5 Maintenance Tips for Your Landscaping in Castle Rock
A stunning new landscape design can instantly elevate the aesthetics and property value of your home. However, that gorgeous design won't look the same way forever. Your plants will grow and change shape over time, and weather events like hailstorms can wreak havoc on your landscaping in Castle Rock. Our landscape architect is here to share some key maintenance insights, which will help you keep your outdoor area looking great all year round.
From the hot days of summer to the snowy days of winter, we encourage you to keep these maintenance tips at top of mind for your landscape design. Trust us: these insights can make all the difference between a beautiful outdoor area and a lackluster one.
1. Water Your Plants Correctly and Regularly
Just like us, plants need water to survive and thrive. However, many people overwater their vegetation or water too infrequently, which can quickly result in a declining landscape design. As such, it's important to set up an appropriate watering schedule for your landscape and supply the correct amount of water for your plants (especially in the summer).
By working with your landscape designer, you can set up a timed sprinkler/irrigation system to water your plants on a schedule each week. We recommend watering your plants early in the morning during the summer to reduce evaporation and allow your landscape to absorb as much moisture as possible before it gets too hot. But, when it rains, it's best to build in flexibility into your irrigation system to skip that day of watering or you risk overwatering certain plants.
For optimal appearance and growth, keep these watering insights in mind:
Mulch can help retain moisture for your plants
Group your plants according to their watering needs
Most plants should be watered each week, but drought-tolerant plants (once established) can go much longer without water
Aim for about one inch of water per week for your lawn and six inches of water for other plants
2. Don't Mow Too Low
If you have a lot of grass on your property, it's important to hit the correct height when mowing your lawn. Mowing too low can make your lawn susceptible to heat damage and drought stress. By cutting your grass at a higher mark, you can help keep your grass greener without the need for fertilizer, give more shade to the soil to retain moisture for longer and encourage deeper root development.
When mowing your lawn, it's best to cut your grass to around 2.5 to 3 inches. Any lower will put too much stress on your lawn and may lead to dead patches on your landscape.
3. Prune and Trim Your Greenery Regularly
If you're doing everything right with your landscaping in Castle Rock, your plants will gradually grow and thrive, leading to altered sizes and shapes. Given enough time, your overgrown trees and shrubs will quickly take over your landscape design, which not only looks messy but can also be detrimental to the health of your plants. This is because your overgrown plants will have bigger needs for water and their size will overshadow other plants, causing those ones to wither away. For those reasons, regular pruning and trimming are essential to maintaining the shape and aesthetic appeal of your landscaping. At Enviroscapes, we can handle this maintenance task for you because we offer pruning services for existing clients in the fall and spring.
Pruning should be done at least once a year, typically in late winter or early spring before new growth begins. This will help promote healthy growth and flowering for the upcoming seasons, but you can also prune and trim your softscaping throughout the year if you notice any overgrown vegetation. Be sure to remove any dead or diseased branches, as well as any branches that are crossing or rubbing against each other. And, to protect your property from roofing damage, it's a good idea to trim back branches and plants that may be climbing onto your roof or hanging over your home.
4. Prevent the Growth of Weeds
While you can ask your landscaper about weed prevention strategies like pre-emergent herbicides and landscape fabrics, weeding is an inevitable landscape maintenance activity. You'll need to keep a watchful eye on your landscape throughout the warmer months to spot and remove common Colorado weeds, like dandelions, creeping thistles, and bindweeds. These species (and many others) are pervasive and grow quickly, so the sooner you can get rid of them, the better.
You'll want to remove the weeds by hand or with a garden weeder, and make sure you remove the weeds by their roots so they don't grow back. It's easier to remove weeds after rain, so keep that in mind!
You can also use spot treatments, like post-emergent herbicides, to kill the existing weeds. However, this technique isn't always the safest for your health and it can gradually make your weeds more resistant to herbicides.
5. Get Personalized Recommendations from a Landscape Architect
The best way to maintain your landscape is to get in-depth insights and recommendations from your landscaping professional. They understand the Colorado climate and landscape designs better than most, and they can help you develop a recurring maintenance plan to keep your landscape looking great all year round.
Optimize Your Landscaping in Castle Rock with Enviroscapes
From hardscaping features to softscaping elements, we are knowledgeable and passionate about everything in the landscaping realm. Over the years, we've installed and upgraded hundreds of residential landscape designs throughout the south Denver metro area, and we are ready to help you make the most of your home's outdoor space. Whether you're ready to swap out your vegetation or install a brand-new outdoor kitchen area in Castle Rock, our landscape architect can make your dreams come to life.
Contact Enviroscapes today to set up a consultation with our team and we'll start planning your new landscaping in Castle Rock with you.