Landscaping on a Budget

Who doesn't want to have the best looking lawn on the block? It can be done, and you won't have to spend your entire salary in order to get it done. In fact, there are several things you can do to save on your landscaping costs. While you'll ultimately have to make your way to your favorite Greensboro garden center in order to get supplies and materials, we wrote an article a while back about how to cut down on costs.

In the article, it was written:

There will be times during your project that you'll find it just easier to hire a professional landscaper. Get help for the jobs that might take more muscle or design skill than you have available. You shouldn't be afraid to ask for help. While there is a great amount of pride in doing the work yourself, you don't want your yard to look like you needed assistance.

We all want to take pride in the work we do, but if DIY means an unattractive mess, then it's best to call  in an expert. While it's understandable to want to have your work look it was done by a professional, in order to attain that appearance, you might have to bring in a pro and spend a little more than you anticipated. However, you'll end up saving much more in the long run than if you decided to continue going it alone.

Read the entire article: "Backyard Landscaping: 5 Ideas to Landscape on a Budget."

Unique Landscaping Ideas

Looking to spice up your landscape and, perhaps, help it stand out from some of the other properties in your neighborhood? Here are a few unique landscaping ideas you can adopt for your yard today.

Rounded patio. There are enough square and rectangular patios in the world. Why not try something a bit different? A rounded patio blends in more to its surroundings, and appears to have less of an abrupt end than its hard-edged counterparts.

Sunken gardens. If you have naturally existing highs and lows on your property, you could dig the lows a bit lower and install a sunken garden. These are really great to look at and walk around in when finished.

Recycled materials. You can build some interesting items with reclaimed wood, as well as brick and stone. Put together a bench, build a boxed garden, create a surround for a fountain - the options are only limited by your imagination.

Outdoor kitchens or fire pits. Want to make the outdoors really inviting? Bring some of your indoor features outdoors. A fireplace is nice, but there's nothing like sitting out by a fire pit on a starry night. And if you're big on cooking, an outdoor kitchen can allow you to throw some dishes together while still enjoying the weather.

Looking for a Winston Salem NC landscaping company to help transform your property? Get in touch with Oak Ridge Shrubbery today! Call (336) 662-0081.

Popular Landscaping Ideas

The weather is already warm and getting warmer, and homeowners are already out in their yards working on their gardens and landscapes. If you know you want to get some work done to improve your own landscape but you don't know where to start, keep some of these popular landscaping ideas in mind.

Upgraded walkways. Perhaps you have a concrete walk up to your front door, but no flowers or plants surrounding it. Adding these items can add a bit of visual flair to an otherwise boring part of your landscape.

Lighting. Most people think about plants, shrubs and trees when thinking about things they could add to their landscape. Lighting is one thing you can add that accentuates the other elements of your landscape that already exist.

Have landscaping questions? Ask the Winston-Salem landscaping company that customers in the area have turned to for years. Call Oak Ridge Shrubbery today at (336) 662-0081.

Budget Landscaping Advice

Looking to add some flavor to your landscape without spending a lot of money? We've compiled a few budget landscaping tips to help you do just that. And remember -- we're always ready and willing to help you out with any larger landscaping projects you need to tackle. Call us for a free quote today at (336) 662-0081.

Consider a professional consultation. An hour or two with a seasoned landscaping veteran could save you a lot of money down the line by helping you avoid costly mistakes.

Split your landscaping project into phases. Don't fall into the trap and think that your landscaping project has to be completed all at once. If the entire project is a bit out of your budget, complete it in phases.

You get what you pay for. It's important to stay within budget, but be careful not to sacrifice too much on the quality side of things. You may end up paying more to replace your worn-down goods later than if you had bought something of higher quality in the first place.

Check the Web for discounts. Online stores can hold a treasure trove of discounts and savings, if you look in the right places. Be sure to shop around, check out deal sites, and put in a little bit of work to find the lowest price possible.

Five Very Important Landscaping Tips

Thinking about starting up a landscape design project on your property? Great! We have a few tips we'd like to share with you to ensure that your project goes smoothly. Follow these, and you should get through with minimal frustrations and reach the finish line -- a beautiful landscape.

Stay on budget!
This one is very important. Figure out how much you can spend on your project, set it aside, and don't spend one single cent over that amount.

Before you buy, draw.
Sketch out your property and decide on how you'd like it to look. Where should certain features be? What should be planted, and where? By planning these out in advance, you'll save yourself a headache and you'll be able to control your spending a lot more effectively.

Consider growth for spacing.
When drawing your plans, consider the fact that the plants you buy may grow, and some may grow far larger than you expect. This will require some spacing to keep your plants from growing into each other. Also, while on the subject of growth, keep height in mind, and put smaller plants in the front.

Make it happen.
The project will likely consist of some hard work -- be prepared for that! But know that the end result is two-fold -- satisfaction at having accomplished the task, and satisfaction at knowing you'll be able to relax and enjoy your newly-designed landscape.

Looking for some landscaping help on your next project? Give Oak Ridge Shrubbery a call today at (336) 662-0081.

Oak Ridge Shrubbery, Now on Pinterest

Interested in seeing some of the landscaping work Oak Ridge Shrubbery has completed, as well as landscaping ideas gathered from around the world? Now you can! We've established a presence on Pinterest, where we can share ideas of our own, as well as ideas from other talented landscapers.

What's Pinterest? It's an online pinboard, of sorts, where images from around the Web can be pinned and saved for later viewing. We've pinned up some of the landscaping, garden room design, and stonework projects we've completed, and we've also added some projects we really like from other landscapers under those categories. Over time, we hope to create a collection of pins that help to inspire you when thinking about your next landscaping project.

You can find our Pinterest account at Pinterest.com/OakRidgeShrubs. If you like what you see, follow our boards! Hope to see you there.

Garden Re-Use Tips

Usefulness is in the eye of the beholder. There are some items that might seem completely useless to someone who doesn't recycle items for use in a different way. If you view items with that mindset, however, you start to see a lot of dual uses for every day items that can really help keep your landscape design intact.

For instance, your old, leaky garden hose. Why throw it away? You can cut slits in it, screw a cap to the open end, and operate it as a low-cost sprinkler system for your yard. If you have older wooden shipping pallets, you can reuse those as compost bins. A curtain rod can be used as a support for tall-growing plants, and can always be adjusted should the plants continue to grow taller. Old soda bottles can be cut in half and used to plant hanging flowers on a deck or other space. By thinking a little bit outside the box with things, you can add to your landscape while re-using what you already have sitting around.

And, of course, Oak Ridge is always willing to help should you need it. Our retail store has the plants you'll need for your landscape design, and our professional landscapers can help you plan out and build your new landscape. Give us a call today at (336) 662-0081.

What's Big in the Backyard Right Now?

Much like fashion, landscaping can go through phases and have trends, where something is popular for a period before it's replaced by the "new" popular thing. Landscape design is, after all, the equivalent of fashion for your landscape, and the work you put into your property is the clothing your yard wears. Here are some of the trends we're seeing as we move toward the warm weather seasons.


Food up front. More landscape designers and homeowners are starting to add what are called "blended gardens" to their property; gardens that contain edible items, but are blended with non-edible plants. These are placed in sight instead of in a separate, hidden area.

 
 Quality over looks. The quality of the material now seems to take priority over how showy something looks, according to landscape designers. In post recession times, people want things that are going to last.



Solar-powered yards. Why spend money on electricity for the outdoors when you can harvest it from the sun during the day? More homeowners are starting to add solar panels and solar power systems to the landscape, taking advantage of solar power to run things like outdoor lights and small irrigation systems.

Looking for help with your landscape design? You can count on the professionals at Oak Ridge Shrubbery to lead you in the right direction. Give us a call today at (336) 662-0081.

Oak Ridge Stone Samples

Oak Ridge Shrubbery performs a lot of different landscaping work, including hardscapes (which are features designed primarily with stone). We also carry a large variety of different stone types. Whether you're looking to build an old-fashioned well with cane creek stone, a retaining wall with Mohave thin stone, or a walkway with TN Garden Steppers, Oak Ridge Shrubbery is bound to have the stone type you're looking for.

Cane Creek

Mohave thin

TN Garden Steppers

Ready to pick out the stone for your new hardscape project? Call Oak Ridge Shrubbery today at (336) 662-0081.

Outside Rooms

Good landscaping adds what is called an "outside room" to your outdoor property. Features such as gardens, sitting areas, or fountains can take a wide-open outdoor area and make it feel like it's been broken down into "rooms" that have their own unique style.

Oak Ridge Shrubbery specializes in building these types of "outside room" environments. If you're a property owner who feels your landscape has much more potential than its current form, give us a call. We'd love to help.

Call us today at (336) 662-0081, or complete our online landscaping quote request form.

Landscaping & Stonework

Many homeowners and professional landscapers make use of stonework to add an elegant feel to the landscape and its surroundings. There are a number of different ways stone can be utilized, and different types that can be used in a landscape design setting.


In this instance, natural stone is being used to create a raised patio and the stairway to that patio.


Here, cinder block is being used to create a retaining wall.


This is a photo of stone being used to create a walkway through the landscape.



Natural stone being used to form a retaining wall in front of the home.

Oak Ridge Shrubbery can help homeowners in the Greensboro NC region create beautiful landscapes. Interested in learning more about our landscape design services? Call 336-662-0081.

Our Customers' Projects

Oak Ridge Shrubbery & Landscape can help customers design and install the landscape of their dreams, but we have plenty of customers who are talented in their own right. They shop at Oak Ridge for products and supplies, and then complete the landscaping and other work themselves.

Here are a few of the projects our customers have knocked out themselves.



A fountain surrounded by stone.


Backyard patio surrounded by a garden.



Flower bed at edge of yard.

Need landscaping products, installation help or a design consultation? Give us a call at 336-662-0081.