Landscaping around your home can enhance the appearance, provide functional

use, and also impact the value of your property in many ways. Possessing the

right information and making the best choices can potentially save you many

hours of time and your hard-earned money. We talk to many property owners

each year that have a varying degree of understanding about landscape

maintenance so we thought it would be very helpful to compile the essential

information for you. It’s our hope that after reading this guide, that you will have

the necessary information to either hire a pro, or do the work properly yourself.

Each plant you will find on your property will have different requirements for

light exposure, watering, pruning methods, insect/mite/disease management,

and nutritional needs. The first step to knowing how to care for these plants is to

learn how to identify them.

After identifying the plants on your property, you’ll begin to realize

that these plants may need maintenance work at specific times of

the year to look and grow their best.

Using a calendar, plan what times will be best to prune/trim,

fertilize, and treat for common insect, disease or mite issues. A

landscaping service and/or tree service can help design a customized

plan based on these recommendations.

Frequency and timing is very important. It can make the difference

Utilize a Pro: If you’re considering using a landscaping service to care for

your property, they should be happy to identify your plants for you.

of having things looking tidy or overgrown. The very health and survival of the trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals, and

groundcovers on your landscape will also be impacted by performing these tasks at the right time. Consider which items are

priorities and make sure to put a system in place to make sure they happen according to plan each year. This can result in

better blooms, prettier leaves, thicker plants, and a landscape that amazes you and your guests.

How to Find Help Identifying Plants:

Go to a Garden Center or University Extension Office: Take pictures and clippings to a supplier and ask them to

identify them.

Books/Internet: Although it can take some time and have a margin of error, there are a lot of resources available

for plant identification.

Trimming? Shearing? Pruning? What’s

the difference? When you decide to get

some sort of shrub trimming done, be

careful to define clearly what it is you are

expecting. So there aren’t any unpleasant

surprises, make sure you ask the right

questions when considering your

landscape pruning project.

Questions to Ask:

Hand-Pruning

Pro Pruning

& Shearing Tips

How Much? This truly is a matter of preference a lot of times. You may not

know how far you can trim your shrubs and bushes back, but discussing this

with the person estimating or performing your work can take a couple

minutes and make everyone involved happier in the end.

When is Best? Depending upon the variety, there are times it may be a bad

time to prune certain plants. For instance, flowering shrubs often should be

pruned soon after they finish flowering. Likewise, certain plants don’t

respond well to pruning in the fall. Set up a shrub trimming schedule

throughout the year, pruning some in the spring, summer, and fall based on

what is best for each plant. In years where spring and summer moisture is

abundant, you’ll even notice your need for pruning will be increased as

increased water causes accelerated growing conditions and bushes tend to

get out of hand.

What Method is Best? This depends on the answer to the prior questions.

For certain shrubs, you will want to selectively hand-prune them. Hand-

pruning involves the selective cutting of individual stems to reduce the size.

This will usually result in a more natural shape for a shrub but it is very time

consuming and will cost more to perform. If the situation allows, you can

consider shearing a bush, which involves gas or electric shears that cut evenly

ur expectations or preferences. Again, discuss what the plants will look like

when the project is completed. At times when a substantial amount of

growth needs removed shearing may be your only option. A lot of shrub

species will push out new growth in the months after shearing is completed,

so you can still reduce the size and regain a natural appearance.

throughout the growth. This will

provide a more formal, smooth

appearance. Sometimes shearing

is strictly not advisable for a plant

species and sometimes it will be a

violation of your expectations or

preferences. Just be sure to

consider if the method will give

you the desired result. Shearing

Landscape beds look even better when you can see a clear

definition where they stop and the lawn begins. There are a

variety of methods and materials that help with establishing

and maintaining these edges.

Cutting edges on landscape beds usually utilizes some sort of

implement to physically cut the sod to create a crisp line.

Going down 3″-5″ is a good guideline. Creating a tapered line

is best, with it leaning towards out toward the lawn. This way

when mulch is added, it can be filled into the edge. Edging

debris should be removed prior to mulching.

Without specialized equipment, you can utilize a shovel or a half-moon edger. This method

takes the longest but allows for careful control of each cut. It also takes a very keen eye and

multiple steps back to insure lines are not erratically wavy.

There are also motorized implements of all sorts that can be used for edging.

These vary from walk-behind to ride-on machines. They can edge beds fairly

quickly and usually provide less erratic lines. However, tight turns and small

rings under trees can be too tight of curves for some of these machines and

hand methods may need to be used.

An alternative to cutting edges is installing edging materials to provide a physical boundary for encroaching grass. These vary greatly in material type and appearance. We recommend using something sturdy such as steel landscape edging that is secured with long stakes that need to be hammered into the ground. You’ll pay more for this material but it will last much longer than the cheap plastic edging you can buy at your local home improvement store. It will withstand string trimmer stress as well and can be re-painted if needed.

If your budget allows, hardscaping materials such as natural stone and edgestone help maintain beautiful edges on landscapes. They not only provide function but can complement other landscape elements as well as architectural elements of building structures. These materials are the most expensive option but provide the nicest look. They also can be removed in sections in the event of settling or construction.

These materials can be installed either next to hardscaped surfaces or even lining where turfgrass meets mulched areas.

Coventry Edgestone – image courtesy of EP Henry

Mulching, isn’t just to make things look pretty. Obviously, a pristine

landscape with a uniform, beautiful coat of mulch makes your flowers

and shrubs look even nicer, but the best benefits of mulching your

landscape beds isn’t just for aesthetic reasons. That’s just the added

bonus!

Mulching Keeps the Weeds Down: If you don’t believe us, watch how quick weeds will sprout in a dirt field. The mulch in a landscape bed keeps the soil cooler, which in turn, will prevent some weeds from sprouting. At a lot of times, weed seeds will germinate IN the mulch, so this makes it even easier to pull them out when they show up.

Remove all the Weeds & Debris: If you have spent perennials or grasses from the past season, get them out of there. Pull the weeds, rake/blow out the leaves, and the neighbor’s trash that blew under your bushes.

Apply some Pre-Emergent Weed Control: There are a many formulations of granular pre-emergent herbicides available. Applying these materials before laying mulch down, will give you about 2-3 months of help to reduce seed germination in your landscape beds. Please read the label on the material

Mulching Provides Organic Matter for Your Plants: As the mulch decomposes, it provides organic compost for your

shrubs, making them grow healthier, and improving the soil around them!

Mulching Helps your Plants Retain Moisture: Go watch how fast a plot of dry soil will crack and dry out. However, a 2″-3″

layer of mulch around your plants will slow evaporation of the moisture in the top few inches of soil, so your plants can

drink it up.

you use.

Choose your Mulch Variety: Mulch varieties in our area typically range from hardwood bark mulch to black or

brown dyed mulch. We recommend to purchase mulch from a local source and to not use refuse mulch from a township facility. Recycled municipal mulch can contain a lot of weed seeds and make your landscaping become a nightmare to maintain. Please also do not use stump grindings for mulch near plants as this can promote root rot.

Apply the Right Amount of Mulch: The general rule is to apply 2″-2.5″ of mulch to your beds each year. If you apply more than that to an existing bed, it will not break-down and decompose by the next season. This means that a crust will form, and the mulch you add each year will accumulate. This means little moisture gets to the plant roots, and stays in the mulch. In some instances, this can cause girdling roots around some trees and shrubs, which can kill a plant.

Weeds don’t discriminate. Whether you just purchased a fixer-upper, or you’ve left

things go way too long, weeds will grow anywhere. Weeds don’t care how nice of a

property you have, how hard you try to maintain it, or what your neighbors think.

They’ll grow wherever they get a chance. The longer you wait to whip your

landscaping into shape, the worst the problem will be. Weeds are prolific seeders and

spreaders that don’t need much water or care to grow a bumper crop. In just a

matter of months of being too busy to take matters into your own hands, your

pristine property can be a complete disaster.

Managing weeds in your landscaping beds is an important element of landscape

maintenance. Hand-pulling of weeds can take a lot of your time or incur labor cost to

have a landscaping company perform this service for you. However, there are

alternatives to reduce cost and labor and keep your shrub beds looking beautiful.

Follow these tips, you can drastically reduce the amount of time you’ll have to spend

maintaining your landscape.

Weed Control Tips for your Landscaping

Mulch Annually: Don’t underestimate the impact that annual mulching can

have on your landscape. Applying a 2”-2.5” layer of quality mulch each year

will help to reduce weeds.

Apply Pre-emergent Weed Control: These granular and liquid treatments

are performed a few times throughout the year to reduce seed germination

of weeds in your mulched beds. Preventing and reducing the emergence of

weeds in your beds can keep your landscape from getting out of control.

Spray Post-emergent Weed Control Whenever Possible: Spot-spraying your

landscape beds throughout the year will help to control most weeds present

at the time of treatment. The more frequent these visits are, the smaller the

weeds will be, thus easier to control. This can eliminate the need to hand-pull

weeds in many areas.

Tend to Groundcover Areas Regularly: Areas with groundcover plants will be

the toughest spots to manage weeds. These areas will require more hand-

pulling because post-emergent sprays will often damage plants. However,

there are some materials that can be applied overtop groundcovers. Be sure

to fill in voids of groundcover beds with new plants to reduce areas where

weeds can grow and manage any insect or disease problems your

groundcover may have with a Plant Health Care program from a tree service.

Facts about Weeds

As the weather cools in late fall, you will notice some perennials and

ornamental grasses turning to a brown, dead-like appearance. Their

time for beauty this year is now over, but they will return next spring

and summer. Some property owners will select certain plants to

remain throughout the winter. After all, brown is a color. Just know

that if some of these plants remain, they can create a mess blowing

around in your lawn and landscape beds throughout the winter.

Once the leaves finish falling for the most part, it’s a great time to

tidy up your landscaping one last time before winter.

Tips for Easier Cut-Backs & Leaf Removal

Wait Until Things are Dry: Not only are clippings heavier, but they stick to the ground, each other, and anything else for that matter when they are wet. Try to time your clean-up when things are dry and it will go quicker.

Avoid Windy Days: Debris can get away from you quicker when it’s windy. If possible, try to pick a day or a time of day that your mess won’t create even more mess.

Use the Best Tools: Get a leaf blower. Blow the leaves out of the beds. Use a hedge shears to cut down perennials and grasses. This will make the process go much quicker.

Consolidate the Mess: A great tip for cutting back grasses is to tie them together before shearing them off at the bottom. This way you’ll have a tidy bundle instead of a huge pile of grass blowing around. Use an old trashcan or bucket for perennials. Cut them off, put them inside, and take them to your dump site. This will reduce sprigs laying around your lawn that you will undoubtedly drop on the way.

Mow What You Can: Mowing and mulching leaves into your lawn is a great way to improve your soil by adding compost. This will save you time and improve your lawn.

Use Tarps to Move Debris: Raking clippings and leaves onto tarps makes for an easy drag to the curb or dump site.

Remove the Leaves, not the Mulch: This is really a matter of finesse and technique. The more mulch you rake or blow out of the beds, the heavier your debris pile will be.

Time Your Efforts Carefully: Find out when your municipality is scheduled for curbside leaf pick-up. If you can, try to get the leaves curbside the day before, not 5 days before. Otherwise, you could have your leaf pile blowing right back into your lawn and landscape.

Regardless if you need the smallest maintenance task completed or are planning a major

renovation, it’s important that you find a company that will deliver on their promises. Before

you just pick one and go, here are a few things you should consider when selecting a

landscaping company.

1. Certifications & Associations: It is always best to choose a company that focuses on

continuous training to improve their skills and also work safely on your property. Ask the

potential company if they are members of the following groups: National Association of

Landscape Professionals, Pennsylvania Landscape & Nursery Association, and International

Society of Arboriculture.

These organizations often offer additional certifications that can improve the expertise of their team members that may be performing work on your property. This knowledge can help them know what

practices are most beneficial to maintain the landscaping around your home. Ask the landscaping company if they employ any team members that hold these credentials: Landscape Industry Certified Technician, ISA Certified Arborist, and Certified Horticulturalist. Credentials don’t guarantee they’ll be a perfect choice, but it shows the company’s attitude about delivering quality service.

2. Local Company with a Call Center: When you need service from your landscaping

company, it is always best to make a call to a local office and speak with a customer service representative who knows who you are, and who knows the crew who will be performing the work. There is nothing more

frustrating than calling a national call center where you (and your workers) are just a number or with a small company that

won’t get back to you. Doing business with a local company staffed by local people is always the better option.

3. Awards or Achievements: Has the company been consistently recognized as a local

authority? Do they have a long-standing reputation as not only experts but also dedicated to

exceptional service? In our area, there are local, annual contests where the public votes the #1

company in various categories. We are so thankful that our clients and the community has

consistently recognized us as the trusted, local landscaping source for their needs.

4. Reviews & Testimonials: If a company is

truly as wonderful as they claim to be, it

should be easy to find proof. Go online and

search “Company Name Reviews”. You should

be able to see what other people are saying

on Google, HomeAdvisor, Facebook, and

more. If a company has plenty of happy

clients, they will also display testimonials

they’ve received on their website.