Martha’s Vineyard Landscaping
As Martha’s Vineyard’s pioneer of organic landscaping and organic lawn care since 1977, we pride ourselves on introducing organic practices to the Island as a way to preserve Martha’s Vineyard’s rustic landscape for future generations. Tea Lane Nursery is a full-scale design, build, maintenance, and Martha’s Vineyard Landscaping company offering extensive services from hardscapes to high-quality turf, a variety of trees, and a full range of plantings–with a specialty in native plantings, and sourcing exotic or hard to find plants. Learn more.
Preserving Martha’s Vineyard landscapes for generations.
About us
Our capable Martha’s Vineyard landscaping contractors include landscape designers and artisans, organic landscaping experts and a highly skilled lawn and garden maintenance crew.
What we can do for you
Organic
Landscaping
We’ve perfected our organic landscaping practices and process over several decades. This means our customers achieve beautiful and sustainable results that also preserve the natural beauty and integrity of the Island.
Landscape Design & Construction
Our in-house landscape design team works closely with landscape architects to ensure that customized landscapes are properly installed to design specifications and budget, and capture the client’s vision for the property.
Lawn & Garden Maintenance
We offer extensive organic lawn care and garden maintenance services from designing and installing a beautiful container, vibrant perennial bed, a new sod or hydro-seeded lawn, selective view clearing, limb removal & many more.
Martha’s Vineyard Landscaping Contractors & Organic Lawn Care Experts
At Tea Lane Nursery, we’ve mastered the art and science of organic landscaping and use of organic materials and practices from decades of careful study and practice. Our landscape artisans pride themselves on protecting the environment on the Island while realizing your vision and goals for your property.
Featured in the Vineyard Style Magazine
Like the windblown Cedar that’s indigenous to Martha’s Vineyard, Matt Tobin, owner of Tea Lane Nursery in Chilmark, has deep roots in the Island’s soil. Matt has spent nearly 50 years living his passion for Martha’s Vineyard by dedicating his life’s work to preserving and protecting the Island where he was born and raised.
Our Extensive List of Services
Aerate Lawn – This service allows the soil underneath your lawn to breathe. It also makes it easier for water and fertilizer to permeate the soil and remove all excess thatch and plugs in there. Compacted soil can deprive the grass of its natural green color, causing your lawn to struggle in excess heat and less water.
Annuals / Perennials – Annual plants have a lifespan of one season only. In contrast, perennials develop back every year, growing from roots that survive through the winter. Both plants have different characteristics, and may require tailored maintenance and cleaning services to ensure effective upkeep.
Crabgrass Control – Crabgrass is a weed plant whose seeds germinate during the spring and summer. The key to crabgrass control is to make sure these seeds do not germinate. Proper lawn maintenance, which includes using organic herbicides and properly aerating the lawn, can prevent crabgrass.
Custom Landscapes – Custom landscapes are designed specially tailored to your lifestyle. The details that make up your patio, the elements that adorn your garden walls, and even the choice of flowers you plant all make up for a custom landscape.
Design/Build Landscaping – A design/build approach to landscaping is where all the participants, i.e., the residents, architects, and planners, work together towards a shared purpose. A well-thought-out design/build strategy will include simplicity, variety, balance, proportion, and emphasis on all important design elements.
Environmentally Friendly Lawn Care – This is where your lawn care professional uses organic pesticides and herbicides, avoids gas-powered lawn or gardening equipment, and fertilizes the garden with recycled kitchen compost or yard waste. Ecological maintenance is easier, cost-effective, and produces more abundant and lush greenery.
Erosion Control – Erosion control requires action to minimize the destructive effects of wind and water on soil and land. Controlling soil from erosion is very important for protecting the land’s structure and minimizing the harmful effects of erosion on nearby land.
Garden Design – Garden designing is a specialized branch of landscape design that involves designing and creating plans to plant flowers, gardens, and landscapes. You can either design your garden yourself or get professional help from landscape contractors for a more aesthetic look.
Grub Control – Once the soil warms up, the grubs hidden beneath the ground grow into adult beetles, ready to destroy the upper soil levels. The key to controlling grubs is to kill them before they mature and damage your lawn.
Hedge Trimming – This involves cutting shrubs to make them look neat and orderly. A hedge garden trimmer can be used to trim tall overgrown hedges that are hard to reach. Hand pruners are trimmers used for small shrubs.
Irrigation Systems – A proper irrigation system is very important for your garden and plants. Irrigation water can come through wells, springs, water pipelines, or sources such as treated water and desalinated water.
Landscape And Hardscape – The ideal landscape for your garden is a mixture of both hardscape and softscape elements. The former are solid structures that remain for years, such as a stone wall, pathway decks, and driveways.
Landscape Architects – They build custom landscapes, garden designs and plan landscapes according to the local weather specifications and space constraints. These professional landscape architects can make sure your garden looks presentable all year round.
Landscape Contractors – They are responsible for garden project planning, construction, landscape management, and garden aesthetics while employing sustainable, eco-friendly methods. They are also responsible for making sure there are appropriate drainage systems and enough space for your garden to thrive healthily.
Landscape Design & Construction – This includes designing details like planting the appropriate shrubs and flowers for a residential or a commercial community, managing large projects like large-scale outdoor projects, a swimming pool with treated water, or other aesthetic and natural processes.
Landscape Lighting – A properly illuminated entry-way to your house can create a warm and welcoming appeal for your guests. The right professional services can highlight different features of your garden during the day and night and use plants to create a dramatic contrast.
Landscaping Edging – Edges create clear, crisp, and organized boundaries between your flower beds and other areas. It also helps keep your grass out of your carefully curated perennial and shrub beds. A border between your garden beds and the surrounding regions also keeps out any weeds or grubs from encroaching your beds.
Large Tree Removal – Large trees with damaged limbs or branches are a safety hazard for surrounding people and property. It is best to remove these trees through safe tree removal practices such as removing half of the live crown or removing unhealthy or dead parts of the tree.
Lawn And Garden Maintenance – Your lawn and garden maintenance is one of the most important things that can add beauty to your house. It involves maintaining your lawns’ health and vitality by improving soil structure, mowing the lawns, planting flowers according to the seasons, etc.
Lawn Mowing – As simple as mowing a lawn sounds, it is actually very critical to a healthy garden. Mow correctly, and you’ll allow grass and soil to breathe, but if you mow too much, you can expose your soil to erosion or excess sunlight. It is advisable to hire professional lawn mowing services if you want your garden to thrive for a long time.
Limb Removal – Removal of dead limbs from your trees is important for the maintenance of your landscape. In a home landscape, dead limbs can interfere with people moving around and can also damage buildings. Proper care of trees during growth can help conserve the environment too.
Driveway Maintenance – Driveway maintenance including grading, pot holes, resurfacing, enlargement, water problems, or installing a new driveway.
Outdoor Living Areas – Outdoor living spaces have come a long way as spaces that can serve as quiet, comfortable areas to enjoy a book or a cup of coffee. A common design feature is to put stainless steel or brick tables and sofas outside for an elegant touch to your house.
Patio Construction And Installation – Patio design is essential to your indoor-outdoor experience This will not only provide a quality aesthetic but will also improve the functionality of your house. Ensure you work with an architect to ensure that your space is being used to its full potential.
Patios & Walkways – A clean, well-lit walkway offers a welcoming entrance for your guests, while the deck is a perfect place for a nice outdoor gathering. To enhance this experience for your loved ones, your outdoor exterior should vibe with your indoor setting’s overall structure and aesthetic.
Professional Landscaping Services – These include pavements and stonework, garden bed preparations, building sculptures, and murals for your garden or making your garden more tropical with various design features.
Soil Testing – This refers to analyzing soil samples to test nutrient content, acidity, and pH levels. Soil testing can help you decide on the soil you require for growing different plants in different seasons. Professional gardeners can conduct this soil test and help you make the right decision.
Spring Cleanup – After receiving snowfall and rain, spring is when you should remove any fallen limbs or leaves and clean your backyard. Raking the lawn can also help remove all debris and matted leaves so the turf can breathe properly.
New Gardens And Plantings Installation – Your garden is not just a collection of flowering plants but an entire artistic entity that has to be taken care of. This means overlooking sustainable plant practices, exterior design features, taking care of lush greenery, etc.
Fall Cleanup – Post autumn is all about cleaning your yard and making it ready for the holiday season! The right cleanup strategies will save you a lot of time and energy, making sure your yard looks the best. Don’t forget to trim out any loose branches, clean out the gutters, aerate and feed the lawn, prune the trees and give your lawn one last mow!
Yard Work – This involves taking care of your lawn. People usually associate yard work as a highly-energetic, tiring task. However, you can find equipment to make your yard look spick and span without spending too much time on it. Still, it’s best to get professional help to ensure that your yard looks good all year round. Mowing the lawn, watering, and fertilizing the soil are all examples of yard work.
Stone Walls – Many homeowners and contractors opt for natural stone applications for their exterior and interior home settings. Stone walls can be made in different sizes and shapes to render an artistic effect to your garden while also providing maximum protection.
Stone Work – This involves making sculptures, masonry, and other backyard crafts from stone. It requires a high level of skill and expertise, so make sure you work with a professional brick-mason to get the job done right.
Stump Grinding – After you clear away all the dead limbs and branches and remove a tree, what is left behind is a tree stump. If you have a large garden to tend to, it is important that you either remove or grind a tree stump. It is less intensive as it uses a machine to shred the tree into woodchips.
Tree & Shrub Planting – The best time to plant new trees and shrubs is the fall season. It is when the soil temperature is just warm enough to provide a suitable environment for roots and shrubs to stimulate and grow.
Tree Pruning – Tree pruning is the selective removal of certain parts of a plant that may be diseased, damaged, or dead. It is important to prune trees and trim them regularly between changing seasons. You should take the help of your local arborist for when to prune your trees before seasons change.
Wood Chipping – Woodchipping is cutting large pieces of wood like branches, logs, and stumps into smaller wooden pieces. These woodchips can be recycled to produce compost for your garden or create creative wooden garden décor.
Hardscapes – Hardscapes including brick, granite, cobblestone, flagstone, concrete, mortar and other stone work, patios, stone walls including traditional dry lay techniques that are keeping with Vineyard traditions, as well as sourcing hard to find stones to create a custom look.
Low Voltage Lighting – Low voltage lighting including path lighting, up-lighting, stairway lighting that showcases the landscape, as well as being economical and increasing safety.
Turf Installation – High quality turf landscaping services, including the use of traditional seeding methods, sod, or hydroseeding.
Custom Fencing – Custom build fencing including sectional, split rail, stockade, traditional and deer fencing.
Organic Garden Maintenance – Our programs are designed around applications that build up microbiology and balanced soil structure. In doing so, we support healthy environments.
Organic Plantings – Native naturalized organic plantings indigenous to Martha’s Vineyard, as well as ornamental plantings to create a one of a kind landscape
Forestry Work – Forestry work including selective view clearing, tree pruning, limb and large tree removal, stump grinding, wood chipping, brush cutting and clearing, and cutting custom-sized firewood for various fireplace sizes.
Organic Lawn Care – We use both the time-tested and latest organic landscaping practices and processes. Our farm-made compost is comprised of all organic ingredients infused with a microbiological active life, creating a planting medium that results in optimal growth.
Native Landscape And Plantings – Native plants are specifically introduced to an area for human use. For example, Japanese red maples with colorful leaves or hybrid tea roses for an evening setting and Japanese pachysandra and English ivy for ground covers. Professional gardeners will have a better idea and knowledge about native wildflowers.