Caring For Your Lawn Garden

Posted at February 14, 2009

If you want to be sure that the landscape around your home is beautiful and in the best possible condition, then you will want to be sure that you properly take care of the lawn garden portions of your landscape design. It is very important that correct maintenance of the lawn is carried out so that they not only stay attractive but also healthy. In most cases, the lawns are the most expansive and first noticed areas of the overall landscape.

Watering the lawn and garden is one of the most important parts of good lawn maintenance. In some parts of the country, there is enough rainfall so that the roots are properly supplied with moisture. But even in what would be considered soggy areas, such as the Pacific Northwest, there are periods or dry weather and no rain. When this happens, it is vital to the survival of the lawns that they be properly watered.

The first indication that a drought condition could be affecting the lawns of your lawn garden landscape design is a change in the grass color. First, grass that is not getting enough moisture will lose the intense green shades and with a bit more time they will begin to show areas of turning a straw color.

The best time of day to water a lawn or garden is during the coolest part of the day. This means that turning on the lawn sprinkler early in the morning or in the evening after the sun has set is best. Garden lawn experts also say that the rotary sprinklers provide the best coverage if you don't have a built in sprinkler system for your lawn maintenance.

In most cases, it is best to water your lawn just once a week, unless the weather is extremely hot or dry. When doing your weekly watering, you can place an empty tuna can on the grass and let the water run until it is filled up. This will help you know when you have watered enough to give the deep roots enough moisture without over watering. Watering in this way will also help your lawns develop a deep root system which will also help them survive periods of drought.

Another aspect of lawn and garden maintenance is proper fertilization and weed control. Good basic maintenance techniques will go a long way in keeping the lawns of your home and garden healthy, thriving and with few weeds. Spring is the best time to fertilize lawns as this is when the grass is "waking up" and will need the extra nutrients from the fertilizer to assure healthy growth. The best garden lawn fertilizers will have a combination of nitrogen, phosphates and potash.

In addition to a "spring feeding" of your lawn garden, you can also boost the health and vitality of the grass in your lawns with a second round of fertilization during the summer. This will help assure that your grass is healthy enough to help push out the weeds that might try to take root and you can also use a fertilizer that combines a weed-killer to control these unwanted plants.

No realestate is finished without some type of grass, as well as some forms of shruberry to help enhance the overall quality of the building. The enhanced curb appeal as well as the added value can make the final difference when selling a home or adding to the over all value of the house. Any little bit helps and you do not always need a professional to do the landscaping for you. It never hurts to have some professional advice or a little bit of knowledge before you start ripping up your front yard, though. Some trees, some pleasant green grass, and you will get it down pat before you know it Who knows? Maybe you will decide it as a career that you might be curious in following. The following are some of the frequently asked question people have for landscaping so that you can have an idea of how landscaping is done and how it can be easier than you might think.

Is it possible to do my own landscaping?

Yes, you can do your own landscaping if you have a small amount of information on how to do it and if set aside the time to do so. You will be getting your hands dirty. Plus you will need to have knowledge of what plants are the best for your terrain. If you are creating man-made structures such as decks or ponds, you will have to have some carpentry as well as plumbing skills. You will also have to recognize how to upkeep the pond since the last thing you need after putting in all that work is to produce a body of water populated with mosquito larvae and algae.

What qualifications should I search for in a good landscaper?

An established landscaper will have numerous photographs of all the landscape designs that he or she has completed. They will have a background with an education in landscape architecture or have plenty of real world experience in landscaping. If you wish to see an actual landscape that they have created as well as planted, the landscaper should not balk at showing you or furnishing for you with the particulars to contact the owner of the property. It is in their best interest to have content and satisfied clients.

Whats the best way to decide on the kind of plant to use?

The kind of plant you select will depend on your climate and the amount of water you want to use. It will also be dependent on the amount of sun that your receives throughout the day. Some plants thrive in the shade when others will wilt. For those people who live in drought prone areas, they should think about planting plants that are hardy which need small amounts of water and actually help preserve the soil from erosion. Numerous people elect to have rock gardens as well as cactus if they live in desert environments.

When is the ideal planting season?

The ideal planting season is dependent upon what variation of plant you wish to grow. Bulbs are best planted in the fall so that they have time to root within the soil. Other plants are best suited to planting during the spring months. There are some plants will not produce flowers or fruits for at least one or two seasons later so you have to get ready for this. Trees will have to work through several years prior to them becoming substantial enough to give the right amount of shade or to produce fruit.

How much will it cost to landscape my home?

It would be virtually impossible to get an accurate estimate without knowing how big your yard is, what the overall condition of the soil is and finally what kind of plants that you are looking to plant in your yard. You can take a general guess that it will be at at a minimum of around five hundred dollars and can easily go in the range of several thousand dollars for exotic plants and features which are complex. A landscaper can give you an estimate for the cost.

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