Sweeneys Custom Landscaping Articles
Making Your Way: Creating a Garden Path
March’s reign seemed wholly indecisive and fickle. Her tumultuous rule left the landscape feeling confused and disoriented. Had she lost her way? Had she veered off the path to Spring? Garden paths can be purely aesthetic, functional or both. They can be invitations to the garden visitor to explore…
Feeling the Burn of Winter Scorch
Winter settled in comfortably, as it’s apt to do, lounging upon the couch of life, shoes on, leaving an empty pantry in its wake, and hogging the remote. Winter is here to stay, and will undoubtedly leave its mark. Winter scorch, due to extreme cold, drying winds, and even…
Killing with Kindness
Sweet, tender Summer was becoming a bit more brazen and fierce as desiccated leaves scraped and scratched their way along the ground. Although not technically in a drought, DuPage County and much of Illinois are experiencing abnormally dry conditions. Granted, we haven’t had much measurable rain since early Summer/late Spring,…
Go Your Own Way: Creating a Garden Path
Spring’s reign seemed wholly indecisive and fickle. Her tumultuous rule left the landscape feeling confused and disoriented. Had she lost her way? Had she veered off the vernal path? Garden paths can be purely aesthetic, functional or both. They can be invitations to the garden visitor to explore the…
M.U.L.C.H. (Multi Use Landscape Commodity in Horticulture)
Swelling Redbuds, drifts of Squill, and nodding Daffodils began to pepper the blank canvas of early Spring with bursts of life and color. Along with Spring Clean Ups and Lawn Renovations, we must turn our attention to one of the most important additions to the landscape. Mulch. If you…
The New Cost of Doing Business
The silhouette of flocking geese, like great black ribbons meandering the sky, gleefully trumpeted their return home. Another sure sign of the changing season. If there’s something we’ve all learned over the past two years, change is inevitable and often swift and unforgiving. 2022 is shaping up to be another…
Feeling the Burn of Winter Scorch
Winter settled in comfortably, as it’s apt to do, lounging upon the couch of life, shoes on, leaving an empty pantry in its wake, and hogging the remote. Winter is here to stay, and will undoubtedly leave its mark. Winter scorch, due to extreme cold, drying winds, and even salt…
Preparing Trees & Shrubs for Winter
November extinguished the landscape ablaze, leaving only a few smoldering embers amongst the ashes. The trees stood unadorned and humbled as their Autumnal attire laid at their feet. The great sentinels now stood vulnerable and exposed. With Winter nipping at our heels, and the threat of consistent hard…
Mulch! You Need It! You Want It! You Gotta Have It!
Islands of snow floated atop the landscape as grass and plants began to reveal themselves, as if waking and stretching from a long, deep slumber. March has thus far been a lamb, and although not out of the woods, Spring seems possible and near. Along with Spring Clean Ups and…
Finding Your Way: Creating a Garden Path
Through the clotted and frothy clouds, a blue fissure had appeared, providing a passageway in which the sun could traverse, and we stretched and reached for her warmth. Garden paths can be purely aesthetic, functional or both. They can be invitations to the garden visitor to explore the landscape or…
Combatting Heat Stressed Plants
The humidity enveloped the landscape, constricting ever tighter, until flora and fauna wilted. Breathless, lifeless, and defeated, Summer had officially arrived in all its oppressive glory. Oh, and we have cicadas. Heat stress is a real thing and can adversely affect our plants. When temperatures start to top 85 degrees,…
Mulch: Why, What, How & When?
A cacophony of bird songs filled the trees and permeated the air, serenading each bud and bloom in Spring’s warming embrace. Sleepy tulips sprouted forth, bravely stretching towards the vernal sun. The landscape was stirring, and our souls awakening in its midst. Along with Spring Clean Ups and Lawn…