Thanksgiving

Making Your Yard Festive for the Holidays

Posted on by Hidden Creek Landscaping

The holiday season is here, have you done your decorating yet? While many people will deck their halls and make the insides of their homes a winter wonderland, the yard and landscape are often overlooked. Don’t skimp out on your curb appeal- follow these tips to make your yard festive and welcoming for the holiday season:

Touch Up Your Walk Way

You want your guests to feel welcomed and excited to enter your home. To help with this effect, consider redoing your walkway. With the increasingly shorter days, a little extra lighting will keep everyone safe, especially as things get increasingly icy with the cold weather. Additionally, if the stones or bricks that you currently have lining your path are dingy, old, and worn down, it may be time for a makeover. You can take a seasonal approach to this project by lining your space with lights shaped like elves or candy cane or focus on fixtures that you can display throughout the whole year. Regardless, both you and your guests will be thankful for the extra lighting

Add Planters

Another way to add life to your space in the cold is by investing in holidays planters. This beautiful burst of color will help to make your yard and deck beautiful and vibrant. You can buy planters with evergreen and birch to last throughout the holiday. Spruce up your planters with pinecones, ribbons, and ornaments to give them a night holiday feel. Planters are an elegant way to add some decoration to your home for the season.

String Some Lights

The same old Christmas lights can seem a tad boring, but with a little creativity, you can add a fun new twist. You can line your house and porch with strings of lights but have also you considered draping them throughout the trees and other foliage? Instead of traditional white lights, invest in other colors to add some flare. You can also get icicle-like hanging strands that can give your front porch a great wintery theme. Add some lights to unusual places, like light posts and mailboxes, to add some shimmer. The more lights, the merrier.

Add Some Foliage

While many of your plants will suffer in the winter months, maybe it’s time to rethink your landscaping scheme. Wintergreen boxwood, coneflowers, blue spruces, and catmints are just some of the many plants that can survive and thrive in the winter. Adding new foliage will help to give a feeling of life to your yard that may otherwise be looking a little barren in the season. If you are confused or unsure of what plants will do well during the season in your space, give us a call. We can help you make a landscaping plan to meet your needs and to help your yard stay vibrant the whole winter long.

Revamp Your Deck

If you don’t have a porch or deck, now may be the perfect time to consider adding one. With the weather getting colder and colder, you will want a space where you can enjoy being outdoors, even for a little. A furbished deck or patio is the perfect spot to sit outside and entertain company. You can add a firepit or heat lamps for warmth and decorate your space to entertain. In addition to keeping you happy and cozy, these additions will also help with your curb appeal and the overall value of your home. If you already have a deck or porch but just aren’t crazy about their look, feel, or layout, use this time to do a quick remodel. You’ll be so excited to have them when the weather gets warm again.

No matter how you decide to decorate for the holidays, don’t skip out on your landscape! And, as always, if you need any help, call the experts at Hidden Creek Landscaping. We will help you get your space ready for the holidays and the new year!  

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Giving Thanks For The Beauty of Your Landscape and Nature

Posted on by Hidden Creek Landscaping

20140828_bender_0124When the festive mood grips each and every one of us, it touches us in different ways. Some see the surrounding glitter and bright lights and long for love, whilst others -particularly kids- see it as a time to get the gifts they’ve wished for all year long. Then for Christians and religious fanatics, the season symbolizes something greater, and deeper. Whichever way you look at it, thanksgiving and Christmas is a time for joy and gladness, company and merrymaking, or spiritual atonement. Amidst this collage of sentiments, let’s not, however, forget to keep our gardens dressed the part as well.
Vines And Berries. When most of us think of landscaping thoughts immediately rush to flowers and lawns with little attention being given to fruit trees. Berries and vines are an excellent way to add variety and intrigue to your home. They grow unnoticed most of the time, and they also bear fruit for leisurely snacking with fellow merry makers.
Late vs Early Bloomers. The advent of spring heralds fresh shoots and the rejuvenation of nature. At the start of spring you have two options: either to plant early blooming flower varieties -daffodils, petunias, lenten rose, creeping phlox, Virginia bluebells and marigolds- whose immediacy coincides perfectly with the time, or late bloomers -like orchids- that maintain color and effervescence for much longer.

Innovating Simplicity. Nothing captures the simplicity of nature better than a patch of well trimmed lawn. However, his might not appeal to the senses just as much as when you add a floral background, then all of a sudden something boring and idle becomes exciting to the eyes. Try:

  • Elevated steps -grass or concrete- for a touch of a grandeur and texture.
  • Hedge-lined pathways for natural charm.
  • Archways to add purpose and sophistication to your landscape.

Before i forget, don’t forget to manure, mulch and water your flower garden regularly. Global warming is real and temperatures are on the rise. So show your thankful spirit to nature as well by keeping your plants hydrated at all times.

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How To Use Your Outdoor Patio For Thanksgiving Entertaining

Posted on by Hidden Creek Landscaping

20140828_bender_0168As the festive mood grips each one of us, there is the unrelenting temptation to settle into the usual routine of buying Christmas turkey, selecting eccentric stuffing and inviting relatives over for dinner. Of course, sitting around a table in the beautiful glow of Christmas lights in a cozy indoor atmosphere is somewhat of a sacred American tradition that lends itself to much excitement and merry making. However, there is no reason why you shouldn’t break the ranks and consider an outdoor thanksgiving celebration, especially if you’re blessed with a patio. All you really need is a few tips from seasoned outdoor decor specialists.

Think In Terms Of Color: A Little Vibrancy Won’t Kill

When the word thanksgiving is mentioned, colorful images flare up in the mind. So quite naturally, your outdoor landscaping designs must exude vibrancy. Planting flowers like lilies and petunias, plants like sedum, and colorfully leafy plants like bronze and golden mums, is a great way to ‘implant’ effervescence to your walkways, porches and patios.

Flowering Vines: A Tangling Delight

Vines have a penchant of being all over the place, rambling over walls, fences, trellises and anything they can wrap themselves around. There are, however, some pretty delightful vines out there that actually bloom in a wide array of colours, like the clematis. The clematis vines bloom in purple, pink, red and the occasionally rare blue. Having these will surely add a touch of sophistication if that is what you seek to impart to your outdoor thanksgiving dinner party.

Fill The Air With Sweet Aromas

There is nothing quite like a flower that gives off a sweet aroma by its mere presence. One particular flower that quickly comes to mind is the cranium. Not only are cranium lilies fragrant, but they are beautiful as well.

Outdoor entertaining for thanksgiving is never easy, especially if you wish to be different. But if you take time to consult with leading landscaping

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Giving Thanks For Nature’s Beauty and Our Loved Ones

Posted on by Hidden Creek Landscaping

shutterstock_223597519The harvest is in. Across the land, we are giving thanks for the bounties of the season, for the stunning beauty of nature in its glorious colors and the warmth and love of our families and friends. Whether we indulge in a drive through our area’s most scenic locations, or enjoy a quiet thoughtful walk in our own yard, the tranquil beauty can bring joy to our souls.

Thanksgiving is most often celebrated as a big (and often loud) gathering around a festive table. However, Thanksgiving can also encompass small, personal moments. There’s no reason we can’t enjoy both — perhaps even on the same day.

A spirit of giving thanks can be lifted any day of the year, along with a cup of morning coffee or tea, while enjoying the view from a favorite window. As the birds and other wildlife awaken, so too can our pleasure in the beauty created in our landscaping. Aren’t we grateful our homes can bring such graciousness into our lives and the lives of the creatures who share our world?

During the celebration, some of us might desire to escape the clamor of the joyous holiday with a quiet walk around the grounds. That bench tucked into a far, shady corner or a gazebo on a hilltop is the perfect place to pause and count our blessings, to express our gratitude for the many gifts in our lives. Our favorite spot for reflection might be beside a small pond or waterfall as we appreciate the lulling relaxation. No matter what the setting, giving thanks and being grateful for family and friends can enhance an already terrific day.

There’s no reason that part of Thanksgiving Day (or even the later winter holidays) can’t be spent in our favorite outdoor room before a roaring fire. The sounds and smells are augmented by the scents and flavors of a cup of hot cocoa or favorite grind of coffee. Snuggling in blankets with our favorite people to watch the sunset and glimmer of the first stars can become a beloved holiday tradition.

We can extend Thanksgiving on in to the other winter holidays as we enjoy our home’s landscaping that makes the most of our habitat through every season.

We at Hidden Creek Landscaping hope your holidays will be warm and beautiful — this year and all your years to come.

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How To Use Your Patio For Thanksgiving Entertaining

Posted on by Hidden Creek Landscaping

Screen Shot 2015-11-24 at 4.09.33 PMHomeowners that will be hosting their loved ones this Thanksgiving don’t have to be limited to the indoors. Give your guests more room to spread out by utilizing your outdoor living area, even if there is a chill in the air. Put your patio to good use over the holidays with these helpful entertaining tips:

Create a Comfortable Atmosphere. It may be too cold to dine outdoors on Thanksgiving, but that doesn’t mean that guests can’t enjoy sitting out on the patio throughout the day. Don’t store the furniture away until after the holiday. By providing comfortable seating, your guests will be able to relax with a drink and get some fresh air. You can also set up a drink station outside with cold beverages. Depending on the temperature, you may not even need a cooler.

Warm it Up. Even if it isn’t cold enough to require heavy coats, there’s still going to be a chill in the air in November. Make sure that your patio is warm and toasty by providing a good heating source. It could be from an outdoor heat lamp, a cozy fire pit, or a built in fireplace. Make sure that you have extra wood on hand for the fire pit or fireplace, and check on the fire from time to time to ensure that it stays lit. Guests will be able to come and go from the indoors and enjoy some fresh air outside when there’s a working heat source that keeps the patio comfortable.

Don’t Forget Decor. When preparing your patio for holiday entertaining, don’t forget to add festive decorations. For Thanksgiving, you can keep things simple with a carefully arranged display of pumpkins and gourds. Follow a color scheme that matches the harvest season, bringing together warm tones and shades like oranges, reds, yellows, and browns.

These patio tips will help ensure that your outdoor living space can be practical and useful in every season. Enjoy the beauty of the outdoors this Thanksgiving and give your guests more space to relax and socialize by turning your patio into a comfortable entertaining area.

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