Spring is linked to all sorts of wonderful things like new beginnings, cleaning, and blooming! It’s here and we want to make sure you know what you need to do to have a fresh and original look for your horticulture needs.
Yard Cleanup
Part of a healthy yard is keeping it clean. Raking away dead leaves and inspecting your yard for dead plants and overgrowth can revitalize its look. A lack of pruning, cutting off dead branches or overgrowth, can lead to less growth in the future for your plants. You can remove dead leaves and stems, carefully, with your hands by pulling at them. For tougher stems or branches, you can use pruning shears or scissors.
Adding Fresh Mulch to Flowerbeds
Mulch is a must have for your garden for not only its aesthetic benefits, but also health benefits for your garden. A new layer of mulch helps retain water in the soil for your plants and can lead to less need of watering your plants. Mulch also helps keep down unwanted weeds from infiltrating around your precious plants. Using mulch in for your plants is an easy trick to saving money on water and giving your garden a fresh look. There are a variety of choices when it comes to mulch these days!
Efficient Water Irrigation
Plants are a lot like humans in that they need a good balance of water and oxygen. Overwatering can lead to your landscape drowning in water and lacking oxygen. Making sure your water irrigation is working efficiently and ethically also helps the earth! As California is suffering from a drought, it is important to conserve as much water as possible and it can also help you save money. Smart irrigation can help! Contact Us for help on your water irrigation needs or any landscape project! Our professionals are ready to help!
Trees are the most transformative landscape element you can add to a property. Even though we are in drought conditions here in Southern California, and through much of the western U.S., continuing to plant trees is of utmost importance for a variety of reasons.
The most obvious reason is they give life to our planet. By converting carbon dioxide to oxygen, they support all living beings. While that alone is enough of a reason, there are many other ways trees are beneficial.
When deciding what landscape element to keep during drought, trees are at the top of the list. They add the most property value and visually can make any home or building look better. They provide shade which can make an outside area more enjoyable.Their roots help hold soil from running off.
Choosing the right trees is important too. Going with native varieties and ones from a Mediterranean climate, which is very similar to our climate, is key.
Deciding where to plant a tree should also be given careful consideration. Do not plant young trees too close to a structure. Allow for room for when it's full grown and also to minimize structural damage by winds or fire.
New trees will need more water at first to get their roots to grow deep, but once their roots are established, trees will need less water to continue thriving. A smart controlled drip irrigation system is the most efficient way to both save water and optimize the tree's chance for survival.
Proper trimming depending on what's best for the type of tree is important. (See The Right Time to Trim Trees). Also, root drenches can help yearly to make trees strong against diseases and pests.
Let us help you transform your landscape with trees! Our professionals are experts in all aspects of landscape, including new planning and installation of hardscapes and softscapes, installing new and updating old irrigation systems, backflow installation, and maintenance of both commercial and residential properties. Contact us today and get a free quote!
Updated: Aug 5, 2022
As drought conditions continue to increase in California, the push to get rid of lawns is also increasing. One great option to replace grass is using low water groundcovers. Groundcovers can offer a blanket of green using a fraction of the water that a lawn would need.
According to the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California's BeWaterWise.com, these 4 groundcovers are ideal for Southern California:
Emerald Carpet
The ‘Emerald Carpet’ is an evergreen groundcover that grows to 1’ tall by 6’-8’ wide. It is favored by many landscapers as the manzanita of choice for inland situations. Emerald Carpet has dark green leaves and exhibits compact growth. This variety is relatively tolerant of adverse soil conditions.
Canyon Grey
This reliable shrub, typically used as a groundcover, can reach 1-2 feet tall but can spread up to 10 feet wide. It has gray green, finely divided leaves that are threadlike. Very aromatic when foliage is crushed. It does well in coastal areas with full sun. It does best with afternoon shade in warm, inland areas. This groundcover tolerates clay or sandy soil but needs well draining soil. Flowers are inconspicuous. This is a great plant for dry slopes.
Pigeon Point
‘Pigeon Point’ Coyote Bush is a compact, evergreen ground cover that grows 18”- 24” tall and 10’-12’ wide. Its leaves are green; it has white flowers that bloom in the fall but they are not overly dramatic. It is important to plant this ground cover at least 6’-8’ apart. Otherwise they will overgrow each other and begin to pile upwards. ‘Pigeon Point’ is tolerant of ocean spray and is deer resistant.
Skylark
This ceanothus shrub variety has dark blue flower clusters that bloom profusely in the spring. This smaller growing selection grows to 3’ tall and wide. This plant tolerates coastal conditions but will also grow in inland, hot valleys as it does well in clay soil. This cultivar seems to bloom longer than other varieties. It does well in full sun but will tolerate dry shade also. Leaves are bright green and glossy.
If you're ready to change out your lawn for a low water groundcover, we can help! Many water districts are offering rebates for lawn removal and updating irrigation, we can help with that too! Contact us today and see what we can do for your commercial or residential property!
