Posts Tagged lawn and garden
Lawn Maintenance: The Importance of Lawn Treatments
If you love your lawn (which we are sure you do), then you know the importance of lawn care and that it goes beyond watering and mowing. Yes, these two are the foundation for a healthy lawn, but lawn maintenance is a complex science, involving feeding, aeration, and controlling insects and weeds.
Benefits of Lawn Treatment
Proper lawn care ensures that your lawn can withstand threats from lawn-damaging weeds and insects. It also ascertains that your flowers, grass, and shrubs can fight-off diseases. Furthermore, lawn care ensures your turf can survive unpredictable weather and guarantees your lawn is ever nutrient rich.
However, seeing as it is time-consuming and a difficult undertaking, we recommend you engage professionals. Here are five benefits of hiring experts.
- Expertise
You might be a proficient landscaper, but there is knowledge and services only professionals can provide. They understand the shrubs and trees better and know the different grass varieties. They can often tell what is ailing your greenery in an instant and prescribe the best treatment program. Moreover, seeing as they understand the local climate, and have years of experience, they will engage in preventive measures to ensure your lawn can ward off seasonal pests and diseases.
- Avoid Accidental Damage
64% of American believe that all grass should be fertilized during spring while another 57% believe a lawn is not healthy if it is not green. These are false believes that lead to damage by over-fertilizing and leading to a high accumulation of salts in the soil.
Lawn treatment services, on the other hand, avoid common mistakes know how to treat your plants.
- Cost Effective
It might sound counterintuitive, but engaging professionals is cost-effective. Think about it; you will have to invest in equipment such as mowers, aerators, and brush cutters, invest in chemicals, and fertilizers. Furthermore, given that there is a period of trial and error, there is a high likelihood that you will be paying to correct mistakes.
However, with professionals, you will not pay to correct mistakes, and you don’t have to invest in the equipment and chemicals.
- Property Value
If you are considering putting your house on the market, you can increase its value by proper lawn treatment. Lawn maintenance can increase the value of your property by up to 15%. Who wouldn’t like that?
Hiring lawn care experts is the only indisputable way to ensure that your lawn is always in pristine condition.
- Consistency
As a homeowner, there is a likelihood that work, plus maintaining your lawn can be overwhelming. It will be challenging to create let alone observe an effective lawn care routine.
However, lawn maintenance experts ensure that your greenery, is trimmed, fed, and watered consistently. They also handle far more, and the result is a healthy lawn, and one that you can enjoy.
Conclusion
Though it is a demanding task, lawn treatment is of utmost importance. It improves air quality while maintaining the aesthetics of your home. Engaging the services of a professional ensures that your lawn is ever impeccable, it saves you money, and keeps you from physical labor. You can contact us for all your lawn maintenance, repair, and landscape design needs.
Improve the Appeal with these Simple Lawn Treatment Tips
Every homeowner dreams of a perfect lawn. Unfortunately, only a few yards in residential areas are green, lush and healthy. This can be attributed to the lack of adequate care. In simple terms, if you do not put some time and effort into protecting, preserving and enriching your lawn, you will not get beautiful and thriving turf. Under ideal circumstances, you should engage a professional for yard maintenance. If you are set on DIY upkeep, use these simple lawn treatment tips for better results.
Check Your Mower Settings
If your grass is growing healthily but the effect after mowing is not stunning, it is advisable to consider the lawn mower settings. Setting the blades to cut the grass to short can be highly detrimental to the beauty of the yard. You should note that different species of grass have optimal cutting heights. Consult your landscaping expert on the best length for your grass. Otherwise, you will have to deal with bald patches, poor root systems and even drying plants. When mowing, ensure that the mower blades are sharp, and alternate the cutting patterns for long-term lawn appeal.
Water at the Right Time
Watering your grass is an essential practice for a healthy lawn. Unfortunately, irrigating the plants at the wrong time can cause unexpected harm. For instance, if you water the grass in the evening, the moisture will remain on the blades for a prolonged period. This can promote the growth of harmful fungi on your property. On the other hand, watering when the sun is blazing prevents optimal absorption due to evaporation. Therefore, you should irrigate during early mornings for maximum absorption without the moisture overload.
Rake the Fallen Leaves
Raking the lawn is not fun for most people. However, if you want to keep your yard and grass in the best condition, this practice is necessary. When dead leaves are left on the lawn for too long, they will suffocate the grass and prevent the penetration of sunlight. Consequently, the grass will no longer have the lush green look. In addition, leaves promote moisture retention, and this will increase the risk of fungi attack. So, plan for the timely removal of dead leaves to protect your lawn.
Deal with Bald Spots
Bald spots can develop on the lawn due to unexpected problems. For instance, if you have not upheld the best mowing practices, some areas of the yard will look a little bare. Also, poor soil aeration and smothering of grass by objects can cause bald patches. It is important to deal with these spots to restore the beauty of the lawn. The most convenient method for dealing with bald patches is filling in with a repair mixture. Typically, the repair material consists of suitable grass seeds, special fertilizer and in most cases, some organic mulch.
Finally, you should preserve the beauty of your lawn by controlling weeds. These unwanted plants will take away the nutrients intended for your plants. As a result, the grass will not grow healthier over time. Also, weeds are unappealing and will compromise the harmony of the turf. Therefore, you should plan for immediate weed removal if you notice any signs of invasion. Contact us for more information.
Outdoor Space Improvement: Simple Garden Ideas for Beginners
Establishing a garden on your property can be highly beneficial. In general, a home garden can be used for growing consumable produce or decorative plants. You can make your property more beautiful by planting flowers and other appealing plants in your garden. Alternatively, you can choose to plant vegetables, herbs and fruits. You will have access to fresh produce at a low price. It is possible to combine both categories of plants for a perfect garden.
If you are new to gardening, you might find starting the process challenging. Here are some basic garden ideas and simple guidelines for a smooth beginning.
Understand Your Environment
It is essential to learn more about your environment before starting the gardening work. If you are knowledgeable, you will increase the rate of success from the beginning. For the best results, choose a perfect spot on your property to start a garden. The spot should have adequate sun exposure. Too much or little sunlight will damage plants. It is also advisable to check the condition and properties of the potential gardening soil. Once you understand the specific characteristics of your garden, you can choose the most suitable plants to match the unique environment.
Consider Container Gardening
If you do not have enough space on your property, consider choosing container gardening. This one of the most beneficial and popular garden ideas in the modern home environment. You will be able to enjoy flowers or produce even with limited space. In addition, container gardening gives you more control. For instance, it is possible to grow any kind of plant because you can prepare unique soil material and move the container to different places for optimal environmental conditions. If you decide to take up container gardening, consider taking advantage of space on your patio, deck and rooftop.
Look into Vertical Planting
Most people opt for garden plants that remain close to the ground. If you are interested in a fresh idea for your home, think about growing some vertical plants. As implied, vertical planting involves establishing plants which grow upwards by climbing onto fences, stakes or trellises. This type of gardening can help you maximize your limited space. It also creates unique aesthetics in the home. In addition, this is the perfect gardening choice for people who might find squatting and bending difficult.
Choose Seeds or Starter Plants
Once you have decided on your ideal gardening style, you can begin choosing plants for your project. When selecting the perfect plants, it is advisable to keep your environment in mind. Some vegetables, herbs and flowers will not thrive in certain environments. Therefore, opt for plants which can grow with ease in your home. You will also need to choose whether to acquire starter plants or seeds. For a beginner, starter plants or seedlings are the most suitable. This choice will eliminate your worries about sprouting. On the other hand, seeds are cheaper, and you will find diverse plant species.
Utilize Companion Planting Methods
Consider utilizing a companion planting technique in your garden for better results. This approach is perfect if you would like to have a mixture of plants on your space. Companion gardening involves planting different complementary species of plants together so that they will benefit from one another. For instance, if you are planning on growing vegetables, you can plant carrots alongside leeks. The lees will repel harmful carrot flies. Note that there are some plants must not be planted together. If two species are affected by the same diseases and pests, avoid planting them together. Contact us for more information.
Backyard Ideas: 5 Easy Tips for Creating a Beautiful Drought-Resistant Back Yard
Earlier this year California made permanent the water restrictions that had been in place throughout the drought. While many people re-landscaped their front yards during the dry years, many more let their back yard lawns wither away, or removed them completely. But efficient, non-wasteful irrigation doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a beautiful back yard retreat.
Xeriscaping, or water-wise, climate appropriate gardening, can allow you to have all the color, blooms, and lushness you desire while significantly reducing water use and maintenance. Try one or more of these 5 backyard ideas that are ideal for the dry summers and wet winter Mediterranean climate of Sonoma County.
Low-maintenance backyard ideas
Landscaping your back yard with waterwise techniques is not only environmentally friendly, it can be downright gorgeous. Here’s how.
Native plants
Always a good choice for xeriscape principles, climate-appropriate plantings are those that are suited to your local water availability. Here in Sonoma, good native choices include
- Perennials like lavender, rosemary, Santa Barbara daisy, Mexican sage, verbena, catmint, and dusty miller.
- Annuals and bulbs that are well-adapted to drought-tolerant gardens. Think daffodils, irises, California poppies, larkspur, and alyssum.
- Vines that include climbers like wisteria, honeysuckle, grape, and potato vine.
- Drought-tolerant grasses such as fountain, blue oat, blue fescue, sedge, and deer grass.
- Aloe, agave, echeverias, and sedums are good succulent choices that cover a wide spectrum of the green palette.
Groundcovers
Groundcovers are a great replacement for lawns, help to prevent soil erosion, and add a lovely splash of color. Is your Sonoma back yard mostly sunny? Rockrose is a hardy choice that requires almost no care. More shade than sun? Try creeping barberry. It’s bright yellow flowers in mid spring and blue berries in early summer make this a real show-stopper.
Don’t forget the mulch. It helps to moderate soil temperature, curtail evaporative water loss, and keep the weeds out of sight. The most common mulches are chipped or shredded bark, but gravel and stone can also be used.
Hardscape
There’s nothing more low-maintenance than hardscape. Paved areas, retaining walls, and stone and brick pathways create a clean minimalist look that can be enhanced and added to depending on what style back yard you prefer. Try a walkway of pea gravel with stepping stones that leads from the deck to the garden. A stone patio or composite deck are ideal for backyard barbecues.
Decorative stone
Use a mix of different gravels throughout the backyard landscape for more visual appeal. Decorative stone like river rock comes in many different sizes, shapes, and colors. Together with decomposed granite, it’s a great choice for surrounding a water feature or filling a raised or flat bed.
Create multiple outdoor living spaces
A nice balance of plantings and outdoor living areas lets you extend your home’s footprint while having less grassy areas to maintain. Even less expansive back yards can have several smaller areas that offer lots of options for entertaining. One area can feature the grill, another the bar setup, and another can hold seating and dining options.
Just keep in mind that regular maintenance isn’t eliminated by xeriscaping. Fertilizing, pruning, and occasional weeding are all still required. Irrigation systems should be tested and adjusted according to the season. And pest management is a core practice of xeriscape ideology.
Learn More
If you’d rather spend less time taking care of your back yard and more time relaxing in it, or just want some more terrific backyard ideas for your own home, contact us today. We’d love to show you all the ways a water-smart backyard can be a beautiful one, too.
Got Curb Appeal?
First impressions are everything! The same concept holds true when speaking about your landscape. From a real estate perspective, a good first impression, aka “curb appeal” is about using your landscape to enhance the appearance of your home. Whether you want to boost your curb appeal, market the value of your home or simply want to transform your space to make your lawn & garden look pristine, DK Landscaping helps you come up with the inspiration for the look you desire and making your property the talk of the neighborhood:
Here are a few simple ways to enhance and maintain your landscape:
General maintenance: Mowing your lawn, pruning back trees/shrubs weeding, fertilizing, mulching, leaf and debris-free to watering will keep your yard looking beautiful and eye-catching throughout the entire growing season.
Visually inviting entryway: There are a lot of little things you can do to spruce up your front entryway including keeping it debris free. If you have an old, dull concrete stoop with cracks? Update to a beautiful stone stoop or porch.
Providing a focal point: Plantings, landscape lighting like lamp posts, and decorative pieces like a small water fountain are good ideas.
Colorscape: Adding a splash of vibrant annuals and perennials flowers and plants will make a big statement.
Landscaping lighting: A small yet impactful solution, outdoor accent lighting can not only enhance your yard aesthetically but also eliminate any dark, shadowy areas at night and prevent any safety hazards.
Updated driveway and/or walkway: If your driveway is old and outdated or starting to crack, updating it can have a big impact. There are pavers that imitate any stone for driveway landscaping—brick, travertine, limestone, etc. Same goes for any walkway in your yard. A new stone or paver walkway is a great front landscaping idea.
Stairways: Like retaining walls, stairs are ideal for hilly yards. Adding a staircase walkway to your sloped yard is a great way to add curb appeal—and give your visitors easier access to your door.
It is pretty easy to do many of these things yourself, but perhaps your front yard is devoid of plants and eye-catching features. You may consider planting a tree as a focal point, installing a trickling fountain, or even building a patio. In addition to these memorable details, it is important to use color to attract and focus attention on positive attributes of the landscape. This not only requires planning, but you may need a landscaping company to see some of these designs through.
Having good curb appeal makes selling your house easier, as potential buyers are looking for an aesthetically pleasing home. But don’t brush off having curb appeal even if you are not putting your house on the market. An attractive landscape design is always important!
