Keeping a yard looking its best takes a little work, whether you do it yourself (DIY), have a local kid help, or bring in the professionals. No matter where you’re located, there are three critical steps to get ahead of the neighborhood’s best yard status.
Regular Inspection
Weather, animals (including us humans), and time significantly affect the health of our yards. It’s essential to regularly inspect the entire yard, home, and garage exteriors each season. Check for any damage to buildings, grounds, sprinkler systems, faucets, and hardscaping. Also, look for plant damage, dead lawn spots, and dying plants. With hardscaping, have a curb-appeal approach by standing at the curb and looking for sagging, leaning, or otherwise worn hardscaping and address the issues early. Be sure to check for dirt setting or building up against woodwork.
How often? At a minimum, thorough inspections should be completed a couple of times a year with a glance inspection each month. Also, pay attention to your water bill, where extreme changes from one year to the next can indicate a leak in the sprinkler system.
Nutrients, Water, and Native Plants
A perfectly green lawn and flourishing plants, like humans, need proper nutrition and watering. Be sure you’ve planted ‘like’ plants together. Seems obvious, but it can be easy to plant a water-loving plant in a drought-tolerant area. Be sure to read the plant tags, research online, or have a professional landscaper assist you. Pro-tip: research native plants for your region and know your ‘zone.’ Sometimes, nurseries receive plants best suited for other regions. Not only will native plants perform better, but you’ll also have less work and spend less in replacing plants over the years.
Destroyers: Animals, Weeds, Insects, and Weather
Every part of the country has invasive weeds and plants. When the first settlers came to our country, the dandelion was considered a pretty little flower. Treating your yard and landscaping early and correctly will help keep the nasty weeds away. When a random weed does appear, be sure to pull at the weed base and get as much of the root as possible or use weedkiller as directed.
Just like weeds, some insects are invasive. Other insects are good for a garden. Most often, invasive pests destroy plants overnight. Some plants inherently deter insects and can be planted strategically to fend off buzzing bugs. To navigate your way around all these details, you can use pest-specific sprays or natural products. Just be sure to read the information entirely before coating plants, landscaping, or patio furniture.
Weather can be brutal, from freak hailstorms to torrential wind and rain or droughts. Be prepared by watching forecasts and being ready to protect plants, including covers, an ad-hoc greenhouse, or ticking up your watering schedule by a few minutes or an extra day each week.
At Total Lending Concepts, we want your home to always be looking its best!
