Summer might be coming to an end, but that doesn’t mean your landscape should fall into bad shape. Fall and Winter are the perfect times to make sure your landscape is clean and healthy.
During these seasons, you’ll be able to prepare your residence or business to have stunning landscaping for the following year.
Great curb appeal is necessary to show your home or business is elite and shows pride of ownership. You’ll be able to show your property’s beauty, showing your visitors that you care about the details.
We want to help you make your grounds look great to help them perform even better.
Here are 5 end of Summer tips to follow for your commercial or residential landscaping.
1. Damage Control
First, it’s time to take a close look at your landscape. How does it really look, and what simple services can improve its health and appearance?
You should focus on your overall lawn health, the base of your landscaping beauty.
While we know that mowing the lawn is essential for maintaining a clean image, sometimes taking a quick break from it can actually help your lawn regain energy and avoid brown or damaged spots during Winter.
Aerate your soil so that water, oxygen, and fertilizer reach the roots in your soil more easily. This also prevents it from compacting too much, especially if it gets covered with snowfall. Winter damage is a real concern.
You should also fertilize your landscape one last time just before Winter begins, to stimulate grassroots to bigger and stronger growth the following year.
Fall and Winter are also great times to use pesticides and insecticides to help your trees and perennials grow stronger and withstand diseases and pests that attack during Winter.
2. Prune Time
As Summer winds down, consider having your landscaping pruned. Pruning will trim back dead, weak, or infected areas of plants and shrubbery.
Pruning helps your landscaping heal well, and prevents further damage, helping it look even more stunning next Summer.
Many perennials run the risk of not surviving Winter, so pruning is extremely important for your landscape. If you ensure your Spring and Summer perennials are set to recover before Winter begins, they can grow back stronger and healthier.
3. Inspect Your Hardscaping
Hardscapes are the man-made, non-living parts of your grounds, like walkways, patios, retaining walls, and other features.
Most commercial (and some residential) grounds have a lot of hardscaping features that allow easy access to buildings, entrances, lots, etc. While these are helpful during Summer and Spring, you want to ensure they are just as efficient during colder months.
Conducting inspections of your irrigation system is a good place to start. Make sure your irrigation system is shut down before Winter starts to avoid unwanted freezes and pipe bursts. When we find cracks or holes in your pipes, it’s time to replace or fill them in to help you avoid major damage to your system.
You should also plan for spaces on your grounds that will tend to accumulate snow. Since these will retain more snow, it’s important to plan for them to be in an area where there is the right amount of mulch and hearty grass to bear its weight and absorb the moisture as it thaws.
Make sure your curbs and sidewalks are easily visible during Fall and Winter. You can use reflectors, posts, and cones to help prevent accidents with customers and visitors. Keeping your hardscapes visible also helps your landscape professionals know the best areas to effectively manage debris from snow or leaf removal.
4. Plant Now For Later
Take advantage of the end of Summer and get next year’s garden planted.
To help promote early and long-lasting floral colors, consider planting Spring-flowering bulbs in Fall. That way they will bloom in early Spring, followed by your trees and shrubs.
This kind of preparation will not only save you time in Spring and Summer, but it will also help your visual impression early on without having to spend too much extra time and money on planting perennials during these months.
It’s also the perfect time for planting new trees and shrubs.
5. Add Seasonal Color
Just because Fall is coming doesn’t mean your landscape should be dark and dull.
This is the best time to prep your landscape with classic Fall and Winter perennials that will add color and life to your landscape in their own way.
We specialize in classic Fall flowers that add plenty of color and texture to any landscape. We can also experiment with other plants and flowers which are able to withstand harsh temperatures while still bringing your landscape to life.
Finally, don’t forget about classic berry shrubs that can be used during Winter. Not only do they bring beautiful reds and purples to your landscape, but they also provide food and shelter for animals during the colder season.
With these 5 tips in mind, contact us today to get your grounds looking great as Summer turns to Fall. Clark’s is your full-service landscaper.