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Things to Consider When Sourcing for Yard Maintenance Experts

Lots of resources – time, labor, money – go into maintaining a yard in top condition throughout the year. And while doing it yourself may provide you with a golden opportunity to get active and burn extra calories, sometimes you may be short on time, causing you to neglect the yard. Likewise, using in-house labor for yard maintenance on commercial properties is a good way of keeping costs low. However, yard care is a sensitive activity that requires great precision. Otherwise, a rookie mistake can lead to costly damage. 

Yard Maintenance expert cutting hedge

Owing to these reasons, the need for professional services in yard maintenance Rohnert Park is ever on the rise. And with many landscaping companies coming up in the area, you may find yourself grappling with the decision on who to entrust your yard to.

In this article, we look at four factors to keep in mind when sourcing professional maintenance services for your yard. Dive in.

  1. What’s Their Yard Maintenance Expertise?

Where your money is involved, you need to get the best service there is in yard maintenance Rohnert Park, right?. Not only will this ensure you get value for money, but it’s always safe to entrust your lawn to capable hands. Otherwise, rookie lawn specialists may end up ruining it, leading to losses.

A seasoned company will most likely have the right skills, tools, and equipment to take good care of your yard. So, look at the websites of different landscaping companies and find out how long they have been in business. If they don’t have a website, ask around how long they have been operational, or trust their word and ask them.

For the companies with websites, visit their portfolio page, and look at the projects they have completed. An experienced company will have an amazing portfolio to showcase. On the same note, if they have uploaded profiles of owners/employees, check their training and certifications. These will go a long way in informing your decision.

  1. Are Their Charges Reasonable Compared to Other Yard Maintenance Rohnert Park Companies?

While a hefty charge may imply quality services and vice versa, it’s not always the case. Some companies target high-profile clients, thus keep their charges high. While a new company that’s breaking into the industry may keep their prices low to attract customers despite having impeccable services.

It’s therefore wise not to determine the affordability of a company’s services just by looking at their prices. Dig deep and find what services they offer in their package. Then compare that information with their reputation to determine whether their charges are reasonable.

Most landscaping companies’ pricing models are based on time spent and the number of services on the package. Compare the packages for different companies to pick the most affordable. You may also need to look out for discounts that may be on offer when comparing your best picks.

  1. Which Services Are Included in Their Yard Maintenance Rohnert Park Package?

Most yard maintenance Rohnert Park companies may offer the same basic lawn services, but when it comes to packaging the services, it’s a different ball game altogether.

Look at each company’s package to find out what services are included. This way, you will save yourself potential frustrations in the future. For instance, a company’s yard service may be limited to general maintenance routines, like mowing, weeding, irrigation, pruning trees, raking, etc. While others may go out of their way to include emerging issues, like reseeding and soil replacement in affected areas.

Find out the specifics and the frequency of their services to know what you’re paying for before you commit.

  1. What Do Residents Say About Their Yard Maintenance Rohnert Park Services?

Now, this is a no brainer. Companies that offer quality services are known, and people will always talk about them.

The best way to tell if a landscaping company is worth your interest is to look and ask around.

Ask your neighbors what they know about the companies you’re interested in. Or request them to recommend their choice landscaping specialists.

On the same note, look for online reviews. Google the companies and see what people are saying about their services. Also, visit their social media page to scour for reviews. Satisfied clients will not hesitate to give a company a positive review or throw nice comments on their posts. If they have a website, check for testimonials, and read through their customers’ feedback.

Conclusion

Entrusting your yard to other people is a bold move that requires loads of due diligence. No doubt, you have invested a lot to make it the way it is right now. Hence, you need to hire the best talent to ensure it remains in excellent condition. Finding a landscaping company of good repute that combines expertise, a comprehensive package, and reasonable prices should be your priority as you venture out. 

Need a Yard Maintenance Rohnert Park Expert? Talk to Us Today! We are a landscaping company offering quality and affordable yard maintenance Rohnert Park services. Our track record in xeriscaping, yard maintenance, repair, and irrigation, in Rohnert Park, speaks for itself. You can check out our portfolio here. Meanwhile, don’t stress over your yard maintenance anymore. Get in touch with us and let us help.

4 Benefits of Investing in a Modern Sprinkler System Design

Irrigation is crucial in maintaining the plant life on your landscape looking vibrant and healthy. However, manual irrigation presents many pitfalls and is, in most cases, counterproductive. This is mostly due to over-irrigation and under-irrigation.

Nonetheless, it’s not all-gloom as modern sprinkler system designs have evolved to resolve these issues. These are mainly built-in into the landscape and pop up automatically at set times to irrigate the lawns and gardens, then pop back when done.

If you have been considering installing an automatic sprinkler system in your landscape, here are some benefits you need to know.

  1. Designing an Automatic Sprinkler System Will Help Improve Your Lawn’s Health

The main benefit of a built-in sprinkler system is that it helps resolve issues of over-irrigation and under-irrigation. This is because landscapers take their time to map your landscape in order to install the sprinkler heads in a way that covers all areas.

Moreover, the built-in sprinklers have weather and soil-moisture sensors that turn them on when the ground needs water and switches off once the water is enough. This controlled irrigation ensures the lawn and plants have just enough water. Consequently, they absorb nutrients optimally and flourish.

  1. A Modern Sprinkler System Design Has Amazing Financial Implications 

Installing an automatic sprinkler system may be expensive and disruptive, especially if you had already designed your landscape, but the long-term benefits are worth the initial trouble.

As the system is controlled and only irrigates the landscape when water is needed, you end up saving a lot on water bills. This is not the case with a manual sprinkler system, where there’s always a likelihood of water wastage through over-irrigation.

Likewise, the advanced, built-in sprinkler system has a weather sensor that senses when it’s about to rain and turns off the system. These conveniences result in massive saves on water bills over the long-run.

Again, as the system promotes healthy lawn and plants, the need for replacing sickly ones is greatly minimized. This, too, results in huge money saves.

Lastly, a healthy lawn and garden improve your landscape’s appeal, which ends up boosting the value of your property.

  1. In-Built Sprinkler System Provides Convenience

This is a big one. The automatic sprinkler system gives you peace of mind and frees your schedule. You don’t have to squeeze lawn and garden watering into your early morning routine. The set timers kick-off early enough, which is crucial as it allows thorough water absorption to take place throughout the day. 

And if you love traveling, adding a built-in sprinkler system into your landscape design will ensure you travel with ease, for as long as you would like to stay. Even in your absence, the system will kick-off at the set times and irrigate your lawn and garden. Hence, you don’t have to worry about your plants drying while you are away.  

  1. An Automatic Sprinkler System Design Conserves Water

This benefit cannot be overemphasized. Mindful utilization of water is a key factor in environmental conservation. Not forgetting the resulting financial implications on your water bills.

Perhaps, these are the reasons xeriscaping is gaining more popularity. The fact that we can achieve breath-taking, green landscapes with minimal water utilization is worth every investment involved.

In a nutshell, sourcing for a landscaping company to design a modern sprinkler system in your landscape is not only beneficial to you, but it’s a great move towards promoting environmental sustainability.

Conclusion

If you’re tired of hauling hose pipes and sprinklers to and from your yard and garden, then redesigning your landscape to incorporate a built-in sprinkler system will no doubt save you the trouble.

What’s more, is that the benefits of an automatic system will turn around the fate of your lawn’s health for good. Add the massive saves on water bill costs from the water conservation, plus the convenience thereof, and we can confidently say xeriscaping is a decision you will never regret.

As xeriscape experts, we are committed to helping you maintain lush landscapes by designing modern sprinkler systems that save you money and time. Talk to us today and let us help you get the system on.

For other landscaping needs, lawn maintenance, repair, irrigation, etc. check out the full list of our services here.

Landscaping Services for a Swift Cleanup and Reopening

Landscaping is the activity that people carry out to enhance the structure of landed property by modifying the terrain and growing modern, decorative plants and flowers. Homeowners carry out this activity either by themselves or by contacting firms offering landscaping services. This process makes the house aesthetically admirable and also protects and adds beauty to the environment.

Landscaper cutting lawn with a weed wacker

Property owners usually call on landscapers whenever they feel they need to resuscitate the ambiance and beauty of their estates. As a result of Covid-19 several business were forced to close doors in an effort to lessen the spread of transmission, and as a result properties were neglected either because owners were watching their pockets as economies declined around the world, or simply because it was hard to find contractors who were willing to offer services especially during the peak of the pandemic.

Government authorities are now giving several cities the green light to reopen initiating a new normal for inns, hotels, amazement parks and other exciting places to visit while in Sonoma or Santa Rosa.

Now that businesses and light travel is permitted it is necessary to consider upgrading your landscape for when guests arrive. DK Landscaping is keen on providing tips on how to plant trees to create a natural sunshade and improve the atmosphere.

What to Know

Your garden tends to be strewn with dry leaves and flowers. During autumn, it is certain to find outdoor space strewn with tons of leaves. This can pose a problem for property owners who simply don’t have the time or effort needed to beautify their surroundings.

Now in winter the situation could get a bit more tedious due to extreme cold weather conditions that cause ice and snow to form and accumulate in your garden.

Hence, owners of residential and commercial properties need to employ people that specialize in landscape maintenance. This cleaning process is grueling, so it requires the effort of skilled agents and special equipment. The landscape contractors work with a compendium of hand tools such as Secateur, Trowel, Transplant Spade, Shovel, and Hand rake. They also have electric powered tools such as lawnmower, leaf blower, chainsaw, pruner, hedge trimmer, tiller, aerator, and grass trimmer.

Landscape contractors can use several hand tools and machinery to gather the leaves. However, the prime tools that landscapers use when clearing the yard are the leaf blower, the mulcher, and leaf vacuums. The leaf blower forces out a gust of wind on the leaves but it can render one’s effort unproductive if the leaves are littered across the road and the neighborhood. They can also make use of the mulcher to shred the leaves into pieces and this can be applied as mulch in the lawn. The workers can also use a leaf vacuum to suck the leaves in cases where smaller hand tools such as a rake, garden claw, and leaf brushes, cannot handle large areas.  

In extremely cold weather, snowfall fills up the streets, workways, neighborhoods, parks, and gardens. This prevents the easy movement of automobiles and people. It is even more important for homeowners to eliminate the snow during winter. This is why it is important to employ dedicated landscaping companies that will take good care of your recreation park. These companies have heavy-duty machinery such as utility vehicles and different types of loaders that they use to remove the snow. When you consult them, you can discuss your budget with them and the schedule. Contact us for more information.

Garden Maintenance for Commercial Properties

Owners of commercial properties can create a lasting impression on their clients by renovating their garden space or frontage. Commercial landscaping services leverage on creating a beautiful and energy-saving environment to the companies they serve. They also create a kind of ambiance that the staff and clients can enjoy.

Business owners can maintain their gardens by hiring professional gardeners, that adopt ultramodern technology and tools, to create a modern look for office buildings and outdoor space. Some of the landscaping services that are included in garden maintenance projects include trimming, mowing, seasonal cleanup, pest control, patios, gutter cleaning, aeration, leaf removal, application of fertilizers, snow removal, and mulching.

Maintaining commercial landscapes involve choosing a suitable plan or design, ensuring the conspicuousness of the building, carving out a design that supports ventilation, and enhancing lighting conditions.

Some benefits of maintaining a garden for commercial property are:

Increased Efficiency

matured Female wearing white shirt and blue jeans while taking stroll past lush garden on both sides

Professional garden maintenance can increase customer loyalty and satisfaction as they appreciate the special attention companies pay to the high maintenance of their surroundings.

It is good to note that planting trees and ornamental plants helps to supply more oxygen to the environment. This enables office workers to enjoy their working space and time, thereby increases efficiency.

Increased Value

A landscape that is well maintained may increase the number of clients that visit the business location. People love to visit business sites that are attractive and feature water gardens and well-trimmed walkways. An appealing commercial landscape is enough to draw the attention of passersby or potential clients. The property’s market value and return on investment will increase over time .

Demand for Neighboring Buildings

As the value of a company’s building increases, so does the value of the adjacent buildings. Hence, we can see that maintaining a commercial landscape increases the value of real estate. Some real estate buyers will love to inspect and sight the best location of interest by considering professionally landscaped areas.

Spacious Fontage

It makes the outdoor area spacious and useful for company meetings, social gathering, barbecues, outdoor games, and other events. This enhances the company’s social interaction, builds the business brand, and enables clients to chat with business owners in a cool, eco-friendly environment. This can help businesses secure contracts because the atmosphere is clean and cozy.

DK Landscaping is here to serve all companies in Santa Rosa by ensuring that landscapes are attractively designed and maintained. Contact us for more information on how you can beautify your company space.

Tips and Ideas for a Xeriscape Santa Rosa Project

The movement to xeriscaping has taken hold of arid regions in the United States. With the seldom rains and insufficient water in these areas, maintaining an attractive and healthy lawn is not easy. Xeriscaping provides for a viable alternative for conventional landscaping where non-native plants are introduced to your backyard. These are often slow-growing and drought-tolerant providing you with a hearty and simple environment even in the most stringent climates.

Why Convert to Xeriscape?

Garden with rock pathway

Converting to xeriscaping is understandably a big decision for any homeowner. But given the benefits, you should probably consider making this very desired landscape change. Benefits of xeriscaping include:

  • Preserving water quality

Xeriscaping requires fewer inputs which in turn reduces the number of chemicals that reach underground water reservoirs. Additionally, the plants that replace the traditional lawn grasses mirror the agroecosystem which act as sufficient filters for groundwater.

  • Saves water

Landscaping water requirements have been a thorny issue. For traditional landscaping plants to survive, they require what could be considered excessive irrigation. Note that when done right and properly maintained, xeriscaping has been proven to use just half of the water used on the traditional landscape.

  • Low maintenance

Compared to traditional landscaping, xeriscaping boosts of being low maintenance. It eliminates the need for recurrent pruning, tending, mowing, and fertilizing. The plants introduced are often indigenous to the region’s climate and as such little human intervention is required. Still, you should understand that xeriscaping in Santa Rosa requires some grounds keeping.

  • Conserves the environment

Grass clippings from conventional landscaping end up in waste landfills. When you convert to xeriscaping, you eliminate the need for mowing and scalping which significantly reduces the waste output. Besides, traditional lawns are usually heavy water users and require inputs that might harm the biodiversity of your lawn.

  • Decreases noise pollution

Nothing ruins a silent atmosphere than the loud noise of lawnmowers. Fortunately, when you get into xeriscaping you eliminate the need for mowing. Besides, you can landscape for noise cancellation. This can be done by including deciduous trees and shrubs which are then planted on the edge of your yard.

Tips for a Xeriscape Santa Rosa Project

As you consider xeriscaping, you should probably keep in mind that you should start small. You can go with a zone along your driveway where you could start with perennial shrubs. This small zone should be indicative of the amount of water and finances you might need as you undertake the rest of your yard.

Additional tips include:

  1. Clump and Scatter Gardening

Arid and semi-arid areas often have to deal with having insufficient rain. In response, these areas are often devoid of cover crops which means that the topsoil is often eroded. As a consequence, the garden soil is often infertile which discourages any gardening you embark on. As a pro tip for your xeriscaping, consider scatter gardening. The ground is then less exposed to the sun which preserves soil moisture eliminating the need for more watering.

  1. Monochrome Rock Gardening

The monochrome rock garden design is a favorite for xeriscaping beginners. You get to landscape your space with your favorite color, shades, and textures. You should consider having a single-color theme throughout which result in blissful harmony. Curve pathways with your favorite shades that verdant the space. You can also utilize irregular forms of bushes which create a visual interest in your yard.

  1. Use rows

To incorporate rows into your xeriscaping, consider having the tallest plants at the very back of the yard. In between these, include grasses and flowering shrubs which bring color to the overall design. These work as cover crops ensuring that the spaces in between the rows do not get direct exposure to the sun hence further conservation.

  1. Rock Garden

If your yard has slopes or terraces, consider clumping your succulents instead of putting them in lines. To ensure the maximization of the water used, place the plants that require the most water at the bottom of the clump. You can arrange these in a design that shows off their color or texture.

  1. Improve soil quality

You should incorporate mulching and compositing to build your soil’s organic matter. This should include diversifying the plants incorporated in your yard. Additionally, utilize soil amendments whose environmental footprint is negligible.

  1. Appropriate landscape maintenance

To keep your landscape flourishing, you should efficiently clip overgrowth as you would with traditional landscaping. This timely pruning ensures that your lawn has continuous growth throughout the seasons. Additionally, keep weeds under control by consistently tending to the new growth. You should also consider light top dressing with suitable fertilizer or manure.   

  1. Pre-determine your xeriscaping goals

The universal xeriscaping goal is maintaining a beautiful, healthy lawn while effectively using water. However, you must establish and maintain a personal goal for this endeavor. This could be eliminating the need for consistent maintenance or accomplishing a different look in your yard.

Decide to go with a xeriscape Santa Rosa project and introduce color, beauty, and function to your yard even when you are in desert-like conditions. At best, it is common-sense landscaping that requires good planning and efficient use of water. By incorporating the aforementioned tips, it ensures that you successfully convert to a beautiful lawn that has minimal maintenance and longevity. Contact us for more information.

4 Reasons Why You Should Add Mulch to Your Landscape Beds

As the weather warms up, it is the best time to prepare your landscape bed. Mulching is often the go-to method for weed control. However, not everyone knows that, when done right, its benefits extend beyond weed control. Here are 4 good reasons for mulching your landscape beds.

  1. To Conserve Soil Moisture

Layers of mulch reduce the amount of water evaporating from the soil back into the atmosphere. In hot weather, they ensure that plants get enough water.

Mulch also reduces soil temperature, which is necessary for healthy growth. Too much heat can cause soil to become sterile by killing helpful organisms. In the winter, it keeps the soil warm at optimal temperatures that are necessary for plant’s survival.

  1. To Add Organic Matter

Mulch that is made of organic material will break down and enrich the soil. It will enhance the soil’s ability of retaining essential nutrients. Magnesium, potassium, calcium and iron are some of the minerals that are added by mulch and retained by the plant. Compost also improves the soil by changing its texture. A layer of compost creates a good environment for worms and other living organism to aerate the soil.

  1. To Prevent Trauma Caused by Mowers

It protects tree trunks from lawn mower blight and trimmer trauma by creating a protective layer. However, it is important to leave some room between the mulch and the tree trunk to avoid rot due to moisture

  1. Weed Suppression

Compost denies weed seeds the sunlight they need to germinate. This is often effective in controlling weeds and preventing stunted growth in plants.

While these four are the most important benefits of mulching, there are other reasons why it is a good practice. If you choose the right material, it can enhance your lawn’s appearance. It can also protect ornamental fruits from getting damaged while sitting on the ground for too long.  

To enjoy the benefits, you must choose the right material. Organic mulch can be made from one or a combination of the following materials:

  • Shredded wood
  • Shredded leaves
  • Pine straw
  • Hay
  • Compost
  • Bark chips
  • Straw

Wrap Up

From improved appearance to healthy soil for plant growth, the benefits of mulch are endless. It is no surprise that this technique is regarded as one of landscaping’s secret weapons. If you would like to hire a professional service for your maintenance, repair, irrigation and landscape mulch needs, you should talk to us. Call us or contact us online today to get an instant quote.

The Basics of a Sprinkler System Design

A sprinkler system design keeps your lawn adequately irrigated and lush when you are traveling or cannot water your grass by hand. Designing your sprinkler system is creating insurance for your compound, which means that you should grasp all the basics before signing up.

Sprinklers wetting lawn and walkway of home. decorated with lamp posts

Components of a Sprinkler System

  1. Sprinkler Heads

There are two main types of sprinkler heads- rotary sprinklers and spray nozzles. Rotary sprinklers rotate along an arc to distribute water while spray nozzles distribute water in a fan-shaped pre-determined pattern. Both sprinklers can be used in pop-up format and on risers.

  1. Controller

The controller is the part of your sprinkler system that you program to turn your sprinklers on and off at specific times.

  1. Valves

The valves control the amount of water moving being sprinkled depending on the type of irrigation zone. For instance, a valve will prevent water from being siphoned back to your house due to pressure changes and reduce water pressure where drip irrigation is required.

How to Create Your Sprinkler System Design

  1. Measure The Area of Your Compound

Pick up a pen, notebook, and tape measure. Proceed to measure the length and width of your compound and draw it to scale. Your map will determine the area for your sprinkler system. Remember to indicate all the features in your home, including the fence, house, walkways, sheds, and driveways. 

  1. Figure Out Your Water Supply

Contact your local water authority to obtain a water pressure report and measure the water pressure in your house at different points. To do this, find a water gauge. Turn off all the water inside your home and connect your water gauge to the spigot outside your house. Then turn on the spigot to measure your output. You should also find out your gallons per minute (GPM) by measuring the time (in seconds) it takes to fill a gallon container from your outside spigot on full blast, and divide it by 60.

  1. Divide Your Property Into Hydrozones

Divide the total lawn into hydrozones to avoid overwatering or under watering the grass. The types of hydrozones will vary depending on the area and shape, sunlight and shade, types of plants, and the type of soil.

  1. Design Your Sprinkler and Pipe Layout

Create a drawing and ensure that all parts of your lawn receive adequate irrigation. Lastly, organize all your pipes, valves, and the controller box to determine how you will lay everything on the grass.

Conclusion

Having a sprinkler system will keep your lawn green all year round. If you have any questions on the perfect sprinkler system design, contact us today.

Spruce Up Your Outdoor Landscape with A Rock Garden

Designing your landscape creates an aesthetically appealing ambiance and a sense of satisfaction in your home. One practical way to achieve a satisfying design is by adding a rock garden to your yard. Rockeries, also known as alpine gardens, add texture, beauty, and color to a home, and require minimal attention. These type of gardens emphasizes a variety of rocks, stones, and boulders and incorporate small plants and shrubs to add a contrasting green effect.

Why Should You Choose a Rockery?

Beautiful Rock garden with small pond

ckeries can withstand harsh weather as compared to greener gardens. Even without rain, your rocks will remain sturdy, unlike green plants that wither away. If you live in drier zones, rockeries are suitable because they contribute to water conservation, while still providing beauty to your home. A rockery will also cut down your maintenance time by eliminating tasks such as weeding, watering plants, and pruning flowers. Lastly, no matter how small your compound is, a rockery will fit and add to the diversity of your landscape without overcrowding your yard.

How to Create Your Rock Garden

The concept of rockeries is to recreate the features naturally existing in your yard. If your landscape is naturally rocky, then you can use the rocks in your compound. If not, should invest in sound design and materials to achieve drainage and aesthetics.

  1. Sketch Out Your Plan

Map out the idea of your garden using a pencil and paper. Sketching your alpine garden will save you time once you start laying the rocks and plants. It will also ensure you acquire all materials before creating the garden.

  1. Take Out the Weeds

Rockeries are appealing when all stones and vegetation exist harmoniously. When weeds crop up between boulders, your garden becomes unruly, which is why you should start by weeding your yard. Ensure that you pull out all unwanted vegetation by the roots or apply herbicide a few weeks before laying your garden.

  1. Drainage

Once you have cleared out the vegetation, dig out at least 60cm of soil in well-drained areas, or one meter if you live in a clay region. Backfill with well-drained material such as rubble, hardcore, stone chippings, and coarse sand. After backfilling, add bone meal, manure or compost to the landscape to promote plant growth.

  1. Choose Your Rocks

Your choice of rocks is entirely dependent on your design. Smooth stones are suitable for gardens with water features and ponds. Alternatively, you can use large boulders as a focal point by laying small rocks around them. You can also use colored stones to create mosaics and create contrast in your garden. If you have a sloping landscape, consider creating a terraced landscape featuring plants in between the terraces and a rocky path down the hill.

  1. Choose Your Plants

Alpine gardens work best with small plants and bushes that can survive in shallow soils. Go for alpine-origin vegetation and drought-resistant plants. Daffodils, tulips, brodiaea are tiny and add color to the garden. If you are recreating a Japanese Zen garden, focus on pruned bushes and moss. However, if you live in an arid region, opt for succulent plants spaced evenly between the rocks.

  1. Incorporate Pottery or a Water Feature

Pottery is an effective way to add color to your garden while still creating space for plants. If your landscape is extremely rocky, pots are a cost-effective method of adding vegetation to the yard. You can add a pond or a small waterfall to spice up the garden. The sound of water cascading down your rock formation adds a sense of serenity.

Conclusion

Rockeries are a great way to improve your yard and bring a peaceful meditative ambiance to your home. With the right help, you can create the perfect rockery for your home. If you are looking for professional help with your rock garden, contact us today.

Four Main Types of Irrigation Systems

Reduce water output by simply installing an irrigation system in your garden. These systems help to conserve more than half the amount of water that’s normally used when watering plants manually. Encourage and practice smart water usage techniques when using any of the four main irrigation methods. See these methods below:

Irrigation System watering plants in garden
  1. Subsurface irrigation– This is one of the most frequently used irrigation methods. Homeowners set up this system by applying water underneath the soil. This technique can be altered if the water table is low. When this happens drip or trickle devices can be used as an alternative and be turned on when planted below the soil in direct contact with the plant’s root.
  2. Surface irrigation Gardens with medium to fine soil textures would benefit from this type of irrigation system. It is also works well with flat sloping land due to its ability to use gravity and siphons to transport water.
  3. Sprinkler irrigation sprays water through the air and the devices can be either be portable or permanently set in place. Water is pumped through a piping system , sprayed through the air via spray heads that are designed to break the water up into small droplets which then fall on your lawn.
  4. Drip/trickle irrigation  Ever heard of micro-irrigation? This method can be defined as a way to save both nutrients and water all at the same time. Water should be applied in the root zone either from above or below the soil’s surface. This type of system can be more efficient than other methods of irrigation once it is well designed, installed, maintained, and operated.

By now you should have an idea of the factors that influence your choice of irrigation system. Examine your soil type, water table and personal choice etc. Choosing the best type of irrigation system should be your no.1 priority. The right amount of water supply is crucial in maintaining the health and of your garden. You want to create a landscape that is beautiful and lustrous. Contact us today for more information.

The Ultimate Guide to Landscape Maintenance -v2

No landscaper wants to see beetles, aphids, slugs or any other troublesome pests anywhere in their garden. Many of these pests are known to leave a path of destruction, destroying lawns, trees and plants wherever they go. Therefore when pursuing landscape maintenance, pest control is another important element that you may not want to forget. Even if it may look like just a few innocent bugs, infestations could rapidly spread, killing plants and trees along with your time and energy that you invested.

This is why it’s important that you visit your local garden center and speak to the staff there about the best pest control products to use to help you to keep pest at bay. It’s also important that landscapers make this a regular practice when conducting landscape maintenance to guarantee protection for your entire landscape.

Fertilizing

Landscape Maintenance

Fertilizing landscapes despite popular belief, is more than just throwing products into the soil and expecting something to happen instantly. Fertilizing takes time and should be done carefully and precisely if you are to get the best possible results. So when conducting landscape maintenance, so that you know what you’re doing, here’s a simple guide people can follow when fertilizing their landscape.

  • Choosing A Fertilizer – Fertilizers can be purchased in a liquid, a granule, or a spike form and are mainly used to provide nutrients to soil and plants. Fertilizers when manufactured provide product information that includes an analysis such as 10-6-4, 5-10-5, or 30-7-7.

Here the first number represents the percentage of the nitrogen content in the fertilizer, the second number refers to the phosphorus content, and the third the potassium content in the fertilizer. This information is provided as an indicator to notify people of what exactly they’re purchasing and where it can best be used.

If you come across a fertilizer with these three major plant nutrients based on the NPK analysis, it is called a complete fertilizer and can be used to provide landscapes with a complete set of nutrients in one application.

  • Fertilizing Trees – Depending on the landscape goals and what the current nutrient status of the soil is, landscapers can best determine how much and how often to fertilize trees, however, with small trees, these should only be fertilized once a year.
  • Fertilizing Plants – Plants absorb fertilizer at any time during the growing season so long as it’s not too dry or the soil is frozen. Fertilizer is usually absorbed by plant roots during the dormant period, once soil temperatures stay above 40 degrees F.

Mulching

As part of landscape maintenance, mulching is also another important element that ought to be considered. Mulching is a great way to further promote health, vigor and beauty throughout your landscape and enables landscapers to benefit in numerous ways. This practice is known to support plant stability and provide nutrients to the soil while preventing weeds and maintaining consistent moisture levels throughout landscapes.

Think of how much time could be saved to do other things just by mulching, since you hardly have to weed or water landscapes. Apart from this mulching can also bring an extra sense of appeal while improving the aesthetics of landscapes, adding color and uniformity to the area.

Just like fertilizing, mulching should be done a particular way, wherein most landscapes mulch can be applied so it covers up to 3 inches above the soil and about 1 inch away from plant stems; As for trees, these can be mulched up to 8 inches off the ground.

People can also visit their local garden center to purchase mulch which can come in the form of wood chippings, bark nuggets, compost and much more. Grass clippings from your regular turf mowing can also be kept and used as mulch.

Don’t Have the Time to Conduct Landscape Maintenance? – Our Team Can Make it Happen for You!

Altogether, landscaping and landscaping maintenance can test the best of gardeners and is not for the faint of heart. Time money and lots of energy have to be put into creating and maintaining a gorgeous landscape.

If you’re retired, you work from home or landscaping is your profession then you may have more time on your hands to keep things with your landscape in order and even then there can still be numerous challenges as you may need help with several tasks. However, if you just don’t have the time or may meet certain challenges in different aspects of landscape maintenance, then we are here to help.

With top-rated landscape maintenance services, here at DK Landscaping we would be happy to come and give you a hand or conduct your landscape maintenance for you.With a knowledgeable, friendly staff, affordable rates and convenient services we can work to keep your landscape looking beautiful any time of year.

Operating efficiently and in any landscape environment, give us a call at to book your appointment or visit us online at dklandscaping.com for more information. Get your landscape maintenance done today, it’s just a call or click away.