5 Landscaping Tips to Keep Your Lawn Looking Healthy All Summer
Summers in Virginia can be a troublesome time for your plants and lawn. With the hot sun beating down, fewer rainy days, and pesky animals creeping their way into your yard, it can be hard to keep up with your property. Luckily, your landscape can look good all summer long with these landscaping tips and tricks.
Regular Mowing
The key to keeping your landscape looking great is your lawnmower. When keeping your lawn tidy, you should be mowing on a regular basis. Generally, you should not cut your grass shorter than three and a half inches. You want your grass to have long roots to be more durable – which is needed for the heat stress it undergoes during the summer months.
2. Your Yard Needs Hydration
Watering is essential to keeping your plants, shrubs, and lawn healthy, but most importantly green! However, this doesn’t necessarily mean watering more because overwatering could do as much harm to your yard as under-watering. Instead, you should change the way you water. Water in the early morning or late evening to give plants time to take up moisture before temperatures really heats back up.
Tip: If you don’t have time to do this yourself, you may want to invest in a sprinkler system.
3. Don’t Forget the Fertilizer
Do you ever see those lawns with the deep, lush green color during the summer? It’s because they use fertilizers that promote that deep color as well as growth. The best way to discover what type of fertilizer you need is to visit your nearby garden center and ask for advice (or let me refer you to one of my preferred maintenance vendors to take care of it for you)!
4. Use Mulch for Plant Health
Using mulch is one of the best ways of promoting a healthy landscape that reduces labor, controls weeds, and conserves water. Plus, it's inexpensive, and you only have to replace it in the spring. Mulch also stunts many weeds that like to pop up in your flower beds throughout the summer. Mulch is great to use for those who enjoy low-maintenance outdoor spaces! Just don’t over-mulch as this can smother important in-ground nesting pollinators - no more than two inches of mulch is a good rule of thumb.
5. Pest Control
Pests problems are not always a guarantee, but you still want to have a plan in place to prevent any future infestations in your lawn. Here are some common signs of pests or disease issues in your yard:
Blotches or spots on leaves
Brown and crispy edges
A sticky substance on leaves or under plants
Fuzzy white or gray growth on leaves
Pro tip: Research which pests are common to your area and your landscaping features to build an effective plan for pest control.
Landscaping and gardening can be fun and a great way to enjoy the outdoors, especially if you have family who can lend a hand or two (quality family time!). If you’re interested in upgrading your landscape or outdoor space, contact me for a consultation!