Category Archives: Lawn Care

3 Things to Do After Landscaping

• 18 April 2019
• by: GreenWise Grounds Care 
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Landscaping is a great way to make a first impression. When a lawn is well-tended, it makes the entire home look welcoming and beautiful. However, there are things that you need to be aware of when landscaping and there are things that you need to do immediately after you finish your landscaping project. Here are three things that will help make sure all the work you put into your landscape does not go unnoticed.

Put Your Yard Back Together

When landscaping, there are a lot of things that you have to move out of the way to be able to landscape properly. For instance, you should move all fixtures, hoses, and other things in your yard out of the way, so they do not hinder your landscaping results. Therefore, after you finish your landscaping project, you need to put everything back together. For example, you need to make sure that all of your hose connections still work, everything should be plugged back in, and you should check everything to make sure that nothing was damaged during the landscaping process.

Clean Like Crazy

Landscaping is a messy endeavor, and you should make sure you do not neglect cleaning up after you are done. Between trimming bushes, cutting grass, planting flowers, and various other activities, there is bound to be things that need to be cleaned up after you are done. Pay special attention to your driveway, as dirty pavement can lead to cracks, and you do not want to have cracks in your driveway due to negligence after landscaping and working so hard to make your yard beautiful.

Check for Issues

Designing landscapes is an art form, but sometimes there are things that do not look the way you thought they would once they are done. Therefore, after you are done with your landscaping project, you should step back away from the area and take in the entire picture to make sure that everything falls into place like you envisioned. It is a lot easier to fix small things right after finishing your project than realizing it a week later once you have replaced everything and gotten it ready.

Overall, landscaping can be an excellent job or hobby, and although it is fun to do, it causes a lot of mess. Therefore, you need to make sure that you check everything after finishing your project and put everything back where it goes. Cleaning up after you finish landscaping is important, and it is important to make sure that your final project fits the design that you had in your mind, which you can judge by stepping back and looking at the finished landscaped area.

4 Organic Gardening Techniques to Try

• 29 March 2019
• by: GreenWise Grounds Care 
• note: no comments 

More and more people have become interested in organic gardening. The organic gardener works with nature to create a healthy garden. It takes time and patience to do this, but the rewards of being a good steward of the garden is worth it. Here are four organic gardening techniques:

Make Your Own Compost

Compost is organic matter that has been broken down to be useful to the soil and the plants and so is an important component of any organic garden. Planet Natural explains that there are many ways to make a good compost pile, but it should have a good amount of dry and green plant material to create a carbon/nitrogen ratio of about 30 to 1. The pile should not be exposed to direct sunlight, which kills the bacteria that break down the material.

After the ingredients have been added, the compost should be kept moist, but never soggy. Turn it every two to seven days to make sure it’s well aerated. Things not to put into a compost pile include the manure of meat-eating animals, wood ash, meat, fat, soil or plants that are diseased or infested.

Scare Away Pests Naturally

An organic gardener might feel a bit sorry for the predators and pests that are an inevitable part of gardening. They too need to make a living. But another role of the gardener is to make sure that they make a living elsewhere, but naturally. You can introduce a predator to control the population of a certain pest, such as introducing ladybugs to feast upon aphids or attracting birds to eat caterpillars. doTERRA recommends, you can also use certain essential oils to create natural and effective pest-control sprays.

Encourage Earthworms

Encouraging earthworms to populate your garden is one of the best things you can do to keep it healthy. Earthworms aerate the soil, help it retain water and keep it friable. Uncle Jim’s Worm Farm suggests that you make sure you are adding the right type of worms to your garden. Super Red Night Crawlers are best for aerating and fertilizing gardens. They also break up hard soils and balance soil that is too acidic or alkaline. They add natural compost to the soil through their droppings.

Plant the Right Plants Together

Pots 2 Plots reports that many plants have allies, companions, and incompatibles, and it is important to know which is which. Allies repel insects or support the growth of another plant. Companions can live together even though they don’t particularly help each other, and incompatibles should not be planted together. Sometimes, there are added benefits. Planting basil near cherry tomatoes can act as a flavor additive.

Despite its reputation, organic gardening is neither more expensive nor more difficult than other types of gardening. At the end of the growing season, you and your family can enjoy healthy produce that you know was grown in concert with nature.

For help in taming your garden or yard, redesigning trouble areas, or just maintaining the level of beauty you desire, let GreenWise Grounds Care help!