Updated 05/12/22
The Spring season brings with it the anticipation of landscaping and caring for lawns to many homeowners. If you want a beautiful lawn for your property during the summer, you should maximize the cleaning up process before you begin your landscaping work. You can clean up by using a rake to clear out dead grass, branches, stalks, etc. The next thing you should do is to prepare to plant beds by first removing weeds and mixing compost around your plants. If you are incorporating new flowerbeds, the process will be entirely different. You will have to use a tiller for breaking new ground or kill the grass by covering it with a material that blocks sunlight and moisture from it.
The best time to begin planting is during the spring. You can also add fertilizer over loosened soil to enrich it with nutrients that will help your plants to grow. After planting, make sure you mulch the planting beds and also the bases around trees. Do not wait for weeds to emerge before you take action on them. You can prevent them from appearing by using a pre-emergent application on your lawn and landscape beds.
It is why you are encouraged to hire the services of a landscape design company that can take care of all your landscaping work by providing you with backyard materials and also the option of giving you custom backyard landscaping. Landscape design companies offer elegant landscape and design to those who want high quality maintenance and service done to their backyards or lawns. With a landscape design company, you won’t have to worry about how your landscaping will turn out as they provide satisfactory design and layout of lawns and gardens. If you are looking to improve the features of your landscaping or starting out on a landscaping project, call your local landscaping company to book them and have your property landscaped by professionals.
If you’re interested in elegant landscape and design for your home, you’ll need to hire a landscaper to put it together for you. Garden designers and landscapers work together in order to develop plans for a space, then put them into effect. The landscaper has the equipment necessary to create and maintain the garden, while the designer knows how to make it look as good as possible. While you can do some gardening yourself, most of the beautiful landscapes you’ll see are made by professionals.
If you want custom backyard landscaping, look for a good landscaper in your area. Bring them in and ask for a quote for the services you want. You can talk to a few different landscapers and get all of their opinions and quotes. You don’t necessarily want to go with the cheapest. Instead, go with the one that both fits your budget and has ideas that you love. They will provide both the backyard materials and the labor. You can decide if you want them to continue maintaining the yard once it is landscaped, or if you’re going to take over for them.
Following some fall landscaping maintenance tips will help your landscaping to look its best year-round. A lot of homeowners make the mistake of neglecting their landscaping in the fall, and they pay the price in the spring.
Fall landscaping maintenance tips are designed to ensure that all your hard work this spring and summer pays off next spring with a beautiful, healthy landscape. With a little bit of effort and following these fall landscaping maintenance tips, you will be rewarded with a great landscape year-round.
Fall Landscaping Maintenance Tips for Your Lawn
If you are like most Americans your lawn is the foundation or the backbone of your landscaping. Fall landscaping maintenance tips can make sure your lawn gets the care it needs to take that long winter’s nap.
One of the biggest mistakes that homeowners make with their lawn is ignoring it in the fall. They take the time to do all the landscaping services that they need in the spring and the summer but then leave it up to mother nature in the fall.
In the fall your lawn is still very much growing. Yes, there is more moisture in the air, more dew in the mornings, and less heat for your lawn to contend with, but it still needs to be watered. As a matter of fact, it still needs to be mowed.
One of the key fall landscaping maintenance tips is to keep up your lawn care regime, and add a few extra steps in like:
- Laying down some grass seed. A thick lush lawn is one of the best preventives when it comes to weeds. Overseeding your lawn in the fall before the cold sets in will give it time to establish that new growth.
- Fertilize your lawn before you put it to bed. All those nutrients that your lawn needs can be soaked up and help the grass to quickly revitalize in the spring.
- Rake up any leaves that fall on your lawn. Leaves can smother the roots of your lawn and cause it to die back. You will wind up with brown spots on your lawn wherever the leaves fall and are left to decay.
Depending on where you live most lawns can and will stay green until at least the end of October, which means the lawn is still growing. You will have to keep up with the mowing, and watering until the first hard frost.
What you do now will affect how your lawn looks in the spring. Think of fall landscaping maintenance tips for your lawn as a combination of preventive, and getting a jump start on springtime lawn care.
One more tip, rake the leaves and other debris, then either pay for debris removal service or find out when you can put yard waste on the curb. A lot of homeowners will burn leaves and other debris in the fall, but this not only will leave scorch marks behind, but it is also dangerous. It is better to have the yard debris removed.
Fall Landscaping Maintenance Tips for Your Trees
Fall is the time of year you should be focusing on tree care. Taking care of your trees now will ensure that they look great in the spring, and more importantly, that they stay healthy.
If you plan on adding any trees to your landscaping, fall is the time to do it. Most trees are moving towards a dormant stage this time of year, which means that they have stopped using energy to actively grow, making it the ideal time for them to be planted.
Tree pruning, trimming, and removal are best done in the fall. If you do not feel comfortable managing any of these activities it is best to hire someone that specializes in tree care. Managing your trees is important not only for your landscaping but for the safety of your property as well.
A tree removal service can remove any trees that cause a safety hazard to your property. A lot of homeowners will do part of the job themselves like mulching around trees and leaving the bigger jobs to the pros.
Here is one of the most important fall landscaping maintenance tips when it comes to managing trees if you have a tree removed, have the stump removed as well. Stump grinding ensures that the tree will not come back, and it also helps to keep insects away. A rotting stump in your yard is an invitation for pests.
If you have fruit trees planted in your yard, one of the fall maintenance tips for these types of trees is to remove the “phantom fruit”. Phantom fruit is the fruit that was not picked when ripe and that starts to rot on the tree. It is important that this fruit is picked off the tree. Phantom fruit can prevent blooms the next season, they invite bugs and disease. Cleaning up your fruit trees by getting rid of unusable fruit is important.
Fall is also a great time to fertilize your trees. You can buy tree spike fertilizer which is a slow-release that will help your trees, especially fruit trees overwinter. You simply use a mallet to hammer the spikes near the base of the tree and nature does the rest.
Before you set out the fertilizer spikes it is a good idea to remove any fallen leaves from the base of the tree. Decaying leaves invite a wide range of diseases. You may have to get out there a few weekends in a row to manage the leaves, but it is well worth the effort.
Fall Landscaping Maintenance Tips for Your Structures and Surfaces
Fall means that the winter holidays are on the way, and you want your property to look its best before you deck the halls, and fences. If you have been planning on putting up a fence the fall is a great time to do that.
Your first step is figuring out what type of fence you want. Cedar fencing is always a popular choice. It is durable, and it looks great, but of course, there are many different types of fencing to choose from. Once you have decided which fence is right for your property, you can either hire a fencing company, or you can install your fence as a DIY project.
Hiring a professional will mean the job gets done a lot faster, DIY means you may save some money. It’s up to you which is more important to you. Fencing is a great way to create a private environment, amp up security, and make your yard safer for your pets and kids.
If you already have a fence in your yard there are some fall landscaping maintenance tips just for managing your fencing:
- Repair or replace any worn panels. If you have a wood privacy fence, evaluate the fencing for any worn panels, and replace them. It is easier if you address the problem before the panels break apart. Fall is a great time for this maintenance activity because the growth around the fence will be minimal.
- Fall is a great time to stain or paint your fence. With all the vegetation dying back, you will easily be able to get to the fence to paint or stain it.
- Replace any worn hardware. If your gate latch sticks consider replacing it. The problem will only get worse as the weather gets colder. If you do not want to replace the hardware try using some lubricant on the latch and other hardware.
If you take care of your fence in the fall it will look its best for the winter holidays, and extend its life. Fall is the perfect time to make fence repairs, paint, and even install a new fence.
How are Your Driveway and Garage Looking?
Your driveway and garage are an important part of your landscape. It is often the first thing guests notice about your home. Fall landscaping maintenance tips are not just about taking care of what is growing in your landscape, it is about taking care of other elements of your landscaping.
Freshening up your driveway with driveway sealcoating not only gives your driveway that good as a new look, but it will protect your driveway surface throughout the winter, and beyond. Sealcoating is a great way to revitalize your driveway and protect it.
Before you have the seal coating done, the same company can make any necessary repairs to ensure that your driveway is ready for another winter. A great-looking driveway not only adds to the value of your home, and makes your landscaping really pop, it also ensures safety.
While you are evaluating your driveway take a look at your garage door. Does it need to be painted? Are you in need of any garage door repair? Paint it, get it repaired, and enjoy a fully functional garage door that looks great.
Fall landscaping maintenance tips are all about getting things done outside before the cold really gets a chance to set in and you are stuck indoors. It is a great time of year to clean out the garage and leave the junk for curbside pickup service so you can start with a fresh slate in the spring.
Speaking of how to do deal with junk, one of the prime fall landscaping maintenance tips is focused on what to do with junk around your property. Junk can be defined as anything that is broken, unusable, or that you simply no longer want or need. It does not speak to the quality of the goods.
Fall Landscaping Maintenance Tips for Scaling Down the Junk
We all do it, we hold on to things thinking we will find something to do with them. Typically, we do not, and the “things” take up space. Fall is a great time to start filtering through the things you thought you would use in your landscaping this year and did not. It is also a great time to:
- Get rid of anything that is broken. Broken trellises, broken chairs, an usable outdoor table, broken pots for plants. You likely have a few things that can easily fit in a garbage bag and makes its way to the curb.
- Evaluate your needs. How many tools for landscaping do you have? How many do you need? Get organized by pairing down some of the stuff you have.
- Go through all those summertime toys. Summertime toys like floats for the lake or beach, badminton sets for the yard, and other toys can pile up quickly. Organize them, throw away anything broken or that has missing pieces. If you did not use it this season, you likely are not using it next season. Part with it, you will feel better.
When it comes to stuff for your landscaping, you can either have space or stuff, you cannot have it both. If your stuff is overwhelming you and making it hard to find the stuff that you need, pair it down, and either donate or throw it away.
You will be so glad in the spring that you did all your landscaping organization in the fall and don’t have to deal with it. It is best to purge in the fall because you will be less tempted to hang on to things that you convince yourself that you can use.
Final Fall Landscaping Maintenance Tips
Once you have everything cleaned up around your property, it is time to start planning for the spring. The fall is a great time to plant bulbs. Choose your bulbs and get them in the ground before the first hard frost.
Fall landscaping maintenance tips are not all about out with the old. Fall planting can help you to have a great color show in the early days of spring. There are plenty of showy flowers that come from bulbs.
If you want some late-blooming show for the fall, plant mums, ornamental cabbage, and other ornamental veggies like potatoes. These hardy plants will stay vibrant until the first killing frost.
Following fall landscaping maintenance tips will get your landscape in great shape for the winter, and make life a lot easier in the spring. Of course, these fall landscaping maintenance tips also give you the opportunity to enjoy some great weather and spend time outdoors.
