Landscaping and lawn care - thoughts and considerations

​Things to consider for landscaping and lawn care....

Landscaping

• Consider which way your home faces and how much sun your property gets
• When planning to locate plants consider the slope and grade of your yard as this affects drainage
• Remember to allow enough room for shrubs and trees to grow to their full projected size
• Keep your yard looking neat and clean by installing lawn edgings, with wood, brick, concrete and plastic varieties available. This will keep grass from growing anywhere you don’t want it and prevent ground covers from making their way onto your lawn

Lawn and plant care

• Grass height - you don’t want to cut away more than one-third of the grass blade when you mow
• The best times to fertilize are during the fall from late September to early November and in the spring from April to early June.
• If you want a green, lush lawn, overseeding is important. Over time, your grass ages and the reproduction rate slows down. It creates patches of unhealthy grass throughout your lawn. Those areas make it easy for weeds to take over again
• Lawns need an inch of water per week, which comes out to about 20 minutes of watering three times a week.  Water less as the temperature ticks down. In fall, your lawn only needs to be watered once or twice a week.
• Grubs love to chew grass roots. If your grass turns brown and lifts easily, you might have grub issues. Check for white, C-shaped larvae with blackheads. If you find more than 12 in a square foot, consider treating with chemicals before the temperatures dip lower and the grubs retreat further in the ground.
• Summer and fall flowering trees and shrubs should be pruned in late winter or early spring, while spring flowering trees and shrubs should be pruned after their flowers fade.

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