Three reasons to check your landscape lighting system this weekend.

• If you are still using halogen lamps (bulbs) you probably have at least one light bulb out.  Installing LED lamps will greatly reduce the odds of this (while saving electricity).

• If you have lights in trees there is a very good chance then tree is growing around the fixture base or the wire.  This will damage fixtures and wire!  Fixtures and wire in trees need to be checked and adjusted regularly to accommodate new tree growth.
• Chances are you have fixtures that are not aiming where they were intended to.  Spring and fall freeze-thaw cycles can push fixtures out of the ground, service people can knock them over and shrub growth can cover your fixtures. It is important to check these at least annually to ensure they are looking their best! Eichenlaub landscape Lignting

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Five reasons you should consider pruning your trees and shrubs this winter.

•  Fungus and insect control –some serious plant problems such as fireblight and oak wilt can be spread if susceptible plants are pruned during the growing season.
• Take control- the winter is a great time to prune overgrown and out of control plants, because to do it right you will need to take out some major branches leaving areas with no leaves.  Why not do this in the winter when all the leaves are gone. 
• Spring vigor –pruning in the winter will allow for all of the plants stored energy to be pumped into the remaining stems allowing the plant to leaf out and better recover from a rejuvenation pruning.
•  Better results – we can see the branching structure and form of the plant much better when the leaves are off of the tree or shrub this will allow us to make better choices.
• Stop the bleeding!  -pruning when cold reduces the oozing of sap from fresh cuts. Loss of sap from the tree results in a reduction of vital energy.

It is important to note that there are several reasons not to prune some plants in the winter.  For example, some plants may have dramatically reduce flowering if pruned in the winter!  Please contact Eichenlaub if you have any questions on this.  contact@eichenlaub.com

Grow your career with us!

If you are or want to be a professional in the landscape industry, have the opportunity to grow and contribute your skills, take pride in quality work, thrive on unique and outstanding projects, enjoy working outdoors, and to be part of a recognized team, then Eichenlaub is for you.

We are searching for LANDSCAPE FOREPEOPLE to be responsible for managing people, materials and equipment. Forepeople will be working in the field leading the crew in either maintaining properties and/or installing plants, hardscape elements, outdoor lighting, irrigation systems and water features along with other landscaping activities.

We provide an environment where you can grow and benefit from working with our company. For those who decide to take the initiative to go above and beyond the basic duties; you will expand your knowledge and skills of the industry and be rewarded for doing so.

natural stone is timeless

Creating outdoor spaces with natural stone has been popular for thousands of years.  Because of it long life, difficulty to produce, and natural beauty, stone has historically been used to denote sophistication, accomplishment, and permanence.  Thanks to this extremely long life, many extraordinary ancient stone projects have survived to this day.  They serve as a reminder of just how innovative, creative, and determined our ancestors were.  While todays methods for roughly quarrying stone are much different, our methods for carving each individual stone to fit its desired project have not changed over time. Today we still shape and add character to each of our individual stone pieces with a chisel and hammer.  Until relatively recently stone chisels were used, they just had to be a little bit harder than the stone the mason was shaping.  With the perfection of the steel making process, largely done right here in Pittsburgh, steel chisels and hammers have replaced stone tools.  When I see the skill level needed to carve stone with today’s steel it is hard to imagine how out ancient ancestors we able to produce such an extremely high level of craftsmanship with the tools they had. 

Today natural stone is valued for its history, artistic appeal, and strength.  More importantly I feel natural stone appeals to us somehow on a visceral level that cannot be duplicated with other materials.  I think I can safely predict it will be in style for at least another thousand years!  For more information on our stone crafting techniques check out our stone videos on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVnJoirlcud7G0baREQfYoWEExeEbHLRu

Benefits of Water Features

Water features provide soothing sights and sounds that help you relax and de-stress in today's busy world. Lower your blood pressure and improve your physical and mental health as you prop your feet up and enjoy the therapeutic effects of Mother Nature.  Click here for more on the benefits of water features.

Create interest and movement in you outdoor spaces by adding unique, tasteful artistic pieces.  Artistic pieces can include sculptures, unique stone carvings, bold urns and planters, specimen plants, water features, and fire features.  Adding these unique elements will add movement as your guest’s eye is drawn to these unique features.  This will add a visual sense of movement and it will literally encourage your guests to move throughout the space.  Imagine your guests stepping off the confines of your patio space and strolling into the yard and garden taking in your one-of-a-kind garden.  This will provide a unique relaxing experience they will be sure to remember!

Eichenlaub Outdoor Lighting

Eichenlaub Landscape Lighitng

copper path light