
Tips & News
The Yardblog
A resource for helpful tips and sustainable ideas.
About the yardblog
The goal is to make this blog a resource for helpful tips and sustainable ideas. We create original content that shows projects in progress and the behind-the-scenes of installation.
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- Construction Pricing 2
- Design + Build 1
- Dutch Wave 3
- Featured Projects 13
- Forecasting 1
- Gardening Tips 4
- Green Infrastructure 2
- Invasive Species 1
- Native Plants 33
- Nativeish Plants 4
- New Perennial Movement 3
- Pennsylvania 1
- Perennials 4
- Plant Identificaiton 1
- Plant Identification 4
- Plantings of The Season 19
- Project Costs 2
- Rain Gardens 3
- Sustainability 8
- Tips & Tricks 8
- gardening tips 1
- nativeish plants 1
- perennials 1
What’s it gonna cost ME?
We are often asked how much a project is going to cost before we even start brainstorming what the client is looking for. It's hard to answer that question before going through the design phase together but here are some helpful numbers that might guide you through the process.
Prairie Dock (Silphium terebinthinaceum)
Silphium terebinthinaceum, commonly known as Prairie Dock, is a member of the Asteraceae family and is native to North America.
Know your Hardiness Zone
When people want to create a more contemporary planting design for a yard, they will need to use perennials and grasses that come back year after year. This means you need to pick the right species for the job. Only when you use the correct plants for your hardiness zone will you see them come back once the snow melts.
The Countdown To Crocus
Every year we get tons of requests to include crocus in our yard designs. A few autumns back, we actually planted over a 1000 of them in South Orange and Maplewood! Crocus is a genus of seasonal flowering plants in the Iris family comprising about 100 species of perennials growing from corms.
Should you plant a four season garden?
Even though summer and fall have gone - and with it all the colors and abundance that the warmer months have to offer - the beauty of nature continues to shine.
The beautiful bee balm
Bee Balm is a beautiful native flower that comes in an array of colors. They can take the cold winters in New Jersey as well as the hot summers. With the right care, they will grow up to 18inches high and spread about 2ft wide.
Plantings and sustainability
Sustainability has always been the main focus at chambersdesign. Sustainable business is achieved by making daily choices that aim to reduce our carbon footprint and make better use the Earth’s natural resources.
The Radel Project
This client had a backyard space that wasn't being used to it's full potential. Although the direction was unclear at first, we all agreed that keeping the basic elements that already existed in the space while enhancing their functionality was key for this project.
Invasive Species
Invasive plant species are a huge problem. They have overtaken giant expanses of the landscape. As they do, they erase the ability for native plants and animals to thrive, and there’s no easy solution to get rid of them. But there's still hope for our favorite natives to survive!
Native, Cultivar, Variety, Invasive..What's the difference?
There's so much to learn when starting your native plant journey and all of the terminology around plants can be overwhelming. You've got natives of course, but then there's cultivars, varieties or nativars and invasive species, just to name a few.
Garden uses for short-term perennials
Many popular garden perennials fall into the "short-lived" category, so you might be wondering whether or not you should waste time and money planting them, when you are not sure how long they'll last.
Plant Longevity
If you are a gardener or a plant geek, you've seen the categories of plants often referred to as either annuals or perennials. But what do these terms really mean? And how do these different kinds of species inform us how to use them in a landscape design?