When you’re thinking about your spring landscaping renovation, the key is to plan this out well in advance. We have such long and sometimes hard winters in Ohio, and these can take a real toll on your garden area. However, it’s worth keeping your yard looking good as research has found that a good-looking and functional outdoor space boosts your property value by as much as 20 percent.
Keeping the exterior area of your home in good condition is a big commitment and requires seasonal maintenance. It’s crucial to prepare now for later. In this article, we’ll consider every aspect of planning your spring landscaping, including:
Mid to late winter is the ideal time to get started on planning your spring landscaping updates, as it gives you adequate time to plan, research and reach out to a company like ours that can assist you all the way throughout the process. Take a look at these spring landscaping tips.
Planning your lawn treatments is perhaps one of the most crucial aspects of making your outdoor space look inviting and healthy throughout the seasons. Thinking about sod and seed installation, as well as the application of fertilizers and weed killers, is important to do well in advance. Remember, a damp and ravaged lawn might need to be aerated in order to enable those important nutrients to get into the soil and reach grass roots.
Through doing this, you can plan to make your lawn look as good as possible for the rest of the season with an expanse of new and well-nourished grass. You’ll also have the opportunity to zap any weeds that could spoil the look of your lawn.
If you have high-traffic areas of your lawn, it’s likely they won’t be looking their best after the ravages of winter. It may also be necessary to repair any diseased turf or address areas of grass that have been in the winter shade and are just a muddy mess.
Fertilizing your lawn depends on knowing when and how to do it effectively. Different fertilizers need to be applied to your lawn at specific times dependent on what grass you have. When you consult with experts in lawn maintenance, you can be sure the right products are applied at the correct time, ensuring your lawn is the best it can be at any time of the year.
Soil types vary from place to place, and the fertilizer you need is partly reliant on the quality of soil you have. It also needs to be applied in a way to maximize your lawn’s needs. Again, this is a job best undertaken by a team of professionals.
Mulching your lawn creates a solid foundation that encourages healthy grass growth. Mulch gives your grass many essential nutrients as well as impeding weeds from growing. It is placed over your lawn to reduce degradation as well as to retain moisture.
Mulch is either manmade or organic. The man-made variety is often comprised of things like rubber tires, whereas organic mulches can be made of garden byproducts like grass clippings and leaves. If you live in a cool climate, mulch is sometimes created from gravel that retains heat, thus prolonging growth.
When your mulch is applied in time for spring, it insulates your soil and retains that much-needed moisture to maintain the health of your grass. Your lawn loses many crucial nutrients during the summer, so good mulching and fertilization done at the right time ensures you have a lawn to be proud of for many months ahead.
We’re more aware than ever before of the importance of saving water, fighting global warming, avoiding rising energy costs and more. Because of this, there is a huge trend toward making our outdoor spaces as eco-friendly and sustainable as possible. Whether this involves gardens that are low-maintenance, using less turfgrass, or more local plants, we encourage the natural balance of your outdoor space in synergy with the local Ohio climate and environmental conditions.
Sustainable landscaping is designed to prevent soil, air and water pollution, as well as conserve resources and reduce water use. This is achieved by using several different approaches, many of which we’ll cover later. In addition to planting indigenous plants and ones that work well with your soil, using products that are gentle on the earth and are non-polluting protects your family as well as the environment.
When you’re creating a sustainable landscape, you need to consider the following:
Talk to one of us on the Shearer Patio and Landscaping Services team to discuss your requirements and find out how to create a sustainable landscape that provides the perfect environment for local wildlife and plants to thrive.
Now that you’ve considered your lawn, you need to take into consideration the landscape plants you want to have installed in your soil. Choose ones that are either native to the Columbus region or that you know work well in your climate conditions.
Interestingly, did you know that trees planted within 60 feet of the west side and 40 feet of the south side of your home can help you save energy when it’s hot?
It’s true that a well-maintained and attractive landscape adds value to your home, and taking this into consideration, you should plan out a workable budget as well as take advice from the professionals on choosing a design plan that suits you.
It’s therefore important to:
In addition, know that late winter is the perfect time to prune your trees to encourage new fruit production and fruit crops later in the year. Your ideal time to prune fruit trees is after the coldest part of winter has passed but before blooms begin. This can vary depending on your location and severity of the winter, but here in Ohio, early March is often the perfect time to conquer this task.
When you’re maintaining your landscaping, it’s imperative to install a well-designed and reliable irrigation system. Perhaps you have one installed, but it’s quite old and antiquated. Maybe you’ve changed the layout of your outdoor space. There are many variables that impede your irrigation system from working at its best, meaning your lawn will not look as good as it should, and it could potentially be a huge waste of water and therefore money.
If your system is older than five years, it’s time to think of upgrading. Generally speaking, there are a few general indications you may be due an upgrade. These include:
Don’t worry if you don’t feel you need a complete change in irrigation system. Many people see benefits just by making a few simple and inexpensive changes, such as:
Wasting water is expensive and hard on the planet. By making some changes to your irrigation system or installing a whole new one, it pays for itself in time. According to the EPA, the average family in the U.S. can save as many as 9,000 gallons of water per year by simply replacing a standard clock controller with a WaterSense one.
You’re already aware continuing to use an old and outdated irrigation system can be fraught with problems, not to mention wasting of water and money. Here are a few other tips to keep in mind to ensure you save water where you can when planning your spring landscaping renovation:
Why should you replace sprinkler heads? With technology improving year upon year, coupled with sprinkler heads having a limited usable life, it’s good practice to change these from time to time. You can test them just by seeing if they’re shooting out a decent stream of water that covers everywhere they were initially designed to cover.
New sprinkler heads are far more water-efficient and spray your grass in a uniform manner, so if yours aren’t up to modern standards, it’s time to make some changes.
If you’re solely watering shrubs, flowers and trees with some of your sprinkler heads, that’s a lot of water being wasted. Sprinkler heads throw a lot of water into the air. Although some of it reaches your plant roots, a great deal of it doesn’t.
You can remedy this by installing drip irrigation lines right next to the roots of your plants so all your water goes to where it’s most needed. With this in mind, if you’ve got sprinkler heads installed in these types of areas, changing to drip lines significantly cuts your water bills as well as being a far more effective way of watering.
Another wonderful way of saving water is to program your timer so your outdoor space is watered only when it needs to be. Take advice from landscape professionals in terms of exactly what your plants and lawn need on a daily basis, and look forward to spending your money on something other than your huge water bills.
Your outdoor living space is an extension of your home itself. When the weather is nice, it’s a place to entertain friends and family and to simply relax and enjoy the outdoors. Here at Shearer Patio & Landscaping Services, we specialize in designing and planning a huge variety of functional and tasteful landscape enhancements that will stay looking as good as the day they were first installed for many years to come.
Some of the landscape enhancements our customers enjoy are:
Good outdoor lighting is, of course, a requirement when you want to show off your outdoor space at its best. You’ve done so much hard work to get your spring landscaping ideas implemented, it stands to reason investing in effective and well-designed lighting is crucial to creating a wonderful evening ambiance you and your visitors will love.
When lighting is utilized correctly, landscape lighting brings out the beauty of your entire property. We often spend so much time and money on making sure our indoor spaces are beautifully illuminated, so why not the outdoors, too? Your outside space is something to be proud of, and lighting it well ties everything together beautifully.
There are also the safety benefits of good lighting to consider, and you can speak to our creative outdoor lighting design team for more information on how to create a lighting scheme that works best with your own property.
Whether you’re looking for a paver walkway to tie different areas of your outdoor space together or are looking for the perfect custom patio for those summer BBQs, we can help. You might feel more adventurous and think of installing an outdoor fireplace for those chillier nights, or maybe you are looking to expand your entertaining area with the installation of an outdoor kitchen. No matter your requirements, we can help.
Although it’s cold outside right now, and you might not be considering spending much time outdoors just yet, now is the perfect time to get started on autumn landscaping ideas like preparing your lawn so it’s a beautiful and healthy-looking place to spend time over the spring and summer.
We have a full team of imaginative and innovative designers and experienced craftsmen who will make your spring landscaping renovation dreams become a reality. Using only the best quality products, we can fulfill your requirements no matter what your personal style may be.