Paperbark Landscape Design is a dream come true for me. My view of the outdoors is one that sees the outdoors as an extension of our homes. More rooms so to speak, more rooms to "decorate." Each are deserving of a creative design enhancing the landscape of your home, while at the same time giving the homeowner endless moments of joy. Of paramount importance for me in the design process is the inclusion of the protection and revitalization of our environment. The opportunity to design and enhance your landscape with a creative concept and with great care and attention to detail brings me an abundance of joy. At the same time having the chance to promote thoughtful stewardship of our land gives me great pleasure and pride. “Treat the land well. It was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.”Kim SchneiderOwner, Certified Botanist & Lead Designer
Made up of both fixed material and biological elements the landscape design process results in spaces used for play, work and visual enjoyment. Inspirations and influences can be born out of such things as spiritual traditions, history, sculptures, paintings or memorable places.
The mission of the Paperbark Landscape Design team is to ornamentally cultivate the soil while at the same time we seek to promote and protect the soil biology and our botanical environments. Paperbark Landscape Design strives to educate our community with regards to the seriousness to protect these environments for our future generations. “Treat the land well. It was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.”
To begin the design process we visit the site conduct a brief interview with the site owner to determine likes, dislikes, feeling or atmosphere desired, specific needs and lifestyle. Data such as sunrise, sunset, wind direction, and shade are collected. Plot plans, as builts, photo’s and measurements are chronicled as well. From here the design is created, presented, approved and installed. Upon completion the owner is given ample guidance for immediate and long term care of newly planted material.
As a rule, embarking upon each individual design journey is a very exciting time. Paperbark Landscape Design takes great pride focusing on your project as a whole, while paying special attention to the most minute details. It is our guarantee that only the finest botanical specimens are purchased from growers and wholesale distributors. And, our team is committed to steadfast work leading to prompt completion of your project.
Precisely meeting the client's desires is best achieved when the designer becomes thoroughly acquainted with the natural character, prevailing expression and capabilities of the property being improved. Ultimately our final design unites arrangements of select shrubs, trees, rockwork, terraces, fountains, gardens and flowers with with the house and grounds. Our fundamental commitment to create sustainable designs is always a leading idea.
The common thread running throughout our services is the protection and promotion of our environment. Creating a sustainable environment is not only desirable for individual residential sites but for the larger environmental context as well. Refining our environment will encourage species diversity of flora and fauna with the hope of nurturing the communities love of nature and stewardship of the land.
Each design is a customized, functional and aesthetic fusion of the clients' desires along with the site's capabilities and obstacles. Our design philosophy is based on three principles - unity, variety and harmony.
Unity, the production of a leading expression consisting of the entire landscape, home, and surrounding neighborhood is the most important principle. With more than one distinct expression the mind switches from one to the other, becomes confused and has difficulty finding pleasure - missing the delight of the project as a whole. Pleasure helps create an opinion, affecting not only the common eye, but more powerfully the imagination. Variety creates intricacies to prevent monotony. Here we give more attention to the elements in the design rather than the design as a whole. Elements include: fencing, water, walkways, statuary, flora, benches or buildings. Harmony and beauty are formed when these elements are combined and arranged by species, color, shape, size and theme. Harmony always presides over variety, combining design elements and always presuming contrast. Never too strong or frequent to produce conflicting ideas or spoiling the leading expression.
Plants will take care of themselves, no need for complex feeding schedules or mind boggling mathematical calculations for chemical rates. Certainly no need for chemicals! More accurately stated, the soil takes care of plants.
In actuality, microbes and insects - soil organisms, provide plants with all the nutrition and immunity they need to thrive. It is all about the soil food web and decomposition. Feeding on plant root exudate and organic material and then becoming fodder for other organisms demonstrates the fundamental role bacteria and fungi play in the soil food web. As soil organisms decompose complex materials, or consume other organisms (bacteria and fungi in particular), nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus and all trace minerals are sequestered and converted into usable forms for plants.Plants cannot process food without microbes.
In addition to nutrition, organisms help create a better soil structure. Increased porosity allows for better circulation of air and water. Bacteria favor the root zone as their home, here they feed on sloughed off plant cells, proteins and sugars released by the roots. Organisms such as protozoa and nematodes, the grazers of bacteria, reside in the root zone as well. The proximity of cycling nutrients (consumption of bacteria and decomposition) to the roots allows for a steady flow of nutrition to the plant. This nutritional increase helps boost the plant's immune system, producing a healthier plant.
Fungi are better adapted to decompose plant material higher in carbon (brown vs green) content. Think of mushrooms growing on logs. The mushroom is the fruiting body of the fungi and proof that mycorrhizae are working hard at decomposition. Earthworms, spiders, beetles and other insects help chew up all of these materials making decomposition easier for both bacteria and fungus. This process creates humus, dark organic material we see in nutrient rich soil. One of the most important nutrients in humus is nitrogen. Healthy soil is teeming with life. In fact 88% of the dry weight or biomass of our soil should be microbes and insects. Chemical fertilizers injure this microbial life which should easily sustain plants. Chemicals not only toxic to microbes but to humans as well cause plants to become dependent on an arsenal of artificial substances. Leading to more and more chemical use. There is a reason fertilizer companies have four step programs.
Our goal is to help our clients recognize the power of beneficial microbes. If life is missing in your soil, we need to give Mother Nature a jump start and help her reestablish a normal nutrient cycle, establish a normal set of organisms. Soil organisms will decompose herbicides and pesticides that remain in the ground. As we infuse the soil with bacteria and fungi a proper diversity of microbes begin to transform and transfer nutrients to the plants. Microbes then hold on to nutrients and plants begin again to become dependent on the nutrients created via the soil food web. Just as Mother Nature intended.
Our tick program begins with multiple applications of a chrysanthemum oil based spray. The spray will not harm beneficial insects, mammals or the environment but can kill ticks by attacking their central nervous system. Later, when the risk of transmission of the bacteria responsible for lyme disease lessens we switch to a cedarwood oil based spray. This too will not harm beneficial insects, mammals or the environment. Cedarwood oil is a repellent only, repelling ticks as well as grubs, Japanese beetles and mosquitoes.
Why switch products? Cost. The cost of cedarwood oil is about twenty percent less than chrysanthemum oil. The nymph at this stage has had its blood meal is inactive and is beginning the process of molting into the adult stage. The adult tick is large enough to be easily seen on humans and pets, and then easily removed.
*Important to remember infected mice, chipmunks and certain species of small birds are the carriers of the bacteria (Borrelia burgdorferi (B burgdorferi) responsible for lyme disease, not deer. The white footed mouse is in fact the principal source for that bacteria. That said a neat and tidy lawn area is a big preventative step. Remove leaves and debris where mice and chipmunks love to hide. “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”. We refer to this species of tick ( Ixodes scapularis ) as the deer tick because deer are the most likely hosts for pregnant females. Around October ticks mate, only the pregnant female looks for a host to spend the winter. When spring comes she lays her eggs ( as many as 2,000), the female dies, and the cycle begins. The larvae that hatch now are pathogen free, six legged and in search of the first meal. Once they have had that meal from mice, chipmunks or small birds and drop off they remain inactive until spring. This is the meal at which the bacteria might be transmitted between a small mammal or bird and the tick. Two stages are present in spring (three if you count the adult female), newly laid larvae and last years nymphs. The nymph has eight legs and is the size of a pin head. It is last years nymphs we want to avoid. If the host they had that first meal from was harboring any disease carrying bacteria, it is possible for it to be transmitted at the next meal - humans and pets.
Pruning is a horticultural practice influencing the growth and form of plants. Based on aesthetics and science, pruning can also be considered preventive maintenance or a process to restore health.
Cutting away unwanted parts of a young plant gives it a basic structure of good habits and tendencies. In the case of a fruit tree, for example, you want to open up the tree to allow more sunlight to get to the inner branches so fruit can grow and ripen there, as well as on the outer limbs. Thinning out branches yields larger, showier blossoms and bigger fruits. A well-thinned fruit tree is more likely to bear every year, too.
Many problems may be prevented by pruning correctly during the formative years of trees and shrubs. It’s a drain on the energy of any plant to support dead limbs and broken or diseased branches. Remember, every inch of a tree or shrub is an extension of it’s roots. Think of the energy needed for that amazing apple or gorgeous hydrangea flower to come to life. Young trees pruned improperly or not pruned at all for several years may require heavy pruning to remove bigger branches to prevent trees from becoming deformed.
Deciduous shrubs that have multiple stems and that have become very overgrown can be rejuvenated by cutting all canes back as close to the ground as possible in early spring. That season's flowers may be sacrificed but the benefits from bringing the plants back to their normal size and shape outweigh this temporary "collateral damage." Within one growing season, these shrubs will look like new plantings, full and natural shaped.
Improperly pruned plants destroy the plant’s natural shape, promotes suckering and development of weakened branches, opening up the opportunity for a passageway for pathogens. Selectively removing branches throughout the crown promotes good air movement and light penetration helping prevent disease and destruction from high winds.
We suggest that for security purposes prune shrubs or tree branches that obscure the entry to your home. Additionally branches that obscure vision at intersections and driveways should be pruned.
Some pruning is done mainly for appearance. With formal foundation plantings, the shrubs or trees are sheared, rather than pruned. Shearing means cutting off the soft new growth to limit the plant’s growth and to shape it.
Following are a few samples of our work, we hope you take a few minutes to have a look and hopefully become inspired. Our flora and fauna file is dedicated to all the botanical wonders, insects, birds and amphibians that inhabit our lives on a daily basis and deserve protection.
We loved the challenge this site presented. A fairly steep, grass covered site to work with.
Our challenge here was to harmoniously tie the existing beds in with new foundation shrubs, and tidying up of the existing beds.
We designed border gardens along the front foundation providing a flower show all season long. The nepeta along the walkway is trimmed into a hedge creating a border for the walk.
The purpose of the pond is both functional and aesthetic. Primarily a vernal pool for many species of frogs, but at the same time a few big bullfrogs call it home. It is a beautiful site to sit by the pond, listen to the birds and frogs and watch the sun set.
Our client in Stamford knew exactly what he wanted, plain and simple a boxwood hedge along the front foundation.
This very large estate had been left empty and overgrown for years. Several large gardens needed a complete renovation. We removed and replaced over 100 boxwood and took down several conifers and Ash trees.
This adorable little cottage house was getting ready to be listed in the real estate market. We provided a quick affordable fix to get it listed.
The goal here was to create a few perennial beds on the west facing side of the house. We chose several unique and colorful species and varieties to fill the beds.
We are always happy to answer questions and evaluate your design needs. Please don’t hesitate to call, text or email us.
We are always happy to answer questions and evaluate your design needs. Please don’t hesitate to call, text or email us.
Address: 111 Sturbridge Lane Trumbull, CT 06611
Phone: 1 (203) 257-8912
Email: paperbark.co@gmail.com