At Landscape Solutions, we can put as much energy into your project as you desire. Our services range from providing layout designs for the do-it-yourself gardener to arranging the complete design and installation. Whatever level is right for you, the changing shape and future of your landscape project is up to you.
Below, we have put together some resource pages, articles and links to help you with your landscaping needs, whether you are a former client, future client or just looking for help. For more information or a free consultation, please contact us. We look forward to serving you.
Resources in Print
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Original Plans Guide Landscape Restoration: Wisconsin Gardening Magazine Article originally published in Wisconsin Gardening November/December 2013 p. 56-59.
Early 1900s gardens were part of an overall historic restoration project that included the Yawkey House Museum and its outbuildings in Wausau.
A water feature, pergola and sunken gardens were part of the original design, but were deteriorated. There is a rich history for these assets, starting with the original landscape
design done by ...
Feeling Curvy: Backyard Solutions Magazine Article originally published in Backyard Solutions 2012 Country Almanac #150 p. 118-119.
Winding stone & gravel borders perk up a cold climate front yard
BEFORE: Overgrown jumble of plantings needed to be reordered in a low maintenance way.
AFTER: Reshaped and replanted existing materials; added in new stone planting beds, gravel paths and a water feature.
Sprucing up a front foundation can be a challenge when ...
Rocky Meander: Backyard Solutions Magazine Article originally published in Backyard Solutions 2012 Country Almanac #150 p. 120-121.
Stone steppers provide safe passage along a hillside stream
BEFORE: Wood beams made a ho-hum stairway to connect lawns over a slope.
AFTER: A 60′ stream and stone steps create a naturalistic and inviting journey down to a lower patio.
On a several hundred acre site near Wausau, Wisconsin, landscape designer Susan Murphy Jones, ...
Putting a Fresh Face on an Older Home: Wisconsin Gardening Magazine Article originally published in Wisconsin Gardening Magazine May/June 2012 p. 56-57.
There are many ways to give an older home a new look – from plants to paint to siding and walkways. This is the story of how a landscape designer gave a house an exterior makeover.
Click on image to enlarge page.
During these unstable economic times many people are deciding not ...
Featured in Backyard Solutions Magazine Susan Murphy’s landscape design was recently featured in Backyard Solutions magazine! Ten full color pages throughout the 2012 Country Almanac Edition feature beautiful photographs of projects completed by Landscape Solutions. The articles feature great tips to help you get the more from your landscaping, no matter what your budget.
Click on an image to view a PDF of that page.
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APLD Award Winner In spring 2004, I was working on a front entry project with my client. In passing, I mentioned that their existing back yard patio would make a great entertainment/outdoor kitchen area. It was beautifully situated within 100’ of a class ‘A’ trout stream, here in central Wisconsin. Large residential windows took in the view. That summer I got a call ...
Gardens used for quiet reflection
It all started in a garden. The beginning of man’s relationship with the earth and the source of life began in a garden. Gardens can mean different things to different people depending on where they are, what they need, or what they’re doing. Even the simple act of gazing out a window at a garden or stand of trees can ...
Basil in the garden and kitchen Basil is my favorite herb. The smell alone of fresh basil is wonderful, but then the taste! I grow and use basil throughout the summer and then preserve it for use in winter by drying, freezing, or making pesto to freeze. I’ve been a fan of basil ever since I began making pesto about 25 years ago. An organic farmer ...
Attracting Birds to Your Landscape with Plants This spring, when you are choosing trees, shrubs, and even perennials to plant in your yard, consider the birds. These plants not only add texture and color in your landscape, but provide perching areas, food, and shelter.
When planting for the birds, try to incorporate plants that fruit throughout the season. Even before fruiting, dwarf fruit trees, berry bushes, and grapevines ...
Protecting Plants from Gnawing Damage Rabbits and voles (field mice) are the primary animals that may gnaw on tender bark of trees and shrubs in winter. Putting up a barrier, such as poultrywire or hardware cloth, is the best defense. Put a fence around shrubs, and secure with a few stakes. Put a loose cylinder of hardware cloth around the trunk base of younger trees ...
Spring Tips SPRING—(BEGINNING OF APRIL TO MID JUNE)
Cut back all perennials to ground level that where left in place through the winter months. Rake up or blow out left over leaves from previous fall. Iris needs special attention at this time. Cut back old leaves and clean them down to the rhizome. Do not mulch. Remove any soft or rotting rhizomes and ...
Maintenance Tips for Perennials Shrubs and Trees Enclosed are some maintenance guidelines to help the beginning gardener care for their plant materials. With new products coming on the market, and regional differences, this list is not all-inclusive, but should point the beginning gardener in the right direction for your zone. Remember any garden is only as good as the soil in which it is planted.
TOOLS YOU WILL ...
Fall Tips
Make sure all newly planted trees and shrubs, evergreens, rhododendrons, and Carol Mackie Daphnes are well watered throughout the root system before deep frost.
Wrap chicken wire/hardware cloth around base of all tender trees and shrubs to avoid rabbit girdling including, but not limited to: Serviceberry, Burning Bush, Crabapples, and Viburnums.
Wrap tender tree trunks to avoid sun scald and deer rubs.
Spray ...
The Passionate Gardner Being passionate about something in life can make all the difference in the quality of life. Passion gives one a reason to get up in the morning, it energizes. It spurs one on, it has no time line or limits. I don’t think you can control passion, it is a gift. It brings joy lifting and encompassing all that pass ...
My life/ My garden I wonder just where my life would be without growing and tending plants. As a toddler I was already picking flowers for the family vase. I had an affinity towards nature. I was attracted to the dirt, the trees, flowers and weeds. Growing up one of twelve children in a small central Wisconsin town we had to learn to entertain ...
Fall Reflections As the landscaping installation season begins to slow down in preparation for the winter season, it seems a good time to reflect on why landscapes are so important. We feel that a beautiful landscape provides inner peace, strengthens family, builds community, and gives back to the earth.
Inner peace is a reward from the garden each time one sits on the ...
The Importance of Hardscaping Hardscaping is one of the most vital aspects of the landscape design process. It comes before the planting plan. How exterior hardscaping interacts with the dwelling should be well thought out. In new construction, or major remodeling, it should be considered an important element in the total design package. In many of today’s house plans, it is not uncommon to ...
Late Summer a Great Time to Plan After a long, cold, dark Wisconsin winter, people are eager to get outside and enjoy “Mother Nature.” They’ve spent time in bookstores looking at gardening books, as well as researching on the internet and attending gardening seminars and shows. They’ve collected ideas from magazines and are full of design concepts that they’re ready to implement! In April and May, people ...
Northwoods Landscape Design: The Importance of Hardscaping Why does anyone live in zone 3b-4? It’s vivid, fluorescent “fiddle heads” in spring popping up with wet moss underfoot. Mystifying northern lights that enrapture the heart dance across the sky on cool summer evenings. Hardwood forests heat up with analogous warm hues that crescendo in the fall. Winter branches heavy with snow create magic tunnels. It is easy to ...
