Archive for Fall
Choosing the Best Evergreens for Your Landscape
In the world of landscaping, evergreens are akin to the steadfast friends who stand by you year-round, irrespective of the season. They provide a constant splash of color when the rest of your garden has succumbed to the winter chill.
At DK Landscaping, we understand that choosing the right evergreens is crucial to ensuring your garden remains vibrant and dynamic throughout the year. Here’s a comprehensive guide to help you with your evergreen landscaping projects.
Understand Your Landscape’s Needs
Before diving into the plethora of evergreen landscaping options, it’s essential to assess the specific needs of your landscape. Consider the following:
- Climate Zone: Evergreens vary in their hardiness. Ensure the species you choose can thrive in your area’s climate.
- Soil Type: The success of an evergreen largely depends on the soil it’s planted in. Know your soil type and choose plants that will flourish in those conditions.
- Space and Size: Account for the mature size of the evergreen to ensure it fits well in your space without overcrowding.
- Sunlight: Some evergreens prefer full sun, while others thrive in partial shade. Understand the sunlight patterns in your landscape to make an informed choice.
Types of Evergreens
Evergreens come in various forms – trees, shrubs, and groundcovers. Each brings its unique aesthetic and functional qualities to your landscape.
Evergreen Trees
- Spruce (Picea spp.): With their classic Christmas tree shape, spruces are a popular choice. They offer dense foliage and can act as excellent windbreaks or privacy screens.
- Pine (Pinus spp.): Pines are known for their long, slender needles and are often used for their fast growth and stately appearance.
- Cedar (Cedrus spp.): Cedars are valued for their distinctive, often aromatic wood and rugged, shaggy appearance, adding a rustic charm to the landscape.
Evergreen Shrubs
- Boxwood (Buxus spp.): Boxwoods are versatile shrubs, perfect for creating hedges or topiaries. They’re known for their dense, bright green foliage and ease of maintenance.
- Rhododendron (Rhododendron spp.): Besides evergreen foliage, rhododendrons offer spectacular blooms, adding a splash of color to your garden in the spring.
- Holly (Ilex spp.): With their glossy leaves and bright red berries, hollies are both beautiful and great for attracting wildlife.
Evergreen Groundcovers
- Juniper (Juniperus spp.): Junipers are low-maintenance groundcovers that provide excellent erosion control on slopes and add texture to the landscape.
- Creeping Phlox (Phlox subulata): While not evergreen in the traditional sense, creeping phlox offers early spring flowers and retains its needle-like leaves year-round.
- Pachysandra (Pachysandra terminalis): This groundcover thrives in shaded areas where other plants struggle, providing a lush, green carpet.
Aesthetic Considerations
Evergreens are not just about green. They come in a spectrum of colors – from the blue-green hues of the blue spruce to the golden tips of the ‘Sunshine’ ligustrum. The texture of the foliage can also vary greatly, from the soft, feathery fronds of a fern pine to the rigid, needle-like leaves of a holly.
When selecting evergreens, consider how their color, texture, and form will complement your existing landscape. Think about how they will look during different seasons and at various times of the day.
Practical Considerations
Beyond aesthetics, evergreens serve practical purposes in a landscape:
- Privacy: Tall evergreens like arborvitae or clumping bamboo can create a natural privacy screen.
- Windbreaks: Dense evergreens can protect your home and garden from harsh winds.
- Sound Barrier: The thick foliage of evergreens can help reduce noise pollution.
- Wildlife Habitat: Many evergreens provide shelter and food for birds and other wildlife.
Evergreen Maintenance and Care
While evergreens are generally low-maintenance, they do require some care:
- Watering: Newly planted evergreens need regular watering until they’re established. Even drought-tolerant varieties may need extra water during prolonged dry spells.
- Pruning: While most evergreens require little pruning, some may benefit from occasional trimming to maintain shape and health.
- Pest and Disease Management: Be vigilant about pests and diseases. Early detection and treatment can prevent serious damage.
Making the Choice is Ultimately Up to You
When choosing evergreens for your landscape, it’s not just about picking a plant; it’s about creating an ambiance, fulfilling practical needs, and ensuring the overall health and beauty of your garden. At DK Landscaping, we believe that with the right knowledge and a thoughtful approach, you can transform your landscape into a year-round haven of tranquility and beauty.
For More Evergreen Landscaping Ideas, Contact DK Landscaping
Selecting the right evergreens is a nuanced process that involves understanding your landscape’s specific needs, the unique characteristics of different evergreens, and how they fit into the broader aesthetic and practical context of your garden. With careful consideration and a strategic approach, you can ensure that your landscape remains vibrant and dynamic throughout the year, offering a serene and inviting outdoor space that reflects your personal style and meets your practical needs.
Remember, your landscape is a living, evolving canvas, and the evergreens you choose are the strokes that define its character and beauty across seasons. Contact DK Landscaping now for help with your evergreen landscaping projects!
Fall Garden Care
Fall is coming, and you should consider these useful tips as part of your garden care regime. After a flourishing summer of fighting weeds take pleasure in promoting a wholesome garden. This is truly a great time to entertain your family and friends in your backyard. By adhering to these easy fall garden care methods, you can ensure that it’s ready to be even more charming next spring.
Fall Garden Tips – Here’s What To Do
By the fall season, you should already be victorious in eradicating the weeds on your lawn. You should deal with any hold-outs before the leaves and snow make it too complex for you to handle. As it can be more difficult to handle the weeds. In addition, weeds can be extremely vigorous and can take over in the fall season when your lawn is less lively.
You should ensure that your lawn has an in-depth raking before snow falls. As time goes by, the leaves will begin to decay, depleting moisture out of the soil and encouraging a heartening dwelling for insects that may be damaging to your lawn. In addition, the plentiful layer of decomposed leaves may also leave behind dead spots in your lawn in the spring. Permitting weeds to rapidly move in and take over.
Over time, the soil of your lawn becomes flattened, decreasing the air pockets that permit nutrients and water to nourish the base of the roots. To fight this, ensure that you have your lawn aerated on a yearly basis. The best time to do this would be in the fall season. As it gives your lawn an opportunity to obtain the nutrients and water required for long term sustainability.
As your lawn matures it gets fatigued and the reproduction of your lawn decreases. Homeowners never want to see their lawns look unhealthy. It is suggested that your cover your entire lawn with grass seed before snow begins to fall. This will promote new lawn to start growing that will fill in the ailing areas. Consequently, next spring will have a winsome lawn outside.
There is an exceptional fall fertilizer that will assist your lawn with all the nutrients required to be wholesome in the fall season. This will encourage them to back even stronger in the spring season. It is better to fertilize early in the fall season to have your lawn charming and healthy in the autumn. Contact us and take pride in having a lawn that is luxurious.
Lawn Fertilizer – Fall Vs Winterizer Fertilizer – What’s the Difference?
If you own property, you probably know that you should fertilize the lawn. However, some home and business owners are unaware that lawn fertilization should be performed more than once per year. Fall fertilizer is required as is winterizer fertilizer. The winter variety is specially designed to help your grass make it through the winter while the fall fertilizer serves its own unique purposes. Let’s take a closer look at the differences between the two.
Fertilizer Overview
It is important to note that just about all bags of fertilizer have three numbers on the front. Each represents one of the primary ingredients within the fertilizer. These ingredients stand for potassium (K), phosphorous (P) and nitrogen (N). In general, lawn fertilizer formulas typically have a formula of 29-3-4. This means that the fertilizer has 29 percent nitrogen, 3 percent phosphorous and 4 percent potassium. Both fall and winterizer fertilizer stimulate root growth. Yet each contains its own unique mix of potassium, phosporous and nitrogen.
Fall Fertilizer
Fall fertilizer is specially designed to stimulate the growth of new roots. It contains a delicate balance of potassium and phosphorous designed to spur growth. This special blend allows the grass to “dig in” and prepare for the rough winter weather. Additionally, fall fertilizer sets the stage for the lawn’s roots to make full use of the winterizer fertilizer that will be added later in the year. Fall fertilizer works best when applied to soil that has a temperature that has dropped to a 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Yet it will not be as effective if applied when the soil temperature dips below 55 degrees.
Winterizer Fertilizer
Many lawn care experts are adamant that winterizer fertilizer is the most important of all fertilizer applications. It helps the roots of the grass absorb and store nutrients as they continue to grow until the ground eventually freezes at some point in the winter. These nutrients are then readily available when temperatures increase in the spring season.
Winterizer fertilizer should be applied about four to five weeks after the application of the fall fertilizer. Ideally, this will occur at some point in October or November. By this point, the new (but empty) roots have formed and the ground is moving toward the freezing mark. It is specially designed with high levels of nitrogen to promote the accumulation and storage of carbohydrates before the soil freezes. This nitrogen is held in reserve throughout the winter, in anticipation of the spring growing season. Winterizer fertilizer also contains more potassium than regular fertilizer. The role of the added potassium is to boost the grass’s tolerance for the cold and bolster the root systems.
Winterizer fertilizer does more than just prepare the grass for the nasty winter ahead. It also functions to feed the grass throughout the winter to keep it healthy and a lovely green shade (yes, even throughout the winter). Apply winterizer fertilizer in the proper amount at the right time and it will help your grass look an even more gorgeously rich green when the spring season rolls around a few months later. Aside from increasing grass aesthetics in the winter and spring, winterizer fertilizer’s influx of nutrients also induces quicker “green-up” growth in the early days of spring.
Your Lawn Deserves Both Fall and Winterizer Fertilizer
Do your lawn an enormous favor by applying both fall and winterizer fertilizer at the appropriate times. If you have any questions or concerns about your grass, landscaping or other outdoor maintenance issues like irrigation, water conservation or general repairs, do not hesitate to reach out to us for assistance.
Raking Leaves – for Aesthetics or Maintenance?
As wonderful as Autumn is, removing the fallen leaves from your lawn in the late fall is not generally regarded as a fun task. It’s time consuming and a bit tedious. You’ll be glad to know the payoff for all your labor goes beyond simply enhancing the curb appeal of your property. Removing fallen leaves is not only vital for the health of your lawn, but the beauty of it as well.
Excessive leaf matter on your lawn going into winter is bad for several reasons. Why you might ask? When your lawn becomes buried in layers of leaves, it becomes smothered and is deprived of water, air and nutrients it needs to survive. Without proper leaf removal your lawn will also become a breeding ground for fungi, disease and insects. Additionally, when leaves shade the grass they prevent it from receiving the sunlight it needs to thrive. While a few scattered leaves on the lawn won’t do much harm, a heavy thick layer will. Leaves left in place over the winter often become compacted and cause extensive damage to your lawn which can lead to increased costs and maintenance in the Spring.
Instead of raking the leaves, wait until they’re good and crunchy (ripe for jumping into), and then mow the leaves into little pieces. Then, you can just leave them! The leaves will serve as mulch and will protect the soil around your trees, shrubs, or garden.
Another option you have is to compost your leaves, but you simply can’t rake up all your leaves into a big pile and expect them to compost themselves. Composting requires regular turning of the leaves as well as the right amount of moisture.
Want to leave the fall clean-up work load for someone else? DK Landscaping Services offers both leaf removal and fall clean-up services. These services help ensure your landscape is clear of debris and fallen leaves are removed, preventing mold and fungus from growing. Give us a call (707) 280-3632.
Harvesting Your Vegetables
As the fall gardening season comes to an end, it’s definitely time to think about processing and storing the harvest. From roasted pumpkins/squash, steaming kale, to making delicious soups and stews, you’ll probably have plenty of delicious vegetables to keep you busy processing and freezing for weeks to come. Here are some tips from DK Landscaping on harvesting and storing those vegetables you grew this summer and fall:
Pumpkins and Squash – These vegetables are best harvested when the vine has dried up. If you’re threatened by frost, be sure to cover the vegetables with a blanket overnight. They’re delicious in soups, desserts and main entrees, and they can be processed immediately or stored in a cool, dry, dark environment for up to 8 months.
Leafy Vegetables – Kale, spinach, collard greens and cabbage are great growers during the fall months and often will survive a light frost. Pick the leaves when they’re young and tender, as they’ll taste better. Serve immediately or store in a cool setting for up to a week. Cabbage can be steamed and frozen or pickled for serving later in the year.
Root Vegetables – If you planted a second crop of radishes, carrots, beets or parsnips this fall, you can keep them in the ground until they reach the size you desire for eating. They’ll survive until the ground freezes hard, but typically are picked before then because they’re not as tasty when overgrown. These vegetables will keep in the refrigerator for a week, so be sure to plan them into your weekly menus shortly after picking them.
If you are already thinking ahead to your harvest for next summer, this is the perfect time to plant garlic. Wait until the first frost has passed, because you want the soil to be a bit cooler. The bulbs will thrive in the winter and produce beautiful large bulbs to be picked in the summer.
For more information about your harvest, contact DK Landscaping.
Lawn Tricks and Treats for Winter Survival
When you think lawn care, spring may be the first thing that comes to mind, but the fact is back-to-school is perhaps an even better time to treat your lawn to some TLC.
October is no trick when it comes to setting up your lawn for better survival over the winter. And the treat, if done correctly, means a greener and healthier lawn next Spring for any lawn treatment done in October. Lawn care treatments are best done before soil temperatures drop to a level where your lawn is going into hibernation. are of particular. And seeding and fertilizations of any kind are more sensitive to warmer soils for maximum results in the fall. Here are some tips to follow for luscious lawn come spring:
Fertilizing
Natural and organic fertilizers also work best in warmer soils when micro-organisms are growing and can help breakdown the material into a useable form for your turf grass. By contrast, synthetic fertilizers are already in a more useable form and can be used later into the season as soils cool down. The cautionary note of using fertilizers too late in the season if theground is frozen or very cold means not really achieving any benefit to the lawn and the possibility of runoff into streams, rivers, and other undesirable areas.
Core Aeration and Lime
Over time your soil naturally becomes compacted and builds up acidity, leaving the subsoil undesirable for healthy lawn growth. Walking, playing, mowing and watering compacts the grass and reduce the air space necessary for root growth. Highly acidic soil will hinder the growth of a full, thriving lawn and will therefore promote weed growth. Combat compaction and aid in weed control with a core aeration and lime application.
Seeding
Seeding your lawn in early October can give you a beautiful, green lawn this winter. It is especially a smart option when facing a mixed stand lawn or patch stand of grasses. This will help hide and even the uniformity of the lawn. As the trees grow larger and produce more shade, the bermuda lawns start thinning out and the ryegrass can provide some much needed cover in those areas.
Winterizing
Remove piles of leaves on your lawn, especially on thin, shaded, or new grass areas, as they will act as mulch and damage your lawn. As the temperature drops and November approaches, you can actually drop your mowing height down to 2”. Your final cut in November should be 1.5” to help minimize winter damage.
And lastly…
Be patient. We all want the quick fix to a green and lush lawn, but it can take a couple seasons for a lawn to really take hold and fill in. If you are patient, you will be rewarded. Have questions? Email or call us, we at DK Landscaping will talk you through it!
Guide to a Bountiful Autumn Garden
For Californians, Labor Day generally marks the end
of Summer… and the welcoming of Fall. It hardly seems logical to discuss Fall planting when temperatures feel like Indian Summer, but the calendars show that now, is is the right time to begin your plans for an autumn garden.
In most areas planting should take place from July through August to allow for plenty of time for seeds and plants to grow and mature before the first autumn freeze.
Here is a list of the hardiest vegetables for cool-weather gardens:
- Arugula, from 21 to 40 days (baby or mature leaf size)
- Bush beans, about 60 days (have insulating fabric ready if early cold threatens)
- Beets and beet greens
- Braising greens mix (mustard, kale, collards, Asian greens…)
- Broccoli raab, about 40 days
- Broccoli (60 days from transplants started about 15 weeks before first frost; do try Piracicaba, whose florets are looser, delicious, and which easily produces lots of side shoots)
- Cabbage (60 days from transplants started about 15 weeks before first frost) or Napa cabbage (about 10 days faster)
- Carrots (a storage kind like Rolanka, plus some smaller types for fall eating)
- Cauliflower (60 days from transplants started about 14 weeks before frost; needs covering if frost threatens)
- Chard
- Chicory, endive, radicchio
- Cilantro
- Collards, about 60 days but nice as a baby green
- Cucumbers (bush type rated 60 days)
- Daikon (60 days) and other faster radishes
- Dill
- Kale, about 60 days but nice in half that time as a baby green
- Lettuce, leaf and head type and mesclun mix, about 30 days to first cutting
- Mustard greens, about 45 days (faster as baby greens to spice a salad)
- Peas, shelling, sugar snap, and snowpea type
- Radishes
- Scallions and other hardy bunching onions, for fall use and to overwinter for spring
- Spinach
- Squash, summer variety, bush type
- Turnips, 40-50 days, faster for greens, or rutabaga (90 days) if sown in earliest July or late June here; rutabaga
Frost is a key enemy of late summer vegetable plantings, so check for the date of the first expected frost and count backward the number of days to maturity to find the planting window for each crop. Harvest semi-hardy vegetables and root crops before a heavy freeze sets in. Alternately, a heavy mulch over root crops can extend harvest into winter or even spring if the winter is mild. Keep the ground warm as the temperature drops by draping blanket covers over staked wires. Individual plant covers, such as paper caps or milk jugs provide further frost protection for your fall crops.
Fall Landscaping Tips and Tricks
Sonoma County embraces the fall season as temperatures begin to dip and daylight begins to wane. It marks a time of change when our summer perennials and annuals die back, the leaves fall from the trees, and our irrigation systems get turned down.
Fall is an opportune time when we should welcome a change in landscape by dressing up your yard with some of fall’s favorites like mums, gourd’s, pumpkins! They are everywhere, in a variety of colors, from yellow to deep red.
MUMS are inexpensive and can be purchased just about everywhere. They make for great boarders, or can be planted in mass for a striking display. And the best thing, they are hardy perennials and can withstand low temperatures and frost. If planted early enough they will come back next spring. As an alternative to mums, you can use Coleus, Sedum, Firethorn, Snap Dragons, and Pansies to add stunning beauty to your landscape. Throw a few pumpkins in the mix and you’ve got a gorgeous garden display.
TREES are another way to spruce up your landscaping. They are not only beautiful but require less work than your summer-time trees. DK Landscaping recommends Hickory, redbud, sugar maples, and birch trees create marvelous landscapes of fall color. 
Lastly, don’t forget to incorporate hay bales, pine straw, pumpkins, gourds, cornstalks and potted plants – all that the harvest season has to offer!
Just following these simple fall tips and tricks will make your landscape pop with color, and keep your landscape looking beautiful and colorful all season long. It will make your home extra inviting for visitors including some little ghosts and goblins on Halloween night.
DK Landscaping is your Northern California’s premier’s landscaping company. For more information and/or a free consultation how we can add a little color to your fall life, please give us call (707) 280-3632.
Goodbye Summer. Hello Autumn!
Autumn is officially here in Sonoma County! When we think of the season, we think of vibrant foilage, crunchy leaves, the smell of crisp sweet air, pumpkins, hot apple cider and Halloween. But as we get further into the season, the sunlight begins to wane, the nights are chillier, our trees are more bare and the landscape looks tired. It’s easy for us at this point to hang up our boots, turn our backs on our landscape and take up shelter for warmth. But the reality is that Autumn is the most ideal time to tend to our lawns and prepare it for the harsh winter ahead to ensure it’s in the best of health for a springier spring. Here are DK Landscaping’s top tips to winterize your landscape:
Mow & Mulch
Mow your lawn into the fall and avoid removing more than one-third of the leaf blades with each cut. Return grass clippings and back to the soil for added lawn nutrients and use tree leaf compost to nourish plants. That will allow more sunlight to reach the crown of the grass, and there will be less leaf to turn brown during the winter.
Aerate & Prune
Aerating is a lawn process that puts small holes into the ground to allow air, water, and nutrients to transcend into the ground and allows you to remove unwanted weeds from manifesting. Help your lawn breathe through fall core aeration to strengthen roots and to prepare for a hardy spring workout. Conduct corrective pruning of trees and shrubs in fall to enhance plant appearance and vigor, and thin rather than top-shear and overgrown shrubs and flowering trees to preserve their overall shape.
Rake those Leaves
Don’t wait until all the leaves have fallen from the trees to start raking. If you do, the leaves will become wet from rain and morning dew, stick together and form an impenetrable mat that, if left there, will suffocate the grass and breed fungal diseases.
Feed for the Winter
A good fall feeding gives roots of lawns, trees and shrubs the energy needed to prepare for a healthy spring green revival. Keep fertilizer on target to prevent run-off and sweep fertilizer granules that may reach pavement back onto your lawn.
DK Landscaping is your Sonoma County lawn experts. We have all the tools, experience and are backed by 10 years trusted guaranteed service. Give us a call so we can help make your lawn beautiful! For a full list of services, please contact Kathy Lee at (707) 280-3632 or contact us by email, davidmunlee@aol.com.
Fall Lawn Care Tips
Many people have this false belief that as fall and winter approach, they need to spend less time on their lawn because grass grows more slowly in these months. The truth is, this is the time of year grass is busily absorbing energy, moisture, and nutrients in preparation for a long, dormant winter. Give your lawn the attention it deserves now, and you’ll be rewarded with a lush, healthy lawn in the springtime. DK Landscaping provides you with these simple tips:
1. Aerate: Aeration is important because it gives your lawn a chance to breath in autumn and provides room for new grass to spread. Aeration pulls up plugs of grass which help to loosen compacted soil. This improves water, nutrient and oxygen infiltration to reach your grass roots and gives seeds room to sprout.
2. Fertilize: Fertilizing in the fall, before the first frost, helps your grass survive a harsh winter. It provides nutrients to reach roots for your grass to grow a stronger root system over the winter. This will result in a healthier and stronger lawn next spring. We recommend choosing a product high (10% to 15%) in phosphorous, which is critical for root growth.
3. Weed Control: If broadleaf weeds like dandelions have taken over your lawn, now’s the time to fight back. Weeds are germinating like crazy in the fall, so make sure you apply a pre-emergent as soon as possible. The best time to apply a pre-emergent to combat winter weeds is in August or September.
4. Rake: While those leaves can look pretty on the lawn, the leaves decay which negatively affects the grass. When there is a blanket of leaves on the lawn, sunlight cannot get through to the grass. Rake up the leaves at least once a week.
5. Mowing: Mowing your law is the single most important thing you can do to manage the vigor of your grass and its ability to compete against weeds. In the fall, the best results are obtained by mowing at the highest setting on your mower. In no case should the mowing leave the grass less than 1.5 inches (3.75 cm) tall. This will help insulate the grass during the winter.
Lastly, if you are not certain how to proceed or do not want to deal with the hassle, contact a professional lawn company in Sonoma County that provides year-round lawn care.
