If you get your landscaping right, it’s easy to keep your property looking spick and span all year round. Your yard will look like a professional resort to everyone who visits.
To do that, you need the right landscaping checklist. What should that look like?
Sort out your routine checklist
If you look at what professionals do, you’ll notice that their landscape maintenance checklist is broken into different time frames. They usually begin with their routine checklist and then add seasonal or annual checks after that.
Seasonal items to check include:
- Mowing and edging
- Weeding and watering
- Debris clearing
Many professionals take extra time to remove grass clippings, twigs, and stray leaves from their gardens since these can cause damage. For example, if debris builds up on patios, it can lead to the formation of organics (roots that grow into the material and break it apart). It can also prevent lawns from being smothered, especially in the fall when leaves lie on the ground for several months and block sunlight, damaging the grass underneath to the point where it might not come back.
Another important consideration is pest control and disease scouting. Professional landscapers are always on the lookout for this because it poses a long-term risk to gardens. Insect infestations can be particularly damaging and blow up quickly, making them much harder to control.
Add seasonal checklists depending on your area
Seasonal checklists vary, as you might guess, by the changing of the season. How much attention you need to pay to these depends on how seasonal the area is where you live. The spring is the time when you need to rake up dead leaves and any leftover winter debris before pruning shrubs that blossom and bloom in the summer and the fall. It’s also a good idea to mulch at this time of year to prevent weeds from springing up when the weather starts to get warmer.
During the summer you are moving into the survival phase. You want to cut the grass slightly taller to protect it from the peak of summer sunshine. If it’s too short, then it won’t have enough natural protection or moisture in it to prevent desiccation and damage. It’s also a good idea to deadhead head flowers and prune annuals and perennials to encourage second bloom waves. If it’s dry in your area then watering will become important at this time. Many professionals use automated irrigation systems.
The fall is the time to prepare and protect your garden for the cold weather that’s going to come in the winter. You’ll need to manage leaves and aerate the ground, especially the lawn because grass thrives when there’s plenty of holes in the soil. You’ll also need to do some final pruning and remove diseased branches.
The winter is the most difficult time of the year for your garden but for you as a gardener or a landscaper there isn’t really much to do apart from waiting the season out. This is the time to maintain your equipment etc.
If you get your landscaping right, it’s easy to keep your property looking spick and span all year round. Your yard will look like a professional resort to everyone who visits.
To do that, you need the right landscaping checklist. What should that look like?
Sort out your routine checklist
If you look at what professionals do, you’ll notice that their landscape maintenance checklist is broken into different time frames. They usually begin with their routine checklist and then add seasonal or annual checks after that.
Seasonal items to check include:
- Mowing and edging
- Weeding and watering
- Debris clearing
Many professionals take extra time to remove grass clippings, twigs, and stray leaves from their gardens since these can cause damage. For example, if debris builds up on patios, it can lead to the formation of organics (roots that grow into the material and break it apart). It can also prevent lawns from being smothered, especially in the fall when leaves lie on the ground for several months and block sunlight, damaging the grass underneath to the point where it might not come back.
Another important consideration is pest control and disease scouting. Professional landscapers are always on the lookout for this because it poses a long-term risk to gardens. Insect infestations can be particularly damaging and blow up quickly, making them much harder to control.
Add seasonal checklists depending on your area
Seasonal checklists vary, as you might guess, by the changing of the season. How much attention you need to pay to these depends on how seasonal the area is where you live. The spring is the time when you need to rake up dead leaves and any leftover winter debris before pruning shrubs that blossom and bloom in the summer and the fall. It’s also a good idea to mulch at this time of year to prevent weeds from springing up when the weather starts to get warmer.
During the summer you are moving into the survival phase. You want to cut the grass slightly taller to protect it from the peak of summer sunshine. If it’s too short, then it won’t have enough natural protection or moisture in it to prevent desiccation and damage. It’s also a good idea to deadhead head flowers and prune annuals and perennials to encourage second bloom waves. If it’s dry in your area then watering will become important at this time. Many professionals use automated irrigation systems.
The fall is the time to prepare and protect your garden for the cold weather that’s going to come in the winter. You’ll need to manage leaves and aerate the ground, especially the lawn because grass thrives when there’s plenty of holes in the soil. You’ll also need to do some final pruning and remove diseased branches.
The winter is the most difficult time of the year for your garden but for you as a gardener or a landscaper there isn’t really much to do apart from waiting the season out. This is the time to maintain your equipment etc.
