No Stain, No Gain

We have been sweating it out all Summer long here at All Decked Out, to ensure that all of our clients' gardens are getting the best care and maintenance they deserve.

Over the past few weeks we have been power-washing our wooden decks and planters to prepare for staining. 

Staining the wood on our clients' decks yields a number of positive results. First, it is aesthetically pleasing, and hides any flaws in the wood. The stain also helps to protect the wood from the wear and tear of the sun in the summer, as well as the rain, ice, and wind in the fall and winter.

The stain we use is Penofin Verde, which is also great for the environment, as well as the wood we are working with. It is an environmentally friendly stain, made and packaged with all non-toxic materials, safe for use around animals and children.

We've added our special ingredients to the mix, consisting of a lot of sweat and care, as well as a few splinters along the way, and the end result looks pretty satisfying.

Sunshine is here, and Tulips are too....

 ...But with all this heat, they'll soon bid us adieu!

It's the first hot day of 2012, and the city is alive with color! As ladies lunch in billowing sundresses and hipsters lounge in their neon-hued denim, millions of tulips are standing tall all over Manhattan.

Unfortunately, however, these beautiful little additions of color to city-life won't be holding their own for long. It may be common sense to assume that warm weather and sunshine brings more flowers rather than less, but in the case of Tulips, that's not true.

Tulips, like the "All Temples of Beauty" bulbs pictured above from this morning, prefer cooler weather and less sunlight. That's why these early risers are always the first spots of color you see in the Spring.

All this sunshine and the heat from a day like today are like hitting the fast forward button on the life span of a Tulip, which is why they seem extra full and marvelous. In the same token, that fast forward button will stay on all day today, and by as early as tomorrow those same tulips will begin to wilt and die.

In the end, as sad as it may be that the last day of a flowering Tulip's life is it's most beautiful, the same heat and sun that are scaring away these Springtime plants are what will bring us even more beautiful summertime plants in the months to come!

Brand New Arbor

Source: alldeckedoutnyc.com via All Decked Out NYC on Pinterest