Category Archives: General Landscaping

Landscaping Tasks to Tackle Before Fall

August and early September are a great time to tackle some specific landscaping tasks in your Florida landscape. Getting these tasks out of the way now lay the groundwork for successful gardening and lawn care throughout the rest of the year and into the spring.

Give your roses some tender loving care.

If you have some rose bushes, you’re going to want to give them extra special attention this month. Add fertilizer, especially if you have not done so yet this growing season. You should also prune away dead, diseased, or insect ridden parts of the plants so that they can be healthy. If you’re lucky you might get another bloom out of your rose bushes before they go dormant.

When you are plotting the landscape for your new or renovated home, the choices for Florida-friendly tropical shrubs, trees, and other landscaping features can be overwhelming. While researching different types of shrubs, consider how you might put those shrubs to use. They don’t have to be just for decoration. Here are some ideas.

Gardening

Small tropical shrubs are a great addition to your garden, creating a natural border. If you have a raised garden for convenience, the shrubs can hide the stilts of the garden boxes.

Trim Your Shrubs

Do you have some tropical shrubs in your yard? If so, you’ll want to make sure that you take care of them properly so that they can flourish and improve the look of your property. Part of maintaining your tropical shrubs is trimming them on occasion. This not only improves how they look, it also allows them to grow healthier by absorbing more sunlight and water. Learn below how often to trim your shrubs and the best way to do it.

Trimming or Pruning?

There is a big difference between trimming shrubs and pruning them. When you trim shrubs back, you are primarily doing so for the aesthetically pleasing effect, keeping them in a shape that you desire. This can be done almost any time of year, as long as you aren’t overzealous.

Using Your Stimulus to Refresh Your Landscaping

Wondering what to do with your CARES stimulus check? If you are still working full time or collecting the extra $600 a week in unemployment, your bills are probably already paid. That leaves many possibilities for your stimulus. One of the things you can do is refresh or improve your landscaping.

Landscape Design

If you are tired of your backyard, you might want to think about hiring a professional for landscape design. They will be able to help you plan your yard, including features such as water features, garden plots, and trees and shrubs. Landscape design is usually charged by the hour, or it may be a set price for design and installation.

Think of Your Landscape as an Ecosystem

When most people think of their landscape, they are considering what trees, shrubs, and plants are going to look the best and are suited to their tastes, but there are a lot of other more important things to consider when choosing landscaping features. 

In planning the landscape, it can be easy to lose sight of the fact that you are actually manipulating nature. Mother Earth has her own designs for the area you live in, and your landscape and the landscape of the entire city is part of a delicate ecosystem. Of course, most people manipulate that ecosystem to have the lawn or landscape that they want, but it is still important to consider.

Choosing Landscaping

When choosing landscaping for a commercial property, it can be tempting to keep it as simple and utilitarian as possible. However, there are several great reasons for upgrading your commercial landscape. Here are just a few.

Welcoming to Visitors

Whether your commercial property is a storefront, a factory, a warehouse, or any other type of commercial property, you will likely have customers, vendors, and partners arriving on your site at least once per day. You want your facility to be inviting, welcoming, and soothing to your visitors. Especially for large complexes, elegant landscaping can help make the commercial property seem less intimidating.

Plant Tropical Shrubs in Your Lawn

Have you ever wanted to plant tropical shrubs to your garden? If not, right now is a great time to explore what’s available and start making plans. Here are three great reasons why you are going to be happy you chose to make this simple change.

Add Dramatic Flair to Your Yard

Tropical plants typically have very vibrant colors and fascinating shapes. When you bring these shrubs into your yard, you give it a much more beautiful, dramatic look. Not only that, but it also enhances the appearance of everything else in your lawn. Then, the gorgeous colors of a hibiscus, Ixora, bougainvillea, or other tropical delight greets you happily whenever you go outside.

Designing Your Landscape

When it comes time to plan your landscape, there are several things that you should consider. You want to make sure that the items you plan to install in your lawn and garden are suitable to your climate and use. Whenever you are in doubt of what your particular yard might be able to handle in the way of landscaping, it is best to get the advice of a professional for designing your landscape. In the meantime, here are three things that you should consider when planning your landscaping.

Yard Conditions

Your yard has its own microclimate, and this greatly affects the types of plants and grass that will easily grow in your landscape. Your yard has a particular soil type, as well as level of shade or sun. Depending on the size of your yard, you may have several different areas that are conducive to different types of plants. A professional can examine your yard’s soil and sun and determine the best plants for your microclimate.

How Shrubs Protect Other Plants

When you are planning your garden and landscaping, you would be remiss if you did not include some shrubs in the mix. Shrubs not only add to the aesthetics of your landscaping, but shrubs protect other plants in your garden.

Prevent Erosion

The roots of shrubs help to prevent erosion of the soil in your garden. This is important in Florida due to the heavy rains that sometimes come through the area. Erosion of the soil can wash out your other plants and cause them to have unhealthy root systems. By preventing that erosion, shrubs can protect your other plants in your garden from washing out.

Filter Excess Nutrients

Shrubs help to filter the excess nutrients and sediment from the soil in your garden. This will help the other plants in your garden to be healthier and more stable. While some nutrients are good for your other plants, shrubs will not inhibit their growth. Instead, the shrubs will help maintain the perfect balance for your other plants and flowers.

Discourage Pests

Many shrubs help to discourage pests from entering your garden. Some shrubs are pest repellents, which means that your other plants and flowers will be protected from this harm when you surround them with shrubs. Shrubs also improve the air quality of your garden, which is also important for healthy plants and flowers.

If you are looking at improving your landscaping or garden and increasing the health of your other plants and flowers, contact us today for more information about the shrubs we offer. We will be happy to discuss your needs and your current garden, so that we can recommend the best shrubs for your circumstances.

Landscaping After a Storm

Winter isn’t a harsh month in Florida, but it can still bring storms that cause damage to your property. As the weather starts to warm back up, you may find yourself facing the task of landscaping after a storm.

After all, you want to optimize your curb appeal with healthy, green, and perky plants. Consider bringing in a professional landscaping company to help you handle your most pressing landscaping needs.

Step 1: Create a Plan

You will be tempted to jump to action, but the best landscaping restoration begins with a solid, thorough plan. Wait until the storm has cleared and visibility is high. Prioritize the cleanup process by first identifying access issues: are there any entries to your home or car that cannot be accessed?

Then identify potential risk factors, like trees or limbs that are unstable and could fall. This is critical, since damaged trees have the potential to fall without warning and injure anybody below.