Vendor Spotlight: Idaho Rock and Pottery

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Idaho Rock and Pottery specializes in pottery, water features, patio furniture and decorative rock. They use vendors from all over the world offering their customers a large variety of choices, styles and colors.

Pottery:

With so many styles, colors, textures, shapes and sizes to choose from the options are endless for adding quality decor to your outdoor spaces.  Unique pieces imported from exotic locales allow customers to enhance their outdoor environments with personal style and taste.

Water Features:

Bubbling pottery

                                                               Bubbling Pillar

                                                           Fountain

 

Old World Fountain

                                                                                                                              

Patio Furniture:

A good mix of old-world and rustic outdoor decor style will enhance and provide comfort for any outdoor living space.

Specialty Items:

Ribbit!

Annual color pots are a colorful addition to any landscape design. They can be used to soften edges, provide annual color and enhance the overall aesthetics of the design. Once annual color pots are connected to an existing or new drip irrigation system they are a very low maintenance amenity.

Idaho Rock and Pottery has a wide range of products from simple and elegant to detailed and ornate. They can more than exceed your needs for quality, worldly and unique outdoor decor.  Stop in and check out their decorative stone too!  Please see below for contact information:

www.idahorockandpottery.com

Call - 208.939.6330

Visit - 1045 Anacona Ave., Eagle, Idaho 83616

Contractor Spotlight: Eagle Landscape Contractors Inc.

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Eagle Landscape Contractors Inc.                                                                   

Founded in 1978 and in service for over thirty years, Eagle Landscape Contractor Inc., specializes in landscape design and construction.  Their expertise ranges from landscape design, construction, patio and wall implementation, water features, irrigation systems and planting schemes. Eagle Landscape is proficient in both residential and commercial design, with over 2,500 individual residences installed throughout the Treasure Valley. They also have a 15 acre tree farm where the team is able to choose healthy and high quality tree species for your project.   Here are some pictures of a recent installation:

Eagle Landscape has experience with all exterior landscape site elements such as:  paver installation, fire pits, shade structures, pools and more.

Eagle Landscape is very adept at technical or intricate design installations.

Check out their online portfolio and the online quote request to find out more about how Eagle Landscape can help revamp your outdoor space. Contact information is below. 
www.eaglelandscape.com
Call- 208.939.8723
Visit- 3931 N. Ballantyne Lane Eagle, Idaho 83616

Plant Feature: Peony

Peony

Botanical name: Paeonia

Flower: Large, fragrant blooms in late spring, early summer.

Leaves: Lush, green, compound, deeply lobed.

Sun: Full sun, or at least 5 hours of sun daily.

Water: drought tolerant post establishment

Size: Ranges due to type of plant

Zone: 3 to 8

General:

The peony is a herbaceous perennial that comes in the form of a non-woody plant, a tree or shrub and a hybrid form, known as Itoh or intersectional. The peony produces large fragrant blooms, ranging in color from white to yellow to pink and red. It blooms in late spring to early summer, lasting an average of 7 to 10 days, and maintains lush green leaves through the summer. In the autumn the foliage turns a purple or a gold shade. The peony requires little maintenance, but responds poorly to transplanting. Be sure on its location when planting because the peony can live up to 100 years.

History/Symbolism/Medicine:

The peony is native to Asia, Southern Europe and Western North America, although it is cultivated throughout North America and Europe. The nomenclature of the peony originates from Greek Mythology. It is named after Paeon, a student of Ascelpius, the Greek God of medicine and healing. In short, Ascelpius became jealous of Paeon and to save Paeon from the wrath of Ascelpius, Zeus turned Paeon into a Peony.

The peony plays a large role in Chinese culture. It is known as the flower of riches and honor, or the king of flowers. It is the smallest living national emblem in China. The peony also has become very common in tattoos, associated with the use of Koi. This was popularized due to illustrations from a Chinese novel, Suikoden, written by Utagawa Kuniyoshi. The novel is about warrior heroes who are painted with tattoos, giving the peony a masculine, daredevil attribute.

Care/Propagation/Pests:

To properly care for the peony, plant it in fall and allow for time after planting before the first frost. The peony will need more care in the first few years of planting to properly get established. It needs soil with a neutral pH. Plant the peony in deep, fertile, hummus-rich soil and make sure to not smother the plant with mulch. It prefers a sheltered environment where it does not have to compete with other plants for water and sun. Most cultivars of the peony need full sun to thrive, plant it where it can receive either a full day of sun or a minimum of 5 hours in the sun.  Water it thoroughly and deadhead the flowers when they begin to fade.

Propagation of the peony is dependent of the type of peony one is handling. For an herbaceous peony root division or seed propagation works best. For a tree peony propagation is best performed by grafting, division, seed or cuttings. The peony is prone to verticillium wilt, leaf and stem spots, ring spot virus, tip blight, stem rot, botrytis blight, left blotch, Japanese beetle and Nematode. Yet the most common pest is ants. The ants are attracted to the flower buds where the nectar forms outside of the buds. Let the ants be because they are saving the flowers from being eaten by other pests. Once the buds have opened the ants will disappear. Just be sure to choose tight buds that haven’t opened to prevent bringing the ants indoors. Also cut the stems long to last more than one week indoors. 

Summer Landscape Tips

Maintaining your property in drought conditions:

This year Boise is in a unique condition compared to its adjacent states, a severe drought is taking place and Boise is only suffering minor effects despite the lack of annual precipitation. Lower snow pack has been a trend in the Northwest for the last ten years. Southern Idaho is severely affected and is suffering like Southern California. Despite the lack of snowfall in the Valley this year, which has been 40% of the average snowfall, the reservoirs are full enough to carry the Valley through the summer season of 2015. This ample supply of water is due to last year’s higher than average snow pack. But Boise is not in the clear, if next winter is dry again, Boise will suffer the effects of the drought. Southern Idaho’s run-off began earlier than usual this season and Anderson Ranch, Arrowrock and Luck Peak Reservoirs are only running at only 80 to 93 % of average flow and capacity.  So with the drought in mind, how can you keep your outdoor space thriving while being environmentally conscious?

Whether you have an established outdoor space or are thinking about a newly installed space, here are some tips to practice to minimize water use in your garden space:

Use mulch. Install 2- 3 inches of mulch in your planter beds, this will help to hold moisture close to the plants and will minimize evaporation rates.

Minimize your lawn; introduce hardscape to your outdoor space such as a paver patio or stone walkway. If installing a new lawn use a drought tolerant lawn species that uses less water than a standard lawn. For existing lawn, keep it 3 inches or higher to shade the roots.

Water early in the morning or late in the evening to minimize evaporation. Or invest in a drip irrigation system. Drip irrigation uses a small amount of water and applies it directly to the roots, this also minimizes evaporation. Make sure to adjust your sprinklers to not be wasteful, watering your sidewalk or driveway.

Stop fertilizing. Fertilizer encourages more growth, but more growth means a need for more water.

Weed your garden so your plants do not have to compete for water with the weeds.

 When choosing plants, go for drought tolerant. Xeriscape gardens, or gardens that do not need watering after establishment, can be colorful and lush. They save water and require less time to maintain. They also attract butterflies and pollinators to your garden.

Breckon Land Design Update

Breckon Land Design Update

Spring is just around the corner! Now is the time to think about your next landscape project. Here is our 2015 Show reel that highlights our commercial, land development, public, residential project and interior visualizations!!!

Come check out our display at the 2015 Boise Flower + Garden Show! It is the 19th annual gathering. It will be held March 20th through 22nd at the Boise Centre on the Grove.

We are located at booth 405 - why not drop by and say hi! Check out seminars, wind + jazz nights, miniature garden contest, the Buy Idaho pavilion, a judged flower show, a potluck auction, the lobby garden and beer tastings.

We look forward to seeing you there!!

Project Spotlight - foothills Residence

Existing Conditions: Located in the Foothills of Boise, Idaho, this property suffered from unusable space. The back yard consisted of a narrow turf area with a rock retaining wall that held the steep backyard. The extreme slope was covered in brown, dry grasses with scattered sage plantings.

Conceptual Design: The design concept introduced to this project aims to address the unusable space of the steep backyard. The concept has a strong rectilinear form that allows for  multi level outdoor rooms. Stairs are used to brace the elevation change and lead to a terraced patio that is built into the foothills.

Annual color pots were designed in to introduce color - all pots are to be connected to a drip system.

We designed this project and we contacted Aaron with Boden Haus Landscape to install this project.

Construction:

 The old deck was removed and excavation started for the patio built into the hillside.

Materials are brought on site and the construction of the wall begins.

Progress is made and the first terrace and stairs are implemented.

A view looking down onto the construction progress and tool storage.

 Construction is beginning to wrap up.

  The hardscape in the backyard is completed.

 The side stairs are added.

 The terraced patio is completed and the plant installation begins.

Design: To transform this backyard into usable and livable space the backyard is terraced. The tiered design allows for three deck spaces, divided by stairs. The narrow backyard, which was once lined with large bushes, is designed to allow for a curvilinear stepping stone path that weaves through the grass to the side yard.

The terraces are framed by retaining walls and colorful native plantings. 

With the addition of a sofa and lounge chairs, these spaces become an outdoor living room.

The potted plants add an architectural element that aids in further defining the space.

The materials used in this design are concrete pavers, Timbertech composite decking, Sandstone Slab steps, and Belgard pavers for the patio area and Belgard wall system for the retaining walls.

The design helps to reclaim a portion of the backyard and transform it into usable space, while maintaining the remaining portion of the yard to be preserved and with the native sage and dry grasses.

The design is relatively low maintenance, yet is charming, highly designed yet seeming natural.

A special thanks to Aaron with Boden Haus Landscape for making this project such a success!