Born To Nurture

Regional Account Manager, Andrew Engel, shares this calming footage of his personal live pincushion moss wall and Alocasia plant. His careful attention helps to nurture these plants and keep them thriving as they in return, keep him thriving.

        Here you will see my favorite set-up. The first plant you see is an Alocasia with the aerial roots of a Philodendron 'revolution' resting on top. The roots are wrapped in moss and the plant is kept in a slatted basket to encourage aerial roots. The moss you see on the wall is Pincushion Moss, or Leucobryum glaucum. It is really hardy and is thriving inside. All it needs is a fairly consistent mist to stay green as moss has no roots and it can dry out fairly quickly. It also needs a bit of care in filtering the water as moss can be sensitive to chemicals found in municipal water. The best part of the whole set-up is the mist that sprays over the wall as it brings up the relative humidity in the whole apartment nurturing me and all the plants around.                                                                                                                - Andrew Engel

https://www.johnmini.com/ideas/born-to-nurture

Born To Solve

Long before any garden, roof terrace, or courtyard is built and enjoyed, a designer is tasked with a problem to solve.  The first step in the process is to familiarize themselves with a space and perform a site analysis.  You may not be familiar with the term, however, you probably do this in everyday life.  Determining critical elements like, which direction does the space face?  Where is the sun?  From which direction are the prevailing winds?  Are there any views you want to keep or frame?  Are there views you want to block or distract the eye from?  How does the outside interact with the inside space?  What rooms are connecting to the outdoor space?  Creating even the most simplistic site analysis plan can help make any project a success.

Often when visiting the space for the first time, we are lucky enough to meet with the end user, the owner.  At times they have a vision, and they are asking us to build it.  Other times, they want to hear our thoughts and see what we might create.  In this case, it is important to understand how the client intends to use the space.  In a private dwelling it could be a couple who will enjoy their morning coffee on the terrace.  In other circumstances, it could be a family with three kids and a dog who all like to run around and need the extra space.  Depending on the client’s requests, the same design and layout may or may not work for both situations.   When approaching the design for a public space, we need to be aware of similar questions.  Is the space intended to be quiet and peaceful for relaxing, or is it an open space for people to gather?

Every outdoor space is carefully designed and edited with the design team and client.  Some spaces are created  as an escape from busy city life with a lush serene garden, terraces are designed to entertain friends and family for dinner parties, company spaces are created for a quiet spot to eat lunch, get fresh air, or bring clients in for meetings, and the list goes on.  With that being said, we design each space to specifically meet the needs of our clients down to the paver colors, planter colors, lighting, and plant palette choices. There is no one correct answer to any design.  Every problem has a variety of solutions, but it is how the elements are used together that makes the space successful.

Born to Grow

Juan Lopez started with John Mini in spring of 2016 as a Foreman's assistant, with little to no knowledge of plants and the landscape industry.  After 3 years of hard work, listening and learning, Juan absorbed the language of our industry, just like roots taking in nourishment from the soil.  He was promoted to Foreman in the spring of 2019.           I enjoy everything I learned from the company, from planting trees & flowers to pruning and more. Now I am able to teach others and pass on my skills.                                                                                                            - Juan Lopez

One of his greatest passions at John Mini is seeing the finished product thrive.  These pictures show the before and after of an installation Juan was a part of, as well as a current photo of him working in the field showing that he is #borntogrow just like the plants.

https://www.johnmini.com/ideas/born-to-grow

Teaching Garden

We are born to grow in all aspects of life. In recent months I have spent more time thinking about what I want to teach my kids about food and how we use the outdoor space we have efficiently. I recently turned a grass lawn into a place to grow and teach them about food. I always had a passion for the outdoors and nature but gardening is new. The plants we choose in our landscape can better our physical and mental well-being as well as the animals around us. I like to view these multi-functional environments as classrooms so we can change the way everyone looks at landscapes and urban spaces.

Working on my first garden this year was a great way to make a connection with what we eat. The garden can be a couple herbs in the kitchen, window boxes, planter beds, community gardens or any place you can grow.      

As an estimator for John Mini, I am always breaking down projects. A garden for some might be a simple object, but I see it in a different way. From overall design, flow, materials, plant varieties, spatial efficiencies, conveyance, equipment, labor, costs, maintenance and the list goes on. I have grown to enjoy the outdoors even more and I hope others will look at producing some of their own food in their landscapes. I cannot grow everything so we’ll still walk down to the Farmer’s Market on Sunday to get additional produce and ensure we support local business.

Peter Acciavatti, Estimating Manager & Landscape Designer

https://www.johnmini.com/ideas/teaching-garden

Ahl-Born To Solve

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Something you don't see as often in the landscape design field anymore are hand sketches. These days, designs, renders and layouts are made on a computer AutoCAD program and for us, it's no different. But drawing is a talent and a form of art that should never be forgotten. Whether it's a design for a client or just for personal inspiration, hand sketches always seem to add that extra bit of character that truly grasps the concepts of the design. Scott Ahlborn, our in house Sales & Design Rep, shares some pre-CAD sketches with us and man, do they give us the feels!

Nature. Embroidery. Zen.

"Mindfulness is more than just sitting in a quiet room and reflecting, it's about achieving a state of being alert and focused but still relaxed"                                                                                                       -Neal Hoffman

Although most people can find embroidery a bore, this is my Zen space. With just a needle, thread, and fabric any vision thatcomes to mind can transfer into a piece of art. A rough outline of defining edges allows the evolution of the work to come together as you stitch in a spontaneous feeling.Each morning I walk down to the Hudson and watch the sunrise and everyday it resonates its own unique way. In sitting among sunny mornings and gloomy mornings, it reminds me that there are imperfections in nature and that's what brings the beauty.

Alexxa Vanderbeek, Designer

Solutions for a Dark Lobby

I have always enjoyed problem solving. As a child, I was always fascinated by mazes. Which turn to take in trying to reach an inevitable goal despite being frustrated by dead ends.  So now, as a horticultural salesperson, I encounter equally daunting challenges, some of which also involve twists and turns. Most recently, a client contact called with a pressing need in a wonderful new building. Upon initial completion, the owner visited the lobby and found it to be cold. “We need plants!”, he said. The next morning, I met with the resident architect who had his mind set on live bamboo in several locations. Unfortunately, the completed conditions did not provide enough light to sustain the plants. Hence, the problem solving. We discussed the necessary additional lighting volumes and a study was conducted. The resulting plan modified the look of the space enough to displease the owner. Next? I suggested artificial bamboo. Great product is available from a reliable source. Samples were obtained and renderings were done. The answer was “No”. Next? Never one to be discouraged, I suggested live plantings in the front windows only. Plenty of light but only serving a small area of the lobby. More photos and renderings proved futile. The entire space needed to be treated. At this point, I began to think of a hybrid approach that would incorporate artificial trees, furnished with real trunks and synthetic foliage under planted with live plants. Could this work? A very popular atrium tree, Mediterranean Olive, became the leading candidate. The afore mentioned manufacturer sent photos of another project along with fruit bearing foliage, a big hit, and bark samples. Renderings were done and the owner signed on! A trip to the Midwest factory, involving the resident architect addressed the final touches. The product was then shipped and installed. Problem solved!   Challenges continuously stimulate us to become better at whatever we do. 

Mandala Moment

Mandalas are often called the window to the soul because they often are expressions of our true nature or the true center of our cosmos.  They typically have repetitive symbols in an integrated structure organized around a unifying center. A Tibetan Buddhist description of a mandala calls it, “a blueprint for buddha hood” and the symbols presented in the mandala remind the viewer  “of the imminence of sanctuary in the universe and its potential in himself.”  Mandalas are used for focused meditation to  promote the experience of  boundless compassion for others by celebrating the unity of all things. The word mandala has origins in ancient Sanskrit and is used interchangeably with circle, indicating that there is no beginning or end to the mandala, and the journey to individuation also simultaneously connects us with community through empathy and curiosity regarding the patterns displayed.  These symbols can be anything from animals and plants to colors and geometry, so long as they repeat rhythmically withing the grid.  Carl Jung observed the cultural overlap of mandala use to experience wholeness and facilitate healing through the creation of art to, “restore a previous existing order” or give  “expression and form to something that does not yet exist.” He also considered them archetypal symbols in themselves, but also observed that many of the symbols selected to compose them across cultures had universal archetype.  A Jungian archetype is a universal pattern, or symbol that represents a belief system and can inform behavior subconsciously.  So the symbols in your mandala may have origins in your subconscious from the experience of an ancient ancestor that is potentially informing your behavior. Presence with this and the embodied awareness it delivers can serve to unlock and unite your psyche with others”, and others as well as guide your meditations to higher self realization. And the mandala has returned to vogue in meditation circles, perhaps representative of our global desire to express and connect, and the design team is using them as tools to understand the powerful meaning projected by certain symbols, and how to apply them to life and design. We will be exploring a couple approaches to creating mandalas including selecting the symbols for direct expression and reminder of their meaning, as well selecting symbols that seem to stand out in our environments, which we are drawn to, and then creating a mandala with them to study their meaning. From there the possibilities are endless, mandalas can uplift you, ground you, be spiritual or playful. They also can serve as a personal crest and even find there way into your garden beds through color and pattern- which we will explore! Take a look at the beautiful and inspiring Mandalas our designers, Samantha and Alexxa, created and see if the symbols resonate with you. We will decode their meaning for you next month and present alternate mandalas created with the opposite approach described. Join us on the journey and share your mandalas or thoughts and experiences with certain symbols like; eyes, hexagons or stars. We can’t wait to see what you come up with. 

https://www.johnmini.com/ideas/mandala-moment

From Stocks to Plants; A Natural Transition

"Be not afraid of growing, be afraid of standing still“                                                               - Chinese Proverb

Most people ask me how I went from a financial trading desk to working outdoors in the landscape industry. Answer is simple, life changes and you change with it. After twenty years sitting in an office watching the city landscape grow and change everyday, I did not. My growth was stagnant, the financial industry dying and zero fulfillment. The so-called dreadful day of layoffs came. For me it was a sense of relief, freedom. Question was, I needed a new career but where do I start? Well where do you always start at the beginning! I spent the majority of my earlier days mowing lawns, cutting trees, gardening and general landscape for family and friends. If I could do it then, I can do it now, I just needed a chance. Most people see a difference between finance and landscape. I see similarities. Principals are the same. Plan - What plant or what stock? What's the climate of the season or climate of the markets?   Service/Upkeep - Customers need to be serviced. Weeds cannot be in gardens and you have to weed out failing stocks. Water the flowers, water the good stocks.   Growth - Trees grow/die, stocks go up/down. Well I was given my chance with Castle Landscape where I was able to hone my skills, learn new ones and parlay them into a blossoming career at John Mini, where you can dare to imagine and grow each and every day. Like they said in the good old days on Wall Street, sky's the limit. “Life moves pretty fast, If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it” -Ferris Bueller   #BornToGrow

John Angelone, Outdoor Installations Foreman

https://www.johnmini.com/ideas/from-stocks-to-plants-a-natural-transition

Born to Solve; The solution of a Lifetime

As we approach September 25 and I celebrate 20 years at John Mini, I would like to take today’s post to explain my beginnings. Back in 2000, I had reached a crossroads in my life. My challenge was to find a way to integrate my passions into my work life. One of the best ways to find a career opportunity was to answer the want ads in the newspaper! One lucky day I saw a tiny little ad, maybe 4 lines long, asking for someone who liked sales and plants.

Even earlier in my life I enjoyed a childhood spent on my Italian grandparent’s 10-acre farm in the Garden State of rural New Jersey.  This farm is where my Mom and her family were raised.  My sisters and I climbed apple trees, rode on the tractor with my grandpa, played hide and seek in the corn fields and ate delicious meals prepared by everything harvested. Lazy summer days and long Sunday afternoons my cousins and I laughed, explored, and shared our love for this land. Later when I became a teenager, my Dad proudly displayed the best suburban lawn for miles. Not a weed or brown spot – walking barefoot across it felt like a thick pile carpet. Leaving his sales job, he purchased a landscaping business which he owned and ran for 30 years. I listened to every word as he explained how he managed hundreds of lawns and his goal for every lawn to be perfection. It was natural for him to take us on drives to price new accounts, show us his customer’s lawns and during these drives he loved to share his passionate knowledge. Plants and nature were a natural discussion for me so yes, I jumped at the chance to utilize my business experience and college business degree courses along with my love for all thing’s nature.

I shut my Dad’s truck door and told him I did not know how long the interview would last. A constant reader, he assured me the 3 newspapers he had brought would keep him occupied. I entered the greenhouse at City Island in the Bronx and instantly knew I was home. The familiar smell of green plants, the warm faces of everyone I met, and I knew I had solved the challenge of connecting my passion to my financial security, but I got so much more than that by accepting the Sales & Design Rep position at John Mini that September day. I have made lifelong friendships, gained, and shared professional expertise and collaborated with kind, knowledgeable people who wanted to talk passionately about the very things I love. I have brought solutions to my kids who needed to make extra money at the holiday times. Each of my 3 daughters and my niece said yes to working the holiday crunch while they were growing up. Just another wonderful advantage of belonging to the John Mini family.

Today I am proud to say I collaborate and solve so many sales & design opportunities of all sizes by partnering with many amazing and talented professionals. My precious Dad left this earth a few years ago but every time I produce a design that I think he might like I think back to his early tutoring to rely upon, my 20 years of experience and education as well as my love of nature to assure me that these years at John Mini have been my solution and a blessing.

Commercial landscaper - best help for maintenance routines

A commercial landscapern ot only creates stunning landscapes but maintains them for you, too.  Such a professional in addition to creating landscapes as per their client’s likes and budget, also take upon themselves every task related to maintaining, post installation.There fore,commercial landscaper mows, trims, prunes, weeds and if required, replaces plants in the landscapes that they require to maintain, in keeping with their commercial landscaping agreements. Suchservices from the commercial landscaper take off a huge load of stress of their clients.  These services also help in popularizing the concept of landscaping. Several people may fight shy of installing landscapes even though they may be eager to, only be cause of the enormous maintenance tasks. Commercial landscaper not only takes away the stress of the maintenance tasks but also perform these tasks much better since they have all the expertise and tools required for these.

John Mini Distinctive Landscapes is one of the most sought after commercial landscaping companies in the Tri State area. The company not only crafts exquisite landscapes but also offer their clients, the much required maintenance tasks too.

From rooftop gardens and pocket parks, to mid-floor terrace greenscapes and lush courtyards, the John Mini team builds some of the most beautiful commercial landscapes in the city.

Our outdoor landscapes let you experience the city from a different environment, away from crowded metropolitan streets and towering skyscrapers. Instead, escape into a new outdoors, where you can breathe easier and live naturally.

Indoor Landscaping Ideas – Inspiring Your Outdoors

John Mini is keen on building green spaces to inspire your indoors. Our interior landscaping ideas are here to stay for long and everyone is sure to enjoy the greenery around them.

https://www.johnmini.com/indoor-landscaping

Holiday Landscape Service NJ – Exquisite And Exciting Designs

Holidays are not the same always with John Mini Holiday Landscape services in NJ. We can add grace to your home or business through our exquisite and exciting design themes.

https://www.johnmini.com/holiday-decor

Holiday Landscape Service New Jersey – Achieving tough goals

John Mini holiday landscape services in New Jersey explore new ideas to fulfill your requirements. We strive to push the limits to help achieve tough goals. We are constantly learning and introduce new techniques.

https://www.johnmini.com/awards

Tips For Choosing Best Landscapers In New York

Professional landscapers in New York can breathe a new life into your otherwise ordinary home or office. Hiring a landscaping company can change the appearance of your living or working space. Research for the right landscaping company with a good track record. Check about their past project information and if possible visit the site in person to see if they have the talent and equipment to get it right. A landscaping company with a long standing experience can qualify as the right choice.

Characteristic of best landscapers It is hard to find a truly professional landscaping company with a flawless track record. But if you find one, do not hesitate to engage them. Request for referrals and hearing first hand testimony from the client go ahead to clinch the deal.

Landscaping requires a keen eye for detail and design and professional training and experience is crucial for this job. The landscapers should hold liability insurance and license to ensure you are in safe hands.

Customer satisfaction and guarantee is the top most agenda of a landscaper. The prospective landscaper should be able to handle complaints with professionalism. They should lend an ear to the calls and emails. Those who answer complaints are dedicated to customer service.

Proper maintenance of the lawn is the key to the health of the yard. The team should offer spring clean up service and winter preparation for the plants to stay healthy and strong through all seasons.

Interior landscaping plants – Add a style statement

John Mini takes pride in offering exclusive interior landscaping plants created with skill and technology. We can add color to your space as you get ready to add statement through our landscaping solutions.

https://www.johnmini.com/ideas/what-is-interior-landscaping

Green wall installation – Why planning well is so crucial?

Green living walls are a great way for incorporating greenery indoors and outdoors in the house or place of business. Strategic positioning of such walls in the business area can enhance the ambience of the place, multifold. If there are space constraints in the house, one can still enjoy the delights of having their own vegetable and fruit garden, albeit vertically.

Green wall structures have two vertically placed panels with space in between to hold compost or soil, along with a drip irrigation system to water the plants. Readymade panels can be bought and placed according to the space available. In case someone wants to build the panels at home, then kits along with instructions are also available in the market.

While going in for a green wall installation it is important to focus on certain points. Firstly the wall along which the panels are placed should be sturdy so that it can take on the weight of the soil, plant and water in the panels. Secondly, plants that are native to the place with shorter root systems are always a good choice to grow on the panel. Such plants last longer and thrive better in shallow soils. They even have the capacity to survive winters that are harsh and again bloom during spring.

Lighter panels are also available wherein the backing is made of strong plastic with felt pockets to grow the plants hydroponically. It is important to plan the construct of the green wall well. If done so, Green wall installation becomes easy and the maintenance cost becomes perceptibly low.