Why You May Need A Shishi Odoshi In Your Bethesda MD Landscaping

So, after a lot of time and effort, you’ve set up the perfect backyard pond aquascape at your home.However,has it occurred to you that seeing your ideal backyard, deer, and other animals may have different ideas? What if they view the plant life in your backyard as some sort of great eat it all buffet? So how can you keep these animals away from your backyard pond aquascape? What is the solution?


There is no need to worry as the Japanese have solved this problem brilliantly with a simple shishi-odoshi. Do you know what a shishi-odoshi is? Have you ever seen one? If not, let us explain it to you. These are simply bamboo water fountains that spill over and make that sweet “tunk” noise every so often. The principle behind their working is very simple. They operate on a straightforward principle: by default, this bamboo tube’s center of gravity will be unbalanced. This makes their open end to face upward always. When this open-end fills up with water, the center of gravity of the bamboo tube changes, and this causes the shishi-odoshi to spill over, and the bottom end of the tube touches the ground surface making a “tunk” noise.


Why You May Need A Shishi Odoshi In Your Bethesda MD Landscaping


Now, as you know what is a shishi odoshi and how it works, are you wondering how about fixing one of these in your backyard landscaping to enhance its beauty? Many people believe that shishi odoshi are artistic things. However, it has a much more practical use. For example, it may act as a scarecrow, a scare boar, a scare deer, or a scare-anything. There is no doubt that the abrupt tunk sound it makes can surely scare animals.


However, nowadays, shishi-odoshi has surpassed its functional role and has taken on a new identity. Now, you can find shishi-odoshi even in gardens where there’s no real danger of unwanted animals. This is because this device adds a soothing background noise to your backyard. Some might even find hearing this rhythmic noise breaking up the empty silence of a peaceful backyard pond useful to meditate.


So if you are still pondering over why you may need a shishi odoshi in your Bethesda MD landscaping, mentally picture yourself retreating to your backyard zen pond with closed eyes and letting the stress of the day melt out hearing to the sound of a shishi odoshi. There you have the answer.


Remember that you don’t need a pond or garden to reap the benefits of a shishi-odoshi. You could even have one inside of your home. If you find the idea of having a shushi odoshi at your place, we at East Coast Landscape Design can help you. For this, just get in touch with us by filling the contact form on our website.

Why You May Need a Shishi Odoshi in Your Chevy Chase MD Landscaping

You may be tired of throwing stones and sticks at the animals that could be invading your garden. You may not see putting up a fence as an option. You could know exactly how you want your landscaping to look, and the fence may spoil the aesthetics.
In your search for a solution, you perhaps stumbled across the Japanese Shishi Odoshi. It may sound interesting, and you might be looking for more information. If this in any way describes you, you are in the right place.

Read on for more information on why you may need a Shishi Odoshi in your Chevy Chase MD landscaping.

Why Do You Need a Shishi Odoshi in Your Chevy Chase MD Landscaping?
A Shishi Odoshi is a Japanese invention that is now a standard feature in many gardens worldwide. What makes it interesting is its background and the reason for existence. Japanese farmers were looking for a way to keep the deer out of their fields. Instead of using scarecrows, they opted for this nifty little device.
However, its use has now evolved beyond scaring deer. Landscapers use it as a decorative item in gardens. It brings in a touch of Asian culture and tradition that is sure to spark conversation.
Those who like to meditate often find the rhythmic movement and sound hypnotic. It induces utmost relaxation and is an excellent way to deal with stress.

How Does a Shishi Odoshi Work?

The design elements are mind-boggling in their simplicity.

  • You need a bamboo tube with one closed end. Rest this on a piece of stone or rock
  • Mount the tube on a frame. Here is where your physics lessons come into play. The tube should be able to pivot from side to side. The open-end must remain in an upward position
  • Water from the fountain or source goes into the tube and fills it.
  • Gravity forces the tube to tilt and dump the contents
  • When empty, it goes back to the resting position. The force of the return makes the closed-end hit the rock on which it rests. This is where the thudding sound originates.

The process loops over and over again. You can control the intervals by adjusting the floor of the water. The faster the water goes into the tube, the shorter the intervals.

Maryland Landscapers is the Company to Call for Your Shishi Odoshi


Take your landscaping up a notch by installing a Shishi Odoshi. Maryland Landscapers has been in the outdoor beautification space for over 40 years. The device is quite popular amongst our clients. You shall enjoy having one in your garden.
You also have the option of indoor ones if you do not have garden space. If you have more questions, we would be happy to answer them. We are also ready for a consultation at your convenience if you have made up your mind to get the great device.
Please start the process of owning one by filling in the form on our website.

Is New Carrollton Md Landscaping An Art Or A Science?

This question comes up often enough when working with our clients that we wanted to turn the answer into an article in case you’ve been wondering the same thing. It’s not hard to understand where the question comes from. After all, nobody is interested in spending good money for an ugly bit of landscaping. Landscaping is supposed to be beautiful, which means that by definition, artistry plays an important role in the equation.

That is 100% true, but it’s not the full story. Sure, it holds true for small projects you can tackle yourself: A flowerbed that runs around the edge of your front porch. A simple flagstone walkway from your driveway to the front door. That kind of thing is all about the artistry.

Bigger landscaping projects though, tend to do two things at once: They solve an immediate pressing issue and they look great while doing that.

Some of the more common pressing issues good landscaping can solve are things like drainage problems, terracing, which gives you more usable space on your property, and connectivity, if you have a stream on your property and want to have a bridge built giving you easier access to the land on the other side.

In those cases, science and engineering have major roles to play that are every bit as important as aesthetics.
While it may not be obvious to the eye, there’s actually a lot of science behind the design of a retaining wall, for example. The topography of your land and the composition of your soil both play a major role. In addition to that, the design of the drainage system has more than a century’s worth of science and engineering packed into it.

All that to say, the only real answer to the question “Is New Carrollton Md landscaping an art or a science?” is to conclude that it’s both.

Whatever the scope and scale of your landscaping ambitions, we stand ready to help. Our landscape engineers have decades of experience and have designed and completed hundreds of projects of all shapes and sizes, all across the region.

We’re the top-rated landscaping company in the area for a reason, and since the day we first opened our doors, we’ve worked hard to exceed the expectations of each and every client we work with. We’d love the opportunity to exceed yours, so when you’re ready to stop dreaming and start turning your property into the showplace you always knew it could be, just give our office a call. We’ll be more than happy to sit down with you, working with you at every stop along the way to turn your landscaping dreams into a reality.

Is Largo MD Landscaping An Art Or A Science?

We field a lot of great questions from the clients we work with. One of the more common ones we get is some variant or another of “Is Largo Md landscaping an art or a science?” It comes up often enough that we felt it would make a good article topic in case you’ve been wondering the same thing.

The first point to make is that there’s a difference between doing a small project like planting a flower bed or putting a few paving stones down to create a walkway between your driveway and your front door and a large scale landscaping project designed to fundamentally transform your property into a showplace.

In the case of those smaller projects, it’s all about the art and there’s really no science involved. You buy the materials or plants you like and you put them where you want them. Anything beyond that though, and science most definitely has a role to play.

Major landscaping problems tend to do two things: They solve a practical, often pressing issue you’re having where your property is concerned, and they beautify and enhance the value of your property.

So what are some of those issues? Well, it could be something like building a bridge across a stream that runs through your property, expanding your access to the land you own. Or solving a drainage issue if you’ve got standing water, especially if it’s pooling very close to your home after a hard rain. Or terracing your land to give you more useable space.

In all of those cases, there’s some serious science and engineering that goes into crafting a viable solution. Of course, artistry still matters a great deal. After all, nobody wants a retaining wall that’s an eyesore and no one wants a bridge on their property that sticks out like a sore thumb. What you need then, is a synthesis of art and science. You want an end result that solves whatever problem you’re having and enhances your property’s value by creating a unified aesthetic you’ll love.

At the end of the day then, the answer to the question “Is Largo Md Landscaping an art or a science?” is that it’s both. No matter what the scope and scale of your landscaping ambitions, we can help turn your vision into a reality. Our talented landscaping engineers have decades of experience, and we’ve helped scores of your neighbors turn their properties into showplaces. We’d love to have the opportunity to help you do the same.

When you’re ready to stop dreaming about transforming your property and start doing, give us a call. You’ll be very glad you did!

Is Greenbelt Md Landscaping An Art Or A Science?

We get lots of great questions from the clients we work with and this one has come up often enough that we wanted to turn its answer into an article in case you’ve been wondering the same thing.

First, let’s start with the reason it’s a question in the first place. Obviously, nobody is going to pay for landscaping that looks terrible, so there’s unmistakably an artistic component to any job, no matter how big or small.

That said, good landscaping without hard science and engineering behind it is just a decoration. Minus the science and engineering that lies beneath the surface of any well-planned landscaping project, whatever you do to beautify your property isn’t going to last into the long term. Here’s a common example:

Drainage issues are very common on properties in the region. When you start to look for them, you’ll see an almost shocking number of retaining walls around your area that your eye probably just looked past before.

What you may not know is that there’s a lot of science and engineering behind each and every one of those walls. Placement matters. The design of the drainage system built into those walls matters. The type of soil you have matters, and of course, the topography of your land matters.

Without a scientific approach to the building of a retaining wall to help solve whatever drainage issues you’re having, it’s almost certainly not going to be effective.

Again though, landscaping is clearly about artistry too. After all, nobody is going to spend money on having a retaining wall built if it’s going to stick out like a sore thumb, so the trick is to build the wall in such a way that it solves the problem while blending into your overarching landscaping vision to create an aesthetically pleasing whole that will enhance the value of your property.

No matter what the scope and scale of your landscaping ambitions, pretty much every project you undertake is like that. There are aspects to consider like soil erosion and not getting in the way of the pipes running beneath your property to consider that require a scientific approach.

In short then, the answer to the question “Is Greenbelt Md landscaping an art or a science?” is that it’s both, and we’ve got a tremendous amount of experience in the field, so whatever landscaping you’ve got in mind, give our office a call when you’re ready to begin.

We’ve built our business and become the top-rated landscaping company in the area by exceeding the expectations of each and every client we serve, and we can hardly wait for the opportunity to impress you.

Is College Park Md Landscaping An Art Or A Science?

“Is College Park Md landscaping an art or a science?” We get this question from the clients we work with, and from people who want to have landscaping work done and are just exploring their options often enough that we thought we’d turn it into the topic for this article, in case you’ve been wondering the same thing.

The question stems from the fact that artistry clearly plays a pivotal role in any landscaping project you might undertake. After all, why spend your hard earned money paying for landscaping that looks terrible? Nobody would do that, so obviously, the artistic side of the equation matters a great deal, and if you’re just interested in doing some small projects around your yard you can tackle yourself, like adding a flowerbed or a simple stone path, science doesn’t really have a role to play.

Larger and more involved projects, however, are a different matter entirely. Big landscaping problems are almost always chasing two goals: They seek to solve a real, practical problem, and they should enhance the beauty and value of your property at the same time. Here are a few examples of the kinds of problems more substantial landscaping projects solve:

  • Increasing the amount of usable land on your property – If your property has lots of ‘goat slopes’ on it, then you may not have a lot of land you can actually use and enjoy. Terracing those slopes will give you more functional space to use for planting or entertaining.
  • Solving for drainage issues – Few things are more damaging to your home than water, and if you have water pooling on your property after a hard rain, especially if it’s pooling quite close to your house, getting that problem fixed should be a huge priority.
  • Minimizing the impact of erosion – This is often, but not always tied to drainage issues. If there’s a serious drainage issue, you’ll likely need a retaining wall to help matters, but if you just want to minimize the impact of soil erosion, mostly that comes down to finding and planting the right kind of ground cover and doing so in a way that won’t allow the root systems of those plants to interfere with the pipes that bring water into your home or interfere with the proper functioning of your septic system, if you have one.

Solving for those kinds of problems requires a strong focus on science and engineering. Given that, the answer to the question “Is College Park Md landscaping an art or a science?” really only has one viable answer. It’s both. It has to be.

We are the premier landscaping company in the region and there’s no landscaping project too big for our experienced team. When you’re ready to start transforming your property, give us a call.

Is Upper Marlboro Md Landscaping An Art Or A Science?

Is Upper Marlboro Md landscaping an art or a science? It’s a question we get often enough that we thought it would make an excellent article topic in case you’ve been wondering the same thing.

It’s pretty easy to see where the question comes from. After all, who wants to spend money on landscaping that doesn’t enhance the beauty of your property? It’s an undeniable fact that aesthetics play a pivotal role in any landscaping project.

The simple truth is that there are all sorts of ways you can beautify your property. You could plant a flower garden or install a simple stone path from the driveway to your front door. Those things look great if done well, but that’s not really landscaping.

A major landscaping project transforms your property and anytime you do that, science and engineering both have an important role to play. When you start talking about making substantial changes to your property say, to give yourself more usable space or to simultaneously beautify your property and solve a practical problem like a drainage issue, you’re going to have to take your soil’s composition, topography and the way water flows over your land into account or your efforts will ultimately come to nothing.

If you have significant landscaping ambitions in mind, the best way to begin is to create a Master Landscaping Design document. This does a lot more than put all of your landscaping goals in one place, it also allows you to prioritize and see clearly the role that science and engineering have to play in the process.

If you start trying to put that document together and find yourself struggling with it, that’s something we can definitely help with. Sometimes, a second pair of eyes will prove invaluable in terms of helping you clarify your vision and map out the best and most optimal way to get your property from where it is right now to where you ultimately want it to be.

Done well, a landscaping project will solve a real, practical issue that’s impacting the use and full enjoyment of your property while simultaneously beautifying it and enhancing its value. It’s definitely not something you want to try to attempt on your own.

With all of that in mind, ultimately, the answer to the question “Is Upper Marlboro Md landscaping an art or a science?” is that it’s both, and our talented experts can help you transform your property into the showplace you always knew it could be.

When you’re ready to get started, just give our office a call. Since the day we first opened our doors, we’ve prided ourselves on exceeding the expectations of every client we work with, and we’d love the opportunity to exceed yours. Call us today.

Is Calverton Md Landscaping An Art Or A Science?

One of the many fun parts about what we do is talking to the clients we serve. When we do that—and we do it a lot—we get tons of great questions like the one used in the subject heading above. In fact, we get this one often enough that we thought it would be a good article topic in the even that you’ve been thinking some variant of the same thing but weren’t sure who to ask.

It’s easy to see where the question comes from. People simply aren’t going to pay for landscaping work that doesn’t beautify their property so of course artistry plays a major role in the equation. The question is – is it the only thing that plays a role?

A complete answer requires a bit of explanation. First, sure, if you’re doing a small project – the kind you can handle by yourself on the weekend without calling in the pros, then there’s probably not much, if any science involved. You don’t need to do complex equations to plant a flower bed around your porch. Other than some basic math, you don’t need to do anything special to place a few paving stones to create a short walkway from your driveway to your front door.

Having said that, if you plan on doing any major landscaping, science and engineering almost have to have a significant role.

Major landscaping projects tend to simultaneously solve a problem you’re having and look awesome while they’re doing it. Some of the problems you might solve via landscaping are things like:

  • Drainage issues
  • Erosion problems
  • And terracing to give you more usable space in your yard

These are serious issues. If left unchecked, standing water can cause major damage to your house and any outbuildings you have. Rapid erosion can lead to drainage problems and even if it doesn’t, can completely alter the topography of your property much more quickly than you think. Terracing is critical if your property has a lot of steep slopes, which limits the amount of usable land you have to work with. If you want more, rather than buying additional acreage, you can simply terrace those slopes.

You can’t solve for problems like that without science and engineering so ultimately the answer to the question “Is Calverton Md landscaping an art or a science?” is that it’s both.

The good news is that we can help with that. Whatever your landscaping ambitions are, we’ve got you covered, so when you’re ready to stop dreaming about the landscaping you’d like to do and start transforming your property, give our office a call. We’re looking forward to working with you!

Is Silver Spring Md Landscaping An Art Or A Science?

The question posed in the subject heading above is one we get fairly often. It’s easy to understand why. After all, if you’re interested in having landscaping done, you want it to look good. You aren’t going to want to pay for a new patio, retaining wall, or terracing and the strategic placement of flora and fauna if it’s not going to be aesthetically pleasing and enhance the value of your property.

It’s also certainly the case that if you’re just undertaking a very small project like building a backyard garden, planting a flowerbed, or installing a few paving stones, aesthetics are firmly in the driver’s seat and science doesn’t have much, if any role to play.

Having said that, if you’re planning more extensive landscaping, science is a very big deal. You can’t build and position a retaining wall properly without a careful topological survey of the land so you understand where and how water will flow and how to best utilize the retaining wall and the drainage system that comes with it.

Additionally, there are a number of different kinds of retaining walls and knowing which one to build requires a scientific approach to study the composition of your soil and the topography of your land.

In a similar vein, you can’t know what types of ground cover to utilize and where to locate it without understanding where the pipes that keep your house in the 21st century are located, and where your drain field is, if you have a septic system on your property.

The bottom line is that science and engineering both have a major role to play in larger landscaping projects, so ultimately the answer to the question “Is Silver Spring Md landscaping an art or a science?” is that it’s both.

The good news is that when you need an expert, we’re the company to call. Our team has the experience to get the job done right. Nobody in the region has more experience than we do, and no project is too big for our talented team. Over the years, we’ve designed and implemented scores of stunning property transformations, and have plenty of examples of our work hosted on our website for you to study.

When you’re ready to stop dreaming and start turning your landscaping ambitions into reality to utterly transform your property into the showplace you always knew it could be, just give us a call. We’ve built our reputation by exceeding the expectations of every client we work with, and we’d love the opportunity to exceed yours. Give our office a call today. You’ll be very glad you did.

Is Bethesda Md Landscaping An Art Or A Science?

We get lots of great questions from the clients we work with on a regular basis, and in this article, we’ll address one of the more common ones in case you’ve been wondering the same thing.

Is Bethesda Md Landscaping An Art Or A Science? It’s easy to understand where this question comes from. After all, on the surface, landscaping works appears to be all art and no science. The reason for that is because most of the science takes place before the actual work begins, during the planning stages of whatever landscaping project you’re pursuing.

The reality though, is that without the science aspect, landscaping wouldn’t be terribly effective and it simply wouldn’t last. Here are a few examples:

Many, if not most properties would benefit from the addition of a retaining wall to help control water drainage. That’s critical because if you have drainage issues on your property, it can do serious long term damage to your home and any other outbuildings you may have on your property.

In order to solve for those types of issues, you’ve got to be sure that the retaining wall is in the right place, and is designed to account for the topography of your land and the type of soil you have, so there’s a lot of science and engineering work in that process.

Hand in hand with that though, there is an undeniable artistry involved as well. After all, it’s entirely possible to make a retaining wall that’s perfectly effective at redirecting water, but is also a bit of an eyesore. Obviously, nobody would be interested in building such a structure, so you need both.

Also consider how having a well or septic tank—or both—on your property interacts with whatever landscaping you want to do.

Not only is there science involved in figuring out how to get the look you want without interfering with those structures, but there’s more science, engineering and planning involved in selecting the right kinds of ground cover and placing them appropriately so the root systems of that ground cover helps prevent erosion without risking the roots growing into the pipes that are essential to keeping your home livable.

While it’s easy to overlook the importance of science and engineering in whatever landscaping project you’ve got in mind, it would be a mistake to do so. All that to say that the answer to the question “Is Bethesda Md landscaping an art or a science?,” is that it’s both. One without the other is a disaster waiting to happen.

Whatever the scope and scale of your landscaping ambitions, we’ve got you covered. Give our office a call today and let’s talk about how we can help turn your property into the showplace you’ve always dreamed it could be.