Get Your Landscape into Gear for Fall!

August 17, 2016 | By webadmin

July and August temperatures can make life miserable for us...and our landscape plants. It’s usually a good policy to go ahead and start thinking about fall now: It will help you get through the rest of summer! Plus, fall is one of the best times to install new landscapes and fresh plantings. But in order to take advantage of the cooler fall planting season, you need to get to work on your plan now.

While you can DIY some projects, it often makes more sense to work with a pro on large or more complicated landscape projects. Here are a few situations where it’s a good idea to call on a pro now so they can get to work this fall:

Lawn stress: Summer heat and drought takes a heavy toll on our warm season lawns. In order to revitalize a stressed lawn and help get it through winter cold snaps, there are steps you need to take this fall. Soil aeration, fertilization and perhaps renovation in certain areas can be started in September. St. Augustine lawns have suffered from an increasing number of fungal diseases, such as Take-all Root Rot. You may want to consider renovating your St. Augustine to Zoysia, or going to faux-turf if the area can’t really support live lawn grasses.

A New Entertaining Space: Getting the most from your outdoor space takes detailed planning and a number of craftsmen. Well constructed patios, pergolas and outdoor kitchens can transform a bare unused area of your yard into a favored “outdoor room” for relaxing or entertaining. Most people assume spring is the time to install and plant a new landscape design, patio, outdoor kitchen or pergola, only to find that they miss the entire spring to enjoy their new space. Don’t wait. Start pulling together your design ideas while you’re staying cool indoors, then give us a call right away, before our fall landscaping schedule begins to fill.

When you start installing in fall, you are ready to relax in spring!

Wrong Plant, Wrong Place: Landscapes aren’t static and no plant is permanent. As your landscape evolves and shade trees get larger (or new buildings are erected), sunlight patterns change. Soil can also become depleted or compacted. Over time, plants that used to perform well go into decline. If you have more shade in your landscape than you used to (or perhaps you lost a tree and your once shady landscape is now sunny), you may need to remove plants and replace them with better choices. Fall is the very best time to transplant existing plants, or plant entirely new ones. The cooler fall temperatures and extra rainfall make getting new plantings established much easier than if planted in spring or summer.

Replace plants with waterwise varieties such as Texas sage.

Blooming Bulbs: Ok, so we’ve got you thinking of fall, but now we also need you to focus on spring. Fall and winter are the times to plant spring blooming bulbs. Daffodils, allium and other heat tolerant perennials can be planted any time in fall. Tulips will be planted in late mid to late December once soil temperatures reach 45 F. Fall, though, is the season to choose your color palette and varieties. Look for future posts on more blooming bulb options.

Which bulbs will you choose this year?