very low-maintenance backyard landscaping idea, a Zen-style garden may be for you. Creating a true Zen garden would require an understanding of Zen philosophy, but you can easily reproduce the design of these meditation gardens. A Zen garden is a dry landscape garden in which the elements of nature are represented by a composition of sand or moss, gravel, stone and rock. Plants are limited to small evergreen trees, ground-level greenery, and a few modest flowers. Many Zen gardens also include raked gravel, but this is the only element that's designed to replicate nature.
Foliage Garden
Flowers aren't the only things that can bring color to your backyard. A foliage garden is a low-maintenance backyard landscaping idea that provides as much show as any flower garden. Plants with foliage in rich wine red, golden yellow, cool blue, and silvery gray can fill the landscape with color all year round. Look for plants that provide not only color, but interesting textures and shapes, too.
Vertical Garden
Want to squeeze a big garden into a small backyard? With a little organization, it can be done. Choose trailing, climbing, and container-friendly plants to create a space-saving vertical garden. Using baskets, window boxes, and pots filled with trailing plants is one of the easiest ways to do this. For a unique way to organize pots, try one of the upright plant-holder poles that use hooks to hold up to nine pots in a straight-up row with each pot angled differently to add interest. Raised beds and terraces are another vertical option. These make it easy to improve your soil in limited areas and, if sturdily built, provide seating, too. If you've got a garden wall, besides training climbing plants on it, you can attach hooks or brackets to hang baskets, plant small flowers in cracks between stones, or add a wall-mounted fountain or other decor.
Landscaping your front yard may take precedence, but don't neglect the backyard, either. If you're planning to landscape your backyard, take time to browse through as many different backyard landscaping ideas as you can to find designs that not only look good, but fit your personal needs, too.
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 Garden Remodeling - Plan Early
Many homeowners are actually glad when winter arrives and they can basically forget about yard work for several months. This does not mean that they are not aware of the shape their garden is in. Particularly when those garden catalogs arrive in the mail, or when they open a Sunset Magazine, the urge to remodel their yard comes over many.
While everything is covered with snow and the ground is frozen it is actually a great time to start planning. Landscaping takes some doing and homeowners who first identify their goals usually achieve better results.
Define how much work and money you want to spend on your project. Look what you have already, what you want to keep and what you want to change. Be clear what is important to you. Is it beautification, privacy, ease of maintenance? Does outdoor entertaining play a big role in your life or is food production your major goal? Another vital factor in landscape planning is safety and convenience. It is important that your paths and steps are lighted and lead where you want them. If you consider all these points before you start, you'll surely end up with the garden you want.
Whether your garden encompasses an acre or is just a tiny plot, certain considerations are the same. With small children or dogs, sturdy plants may have to be planted. If sports are a popular activity, decide how to allot space. Maybe you want to run the tracks for your model railroad through a corner of the yard. If you have a problem area in your yard, how will upgrading it affect the rest of the garden. Will adding a patio cut down on the lawn area? Will trellises block your view? Will planting trees produce too much shade where sun is wanted?
Learn what kind of materials are available and what you can do with them. Wood, vinyl, brick, concrete and others all have advantages and disadvantages. A wooden arbor blends in more naturally with the surrounding plants, but a vinyl arbor is practically maintenance free. Concrete is relatively inexpensive and strong, but also can easily crack on shifting land.
Other guiding principles to consider are proportion, balance, unity and variety.
Proportion. Choose plants and garden structures that are in scale with the architectural lines of your house. Always think ahead to the size the mature plant will have. An 8-foot Poplar today could overpower a one-story house once it reaches 80 feet while a lonely 6-foot bush would look lost at the corner of a two-story structure.
Balance. We are talking of the balanced, not symmetric, distribution of landscaping elements, which create the same visual weight on either side of a center of interest. A large tree on the right of the entryway, balanced by two smaller trees on the left draws the eye to the focal point, (whereas) the front door, with a single tree would draw it away. The 'visual weight' does not have to be mass. It can also be form, color or point of interest.
Unity. An indiscriminate assembly of unrelated plants and structures creates a chaotic overall picture. Unifying the various landscaping materials is essential for creating a pleasing landscape. By repeating common garden elements, a sense that everything belongs together will be achieved. Grouping a certain plant together next to the patio edge and planting a few more along the path, followed by another group at the end, ties one area of the garden with another. Avoid planting too many distinctive areas; it makes it harder to achieve unity.
Variety. This is a welcome element in landscaping, it provides surprise. If you plan to have predominately conventional plants, add something exotic, or plant a purple leafed tree in a predominantly green color planting scheme.
Apart from these principals you have to consider what style of garden you want. Formal, rustic, native, oriental, shade, dry. Your decision about a garden style determines many things. The kind of plants to buy, what structures to add, gates, fences, walk, etc., etc.
Climate is one of the most significant factors to weigh. How does the path of the sun throughout the year affect where you will plant what? Where will heat be trapped, where will the wind need to be controlled? Don't forget the seasons. With careful planning it is possible to increase the number of days you can enjoy outdoors.
So many things to consider, so much to learn. That's why I say start early, while you have no yard work. Get those books about landscaping. Study what you need to know. Check out what materials are available. Go talk to a landscape specialist while he is not yet busy. When those first fine spring days come you will be ready to start your project and have it done to enjoy all summer.
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"Rooney Spotlight"
Carmen 'Chico' Chico, met Dave Rooney when Dave was a teenager, working at Moore's Landscaping. Chico brought his 11 years of experience to the company when he went to work for Dave in 1988; after Dave started R & J Enterprises (the precursor to Rooney Landscape).
He began with the company as a Foreman/Driver, taught many of the new employees and was promoted to a Field Supervisor of eight crews in 2006. Chico is Rooney's principal trainer of the "Rooney Standard" with his extensive knowledge of pruning and experience in all phases of landscape maintenance.
Chico enjoys being outdoors and likes to be constantly moving. He says, "...my job is like taking long power walks on a daily basis...It is quite the work out". | |
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