Our landscape management services take us to a lot of commercial properties around our area and we always get the same question from our clients when it starts to get colder, “How do I protect my plantings at home?”. whether it is a late fall chill or early spring freeze, a little frost can be deadly to many plants. Tender seedlings, newly planted flowers, shrubs and trees and even established plants in areas that are not used to cold are at risk when the temperatures dip. Fortunately, there are easy steps you can take when a cold front approaches to be sure your plants stay toasty warm.
Mulch installation is one of the best things you can do for your garden. This consist of placing a protective barrier (mulch) around your plants and over your bare soil. This protective barrier can be made up of a variety of decomposing organic materials, including bark or wood chips (from various tree species) and pine needles on some southern states or non-decomposing, non-organic materials such as black plastic, landscaping fabric, recycled tires, pebbles, and river rock.
Here in Central Virginia we all know that it’s a challenge to care for annuals, perennials and other flowers and plants during the hot summer months! With over 10” of rain this past May and now such oppressive heat in late June and the first week of July, keep your plants healthy and lush is certainly a challenge.
It’s that time of the year again in Central Virginia when some days we think it’s spring time when the calendar actually reminds us its really still winter. Regardless of the ebb and flow of our local temperatures, spring will be here before you know it and that means your landscaper is probably on your property already working.
Nothing says spring like the sound of leaf blowers humming on your property, especially after a few warm sunny days…
Crape Myrtle Trees are summer bloomers, and only have blooms on their new growth. Once they break dormancy this new growth will rapidly emerge. It’s good to remove a few of the older branches to make way for the new growth. Also, it’s good to lightly prune Crape Myrtle trees in the late winter or early spring in order to keep them neatly shaped. However, most crape myrtles naturally grow into beautiful forms.
The biggest problem with recognizing plants are suffering from overwatering is the confusion brought on by the symptoms they display. The trouble is that when plants are stressed in this way they normally show identical symptoms to those that have been stressed through under-watering,