Ice Crystal Salvation

A few hours ago I was frustrated to find the cold water pipe in our downstairs bathroom frozen. We have heat coils on the pipes, but on this crisp ten degree night the three inch section that I couldn't stretch the coils to was ready and willing to freeze. I cursed under my breath and debated whether I should change out of my pajamas and make the journey into the crawl space or take my chances on the pipe bursting. I'm trying hard not to take too many chances.

I decided to make the journey a bit more enjoyable by taking out my Ipod along with the blow dryer. Earlier today I'd been listening to an old episode of 'On Being,' with Krista Tippett interviewing one of my favorite authors, Barbara Kingsolver. As I stepped out into my backyard I had to turn off the Ipod. I could actually hear the cold ringing loud and clear and it was beautiful. The pitch was coming from the small stretch of woods behind our house. I walked back and noticed how beautiful the creek looked. It was only frozen in spots, while other sections were flowing on this frigid night. I stuck my hand into the water and it didn't feel that cold. The ringing was coming from the trees and it was exceptional. I was happy to be outside and didn't feel a bit cold. I walked in the creek for a few hundred feet and observed the beautiful movement of flowing water and ice. Eventually I made my way over to the crawl space and got to work on heating the pipe. I put on my Ipod only to hear the wise words of Barbara Kingsolver: "The changes we dread most may contain our salvation." Yep.

Right Support or My Geodesic dome-dwelling, Dancer, Small Business Mentor

I recently shared a train commute with my friend, Geoff, who founded P'unk Ave, Indy Hall, and other crazy-amazing Philadelphia projects.  We caught up and swapped small business stories (Rooted being much smaller than most of Geoff's projects!).  I shared my desire for a small business mentor to help with some infrastructure.  Geoff said, "You have to meet my friend Amy.  She co-founded Headlong Dance Theater, offers financial literacy to artists, and lives in a geodesic dome in South Jersey."

If you were to ask me to describe my ideal bookkeeper/accountant/business mentor, I GUARANTEE you that contemporary dance and geodesic-dome dweller would be featured in the description.

I've since met with Amy, developed a companionable barter for her services, and am generally exhaling much more freely.  Of course, when it rains it pours.  I've also found a multitude of resources for small businesses.

Thankfully, Rooted Landscaping is super healthy.  And in large part due to this dynamic community, it's only getting stronger!

Kevin will serenade you

Want to experience some of your favorite landscaper's other talents?  Come to Yogawood this Friday night, 11/16, from 6-7 pm for Will's vinyasa yoga class.  While you move and sweat off the week, Kevin will serenade you.

This morning, Kevin gave me a sample while I did a self-lead yoga practice at home.  It was amazing.  Hearing acoustic guitar, a strong voice, and original content completely shifts the feel of a practice.

Get invigorated.  Get grounded.  Just get there!

Come home happy: the Karpiak project

One spring, Kevin and I got our acts together and re-landscaped our front yard.  It was beautiful.  Every day, I literally sighed as I pulled up front.  I took in the hanging flower baskets framing the door, the fragrant herbs as I walked up the steps, the overall picture.  It made me happy to come home.

That should always be our experience.  Our home can be an oasis.  But... sometimes life gets in the way.  Or we feel lost about how to handle an aspect of our property.

We've got your back.

The Karpiaks have a beautiful bungelow with a hidden back driveway.  It's a pretty great way to enter the house.  You turn up a steep winding lane, reaching through the shade until you arrive in their backyard.  However, it was feeling kind of unmanageable.  Limited light, steep slopes, clay soil, and railroad ties that had been knocked about by various drivers.

I totally knew how they felt.  Everytime you come home you furrow your brow.  What do I do with this?  

You call us.

Shade gardens can be super low-maintenance and involve lots of perennial and native-species plants.  Bearing in mind some of the influences we found around the house-- a Buddha on the porch, a well-loved Japanese maple-- we went for a Zen, minimalist feel.

Kevin began laying cardboard down as weed barrier.  It's water permeable & more environmentally-friendly than landscaper fabric as it breaks down.

Lots of compost to help with drainage in the heavy clay.

He removed the existing railroad ties to neaten the edge.

Let there be plants!  Lots of evergreens, a few flowering perennials, and plenty of ferns that will fill in as ground-cover, ultimately cutting down on weeding.

Plants moving in!  Two shade tolerant magnolias to offer lush blossoms and fragrance upon returning home.  Lots of skip laurels and rhododendrons, good for managing water run-off, happily blooming in the shade, and offering low-maintenance visual allure.

A rich root mulch, re-buried railroad ties, dug in to keep that neat edge.

Dappled light through the shade garden.

A soaker hose establishing the new planting.  Creating that happy sigh to welcome you home.

Fear not your hedges: the Bandock Project

Our friend and fellow yogini, Ms. Bandock, is an avid gardener.  However, her Queen's Anne Lace hedge was infested with poison ivy.  Every time she attempted to prune or weed she contracted the rash.  Stink.

Thankfully, Kevin has pretty much self-inoculated against poison ivy given how much he's been exposed!  He's also adept at getting rid of the poison ivy.  Soaking the roots allows you to get at the base of the plant & prevent years of regrowth, as Ms. Bandock had unfortunately experienced.  This method eliminates the need for harmful chemicals!

She is now poison ivy free!  And happily enjoying her Queen Anne's privacy hedge again.

She also wanted to enjoy a fire pit with her guests in the backyard.  Kevin suggested a circular irregular slate patio, to not occupy the entire lawn, but to give her a safe place to enjoy evening fires.

Voila!  Around the periphery, fresh grass seed.  The grass will grow up to the edges of the patio.

More enjoyment from her own backyard.  This is what we love-- making your home suit you!

From row-home concrete backyard to private oasis: the Conrow project

Our friends, the Conrows, have a fantastic house in downtown Collingswood.  For years, they've had a backyard concrete patio that didn't do much to inspire outdoor fun.  It was practical, sure, but didn't reflect either of their design inclinations, nor offer much privacy.

Kevin and I spent some time thinking about the options (there are so many!).  With a project like this, there are also a lot of unknown variables.  How deep is the concrete?  Is there re-bar laced into the poured concrete?  Ultimately, we found a solution that worked for us and the Conrows.  We'd outsource the concrete removal for an optimal price for them and let our energy be focused on what we do best: building something beautiful.

Concrete begone!  Kevin and his crew began lowering the ground level and getting everything nice and even.

Mike even has a passion for geology!  We felt even more excited to secure the most beautiful slate flagstone.  This is where the project becomes art-- lots of time and attention to create a secure and attractive jigsaw patio.

Space allotted for the beds.  Right now, you see there's no screen between the Conrows and their lovely neighbors.  While these people are all fantastic, we all know the allure of a private oasis.

We wanted to maximize patio space so that the Conrows could fit their table, fire pit, and a few other items that live in the back patio.  Instead of creating a living privacy screen, we installed a cedar trellis.  It's thin, durable, affordable, and as the plant-life establishes, a vibrant screen that's appealing for the Conrows and their neighbors on either side.

As this photo demonstrates, there's a fair amount of shade.  English ivy is a highly successful shade vine, but it's also pretty opportunistic and requires a lot of maintenance. The Conrows are like many Rooted clients-- they prefer low-maintenance.  For those reasons, we elected to plant a shade-tolerant variety of clematis.  It's a little slower to establish, but once it does it offers beautiful purple/blue flowers that are consistent with the larger color palette of the planting.

When we met to do the estimate, we walked through the Conrow's home.  It's a beautiful reflection of both their tastes.  I noticed lots of cool greys, purples, and earth tones.  We wanted a sense of continuity as you enter the outdoor living space, so the planting also reflects a variety of purples with some bright green ferns for contrast.

Love it!  Full privacy, an enchanting patio that directs drainage away from the house, and a perennial, low-maintenance planting.

The deer has plans

Today as I walked out to dump the compost I saw that the peach tree we planted this year had been a nice side salad for a deer earlier in the day. I was frustrated, noticing the blood rushing to my head and my shoulders tensing. How dare this deer do this! How dare he/she walk into my yard and...do exactly what deer are supposed to do. What an asshole that deer was, to eat. Some nerve.

Okay, so when I started to think about it that way I calmed down a bit. The deer and I aren't at war. The deer and I sometimes have competing interests. Other times we're cool. I doubt the deer is ever pissed and frustrated with me, though they'd have a lot more reason to than I do with them. After all I'm using a hell of a lot more resources than they are, and the land my house is on was their woods a century ago.

The reason for my anger is that I have plans for this land, I have a vision. This deer wasn't a part of that vision. That makes me a poor visionary, it doesn't make the deer an asshole. I have plans for this land, but so do the deer, ground hogs, finches, butterflies, and worms. The thing is, the thing that the deer and groundhogs are teaching me, is that a plan isn't a real thing. It's bullshit, it's subjective, and if it doesn't function it's flawed. It's not that the thing that caused the plan to fail is flawed, the plan is. Nothing is ever finished, plans are always subjective, and just because I say let there be a tree here doesn't mean it will stay there.

Before this season I didn't even know there were deer in the woods behind our house. Now I know. This winter I will amend the plan. This winter I will install a fence at the back of the property and plant wild deer treats all along the back of the fence. I don't know if this will work. If it doesn't I'll change it. Thanks for the lesson, deer.