Mulching Do’s & Dont’s

Mulching is a great way to really show off your landscaping and make it pop. having defined borders or edges in a yard will really keep things where their supposed to be. Such as the grass not growing in the mulch beds and or the mulch washing out into the lawn. Some things to take into consideration when mulching is having that defined edge around your mulch beds. having the proper depth of the edge and making sure it is deep enough to do the job is critical. Having nice curvature throughout your mulch beds is very appealing to the eye compared to having right angles or choppy lines.

Applying mulch sounds simple and it can be, but knowing where and how much to apply in areas is something I see people fail at a lot. If you have ever seen the trees that have mulch rings where the mulch comes up a foot or even more around the base of the tree is not good. This is what we call in the landscaping community as a mulch volcano. The mulch will hold moisture around the tree trunk and over time will begin to rot the trunk of the tree. This can cause disease, pest, rot, and eventually cause a tree to die and worse fall over during a storm.

When applying mulch be sure to pay attention to areas close to the house you do not want to have mulch to think or piled up around the houses foundation or wooden structures. Again going back to the mulch volcano it will hold moisture rot wood and invite pest. Typically 2-3 inches of mulch is a good standard for all your mulch beds throughout the yard. this layer of mulch will prevent weeds and also hold moisture for your plants throughout your landscape. Also will protect the baron roots from the cold winter months and the elements of mother nature.

Putting down a nice weed preventative such as preen before mulching will also help hold weeds back from growing your flower beds and mulch beds. This is the best way to do weed control so make sure before you start spreading mulch to put this down in all areas that you plan on mulching.

Mowing

When mowing a lawn all you do is cut it right? Not necessarily. When cutting a yard you want to make sure to cut the grass to the right height. There are some factors that go into this decision as well. Some of the factors are the time of year. Early in spring the grass is growing faster then it will be in the summer months. Again in fall the same applies with most turf in Virginia being a tall fescue cool season grass. the cooler months is when this grass thrives. sop in the spring and fall the grass will be growing at a rapid pace compared to the hot dry summer months where the grass will slow its growth process to crawl. Typically you want to cut your turf no shorter then 4 inches. The reason for this is, when you cut to much of the grass blade off this will damage the turf and make it struggle to regenerate growth. Keeping a thick, strong, healthy turf will be your best defense against weeds from popping up and taking over your yard. in the summer months when drought occurs and its is hot keeping the turf at a higher cut will help the turf stay cooler then the surrounding air which will help with keeping a strong root base, as well as retaining some moisture.

Some other factors that go into how to adjust your height for your cut is the type of grass species you have in your yard. While most yards in Virginia area fescue blend there are some the have Zoysia, Bermuda and even some bluegrass. Some of these species can prefer a different height of cut, but going back to the same rule of thumb that a thick healthy dense turf is the best defense against weeds we can use this to determine the height of the cut we want to achieve in our yard.

When yards are wet we want to be cautious in cutting our yard it is best to let the yard dry and cut it the following week, or when mother nature allows us. I see to many times where people want a fresh cut and they damage the yard by putting ruts in the yard or even smashing the grass down into the mud. THERE IS NO HARM IN LETTING THE GRASS GROW and cutting on another day.

Mowing Too Low Damages Grass

Those who don’t “enjoy the mow” may be moved to cut their grass very low, allowing longer intervals between mowings. However, mowing the grass too low will have a detrimental effect on a lawn. Mowing grass too low will not only stress the grass, but it also causes a myriad of problems to occur. Mowing too low reduces the density of the grass, thus making the lawn susceptible to invasive summer weed pressures. Crabgrass and foxtail need sunlight to grow. By mowing the grass too low, homeowners may unknowingly be promoting crabgrass to grow. Shade provided by a higher cut grass blade shields the crabgrass seeds from much-needed sunlight. Mowing too low makes the turf vulnerable to summer heat as well. Without taller grass blades to shade the summer sun, low mowing can lead to stress damage quickly during long periods of summer drought

Installations

There’s a lot of things factors that need to be taken into consideration when doing installations for a property. Most important thigh is to listen to what the customer wants and needs are. Whether their looking for low maintenance whether they want to add color and then finally the budget.

Once all these things have been taking into consideration you want to look at the conditions and what they will allow you to accomplish. Does the area get sun, or some sun, or is it mostly shade. knowing these things will help you with your plant selection going into this process. While some plants prefer shade, or some shade, or all sun this will help you narrow down your search for the right type of plant for the application of what the client is trying to achieve. The last thing you want to do is plant something where it will not be able to grow.

Now the proper way to go about planting is making sure to dig the hole correctly. most people think the depth of the hole is the most important but this is not the case. While yes you want to make sure to get the plant in the ground you don’t want to swallow the plant up. the most critical part is the width of the hole. You want the hole to be wider then the pot you are taking the plant out of. This allows for the roots to grow out. Adding some additives to the soil as well is beneficial to allowing for fresh nutrients for the plant to absorb because taking a plant from one type of soil to another is stressful for the plant. Anything you can do to help with the plants success in thriving in its new environment is critical.

When taking a plant out of the pot the chances are the roots will be what we called root bound. You will want to loosen up the roots that are compacted to once again allow the roots to grow out and not around on each other which in turn can cause the plant to choke itself out.

Most importantly, a freshly installed landscape needs to be watered. This is the most common reason i see for plant death in new installations. Most of the time plants die do to under watering. Rule of thumb when you think you’ve watered enough, water it some more. Also make sure to water the area around the base as well because the dry soil surrounding the roots will pull the moisture away from the roots. Remember in mother nature everything is competing for the same thing.

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