Trees are an excellent addition to any home’s lawn and garden. They provide shade and wind protection, reducing your energy usage all year round. They also help filter the rain falling on your property and reduce soil erosion in your yard. Well-placed trees can also help to retain a better and healthier lawn. But all these benefits require that you maintain your trees and your lawn at their best.
Relocate Trees to an Ideal Spot
Sometimes the trees in your yard are precisely where you want them. At other times, they are where a prior owner wanted them, where the original landscaper wanted them, or even where a random pine cone or acorn landed. In any of these cases, the placement may no longer be ideal. Your trees should be a safe distance from your home, depending on what size the tree is likely to be. They should also be several feet away from sidewalks, driveways, and patios. Finally, they generally should not be too close together.
Trees can be relocated in your landscape. You can usually move small trees, those with a diameter of less than two inches, on your own. As the size of the tree goes beyond two inches across, it’s time to bring in professional tree moving companies for your safety and the trees. In any tree relocation, you need to be concerned about the size of the rootball, the soil conditions, and whether the sunlight in the new location will be suitable for the tree. You will also need to develop and keep up with an appropriate watering plan for at least one entire growing season after the move. A tree service can help you understand all these requirements and even do some of them for you.
Remove Dead or Diseased Trees
Occasionally, you will need to move a tree for safety rather than aesthetics. If there are dead or diseased trees on your lawn, the safety of your family and your home will best be served by getting rid of those trees. Sick trees can make other trees sick, ultimately destroying a more significant part of your landscape. Dead trees attract insects and other pests, making your lawn a less enjoyable place to be. Anything that moves into your dead trees may also consider your home an attractive target. Dead and dying trees also reduce the curb appeal and, therefore, the value of your home. Even if you’re not thinking of selling right now, you probably don’t want to look as if the Addams family has moved in.
Finally, if something does happen to your dead or dying trees, you will be liable for any damage caused. And the longer you wait, the greater that liability can be. It’s best to deal with dead and dying trees before they cause any problems.
Since dead or dying trees can be unpredictable during the removal process, you will KW: local tree removal (use this KW earlier in this section!), local tree removal service. Rather than undertake this risky project yourself, you should call in a local tree removal service. They will know how to handle your problem trees safely for everyone and everything involved.
Trim and Prune Your Trees
Your landscape will also be improved by trimming and pruning. Keeping your trees properly shaped and pruned helps maintain their health and helps you become aware when there is a health problem. In addition to making your trees look better, professional tree trimming can keep the tree’s above and below-ground systems in balance and increase the productivity of your trees. Pruning can even encourage your tree to grow stronger and, if a fruit tree, increase its production. Trimming and pruning prevent unbalanced growth that can lead to dangerous problems as the tree becomes larger. Even for non-fruit trees, flowers and leaf production are improved by pruning and trimming. Further, if you have some trees or shrubs that have seen better days, trimming or pruning them can bring them back from the edge, transforming a tired old hulk into a vibrant, well-growing tree again.
Pruning and trimming can be done on your own, though it is possible to damage your plants through over or under-pruning. In a pruning project, you must remove about one-third of the wood, but it’s not always easy to calculate that number.
Using a professional tree trimming service will ensure that your trees are well-pruned and save you the cost of a bucket truck rental service. Certified professionals will be able to trim and prune your trees and shrubs for the most significant benefit without the likelihood of damage to your plants. Knowing which way to orient the trim, understanding precisely how much and where to prune, and safely doing both are skills that take time and training. The ultimate health of your landscape can be significantly enhanced by using a landscaping contractor to prune and trim your trees and shrubs.
Inspect the Soil Around Your Tree Roots
You will also want to keep an eye on the health and quantity of the soil around your tree roots. While some problems may be evident to you, generally, a landscaping contractor will be better able to ensure that your soil is in good shape and that there is enough of it around each tree. Having sufficient, healthy soil contributes significantly to the overall health of your tree. Your landscaper can also make sure that any planting beds around your trees aren’t interfering with the trees themselves. While the beds can be lovely, you can develop serious disease and insect problems if the beds are too deep on the trunk.
The ideal soil for a healthy green lawn is a balance of sand, silt, and clay called loam. Loam retains moisture but also drains well. Reaching the precise balance needed for loam in your environment can be tricky. You can check the health of your soil by looking for earthworms. On the other hand, you can also bring in professional landscapers who will know the best soil composition and lawn chemistry appropriate for your local ecosystem.
Invest in Irrigation to Not Overwater Seed
Irrigating your lawn does, of course, carry a relatively high initial investment. However, the long-term benefits of the irrigation system are almost undoubtedly worth it in the long run. These benefits include the following:
- Prevents overwatering of your seed and plantings
- Saves water by being programmable and watering only as necessary
- Saves money – by not overwatering and the damage it can cause
- Saves time – no one has to water the lawns manually
- Improves the growth of your landscaping
- Reduces weeds, plant disease, fungus
- Prevents erosion and preserves soil nutrients
- Adds value to your home
Add More Seed Than You Think Is Necessary
One of the more effective ways to ensure that your lawn will be thick and healthy is to add more seed than you think is needed. A hydroseeding service can ensure that this heavy-loaded seeding happens on your newly seeded lawn. Hydroseeding applies a liquid mixture of seed and mulch to your lawn. Not only does it carefully control the amount of seed applied, but it can also help to prevent erosion and seed loss. Further, it can be a much faster process than manual broadcast seeding.
Professionals recommend about 5 pounds or more of seed per 1,000 square feet of new lawn. Underseeding can leave room for weeds to prosper while increasing the amount of seed can speed the growth of your new lawn. Even reseeding (sometimes called overseeding) your existing lawn with a new variety of seeds can help it to avoid disease, withstand dry weather, and deal with heavy traffic. Your lawn will be thicker and healthier and hold water and soil in place much more effectively.
Bring in the Necessary Professionals
As we noted, many of the tasks involving your landscape and lawn can be challenging. Moving or adding large trees requires a tree service. Adding stone or water features or rearranging those you already have are projects that require professional skills and professional equipment. Even though you might think about calling a local bucket truck rental service as a solution to some tasks, those bucket trucks do not come with the skills needed to operate them. Professional operators have to undertake training in the use and safety of bucket trucks, which may be one task that is simply beyond the amateur’s capacity. If you have a project that must use a bucket, consider contacting a local bucket truck rental service that also offers operators – in other words, call in the pros.
Consider Alternative Measures
As a society, we’re slowly coming to the conclusion that the traditional green grass lawn with deciduous trees is not the most environmentally sound solution to local landscaping. If you live in a location where that landscape would not be a natural occurrence, you might want to consider alternatives to that traditional picket fence yard. In warm, dry climates, you might want to go with dry-climate plantings like succulents and cactuses or at least drought-tolerant plants and trees. Some locations, such as Hawaii, have begun to focus on lava rock yards rather than importing soil and seed for the traditional grass lawn.
In other locations, an eco-friendly alternative involves using native perennials, succulents, and shrubs to create a local ground cover that does not require the maintenance, water, and fertilizer that a non-native lawn will require. Of course, you could also grow vegetables or herbs, creating an eco-friendly landscape that even adds to the household food budget.
Or, if you’re really tired of the effort and expense of maintaining a green lawn landscape, you might consider using artificial turf to replace your lawn. In most cases, it will add value to your property while making your lawn look like you spent hours caring for it. You will save water by not having to water it at all, saving the environment and water bills. Further, today’s artificial turfs are non-toxic, so you don’t have to worry about potential environmental damage. In addition, if you have someone in your home who suffers from allergies, artificial turf virtually eliminates that issue.
Artificial turf doesn’t need fertilizer or pesticides. Nothing is going to kill your artificial lawn. It’s durable and won’t have to be replaced or re-seeded annually. In fact, the turf can withstand digging by almost anything, won’t fray at the edges, and is the most stain and fade-resistant. Your artificial turf will also be installed on a level surface and, because there is no growth, will generally stay level. Some forms even cushion falls on the surface.
Finally, synthetic grass installation pays for itself relatively quickly by eliminating lawn maintenance costs. And, as we said at the start, it can even add a nice boost to the value of your home.
On the other hand, artificial turf is not without downsides. It does hold heat more efficiently than grass so it can be hot to the touch. Some types can even raise the ambient temperature above it. Generally, most forms are fireproof but can melt, creating an unattractive damaged spot. However, repairs are usually relatively straightforward. In the end, you get what you pay for. Artificial turf comes in a wide range of prices and qualities. Be careful to obtain the highest quality you can.
Your Next Step
As you’ve seen, that green grass picket fence lawn of your dreams is not necessarily an easy achievement. Trees and lawns are often best serviced and maintained by professionals who know their products, their local environment, and the best plantings. Your next best step may be to work with a landscaping contractor who can help you decide what is best for your home and how to achieve that appearance.
