Designing your landscape is only the beginning of creating a beautiful backyard; the follow-through steps help complete your goal. The yard care and maintenance process is more than just upkeep; it helps your landscape design flourish. It can help you create and maintain an oasis where your kids can spend hours during the weekend.
From crabgrass prevention to tree pruning, yard and lawn care can play a huge role in improving curb appeal. Here are a few essential maintenance tasks to help you create a perfect backyard oasis.
Prune Your Shrubs
One of the major benefits of hiring a professional landscape company is that they can intervene and prevent major issues affecting your home’s curb appeal. For instance, overgrown shrubs can alter your landscape design. A landscaper can alter its shape and design while maximizing the flowers and berries produced.
The best time to prune your shrubs is in early spring before they start to bud. The only exceptions are the plants that formed their buds in the previous seasons, such as forsythia and lilacs. Pruning such plants in early spring will prevent them from producing flowers this year. You should research and find the best way and time to prune certain types of plants.
Shaping the Hedges
Reshaping the hedges in your backyard is another crucial form of pruning. Instead of letting them grow out of control and chopping them down, you can shape them several times a year. When sculpted regularly, you can easily trace where you cut or pruned them the last time. This will make it easier for you to maintain them at a desired height all year round. Regular shaping can save you time in the long run and keep the hedges in great shape.
Weeding and preventing different weeds from growing are two major practices that can leave you with a beautiful landscape and save time. You can try to prevent them from growing, but weeding is unavoidable. There are several ways landscapers use to prevent weeds from growing, including:
- Keeping the lawn healthy
- Planting ground cover plants on bare soil.
- Adding mulch
Unfortunately, these practices can only reduce the number of weeds growing in your yard. Weeds will sprout occasionally, so you should remove them before they start producing seeds and reproducing.
Take Care of the Beneficial Insects
Insects play a crucial role in our lives, including our landscapes. They’re responsible for pollinating, while predatory insects maintain a healthy balance of these creatures. Remember, certain insects can become pests when they invade your yard and start damaging your plants. You can keep a healthy insect population by doing the following:
- Eliminating pesticides
- Planting native plants
- Creating a biodiverse garden
Leaving a small part of your garden unmowed or leaving a pile of leaves can keep insects happy.
Deadhead the Plants in Your Garden
To keep your backyard looking fresh, you’ll have to deadhead the flowering, annual, and perennial shrubs. This means pruning the old seed heads and growth to promote flowering, re-flowering, and new growth. Simply pluck spent flowers and cut download stems by a few inches. You can even sheer off an entire branch to create room for the trees to flower again.
Endnote
Your landscape’s installation and designing phases are just the start of your journey to creating a beautiful backyard. You’ll have to water, weed, and shape it as it matures. A simple process like watering is mandatory, but you’ll have to be creative and save water while keeping your yard fresh. Fertilizers can also boost the growth of your plants. However, f you want an organic garden, you’ll have to use manure and natural ways to prevent pests.
