Outdoor Living

‘Twas the end of December, and out in my yard

My branches were barren. The ground had gone hard.

That night I was greeted with chills, wind, and frost

And the knowledge that yet another season was lost.

My backbone was aching, my heart was all heavy

I creaked and I wobbled like a ‘94 Chevy

Winter had gone and messed with my head

“Screw this” I said. “I’m going to bed.”

The north wind was roaring, my hound dog was snoring

As I drifted off, warm, by my wife so adoring

So grumpy was I to live so far north

I had forgotten today was the twenty-fourth.

At some point I woke up, at first unsure why

And then I heard tapping and banging on high

“Great,” was my first thought, “I’d best grab a broom.

It sounds like our attic may have a raccoon.”

I put on my bathrobe (no kerchief, no cap)

And headed to google “homemade raccoon trap”

I descended the stairs, and what did I see?

A jolly old elf, dressed in red, four foot three.

He smiled at me as he stood from his crouch

And gestured to join him up on the couch.

“Dave,” he said, with a voice filled with magic,

“You’re bringing me down. Winter’s not all that tragic!”

“Sure, where once shades of green and bright flowers did play

There’s just 75 different shades of gray, every day.

But your whining, my gosh, there’s not enough drinks

To make me prefer you to damn Jar Jar Binks.”

I was shaken, for sure, and knew not what to say

When suddenly he grabbed me and we were up in his sleigh

For what felt like hours we flew through the night

We zipped over carolers, under holiday lights.

He showed me the things that make winters worthwhile

All the birds, soft white snow, the bright eyes of a child

We saw all the good that folks do in this season

He tried really hard, and for all the right reasons

That elf busted his butt to get through to me

We even found time to watch holiday movies

Charlie Brown, Home Alone, for hour after hour

We even watched Hans Gruber fall from the tower

I was getting real tired, my eyes at half mast

When suddenly we were home, like no time had passed.

“Now Dave,” Santa said, fixing me with his gaze,

“Are you finished with your grinchy grumptastic ways?”

What could I say? You simply can’t lie to Saint Nick

I spoke from the heart. I spit it out quick.

“You showed me some beautiful wonderous things,

But truly, Santa, I’ll be happier in spring.”

His head he did shake, his eyes he did roll

And he handed me just a big bag of charcoal

“We know it’s not sickness, disease, or disorder

Your attitude sucks. Fix it Dave. That’s an order.”

As I watched him depart, full of cheer and disdain

What I had to do next became suddenly plain

Could I love winter? Cold temps and deep snow?

Santa sure thought so, and wouldn’t he know?

I resolved then and there to give winter a chance

To stop sulking and go put on my big boy pants

There are gardens to plan, there are workshops to give

Drawings to to color with Ol’ Roy G Biv

With the love of my wife, two cats, and the dog

Our friends and our family, and jet fuel egg nog

There’s no reason at all that I shouldn’t say

Love to you all, have a great holiday!

12 volt lighting is like magic. You’re taking regular household line voltage and stepping it down to something that’s much safer and easier to work with. A rough knowledge of landscape lighting transformer basics will help you plan your system, if you’re a DIY-er, or it can help you understand what you’re getting if you’re hiring someone for professional outdoor lighting design.

What is a landscape lighting transformer?

A landscape lighting transformer typically consists of a weatherproof enclosure that contains electrical elements that take regular household current and decrease the voltage, typically to 12 volts. Your transformer plugs into a standard outlet (GFCI if outside or in an area that may get wet). Landscape lighting wire is connected to taps inside the box, and that’s what powers your lighting system.

Single vs multi-tap

The cheap transformers you can buy at the big-box hardware chains are most often single-tap transformers. That means that there’s only room for one wire to come into the transformer and connect to power. That’s fine if you have a short run of only a few lights, but that single tap greatly limits your flexibility.

Multi-tap transformers allow you to run multiple lines from one transformer. This is especially useful if you have a lot of fixtures, or if you have some long, long runs. Why would the length of the run matter? Voltage drop.

Put as simply as possible, voltage drop means that you’re not going to have the same voltage at the end of a run that you do at the start (at the landscape lighting transformer). Where does the voltage go? On any circuit, impedance is going to cause a reduction in voltage as you go down the line. It’s like water in a pipe – the farther from the source, the more the water pressure drops.

There are ways to deal with voltage drop. The best way is to use a voltage drop calculator (there are a gazillion online) and math it out. You can also play it safe, by limiting the number of fixtures on a long run or by using heavier gauge wire.

Pro-quality multi-tap landscape lighting transformers often have different output voltages on different taps. It’s not uncommon in a large transformer to see a couple of 12V taps, as well as a 13V, 14V, and 15V tap. These taps can help ensure that you’re getting the necessary voltage to the end of the line.

Timers vs photocells

Odds are, you don’t want to have to flip a switch every time you want your landscape lights to come on. Home automation setups are one solution, but that’s way above my knowledge level. The two most common automated controllers we use are timers and photocells.

Timers come in analog or digital. The analog ones look like the ones your parents used to have the lights come on when you were on vacation. The downside to these is that if you lose power, it can throw off your entire program. Digital timers often come with a battery backup, so when the power comes back, nothing has changed. Timers are best for people who want the lights to come on at dusk, but turn off when everyone usually goes to bed. When they come on needs manually adjusted as the seasons change.

Photocells are good for homeowners who want the lights to come on when it gets dark, and shut off when the sun comes back. The sensor can mount directly on the transformer if it’s out in the open. If the transformer is inside a building or under a deck, you can get a photocell on a longer wire lead that can be mounted remotely.

Bottom line: a landscape lighting transformer is the heart of your outdoor lighting system. It’s the most expensive individual component, which is why we recommend getting the best one that fits your budget, and sizing it to fit your current and future needs. If you’re not sure where to start with your landscape lighting, that’s just one of the many services we offer. Contact us today to learn more!

In 2017, we built several water features for a client who was turning a pretty blah property into their retirement home. The rear of the home was mostly glass and looked out onto a steep, unusable hillside. In other words, a perfect setting for a water feature! If you want to learn about lighting for ponds and waterfalls, keep reading to get results like this.

Lighting for ponds and waterfalls – start with the drama shots

For most natural-style water features, it’s the waterfall that gets the most attention (and oohs and ahhs). Waterfalls look fantastic when lit up at night. For lights that will be completely or partially in the water, we recommend lights designed for underwater use, like this one:

How you light up a waterfall depends primarily on where you can get a light fixture and what type of fixture works best. In the photo below, you can see how we lit each waterfall in a different way.

With waterfall A, we placed the submersible spotlight at the bottom of the pond, shining up into the waterfall. The light picks up the entire flow of water coming over the spillway rock, and it also lights up the area underneath it. It does a wonderful job of focusing your attention on the key feature of the pond. It’s the money shot.

With waterfall B, a direct spot underneath didn’t make sense. You can’t successfully have two competing focal points and I wanted this to be the “secondary” waterfall. Additionally, it’s a smaller, slower flow, so there’s not as much to illuminate. Here we took a submersible spotlight and placed it on a flat rock across the pond from the waterfall, in just an inch or two of water. You can see that the beam of light washes across the surface of the water and picks up the smaller waterfall. It also creates a little more shadowing in the stone of the back of the pond.

This wouldn’t be an option if this pond were viewed from all angles, as you’d see the fixture and you’d get the glare from the bulb. Since this pond will be viewed almost exclusively from the house and the deck, that’s not an issue. Always consider how you’ll hide the fixture when designing lighting for ponds and waterfalls.

Lighting for ponds and waterfalls – streambeds

With this pond we have around 30 feet of streambed. For the ponds in the front of this residence, we have almost 75 feet. After all that hard work (and probably 20+ tons of boulders) you’d better believe we want to show it off at night! There are three primary ways that we’ll illuminate a streambed.

Underwater spotlights – If there’s a big enough waterfall drop in the course of the streambed, we can light the waterfall just like we did the pond waterfall above. We didn’t have a sizeable drop (more than a foot) in this streambed, so we had to use other options.

Path lights – I like using pathlights for several reasons. For one thing, they do an excellent job of lighting both the water in the stream, and the stones and plants bordering the stream. They’re also easy to adjust, easy to move, and come in different heights and finishes to help them blend into the setting.

Bullet lights – Sometimes a pathlight won’t work. Maybe the grade is so steep that a pathlight can’t effectively light enough of the stream to make a difference; maybe the stream is bordered by such large boulders that you can’t get a pathlight close enough. That’s where bullet lights come into play. You can illuminate large sections of stream by angling the light diagonally across the stream, parallel with the grade. You can use risers to place the bullet lights high enough to shine slightly down and across. And sometimes they’re the best way to highlight a cool feature. In this example pond, I grabbed several huge boulders from around the property and we set them so it would look like the stream was emerging from a natural spring. What with all the plantings, as well as the drama of the stream and pond, you don’t really notice our not-actually-a-spring during the day. Hitting it with light reveals an awesome surprise come sundown!

Submersible lights (other than spotlights) – The easiest mistake to make when designing any landscape lighting is to leave dark areas among the lighted areas. This just makes those dark places seem even darker. In other words, if you don’t do something to light up your pond, it’s going to look like the black depths from which Cthulu will come to devour our world. That’s just bad design. Drop a submersible light in there to give your pond that soft glow.

I should also mention that when we’re doing lighting for ponds and waterfalls, we’re using low voltage (12 volt) lighting. It’s much safer around water than line voltage, and there are dozens upon dozens of fixtures made just for lighting in wet areas. With landscape lighting fixtures you definitely get what you pay for, and that’s especially true for submersible fixtures. It’s well worth the investment, unless you really enjoy sloshing around your pond in waders replacing fixtures all the time.

Are you looking for a water feature? Or do you have one that you like, but you really wish it looked better at night? We can help! Fill out the form below and someone will get right back to you. I just want you to get outside and play.

Story time! December of 2009, I met with Bob and Marilyn to walk through the layout of their front walk. The crew was coming the following day to rip out the existing walk and we wanted to get all our ducks in a row. “Can we really do winter landscape projects like this?” asked Marilyn. I waved off the question. “This is Virginia! With our mild winters, your guests will be walking up to the front door for Christmas Eve on your brand new walk.”

Thus began the season of Snowpocalypse. We weren’t able to finish that front walk till February, and it was another month till the dumpster company could actually get down their gravel road to pick up the box. These days, I’m much more conservative in my pronouncements of what’s possible and what’s not, and I always mention that because it’s Virginia, who the heck knows?

The truth of the matter is that most landscape projects can be done all year long in Virginia, provided there’s not two [email protected]^&@^-ing feet of snow on the ground (I’m still bitter). That’s not to say we don’t have limits.

Limits on winter landscape projects: planting

If we can get to the ground, and we can get a shovel IN the ground, we can plant most woody trees and shrubs in the winter. Planting deciduous trees and shrubs in winter is great. They’re dormant, and the lack of leaves means that these trees and shrubs aren’t going to dry out from moisture loss through the leaves. We may have less selection in the winter, as we’re not getting much field dug, but most nurseries still have plenty of stock.

Evergreens require a little more thoughtful approach. Generally speaking, the smaller the leaf, the safer it is to plant in winter. Junipers and boxwood are pretty safe. Southern magnolias and broad-leaved hollies like Nellie R. Stevens or Oakleaf? Nope, no way. I won’t do it. Here’s why:

This holly was planted late in the fall, towards the end of October/early November. It looked great at first, but because the roots didn’t have time to get established, it had a hard time getting water once the client shut off her outside faucets. As dry winter winds raced across Virginia, they sucked all the moisture right out through those big leaves.

We also don’t plant most perennials after November 1st. There’s just not enough plant mass to stand up to our bizarre and sometimes frigid winters, and it’s just depressing to see a bunch of lifeless piles of brown in the spring. Liriope is the big exception. I will always plant liriope. A post-apocalyptic world will be run by roaches eating Twinkies and relaxing under liriope.

Limits on winter landscape projects: masonry

Concrete is created via a chemical reaction between Portland cement and water (with a bunch of aggregates and sand as well). That water needs to be liquid, which is why temperature is a limiting factor when it comes to masonry work. If daytime temps are above freezing, we can use insulating blankets or even just straw to protect the new work if nighttime temps are going to dip below freezing. In some cases, we’ll even put up a tent and use heaters to make it easier for the guys to work during the day. However, if it’s consistently below freezing, we hit the pause button. It’s not great for the guys to work in those conditions, and it also impacts the quality of the masonry in winter landscape projects.

While paver installations don’t require mortar or concrete, freezing temperatures can also cause us to pause work on pavers. If the bulk materials we’re working with – sand, gravel, or soil – are frozen, we can’t reliably get a smooth surface, and we’ll need to come back to fix it. We’d rather get it right the first time.

Limits on winter landscape projects: inclement weather

The bottom line is that the crew needs to be able to work efficiently and SAFELY. Dangerously cold and windy? We can’t work. Same with an icy jobsite.

Snow falls under the category of “it depends”. A couple of inches can easily be shoveled off the work area, and the remainder will disappear as soon as the sun’s been on it for a while. Too much snow, however, and we have to wait.

Pricing and winter projects – can you get a deal?

You hear it everywhere, especially online: wait to do your landscape project in the winter and you can score amazing deals. Is this true? Not really. Here’s why.

For one thing, productivity goes down and we’re accomplishing less per day with winter landscape projects. It’s cold, it’s miserable, and it’s harder to move around and work in heavy clothes and gloves. Sometimes we need to move a little slower just for safety. Sometimes we’re moving slower because it takes more time to get the same results from cold or frozen materials. Our vendors are open fewer hours. And we have to plan for the likelihood of not being able to work every day due to weather.

Additionally, our costs don’t drop in the winter. Some vendors (like ready-mix concrete) actually charge more in the winter. Add all this up and it costs me more to build a project in the winter than it does in decent weather, so I’m unlikely to offer a huge discount for winter work. It’s just not good business, and I want to be here creating beautiful landscapes for a long, long time.

What are you working on this winter? Let me know in the comments!

I don’t make any secret of the fact that I prefer natural stone to pavers, segmental wall block, or lick and stick stone. “Flagstone” can mean a pretty diverse array of stones and finishes, so which is the best flagstone for you?

Pennsylvania variegated: the best flagstone for most Virginia landscapes

If you’re driving around Virginia, oohing and ahhing over beautiful landscapes like the one we created for Old House Vineyards, odds are that you’ve seen a lot of blue- and gray-toned patios and walks (with occasional pops of rust, gold, green, and purple). This is most likely a product known as Pennsylvania variegated flagstone, quarried just two states north of here. It’s a durable stone that cuts well and looks terrific with all different styles of landscape design. That’s what I’m going to discuss here. There are plenty of other colors available – check out these Tennessee browns below – but we use a LOT of Pennsylvania variegated flagstone. We use it in a few different finishes.

Also a note: this post is talking about the surface finishes of slabs. Check out this post to learn about flagstone edge treatments.

Natural cleft flagstone

Now, Geology 101 was a long time ago, and it was my first 8 am class ever in college, so I don’t remember as much as I wish I did. What I do know is that flagstone is a sedimentary rock, made up of lots and lots of layers compressed together over thousands of years. Think of puff pastry dough.

Natural cleft flagstone is cut to thickness (typically 1-2” thick) by using a hydraulic guillotine to split it along the grain. In other words, it’s cleft. Naturally. This is amazing writing, y’all. What this means in terms of finish is that 1) the thickness can vary from piece to piece, 2) each piece may have thickness variation along it, and 3) each piece can have a finish that ranges from sort of smooth to very uneven.

Natural cleft flagstone is probably the most commonly used type of PA flagstone, and it’s the least expensive of the three types discussed here. It’s an excellent choice for patios and walks, but it’s not ideal for step treads, wall caps, or counters.

Thermaled flagstone

For thermaled flagstone, the slabs are generally sawcut into uniform thicknesses. The slabs are then heat treated (thermaled) in a kiln, or can be done in the field using an oxy-acetylene torch. Either way the method is the same: the surface of the stone is wet down, and then heat is applied. As the water turns to steam, it pops off irregularities in the surface, resulting in a much smoother, dimpled finish.

Some people (myself included) think that thermaled flagstone takes a step back from the natural appearance of natural cleft flagstone, because of its more uniform color and texture. However, I’m ok with that in many instances. For example:

• Front walks – nowhere is a smooth, consistent surface more important than the main entry to your home. Keep Aunt Edna safe! We also specify thermaled flagstone for commercial projects for the same reason (especially our winery clients).
• Step treads and wall caps – every time I see a wall cap or step tread done with thin, natural cleft stone, all I can think is “oh bless their hearts they didn’t know any better!” Step treads and wall caps (and windowsills and hearths and mantles and so on) look 1000x better at a minimum thickness of 2”. They just do. Second, steps, etc look better if all pieces are the same thickness. Third, the thermaled top and edge (or a rockfaced edge) give the project a more finished look.

Don’t take my word for it. Look at the two photos and see which looks better.

Honed flagstone

This was a new one for me this year, and I absolutely love it. Slabs are sawcut to uniform thickness, much like thermaled flagstone, but the surface is honed. That means that the entire surface is ground to a smooth, flat, consistent finish. It looks amazing.

I like to use honed flagstone for surfaces that are going to receive skin contact. That can be firepit caps, hearths, outdoor kitchen worktops, and the like. It just feels so cool that I love using it! Just keep in mind that because it’s so smooth, I don’t think it would be a good choice for steps. If I’m wrong about that, feel free to tell me I’m an idiot in the comments.

Armed with this information, do you feel like you know it all? Or do you want the help of a stone-obsessed, plant lovin’ landscape design geek to make your landscape absolutely amazing? All you have to do is contact me to get the ball rolling. I can’t wait to hear from you!

What if you could get a Virginia landscape grant to help pay for your project? Would it help you make the decision to move forward? I know, I sound like this guy, but stay with me:

The Virginia Soil and Water Conservation Districts offer a program, for homeowners and businesses, called the Virginia Conservation Assistance Program (VCAP). It’s not for all landscape projects, just ones that would be considered to be “best practices” for managing stormwater and protecting the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

Virginia landscape grant-eligible projects

I’m really impressed with Virginia for implementing VCAP. Controlling runoff is getting more and more critical as our state grows and we add acres of impervious surfaces like roads, rooftops, and lots and lots of hardscape. Here are a few types of projects for which you may be able to get a rebate. All information comes from the VCAP website.

Conservation landscaping

Simply put, conservation landscaping means converting turfgrass and/or bare soil areas to planting areas that support wildlife, feature native/non-invasive plants, are low-impact, and help protect the air and water. The posted reimbursement rate is 75% of costs, up to $3,500 per application.

Impervious surface removal

The overwhelming majority of the pavement you see – concrete, asphalt, brick – is impervious. Water still has to go somewhere, so impervious surfaces can mean that stormwater picks up debris and pollutants then heads to the nearest stream or storm drain. To help with this growing problem, VCAP offers incentive payments of $2.50 per square foot of treated area, with a maximum payment of $10,000 per parcel, per year. What’s incredibly cool is that this can be used in conjunction with…

Permeable pavement installation

Permeable pavement is any paving surface that allows stormwater to filter down into the soils. One of the more common materials used is a permeable paver system. These are built over a bed of open gravel, and the pavers have large gaps between them that are filled in with a smaller gravel. They’re not cheap to build, which is why I think it’s amazing that VCAP will reimburse 75% of the total cost, with a maximum payment of $15,000 per parcel, per year.

Vegetated Conveyance System

Come on, guys. Enough with the fancy language. You’re talking about a swale. Specifically, dry swales, wet swales, and step pool conveyance swales. What’s the difference? A dry swale is designed to move stormwater and allow it to percolate into the soil. A wet swale is designed to stay wet (thus the name), acting as a wetland to allow funk to settle out of the stormwater and for microbes and root systems to help clean the runoff. Step pool conveyance swales are designed to help slow and dissipate water flow from a storm by using a series of shallow pools. For these types of projects, they offer reimbursement of 75% of total costs, up to $10,000 per parcel per year.

Rain Gardens

Rain gardens are shallow, landscape depressions that hold stormwater immediately after a rain event and allow the water to percolate into the soil within 48 hours. They take a little skill to do correctly, and plant selection is important. Not every plant is ok with sitting in 6-12 inches of water for a while, then going back to dry feet. VCAP offers reimbursement of 75% of total costs, up to $3,500 per parcel, per year.

VCAP also offers reimbursements for dry wells, rainwater harvesting, constructed wetlands, green roofs, and living shorelines. It’s all on their website, and we can help you with those Virginia landscape grant projects as well.

How does one get a Virginia landscape grant?

There’s a straightforward process for getting a Virginia landscape grant. The best place to start is with a consultation with your friendly neighborhood Virginia landscape designer. After that, we contact your local soil and water conservation district, they come out, and they conduct a site assessment. From there, we’ll create a landscape plan for your project and you can submit it, along with the other required documentation, to the VCAP program. If it’s approved, we’ll build it, the soil and water folks will inspect the completed project, and you’ll receive a check for the approved reimbursement amount. It’s that simple.

If you’ve been contemplating one of the projects I mentioned above, contact me today and let’s discuss next steps!