webmakerx.netWeb MakerX

All Things Landscape, Gardening, and Trees! Menu Home About Blog Contact Japanese Landscaping GrowGreen Blog September 7, 2020 September 11, 2020 Japanese landscaping is one of the oldest forms of landscape design on earth, and it has deep roots – not only in your garden under your flowering plants and blossoming vegetables – but in traditions of the Asian style of arranging things in our lives. Japanese landscaping, just like some of the other art forms from Japan, is rather simple, but not that simple to design unless you have a good eye for the oriental design style. One type of Japanese landscaping, for instance, involves little more than the placement of smooth stones next to each other, to form a square or circular patterns. These stone landscapes can be done outside, or they can even be done in spaces small enough to fit on a bedside table or on the windowsill of your office. To get the proper stones, one usually needs to go to a Japanese garden dealer, or to find them elsewhere, after identifying the proper kind of stone. Many of them are smooth, small, flat, and shiny black, and they are fun to arrange in various patterns. You can find many traditional patterns by looking in books or on the Internet under the subject of Japanese or Oriental gardening design. You can, of course, and plants to your Japanese landscaping. It is a good idea to contact someone with experience in this area, to help you choose plants that fit the style but will also work well and thrive in your particular yard. Some plants, for instance, need more shade, while others will die without lots of direct sunlight. A great way to venture into Japanese landscaping is via the path of Bonsai trees and plants or bamboo. The art of bonsai is a skill that sometimes takes years to develop, but there are plant dealers and florists who sell the trees and you can take them home and create your own collection of these exotic and miniature little trees. Some even produce fruit or flowers. Our friends at Plano Trees, a full service tree care company tells us that even they have been called to perform tree service in Plano on some bonsai for their customers. All the way in Texas! And bamboo is always perfect for any Japanese landscaping, but some will suggest that you keep it in flower pots or other kinds of containers, because if you give it a chance, it will spread all over your yard and is almost impossible to get rid of. One it begins to grow and spread, it will spring up everywhere, even in your other flower beds. It grows so fast that in some historical cases, it was used to create fences that were needed in a hurry. It comes up fast, strong, and tightly knit together, so that if you end up with a forest of the beautiful skinny plants, you will have an impenetrable fence. Best Landscape Design Software Free Trials for Windows GrowGreen Blog September 7, 2020 September 7, 2020 If you’re looking for professional features without the price tag, try landscape design software free trials. There are several landscape and 3D design software’s available online that you can get on a trial basis so that you can use a landscape design software free for around 30 days. Here is an overview of the best professional trial software’s for landscape design. Realtime Landscaping Architect 2011 Idea Spectrum has a professional software program called Realtime Landscaping Architect 2011 that is available as a free trial download. The trial is fully functional and the only limitation is that there are a smaller number of plants and objects when compared to the full-version, which includes over 12,800 of them. You will also see a watermark on any printouts or movies that you produce with the landscape design software free trial version. You can create hand-drawn looking plans, CAD drawings and 3D presentations. You will be able to walk right through your virtual landscaping designs because of the advanced 3D design technology used in the software. Creating a movie of the walkthrough to show others is also possible with this landscape design software free trial along with many other features that are too numerous to detail in this article. This is an excellent landscaping design software program that you will love to use. The normal price of the software is $349 as of the time of this writing and is only available for Windows, so Mac users will have to pass on this landscape design software unless using Parallels or a similar program. There are tutorials available on Idea Spectrums website as well. VizTerra VizTerra is a state-of-the-art professional program that is similar to the landscape design software free trial listed above. Both software programs let you design life-like creations that look very realistic. This program also has the ability to save templates of previous design groupings in the library for use in future projects, making landscape creations quicker and easier. VizTerra features instant 3D creation with the click of a mouse from your 2D designs and the ability to create ready to build site plans from the design, instantly. It will include purchase lists and legends with the plan, making it extremely efficient to use. From hardscaping walkways, lighting effects, plants, waterscapes, yard accessories, and rock features to building houses and patios – this landscape design software free trial can do it all. The landscaping design software is available for instant download from Structure Studios or you can have a free demo disk mailed to you. No Internet connection is necessary to run the software, however you will need a Windows operating system in order to use this landscape design software free edition. The full-version software costs $349, so it costs the same as RealTime Architecture Landscaping 2011. It’s not clear what the limitations are on the free trial edition, their company website does not list anything regarding the limitations. They also have an online video training series in order to learn how to use the design software and it’s reassuring to know that no CAD experience is required. In order to run either of these professional landscape design software free trials, you should make sure that your computer specs qualify, since they are 3D software’s, spec requirements can be quite high. Landscape Pathway Lighting GrowGreen Blog September 7, 2020 September 7, 2020 One of the most elegant ways to enhance your landscape is with landscape pathway lighting, now available in some many systems and styles. Lighting can dress up your daytime pathways, because it can offer a stylish way to mark the space, to break up the monotony of simple brick or concrete or stepping stones, and at night, it can add a romantic and classy look to even the most ordinary space, be giving off low-level pleasing accent light. There are two or three different ways to do landscape pathway lighting, and sometimes it may be a good idea to use a combo of styles or techniques to get the desired result. You can use tall lamps, like the ones that resemble streetlamps, especially if you need stronger light to illuminate a larger area or to show off trees or flower beds adjacent to the pathway. And you can do the same thing with torches, which need to be lit manually, but can offer a brilliant and passionate mood shift in your landscape. But you may want to use landscape pathway lighting that is low to the ground and only lights enough to show where you are walking. The low-level lights are usually cost effective because they don’t burn much electricity, and they are mainly used to be accent lights, or to just light the path for safety without lighting the gardens or lawns adjacent to them. And of course if you have a meandering path and different features to show off, you might opt to use a combination of both high illumination and low light fixtures, and you might also vary how high they are. You can have some at ground level, and others placed higher to help see in the dark for things like garden parties...