An Introduction to Landscape Maintenance

You’ve invested time and money into creating a beautiful outdoor landscape – and now you need to maintain it. Landscape maintenance is a year-long process that involves much more than a bi-monthly mow. If you want to keep your entire landscape in lush health and beauty, you’ll need to take several steps each season.

Fortunately, you don’t have to handle the madness of landscape maintenance alone. As your professional landscape partner, Chad’s Landscape Management is here to help you create and maintain your outdoor space – beginning with this helpful introduction to landscape maintenance.

Lawn Maintenance

A neat and tidy lawn is a must-have for maximum curb appeal, but it takes more than a monthly pass with the mower to make it happen. Best mowing practices include sticking to a seasonal schedule, keeping grass at an ideal length, and using proper patterns to encourage new growth.

However, lawn maintenance doesn’t end with a good mow. If you want the best lawn on the block, you should also perform maintenance tasks like trimming, edging, seasonal clean-ups, and debris removal. These tasks tackle tough spots your mower can’t reach and keep your landscape free of fallen leaves, grass clippings, and other debris that can stifle your lush lawn.

Lawn Care

Lawn maintenance keeps your lawn neat and tidy, but lawn care keeps it healthy and green. Lawn care is a proactive approach that aims to keep your lawn and landscape plants in vibrant health for years to come. Proper lawn care changes with the seasons and requires a good knowledge of your turf grass type to complete correctly.

A lawn care routine may include:

• Fertilization to keep your lawn lush and vibrant
• Soil Testing and Analysis to monitor and manage proper soil health
• Weed Control
• Pest Control
• Disease Management such as fungicide or lime applications

Pruning

It may seem counterintuitive, but pruning is key to maintaining thick, lush landscape plants. Keeping your shrubs and trees nicely trimmed encourages plant health while preventing them from crowding other plants and structures in your landscape. Pruning is best done during the dormant season, usually in late winter or early spring.

However, proper pruning is a delicate process. Prune too much and you risk stunting plant growth; don’t prune enough and you risk the safety of your plants and property. It’s best to leave pruning to professionals that know how and when to correctly cut your plants to keep them in optimal health and beauty.

Bed Maintenance

Most people love the sight of a bed full of beautiful blooms – until they have to maintain them. Bed maintenance can be a time-consuming chore that’s even more frustrating when it still leads to faded flowers. Depending on your plants, bed maintenance can include:

• Edging and defining
• Pruning and deadheading
• Debris removal
• Mulching
• Weed Control

Seasonal Color

Much like your wardrobe, a pop of seasonal color can help your landscape stylishly reflect the time of year. Unfortunately, adding seasonal color to your landscape isn’t as easy as reaching into the back of your closet for your favorite sweater. It involves selecting plants that will thrive in the current climate and knowing how (and when) to plant them for the best results. You can’t have your pansies competing with your petunias!

While your local home and garden store should have a seasonal selection, it’s best to leave your color changes to the pros. A professional landscape maintenance company can help you choose the right plants, place them properly, and even maintain them for you throughout the year. A company like Chad’s Landscape Management can even help you celebrate your favorite holiday with landscape decorations like lights, ornaments, and holiday-specific plants!

Life is rarely one size fits all, and landscape maintenance is no exception. Depending on your landscape design, type of turf grass and plants, and your location, you may need to focus hard on certain areas while skimming over others – or even skipping them entirely. If you need help managing your landscape maintenance, contact the professionals at Chad’s Landscape Management today for a free quote on one of our comprehensive maintenance packages.