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fall lawn maintenance

Fall Tips to Keep Your Landscaping Looking Great in Long Beach

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Summer has ended and with it, it took the long warm days that many plants need to grow. Fall can still be a great time to enjoy your landscape as you can sit back and watch the leaves change color to reds and oranges. 

Just because plants tend to grow less during autumn, it doesn’t mean there is no work to be done. Today we’ll go through a few tips you should follow in order to keep your landscape looking beautiful even with the changing seasons.

Last Cut of the Year

Lawns tend to be one of the largest elements of any landscaping project, you should mow your lawn until it stops growing. During fall many drought tolerant lawns begin to go into dormancy and turn brown. If this is your first year experiencing this do not be frightened, this is normal. Cut your lawn short to prevent it from matting and being damaged by pests or diseases. 

If your lawn continues to grow throughout the year, consider keeping the grass a minimum of 3 inches tall so that it can better absorb sunlight.

Amend your Soil

Fall is the best time to amend your soil, as microfauna begin to break down your soil in both fall and winter. This organic matter then becomes available as a nutrient for plants to thrive in during spring. If you miss this opportunity, you can still amend your soil in spring though it’s best done during the fall.

Aerating your soil is season dependent. If your soil is compacted, fall is the best time to have it aerated professionally. This will allow hard soil to more easily absorb rain water, compost and other fertilizers you may be amending your soil with. 

If you are unsure with what to amend your soil, fall is a great time to get your soil tested. This test can determine what specific nutrients you need to grow your plants.

Check on your Mulch

During autumn, mulch will provide insulation and warmth to plant roots. Mulch allows for microorganisms to stay active longer in the colder seasons, and retains water better. This can allow your soil to retain its nutrients for longer.

For garden and flower beds that already have mulch, simply turning the mulch should be enough to provide its benefits during the fall. It will also give your garden and flower beds a fresh look without adding more mulch. Though you should replenish mulch every 3 to 5 years or whenever the layer of mulch is less than 2 inches thick.

Maintain your Hardscape

Pathways, fountains, rock and stones are best maintained during the fall. In the fall temperatures are more consistent throughout the day. Using sealant to fill in cracks and gaps may take a little bit longer to cure during cooler days, but you are less likely to see a failure point compared to summer days. 

Don’t forget that during the fall, your hardscape becomes more visible as leaves begin to pile on the ground. Keep up appearances by raking leaves from your landscape, fallen leaves can be unsightly. When wet, leaves can be incredibly slippery and cause an accident that can result in injury.

For the Bird Lovers

If you’re a lover of birds, autumn is the best season to set up bird feeders. Many migratory birds will migrate to Southern California during the colder seasons. With some luck you may spot some rare birds in your own backyard.

How would you feel with a yard expressly designed to fit your unique home and personality?

Our staff is dedicated to delivering unique landscapes that 100% fit the needs of homeowners. Each yard is designed in-house by our landscape designer. Our expertise and experience in the cities of Long Beach, Lakewood, Seal Beach, Rossmoor & surrounding communities allows us to custom design the perfect landscape for you.

Your project is carefully managed by our team of experts. Whether you are looking to turn your front yard into a showpiece or creating the backyard of your dreams we are here to help. Fill out our Landscape Design request for landscape to fit your aesthetic today. Feel free to call us at (562) 225-9460 or get a free quote for the project you have in mind.

english garden style

Types of Landscaping to Consider for Your Long Beach Home

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You’ve decided that you’re finally ready to get your landscaping professionally done. That’s great! Now it’s time for you to decide on what type of landscape you’ll want for your Long Beach home.

There are many types to choose from to fit the style and budget of anyone. As to not overwhelm you, today we’re going to go through the different types we offer at MC Landscaping. You can use this to choose the overall theme and style, or to incorporate some features when deciding your landscaping design.

English Garden Style

An English garden uses more geometric shapes like squares, rectangles and ovals to organize the different plants in the landscape. Its design style is to emphasize contrasts. An example is  you can have neatly trimmed hedges, but at the base there is a bed of wild flowers. This style attempts to use materials used to build the home like brick or stone to create garden walls, columns, ponds and other features. This makes the landscaping feel like an extension of the home, not just “the yard”. Ideally the plants you choose from should change along with the seasons. These require a great deal of maintenance to keep their aesthetic.

Organic Gardens

Organic gardens are ideal for homeowners concerned with sustainability, as well as staying away from chemical pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers. Organic garden landscaping creates and maintains a natural sustaining system where soil, plant nutrition and plant health is accomplished without the use of those chemicals.This type of landscaping uses an abundance of mulch, typically being topped off yearly. Without this layer of mulch, your soil can become dry which makes it difficult for some plants to naturally grow a strong root system. Mulch benefits the landscape in more ways than one, including feeding microfauna to keep your soil loose and healthy. 

Drought Resistant Landscaping

Unfortunately Southern California often suffers with droughts. To help conserve water and maintain beautiful landscaping, many homeowners have begun to design their landscapes to be drought resistant. This typically means removing many of the old dying plants and replacing them with plants native to your area or plants from areas with similar climates and conditions. A drought resistant lawn will still have the bright green grass so many love to see, though usually not year round due to a dormancy period though some choose to paint the grass during this period. Instead of letting plants dry up and die during times of water scarcity, a drought resistant landscape will provide plants that won’t mind the lack of water.

Oriental Landscape

Oriental landscapes have defining hardscape elements such as a bridge, archway or stone walkway. By design an oriental garden provides refuge filled with eastern mysticism. It is meant to be a place of both relaxation and movement. People should engage with an oriental landscape design by walking through different pathways leading to the different features. If budget allows oriental landscapes, a koi pond can be an option to add an authentic oriental experience.

Modern Landscape

With clean edges and a clean look the modern landscape is designed to fit a contemporary home or to contrast with a traditional rustic architecture. Modern landscaping is characterized by the use of sleek, smooth and refined stylings. Generally the modern style emphasizes the architecture and building material over the plants and trees. Stone, concrete, hardwoods and metals are used to shape a modern landscape design.

Tropical Landscape

 Tropical landscapes are meant to be lush, bright, and vivid. Plants such as bromeliads, orchids and hibiscus are often used in garden beds or containers for their bright colors. Large leaved plants  like elephant ear or birds or paradise provide large areas of coverage like a tropical jungle. Due to tropical landscaping being filled with different plants, decor is often overlooked. Decorative stones not only provide a different texture to the abundance of plants, they retain heat which is helpful in regulating temperatures for some tropical plants. Tropical landscapes are also great environments for birds to come and visit, if you are a lover of birds a birdbath can be a great addition to a tropical landscape.

How would you feel with a yard expressly designed to fit your unique home and personality?

Our staff is dedicated to delivering unique landscapes that 100% fit the needs of homeowners. Each yard is designed in-house by our landscape designer. Our expertise and experience in the cities of Long Beach, Lakewood, Seal Beach, Rossmoor & surrounding communities allows us to custom design the perfect landscape for you.

Your project is carefully managed by our team of experts. Whether you are looking to turn your front yard into a showpiece or creating the backyard of your dreams we are here to help. Fill out our Landscape Design request for landscape to fit your aesthetic today. Feel free to call us at (562) 225-9460 or get a free quote for the project you have in mind.

landscape sprinklers

How Your Sprinkler Design is Critical to Supporting Your Landscaping Vision

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When designing your landscape, the sprinkler system is going to be what makes sure your plants get the required water as efficiently as possible. Although in the past yards would be designed with a few sprinkler heads that spray water in an area for a few minutes, now we know there are better ways of doing things.

Today we’ll go through a number of things to keep in mind when designing the sprinkler system to support your landscaping vision for years to come.

Zones

When you speak with our designers, they will mention landscape zones. This is a term used to separate portions of the landscape such as your lawn, garden or potted plants. Zones are used to determine specific areas and how they are supposed to be irrigated. 

For example your lawn will require a different volume of water compared to a vegetable garden. If you were to use the same amount of water for both you could over water and drown plants in one zone while a different zone remains too dry. By separating your landscape through different zones you can use an irrigation controller to make sure each zone gets the perfect amount of water. This will help your lawn and plants to thrive while conserving water.

Types of Irrigation

In order for your landscape to look great and grow throughout the years you’ll need to water it. There are no exceptions. You can choose to do the watering yourself with a hose however, every zone may require different watering needs. Although watering a vegetable garden can be calming for some, many people don’t have the luxury of time to water their entire lawn. 

To solve watering issues there are a couple of popular options for irrigation that can be used in different zones to fulfill different watering needs.

Lawn Sprinkler System

This is the classic go to system many people use to water their lawns. Although it is no longer the most efficient form of irrigation, it’s still a great option when you need to water a large area such as a lawn. During hotter seasons it’s best to use sprinklers either early in the morning or in the evening after the sun has gone down to reduce water loss to evaporation.

Drip Irrigation System

Less is more with drip irrigation systems. With drip irrigation water slowly drips through irrigation tubing allowing you to fine tune how much water plants will receive. Due to tubing often being shaded by the plant or mulch, there is little evaporation even during the hottest days.

Irrigation Controller

An irrigation controller is used to regulate how much water is being used for each zone of your landscape. Though there are a few options you have for controllers as well. 

Smart Controller

Smart controllers are relatively new to the market, but have shown that being able to be controlled by a smartphone or tablet is convenient and efficient. By allowing them to connect to the internet, they can access meteorological databases, have sensors built into the controller or both to ensure efficient watering of your property. 

Smart controllers like the Rachio 3 can be purchased with 4 -16 different zone counts to allow for flexible irrigation tailored to your yard. 

Standard Irrigation Controller

Simple, yet cost effective, standard controllers are typically used when installing basic sprinkler systems. These controllers can use local weather conditions to regulate the amount of water used when you turn on the sprinkler system. Or may have a setting for seasonal adjustments allowing you to increase watering during summer and reduce watering during winter.

Battery Operated Controller

With many of the same features as standard irrigation controllers, battery operated controllers give you the freedom of having the controller installed without the need of a power source. Many come with small solar panels to recharge the internal battery. While others can function without issues for up to 3 years with two AA batteries.

How would you feel with a yard expressly designed to fit your unique home and personality?

Our staff is dedicated to delivering unique landscapes that 100% fit the needs of homeowners. Each yard is designed in-house by our landscape designer. Our expertise and experience in the cities of Long Beach, Lakewood, Seal Beach, Rossmoor & surrounding communities allows us to custom design the perfect landscape for you.

Your project is carefully managed by our team of experts. Whether you are looking to turn your front yard into a showpiece or creating the backyard of your dreams we are here to help. Fill out our Landscape Design request for landscape to fit your aesthetic today. Feel free to call us at (562) 225-9460 or get a free quote for the project you have in mind.

landscaping features

What Supporting Features of Your Landscape Design are You Interested in?

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For supporting features in your landscape, there are no wrong answers. Whatever it is that you love to see, smell or feel is what you should have installed. After all, this is your home, and your design inputs are necessary. 

Speaking of design, what options do you have?

Today let’s cover what supporting features are available for your landscape design as well as the importance of asking about them during the designing portion of the project.

Designing Your Landscape

When designing your landscape there are a few themes you can get started with. These include:

  • Drought tolerant
  • Xeriscape
  • Waterwise
  • Low Maintenance
  • Contemporary
  • Mediterranea
  • Modern
  • Tropical
  • Edible Garden
  • English Garden

Let’s say you’ve chosen the theme for your landscape as an example you chose an Edible Garden theme. During the appointment with our designer let them know what features you are looking for in your garden and what kinds of plants you intend to grow. This can make it easier for us to provide a more unique design suited for you. At this moment it is best to ask about  supporting features. These can include items such as:

  • Rock features
  • Lighting
  • Decorations 
  • Garden Gnomes
  • Statues
  • Water Features

Nothing is off the table as long as supporting features are included in the designing phase of the project. Though it’s fine to change your mind, be aware that any changes after the design phase may be more difficult to incorporate and may take more time to provide.

What Supporting Features Does MC Landscaping Offer?

Ideally when choosing supporting features you’ll want to remain within the theme of the landscaping. But if you want to have a water feature like a fountain in a drought tolerant landscape that is perfectly fine as well.

Rock features

Rock features vary from large decorative boulders to small polished pebbles. Large boulders are great for larger landscapes to be seen from a distance or provide structure for other, smaller or complementary landscape features.

Making an impression at driveway entrances with large boulders or using them to retain soil for terracing a gentle slope. 

Using  stones for walkways can add color and texture to your landscape while providing a durable and beautiful feature.

Polished pebbles and river rocks pair well with water features as they aim to create a natural looking element to your landscape. Using small rocks like these strategically can also help with water run off and drainage.

Lighting

Lighting can be used to accent certain features in the evening. Even water features can be visible at night with underwater lights. This illumination adds a different view to your landscape after the sun goes down. 

Spotlights can be installed at the base of trees or architectural features to highlight and draw attention to them during the evening.

Adding walkway or garden lights can increase visibility of pathways to avoid damaging the landscape, injuring yourself or guests.

Decorations

Decorations include lawn statues, garden gnomes, bird feeders, artwork and honestly anything else you can think of that might make your landscape unique to you. Although these can be added after the landscaping is done, we recommend you include the idea of adding decorations during the design phase to better incorporate them to the landscape.

Water Features

Water features can be used to create a sense of tranquility in your lawn or back yard. Waterfalls and fountains give soothing sounds while making your landscape feel alive with the sounds of moving water. Aquatic gardens or ponds can bring the feeling of calmness.

Though you don’t necessarily have to choose one or the other. Many people love the sound of moving water while having it connected to aquatic gardens or koi ponds.

How would you feel with a yard expressly designed to fit your unique home and personality?

Our staff is dedicated to delivering unique landscapes that 100% fit the needs of homeowners. Each yard is designed in-house by our landscape designer. Our expertise and experience in the cities of Long Beach, Lakewood, Seal Beach, Rossmoor & surrounding communities allows us to custom design the perfect landscape for you.

Your project is carefully managed by our team of experts. Whether you are looking to turn your front yard into a showpiece or creating the backyard of your dreams we are here to help. Fill out our Landscape Design request for landscape to fit your aesthetic today. Feel free to call us at (562) 225-9460 or get a free quote for the project you have in mind.

Bird Feeder

 Lover of Birds? Landscape Design that Can Welcome them to Your Garden

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Do you love birds but find it difficult to make the time to go on dedicated bird watching trips?

Did you know you can design a naturalistic landscape that can bring the beautiful birds of your area to your own back or front yard.

Join me as we discover how you can transform your yard from a generic yard into a paradise for birds and bird lovers alike.

Design Theme

When you make an appointment with our designers, keep in mind the theme of your landscape. Oftentimes for naturalistic designs we’ll recommend rounded bed lines as they’re more natural than straight edges. Keep in mind if you want to attract birds you’ll need to consider how the landscape will look from above not just surface level. Birds love seeing dense vegetation, and layered foliage.

Using round shapes is nothing new and is often used without a natural design in mind. Wildlife sees round shapes and circles as a natural shape. In nature everything from berries to flowers appear round.

Native Plants

If you are looking to attract birds native to southern California it’s only natural to have a native landscape using local grown and regional plants,trees and grass. Having exotic plants that look attractive to us may dissuade local birds as they may not recognize those plants and instead avoid your yard. Birds will recognize native plants like sunflowers or black elderberry shrubs as a healthy food source or safe shelter.

Consider that for birds to feel safe they prefer plants to be layered, dense, and diverse. The smaller birds will want to hide and feel safe from other wildlife or stray cats. Denser vegetation is also more suitable for birds to nest in which can turn your yard into a permanent residence for some of your local birds.

An additional benefit of having native plants in your landscape is that since they are native to our climate, they can thrive even during heavy droughts. With plants that are accustomed to the local weather means you can give birds a home year round, while also conserving water during droughts and saving money on your water bill.

Features Birds Love

Having a natural looking and inviting landscape is the main thing that will attract birds. However if you want to enjoy watching them consider installing a few key features that nearly every bird enjoys.

Birds love to bathe, they need it to clean their feathers from dust and debris. Not to mention they need to cool down after a hot day too.

Although native plants provide food and shelter it’s a good idea to incorporate bird feeders with bird seed or nectar to attract more birds. Since bugs and insects are also a healthy food source, plan for your landscape to use minimal pesticides.

Not all birds make nests in trees to increase the amount of birds visiting your yards, try including bird houses into the landscape. These are often used by swallows, sparrows and even some bluebird species.

Would you like to improve your landscaping?

Our staff is dedicated to delivering unique landscapes that 100% fit the needs of homeowners. Each yard is designed in-house by our landscape designer. Our expertise and experience in the cities of Long Beach, Lakewood, Seal Beach, Rossmoor & surrounding communities allows us to custom design the perfect landscape for you.

Your project is carefully managed by our team of experts. Whether you are looking to turn your front yard into a showpiece or creating the backyard of your dreams we are here to help. Fill out our Landscape Design request for a landscape designed to attract birds to your home. Feel free to call us at (562) 225-9460 or get a free quote for the project you have in mind.

landscape lighting at night

Landscape Lighting Options

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Landscapes can look amazing once complete but don’t forget that at night it won’t be visible without incorporating some landscape lighting. When designing your dream landscape you need to remember that you’ll want to be able to admire it after dark, not just during the day.  

Luckily there are a few options available to choose from when it comes to lighting. From DIY (do it yourself) friendly options to solar powered or hardwired lights low voltage LED lighting systems. Let’s explore what option you have to be able to appreciate your landscape design in the evening. 

Different Types of Landscape Lighting

If from the beginning you have an idea of how you want your landscape to look after the sun goes down, make sure to let our designer know about it when discussing your concept. We offer a variety of low voltage LED lighting system features which include more than just lighting up the plants. We can provide the following:

  • Pathlights
  • Uprights
  • Spotlight
  • Wall Wash Lights
  • Palm Tree Spotlights
  • Stair Lighting
  • Flag Lighting
  • Color Changing Lights
  • Wifi/Smart Controlled Lighting System

At MC Landscaping LLC, we understand that you are investing resources and time into making your project come to life. We work closely with top rated professionals with years of experience in order to bring your vision to light, day or night. 

Lighting What Matters

Lighting up your landscape may seem simple at first, however it’s a bit more involved that at first glance. Although you may think you want the entire landscape to be visible at night, you may need to consider the color of the light, the position of the light, how long the lights will be on after dark, what feature is going to be visible and even the shadow casted by the feature.

Depending on the landscape design you may want more path or stair light to illuminate where you or your guests are walking. Perhaps you want a spotlight on some beautiful trees. Or want to change the color of your landscape lights to match the season. A smart controlled light system can help you change the color of the lights or when they turn on or off with just your smartphone .The possibilities are endless.

DIY

If you decide to do the lighting yourself, in today’s age of information there is almost always that option. Usually the DIY option is a bit simpler than when done by professionals but rewarding in its own way nonetheless. 

You can find many solar powered landscaping lights with either the solar panel attached to the light itself or a kit with the solar panel can be set up away from the landscape to power up a few spotlights. However you are limited by the available options, making it difficult to highlight some of the landscape.

If you have an outdoor service outlet it’s possible to use some plug in LED lights. These usually don’t require electrical experience and typically are plug and play. Though you won’t be able to escape getting your hands dirty as you’ll want to hide any cables in the mulch or soil to get a clean look.

Would you like to improve your landscaping?

Our staff is dedicated to delivering unique landscapes that 100% fit the needs of homeowners. Each yard is designed in-house by our landscape designer. Our expertise and experience in the cities of Long Beach, Lakewood, Seal Beach, Rossmoor & surrounding communities allows us to custom design the perfect landscape for you.

Your project is carefully managed by our team of experts. Whether you are looking to turn your front yard into a showpiece or creating the backyard of your dreams we are here to help. Fill out our Landscape Design request for a landscaping redesign and remember to ask about our lighting options. Feel free to call us at (562) 225-9460 or get a free quote for the project you have in mind.

beautiful landsaped garden

When You Think of Landscaping, What Comes to Mind?

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What is Landscaping?

When thinking of landscaping it’s only natural to think of a beautiful lawn, garden, or robust hardscape and landscaping.  Keep in mind that depending on your vision you will want to consider how long the project will take and what will be needed to keep the landscape feature thriving.

That’s what we’re going to cover today, what things should come to mind when thinking about landscaping.


How Long Will it Take?

Every project has a different timeline based on the goals and the scope of landscaping. Some smaller projects can take as little as 2 days such as adding a couple of plants to accent a pathway or wall. Although most designs typically will take anywhere from 2 to 4 weeks from designing to finish.

At MC Landscaping LLC we’ll discuss your landscaping needs and project ideas. Whether you have a design in mind or would like our team of professionals to start from scratch. Our in-house designer will then go over the details with you and breakdown all the necessary steps to get the project done so you never have to worry if we’re on schedule or not.

Overall Design

We offer many different styles of landscaping to fit your needs. Some clients prefer a design to fit the aesthetic architecture of their home, others would rather take advantage of the native plants to Long Beach to conserve water.  We’d love the opportunity to produce a themed landscape design. When you make your appointment with our designer try to keep in mind what kind of landscape you’re looking for. 

  • Drought Tolerant
  • Xeriscape
  • Low Maintenance
  • Contemporary
  • Mediterranean
  • Modern
  • Tropical
  • Waterwise
  • Cottage Garden
  • Edible/Vegetable Garden
  • English Garden

Drought tolerant and water wise landscapes are very popular right now due to the drought we’re experiencing in Southern California. Drought tolerant landscapes include drought resistant lawns[insert like to drought resistant grass article] which can provide a lush vibrant grass even during dry seasons. Water wise plants that can thrive with minimal watering. A xeriscape can minimize or eliminate the use of irrigation. Xeriscape uses plants that are native to Southern California or plants that are native to areas with similar climates to ours. 

If you are looking to grow your own vegetables but are having a hard time starting, we can provide the necessary soil, garden bed and even plants to get you going. It can be difficult to prepare a garden if your soil doesn’t have the right composition. 

For those of you who are looking for beautiful yet affordable landscapes, you can ask about a low maintenance landscape. This includes gravel or stone pathways, artificial turf that never needs watering or mowing, or succulents which require much less watering yet provide a vibrant green that many people love.

Watering Methods

Depending on the type of landscape design you selected, you now need to provide water to your new yard, lawn or overall landscaping.

But what kind of methods are there? Do you need anything special? 

You don’t necessarily need any kind of special tools or watering techniques. If you’re inclined to do so you could just manually water your landscape with a garden hose; however, that requires time and patience, and can be done automatically with different types of irrigation systems.

Many homes already have sprinkler systems but would require modifying and adjusting the sprinkler heads to spray towards the new plants that need water. Alternatively you can adapt existing sprinkler systems into drip irrigation systems which can be moved to whatever the new design requires.

If this is the first time you’re going to have an irrigation system you can choose to have a new sprinkler system installed though this can be a costly installation. Though the convenience of a sprinkler system cannot be understated, with the exception of general maintenance and remembering that during rainy seasons you shouldn’t turn them on, a sprinkler system is very hands off.

Drip irrigation systems offer some of the benefits from sprinkler systems but use water far more efficiently. These can be controlled with smartphones or manually depending on how hands on you want to be. Drip irrigation can keep plant roots adequately moist while saving you water, and limiting water run off which is a waste of water and money.

How would you feel with a yard expressly designed to fit your unique home and personality?

Our staff is dedicated to delivering unique landscapes that 100% fit the needs of homeowners. Each yard is designed in-house by our landscape designer. Our expertise and experience in the cities of Long Beach, Lakewood, Seal Beach, Rossmoor & surrounding communities allows us to custom design the perfect landscape for you.

Your project is carefully managed by our team of experts. Whether you are looking to turn your front yard into a showpiece or creating the backyard of your dreams we are here to help. Fill out our Landscape Design request for a landscaping redesign to be water conscious today. Feel free to call us at (562) 225-9460 or get a free quote for the project you have in mind.

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