The General’s House – spring gardening tomorrow at this property (REVISED) Wednesday – 5/18 – 11:18 am –

Your kind attention please!

When we first visited this property it was way overgrown from continuous change over of tenants and an owner who was on continuous travel with the Air Force. We were tasked with removing everything, saving what we could, amending the soil, and cultivating a new green space that could be low maintenance but attractive. Here was where we started this Project a year ago, late summer.  Certainly quite a transformation. Agreed?

And today we are here…..and ready to roll again. Our pleasure for certain.   A beautiful gardening day!

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Today we accomplished a spring clean/up, some transplanting, removing weeds and cutting back,

BEFORE

Today we accomplished a general tidy and spring cleanup,  weeds were everywhere; no wonder with all the rain and wind we have had. We transplanted, trimmed back the woody stalks of the Hydrangea that we cut back last year in late fall. We have bern tasked to provide ongoing maintenance weekly and plant some new spring flowers.  It’s a nicely established bed now so our continued involvement will help keep it presentable. We have arranged to bill by the month and we will include watering during July and August. We will provide updates as we go along.

AFTER

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Tomorrow we return to do some additional spring maintenance. The weeds have been growing, the  Winter Pansies need changing out and we will attend to the Hydrangea that we took a chance on last year, when we completely cleared this bed and cut it back to about fifteen inches. The dead stalks can be cut back now, because lots of new green growth, nearer to dirt has come back. We took a chance and cut it way back in the fall. We heard neighbors expressing horror at our plan. “Chance” can be hard. But it’s showing great promise and within a couple years time itceill be thriving once again. The homeowner had given us permission and said if it died he’d replace it. It was a monster and was so overgrown it wasn’t really producing any blooms.  And the burgundy Peony came back with amazing gusto as did both Azalea bushes. We will pull weeds and add a summer annual for color in the bed, a few pockets  here and there. A fresh summer look. 

This property is a good example of our particular gardening style and our business motto, to care for and cultivate a garden…. and a trusting client all at the same time

Last fall late, we met our client in a quick 20 minute meeting outside his unit. He literally was headed to Texas on assignment in an hour. We made a deal, he provided a $200 deposit and left town. He provided instructions on clearing the entire bed, saving what we could, and we did proceed.  One month later we billed him, payment was mailed to us and the deal was completed.  Sort of….

In FEB we went by to see how things were looking. Clearly the beds needed some spring attention. We txt’d him on Friday last week, with  a proposal. We heard from him immediately and tomorrow  we will execute.  Trust was built.  And a new job will be completed.  It is so rewarding to keep and follow a clients yard, For us, this is what it’s all about.  Good work and a trusting client that we will follow.

Do stay tuned with us as we will post progress and final video….as this spring project unfolds.

This is a win….win for us….and our client.

”Contessa” says….. it’s a good thing

The “ General” was in town from Texas this week and we encouraged him to retain us for a couple hours (2) of “spring tidy.” The above bushes were left in the beds after a huge clean up last summer. Everything came back very well, but the beds needed a little spring attention. It’s now looking clean and fresh again. We invoiced him via txt for two hours work this  afternoon. We’ll check back, in about four weeks just to make sure all is well.

Our distinct pleasure to take care of a rental property for our out-of-state homeowner.

”CONTESSA” says…..it’s a good thing!

The General’s House

The “ General” was in town from Texas this week and we encouraged him to retain us for a couple hours (2) of “spring tidy.” The above bushes were left in the beds after a huge clean up last summer. Everything came back very well, but the beds needed a little spring attention. It’s now looking clean and fresh again. We invoiced him via txt for two hours work this  afternoon. We’ll check back, in about four weeks just to make sure all is well.

Our distinct pleasure to take care of a rental property for our out-of-state homeowner.

”CONTESSA” says…..it’s a good thing!

Today – back at Mt Eagle – 10 to 11 am- Wed – 4/21 (REVISED)

Today we are transplanting daffodils and one small Azalea. We have four new bushes to install. A Peony, a new pink Azalea, two Butterfly Bushes and one VA perennial bulb Blue Bell. Great fun…….

Video to post later TODAY.  A BEAUTIFUL DAY in this garden. 

“CONTESSA”

REVISED – 4:15 pm 

We finished at 4:15 today…… 4 hours

Tomorrow we are back about 10:30 am to lay two new bags of the mulch and transform the beds back to where they were. Our homeowner had a couple wagons full of old pots and garden waste from cleaning up the back yard so we made a trip for her. It’s very satisfying to see folks cleaning everything up, once we’ve done our job. This property is looking so pretty. We are pleased. And yesterday,  Parkfairfax had  been buy to mow, to kill dandelions and to treat the Bermuda Grass that was taking over the front lawn. Little by little it comes to completion. It was a joy to do this work  It was such a pretty day to be working outdoors. We are grateful and feel very blessed.  We were feeling like warmth would never come but we were pleasantly surprised today. Wonderful!!

“Contessa”

FINAL/REVISION – Wed – 4/21- 10-11 am.

This project was our pleasure. There is one more perennial (bulb) flower to plant in the right/front bed, but we are waiting until it finishes it’s bloom before moving it into its spot. We have completed adding two more bags of mulch this morning, to recreate the look it had before we added the five new bushes. It’s looking fabulous…….

“CONTESSA”

Our Wonderful Client on Martha Custis – 1200 block (REVISED) Sat – 4/16 – 11 am

We visited “Ms Peggy” this week, briefly. She wants to proceed with going to the nursery to select three or four bushes for the common area that devides her courtyard. As soon as the nursery has spring bushes we will meet up and go together. It’s always great fun to select new plants. In the interim she has s some dead growth in  her beds that she wants to cut back. A few things that were bitten by the cold. In reality,  they are last years growth that was still healthy in late fall,  so we didn’t cut them back. And the large Rose bush needs a little trim too. We love fixing her yard so after we finish our Mon/Tues work we stop by and take care of her immediate needs.

This video was taken last fall in late November. It gives you a view of the common area bed that we are going to populate.The point of this video post is so that you can see that we follow up with our clients.

My Dear gardening friends,  when you retain our services, we carry you from month to month and year to year. Our services are unique and continuous, as we shepherd your gardening needs through all of our Virginia gardening seasons. It’s absolutely our pleasure…….!

“CONTESSA”

REVISED – Sat – 4/16 – 11:00 am 

We visited the nursery and selected four (4) new flowering perennial bushes for the courtyard bed at Ms Peggy’s residence. “YUKI” is the bush. It has pretty delicate looking foliage, and at this moment is very close to blooming. A few sunny days in a row and these tiny blossoms will open completely. Our owner selected two pale pink and two white

1. 

   We completed the install yesterday. Watered well and are back this morning to water again. Cooler temps and rain are expected into Monday so we want to make sure of a successful start for these lovely bushes. They can grow to about 3 ft in height and width, but, like I tell all my clients….. “we” tell the bush how we want it to grow and what size we want it to grow, with careful cultivation, consistent gentle pruning and making sure the soil and moisture levels meet out new bushes needs.

   The YUKI bushes settled well overnight and are looking very promising. Delicate, wispy,  and the prettiest tiny flowers. We think it was a perfect selection for in front of the courtyard dividing hedge.

   So, on to our next project.  A beautiful day to work outdoors.  Enjoy!

Gardening Today – 1530 block – Mt Eagle (REVISED – 3/15 – 5:35 pm – Tuesday)

BEFORE

Our client is with us three years now. A very secluded spot. Back yard clean up. And we visit thus client both spring and fall seasons. When we first came to the property it was like a jungle. Little by little each year we have created “clearings.”  It’s nice because now she gets way more sun and prior it actually smelled like mildew/mold in the back area. She gets more breeze now and it’s way more safe. It was so dark back there and it’s on a peripheral part of the property, so it was a little too secluded for safe comfort.  She is very happy with it now. The only drawback to her location is on occasion PFX upkeep crews neglect reaching  her area,  and her work gets lost in the shuffle because if the “way back” location of her home.

We started today, but will be returning on Monday. Once we complete our portion of the work PFX will deliver mulch. We will return to lay it for  her, at her request. It’s all good.

Stay with us for “after” video.

”CONTESSA”

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AFTER – posted 5:35 pm, Tuesday – 3/15

We completed our work today. It was a ten (10) hour project. It looks fantastic. So very satisfying to finish up a project for a wonderful client. “ It was a very good day.”

Gardening Today – 1600 Block – Mt Eagle Place (REVISED 3/21 / 10:16 am – Monday)

Fantastic News….we are again Gardening on Mt Eagle Place this whole week. All our clients are from last year. We love our assignments and our clients. It is so great to catch up with them, post our winter season. And in fact, they are all with us for more than one year. This is our blessing for  sure

Today we are with our resident female attorney who owns a double unit. She has a good bit of yard, but…she has been learning what to do – to help with upkeep, so our tasks today will be easier this year. Bravo!

BEFORE

So today we put in (5) five hours at this project on Mt  Eagle. We have rain tomorrow, so we will resume on Thursday. Our client is good with this. It’s coming along. As always once we complete the work we will post our “after” video. So stay in touch. This is our “signature service.”  Our clients love it. Once we finalize they are ready for spring. It’s such a great boost.

AFTER

We are continuing with our yesterdays project. Five (5) hours yesterday and four (4) hours today. In our video at the very end we have one Azalea bed yet to clear. We will complete it early tomorrow morning. Our resident is all ready for mulch. Once delivered, our homeowner wants us to come back and finish up by laying all the mulch.

This year we had less weeds and less trimming of bushes and the beds were a good bit cleaner. Less leaves and debris. This house is ia nice spot and our resident homeowner is pretty happy. Certainly was our pleasure to help out. We were blessed with a very nice weather day after the rain yesterday, and we feel very thankful. Ten (10) Total hours for this job.

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“Contessa” says…… it’s all good.

REVISED – Monday – 3/21 – 10:16 am 

We returned to finish up the small bed at the corner of the house by the back patio at our customers request of course. And we then discussed things we might suggest for the patio area. 

Once PFX/Community Landscape delivers the mulch we will be returning to lay it and at that point we may proceed with some additional work on the patio. It’s been a great project and we’ve been so happy to help.

Gardening Today – Beverley Drive (REVISED))

A continuation…..

So today at Noon….. due to chilly temps we will return to this site. Still much to do here. Still cutting growth back, lots of mulch to lay and then we turn the corner to the “back yard.”  It’s a huge project. weeds, weeds and more weeds. Plus a creeping vine called Creeping Charlie. PFX involved. It’s been very hard to eradicate. And we’ve weeds on the patio this year as well. We want to get as much done today as we can because next week we are on Mt Eagle all week. The good news is…..we are actually ahead of schedule for spring. Generally we don’t start gardening until the later half of April. So we are in good shape

Fortunately, this client is ongoing, and is flexible with when we can get work accomplished. What a huge blessing.

Looking forward to a very sunny…. but slightly chilly day.

God is sooooo…..good.   * Amen *

We are picking up where we left off,  Continuing with back yard bed cleanup up. Such a nice day for it. We will most likely be here until about 4 pm. There is much to do. It’s a joy to be outdoors. And to be able to get this work completed before our real season begins. I’m very thankful. The Forsythia May bloom this week here as tomorrow will be close to 80 degrees. Wonderful news!!

”CONTESSA”says….. it’s all good.

Gardening Today / 1007 block of Beverley Drive /Ongoing Project (REVISED at 7:30 pm – 2/28, Monday)

Today we continue with our great client on Beverley Drive. Weeding, edging, trimming the boxwood hedge, planting and transplanting and finally “dressing the beds.” It is a labor of love. We will be here several hours. Our client is away but we have a carte Blanche to do our thing.We just took a before video and later today or tomorrow we will post a video of our completion.

BEFORE

Video feed inoperative now. Photos attached later.

Earlier today we arrived at this location which is one of our fantastic ongoing clients. So much work has been done here. We always post “before” videos but we had a snag with our supplier, WordPress. We are not sure what caused this snafu as yet,  but here is the video from 10:30 this morning prior to doing any new work.

BEFORE (REVISED at 5 pm  – 2/23 – Wed)

AFTER (REVISED at 8 pm – 2/25 – Friday)

Today we raked the entire front and side yard. Cleared the new “perimeter” edging of any leaves, transplanted some daffodils and pansies and spread 8/3 cu ft bags of hardwood bark mulch.  4 hours total today.

On Sunday we will finalize this “spring clean up.”  There is a small bed to the right uf the front door and we will plant Pansies, fertilize the new Hydrangea and mulch the bed.  Stay tuned…..

FINAL (REVISED at 7:30 pm / 2/28/ Monday 

Today we transplanted and cut back Pansies. Fertilized the new Hydrangea and mulched this bed. Sprinkled Blood Meal  to deter squirrel activity. Stabilized the Urn/evergreen  planters with weights so they won’t blow over and watered everything.  A beautiful sunny day and a great completion. Our homeowner is very happy and her yard is spring ready.

We will add a hanging metal planter with a coir liner. It’s right by the front door and once Geraniums are available at the nursery we will plant it up. Also three (3) Begonias for the Garden Etagere. And once the Boxwood hedge starts to turn green we will hand trim at our homeowners request. It’s been great fun…..and a labor of love.

“Contessa” says….. it’s all good. 

Gardening Progress/Beverley Drive (REVISED – Mon – 2/21 – 5:44 pm)

 

This is our fourth season at this property on Beverley Drive. Our began work for this client with a complete transformation of a corner property. After three full years it was time for a re-do. Amend soil, edge beds, trim all bushes, trim all perennials back, transplanting and dividing some current perennials and adding a few new perennials. Finally mulch all beds and bushes to provide a “final dressing” of the property. We are at about 75% completion if the front and side yard. Next week pending weather we hope to start in the back patio and small yard area

Large patches of Lily of the Valley and burnt-orange Day Lilies will be thinned out and trained to form a pattern. A peach Azalea in the side yard bed has been trimmed and been encouraged to grow, as prior, it was being crowded by the Lily of the Valley. And a new smaller Arbor Vitae evergreen will be planted in front of some gas line ground equipment. Our goal is to provide attractive coverage.

Last year we added a pretty amazing perennial ground cover to the front center bed. It’s called “Blue Blanket” (Creeping Mazus). This creeper has a fluffy blanket appearance, is bright green all summer and is so easy to cut back. It thrives in full sun and it produces the sweetest tiny blue/purplish flower. It is sturdy, it can he walked on and grows very quickly. We highly recommend. And it’s affordable; a six pack planter was $20. (See below) Blue Blanket provides a tidy appearance and is a very low maintenance way to fill a bed.

A new Knock Out Rose bush ($39) was added to the real left side corner of this bed. It’s doing very well. We are anxious to see it’s new blooms this year.

Do stay tuned for additional progress and photos.

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REVISED – Mon  – 2/21 – 5:44 pm 

Today was so gorgeous and this very nice corner property is ”looking good.” Believe it or not, this sloped area in front of the new fence, took six hour to complete. Infested with a low lying creeping weed. We saved some to share with the PFX grounds crew. It’s also surrounding the grassy area by the adjacent building near the laundry room area. A permanent solution needs to be implemented. Attached is a video of the completed work along with a video of all the bushes on the property that have been edged and mulched. We hear rain is coming tomorrow so we hope to get all the beds mulched and then present a final video of the whole property.  Our next project is four doors over.

We really enjoyed working in this wonderful sunny and warm day. Looking forward to better weather on Wednesday so we plan to return then. 

“Contessa” says….. it’s all good!