What's a yard without maintenance?
A yard without maintenance quickly turns into an overgrown mess, full of over-sized plants, shrubs, and trees, that have lost both their shape and their curb appeal. The lawn suffers due to infrequent mowing, cutting the lawn too short, and lack of nutrition.
It can be difficult if not impossible to salvage overgrown trees, hedges, and shrubs. Maintenance costs less in the long run vs. the cost of replacement or repair.
The Recipe for Curb Appeal...
Curb appeal is about showcasing what buyers are really interested in, and that's the home itself. You want to have nice landscape features that accentuate the home, not detract from it. Proportion means everything. This means you need to be strict on maintenance to keep shrubs, hedges, bushes, and trees in proper proportion.
Potential buyers see value in a property that is well manicured, healthy, and has proportional plant life. If what they see is a tangled mess, and a neglected lawn, they will assume the worst from what they see curbside. This is why we call it curb 'appeal'. If it's not appealing from the curb, then they likely won't assume there's value to be seen there.
Where to start? Lawns, Beds, & Plant Life...
Lawns are meant to be thick, dark green, moist, and weed free. This all starts with a proper soil base. 6 inches of premium organic lawn soil is the minimum required for a lush and healthy lawn. Any contractor that doesn't demonstrate or outline the inclusion of a 6" soil base is not giving you professional service. Starting with an improper soil base will result in fighting a losing battle. Improper soil base leads to loss of moisture, lack of nutrient retention, shallow grass roots, and makes a lawn extremely susceptible and sensitive to weather changes including periods of dry sun.
In areas where the geography is mostly soil based, the risk of unhealthy lawns due to insufficient soil base is less prevalent.
In areas where the geography is mostly rock based (Bedford is a great example), the risk of unhealthy lawns is very high due to an insufficient soil base.
Photosynthesis holds all the answers!
As long as your lawn has sunlight, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and water, it will be green and lush. Most of these are provided consistently by nature but one in particular can be lacking for a number of reasons; and you guessed it... it's WATER! This can be due to a lack of soil base, drought conditions (hot midsummer heat), lack of precipitation, and lawns cut too short.
So let's recap what leads to an unhealthy lawn in order of control (the order in which your decision can have an impact on the lawns health):
1) Insufficient SOIL base (6" minimum is required)
2) Low quality sod installed (sod isn't all the same)
3) Improper sod installation procedures (lack of watering for the first 30 days)
4) Sod Installed at the wrong time of the year
5) Cutting the grass too short
6) Cutting the grass infrequently (leaving clumps of grass on the lawn, cutting too much at one time)
7) Improper fertilizer or additive application
8) Lack of precipitation, drought conditions, periods of extended warm weather
Ensuring this cycle is functioning optimally is the key to a healthy lawn. Outside of watering the lawn, your control over this cycle is entirely dependent on the lawn and the soil conditions that exist.
Let's look at some examples below...
A bed is considered any space other than a lawn area where you want to showcase plant life with the goal of having desirable plants flourish and prevent the growth of undesired plant life. Examples can be found at right.
In order to prevent undesirable plant life from flourishing, it is key that we utilize a weed suppression material. The most cost effective material for this task is 100% bark mulch. It comes in many different variations. Often there is a difference in size, color, and composition.
Mulch does a few things for your bed:
1) It prevents undesired plant growth (weeds etc.)
2) It regulates soil temperature
3) It regulates soil moisture
4) It regulates soil nutrients
Choosing the right mulch and installing it properly
Mulch is not all created equal. It varies in size, color, and composition. Typically, mulch come in sizes ranging from coarse to extra fine. The size of the mulch can have an effect on moisture, oxygen, temperature regulation, and nutrient levels. I highly recommend a fine to medium mulch. It is important that your mulch decomposes over time as it will help to bring nutrients to the soil over time resulting in a healthier bed for all of your desired plants.
Mulch Installation can be a tricky business if you're not knowledgeable as to why its utilized in the first place. The process for a successful and sustained installation of mulch is as follows:
1) Remove all unwanted growth; trying to remove as much of the root structure as possible
2) Apply a vegetation killer making sure not to harm any of the desired plant life
3) Install a Premium Landscape Fabric to help in the prevention of weed growth (these are often called weed barriers)
4) Edge the bed to a minimum depth of 6" or more if soil conditions allow
5) Apply your mulch to a minimum depth of 4" to 6" as budget allows
The factor that mitigates the suppression of unwanted weeds the most is always mulch DEPTH and mulch QUALITY.
Make sure you are installing mulch to a sufficient depth (4'' to 6") and that the mulch you've sourced is 100% BARK or WOOD CHIP; no filler. Many mulches are a mixture of bark with as much as 75% recycled tree grinds. You want to get a 100% bark or wood chip mulch.
Why edge gardens beds?
Edging garden beds isn't just a practice we use because it looks nice, but because it serves a crucial function. Edging helps separate the root structure of your lawn from garden areas so that your lawn doesn't creep into them. As you can see from the illustration below, the root structure of the lawn is unable to bridge the gap between the lawn and the garden, thus preventing it from infiltrating your garden. We recommend edging to a minimum of 6" as grass roots don't tend to be much longer than this depth.
Edging your garden beds prevents adjacent root structures from creeping into the bed, separating lawn areas from garden areas.
Choosing plants for your property can be a very confusing task. There are endless options, and a multitude of factors to consider when choosing the right plants for your property. It can also quickly turn into quite the costly endeavor. Conditions are always an important element when choosing what to put and where, and how often it will require maintenance and care to ensure it flourishes for years to come. Sizing is one of the most important factors when it comes to shrubs, trees, and hedges. You want to make sure that you choose something that will have manageable growth and that will be proportional to the surrounding features.
For a list of plants, shrubs, trees, and decorative grasses please visit our plant ideas page.