Vacation Time? Don’t Leave Your Landscape to Wilt!
June 1, 2016 | By webadmin
While you might be ready to head out of town on a much needed vacation, your lawn and landscape might not be quite ready yet for you to leave them behind. Before you leave town there are a few important things you can do to protect your landscaping investment, and keep it looking its best for your return. Here are a few of our top tips:
Irrigation Check: The last thing you want to arrive home to after a restful vacation is a scorched, or soggy, lawn. Prior to leaving town, have your irrigation system checked by a certified irrigation specialist for broken heads, leaking hoses and that the system’s zones are set properly. This will give you a chance to have any repairs or adjustments made to support your trees, shrubs, perennials and annuals while you are away. You also want to make sure you’re not violating any water restrictions while you’re gone. A Smart Controller added to your irrigation system gives you control of your watering right from your smart phone!
If it hasn’t rained for about a week before you leave town, be sure to deeply water your lawn before you go.
Pull those weeds: Weeds spread because they go to flower and seed. Stop them from spreading while you’re gone by pulling them before you leave. Add weeds to the compost pile.
Mulching: Mulch goes a long way in your landscape when it comes to conserving water. You can reduce water stress while you’re gone by mulching all of your landscape beds before you leave town.
Container Gardens: Summer temperatures can take their toll on container plantings and they dry out much quicker than your landscape beds. Keep containers beautiful all summer, even when you’re gone, by adding them to a drip line attached to your irrigation system. If you are not able to hook them up to drip irrigation, then you can group them in an area in your garden that is part shade while you are gone to slow down the transpiration process. Adding some mulch to the top of the pots also helps conserve moisture.
For an irrigation check or to add containers to a drip system, give our Irrigation Specialist a call before your next out of town adventure!
Pest & Disease Check: Making sure that your plants are healthy and free of pest or disease before you leave is the best way to return to a gorgeous landscape. Healthy plants manage drought stress, pests and diseases more easily than plants that are already in a weakened condition. Check under leaves and around the base of stems for anything out of the ordinary.
Pick those veggies! Don’t let your harvest go to waste. Do a thorough harvest of edibles before you leave and freeze or can your produce if you have time (or eat it fresh!). Tap a neighbor to check on your veggie garden while you’re gone - they get fresh produce as payment!
Roundtree Landscaping Maintenance: If you are on our maintenance plan, rest assured your lawn will be mowed, plants will be pruned as needed, weeds will be pulled and everything will look beautiful upon your return. Be sure to give us a call ahead of time before leaving town if there are additional tasks we can help you manage in your landscape while you are away. Looking for more tips to keep your landscape healthy while you are away? Visit our past post here.
Happy traveling!
