- Creating Magic with Lights“The first fall of snow is not only an event but it is a magical event. You go to bed in one kind of world and wake up to find yourself in another quite different, and if this is not enchantment, where is it to be found?” – J. B. Priestley Want to bring a … Continue reading Creating Magic with Lights
- Honey QuestionsNow that the season has come to an end and our hives have been buttoned up for winter, we wanted to reflect a little on the product itself. We have heard comments from people that have seen our honey and noticed its light color and then asked us questions. We didn’t have the answers, so … Continue reading Honey Questions
- Show me the HoneyHarvest Time If you’d ask us what our biggest takeaway has been by creating an apiary in our yard, we’d probably say it’s been as much about the journey as it has been about the end result. This has been our first summer working with honey bees and we’ve had a lot of help along … Continue reading Show me the Honey
- Bees Mid-SeasonOur Apiary It’s been a while since we posted about our bees, so we thought it would be fun to show you how busy they’ve been. First, the apiary has nicely come together. BCW Creations out of Waukesha, created a sign for our new amateur honey venture and we are proudly displaying it between our … Continue reading Bees Mid-Season
- SG’s New LogoWe have exciting news to share! We’ve upgraded our logo to the one shown below featured on our first fleet truck to receive it. Image360 in New Berlin, WI designed and installed it for us. While we loved our original logo, it began to feel outdated and too busy. Thinking about it, it was created … Continue reading SG’s New Logo
- Busy as BeesIn May of this year, we made the commitment to raise honey bees in our yard. This meant preparing our apiary. We were very grateful to have a mentor guide us through this process as this is a new experience for the both of us. The first thing we did was pick a spot in … Continue reading Busy as Bees
- Memorial DayThis Memorial Day, we want to pause and remember those military members we lost while they served our country. Personally, I lost my Uncle John (Kreckel) in Vietnam when I was just a child. I remember that time….the hushed phone conversations between my mom and and grandma. The pain the entire family went through. The … Continue reading Memorial Day
- The Bees“We come from the earth, we return to the earth, and in-between we garden.” Unknown As part of our expansion into nature, we thought it would be fun to explore raising bees. Way more than pollinators, these insects have quite the social structure. More on that later. Although we are just learning how they live … Continue reading The Bees
- Seize the DayIt’s been a fast spring start for us at SG and took some time today to slow the roll. What’s better than playing hooky for a day and spending time having a picnic in our yard with one of our grandchildren? Yep, we couldn’t think of anything better either.
- Many Moods of WinterDay or Night, winter creates its own beauty. Whether it’s the stillness and silence of a frozen day – where sky and ground seem painted with shades of the same color, or the contrast of winter’s long night enhancing the effects of light and fire. Winter is a force that draws upon its own unique … Continue reading Many Moods of Winter
- From Our Family to Yours, Cheers! 🥂
- Lantern Walk thru the WoodsA winter wonderland!! 🕯❄️ Christmas is such a joy when viewed through a child’s eyes. This Christmas Eve, we thought it would be fun to place lanterns along our trail and then enlist the grandkids to get the whole family outside to walk the path together as soon as it started to get dark. To … Continue reading Lantern Walk thru the Woods
- Spring dreaming starts now… 💭
- Spring Gardens SwagWhile we provide daily uniforms for our employees to be worn during working hours, we sometimes hear them say they wear our hats and coats outside of work because they like them. This gave us an idea….what if we designed some fun t-shirts with our business name on them and then gave them away to … Continue reading Spring Gardens Swag
- City DonationWe were driving by the City Center in New Berlin last week, and noticed that a temporary ice skating rink had been installed across the street from the public library. What a great way to generate outdoor activity for the community to enjoy this season! We got out of our car and walked over to … Continue reading City Donation
- Zone B“The reward of a thing well done, is to have done it.“ Ralph Waldo Emerson Earlier this fall, we discussed how Zone B was the last remaining area on our property yet to be cleared of buckthorn. In December, we brought our crew out, and the work began. We were able to clear this invasive … Continue reading Zone B
- Winter Season DecorationsThe growing season may be over, but “garden” creativity continues throughout the winter! The frosty season is an excellent time to showcase many of nature’s gifts to the eye when all else is dormant. Color, texture, and design are just as relevant as they are in a summer garden. Here are a few photos from … Continue reading Winter Season Decorations
- Happy Thanksgiving! 🍁
- Perennial Fall CareAs we approach winter, we wanted to touch on some general thoughts about how to prepare your perennial plants for winter. In a broad sense, a perennial is a plant that blooms over spring and summer and lives for two or more years. Many of these go dormant over the winter, losing their leaves, but … Continue reading Perennial Fall Care
- Our Story
- Playground ElementOur family is growing and so we wanted to add an entertainment area for our grandchildren to enjoy when they come visit us. Since our backyard has a significant downhill slope (Zone A), we needed to create a level area in which to install the planned play area. To do this, we knew we would … Continue reading Playground Element
- Trail CamsWe thought it would be fun to see what was happening in the woods when we weren’t in our yard. We bought two wireless cameras that work with our phones to capture activity in the area. When there’s something recorded, we are alerted on our phones. We set the cameras up in our Zones A … Continue reading Trail Cams
- Forest FunPart of the fun we’re having creating our woods is to make it a place to explore for our grandchildren. While we have paths for nature walks, where we spot deer tracks and bird feathers, we thought it would be fun to add some magic to the woods as well. We turned to BCW Creations … Continue reading Forest Fun
- Trees and more TreesWhen digging a hole, it’s important to dig wider than what seems necessary as the root system will grow outward and will travel easier through aerated soil. The Arbor Day Foundation will provide all of these instructions once your plants arrive so no worries. “Plant the tree just deep enough to barely cover the root … Continue reading Trees and more Trees
- Erosion ControlThe next step after feeding the soil, was to think about ways to prevent erosion. All of our zones have grade changes meaning we have hills, slopes and low lying areas. We wanted to prevent areas from washing out because there was an absence of understory plants due to the buckthorn. One of the ways … Continue reading Erosion Control
- Soil RegenerationNow that we’ve discussed eliminating buckthorn in Zones A and C, it’s time to talk about restoring and regenerating the soil. As we stated, buckthorn’s root system can change the composition of soil making it unhealthy. We wanted to give the soil a healthy kick start to get native plants growing again. We decided to … Continue reading Soil Regeneration
- Buckthorn RemovalRemoval and Treatment of Stumps In order to create a healthy forest, we were faced with the decision to remove all the buckthorn in our wooded areas. This was a huge task as we needed to cut the buckthorn down to its base, remove the debris off-site and then treat the stumps to destroy the … Continue reading Buckthorn Removal
- Foes of the Forest“I’d turn back if I were you” Emerald Ash Borer Through time, the ash trees in our woodland areas have fallen prey to the invasion of the Emerald Ash Borer. This beetle-like insect lays eggs within the tree and feeds on it under its bark destroying and eventually killing the tree. It’s responsible for destroying … Continue reading Foes of the Forest
- Lay of the LandWe’ve divided our yard into three zones to make it easy to follow along. All three have a starting point. Each zone has been allowed to grow from what was a manicured lawn to what is now nature being allowed to grow and plant her seeds where she sees fit. In the coming blogs, you’ll … Continue reading Lay of the Land
- Welcome to our BlogHello from Wisconsin! We welcome you to our yard. This is our first blog and kicks off the purpose of this space. We have a lot of fun and informative things planned, so we hope you check back frequently to see how things are coming along. Thanks for watching! Latest from the Blog
Spring Gardens Landscaping & Horticultural Services, Inc
PO Box 510527 New Berlin WI 53151 | 262.780.9918 | Email@SpringGardensInc.com