Transformation Tuesday: It is always fun working with clients closely to work on their vision for a landscaping makeover. We started with a bare canvas - a flagstone patio was incorporated in terraced beds. A beautiful water feature was set up with plants, irrigation, and finished with gravel. This was another one of those bigger projects. Stay tuned next week for Part 2!

Question of the week. Pets - we love them! Q: My dog has been peeing on one of my shrubs. I think the shrub is dead. Should I replace the shrub? A: Yes, but before you do, you need to prevent the dog from peeing on the new one. You could put a fence around it, or sprinkle cayenne pepper around the area you want to keep your dogs away. Another option would be to blend a Jalapeno pepper or other hot smelling pepper along with cayenne pepper with water. Place in a spray bottle a

Blue Flax (Linum lewisii) - Zone 3-9 Full Sun This beautiful wildflower is very easy to grow from seed. Performs like a classic perennial. Very minor leaf growth the first year and then full blooming the seasons that follow. Adaptable to soil conditions but prefers loose sandy soil

Transformation Tuesday! This was a new construction home that did not come with a landscaped backyard. We rebuilt the flagstone patio, accented with some green plants, and put down gravel to keep the dust down. A "dry" riverbed was added to help with erosion from any rainwater. The finishing touch was a flowering plum to add some color. Crossing our fingers for lots of moister this week!

With the extremely dry weather we are having and with no moisture in sight, we are seeing some odd things happening! Question of the week: Q: I have moonshine yarrow in my yard and the rabbits are eating it. I thought yarrow is rabbit resistant? What should I do? A: You are correct, Moonshine yarrow is rabbit resistant, however with the drought Santa Fe is in if they are hungry enough they will eat whatever they can. I have also seen them eat Chamisa and four-winged saltbush.

Common Purple Lilac (Syringa vulgaris) - Zone 3-8 Abundant clusters of sweetly fragrant, purple flowers in mid-spring on a vigorous, upright, multi-stemmed shrub with heart-shaped, green foliage. Ideal as a flowering hedge or screen. Plant near a window or pathway where the fragrant blooms can be enjoyed. Deciduous. Part sun to full sun Reaches 12 tall 10 wide. Blooms mid-spring

What a beautiful Transformation Tuesday: Our client recently purchased this property and wanted to enclose the yard with a more secure fence. Instead of going with the typical coyote fence you see all over Santa Fe, we decided on using a material called fence slab. The finished product had a very unique and beautiful texture. After removing the old, rotted fence and a few trees that encroached on the property line, we buried 6x6 timbers along the new fence line to prevent the

First, cut Out unhealthy Canes, remove dead, damaged, and diseased growth. Roses are sensitive to winter frost and the rest of the year are attacked by dozens of fungi, insects, molds, and bacteria. Each year, roses grow a lot of wood and each year a lot of it dies. In short, there will be a lot of dead wood to remove. Be aware that older rose wood will be brown or flaky-barked instead of the green of newer wood, but this older wood is often still alive and can be importan

Wysteria (Wisteria sinensis) - Zone 5-8 This gorgeous photo was taken from a property we maintain. Wysteria is a twining, woody vine valued for its drooping clusters of extremely fragrant flowers. Perfect for covering patios, arbors or fences. Deciduous. Part to full sun, fast growing Needs regular watering.

Transformation Tuesday: The front entrance had some overgrown and neglected trees including a very water thirsty Russian Olive. The homeowners wanted to improve their curb appeal but did not want to lose the coverage the trees offered since the kitchen faced the dirt road. We replaced the old trees with Ponderosa Pine, Blue Spruce, Arizona Cypress (an aspen), along with other shrubs and perennials to round out the look. The new trees and plants took care of the coverage, and