At Royal Creations Architectural Landscaping, we are getting our customer’s plants and landscape beds ready for spring. We want our plants to be ready to grow when the weather warms up and our landscape beds to look sharp. Here are the steps we take this time of year.
Ornamental Grasses
Ornamental grasses need to be trimmed each year in late winter or early spring. Cut your grass back to six to eight inches tall. If the center of the grass is dying out, you need to divide the grass clump. Dig the grass up and clean the dirt off the roots. Divide the grass into sections with some roots and grass attached to each section. Discard the dead center. Plant each section or give a few sections away to friends. Trading these sections with other plant lovers is a good way to get new plants for your garden!
Perennials
Perennials also need to be cut back to stimulate new growth. Our team will cut back spent herbaceous perennials to the ground to prepare them for the new spring growth to come. These types of plants have typically died back from the cold winter frost already, and we are simply removing the old growth to make room for the new growth to appear.
Removing Leaves
Leaves have a tendency to accumulate over the fall and winter. They do not look very good and can be overwintering sites for pests and diseases. To keep your landscape beds looking sharp, we remove all these leaves. Doing so while it is still cold allows you to destroy any pests hiding in them before the pests wake up and start eating your plants.
Removing Weeds
Weeds steal sunlight, water, and nutrients from your plants. Some weeds serve as reservoirs for pests and diseases that can negatively affect your plants. Remove any weeds now to prevent them from causing problems in the future. We also like to use a pre-emergent to help prevent new weeds from sprouting.
Edging Landscape Beds
After trimming ornamental grasses and perennials and removing leaves and weeds from a landscape bed, we like to redefine the edges of the bed with a natural spaded edge. Although this can be labor intensive, this natural spaded edge really makes the bed look sharp while keeping the mulch from spilling into the yard.
Mulching
Mulching is the final step of getting your beds ready for spring. With our garden care clients, we will typically begin with the clean-up and prep work the first visit and then return with a larger team to help get the mulch spread efficiently. We may apply another round of pre-emergent at this time to further help prevent weeds. We typically aim to get all of our spring mulching completed by Mother’s Day if possible.
We Can Help
Taking care of your landscape beds can be a lot of work. Royal Creations Architectural Landscaping can help with that. We will come to trim your ornamental grasses and perennials, remove the weeds and leaves from your landscape beds, and redefine the edges of them, so they look sharp for the coming season. If you are interested in having us do the late winter maintenance for your landscape, schedule a consultation with us today. Our list fills up, so don’t delay.
It is almost Mother’s Day. Stumped for that perfect gift? Give the gift of gardening to the mother in your life. Here are some suggestions that are sure to please.
Begonias
Flowers
While cut flowers are soon spoiled, flowering plants can give years of satisfaction. Flowering houseplants can brighten any room. Outdoors, warm-season annuals can really make your landscape beds pop for Mother’s Day. Our top five are:
Begonias (Begonia x benaratensis)
Salvia (Salvia officinalis)
Impatiens (Impatiens hawkeri)
Sunpatiens
Sweet Potato Vine (Ipomoea batatas)
Outdoor Furniture
Sitting outdoors in nature has been shown to make people feel better. Of course, you need something to sit on. Give the gift of durable outdoor furniture that is comfortable and looks great. Furniture needs to be sturdy and resist the weather or it will not look nice for long. Of course, if you have a roofed outdoor living space, the furniture can be nicer than if you put it out without any protection.
Bird Attractants
Bird watching is a widely popular activity for a reason. They are so fun to watch, and you never know what species will show up. Many people put out bird feeders, birdbaths, and birdhouses to encourage birds to linger in the yard. You can even get birdhouses with a clear wall that sticks to a window so you can watch the parents raise their chicks. Remember that most birds are territorial so you may need more than one feeder to accommodate them all. Hummingbirds are notorious for protecting a feeder, so spread several out in your landscape.
Wildflower Mix
It is no secret that bees and other pollinators are in trouble. Do your part by dedicating an area to wildflowers that bloom from spring through the first frost. There are many places to get wildflower mixes for our area. All you have to do is sprinkle the seeds on a prepared bed and water them in. Mother nature takes care of the rest. These colorful beds look nice while doing good.
Water Feature
Water features can be mesmerizing to watch and make a pleasant burble to listen to. Just try to stay tense while around one. A water feature can be as simple as a large pot with a bubbler on the porch or as complicated as a huge wall of water flowing into a pond. There is something for every budget.
Garden Care Subscription
Give the gift of a beautiful and maintenance-free landscape. Royal Creations Architectural Landscaping can take care of your landscape all year long with our garden care subscription plan. Lauryn Pitts, our new garden care specialist and her crew will do everything from getting your landscape ready for spring to monitoring the health of all your plants every month. Call today at (816) 825-2524 to get a free estimate for your landscape garden care subscription and to get on our schedule.
I would like to introduce you to Lauryn Pitts, our new garden care specialist. Starting April 4th, she and her team will be checking on each of your landscapes to get them ready for Spring. In addition, she will monitor the health of your garden plants, keep an eye out for any issues or challenges with your property, and share ideas to make your landscape flourish even more.
Credentials
Lauryn is certified in designing and installing landscapes as well as horticultural practices. She loves educating people about plants. Her favorite flowers are Gerber daisies and sunflowers. She loves designing planters full of flowers and has been known to take a customer to a nursery to help them choose new plants for their landscape.
Life-long Gardener
Her first memory of gardening is when she was about three years old. Her family had just moved into a new house. Her father was ripping out the old landscaping and her mother was planting new things. Lauryn was right between them helping her mother plant new bulbs.
Learned To Garden
Lauryn has always loved being outdoors and playing in the dirt. Her mother and her paternal grandmother taught her how to grow things. When she graduated from high school, she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do for a living. She initially went to school to be a hair stylist, but only lasted about a week stuck inside all day.
Education
A career counselor asked Lauryn what she liked to do. At the time, Lauryn was redoing her father’s landscape, so the counselor suggested she enter a degree program in landscape design and horticulture located in Wisconsin. She started there and has never looked back. Coming from her first big job in Charleston, SC, she is excited to be here.
Closer To Family
Lauryn has relocated from Charleston, South Carolina to join our team. She has family in Oklahoma and Wisconsin, and she is excited to be closer to them. She loved visiting her paternal grandmother in Oklahoma and getting to garden with her all summer. She loves her Wisconsin family, too, but not the cold weather up there.
Making A Career of It
Lauryn is planning to make a career at Royal Creations Architectural Landscaping. If you would like her to suggest some ways to take your landscape to the next level, schedule a consult. She will be available starting in early May after she finishes her initial rounds to wake up everyone’s gardens for the season.
Still Hiring
If you are interested in a career in landscaping, we are hiring. Check our career page for details.
