What to Expect in the Month of April

 
We all know that "April showers bring May flowers," but what else is there to know about the month of April?

While the first day of Spring is March 21st, we first start noticing signs of spring in April. When it comes to taking care of your lawn, extra care is crucial at this time. It's important to make sure you are feeding everything, and monitoring the amount of water that is being absorbed.

Rainy season is always tricky. Due to weather, the timing of what should happen in April sometimes blends into May. Spray apples, peaches and pears that have been affected by canker problems, plant summer blooming shrubs and vines, and apply dormant spray to trees, shrubs and vines. Set out summer-flowering bulbs. And be sure to divide and replant spring perennials after bloom.

You will notice all of your pear trees, cherry trees, and plum trees are starting to bloom. As witch hazel is on its way out, there is so much that is about to bloom. Crocus, daffodils, pansies, early tulips, and other minor bulbs will be sprouting up. Hyacinth, many perennials, forsythia, azaleas, dogwoods, and redbuds will be blooming.

As cute as they are, rabbits are attracted to your bulbs this season and can stir up some trouble in your gardens. Due to the short and tender growth, new plantings will also attract different birds that are starting to migrate in; such as robins, a first sign of spring. Hummingbirds and butterflies and bees will start to come as the weather begins to get warmer.

Here's to hoping we see some of our warm-weathered flying friends soon!

Photo Highlights

This past Friday, Scenic got to go and see the Orchid Show at the Botanical Gardens for themselves.

Here are some photo highlights from the beautiful exhibit:

If you are in the NJ/NY area, make sure you find time to take a trip to see it for yourself. It was a beautiful day at the Botanical Gardens - a nice little escape from the ever-hectic city!

Botanical Gardens - Orchid Show

From March 5 – April 25, the Botanical Gardens in Bronx, NY, is having their Orchid Exhibition. This year, they are calling the exhibition, “The Orchid Show on Broadway.”

Tony award-winning set designer Scott Pask and image maker Drew Hodges were brought in to create a Broadway vibe for the Orchid exhibit. The excitement and glamour of Broadway can be found at The New York Botanical Garden. This must-see, limited time engagement is taking place in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory. It showcases over 5,000 dazzling specimens from one of the most distinguished orchid collections in the world. Over 300 types of orchid are displayed under the dome of America's largest glasshouse. Be charmed by the flowery thespians, and on weekends, thrill to the sounds of some of Broadway's best-loved tunes.

March 5 - April 25, 2011

Open 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Tuesday-Sunday

Monday, April 25, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

Members: Free

Adults: $20

Seniors/Students: $18

Children: $8

Children Under 2: Free

This is an exhibit you won’t want to miss.

Visit http://www.nybg.org/tos11/show-time.php for more information about the event.

Scenic & Tapestry Featured in BC Magazine

Scenic Landscaping and Tapestry Landscape Architecture were featured in BC Magazine for their work on The Venetian, a banquet hall in Garfield, New Jersey.

Scenic and Tapestry designed and built the entire outdoor living space for The Venetian. The vision was to bring Vegas nightlife to the center of Northern Jersey. The outdoor space provided a whole new level of entertainment, while creating a high class, swanky, lounge scene.

Within the first year, the creative design team was awarded the 2010 New Jersey Landscape Contractors Association Award of Excellence for Commercial Design/Build Project for The Venetian's outdoor entertainment area.

Visit our site to view the article in PDF format. Read about the obstacles that were faced and how the entire project was able to come together.

 

Landscape in Literature

“For me, trees have always been the most penetrating preachers. I revere them when they live in tribes and families, in forests and groves. And even more I revere them when they stand alone. They are like lonely persons. Not like hermits who have stolen away out of some weakness, but like great, solitary men, like Beethoven and Nietzsche. In their highest boughs the world rustles, their roots rest in infinity; but they do not lose themselves there, they struggle with all the force of their lives for one thing only: to fulfill themselves according to their own laws, to build up their own form, to represent themselves. Nothing is holier, nothing is more exemplary than a beautiful, strong tree. When a tree is cut down and reveals its naked death-wound to the sun, one can read its whole history in the luminous, inscribed disk of its trunk: in the rings of its years, its scars, all the struggle, all the suffering, all the sickness, all the happiness and prosperity stand truly written, the narrow years and the luxurious years, the attacks withstood, the storms endured. And every young farmboy knows that the hardest and noblest wood has the narrowest rings, that high on the mountains and in continuing danger the most indestructible, the strongest, the ideal trees grow.

Trees are sanctuaries. Whoever knows how to speak to them, whoever knows how to listen to them, can learn the truth. They do not preach learning and precepts, they preach, undeterred by particulars, the ancient law of life. "

—  Hermann Hesse 

(July 2, 1877 – August 9, 1962)

 German-born Swiss poet, novelist, and painter.

 In 1946, he received the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Spring is Near!

With the clocks set an hour ahead, and the anticipation of 70 degree weather by the end of week, spring fever is about to begin. Stubborn snow mounds are finally melting away as the sun starts to stay out into the early evening.

After this winter we had, everyone is ready for the onset of spring. It feels as though a weight has been lifted as the temperatures rise, and the bitter chill leaves the air. And it's about time. It seems as though everyone was forgetting what grass looks like.

Spring is the start of busy season over at Scenic and Tapestry offices. We can finally put the overworked snow plows to rest, and focus of bringing life and color back into our clients’ properties.

For those of you who had your bulbs planted a few months ago, you should be seeing the bursts of color coming through your yard any day now. There’s nothing better than those first few signs of spring.

Enjoy the warm weather to come and be sure to spend some time outdoors!