Summer Landscaping Rules to Live By
Thursday, July 21st, 2016
Summertime is prime time for weekends by the pool, barbecue picnics, and… you guessed it! Landscaping maintenance. Here are a few summer landscaping tips to follow that will help you keep your yard looking splendid even when the weather isn’t quite so cooperative.
1. Cut Dead Tree Limbs
Thunderstorms are more frequent during the summer and dead hanging tree limbs can do a lot of damage, so cutting them before lightning strikes is always best. To prevent dead tree limbs, watering your trees during periods of drought will curb the heat’s effects and help keep your tree limbs healthy.
2. Trim Scraggly Bushes
Keep an eye on bushes and other plants growing close to your home and around your air conditioning unit and trim or prune them as needed. Bushes left unattended create a warm and damp environment, perfect for termites.
3. Clip Away Vines
Although vines may add a touch of beauty to your backyard scenery, they can be a nuisance when growing in the wrong places. Vines trap moisture against your house and eat away at the mortar between your bricks, jeopardizing the stability of your exterior walls. Bugs that come from the ground will also use vines as a means to enter your home.
4. Water Your Lawn
When the sun is burning bright without a cloud in the sky for days on end, you’ll want to water your lawn to keep it soft and green. Most of the time, watering your lawn effectively involves more than just turning the sprinkler on every day. This article contains a few irrigation tips you might find helpful.
5. Raise Your Lawn Mower Blade
As a general rule of thumb, your grass shouldn’t be shorter than 3 ½ inches, especially in the summer. Longer grass means longer roots. Grass that has longer roots will shade out weeds, helps soil retain moisture, and is more resilient to heat stress. When the weather is really hot and dry, you shouldn’t mow at all.
6. Eliminate Pests at First Sight
Many pests make their appearance in the summer. Mole crickets, chinch bugs, and ants are the most common. While every homeowner has his own preference for pest control (chemicals vs. natural remedies), acting at the first sight of damage is critical to keeping it under control. Brown spots, thinning grass, and chewed leaves are the classic pest symptoms that can affect your yard for years later if not taken care of right away.
Summertime is also prime time to consider enhancing your
outdoor living space with a front porch, back patio, outdoor kitchen, fire pit, inground pool, or all of the above! If you’re ready to take the next step,
schedule an appointment with us and we’ll show you what we can do.
Just browsing? Read this blog post for five more ways to bolden the boring outdoors!
Tags: landscaping, outdoor maintenance, summer lawn care
