JDL - Local Nantucket Landscape Maintenance & Custom Swimming Pool Contractor

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Organic land care: Jesse Dutra and some of his team have been accredited by NOFA Northeast Organic Farmers Association as organic land care professionals. We can create a personalized approach plan for your lawns and gardens implementing individual organic applications or a fully-organic regimen. Using organic fertilizers and natural methods of pest control go a long way, but this only part of a truly sustainable approach to landscaping. Follow the links below for some methods and services we provide.

Soil Health
Know your invasive plants
Know your natives plants
Rain Gardens
Wetland construction for storm water runoff and
sanitary treatment
Using less gas powered equipment
Lawn alternatives

To protect wild and marine life
To keep you pets safer
To keep your water cleaner
To preserve wild habitats
To preserve the health of your soil
To limit your children’s exposure to potentially harmful substances
To not worry about storing and disposing of harmful products
To make a difference by helping to keep our environment safe and healthy

At Jesse Dutra Landscape, we know that the most important part to a lush and healthy garden starts right below your feet—with the soil. There are more living things in one teaspoon of healthy soil than there are aboveground in your entire landscape. These microorganisms create a soil food web that is essential to a healthy soil environment. The first step is to analyze the soil to create a baseline from which to treat deficits or excesses. During the transition to organic care, it is mandatory to stop using synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, which kill the needed microorganisms and add residual toxins to the soil.

Once the soil test is analyzed and chemical fertilizer and pesticides are eliminated, organic fertilizers and compost can be added as determined from the soil test analysis. Initially your garden will go through a relearning process as it establishes new growth patterns without the influence of chemical fertilizers and pesticides—once past this period, your soil and plants will be healthier and require less maintenance. A naturally balanced garden environment cultivates stronger and healthier plants—they and the environment will thank you for it!

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Invasive plants are not native to a specific ecosystem and can cause or are likely to cause harm to the foreign environment. Because they have few, if any, diseases or insects to provide control, they grow and mature rapidly, flowering and/or setting seed over a long period of time. They are often so vigorous in their growth that they displace the natural plants in a specific area, eliminating the beautiful diversity of nature and upsetting the ecological balance. Some of the Nantucket’s worst invasive plants are Japanese Knot weed, (Polygonum cuspidatum),Common Reed (Phragmities Australis), Japanese and Bells's honeysuckle (lonicera japonica or x bella Zabel), rosa multi flora (Rosa multiflora Thunb.), autumn olive (Elaeagnus umbellate), Asiatic or Asian bitter sweet (Celastrus orbiculatus) porcelain berry, (Ampelopsis brevipedunculata) and Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria L.) Removal of these plants can be difficult, and additional damage in doing so should be minimized. For assistance in the elimination of invasive plants on your property, please call or email us for a consultation about our removal services.

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Nantucket is full of some beautiful trees, shrubs and perennials that are unique to the island. Not only do they bring beauty to our landscape, they also provide nesting, breeding and feeding habitats for birds and other wildlife. Native plants also create a much more sustainable landscape once they are established because they need little care and are growing in their natural environment, requiring much less supplemental fertilizing and watering.

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Rain gardens are landscaped areas planted on a specific location in a yard with native vegetation that is able to handle the changing levels of water throughout the year. Rain gardens serve a dual purpose: they manage and soak up excess water in wet areas of your yard and prevent runoff from polluting our fragile watersheds and estuaries or eroding our shorelines. By designing and installing rain gardens into your landscape, your gardens will soak up excess rain water from your roof tops, driveways and lawns—absorbing up to 30% more water than standard landscaping.

Another form of rain gardening is rain harvesting. Rain Harvesting is the collection of rain water for use in your landscaping. Systems can be designed as a simple budget collection device such as a rain barrow or an advanced irrigation system which collects rain and applies it when and where it is needed.

Rain harvesting works especially well in town situations, where small lots with large roof tops are common, providing plenty of water for you watering needs in a compact and convenient-sized irrigation system. Most town situations direct the runoff directly into storm drains and out into our watershed, while charging for water usage—so you will save money while helping to preserve Nantucket’s natural beauty. Please email us if you would like a consultation or a rain garden for your property.

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Jesse Dutra has successfully completed a course in wetland construction for storm water runoff and sanitary treatment. This is similar to a rain garden but larger-scale and tidal wetland plants are utilized for their ability to filter out toxins. This method is also used with a separation tank for septic systems. These systems take engineering and approval from your local conservation group and the EPA.

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The amount of carbon monoxide that comes from lawn equipment can be more polluting than your automobile because mowers trimmers and leaf blowers have no laws or inspections to keep them in check. This also is true to most of the small equipment that landscapers use.

If you go back a century ago, we had beautiful lawns and gardens throughout the word and not one gas-powered piece of equipment to do the work. While it would be impractical to suggest eliminating all usage of the equipment required for landscaping, careful planning and a bit of effort can go a long way to reducing unnecessary usage of gas powered equipment. Next time your patio is dirty, try a push broom instead of a blower or power washer—instead of hedge trimmers, try a nice sharp set of trimmers or shearers. The art and beauty of gardening is often overlooked during gas-powered maintenance frenzies—so pour a glass of iced tea, grab those shears and enjoy the art of gardening! For small trim jobs, try a sharp saw or axe instead of a chain saw. Heck, if your lawn is small enough try a reel mower! Wouldn’t it be nice to enjoy your afternoon without the sound of lawn equipment or the smell of two-stroke exhaust?

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Plant gardens or a meadow of wildflowers, instead of a lawn use clover or buffalo grass, which requires less cutting and fertilizer than typical turf grass. Keeping your mowed lawn area small contributes less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. And if you feel like improving your body’s landscaping, try using the push mower for a great workout!

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