We appreciate the investment that our clients have made in their landscapes and we want to help them protect that investment. Just like with your car or your home, periodic maintenance will keep your landscape beautiful for years to come. A great way to protect your landscape investment is with a Landscape Spring Cleanup. The Spring Cleanup is a project that most of our clients have us do annually to get their Landscape Beds looking great for the Summer.
The Spring Landscape Cleanup includes several important parts. By following this process, we can set the foundation for a great looking lawn all season long:
Debris Removal
Rake and remove sticks, leaves and debris that have collected in the beds over the winter. We have found it best to use light weight leaf rakes so that we don’t remove a lot of mulch with the debris.
Edging
Spade edge the plant beds to keep the grass from growing into the beds and the mulch from coming out into the lawn. We do a rather deep edge with a flat head spade so that it will last throughout the growing season. Some people do the edging with a hand held power edger but they don’t get deep enough so the process needs to be repeated frequently. Most of our clients don’t want the additional maintenance of repeating something throughout the season. They want low maintenance.
Pruning
Prune the plants to conform to the natural habit of each plant. We want to trim the new growth so the plants look well groomed. A common mistake that “do it yourself” homeowners make is trimming either too much or too little. It is important to trim enough that the plant does not become overgrown but many homeowners will trim so much growth off that the plant takes a long time to recover and some plants are damaged beyond repair. This is where it really pays to have someone that knows what they are doing. Specific knowledge of each plant ensures that it will be trimmed to promote health and beauty.
Fertilization
Fertilize the plants with a balanced fertilizer. A balanced fertilizer has an analysis like 12-12-12 or 20-20-20.
Mulch
Add fresh mulch for color. Not only does the fresh mulch make the beds look great but it also helps retain soil moisture and reduce weed growth.
Pre-Emergent Application
Apply Pre-Emergent Herbicide to reduce the weed growth in the beds and reduce hand weeding. Again, this is all about keeping the maintenance as low as possible and because the herbicide doesn’t last forever, it will need to be re-applied another time or two throughout the season.
The Landscape Spring Cleanup will ensure that your landscape investment is being protected and your property will look great as a result.
Schill Grounds Management services the Central Ohio Communities of Delaware, Powell, Lewis Center, Westerville, Marion, Mt. Gilead, Upper Sandusky and Bucyrus, Galion and Mansfield.
