Five Star Landscaping - Lawn Care Maintenance

403.203.4058 Calgary Area
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bees

The Importance of Bees

Many people have a fear of bees.

These buzzing insects with the ability to sting can quickly have people running for the indoors or for a newspaper. However, bees are actually an extremely important part of our ecology. Not only do they produce honey, they also pollinate nearly one third of all the foods we eat: from the obvious flowering choices like almonds and fruits like blueberries, to veggies you wouldn’t expect to be reliant on bees such as carrots. Without bees food prices would skyrocket as scarcity and malnutrition took hold globally. These are very real fears because bees are disappearing.

What is Happening?

For a long time scientists couldn’t understand why bees were simply dying off or abandoning their colonies leaving healthy queens and larvae to die. Colony collapse disorder continues to wreak havoc on the bees with over 10 million beehives abandoned and 2 million dollars in damages. The cause is thought to be a concoction of different fungicides and pesticides. Many of these chemicals were thought to not harm bees, however, research from the university of Maryland suggests that they prevent bees from resisting infection from certain parasites. More recent data supports the pesticides neonicotinoids and fipronil being the problem. When pesticides are sprayed onto plants, they absorb the chemicals and transfer them to all parts of their structure including the pollen. When pollinators like bees and butterflies come in contact with these contaminated plants it can seriously affect them.

What can You Do?

With an issue stretching across continents and the ability to affect everyone, it may feel like a problem too large for everyday people to tackle. Not true! There is actually plenty you can do to help bees just in your garden. The first thing you can do is leave sugar water out for tired bees. Especially when the weather is yo-yoing between very warm and gloomy-rain, bees can have to work overtime. If you find a bee lying on the ground, it probably isn’t dead just resting. Using an egg cup, leave sugar water (2 tablespoons of white sugar per tablespoon of water) out for the bees by bee-friendly plants. Make sure to only use white sugar. Brown sugar is bad for a bees digestion system, and honey can actually contain viruses that may infect bees. Another way you can help is by creating a bee-friendly garden. A bee-friendly garden is one with many different types of plants that flower all season long. Some examples include blueberries and cranberries for early bloomers; raspberry, sunflowers, and lavender for midseason; and pumpkin and squash for late in the growing season. For a complete list you can visit the david suzuki foundation’s article on creating bee-friendly spaces. [http://www.davidsuzuki.org/what-you-can-do/food-and-our-planet/create-a-bee-friendly-garden/].

Interested in doing your part to have a more bee-friendly garden and yard? The experts at Five Star can help you come up with a landscaping and gardening plan to suit your needs and the needs of all the pollinators in your neighbourhood.

outdoor kitchen

Two Nifty Things You can Do in your Yard with Our Help

With all the do-it-yourself projects to be found online and in magazines, it’s easy to forget that a challenging dream project often goes smoother with the help of a professional. Because we’ve been turning ideas into a reality for almost twenty years now, Five-star Landscaping has the expertise, skills, and equipment to help manage big projects with ease. We’re do-it-yourself people ourselves, so we understand wanting to rise to the challenge of perfecting your little patch of paradise, but here are a couple projects we really recommend you get help with.

Outdoor Luxury: Nothing says luxury like the ability to lounge in the shade of a tall tree in your backyard kitchen. In Alberta, it gets hot in summer. Often it gets too warm to want to turn on the oven indoors, but cold meals or barbecue every day can get a bit boring. An outdoor kitchen can solve the problem. There are several ways to create an outdoor kitchen; at the beginning, it might just be adding a bit of counter space with some drawers or a cupboard close to your barbeque. For true luxury though, things have to get a bit more complicated.

There’s figuring out the perfect location: against a wall or fence for a compact galley-style kitchen, or would a corner of the yard suit your needs better? Does it need a dining space? What sort of lighting do you need over the kitchen area and over the eating area? How close should the table be to the kitchen for convenience but to prevent too much smoke lingering in the area? You’ll need to figure out the plumbing for a sink, the electrical for the lighting and maybe for a small fridge or other appliance. When you factor in the huge variety of materials to choose from – some good for dry, hot climates like Calgary, some not – and the guidelines necessary to keep everything safe, this project quickly leaves the realm of do-it-yourself.

Landscaping with Stone: When it comes to building stone patios, trails, walkways, and stairs we generally suggest leaving it to the professionals. We say this for a couple reasons. The first is that a professional will be able to take your ideas, wants, and the natural shape of your land to form a design that will work for you and your yard. Without the proper know-how, you may leave out a necessary retaining wall or spend a bundle in time and supplies to find your creation just doesn’t sit right on the property. Since we’ve done work on so many other projects, we may be able to make a suggestion for which type of rock to use or how to make a certain effect that you just weren’t aware was possible.

Another reason we suggest giving us a call when landscaping with stone is that rock is heavy. Really heavy. Without the right equipment and knowledge, it is so easy to make a simple mistake that could end in grave injury. There are safety regulations that are a part of working with these materials and the equipment that can lift them. It’s never a good idea to cut corners when health and safety are at stake.

Here at Five-star Landscaping, we’re very excited to begin transforming properties this summer. We encourage you to look online, to discover ideas and creations from all over the world. But, if and when a project grows too large to be easily and safely handled, we implore you to give us a call, so we can help make your dreams a reality – the right way.

gardening

How Bees and Wasps Benefit Your Garden

You’ve probably heard to leave bees and wasps alone because they’re good for your garden, but do you know why?

“Honeybees are called the “spark plugs” of agriculture because of their importance in pollinating crops, but other wild bees and wasps are also important pollinators and natural pest-control agents.” Says Organic Gardening in their article about beneficial insects. You can find out more about the beneficial species and why they’re helpful here.

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We appreciate the way your crew has always treated us. We have recommended you to all our neighbours. 
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“Excellent Workmanship”

I have had work done by Five Star and found the quality of the workmanship excellent and the work was done in a professional and friendly manner.

ANN MARGRET
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The best lawn we’ve ever had since using your services! 
P. Calverley
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This is the first year that I have used Five Star Landscaping for my lawn care.   I have found that they’ve lived up to their name being Five Star. They exceeded my expectations above and beyond.  I just had my fall cleanup done and an accident happened where the back of the blower burnt a hole in … Read more
Diana Colling
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Good personal service. Take time to explain how to solve any problems. Honest and reliable. 
J & S Stevens
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Five Star Landscaping has been providing snow removal services for our residential property the past two winters.  Although we have been south most of the time, our kids stop by every week and have noted the driveway and front walk/deck area are always clear.  When we were home for most of the pas… Read more
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Convenience, great service, knowledgeable staff.
Mary & Dick
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Polite and courteous service. The results are excellent overall. 
E. Holden
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Reliable, stands behind service and product used. Lots of knowledge and experience.
John & Alice
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Thanks for the great service over the years! 
J. Kelsall
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Five Star Landscaping is well established and reliable company that has been servicing residential and commercial clients in the Calgary area since 1997.

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