We’ve been listed on a website called Thumbtack for months with very little activity. It is always interesting for us to monitor where business comes from and for us it is USUALLY word of mouth. Well this week we are meeting with our first potential client from our listing on thumbtack.com
We’d love to hear from you! Are you using thumbtack for any other services?
The annual “Best of Nashville” Reader’s Poll has begun! Landscape Solutions of Nashville would love your support in the following categories
We’ve been working on a lot of really cool projects as of late, so over the coming days/weeks I’m going to try and be better about updating the blog so everyone can learn about them. Check back to read updates about:
We just completed a day of celebrating sustainability & locality at The Green Wagon in East Nashville. Johnny and Tara Shields made the AWESOME decision to consult with a local small business known as Landscape Solutions. Yep, that’s us! We designed a 100% native landscape including a rain garden. The benefits of rain gardens are multifaceted, so we will save that for another blog post.
If you haven’t been to The Green Wagon yet, YOU MUST! They focus on stocking a wide variety of products that are organic, green, and local. Stop in at 1100 Forrest Ave. in East Nashville and let them know we sent you!
Going local is a key part of creating a more sustainable society. So, Landscape Solutions has decided to offer locally grown herbs & vegetables for sale this year! In fact, they are grown right here in my downtown condo.
We started by purchasing seeds and supplies from the locally owned and operated All Seasons. Then, they were put into our grow tent for a quick and easy germination. Once they are established we are transferring them to reclaimed pots filled with a high quality organic potting soil.
We currently have the following for sale at $4 each. Email us at info@landscapetn.com if you’d like to purchase one.
Let us know if you have a specific request. We are glad to custom grow your next herb or vegetable.
Also, we recently purchased new shirts from the locally owned and operated business The Friendly Arctic. Andy and Brendan were really great to work with. Make sure and give them a call for all your screen printing needs.
Cliff and I are wrapping up our 20th month as Landscape Solutions of Nashville, LLC and boy do we have a lot to be thankful for. We have been able to start a successful company and create a unique image for a local business that will continue to help create a more sustainable community for Nashvillians for years to come.
We are thankful that we have remained healthy over the past 20 months. Well, for the most part. I spent our first summer working on a broken foot and Cliff randomly catches sicknesses Casey who I think catches them from her students.
We are thankful for our friends & supporters. Our business has been well over 90% referral to date and we are SO SO thankful for all of you out there who have continued to believe in us and tell your friends about what we do. A large part of what our business believes in is continuing to give back to the community that supports us. We recently launched a Referral Program that does just that. We donate to charity in YOUR name just for you letting us know about someone who needs our services.
We are thankful for our AMAZING clients who are willing to learn about native plants, regenerative & sustainable landscapes, rain gardens, certified wildlife habitats, pervious pavement systems, arbors, pergolas, edible landscapes, raised gardens & all of the other things that Landscape Solutions is designing and installing across Nashville. We are also thankful that you are willing to pay us to do this awesome stuff!
We are ever so thankful for our families. Mom, Dad, Stan, Kevin, Naomi, Theo, Casey & Cliff’s family. All of you are awesome and Cliff and I are ever so thankful that you have been a part of bringing us into this world, raising us, giving us wives, nephews, brothers, sister-in-laws and your unconditional love.
So here is a huge THANK-YOU from the team at Landscape Solutions for everything that each of you have done to help create & support what we are. If you don’t feel like you’ve done much you are doing more than you might realize by reading this blog. Share it with a friend if you like what you’ve read!
So it is a little hard for us to believe but we’ve been creating environmentally sensitive landscapes for a year and a half now. We have pursued a variety of marketing avenues over that time but still have a favorite, REFERRALS! The majority of our business has come from satisfied clients and supportive friends letting their friends know about our great work. In appreciation we are proud to announce our new ‘refer a friend’ program. Landscape Solutions will be donating $100 to a charity of your choosing for every new client you refer to us.
This is just one more way we can help give back to the community that has been supporting us over the past year and a half.
Thank-you, Nashvillians!
NOW, we’d love for you to submit “Landscape Solutions of Nashville” for the Best of Nashville readers poll that is done through the Nashville Scene!
HOME : Best Landscaper
OTHER: Best Environmentally-Friendly Business
So I’ve had some incredible success as well as a few failures since the last update.
Success!
Both the thai basil & the sweet basil continue to be a very easy and rapid growing hydroponic success for me. In fact it has been impossible for me to consume it all myself. I’ve been sharing with friends and making random basil concoctions as much as possible. Pesto tends to be my fall back creation but this morning I added basil butter to the mix thanks to the suggestions of my friend Hannah. Check out her blog about living local, good stuff to be seen and read.
The lettuce grew fast as well and was a delicious treat. In fact I’ve got seedlings up for arugula, two star lettuce and cosmo savory lettuce and will be replacing some of my failure plants with, fingers crossed, a continuous supply of fresh greens. It will be interesting to see how long it takes from planting to harvest on these.
Failure 
I’m down to only 6 plants in the window farm currently. I ended up trashing the peppers because I couldn’t get the aphids to go away and I was worried about them migrating to other plants. The strawberries were destined for failure since the nutrients I’m adding aren’t intended for blooming plants. The cilantro and parsley have been under performers but are still alive. All that being said the mint, thyme and thai basil grow like weeds!
There is TONS of information on windowfarms.org about plant selection, watering & nutrients. Admittedly I went at this with VERY little background research. I used the website as influence for my design but ended up just winging the rest of it. I’m hoping to find some more time to spend reading and talking with other window farmers and push my window to its full production potential.
The tomatoes also didn’t work out for me. They grew HUGE but never bloomed successfully. I’m fairly certain that my issues were related to an over watering condition. It was a bit too late by the time I realized what was going on. I’ve trashed them and will be dedicating that entire system to lettuce production.
Stay tuned for the next update!
I’ve called Nashville home for just over three years now. I’ve always tried to see and experience as many of the quintessential ‘Nashville things to do’ as possible. Last night I added another amazing ‘Nashville thing’ to my list. Full Moon Pickin’ parties courtesy of Friend of Warner Parks!
I was interested in this event from a two different perspectives. It was a fundraiser for a good cause and I’ve always had an affinity for bluegrass music. “All of the monies raised from this laid-back affair will go directly back into the parks to mitigate flood damage in the Parks and to ensure preservation, protection, funding for educational programs and special projects including camp-outs for inner city kids.” With a description like that how can you not be interested in this event? So a few of my friends and I grabbed our guitars and headed to our first picking party.
It cost $5 with an approved bluegrass instrument or $20 without. The ticket price actually includes 4 pints of beer, you can’t beat this deal! In fact, if you are entering at the $5 price it is really too cheap, I’d encourage you to donate more. Then, once you grab your first pint, let your ears guide you to one of the dozens of circles filled with pickers jamming under the moon light. I was actually a bit nervous about approaching one of these circles and busting out my guitar. That implies that you are there to play and truth be told I’ve never really played bluegrass before. By the end of the night our circle consisted of guitars, harmonicas, mandolins, dobros, fiddles and a cajon. We jammed for hours on end and literally were stopped mid song and told that we needed to go home. Needless to say I really enjoyed my first experience playing bluegrass at a pickin’ party.
From the perspective of sustainability this event was inspiring. Typically on this blog I’m speaking to the environmental aspect of sustainability. However, when you are talking about sustainability you must really think about the economic and social (community) implications as well. This event embodied a sense of community that we rarely even feel in our own neighborhoods. By the end of the night it felt like I had walked up to a group of neighbors that I had been playing bluegrass with for years. I can’t wait for July 23rd to roll around and bring the group back together for another night under the beautiful Nashville sky.
Next on the list is the Bluebird Cafe. I still don’t understand how I’ve made it three years and never experienced that place. Soon, very soon.
So it has been almost two weeks since I put the original window farm blog up. Here are some progress pictures!
May 23rd Update
May 23rd Update
I had to make a few adjustments to the system to keep it from flooding my condo. It currently waters 6 times a day for 30 min and the lights are on from 7am-11pm. I’ve just adjusted the timer to run the lights from 10am-10pm and will let you know on the next update if I notice any changes in the growth of the plants. Since I brought all of these plants in instead of growing from seed I have a few insect issues to deal with now. I don’t expect them to be too bad however.
The basil and tomatoes are continuing to grow as well. I have no supplemental light on the basil which explains why the lettuce in that planter isn’t growing very quickly. It is also a ‘head’ forming variety of lettuce so not sure how well it will to in hydroponic system just yet. I think the large tomato plant is about to bloom (fingers crossed) and the other two have grown about 6″ in the past two weeks. It is a bit difficult to get the light down to the smaller plants because of the really tall plant.
If anyone would like some fresh herbs please let me know! Don’t for see me being able to use them all.
May 23rd Update
May 23rd Update
Nashville, TN
