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Of all the many reasons to oppose the Keystone XL pipelinethe continent-spanning death funnel and conservative fetish objectthe utter bad faith of TC, the Canadian energy giant formerly known as TransCanada, is right at the top of the list. It is a truism in this shebeen a) that pipelines leak, and b) that, when an inevitable leak happens, the companies that build and own pipelines will lie about it.

What many people dont realize is that TC already owns and operates the Keystone 1 pipeline. Last month, because it is a pipeline and pipelines leak, the Keystone 1 loosed almost 400,000 gallons of oil onto the landscape of North Dakota. And, because it is a pipeline company, TC is now accused of low-balling the extent of the damage. From CNN:

Honest to blog, enough with these people. There is no reason in the world to allow this company to run so much as a filling station at this point, let alone allow it to build and operate a death-funnel that transports the dirtiest fossil fuel ever discovered through some of the most delicate and valuable farmland on the planet.

Leakers and liars, all of them.

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The Company Behind the Keystone Pipeline Shouldn't Be Allowed to Run a Gas Station at This Point - Esquire.com

Theres just one week left in the 2019 college football regular season. The time has flown by.

And that means that conference championship weekend is just two weeks away. And theres still a lot in flux as we head to the last weekend of the season. Just four of the 10 conferences know who its title game participants will be. The seven others wont until the final week of the regular season is over.

Heres a look at how each conferences title race is playing out with our best guess for the matchups in the conferences still looking for division winners.

East: No. 19 Cincinnati clinched the division with a win over Temple on Saturday night.

West: No. 18 Memphis clinches the division with a win over Cincinnati on Friday. If Memphis loses and Navy beats Houston, Navy wins the west.

Likeliest conference championship game: No. 18 Memphis vs. No. 19 Cincinnati.

Atlantic: No. 3 Clemson clinched the division with its win over NC State earlier in November. The Tigers were off on Saturday.

Coastal: Virginia and Virginia Tech play on Friday. The winner of that game gets to lose to Clemson in the title game. The Cavaliers beat Liberty on Saturday while Virginia Tech posted a shutout against Pitt and knocked the Panthers out of the division race in the process.

Likeliest conference championship game: No. 3 Clemson vs. Virginia. The Cavaliers get the edge because theyre at home, snapping a 15-game losing streak to the Hokies.

Baylor is heading to the Big 12 Championship Game. (AP Photo/Richard W. Rodriguez)

The Big 12 title game is set. No. 9 Oklahoma will play No. 14 Baylor. Both Oklahoma and Baylor have one loss in the conference. Every other Big 12 team has at least three conference losses. Oklahoma beat TCU on Saturday night 28-24 in a game that was unexpectedly close and tense in the fourth quarterwhile Baylor easily dispatched Texas on Saturday afternoon.

East:No. 2 Ohio State clinched the East with a 28-17 win over No. 8 Penn State on Saturday.Had Penn State won, the Nittany Lions could have clinched the East with a win over Rutgers on Saturday. Instead, Ohio State only has bragging rights on the line against No. 13 Michigan on Nov. 30.

West: No. 10 Minnesota plays No. 12 Wisconsin on Saturday. The calculus there is simple too. The winner takes the division and plays Ohio State in the Big Ten championship game. The Gophers beat Northwestern on Saturday while Wisconsin beat Purdue.

Likeliest championship game: No. 2 Ohio State vs. No. 10 Minnesota. Like Virginia, Minnesota gets the edge because its at home.

East: Florida Atlanticwins the division with a win over Southern Miss on Saturday. If FAU loses, Marshallcan win the division with a win over Florida International.

West: Lets get crazy. UAB beat Louisiana Tech on Saturday. Both teams are tied with Southern Miss atop the division. If all three teams have the same result in the final weekend, UAB wins the tiebreaker. If two of the teams are tied at the end of the season the tiebreaker is head-to-head between the tied teams.

Likeliest championship game: FAU vs. UAB

East: Miami (Ohio) clinched the division with a win over Akron on Wednesday.

West: Western Michigan and Central Michigan are tied atop the division. Westernbeat Central earlier in the season and owns the tiebreaker. If WMU beats Northern Illinois on Tuesday, it wins the division. If WMU loses, CMU can win the division with a win over Toledo on Friday.

Likeliest championship game: Miami (Ohio) vs. Western Michigan

The Mountain West title game got determined late Saturday night. No. 20 Boise State beat Utah State to clinch the Mountain division while Hawaii beat San Diego State to clinch the West division. The two teams will play in two weeks for the conference title.

Story continues

North: No. 6 Oregons loss to Arizona Statedidnt do anything to its chances of winning the North. The Ducks had the division wrapped up before Week 13.

South: No. 7 Utah controls its own fate. A win against Colorado in the final week of the season means Utah is in the title game. A loss means USC wins the division.

Likeliest championship game: No. 6 Oregon vs. No. 7 Utah

LSU is No. 1 and will meet No. 4 Georgia in the SEC Championship Game. (AP Photo/Matthew Hinton)

Like the Big 12, the SEC championship game is set. No. 1 LSU won the West with a victory over hapless Arkansas on Saturday. No. 4 Georgia clinched the East with a win over Auburn in Week 12 and beat Texas A&M on Saturday. LSU ends the season against A&M in Week 14 while Georgia plays Georgia Tech.

The Sun Belt title game was figured out on Saturday. No. 24 Appalachian State locked up the East with a win over Texas State while Louisiana won the West with a win over Troy.

Here are this weeks winners and losers.

Virginia Tech: After Virginia Tech lost 45-10 at home to Duke on Sept. 27, there were legitimate questions about Justin Fuentes job status especially on the heels of a losing season in 2018. Since then, however, the Hokies have completely flipped the script and are now in a position to go to the ACC title game. Saturdays 28-0 win over Pitt was the sixth in seven tries since the Duke loss. On top of that, it was the final game at Lane Stadium for longtime defensive coordinator Bud Foster and he went out with a shutout. How cool is that? It marked the second straight shutout for the Hokies. The program hadnt accomplished that since 2005. The ACC Coastal champion will be decided next week against rival Virginia. The Hokies have won 15 straight in the series.

Michigan is 9-2 and plays Ohio State in Week 14. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

No. 13 Michigan: Michigan has really hit its stride in the month of November. Since losing to Penn State on Oct. 19, the Wolverines have reeled off four straight victories in dominating fashion. The latest was a beatdown of Indiana, 39-14, in Bloomington. Shea Patterson had another huge outing in the win, throwing for 366 yards and five touchdowns to help his team improve to 9-2 with archrival Ohio State visiting Ann Arbor next weekend. The second-ranked Buckeyes improved to 11-0 and clinched the Big Ten East by beating Penn State on Saturday. Michigan hasnt knocked off OSU since 2011.

No. 10 Minnesota: Minnesota bounced back from its first loss of the season and is another step closer to winning the Big Ten West. The Gophers knocked off Northwestern 38-22 behind a four-touchdown performance from Tanner Morgan, three of which went to Rashod Bateman, the Big Tens leading receiver. With the win, Minnesota improved to 10-1 on the year. The Gophers reached the 10-win mark for the first time since 1905 and got to seven Big Ten wins for the first time ever. Next week, Minnesota will host Wisconsin with the Big Ten West on the line and College GameDay in town.

Kedon Slovis, QB, USC: No. 23 USC closed out its regular season with three straight wins, capped off by Saturdays 52-35 victory over UCLA. The Trojans were dominant offensively, and freshman quarterback Kedon Slovis led the way once again. Slovis completed 37-of-47 passes for a program record 515 yards and four touchdowns in the win. It marked Slovis third straight game with at least 400 passing yards and four touchdowns. Not bad for a true freshman, huh?

USC finishes the season at 8-4. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Navy: Navy kept its AAC West hopes alive with a come-from-behind victory over SMU on Saturday. The Midshipmen trailed 21-10 at halftime but stormed back to win, 35-28. The winning score came on a 70-yard burst from speedy QB Malcolm Perry. Perry carried 38 times for 195 yards and two scores in the win. He also had 162 yards and a touchdown through the air. With the win, Navy can win the division if it beats Houston next week and Memphis loses to Cincinnati, who clinched the AAC East by beating Temple, 15-13. Now 8-2, Ken Niumatalolo has engineered quite a turnaround after going 3-10 in 2018.

Cal: Cal finally won the Big Game, and it did so in dramatic fashion. The Golden Bears dropped a nine-game losing streak to rival Stanford by pulling out a 24-20 road win on Saturday. Cal fell behind 20-17 with 2:23 to play, but responded by going 75 yards in just six plays to take the lead on a Chase Garbers touchdown run with 1:19 to go. The Cal defense then stuffed Stanford on fourth-and-short on the ensuing drive to seal the win and clinch bowl eligibility. The Golden Bears can clinch a winning record with a road win over UCLA next week.

Charlotte: Charlotte is bowl eligible for the first time in program history. The 49ers have only been playing since 2013, but reached the five-win mark three separate times. But it took the first season under Will Healy to get to win No. 6. That came on Saturday in a 24-13 victory over Marshall. Charlotte trailed 13-10 entering the fourth, but two Victor Tucker touchdowns one on the ground and another through the air gave the 49ers the victory.

Zach Hintze, K, Wisconsin: Want to see one of the longest field goals in Big Ten history? Of course you do. Wisconsins Zach Hintze blasted a school-record 62-yarder as time expired in the first half. It is tied with two others for the second-longest field goal in Big Ten history. Pro Football Hall of Famer Morten Andersen holds the record. He booted a 63-yarder at Michigan State back in 1981.

Ohio coach Frank Solich: Ohio probably hasnt played as well as it expected this year, but it still had reason to celebrate its 66-24 win over Bowling Green on Tuesday night. The win was No. 111 for Frank Solich at the school, setting a Mid-American Conference record. Solich, 75, has been at Ohio since 2005. He previously was the head coach at Nebraska.

LSU coach Ed Orgeron: LSU crushed Arkansas on Saturday night. The Razorbacks havent won an SEC game since beating Ole Miss on Oct. 28, 2017. Thats a span of 18-straight games. So what Orgeron said after the Tigers win isnt untrue.

Miami: Miami had been playing really well in the second half of the season until Saturday. The Hurricanes, winners of four of their last five, were upset 30-24 by Florida International at Marlins Park in a miserable performance, one of the worst in recent memory. FIU led 13-0 at halftime and 23-3 early in the fourth quarter. Miami managed to make things interesting, cutting the lead to 23-17 with 3:10 to play, but FIU put the final nail in the coffin after a failed Miami onside kick. FIU, led by former Miami coach Butch Davis, clinched a bowl berth with the win. The Hurricanes dropped to 6-5.

Texas: What was supposed to be a big season for Texas just keeps getting worse. The Longhorns dropped to 6-5 with a 24-10 loss at Baylor on Saturday. And the game wasnt as close as the final score may indicate. Texas wouldnt reach the end zone until there was just one second left in regulation. The loss was another underwhelming performance from Tom Hermans offense, and now the Longhorns need to beat Texas Tech just to ensure they finish with a winning record. Herman has a lot of work to do to get his program back on track.

Maryland: A miserable season for Maryland may have hit rock bottom. The Terps dropped their sixth straight game on Saturday, falling at home to Nebraska in embarrassing fashion. Final score: 54-7. Yikes. Nebraska entered the game on a four-game losing streak of its own, but it managed to absolutely demolish the Terps at Maryland Stadium. The Terps, who mustered only 57 passing yards against Nebraska and are now 3-8, have been outscored 165-28 in the month of November.

Maryland head coach Mike Locksley looks on prior to an NCAA college football game against Nebraska, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2019, in College Park, Md. (AP Photo/Will Newton)

SMU: SMU had a chance to get the ball back one last time in the final minute against Navy, but a boneheaded mistake doomed the Mustangs. Leading 35-28 with 1:05 to go, Navy brought its offense out onto the field at its own 31-yard line on fourth-and-2. There was no way Navy would risk giving the ball back to SMU deep in its own territory, but Ken Niumatalolo decided to try to draw SMU offsides. Remarkably, it worked. SMUs Rodney Clemsons jumped offsides, giving Navy a first down. From there, the Midshipmen took two knees to run out the clock and wrap up a win.

Kansas: Kansas put up a really good effort against Iowa State, but ultimately fell 41-31 in Ames. The Jayhawks took a 31-27 lead with 10:42 to play, but ISU scored twice in the final five minutes to pull out the victory. The loss dropped KU to 3-8 on the year, and also clinched a remarkable stat. Kansas went the entire decade without winning a conference road game. Thats an 0-43 mark. Yikes.

NC State: NC State might be the worst team in the ACC. The Wolfpack fell 28-26 to Georgia Tech on Thursday night, dropping to 4-7 overall on the season with a 1-6 mark in conference play. NC State staged a comeback after trailing 28-10 late in the third quarter, but still came up short against a Yellow Jackets team in its first year under Geoff Collins. It was the fifth straight loss for the Wolfpack, who will miss a bowl game for the first time in five seasons.

North Texas: North Texas had the chance to keep its bowl hopes alive, but instead it lost to a one-win Rice team, 20-14. Rice jumped out to a 20-0 halftime lead and was able to hang on for its second straight victory after an 0-9 start. With coach Seth Littrell back in the fold alongside heralded QB Mason Fine, this was supposed to be one of the better teams in Conference USA. Instead, the Mean Green are just 4-7 on the year.

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Winners and Losers: What the conference championship landscape looks like heading into Week 14 - Yahoo Sports

By Emily Moran, University of California, Merced

If you have oak trees in your neighborhood, perhaps youve noticed that some years the ground is carpeted with their acorns, and some years there are hardly any. Biologists call this pattern, in which all the oak trees for miles around make either lots of acorns or almost none, masting.

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In New England, naturalists have declared this fall a mast year for oaks: All the trees are making tons of acorns all at the same time.

Many other types of trees, from familiar North American species such as pines and hickories to the massive dipterocarps of Southeast Asian rainforests, show similar synchronization in seed production. But why and how do trees do it?

Benefits of synchronized seeds

Every seed contains a packet of energy-rich starch to feed the baby tree that lies dormant inside. This makes them a tasty prize for all sorts of animals, from beetles to squirrels to wild boar.

If trees coordinate their seed production, these seed-eating animals are likely to get full long before they eat all the seeds produced in a mast year, leaving the rest to sprout.

For trees like oaks that depend on having their seeds carried away from the parent tree and buried by animals like squirrels, a mast year has an extra benefit. When there are lots of nuts, squirrels bury more of them instead of eating them immediately, spreading oaks across the landscape.

Getting in sync

Its still something of a mystery how trees synchronize their seed production to get these benefits, but several elements seem to be important.

First, producing a big crop of seeds takes a lot of energy. Trees make their food through photosynthesis: using energy from the sun to turn carbon dioxide into sugars and starch. Theres only so many resources to go around, though. Once trees make a big batch of seeds, they may need to switch back to making new leaves and wood for a while, or take a year or two to replenish stored starches, before another mast.

But how do individual trees decide when that mast year should be? Weather conditions appear to be important, especially spring weather. If theres a cold snap that freezes the flowers of the tree and yes, oaks do have flowers, theyre just extremely small then the tree cant produce many seeds the following fall.

Harm to the trees flowers in spring doesnt bode well for the acorn crop come fall. Image via almgren/Shutterstock.com.

A drought during the summer could also kill developing seeds. Trees will often shut the pores in their leaves to save water, which also reduces their ability to take in carbon dioxide for photosynthesis.

Because all the trees within a local area are experiencing essentially the same weather, these environmental cues can help coordinate their seed production, acting like a reset button theyve all pushed at the same time.

A third intriguing possibility that researchers are still investigating is that trees are talking to each other via chemical signals. Scientists know that when a plant is damaged by insects, it often releases chemicals into the air that signal to its other branches and to neighboring plants that they should turn on their defenses. Similar signals could potentially help trees coordinate seed production.

Investigation of tree-to-tree communication is still in its infancy, however. For instance, ecologists recently found that chemicals released from the roots of the leafy vegetable mizuna can affect the flowering time of neighboring plants. While this sort of communication is unlikely to account for the rough synchronization of seed production over dozens or even hundreds of miles, it could be important for syncing up a local area.

Mastings effects ripple through the food web

Whatever the causes, masting has consequences that flow up and down the food chain.

For instance, rodent populations often boom in response to high seed production. This in turn results in more food for rodent-eating predators like hawks and foxes; lower nesting success for songbirds, if rodents eat their eggs; and potentially higher risk of transmission of diseases like hantavirus to people.

If the low seed year that follows causes the rodent population to collapse, the effects are reversed.

The seeds of masting trees have also historically been important for feeding human populations, either directly or as food for livestock. Acorns were a staple in the diet of Native Americans in California, with families carefully tending particular oaks and storing the nuts for winter. In Spain, the most prized form of ham still comes from pigs that roam through the oak forests, eating up to 20 pounds of acorns each day.

So the next time you take an autumn walk, check out the ground under your local oak tree you might just see the evidence of this amazing process.

Emily Moran, Assistant Professor of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of California, Merced

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Bottom line: Explanation of masting: the pattern of trees for miles around synchronizing to all produce lots of seeds or very few.

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Tons of acorns in your yard? It must be a mast year - EarthSky

Leaf Burrito Reusable Yard Debris Bags

Multiple Leaf Burritos get the job done!

Leaf Burrito

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Nov. 21, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Have you heard of a Leaf Burrito Reusable Yard Debris Bag? It is an innovative and eco-friendly reusable yard-debris bag invented, designed and manufactured in the USA. Leaf Burrito makes collecting and transporting yard debris easier, quicker and safer and its unique design opens completely flat then zips up like a sack. It is helping the Green industry, Landscapers and homeowners save time and money, as well as replace short-lived tarps and single-use plastic and paper bags.

Gone are the days of lifting heavy tarps, burlap and brown paper bags, now there is a solution called Leaf Burrito. People working in landscaping, grounds management, horticulture, and all areas of the Green industry now have a revolutionary option to speed up their lawn and landscaping work. It is easier, safer, more efficient and better for the environment as compared to methods being used currently.

Leaf Burrito was designed to solve several problems at once:

Robert Daniels, owner of Cherry City Landscape, attests: Leaf Burrito saves me a ton of time. I did an 8-hour job in 4 hours by using Leaf Burritos. Every landscaper should have these bags on their truck. It definitely helps my labor problems by making my crews more efficient.

To pilot using Leaf Burritos for your grounds or horticulture crews, they recommend you start with both sizes of the bags and determine which size works best for your applications and employees. Leaf Burrito recommends that every truck or trailer carry a 6-pack to replace tarps, garbage cans and wheelbarrows. Multiple burritos are also suggested because they can be zipped together to create a longer hedge-clippings drag or as a trailer cover for various trailer sizes.

Inventor Marc Mataya states, If ground crews are looking for a more sustainable and efficient solution for doing landscaping, our Leaf Burrito bags are going to be a great investment and your employees are going to love using our product. And, personalizing our bags with your logo makes your company stand above the rest.

If you want to learn more about how Leaf Burrito can make your company, hotel or university safer, more efficient, and more profitable, while achieving your zero-waste goals you may contact them at sales@leafburrito.com.

About:Leaf Burrito is a reusable yard-debris removal tool made in the USA of customized industrial-grade mesh and heavy-duty YKK North America zippers. Our product eliminates bags and tarps and preserves landfills. It has 10 strong handles for ergonomic loading and lifting onto trailers or trucks and comes in 5-foot and 7-foot sizes. For big cleanups or as a trailer cover, multiple Leaf Burritos can be zipped together. For various sized jobs and for linking them together, every landscaping trailer could be equipped with a 6-pack which stores compactly. Leaf Burritos goals are to reduce single-use plastics, make the arduous task of bagging leaves, weeds, grass, hedge and garden clippings a simple and eco-friendly experience.

For Media inquiries: Lauri Eberhartpress@leafburrito.com800-Burrito | 800-287-7486 EST LeafBurrito.com | Facebook| Instagram| LinkedIn

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/9fcee6d5-7858-47ca-8dc3-5da979f3e6e5

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Leaf Burrito, the Reusable Yard-Debris Bag, Saves Hours of Labor, Helps Prevent Injuries and Provides the Green Industry With a Zero-Waste Solution -...

A backyard is an extension of what's going on inside our home, maybe more colorful, casual, fun, and without a ceiling to put a lid on our needs and desires. In a yard, trees and vines can climb to their ultimate heights, light and weather can quickly change, and the possibilitieswithin the confines of our property linesare up to the terrain, our design skills, and our do-it-yourself know-how.

If your DIY design and construction skills aren't up to tackling a major backyard remodeling project, you can hire a landscape designer or architect to help your outdoor space realize its potential. A skilled professional can guide you through the process of figuring out a style, deciding who will be using the yard, creating zones of activity, choosing materials and plants, and recommending builders and contractors for everything fromswimming poolsto outdoor structures to installing irrigation.

Explore50 ideas showing how a backyard can be transformed into everyone's favorite space. In this first example, notice how the curved lines of the patio fit with the casual nature of the nearby wooded area.

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50 Backyard Landscaping Ideas to Inspire You

Start Up Front

If youre wondering where to start a landscape transformation, look no farther than your front yard. Its the first thing that you see driving up to your house, and you can wow guests before they even enter your home. Just remember that curb appeal is important, but no matter how pretty your landscape is, it needs to be functional.

Do all of your hardscaping projects before you set out any plants. Hardscaping can include a porch, sidewalk, driveway, parking areas, decks, fencing, patios and arbor. These projects usually involve construction, which can compact your soil or damage turf and plantings, so its important to complete any heavy work before plantings begin.

Your foundation planting should embrace your house and not cover it. Low-growing shrubs or groundcover should be planted in front of low windows and porches. Larger rounded shrubs or small trees work well planted on the corners of your home. These larger plants will frame up your house and help soften the box-like structure. Remember to create a small bed in your front yard for annual color. Flowers will add instant charm.

Your backyard should be an outdoor living area to enjoy. If you need privacy, install wooden fencing or large shrubs around the perimeter to create walls. Decks and patios make great sitting or dining areas when the weathers appropriate and they create a nice overflow for guests during parties.

Grilling stations or outdoor kitchens can be used to cook your meals and not heat up the kitchen. Fire pits and outdoor fireplaces are very popular and allow you to enjoy your yard even when theres a little chill in the air. Both of these options make for easy entertaining or a fun family activity.

Consider your options and the space you will need. If you have a sunny backyard you might consider putting in a kitchen garden where you can grow a few herbs or vegetables. Just be sure the area you choose receives several hours of sun. Do you need a childrens play area? If so, position it where you can see it from your deck or patio to keep a watchful eye on the young ones.

Side yards are often narrow strips that are rarely seen. They can be a good place to house your utilitarian needs. Garbage cans, firewood, storage and garden sheds often work well tucked into your side yard. If you have dogs it might be a good place to install a dog run. Youll probably need a walkway on at least one side of your house so you can easily navigate from the front of the house to the backyard.

Know a tree or shrubs ultimate size before you put it in the ground. A small yard is not a good place for trees such as river birch, red maples, sugar maple, oaks or magnolia. Trees such as Japanese maples, crepe myrtles and redbud would be better suited for little landscapes. Avoid planting brittle trees such as river birch or silver maples next to your house or close to parking areas to avoid damage from falling limbs.

See more here:
The Essential Steps to Landscape Design | DIY

Do you have a backyard, a garden, or a large piece of land in Hoboken that has a drainage problem, and needs a solution? Here's a few reasons you should set up an appointment with us.

* Fast, Professional, Friendly and Dependable* We Work With All Types of Landscapes and Lawns* We Always Come Prepared With The Proper Tools and Equipment* We Never Leave a Landscaping Project Unfinished* Free Quotes, Cost Estimates, and Recommendations For Lawn Drainage

When your yard doesn't drain properly, you're at risk at flooding your basement, killing all of your grass, flowers, plants and trees, and basically having a mud pit for a yard. There are all types of landscape drainage systems you can install, but first and foremost it's imperative our Hoboken, New Jersey drainage landscapers survey your specific landscape for what drainage system will work best.

Downspout Piping, Dry Wells, Channel Drains, Trench Drains, French Drains, Dry Wells, Catch Basins, Grates And Emitters, Dry River Beds, Bogs, Grassy Swales and More!

Our Hoboken, NJ landscaping and drainage company has the experience needed to understand everything that goes into creating the perfect drainage system for your yard and specific terrain. We know how to work with and install drainage systems with terrain layouts so we can affordably save your property from potential flooding and water damage. We offer you more than experience, we are up-to-date on the latest tools, methods, and regulations, and we charge fair prices for our services for all types of yard drainage solutions.

If you have a particular landscape drainage project on your mind, use the contact form on this page to tell us about it. One of our licensed Hoboken drainage landscapers pros will get back to you with an assessment of costs and a free quote to install a new drainage system or repair a new one.

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Landscape And Yard Drainage Installation in Hoboken, New ...

Project: Landscape Yard or Gardens

Location: North Bergen, NJ

Date: 03/2019

Design Preparation: Have a basic idea of what I want

Landscaping to be installed: Trees/Shrubs, Concrete flatwork (patio, walkway, etc.)

Request Stage: Ready to Hire

Desired Completion Date: Timing is flexible

Comment: Small front garden ,place patio blocks , remove two rose bushes ,add miniature pine plants in large terra cotta planters.

Project: Landscape Yard or Gardens

Location: North Bergen, NJ

Date: 03/2019

Design Preparation: Need design/plant suggestions

Landscaping to be installed: Grass, Trees/Shrubs, Concrete flatwork (patio, walkway, etc.), Masonry (brick and/or stone work), Retaining wall

Areas to be Landscaped: Front yard

Request Stage: Ready to Hire

Desired Completion Date: Timing is flexible

Historical Work: No

Property Owner: Yes

Comment: Hello, we have a small front yard and would like a path to the driveway. We would like earth tone pavers as the material used and a few shrubs, plants and holly plants.

Project: Landscape Yard or Gardens

Location: North Bergen, NJ

Date: 03/2019

Design Preparation: Have a basic idea of what I want

Landscaping to be installed: Drainage system, Masonry (brick and/or stone work)

Request Stage: Planning & Budgeting

Desired Completion Date: Timing is flexible

Comment: Back yard grass area I want to install pavers over it

Project: Install Synthetic Grass for Landscaping, Putting Greens, Play Areas, etc.

Location: North Bergen, NJ

Date: 03/2019

Type of Synthetic Grass: Landscape grass

Approx. Size: Small (Less than 1,000 sq ft)

Request Stage: Ready to Hire

Desired Completion Date: Timing is flexible

What kind of location is this?: Home/Residence

Property Owner: Yes

Comment: We're looking to replace grass in backyard and smaller area in the front of the house.

Project: Landscape Yard or Gardens

Location: North Bergen, NJ

Date: 02/2019

What kind of location is this?: 201517

Request Stage: Planning & Budgeting

Historical Work: No

Desired Completion Date: More than 2 weeks

Property Owner: Yes

Comment: Front of the house landscaping needs done.

Project: Landscape Yard or Gardens

Location: North Bergen, NJ

Date: 02/2019

What kind of location is this?: Home / Residence

Request Stage: Ready to Hire

Desired Completion Date: More than 2 weeks

Comment: Front of the house

Project: Landscape Yard or Gardens

Location: North Bergen, NJ

Date: 01/2019

Design Preparation: Have a basic idea of what I want

Landscaping to be installed: Grass, Special planting area/Garden

Request Stage: Ready to Hire

Desired Completion Date: Timing is flexible

Historical Work: No

Property Owner: Yes

Comment: I would like to get an estimate for sprucing up our garden area

Project: Landscape Yard or Gardens

Location: North Bergen, NJ

Date: 01/2019

Design Preparation: Need design/plant suggestions

Landscaping to be installed: Sprinkler system, Grass, Special planting area/Garden, Concrete flatwork (patio, walkway, etc.), Masonry (brick and/or stone work), Fencing

Request Stage: Planning & Budgeting

Desired Completion Date: Timing is flexible

Project: Add or Remove Holiday Lighting- Materials provided by homeowner

Location: North Bergen, NJ

Date: 12/2018

What kind of location is this?: Home/Residence

Will you provide lights?: Yes

Request Stage: Ready to Hire

Desired Completion Date: Within 1 week

Comment: Three large pine trees in front yard + roofline

Project: Install Synthetic Grass for Landscaping, Putting Greens, Play Areas, etc.

Location: North Bergen, NJ

Date: 10/2018

What type of putting green would you like installed?: Golf - backyard putting green

Request Stage: Ready to Hire

Desired Completion Date: 1 - 2 weeks

What kind of location is this?: Home/Residence

Comment: putting artifial grass

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Landscaping Companies in North Bergen, NJ - HomeAdvisor

Define the Purpose for Landscape Lighting

Before you invest in any landscape lighting, ask yourself what your purposes are for wanting illumination in your backyard. Perhaps you want to set a soft, romantic mood during the evening hours. Maybe you have a bench or a shadowy garden corner you need to illuminate for security reasons. A path leading through the garden may require landscape lighting to mark its boundaries. You might want to highlight some features of your backyard like a water fountain or pond.

Make a Sketch of Your Yard

After you have defined your reasons for wanting to add landscape lighting, sketch your yard. Include in the sketch existing lights, buildings, benches, trees and shrubs, as well as the vegetation and decorations in the garden. Each of these items will reflect light or absorb it. Estimate the height of each of the objects, especially the foliage.

Decide Where Landscape Lighting Should Go

Match the reason for lighting to specific locations in your backyard. You may want to illuminate a bench along the path with a pole-type lamp placed behind it. A soft mood can be achieved by hiding landscape lighting under shrubs. A path may require a series of short stake lights along its border on one side or on both sides (Image 1). A water fountain can be enhanced with a spotlight (Image 2), and a pond can have soft lighting around its perimeter.

Landscape lighting is an important safety element for any outdoor space. In this garden, a series of path lights illuminates the meandering walkway that leads to the destination terrace.

Resembling a Corinthian capital, this ornately carved stone water fountain is lit from below.

Determine How Much Effort You Want to Expend

The landscape lighting that requires the greatest effort to install is 120-volt lighting. Wiring for these types of garden lights must be buried at a depth of 18 inches or encased in conduit to protect it from water. A licensed electrician has to install the electrical components.

Low-voltage landscape lighting for the backyard needs only an outdoor receptacle and a transformer. The transformer converts the 120 volts coming from the household line to a usable 12 volts to operate the lights.

The easiest landscape lighting to place in the backyard is solar lighting (below). This type of lighting has no cords to be hidden. It should be positioned in such a way that the photovoltaic cell in the lighting fixture receives enough light during the day to allow it to shine at night.

Set a Budget and Buy the Lights

Most Expensive: High-voltage landscape lighting at $100 or more per lightInformation: Add on the cost of labor for the electrical contractor installing the wiring to cost of lighting for an additional fee.

Lower Cost: Low-voltage landscape lighting at $30 to $300 per lightInformation: This type of lighting can easily be installed by a do-it-yourselfer.

Least Expensive: Solar lightingInformation: Since solar lights rely upon the rays of the sun and an inbuilt photovoltaic device to work, they do not necessitate installation costs or a lot of money to operate. The initial price of the solar lights is the only cost which will be incurred. Tip: If you're lighting a darkened portion of your garden and the solar landscape light will not receive adequate sunlight during the day, you will need to have a solar panel installed in a high-sunlight location and run wiring to your solar lights.

Set Up the Lighting

If you wish to highlight a single item in your garden like a statue, gazing ball or fountain, you should consider using a few landscape lighting fixtures with lower intensity bulbs. Place these at various angles and distances. A single bright light shining directly on the object will create harsh shadows.

Landscape lights that make soft spots of light are good for garden paths. Space the lights at equal distances along the path you want illuminated.

Blue tinted lights allow for a moonlight-type mood in your garden landscape.

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How to Illuminate Your Yard With Landscape Lighting | HGTV

Landscaping refers to any activity that modifies the visible features of an area of land, including:

Landscaping requires expertise in horticulture and artistic design.

Construction requires study and observation. It is not the same in different parts of the world. Landscaping varies according to different regions.[1] Therefore, normally local natural experts are recommended if it is done for the first time. Understanding of the site is one of the chief essentials for successful landscaping. Different natural features like terrain, topography, soil qualities, prevailing winds, depth of the frost line, and the system of native flora and fauna must be taken into account.[2] Sometimes the land is not fit for landscaping. In order to landscape it, the land must be reshaped. This reshaping of land is called grading.[2]

Removal of earth from the land is called cutting while when earth is added to the slope, it is called filling. Sometimes the grading process may involve removal of excessive waste (landfills), soil and rocks, so designers should take into account while in the planning stage.[3][4]

In the start, the landscaping contractor makes a letter which is a rough design and layout of what could be done with the land in order to achieve the desired outcome.[2] Different pencils are required to make graphics of the picture. Landscaping has become more technological than natural, as few projects begin without bulldozers, lawnmowers, or chainsaws.[1] Different areas have different qualities of plants. When growing new grass, it should ideally be done in the spring and the fall seasons to maximize growth and to minimize the spread of weeds. It is generally agreed that Fertilizers are required for good plant growth. Some landscapers prefer to use mix gravel with rocks of varying sizes to add interest in large areas.[5]

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Landscaping - Wikipedia