Winter is coming, and it could spell disaster for your lawn or landscape. You spend the other months of the year cultivating a beautiful yard and garden, so don’t let a Virginia winter spoil it for you. A process called winterization can help you protect against a brutal winter and come through with a healthy outdoor space. Preparing for the Winter Months The winter season causes plants to die or go dormant, and preparing is an essential part of winterizing. Simply put, to winterize your … [Read more...]
Redesigning Your Flower Beds
Of all the many fantastic ways to enliven your landscape, few of them have quite as much impact as redesigning your flower beds. Details like the types of flowers you plant, what textures they have, when they bloom, what draws the eye, and even the overall shape of your bed can all have an impact on your curb appeal. Offered below are tips to improve your flower bed. Height Considerations Let's start the redesign by thinking about how far apart your plants will need to be and how high they … [Read more...]
What is Aeration and Overseeding?
When you think of lawn care, a few obvious choices come to mind. A lawn needs consistent mowing, watering, and fertilizing. And while those maintenance actions are necessary, there are more advanced lawn care methods, such as lawn aerating and overseeding, that will greatly benefit your lawn. Lawn Aerating Lawn aerating is a procedure where small holes are created in the lawn using a mechanical, liquid, or manual aerator. These holes allow air, water, and nutrients to enter directly into the … [Read more...]
How to Meet Your HOA Landscaping Requirements
If you own a home that is governed by a homeowners’ association (HOA), you know that they take their rules seriously. HOA’s are very strict about specific requirements they set for their community. By enforcing these rules, HOA’s are able to maintain a certain level of aesthetic for their communities. An HOA is the governing body that handles the management of a condominium, planned community, or gated community. Not all communities and condominiums have a homeowners’ association, but many … [Read more...]
What Are the Benefits of Outdoor Lighting?
Whether you're hosting a barbecue, sitting around the pool, or increasing security around your home, the right outdoor lighting is essential. Outdoor lighting can transform your front and back yards from basic to beautiful by adding a warm and welcoming aspect to your home's entrance and exterior spaces. Illumination provides the perfect landscape ambiance for an outdoor get-together, increases safety for your family, and creates focal points both on our home and in your landscape. In this post, … [Read more...]
The Difference Between Warm and Cool Season Grass
The grass is the most important aspect of any healthy lawn. Maintaining your grass can be an arduous task, depending on which kind of the 12,000 species of grass you have. If you choose to have turfgrass installed on your lawn, there are two main classifications to keep in mind: warm season grass and cool season grass. The type of grass you choose depends largely on the climate in which you live, but for locations with varying temperatures (known as transition zones), choosing warm or cool … [Read more...]
The Best Trees For Creating Privacy Around Your Yard
Summer is here and you’re undoubtedly going to want to spend as much time outside as possible. Whether you’re gardening, hosting a barbecue, playing with your kids or simply relaxing on your porch, you may find that you want a bit more privacy from the outside summer noise. Instead of installing a costly fence, consider planting trees to help give your yard a more organic type of privacy. Below is a list of several trees you can easily plant in order to get the privacy you’re looking … [Read more...]
Getting Year-Round Color in Your Landscape
No matter the season, color in your landscape can be easy with a simple plan. Incorporate annuals, perennials and shrubs with different bloom times for continuous bursts of color within your landscape. Planting and Bloom Times The best suggested times to plant are during the spring and fall, when the weather is cooler. The new plants and bulbs have time to adjust to the new environment before extreme temperatures of summer or winter begin. Specific plantings, such as summer annuals, can be … [Read more...]
Spring Mulching and Planting
Reasons to plant and mulch every spring are in abundance. Mulching helps plants and trees hold in precious moisture. Spring planting adds color to your landscape for the season – or even longer – depending on what you choose to plant. Whether you plan to redesign your entire landscape or you’re just looking to maintain your existing one, a little work now will reap big rewards the rest of the year. Choosing the Right Mulch Before you apply mulch, you need to decide what variety you are going … [Read more...]
What’s Bugging Your Garden?
2017 looks like it’s going to be a tough year for bugs in Northern Virginia landscapes. Every gardener dreads dealing with bugs and other pests; it can be both time-consuming and expensive. The old adage, “the best medicine is prevention,” is also true for landscape pests, though. Following good gardening practices, encouraging natural predators, and frequently checking your plants can go a long way in avoiding pesky insect damage. Uncovering the Source of Your Pest Problem Once you have … [Read more...]
