With groceries increasing in price, this is a great year to start growing your own vegetables. You do not even have to have a dedicated vegetable garden. Vegetables grow great in containers or as part of a landscape bed.
Pick Familiar Vegetables
When planning a new garden, the choices of vegetables you can grow may be overwhelming. Start by picking vegetables you already eat. Once you become proficient at growing those plants, you can expand into new vegetables that you might like to try.
Cool Season Versus Warm Season Crops
Some plants grow best in the cool weather of the spring or fall, while others like warm weather. Lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, beets, turnips, rutabagas, and radishes need cool weather to grow. When the weather turns hot, they tend to bolt, or flower, and stop tasting good.
Warm-season plants are things like corn, beans, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, and squash. These plants do not germinate until after the soil has warmed up for the year.
Where To Grow Your Vegetables
Vegetables need full sun. Find a place in full sun that is well-drained and fertile. If you can grow them in a raised planter with a frame around or even a mound, it can be easier to have great soil with organic amendments and provide better drainage.
Watering
They are also water hogs, so need to be close to a spigot or integrated into your irrigation system. Vegetables need to stay moist but not soggy.
Fertilizing
Vegetable plants need lots of nutrients to build the vegetables we enjoy. Most vegetables need a balanced fertilizer at planting and every four weeks or so after that until the vegetables are harvested.
Weeding
Weeds steal sunlight, nutrients, and water from your vegetables. Remove weeds when they are small when they are easier to get out.
Grow Hydroponically
An easier method of growing vegetables is to use a Tower Garden, a special type of hydroponic system where the roots are in rock wool instead of soil. This aeroponic growing system is easy to use and maintain. A special nutrient solution is mixed with water and put into the Tower Garden. This solution flows over the roots and keeps them moist and fed. Vegetables grow 30% more, 3 times faster, and with 98% less water.
You can use the Tower Garden outside in any sunny spot or inside anywhere you have a grow light. If you place your Tower Garden inside, you can grow the vegetables you enjoy any time of the year. All you need to do is keep the water and nutrient solution topped off.
Preparing Your Vegetables
You can pick your vegetables at peak ripeness and eat them the same day. From leafy greens to tomatoes, cucumbers, and squash, you can have the healthy produce you and your family deserve. Everyone should get at least five servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Most produce loses approximately 30% of its nutrients within 3 days. When you grow your own food, it will have the highest nutrient density possible.
Let Us Help
We can help you decide which Tower Garden is right for you and get you started growing your own fresh veggies at home this Spring. Contact Royal Crown Architectural Landscaping to get started today.
Just because it is winter doesn’t mean you have to stay inside. If you have cabin fever, here are some of our favorite activities to get your family outside, away from screens, and spend quality time together.
Sledding
There are some great sledding hills in Kansas City. Here is a short list to get you started. Next time it snows, bundle up, grab a sled and give these a try:
56th and Brookside, Brookside Park (“Suicide Hill”)
Avila University
Shawnee Mission Park
119th & Kansas City Rd. (Olathe)
137th and Black Bob Rd. (Olathe, just south of Lowe’s)
Olathe East High School
Snow Creek
Snow Creek is your Winter Outpost for outdoor recreation in the Kansas City Area (and an 8-hour drive to Keystone Ski Resort!). Nestled in the town of Weston, MO Snow Creek recently celebrated its 35th season.
Things to know before you go:
Masks are required indoors, including the gondolas.
Proof of vaccination is required at indoor, on-mountain quick-service (cafeteria-style) restaurants.
No cash payments accepted
Ice skating
Outdoor ice skating just seems to be more fun than indoor skating. You can skate outdoors in downtown Kansas City at Crown Center Ice Terrace. The skating rink is in Crown Center Square. Or if you are near Leawood Kansas, then Park Place may be a better place for your family. Both locations have shops and dining nearby to make a day out of the experience.
Penguin March at Kansas City Zoo
On the fourth weekend of each month, the Humboldt penguins parade around the Helzberg Penguin Plaza at the Kansas City Zoo. The kids will love seeing these little guys shuffle through just a few feet away. You can watch this free from 11:00 am to 11:15 am with admission to the zoo. Jackson/Clay County residents pay $8.50-$10.00, while others pay $17.00-$20.00. Children under 2 years old are free. See a sneak peek of the penguins here.
Donald J. Hall Sculpture Park at the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art
This impressive sculpture park is on the grounds of the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art. The Donald J. Hall Sculpture Park is great for outdoor enthusiasts and those wanting to view art in a different kind of setting. As you meander through the museum grounds, you will stop at several sculptures to examine the materials, techniques, subject matter, and artistic styles of these outdoor objects
Overland Park Arboretum & Botanical Gardens
The Arboretum and Botanical Gardens in Overland Park are open from 10-5 daily during the winter. Children under 6 are free, children 6-12 are $1, and Over 12 are $3. They have beautiful gardens to walk through every season, including in the winter. They also have a special garden for children that allows children to climb to the top of a spiraling walkway, visit the frog pond, explore a shrinking tunnel and study fossil and animal footprints. In addition, they can enjoy the story tree and nature play area. There are several other gardens including a sculpture garden.
Bar K Dog Park
Bar K Dog Park is more than just a dog park. It is a place to socialize with like-minded people and you can include your dog in the fun. Bar K includes a two-acre dog park, including a space just for small dogs, a restaurant, event spaces, special events, and a lot of fun. The hours are 9 am to 8 pm Sunday –Thursday, and 9 am to 9 pm on Friday. This is a member’s only space, but you can purchase a guest pass to try it out for $10 – $15 for one dog, more for extra dogs. You can visit without a dog for free. The dog park, restaurant, and all the spaces are staffed by trained dog handlers so your dog will be safe. Your dog must be current on immunizations, be at least 12 weeks old, and play nice with other dogs to enter.
Your Own Winter Wonderland
Winter is a great time to reflect on your outdoor living space and plan any additions you want to make in it. Make plans to replace any plants that didn’t make it through the winter or that you are not satisfied with. What hardscapes would make your outdoor living space more pleasant? This ranges from a simple gazebo to an entire outdoor room complete with a fireplace and big-screen television. We at Royal Creations Architectural Landscaping can work with you to design something that best suits your landscape and needs. Schedule a consult with us today.
Have you been considering adding trees to your property? Trees can provide so many benefits for you and your family by creating shade and helping lower energy costs, providing privacy from unsightly neighbors, and of course, the beautiful flowers to let you know that Spring has arrived. Choosing a tree can be a little overwhelming with all the different choices available. Here are five of our favorite trees for residential landscapes.
Jane Magnolia or Ann Magnolia (Magnolia liliiflora ‘Nigra’ × Magnolia stellata ‘Rosea’)
Both of these magnolias are part of a series bred by Francis DeVos and William Kosar in the 50s that are referred to as “the girls”. The main difference between them is the flower. Jane has whitish-pink flowers with more petals than Ann. Ann has deep pink flowers with fewer petals. Jane grows to 12-15 feet tall and 8-10 feet wide. Ann grows to 10-12 feet tall and 8-10 feet wide. Both trees bloom in the spring and sporadically rebloom in the summer. These are very pretty small trees to add to your landscape and fit well in a residential setting near houses and structures.
Black Gum (Nyssa sylvatica)
Black gum, also called black tupelo, is a very nice shade tree that is underutilized in our area. The green foliage turns to intense red fall color with hues of orange, yellow, and purple in the fall. This striking tree is not messy. It also adds welcome diversity to the landscape. In our area, red maples are over planted, and they could be one disease or pest away from disaster. Whereas the Black gum is underutilized and can produce equal if not greater fall color displays with a much better chance of long-term success. Black gum gets 30-50 feet tall and is 20-30 feet wide at maturity. They are usually found in moist well-drained soil along streams and creeks but will grow in dryer ground.
Canada Red Cherry (Prunus virginiana ‘Shubert Select’)
This medium tree starts the spring with fragrant white flowers. Green leaves come next, then the leaves turn burgundy for summer and fall color. The tree also produces tiny chokecherries, which can be pitted and used in jams and jellies. Birds love the chokecherries too and will flock to your yard for them. This cherry tree grows 25-30 feet tall and 15-20 feet wide. Canada red cherry is water-wise and thrives in our area. It has a straight trunk and uniform growth.
Green Giant Arborvitae (Thuja standishii x plicata ‘Green Giant’)
If you need a fast-growing screening tree, the green giant arborvitae is the one for you. It is much better than the other emerald green varieties that have multiple leaders, split, break, and die more than any other evergreen. Green giant arborvitae does not do that. The dense green foliage bronzes slightly in the winter. This tree can grow to a height of up to 40 feet or more and a width of 12-20 feet at maturity, so it will make a tall screen. The tree will grow up to 3 feet a year. In the summer, ½ inch long cones emerge green, then ripen to brown in the fall. These provide food for birds and small animals. Green giant arborvitae is also less attractive to deer than other arborvitae.
Redbud (Cercis canadensis)
The redbud tree is a classic native tree for our region. Redbuds naturally grow as an understory tree along the edges of wooded areas. Mauve blossoms great the spring and bloom for 2-3 weeks. The leaves emerge reddish in color, turn green in the summer, and yellow in the fall. Newer varieties such as Hearts of Gold and Forest Pansy have great leaf color throughout the season. The tree grows to 20-30 feet tall and 15-35 feet wide.
Any of these trees can be a star in your landscape. Want to plant trees this season? Don’t fancy digging a big hole and planting them yourself? Let us do it for you. We have the equipment and know-how to give the tree the best chance to grow and shine. Contact us at Royal Creations Architectural Landscaping to discuss your landscape needs. We can design your landscape and plant the perfect trees for your property, and also help maintain them along with the rest of your landscape.
Know someone looking for a career in landscaping? Be one of the best. We are hiring.
“I have to hand it to you; I have had a lot of landscapers out here. This is the best experience I have had with any of them, and you do the best job, too.”
Royal Creations was founded in the summer of 2013 with a vision and a mission. As Andrew Wright explains,
“We started the business to better serve our clients as well as our employees. We believe that the customer experience is as important as the design and craftsmanship of the project, and we are continually striving to improve the experience for our clients through our core values. We also believe that our team members inherently want to succeed and that it is our responsibility to define how success looks. Therefore, we are continually developing our team’s skills in the field as well as the culture and mindset which directly reflects in the customer’s experience.”
Relationships First
We believe in building strong relationships with our clients, staff, vendors, and referral partners. Together we are all working to create great experiences for one another and help one another grow and improve over time. We know that we could not build such wonderful outdoor spaces without a successful collaboration between all involved.
To that end, our company promise is “We strive to give our clients the best experience and craftsmanship possible.” In service of that, we:
Meet deadlines
Are on time for our appointments
Do it right the first time
Are careful not to damage your landscape while working
Work hard from arrival to leaving
Leave your landscape better than we found it
Connecting Clients With Nature
More and more research shows that a connection with the earth, nature, and each other benefits the mind, body, and spirit. Our vision is to help people develop stronger relationships with the outdoors and each other. The best way we have found to do that is to design and implement a superior landscape that our customers can enjoy. We feel so strongly about this that we have made it our mission to make the exterior spaces of homes more livable and enjoyable for the families that we serve.
C.R.O.W.N. Values
During our relationship with you, we will follow our C.R.O.W.N. values in our interactions with each other and with you. These values are:
Communication Priority – If we don’t communicate well, it causes problems. We will make sure we understand what you want. In addition, all communications within our company will give every employee that information. If someone has a question, they are empowered to speak up and ask it. There are no stupid questions.
Respectful Attitude – we do not tolerate rude or disrespectful behavior from our employees or clients. Everyone should be treated as a valued person, whether they are the boss, the client, or a ditch digger.
Ownership Mentality – we encourage our employees to own the installation. If they see a mistake or know how to make an installation run smoother, they are encouraged to speak to their supervisor. Employee innovation helps us grow better.
Willingness to Serve – we lead from the front. If we see a need, every one of our employees is willing to pitch in to help. Our employees are in it for the long haul and genuinely want to serve our customers.
Never-Ending Pursuit of Our Potential – our employees continue to grow as people and as skilled craftsmen. We take continuing education units (C.E.U.s) every year to maintain our certifications or gain new ones. We know the latest best practices for our craft. If there is a better way to do things, we want to learn it. We also support employees that want to advance in our company.
Lots of people can put in and maintain a landscape. We put in the training and work to ensure we put in the best landscape for your needs. We also make sure we maintain that landscape to give you endless enjoyment. You should not have to leave home to enjoy nature. Contact Royal Creations Architectural Landscaping today to schedule a consultation.
Know someone looking for a career in landscaping? Be one of the best. We are hiring.
Have you ever heard a friend, neighbor, or even your spouse say “There is another crack in the concrete. It just looks terrible! We need a new patio”
Soil is hard on concrete. It shifts and swells, breaking the concrete into smaller pieces. You are left with a spiderweb of cracks, uneven walking surfaces, and other problems. Modern paver patios don’t have these issues, as they are already segmented and most often built in a flexible construction method.
Flexible Pavement vs Rigid Pavement
Concrete is designed to be rigid. It is poured in place and strengthened with rebar. When large parking lots are poured in concrete, gaps are left and filled with a malleable substance. These are called expansion joints and let the concrete move a little with the seasons. Most residential patios don’t have expansion joints, and these large areas of concrete will crack over time.
Pavers are different. These are small pieces that are laid together, like a mosaic. These pieces are called pavers and they are set on an aggregate base that provides a strong foundation. As the ground freezes and thaws, the pieces move together with the ground. The overall patio will not crack as its many joints allow for movement with the freeze-thaw cycles.
Paver Base
We started installing paver patios decades ago. At that time, the industry-standard was to use crushed limestone as a base and then put a bedding layer of sand on top of it. The pavers were installed on top of the sand. Over time, the limestone could get spongy as the dust in that layer collected moisture. The sand would sometimes wash out over time as the particles of sand could be smaller than the joints in the patio. Both these problems slightly compromised the structural stability of the patio and could lead to settling in spots.
We now use an open aggregate base so that it drains well and is more stable. We use washed gravel that helps hold things in place. This prevents the washout of materials and keeps the patio surface more stable over time. The washed gravel also provides pore space for moisture to move through the patio and drain.
Paver Styles
Pavers can come in a wide variety of styles. These pavers can be small, old-fashioned Holland Stones that are 4” X 8” or new modern paving slabs as big as 20” X 30” and anywhere in between. You can also choose a variety of natural stone pavers. These come in many different sizes, shapes, and textures.
There are many paver manufacturers, and they all have a variety of styles to choose from. A couple of our favorite local paver companies are Belgard and Unilock. They tend to have the best quality products as well as customer service in our KC market. You can check out their sites to learn more.
Paver Sand
To finish off the installation of your pavers, we use special polymeric sand and sweep it between the pavers to fill in any gaps. The polymer in the sand helps to bind the sand particles together to lock them in place. The regular sand used a decade ago would wash out much sooner and require more frequent maintenance.
Polymer sand joints last 2-5 years or more. The joints may need some touch-up after that. If the sand does wash out or settle, the patio is still usable, but may not be as aesthetically pleasing. It is a good idea to plan on some paver maintenance every few years just to make sure everything is tip-top and looking as good as possible.
Paver Sealers
Paver sealers are a good way to help lock the joint sand in longer. The sealant also holds the color of the pavers longer and protects them from fading in the sun. Our favorite sealer is the “wet look” type because everything tends to look a little better when wet. The colors pop and the space looks new and clean.
There is an art to installing pavers. Even if you follow the industry standards as far as the base, buy the pavers from a reputable place, and seal them well, you may find yourself disappointed in how they look. It takes a lot of practice to get them “just right”.
At Royal Creations, we have planned and installed hundreds of paver patios over the years. We can help you choose your pavers, install them for you, and seal them so they continue to look good for years. We will even do the periodic maintenance required to keep them looking their best. If you want to put in a paver patio, contact Royal Creations Architectural Landscaping today to schedule a consult and get the ball rolling.
