Maintaining Your Lawn Garden

Posted at February 14, 2009

When people have gone to the cost and trouble of creating a beautiful landscape plan for their home and garden, it is important to be sure to have a good maintenance plan that will assure that your lawn garden stays in great shape. This is foremost to homeowners because in many properties or estates, it is the beautiful expanses of verdant grass that is first noticed by guests and is usually the largest single feature of a landscape plan.

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 sign of an impending drought condition of the lawn garden area of your landscaping is a change in color. The grass in lawns that are suffering from insufficient moisture will start to lose their intense greenness and will soon turn to a straw color, or even brown if the lack of moisture persists.

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 added value of curb appeal can make the difference when selling a house or increasing the value of a home. 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 line of work 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.

When should I hire a landscaper?

You should employ a landscaper if you do not have a a special ability to make plants grow and you are not going to have the necessary time to commit to removing the prior planting as well as landscaping the new. There are specific steps that must be put into place to prevent soil erosion so it will require at least a weekend of hard work. Landscaper's are not cheap but you can find one at a reasonable price contingent upon on how prominent the area is and how much labor you intend to do yourself. If you are going to upkeep the area, you will save money as well.

If I am resolved to do the landscaping of my house myself, what are the various designs and conceptions to assist me?

There are many software programs that are on the market currently that can help you create your very own landscape. You will have to insert the shape of your yard and then pick from the type of terrain and climate you live in. The software can provide you with the suggested plants and shrubbery that is best fitted for your yard. If you want manmade terrains or structures, you will wish to contact a carpenter for thoughts or a do-it-yourself website on the internet for directions.

How do I decide which type to plant?

The type of plant you choose will be contingent upon on your climate and the amount of water you want to use. It will also depend on how much sun your yard gets throughout the day. Some plants thrive in the shade while others will wilt. For those people who reside in areas that are prone to drought, they should consider planting plants that are hardy which need little water and actually help maintain the soil from process of erosion. Numerous people choose to have rock gardens as well as cactus if they happen to live in desert environments.

At what time is the ideal season for planting?

The ideal planting season is dependent upon what type of plant you wish to grow. Bulbs are best planted in the fall so that they have time to root within the soil. Other types of plants are more suitable to planting in the months of the spring. Some plants will not produce flowers or fruits for one or two seasons later so you need to get ready for this. Trees will need to work through several years before they become large enough to give the right amount of shade or create fruit.

Will it increase the value and curb appeal of my home?

A well designed and a great looking lawn can provide excellent curb appeal as well as higher value to your home. It will make the features of your home stand out and if you are looking to sell your home, it is one of the first details that potential buyers will notice. There is nothing quite like a well manicured lawn and carefully trimmed hedges that add immense immediate value to a property.

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