Author: csDevTeam

The lovely Powerscourt Gardens are part of Powerscourt Estate in County Wicklow, Ireland. The estate itself has been voted in the Top 10 Houses in the World by Lonely Planet, and the gardens have been voted the third best Garden in the World by National Geographic. One visit to this popular destination and you’ll understand why garden enthusiasts fall in love with Powerscourt.

Touring the Italian Garden

The Italian Garden is one of the main gardens in Powerscourt. It looks out on a splendid view of Sugar Loaf Mountain. The Italian Garden is an exquisite collection of stone terraces that connect Triton Lake to the house. These terraces were designed in the 1840s by architect Daniel Robertson. According to popular legend, Robertson suffered terribly from gout and would direct the laborers while reclining in a wheelbarrow.

Touring the Japanese Garden

The Japanese Garden was the favorite retreat of Lord Londonderry. Springtime is best for visiting the Japanese Garden when the azaleas are in bloom. But visitors in the fall are treated to the foliage of the Japanese maples. This garden has many traditional Japanese elements, including a pagoda and a stream that runs beneath beautiful Japanese-style bridges. The grotto is a particularly romantic place, with secret pathways and moss-covered walls.

Planning Your Visit to Powerscourt Gardens

The gardens are open year-round. They open daily from 9:30 am to 5:30 pm, with an earlier closure at dusk during the winter. An accessible route is available through the gardens for disabled visitors. If you fall in love with Powerscourt Gardens and you live locally, consider purchasing a membership for unlimited access. Visitors to the area may best enjoy their trip by joining the Glendalough and Powerscourt tour, which begins with a ride along the rugged coastline and concludes at the gardens.

Stourhead is one of the most famous examples of the English landscape garden. It’s a 2,650-acre estate located at the River Stour in Wiltshire, England. The gardens were completed in the 1740s and were widely described as being a work of art.

History of Stourhead

The Stourhead estate was originally home to the Stourton family. The estate changed ownership during the early 18th century, and a new manor home was built by the new owners, the Hoare family. Many additions have been made over the centuries, including the building of three temples, a tower, an ornamental cottage, and a Grecian-style lodge.

Landscape Gardens at Stourhead

Although visitors to Stourhead are enchanted by the architectural wonders of the mansion, it’s the gardens that most come to see. Exploring the gardens is a journey in spirituality. Visitors follow a path around an artificially created lake. The path is intended to bring to mind the mythological journey of Aeneas (son of Aphrodite) as he traveled to the underworld. The path and the exquisite gardens along it are intended to guide visitors through various states of mind that are replicated in the artwork collected by the Hoare family.

Access to Stourhead

There is a fee for access to Stourhead. Disabled parking and bathroom facilities are available for guests. During the main season, there is a shuttle bus service from the visitor reception area to the house and garden entrances. The marked routes in the garden are wheelchair accessible, although visitors should be wary of some steep paths. Advance booking is required to use the stair climber in the house.

Synthetic lawns are particularly popular in the parts of the U.S. that don’t see regular rainfall year-round, like Arizona. They are eco-friendly, and they look as beautiful as a natural lawn. A synthetic lawn will stay gorgeously green without watering or fertilizing, and there’s no need to apply chemical weed killers. Although artificial grass requires very little maintenance compared to a natural lawn, there are still a few things you need to do to keep your landscape looking beautiful.

Brush your lawn once per month.

All lawns, natural or synthetic, will accumulate some debris, such as dead leaves. Use a broom with stiff bristles or a flexible lawn rake to brush your lawn once per month. Avoid using an implement with steel bristles, however, as this can damage the grass. Note that you may need to perform this step more often when the trees around your property lose their leaves. Brushing your lawn is also an effective way to coax the blades of fake grass to stand up straight once again. You may need to do an additional brushing after the kids have been playing on the lawn.

Pick up pet waste promptly.

If you have dogs, you’ll need to pick up their waste promptly. Use a plastic bag or pooper scooper to remove solid waste. Then, rinse down the area well with a hose. If the area is still dirty or it emits an odor, you can use an artificial turf deodorizer. Other options are eco-friendly enzyme cleaners, distilled white vinegar, or soapy water. You may need to use a little elbow grease to scrub the area.

Train dogs to relieve themselves in another area.

Although you’ll still have to pick up pet waste regardless of where it ends up, you may want to train your dogs to relieve themselves in a different area. This eliminates the need to deodorize the artificial grass. Patience and persistence are essential when training dogs to use a designated potty spot.

Santa Rita Landscaping is comprised of professionally trained designers and landscapers who install custom-designed landscapes, including synthetic lawns. We serve both homes and businesses in the Tucson area, and we offer professional maintenance services! Call (520) 623-0421 to get started on your project.

Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, built the grand Sansoucci Palace during the mid-18th century. Located in Potsdam, Germany, it served as a retreat away from the pressures of public life in Berlin. The beautiful grounds surrounding the palace, Sansoucci Park, have become world-renowned for exquisite views and lavish landscaping. Today, over one million visitors each year visit the gardens and palace, which have been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Getting to Know Sansoucci Park

Sansoucci Park spans over a mile. As visitors take a leisurely stroll along the grounds, they can see the famed terraces, which pay homage to the grand fountain at the center. A walk through the park is a walk back in time. Visitors can see the major influences of Frederick the Great’s aesthetic intertwined with subsequent expansions by King Frederick William IV. The latter ruler expanded the gardens, created the landscaped park, and dotted the grounds with buildings reminiscent of Neoclassicism and German Romanticism. Sansoucci Park is also famed for its more than 1,000 sculptures.

Viewing the Gardens

Nearly 60 gardeners tend to the grounds throughout the year. Visitors will enjoy the beautiful meadows, carefully tended flowerbeds, and terraced vineyards. The gardens are home to an incredible diversity of plant life, including striking fig trees, yew trees, box hedging, and all sorts of flowers.

Getting There

Sansoucci Park in Potsdam, Germany is open year-round, seven days per week from 8:00 am until dusk. It’s wheelchair accessible with assistance. Guided tours are available, including special options for groups. Entrance is free, but donations are encouraged.

The monsoon storms in Arizona can pour an alarming amount of water onto your property in a short amount of time. Is your backyard equipped to handle the precipitation? If you’ve previously had problems with water drainage, consider talking to a professional landscaping company before the next big storm hits.

Ensure that your backyard is graded properly.

Good drainage starts with the proper grading. The slope of the ground should always go down as it moves away from the house. Ideally, the slope should be between two and five percent. This means that for every 10 feet you move away from your home, the ground elevation decreases between two and five inches. New construction builders should have the ground properly graded before they sell the home, but if yours isn’t graded correctly, you can consult a landscaping company to find out about your options.

Check your downspouts.

If you’ve noticed standing water or soggy areas in your yard, the problem could be something as simple as a misdirected downspout. Check each of your downspouts to see if they are pointing toward a low part of the yard. If so, redirect them. If you have a sump pump in your basement, you should also check the direction of the discharge pipe.

Install new gutters.

Plenty of homes in Arizona are built without any gutters at all. Gutters might seem superfluous in a desert region. However, if you don’t have gutters, the water from the monsoon rains pours straight down off the roof. It pools around the walls, causing foundation damage. It may even wash away smaller, shallow-rooted plants that are located close to your home. If your home lacks gutters, consider installing them as a way to get a handle on your drainage issues.

Since 1985, residents and business owners in the Tucson area have turned to Santa Rita Landscaping for exceptional service and unbeatable expertise. Our award-winning services include rough grades, finish grades, and landscaping to ensure proper drainage. Call (520) 623-0421.