When you are performing your maintenance in the landscape it sometimes may take several days. Even if it doe not, make sure you are doing everything in the right order. What we mean by this is you don’t want to clean out the beds before you have trimmed the shrubs. If you did you would be left have to clean them out twice. Think through the order in which you attack the clean up. Start at the top and work your way down. If you are adding new mulch or pine straw this is always the last step. Before you blow or rake out all of your trash make sure you are done crating any new debris. Hope this helps!
In the Fall time when you start to clean up your landscape, make sure you stay away from the Azaleas and Sasanquas. Both of these plants have already set their buds and are prepared to bloom. By trimming them now, you will cut off all the blooms and affect the number of flowers they produce. Both of these plants need to be trimmed after they have bloomed along with being fed.
Deer vs Hair: If you are having issue with deer eating your plants, consider a trip down to the barber shop. Not to get your hair cut but to get a bag of hair. Deer hate the smell of humans. By getting a bag of hair and sprinkling it around your landscape, the deer will avoid the strong smell of humans in the area. The smell will wear off over time so be prepared to re apply after some time.
Photo Cell timers are one of the easiest and most reliable timers to use with your Christmas Lights. They have a photo eye on them and when it gets dark they turn the power on. Most have a dial so that you can choose to run the lights for a predetermined amount of time. An issue that can arise is when there is other light sources in the area. Sometimes security lights, the Christmas lights them self eves or any other light source will make the timer think it is daylight again and turn the lights off. The fix to this is to move the timer or use a digital one.
If this is the year you decide to get Christmas Lights there are a few important questions you need to make sure you ask.
1: Am I getting to purchase the lights or am I just leasing them?
The purchase model is one of the more popular choices we see people take advantage of. With this model there is an upfront investment the first year to actually purchase the lights but in the years that follow you are only paying to have them installed and removed. They are your lights and you can do with them as you please. If you decide to change your installer then you have the material to let someone else use. With the lease model you do not own anything. You are just renting the lights during Christmas and pay the same fee every year.
2: What kind of material are you using?
With commercial grade material you have the ability to custom cut the Christmas lights to fit your home. If you need 33 feet of lights then that is exactly what you cut. You also want to ask about what size bulbs are being used. C9 bulbs are the larger and more popular bulbs. Don’t get sold the cheaper and smaller C7’s because they wont look as good in the end!
3: LED vs Incandescent?
LED’s are taking over the market very fast. Not only do they last longer but they also save you money with the electrical bill. Incandescents are also made of glass and break very easily. They usually are only good for 2 maybe 3 seasons and then have to be replaced.
If you don’t have SAGO PALMS I’m sure you know where some are and I’m sure they look like these. Typically speaking, they can handle out winter time temperatures with out any issues. This last winter was anything but typically though! When they are subjected to extreme temperatures and/or snow and ice, the fronds (palms) will turn brown or yellow. This doesn’t mean the plant is dead but the palm will need to be trimmed. Once they turn color, they will never turn green again. They need to be trimmed all the way to the base like the one in the video. This summer when it starts to get hot again they will fill back out and be as beautiful as ever. When you do trim them, make sure to wear gloves because they can be very sharp! If you have any questions feel free to ask!
Pre Emergents are super important to lawn care and now is the time to apply them. It happens every year to us. We preach the importance of Pre Emergents in Shreveport / Bossier City lawn care. Some listen and act soon. Others wait until April and May to start their lawn care. Why? Because by this time their lawn is full of weeds from all the rain and warm temperatures. The reaction is usually to put out some weed & feed or call a lawn care company. The problem is by this point the weeds have already germinated and are ready to grow. Lawn care and fertilization is something you have to be pro active about. Even after you first get started you have patience. Steps you take will be for the benefit of your lawn months from now. Applying pre emergents back in the fall is what would have stopped weeds from being a issue today. Applying pre emergents now is what will stop the weeds from being an issue this summer.
Not only is timing super important but also make sure you are using the correct products. When it comes to pre emergents in the grass for the Shreveport / Bossier area, liquid is what works the best. When you go this route you are able to get the barrier down to the soil right away and dont have to worry about the granular getting washed away. The say this is try with you are using insecticides and herbicides. Liquid is just a far more accurate and effective route to take. The other thing most people are surprised by is that its often just as cheap to have the service provided for you. By the time you pay homeowners prices for products and then purchase and maintain the equipment needed to apply, we can do it for the same price.
If you need help with picking out a provider, feel free to email us are info@matthewslandscpae.com. We can help make suggestions about products. If you need help buy a product, Do My Own Pest Control is a great source to have items shipped right to your door step!
When it comes to lawn care and weeds you have to be ProActive…not ReActive. Timing is everything with pre emergents. If you wait until the weeds get to germinate then it is to late. You get to spend the next 6 months killing weeds instead of enjoying your lawn. The seeds are already in the grass and there is nothing you or I can do about that. What you can do is prevent them from ever growing. When you do this there are not any weeds to drop more seeds and continue the circle! Don’t kill your weeds…Prevent them. Apply your pre emergents before it is to late.
This winter has been brutal in the south. We’ve had consistent below freezing temperatures that are not normal for our area. Many plants we have in the south are planted because we typically have warmer weather. Being that we have many warm temperature plants we’ve have had several plants that have taken a beating this winter. One is the Sago Palm and you may have noticed that the fronds are brown. Everything that is brown on your Sago Palm fronds has been damaged by the cold. What do you do now? Go to the base of the plant and trim off what is brown. Although the fronds are brown, the plant is not dead!! If you have any questions, let us know. Have a great day!
You Deserve Exceptional Lawn Care Service with The Most Powerful Lawn Care Guarantee in Louisiana! If you aren’t satisfied with our lawn care or landscape services we will come repeat the work free of charge. Still not happy? Then you owe nothing. It can’t get any easier than that. Our business plan is simple. You want a beautiful yard without any hassle and you do not want to worry about how, when and why things need to get done. That’s where we come in. We aren’t just making a bunch of empty promises. We are saying that we love lawn and landscapes and know how to care of them. Exceptionally reliable, worry free, quality lawn care…guaranteed.
Winter is here. December 21st this year marks the first day of winter solstice. What is Winter Solstice you ask? Winter Solstice is the shortest day and longest night of the year here in Earth’s northern hemisphere. The word “solstice” comes from the Latin words sol sistere, which means “sun standing still.” On the December solstice, the sun’s daily southward movement in the sky appears to pause. The time and date of the solstice changes every year, but this year’s solstice will occurs at 11:28 a.m. (ET) on December 21st, 2017. The solstice marks the exact moment when the sun’s most direct rays reach their southernmost point of the equator. The exact times of sunrise and sunset depend on two things: your latitude and geographic location within your time zone. As much as every hears “first day of winter” and frets because of the weather ahead of us, just know we are inching out way to spring!
For more information on the Winter Solstice, click here!
