How to Utilize My Service

No Pesticides: To be honest, pesticides don't belong around plants at all. You should only consider pesticide use as a LAST RESORT when your home is being affected. Remember there are many options to consider before pesticides become necessary. Identify your pest and then ask what is attracting them as your first step in pest defense.

​

Let Your Landscape Choose Your Plants: Every property has specific site conditions. Choose the plants that are suited to those conditions and you will decrease maintenance dramatically. 

​

Mulch with Natural Materials: Pine straw, leaves, and other plant debris make the best mulch because they are coarse materials that better suppress weed seeds and are loaded with nutrients that plants use as they break down. Natural materials also allow you to keep a consistent look with less effort unlike colored mulches which look out of place quick when exposed to the elements. 

​

Know How Your Plants Grow: Some plants spread underground, some spread by seed, some do both, and some just stay right where you put them. Some plants get tall, Some stay short, Some are narrow, some are wide. Understanding how your plants grow will help you with selection and understanding the kind of maintenance you'll need to do.

​

Let Your Plants be in Their Natural Form: Hedge trimmers are the most misunderstood gardening tool and often are used in a way that does more harm than good. Learn how to prune your plants in their natural form and it will be a task you only need to do maybe twice a year rather than 6 - 12 times a year. 

​

Don't Overuse Evergreen Plants: Landscapes are meant to recycle and feed themselves with fallen leaves and plants debris. Save money by not having to purchase mulch or fertilizer and also enjoy the Fall color from your deciduous plants!

 

Limit Disturbance: Actively try to do as little as possible in your landscape. Sounds easy but it's not!  This is probably the most important lesson to learn in landscape maintenance and once you learn it you'll have officially mastered your landscape. 

​

Limit the Amount of Vegetation Near the House: Unfortunately we can't ask plants to mind the house and we can't ask wildlife not to inhabit perfectly good thickets against the house. Luckily though, we can manage where the vegetation on our property grows. In my experience, when the house is in jeopardy, that's when radical maintenance is done. That means complete removal of trees, displacement of wildlife, and even the use of pesticides. Avoid all these problems by not letting them happen in the first place. Keep landscaping around the house simple with lots of airflow and consider denser planting spaces along the perimeter or fence line of your property.

 

Watch the Weather: If it hasn't rained in over a week be prepared to water. I highly recommend investing in a few 25' soaker hoses and a soil moisture meter. Over time you'll learn how your property holds water and how to water most effectively on your land. Keep in mind, established plants only need 1" of water per week to thrive. 

​

Visit Your Gardens Often: If you create a space you want to be in then it will be a whole lot easier to stay on top of caring for it.