This summer went by so quick, we’re already looking forward to next year! Do you want to sit in your own beautiful backyard, entertaining friends around a fire or outdoor kitchen? Now is the time to plan your backyard design. We find that most people like to start working on their landscaping in the spring or summer, but here are some reasons why autumn is the time to begin working on your backyard.
Light Your Yard
Lighting is often overlooked or done as an afterthought, but the right lighting can make a world of difference in the atmosphere of your backyard. You can choose from a wide variety of options such as color and placement. The #1 tip is to not try and figure it out in the daylight. You won’t get a true idea of the look with the sun shining overhead. Waiting until dark in the summertime can push you deep into the evening hours. During the Fall, the sun sets earlier, giving you more time to see what works best for your situation.
After the sun sets, experiment with different colors, types of bulbs, placement, and other options. This will give you a better idea of how your property will look before you commit to something.
Plant Your Flowers
Most people look forward to planting in the Spring, but if you remember this last Spring, that can sometimes backfire on you. Long winters, heavy rains, and other factors can make it difficult to plant your flowers early enough to appreciate them in the summertime.
If you plant your flowers in the Autumn, your flowers will be ready to bloom next Spring. Think of the daffodils and tulips that delight us after the dreary grey of winter. Also, you won’t have to worry about the blistering heat of Summer wilting your hard work. Give us a call if you have any questions about Fall planting guidelines and tips. We’d love to help!
Brickwork is Easier in the Fall
If you’ve ever done any masonry work, you know it can be a tough job and doing it in the sweltering heat of July can make it even more taxing. In the cooler weather of Autumn, the job can be less strenuous and difficult. In addition, leveling the soil in the work area is easier to do in the Fall. The ground is easier to manipulate as it doesn’t dry out as quickly as it does under the Summer sun. You can take your time to set down a good foundation for your brickwork and make sure it will be around for years. Even if you don’t finish it before winter weather strikes, you will have a good portion of it done and you can finish it up in the Spring.
Work Smarter Not Harder
Beautifying your property should be a fun and exciting project, so take advantage of all the ways to make it easier. By beginning your hardscaping project in the Fall you can make the job smoother with fewer hassles. Take the opportunity in the next few months to set up your lights, plant your flowers, and lay your bricks. Contact us anytime to have us give you a hand in making your landscaping project a success this Fall so you can enjoy it next Summer!
10 Tips to Get Ready for Winter
As the summer winds up, we need to start thinking about getting our yards and gardens ready for the cold months. Doing a little prep work now will help you have a great looking yard next Spring. Here are some tips from the experts at Outdoor Innovations on winterizing your property.
Feed the Lawn
Your grass has taken a beating this summer with withering heat and drenching rains. In the fall months, you should fertilize your lawn with a fertilizer that is high in nitrogen during the start of September. Before the ground freezes (around the end of October, usually), you should do a second wave with a fertilizer that is high in phosphorus. This will give your lawn the nutrients it needs to thrive through the winter. To have a more exact schedule of feeding times, you should get a soil test. This test will tell you about nutrient levels, soil pH, and other important information.
Another easy way to feed your lawn is to mow over the fallen leaves. Leave a fine mulch on top of the lawn, but don’t bury the grass in leaves. This could starve the lawn from sun and moisture during the winter.
Keep Watering
Although you’ll want to put your hose away before the temperatures drop below freezing, you still need to keep watering. In most cases, lawns should get about an inch of water every two to three weeks. Keep the ground moist, but not soaking. Overwatering a lawn can promote mold growth as winter approaches.
Cover Your Garden
Before winter comes, tuck your garden in for a nap. If you have the resources, you can plant a nitrogen-rich cover crop such as clover. This plant can be turned over the following spring, so it’s a relatively easy way to protect your garden. Another option is to cover the beds with burlap to keep weeds from taking over the area.
Put the Pruners Away
You typically don’t want to prune before winter, as pruning encourages growth and you don’t want tender shoots exposed to the winter weather. If you’re uncertain whether a plant can be pruned, give us a call and we’ll give you some advice. If a limb is dead, it is ok to trim that off. Pests will use the deadwood to hibernate, so don’t give them a hiding place.
Fix Damaged Areas
This Spring and Summer were unusual and really took a toll on many lawns around the area. If a lawn is severely damaged to the point that it needs to be reseeded, you may want to wait until Spring. If you can’t wait, many experts recommend using a grass that germinates quickly, like perennial ryegrass. You can help the seeds take root by applying a quarter-inch of soil or compost.
Put Down Some Mulch
Now is a good time to put down some fresh mulch. We recommend you place the mulch around your trees in the shape of a tire. This will prevent critters from making their homes in the mulch.
Call an Expert for Winterizing Tips
There are a lot of things you can do yourself, but if you want to make sure your lawn and landscaping is ready for the winter, give the professionals at Outdoor Innovations a call. We’ll be happy to help you get winterizing and help get everything just right before Old Man Winter comes knocking.
Should you rake your yard in the Fall? This is a question many people ask. With the weather turning colder, we care less and less about our lawn. People are tired of mowing and caring for their landscaping and it’s easy to want to forget it for the rest of the season. However it is a season of change for your yard and landscaping as well, and you may be wondering how those leaves are affecting our Quad Cities yards. So what DO you do with those leaves? To rake or not to rake is the question!
Leave Them Where They Fall?
People sometimes leave the leaves that fall from the trees for the same reason they may “mulch” their yard with grass clippings. They think it will provide nutrition for the yard. This may not be the right choice, however, and here’s why. Leaves essentially block the yard from all of the things that it still needs: water, fertilizer, sun. It may be that the leaves block in too much moisture in some cases (however that isn’t the case this year, right Quad Cities?)
For these reasons we don’t think that leaving them is the right choice. Remove the leaves and bag them up (many places in the Quad Cities areas have burn bans, so please pay attention to your local laws on this matter!)
Other Great Reasons to Rake Your Leaves
- Clearing the leaves from landscaping will make it much easier to work on your landscaping come the Spring.
- Bugs and other varmints like to live in those leaves. You can keep them away from your home and foundation by raking them up!
- Don’t forget the gutters! Leaves in your gutters can make water flow over the top of the gutters which can lead to problems for your landscaping around your home and cause water to build up around the foundation of your home as well. That could mean big, expensive foundation problems like leaks, bowing walls or cracks.
For more information contact us at any time. It’s a beautiful time of year, so get out there and enjoy it by cleaning up your yard and landscaping. Pretty soon we’ll be stuck inside and wishing we could get out and rake the yard. Have a great Autumn, Quad Cities!
