The Level Green Landscaping Blog

Expert Industry Advice and Property Enhancement Suggestions.

Dear deer: the free lunch is over.

You can’t blame them, really. You plant rows of leafy greens, delectable petals and tender shoots. You fertilize them, keep them watered, line them up in a free buffet, right out in full view with easy access.  

But your beautiful flowers and plants are there to delight your customers, visitors, tenants and employees — not a bunch of rude, uninvited deer.

How to protect your plants from deer? It starts right here, right now, with a look at the best deer damage prevention and control methods.

It's time to close down the salad bar.

If we do our job right, the plants we add to your property look like they’ve always been there, like they perfectly belong.

But of course, first they came from somewhere else. 

We need thousands and thousands of plants, from flats of annuals to potted tropicals to bare root saplings to big established trees.

Where do landscapers get their plants?

Ever wonder where your plants come from?

If your property doesn’t have a flowering tree that bursts into spectacular beauty each spring, why not?

Level Green Landscaping designer Shelley Russell has a few beauties to recommend. But don’t let their stunning looks fool you — all her picks are “urban tough,” she says.

“Flowering trees are great for the color, the pop factor,” Russell says. “Curb appeal is especially important for a commercial property. They can really make your property stand out, especially if your buildings are gray and drab.”

Pink? Red? White? Can’t choose?

Here are the best flowering trees for Maryland, Virginia, and Washington D.C.

Shivering yet?

Your plants are. Winter weather takes a toll on your green pals.

Soggy leaves left on your lawn can smother your turf. Cold and wind makes unprotected plants thirsty. Shrubs can break under the weight of misplaced snow piles.

What the key to maintaining plants in winter?

Bradley Sarno, enhancement operations manager at Level Green Landscaping, walks us through a few key tasks.

If your property is cluttered with old tree stumps, now is a great time to get them out of there.

But how? (Hint: don’t try it yourself.)

Looking for stump grinding services in Washington DC? What does it entail? Is grinding a stump the same thing as removing it?

Paul Weaver, construction branch manager at Level Green Landscaping, fills us in.

Spring bulbs are like a party on your property.

They burst out of the ground just when we need them most, shouting the arrival of spring in riotous hues of red, yellow, purple, pink, coral and blue.

They make everybody happy.

But like a great party, they require some planning.

That time is now. 

What’s your favorite thing about a big parking lot?

The huge expanse of baking hot asphalt? The way the sun beats down relentlessly?

We didn’t think so.

It’s those sometimes shady, always green parking lot islands — pretty planted oasis of cool.

But don’t plant them with grass. In these challenging conditions, turf doesn’t cut it.

Paul Weaver, construction branch manager for Level Green Landscaping, shares his favorite turf alternatives for parking lot islands.

The latest buzz about bees isn’t good.

Over the past few years, beekeepers have reported unusually high losses of bees in their hives.

Bee experts say the losses are due to invasive mites, new diseases, pesticide poisoning and changes to the habitats where bees forage.  

Hives can’t sustain themselves without worker bees, so this loss, called Colony Collapse Disorder, is alarming.

What can we do? Add plants and flowers to our landscapes that bees and other busy pollinators love.

No time to research all that?

Relax — we did it for you. Our crews will even install the best pollinator plants to make your property buzz-worthy.

Pruning isn’t just for plants. It’s for property managers, too.

No, our crews won’t stop over to give your hair a trim. But the pruning they do this time of year — called dormant pruning — has benefits for your business, as well as for the trees.

Pruning keeps your trees and shrubs healthy. And a healthy landscape saves you money, time and hassle.

Let’s sharpen the shears and take a closer look at several dormant pruning benefits.