Before and After: Windsor Terrace Backyard

We are very excited to share this Brooklyn backyard transformation. We custom built the fence, planter box and storage bench with western redcedar. We installed the bluestone patio, sod and plantings. It's by far one of our favorite backyards yet. It was our first project of the season and we are super happy with it. It was quite the process so we have many photos! Check them out

Before: ,

Everything had to be removed from the yard. The old stairs and the concrete were torn out. The back of the neighbors fence faced into the yard so we built a new one on the inside.

During:

Building the fence

Colin- Let's do this!

Dana excited to start her carpentry career

Fence Complete!

Building planter and bench

Lady carpenters- game planning

Excited and tired- almost done!

Bench and planter complete!

Adding bluestone patio

Plants added! It's starting to look like a real yard!

After:

 

Happy Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day, Earthlings!

This is the 46th year of celebrating Earth Day. 46 years ago people started to realize how our way of living was harming our environment. This was at a time when industry chugged away polluting our skies, rivers, lakes, and oceans without consequence. Leaded gas was pumped into cars. Oil spills were common and a river even caught fire! But it was also a time when young people were taking to the streets to protest the wrong they saw in their country and the world. There was an incredible energy put out by the youth for the Anti-War Movement and the Civil Rights Movement. Earth Day founder, Gaylord Nelson, then a democratic U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, saw this energy and used it to spread awareness of the environmental issues of the time.

The similarities of that time and now are frightening. But again, people are taking to the streets to protest war, fight for civil rights and environmental justice. The environmental movement got us the Clean Water Act, and the Clean Air Act. That was great but so much more needs to be done. Now climate change is a huge threat to our planet and us. It is the most pressing issue of our time and we all need to do our part. Here are some things we can do today and always:

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

When you throw your trash "away", it does not disappear. It goes to a landfill where it decomposes sending methane, carbon dioxide and toxins into our air, soil and water. Reducing waste is the best way to fight this. Using reusable bags, travel mugs, and water bottles cuts out plastic and paper waste that would sit in a landfill. Recycling that waste is the next best option. Find out what you can and can't recycle in NY. 

Compost

Composting is a form of recycling but for food scraps and plant waste. It's a biological process in which natural microorganisms break down organic matter. Check out our blog about composting! If you don't have space for a composter, there are locations around the city where you can take your organic waste. Check out GrowNYC to see where you can bring your compost waste.

Buy Local & Eat Seasonally

Buying locally grown food cuts down on carbon emissions needed to transport produce. Instead of strawberries in the winter, when they'd have to be shipped in from another part of the world, eat local strawberries when they are in season. They taste better when they're fresh and they have more nutritional value when eaten closer to the date they were picked. Living in NY, we have an endless amount of farmers markets throughout the city and many stores that partner with local farms. Many think that organic local produce is unaffordable, so many markets have worked with the city to be able to accept EBT/food stamps. Check out this map to find the closest market to you and what days they're open. 

Myrtle Avenue

Join a Community Garden

Many of us in the city don't have space for our own gardens. So many have come together as a community to make our neighborhoods and environment better. There are community gardens in almost every neighborhood. Community gardens are not only a place to grow food and plants but also a place to meet your neighbors and a platform for the community to share ideas for bettering our surroundings. Ever wanted to have a neighborhood cleanup? A community garden would be full of people interested in helping in that type of thing. Anyone can join, just reach out. Find the your closest garden here. 

Join an Environmental Group

Earth day is everyday.. because we live here. It needs our help more than just one day a year. If you want to get more involved find a group near you that is doing good things, and join! Here's a list to get you started. 

Hundreds Of Thousands Turn Out For People's Climate March In New York City

Demand Change in Environmental Policy

We all can do our own little part do help but there needs to be big changes made from the top. Our leaders need to feel pressure from the people that elect them. EPA regulations need to be strong and be enforced. Our energy sources need to become renewable and we need to get off of fossil fuels. We can't keep allowing corporations to ruin our environment for short term gains. In the long term, we will all lose. So VOTE! Sign petitions. Get out in the street and protest. Demand that changes be made. Do it for the kids. 

Today is Car Free Day NYC!

And hey, have fun! Yes, climate change is serious but helping the environment doesn't have to be. Go plant a tree with some friends! Go have fun with other New Yorkers and get talking about how we can all help! You can check out some Earth Day events around New York here.  

Meet the Team!

The Staghorn Crew

Katherine Aul,                    Founder & Principal

Katherine’s passion for plants and landscape design began from an early age amidst the daylily beds of her mother’s garden. After completing a horticultural internship at the New York Botanical Garden she went on to receive her master’s degree in Landscape Design from Columbia University. Since then, she has been designing and installing gardens throughout the NYC metro area and beyond.

Katherine finds inspiration in the wild, native landscape. She seeks to create sustainable garden spaces that are beautiful, engaging, and restorative to both the visitor and the existing environment.

Katherine’s enthusiasm for the field has led her to speak on such panels as the 2014 Plant-O-Rama at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and her work has also been featured in Dwell magazine.

Dana Boyd,                          Director of Horticulture

Dana’s love for getting her hands in the ground grew when she traveled through Central and South America working on permaculture farms. She continued this work when she returned to the states working on urban farms in Baltimore while getting her degree in Environmental Science.

Seeing the importance of connecting people, especially in urban settings, with the natural world led her to New York City to work as a farm manager for the Horticultural Society of New York. She has now been with Staghorn NYC since April 2015. Working with Staghorn has allowed her to combine her passion for helping the environment and native species by reintroducing habitat, and connecting people with nature.

In her spare time, Dana tends to her extensive indoor plant collection, travels, reads, does lots of yoga, and likes getting into new hobbies, like ceramics!

Colin MacInnes,                    Director of Carpentry

Colin is a renaissance woodsman hailing from Michigan. After completing his education in aviation, Colin switched gears and refocused his talents on agriculture and later carpentry as an apprentice under a master carpenter in his home state. Now a woodworking pro in his own right, he leads carpentry projects for Staghorn ranging from custom outdoor furniture to decks and planters.

In his free time, Colin can be found building high-end interior carpentry pieces, hiking, fishing, cooking, and spending time with his loyal canine companion, Millie.

New Members!

Marisa Prefer, Assistant Gardener

Marisa Prefer is a multi-disciplinary educator, amateur herbalist and designer who explores relationships between land, food & power by building regenerative systems for well being. Marisa has collaborated with artists, farmers, healers and big-thinkers of all ages from coast to coast at the Berkeley Art Museum in Berkeley, California, Local Roots Farm in Duvall, Washington, the Sage Mountain Herbal Education Center in East Barre, Vermont, and more recently in New York as the Assistant Coordinator of Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s Children’s Garden, the Curriculum Developer for SwaleNY, a NYC Master Composter, the Programs Manager at urban agriculture education outfit Sprout Farms, and as part of the artist group non/studio.

Hester Griffin, Assistant Gardener

Hester's love of plants began during her sophomore year of college at the New School when she planted a dye plant garden. This was the first of many gardens and farms that's she's worked on. Her interest in traveling and plants has led her to many amazing places, but she always find herself back in NYC. There's something especially fun about growing plants among skyscrapers and cement.

When Hester's not gardening, she will most likely be found wandering around NYC, cooking, or working on textile projects. She also escapes the city to visit family in Maine and hopefully somewhere warm during the winters!

We Have an Office!

We are super excited to move into our new office at Coworkrs in Gowanus!

New office, new crew!

Have an awesome weekend everyone!

I don't know about you but I'm buzzing like a bee about this weather. Temps in the 70s in early March?? Yes, please. Fingers crossed that it's here to stay. We really didn't think we would be out in the garden this soon! Our team already got to go out and start sprucing up some gardens this week. You can start waking up your gardens too! If you’d like some help e-mail us to schedule an early-season maintenance visit. Additionally, Staghorn also offers annual maintenance contracts that are tailored specifically to the needs of each garden. Contact us if you're interested in getting a quote.

Spring Garden Checklist

If you’d like to start waking up the garden yourself, there are some key things that should get done. Here is a quick checklist to get you going!

Turn Irrigation Systems Back On

Once the overnight temperatures are consistently well above freezing and daytime temperatures are consistently above 60 degrees, you can turn your irrigation systems back on. Now is a good time to check for any winter damage that may have occurred. Check to make sure water is coming out everywhere it should be.

Cut Back Ornamental Grasses and Perennials

You should cut back ornamental grasses and perennials to the ground or a few inches above. This should be done in late winter/early spring (now), before new growth begins.

Prune Trees and Shrubs

Spring-flowering trees and shrubs should be pruned in late spring after they flower. Summer-flowering trees and shrubs should be pruned in the winter or early spring just before they push out their new growth. Evergreens are best pruned in the early spring as well just before their growth spurt.

Fertilize

Most trees experience a burst of growth in the spring and then slower growth throughout the summer. It’s good to fertilize as this growth is about to occur. This can be done as soon as the ground is workable and into May. We recommend an organic brand such as Espoma or Dr.Earth.

Assess Winter Damage

As we start to see things coming back, we can assess winter damage that may have occurred. Maybe a few branches of a plant have died or have been broken from wind or the weight of snow. These branches should be pruned off below the damage, to the next set of healthy branches. Generally new growth will occur frm this area to replace the broken section.
 

If you'd like help in caring for your garden this year contact us about setting up a maintenance contract for the coming season. We would love to help you keep your garden looking it’s best all year.

Happy spring everyone!

Before & After: Windsor Terrace

It's time for another 'before & after' post from one of our awesome gardens from last summer. We are getting pumped about the coming season and looking at our past projects instead of thinking about the cold is way more fun. 

(Cold? What cold? Sorry, I'm still in sunny Mexico but I heard it's pretty freezing back home. Sorry guys, don't mean to rub it in.. :D )

Anyway, this is a wonderful backyard garden we did in Windsor Terrace. 

BEFORE

The yard had preexisting turf lawn and a stone-walled back and side perimeter bed laid out. 

AFTER

We added Ilex Sky Pencils along the back fence. These keep their color year round and sport nice purple berries in the fall. They will grown to 6-8 ft tall! 

Along the sides, we added some Hydrangeas which will grow huge with big beautiful snowball looking blooms. Can't wait to see how big they are later this year!

Flowering perennials were selected in purples, yellow, and white which will bloom from May through October. 

The wall is a nice feature in the yard and we wanted to accent it by having plants that will creep over the sides.

Look at that yarrow shine!

All of these perennials are loved by pollinators! That purple Agastache blooms so late into the season giving bees food when there is little else around in bloom.

Here's one now!

Our "Before and After"s are usually photos from right after we plant. Plants are just in their infancy when they are first planted. They will grow so much and fill out the yard. I can't wait to go back this season and get some real "After" photos to see how much everything has grown. 

Snow Outside NYC!

Jon Snow knows everything

Sike! It’s here! And this weekend we get our first big snow storm. They’re calling it a “blizzard”.. but to me a blizzard is like 3ft of snow, not 7-12inches. But sure, we are getting a “blizzard’ and it’s pretty exciting.

New York is beautiful in the snow. 

(You know, at first, before it’s covered in soot, trash and dog poop. But let’s not think about that right now.)

For a little while, our awesome city will be covered in a beautiful blanket of magic. 

We should all try to get out and enjoy it, even if just for a moment. 

I know we don’t have to go outside and we can just watch movies and drink hot toddies all weekend (and that’s awesome!) but that’ll make most of us pretty stir crazy at some point. So, bundle up and walk outside.

Personally, I like the night-time snow walks. 

Maybe because our brains are used to seeing a dark ground and a bright sky and snowy nights are the opposite, so it creates some magical beauty explosion in our brains? Or maybe it's just really beautiful. 

The street lights making the snow all bright oooo so nice.

ooo Brooklyn Botanical Garden in the snow <3

Dog walks! <3 

(Please, please pick up after your dogs, people!)

Getty images

This is a snowball fight from 1938!

Classic snowy Central Park photo <3

Look even this picture I took last winter of a hole in the ground looks pretty covered in snow. 

Everyone should try to get out there and enjoy it while it's fresh and beautiful. But be safe! And bundle up! And probably don't drive and all.. 

We'd love to see your snow photos! Feel free to share in the comments (:

Enjoy the snow storm nyc <3

Soil and Compost

Colin and our sweet new composter!

Since the Staghorn team has gotten a new composter, I figured now is a good time to do a post about soil and compost. Composting is finally taking off and more and more people are doing it or at least have heard about it. NYC has been expanding their compost program with the brown bins for compost curbside pick up, which is super awesome. But right now it’s only happening in certain areas. There are other options for getting rid of your kitchen scraps. Most of the farmers markets have compost collections. If you are lucky enough to have some space for a bin then it’s good to know a little about composting so you can get it right.

If you have a garden, composting is the best thing you can do. It all starts with the soil. If the soil isn’t right, your garden is not going to do well. Feeding the soil will keep your plants happy and growing strong.

Let’s start with the basics..

What is soil?

Soil is the mixture of eroded rocks and minerals, organic matter, liquids, and myriad organisms that together support plant life.

Sand, silt and clay are the main non-living rock particles that soil is composed of.

Textures of soil are determined by the ratio of sand, silt and clay that they contain.

Different plants thrive in different types of soil. Think sandy beach plants (sandy soil) vs forest understory (high organic matter, more clay in soil). For a nice garden soil you wouldn’t want either extreme, sand or clay, but a good mix. Loam is a good mix of clay, sand and silt, which is best for garden soil.

The composition of the soil is important as well. You don’t want super compacted dry soil.

Ideal Soil Composition for Gardens:

• Air 25%
• Water 25%
• Organic matter 5%:
• Organisms 10%
• Roots 10%
• Humus(fully broken down organic matter) 80%

What is compost?

Compost is organic matter that has been decomposed and recycled to be used as a fertilizer and soil amendment. It is an organic way of turning your kitchen and yard waste into rich nutrients for your garden soil.

There are three main elements to creating successful compost. These include:

Air – Turning your compost helps give the microorganisms needed oxygen. This helps the decomposition occur faster and helps prevent unpleasant odors that may occur if the pile begins to compost anaerobically.

Moisture- The pile should be damp but not soggy. If it is too soggy, more browns should be added.

Temperature- Compost should be warm to the touch. The heat in the pile is caused by biological processes. Having the pile warm enough is important for killing pathogenic organisms and possible weed seeds.

Finished compost piles can take a few months to a year to fully break down.

The compost is ready to use when it is dark brown, smells like earth, and crumbles in your hand.

What should and shouldn’t go into your compost:

Good compost is a mix of 3 parts “browns” and 1 part “greens”. Here are some examples of each:

BROWNS, Carbon-rich

+Dry Leaves +Dead Plants

+Shredded Paper +Pine Needles

+Sawdust +Straw

GREENS, Nitrogen-rich

+Grass Clippings +Green Weeds

+Fruit & Veg Scraps +Garden Waste

+Eggshells +Coffee Grounds

DO NOT ADD TO COMPOST:

-Meats and bones -Fish -Dairy

-Nuts -Fats & Oils -Eggs -Pet Waste

If you are composting through the NYC compost program they say you can compost these things I have listed not to. This is because they have a system which is much stronger than any backyard bin you will have. A system must reach extremely high temperature to be able to process these things. Also, you really don’t want rotting meat in your backyard.