Spring Home and Garden Festival
Spring is here and each year we kick off our season with the Salt Lake Tribune Spring Home and Garden Show located at the Sandy Expo Center. Nothing gets me in the spring swing of things like creating a 2800 sq. ft. indoor garden display for your viewing pleasure. We have taken THE BEST IN SHOW award for the past 4 years and we are going to see if we can make it a 5th!
This issue of the C & C Landscaping Newsletter will take you through each step of this exciting, and exhausting process. One of the main questions we get asked each year is, "How long did it take you to set this up?" Well the answer to that question is three days. The following is a play by play with pictures on what that looks like.
Day #1
Consists of finding your location on the expo center floor and getting preparations for the big doors to open at 8:00 AM.
Once the doors open it is a mad house to get fully loaded dump trucks with trailers backed up to your area. We brought in over 18 loads of topsoil last year to build up the 13' tall mountain of dirt (pictured on the left).
In order to stay in our designated location, a large boulder retaining wall is needed on the back corner to hold the dirt straight up. (bottom left) The more height we get, the better the water feature.
On this first day we also need to layout the booth and start installing pavers and an outdoor fireplace. (below)
Day #2
Now the ground work has been set and the elements of the landscape are starting to come together. We have begun to erect a pergola structure (pictured right) and we are working to finish the water feature in the back drop. (The picture is cloudy because of the pavers we are cutting to finish the patio areas.)
Everyday the mad house worsens as more and more vendors start moving their things in, making it more difficult to access our booth. At this stage in construction, we still need to finish the masonry on the fireplace and start constructing our outdoor kitchen.
We also are tying all the elements together with dry stack sitting walls (seen to the left of the fireplace and bbq).
Day #3
At this point the bulk of the major work is wrapping up and we are down to the finishing touches. Every vendor is now trying to move in this day. It is the hardest day by far to battle the crowds and get everything finished. We are finishing up the plantings, installing landscape lighting, putting mulch on the beds, finishing up electrical and gas connections to make sure all landscape elements are operational. We have (6) Water Feature Pumps, (1) Working Fireplace (3) Lighting Transformers, and (1) wired and ready Outdoor Kitchen.
We work into the late evening cleaning-cleaning- and more cleaning.
SHOWTIME!
Showtime!
It is the day of the show opening and I am happy to see that it has turned out great and I am excited to show our creation to the masses. The business cards, brochures and display boards get laid out and dusted and we are ready for the big day. I never get tired of seeing the expressions on peoples faces when they walk through our display. It truly makes the whole ordeal worthwhile and I hope that you will take the time to come see us this year. We have a new direction and some fun elements we are going to try this year and I think it would be worth your time.
Seasonal Advice:
Design:
Now is the time to be planning for next spring, and to be thinking about landscape design and products. Start the process early to avoid the Spring rush. Designs take a few weeks to get going and a couple of more weeks to get the game plan started. So don't allow yourselves to get lost in the shuffle.
Maintenance:
Winter is a great time to start to put together landscape maintenance estimates for the upcoming season. We can give you an estimate on all your landscape needs Including: weekly mowing and weeding, tree pruning, fertilizations, pest control, annual/bulb planting arrangements, snow removal and much more. Give us a call before the spring frenzy and be first on the list.
SNOW MOLD:Grey Snow Mold
We have all looked at our lawn in the early spring and thought to ourselves "what is that?" More then likely is possibly snow mold. Snow mold fungi are active at temperatures just above freezing in moist conditions. These conditions occur most frequently under snow cover or anything else that covers the grass, such as fallen tree leaves. Gray snow mold usually only occurs after prolonged snow cover. Pink snow mold may be active in cool, wet conditions from late fall through early spring even in the absence of snow or other covers, a factor which greatly enhances its potential as a damaging disease.
What's The Cure?
Do spring clean up to remove the waste, limbs, leafs, and debris to allow new growth to come up through. You can also power rack and aerate.