Maintaining a beautiful yard can be made quite simple. Elements to get to know are watering, fertilizing, mulching, pruning and what to do in each season. If you hadn’t landscaped your own yard, the best first step would be to get to know the plants and trees in your yard and what their watering preferences are. From there the following suggestions should keep your yard easily maintained through each season. If your plants and trees are unsuccessfully kept you can celebrate the opportunity to choose plants or trees that require less maintenance. Let’s begin with up-keeping your lawn overall.
Grass
The first thing people notice about your landscaping and curb appeal will be the quality of grass you have and how well it’s groomed. To keep your lawn green and healthy you need only know how to treat it according to season and weather patterns. If your lawn needs fertilization to grow the best time to use it is mid-spring. During the summer you need only to water the grass 1 inch per week and during very dry spells, don’t mow. Grass can get stressed and react to frequent mowing. Pull weeds as you see them. At fall, rake leaves and re-seed any bald spots immediately before winter arrives.
Trees
Different trees flower and have regrowth in different seasons. It’s after they flower they would need to be pruned. Any dead branches or appendages should be trimmed. Learn the signs of illness and infestation and call an arborist if you see any signs of an ill tree in the summer. Mulching around the tree once a season allows the tree to retain its needed moisture and protect it from extreme heat or cold.
Growing Vines and Plants
Plants and vines that grow up your home, fences or other fixtures for decorative purposes should be pruned in spring. If left to grow they can look messy like no one is home. Just trim to your preference and then mulch the bases of the plants like you did your trees. Water as needed, and a little extra during dry spells.
Flowers
Your flowers can be classified as either perennials (flowering over two years) or annuals (one season/year). Knowing what you have and what their watering needs are will help you care for them. Some need to be kept moist during dry seasons and some are more tolerant. Almost all flowering plants can benefit from fertilizer at least once per season. It’s okay to fertilize a flowering plant once when you plant them, when buds form, and again once the plant has flowered. When flowers wilt and die, it’s best to pluck them off the plant to encourage re-flowering. Once the leaves of the plant turn green to yellow, an annual can be plucked from the ground and a perennial should be trimmed close to the ground and the base area mulched 3-4 inches.
