Spring has found it’s way to the Sahuarita/Green Valley communities! There are flowers blooming in many corners, parks, yards, and fields. This is always a wonderful time to begin your outdoor projects. The weather has been a “cool” 80 degrees most days. It is one of our busiest, and favorite times of the year. Many of our customers have so many great requests for new plants, trees, gardens, and even full yard overhauls.

In the midst of the chaotic Spring/Summer season, we are grateful to take the time to work with our customers as best as we can as a small business. We appreciate the patience that so many of our regulars have with us, and the longevity that many of our customers have maintained. With this new Spring season, we are focusing on our future as a small business, and figuring out what we need to do to improve, grow, and where we need to just maintain.

Take a moment to step outside in the morning and enjoy natures blissful crisp in the air. Spend a brief moment to appreciate the leaves, buds blooming, new growth, and even the winter damage. It is a beautiful season to take in all of the change from the past year. Weather it be removing the old, and adding in the new, or watching a tree grow after being planted as a small little tree. Take it all in before you begin your day.

Back to school season is always a busy time for many families as they rush to the store to get all of the needed materials! We believe that education is a top priority for our youth and our community as a whole. This generation will be the most tech savvy in the sense of not knowing a world without WiFi, or technology. Some of us have had the opportunity to have witnessed the transition between the ever so fun dial up internet, you know, the one where you could not talk on the corded phone (those existed) and browse the web at the same time. It was almost rare to see a computer in a household 10 plus years ago.

However, the times have surely changed to a more “high” tech need. Now, it isn’t as strange or unusual to see a computer, tablet, or laptop at most households. A lot of students have to depend on the internet to conduct research for projects, access homework assignments, or communicate with teachers and peers. In a small way, we would like to provide a student access to a helpful tool with ONE of our giveaways! Follow us and “like” our Facebook page HERE to stay posted with the details!

• Voyager2 tablet
• 7 in display
• 4 core processor
• 1024×600
• dual cameras
• 16 GB storage
• Up to 6 hours of battery life
• Android 7.0

Monsoon 2018

We are heading into Monsoon season here in Arizona! For those who are not familiar with what a “Monsoon” is, here is the definition via Wikipedia:

The North American monsoon, variously known as the Southwest monsoon, the Mexican monsoon, the New Mexican monsoon, or the Arizona monsoon, is a pattern of pronounced increase in thunderstorms and rainfall over large areas of the SW United States and NW Mexico , typically occurring between July and mid September. During the monsoon, thunderstorms are fueled by daytime heating and build up during the late afternoon-early evening. Typically, these storms dissipate by late night, and the next day starts out fair, with the cycle repeating daily. The monsoon typically loses its energy by mid-September when drier and cooler conditions are reestablished over the region.

It is very important to practice proper lawn care, especially tree care throughout the year to prepare for monsoons.

General Tree Care:

• Just like going to a barber to maintain your hair, you want to annually prune your trees. Providing proper air flow between the branches of the trees especially as the high winds pick up so that they don’t snap limbs, or pull your tree out of the ground. Keeping your tree “trimmed thin” to where you can see the sky while standing under it is the best way to keep your tree as storm proof as possible during the monsoons. The thicker the tree is, the more likely it is to be damaged after a storm. Also be mindful of any areas that show signs of decay or being sun burned.

• Some long term tree care also includes: proper planting (includes depth, distance from house/sidewalk/other plants), soil care, proper staking, and proper watering. These will help provide longevity and proper health and growth of your tree in the long term.

• Keep your front/back yard as debris free as possible to prevent a larger mess to clean up after the storm. Especially those with a pool that could cause debris from getting stuck in the pump or clumped up in the pool that could cause burn out.

We hope some of these tips and tricks help you prepare for the season ahead! We would be happy to stop by and provide a free estimate for tree trimming, and will be available for weekend/emergency tree services during the monsoon season.

To schedule an estimate contact our scheduling line at (520) 355-8746

If you had a chance to read our last post, we went over a few common questions about building a store bought Greenhouse. We decided to purchase one at our local Big Lots store. We had not taken much consideration into the purchase, aside from it is a big seller at the store during the spring and beforehand. We were always curious years prior as to wether it would even be worth the purchase.

Step one: Purchase a Greenhouse

Step 2: unbox

Step 3: Sort parts; probably one of the most important steps for time management. Also, the connection parts are labeled with Letters for easier sorting. (Very helpful!)

Step 4: Follow Step by Step guide (included in box)

Step 5: Cover with plastic covering (In photo, White PVC pipe and overhead sprinkler not included in kit, this was a separate purchase)

Step 6: Anchor down Greenhouse and Tie inside ties to the posts. We opted out of using the stakes that were included in the kit. The area where we live has very hard ground, and it tends to bend the stakes making them counter productive. We decided to use nails with an attachment as pictured below. (Found at ACE hardware, but available at most hardware stores)

Step 7: Enjoy the greenhouse and start planting! It was a very simple process setting up the greenhouse as instructed. The posts are not incredibly sturdy, so we don’t foresee this Greenhouse lasting many years, but you never know! We also decided to add an overhead sprinkler to hook it up to our irrigation system to allow for timed watering. This was our personal preference, due to our busy schedules.

We hope that this step by step set up will be helpful in any decision you have in purchasing a Greenhouse in the future! If you have any questions we would be happy to answer them. Follow our Instagram/Facebook/Twitter to get updates on our plants, what we planted, and see how it withstands! Thank you for reading this step by step tutorial/review brought to you by La Villita Landscaping LLC!

*Disclaimer- La Villita Landscaping was not provided with any monetary income for this review.

With Spring fast approaching, we have had a lot of inquiries for greenhouse projects. Many questions we received were “How much should I spend on a greenhouse?” “Are they complicated to put together?” “Will a store bought version last in AZ heat?”

These are all fantastic questions! Growing up, I would traditionally plant in a garden setting and not use a greenhouse. My wife on the other hand, grew up with a Greenhouse that was one to be envied. This brings us to the first question, “how much do I spend??” If you are a beginner, a great way to start would be a store bought greenhouse kit. Most of them will include all of the general fixings that you would want, and could run under $100 (not including plants or supplies) If you are an avid grower, a custom built greenhouse that is larger in size could be better for you. However, the cost could be in the hundreds, depending on what you are growing and what materials you use.

On top of a budget, there is the question of “Are they complicated to put together?” This does tie into the cost factor, in the sense that it can be complicated to put together, depending on custom built or store bought. The upside to a store bought product, is the step by step instruction being fairly easy to read. (Don’t hold me to that) Someone has already set up the steps for you, those usually include both the build and the takedown if applicable. A custom built greenhouse would not always have instructions if it is self built, or if you hire someone to build one for you. These also are not always available to be moved, that would be a question to ask the builder. Again materials for custom built projects are a factor.

Lastly, the question of “Will a store bought version last in AZ heat.” This is a very good question to ask yourself while you make the decision to buy a store bought kit or purchase materials you need for a custom build. You would hope that a product for outdoor use being sold in AZ could in fact withstand the heat. Unfortunately most products are not always built in consideration of Arizona heat that can get well over 100 before Summer has even begun. That is where custom built greenhouses have the upper hand. You can insure that materials used will have some proper hold to allows for the wear of the sun. Most boxed greenhouses have been designed in cooler climates and can withstand certain weather.

We have not had the experience in purchasing a store bought greenhouse, and decided it was time! This will be the best way to answer any of our customers questions and concerns! Also, some have the family experience in doing something differently. Please see our store bought blog post for details!