Category: Uncategorized

 

WOW! The Porch and railing are stunning! Just what I hoped for.

Thanks again,

Bob N.

NW West Portland

Portland! Everyone can have water in the garden! No need for a high maintenance pond or waterfall.

Just look at some of the many options available!

These are inexpensive, easy to maintain and create that wonderful soothing trickling sound of water in the landscape!

This beautiful bubble rock can be customized for your home. They come in many colors shapes and sizes, are low maintenance and add that beautiful touch of water your landscape!

This eternity vase can be installed quickly and easily, comes in a huge variety of colors shapes and sizes as well as being economical…

Even a simple bird bath fountain can add that touch of trickling water to your yard. Both plant life as well as small fish to your landscape.

 

A traditional fountain can house ​both plant life as well as small fish to your landscape.

These are but a few of the thousands of idea that are inexpensive, easy and to install and low maintenance that can add water to the landscape enhacing your enjoyment of your out door living space.

Call Pat Hardisty at Exstream Landscaping to install your TODAY!

 

It’s a time honored tradition to hook up the hose, put out the sprinkler and vow to move it after a few minutes to a new location, chasing it all over your yard, only to forget ending up with one soggy patch a dead lawn and a BIG water bill.

Having a sprinkler system installed saves you both time and money as well as your lawn! 

A well placed soprinkler system will have sprinklers of varying heights and types to water lawn areas, shrubs, tress and flowers for their specific water needs. Keeping your yard green, plants happy and your water bill down. No more chasing the sprinkle all over your lawn and unwinding the hose only to find you’ve got a kink somewhere!

Your sprinklers will come on automatically watering everything to perfection without you lifting a finger! Once programmed the system will come on, often before you’re drinking your first cup of coffee!

The end result is a beautiful emerald green lawn, healthy plants, money savings and the biggest savings of all…TIME! Time that you now have back to enjoy playing with your kids, enjoying your beautiful lawn or BBQing on your patio or deck.! Don’t have a patio or deck? We can help with that too!

Give Exstream Landscaping a call at 503-654-1953

“The pavers look wonderful! Thank you again! David is having so much fun in his new yard!” 

Pam R. Hillsboro, OR

Just want you to know how many compliments we get on the front porch and walkway. Any

time someone walks by and we’re in the front yard, they say how beautiful it is!

~Debbie A. SE Portland~

Landscape lighting is an absolute essential especially here in the Pacific NW where daylight hours are short. Lighting your landscape can extent the usable outdoor living space while also providing safety and stunning atmosphere.

Having a BBQ on the deck or a get together on the patio requires good visibility in the evening or night time hours. The installation of nigh lighting can extend the amount of time you can enjoy your space safely. By highlighting specific areas such as, steps, patio areas, entryways and walkways, shadows and dark spots are eliminated and the safety factor of your landscape goes up as does your enjoyment. Walkway lighting can help to define the curve of a sidewalk or highlight an abrupt corner or transition to steps or driveways. Additionally lighting around the perimeter of the landscape can help to define the area and create transitions from one area 

Apart from safety and basic illumination, night lighting can also create a completely new and exciting atmosphere. By accenting areas of the landscape, patterns and contrasts can emerge showing your yard in a whole new light. Specialty lighting can create color accents, glows and playful shadows . Fountains, waterfalls and ponds take on a whole new look, while flowers and plants may put on a whole new show revealing different hues and shapes.

There are innumerable ways in which lighting can accent a feature and make your landscape more dynamic and dramatic. Moonglow lights create a feeling of a moonlit landscape. Directional spot lighting can emphasize a feature and bring dark and light contrasts as well as shadow patterns to life. Rain, fog and snow are much more dramatic at night when illuminated.

Though many solar lights are readily available at home improvement and even grocery stores, they don’t possess the lumens needed to create a truly remarkable nightscape. They can be good to add as inexpensive supplemental lighting to illuminate a flower basket or small potted plant. However, to create a truly unique nightscape experience the installation of a professional low voltage lighting system is an absolute necessity. 

LED lighting is the latest innovation in landscape lighting and boasts both long life with no replacement of bulbs but also a staggering array of different types of lighting fixtures, creating new and inventive lighting effects. In addition to standard path, step and security lighting LEDs can offer striking up lighting, shadowing, silhouetting and moonlighting techniques with ease as well as coming in a variety of light colors ranging from daylight (6700k), to blue, green, purple, red orange and yellow. Underwater lighting for pools, ponds, streams and waterfalls are also available. The other really fantastic thing about LED lighting is that it costs on average a lot less to run than traditional low voltage lighting!

Another great thing about landscape lighting is the lights themselves come in so many varieties they can be seen as beautiful additions to the landscape even in the daylight!

Landscape lighting is at its most effective with used in subtle limited ways. Used sparingly and in specific areas to highlight areas with specific techniques your nightscape will come alive in a while new way!

Call Exstream Landscaping to bring your night landscape to life at 503-654-1953

Landscaping is one of the most powerful tools homeowners have to increase the livability of their homes as well as the appeal to possible buyers. Let’s face it we’re in a HOT sellers market in our area right now. Looking to increase your homes market appeal? Patios are a particularly valuable addition because they extend the living space into the landscape area additionally more buyers are attracted to a home with additional perceived living space.

A patio can be placed in almost any corner of your current yard area. Ease of access is the most important choice. Once an area is chosen is must be cleared of all vegetation and leveled sometimes with either the addition or excavation of soil. The next phase is dependent on the materials you choose. A simple paver patio uses small gravel, typically quarter minus, compacted into the area where the pavers will be placed, followed by the addition of sand. The pavers or stones can then be set onto the area in the pattern desired and additional sand place in the crevices. The patio shown below was created with 24 inch square architectural slabs.

As can be seen from the photos, the area was leveled and prepped with gravel and sand and the slabs were then applied. A Concrete cutter was used to create rounded curves and to fit the slabs into places that were smaller than the 24’X24”  slab required.

Thinking about building a new patio? Give us a call…we can help!!!  (503) 654-19534-1953

If you live in the NW, specifically in the Portland area chances are you have acidic soil. Acidic soil is a measurement of the PH of the soil. Ideal PH for lawns is between 6-7, with 7 being neutral. A PH level below 6.0 indicates acidic soil and causes important nutrients to become bound up in the soil making them unavailable to the grass. As a result your lawn will slowly die. You’ll notice a loss in color, reduced growth and the appearance of different mosses growing into the dead areas of grass. Moss loves an acidic soil and our moist, temperate conditions with consistent rains are the perfect home for invading mosses.

Applying lime helps to balance the PH level in the soil. First a soil sample should be taken to determine the PH. This will help you know how much lime to apply and how many times it will need to be applied. To do this soil samples, preferably 3-5 from different areas of the lawn, can be brought to a government or independent soil testing facility for the most complete results. An at home self-test kit or PH probe can also be used. These can be purchased at most garden centers or anywhere that sells gardening plants and supplies. Again it is preferred that several areas of the lawn be tested to help get a full profile of how the lawns soil is behaving.

Once it’s determined that the soil is acidic it’s time to apply the lime. Lime comes in a powdered form and pellet form. Both are useful in increasing the soils PH. The powdered form can be a bit messy to apply but will work just as effectively as pellet form. Once you’ve purchased the lime, simply fill your spreader and set it to apply the lime at the appropriate rate as indicated in the instruction manual for your spreader on the package of lime. Simply walk back and forth spreading the lime in horizontal rows until the entire area is covered. 

 Generally the rule of thumb is the 100 pounds of lime spread over 1,000 square feet will raise the soil PH level by 1 point. An application of more than that is not recommended. If your soils PH test indicates that it needs to be raised more than one point than several applications may be needed, preferably at least a month apart, with continual testing with a probe. Aeration of the lawn in recommended prior to applying the lime as this helps the lime contact the soil more thoroughly.

Both Fall and spring are good times to apply lime to your lawn, however, wait for a dry day to administer the lime. Moist grass encourages the lime to stick to the blades and not getting into the soil where it’s needed. After application water the lime in for further penetration into the soil. When putting in a new lawn an application of lime to the topsoil is a very good practice in our area, simple follow the instructions above and then repeat as needed every 3 to 5 years. And most importantly enjoy your lawn!