New Year, New Yard!
Written by Jamie Patton, Owner, GreenWorks Ecoscapes
Ever wonder how January 1st became the start of the New Year? The short story is Julius Cesar modified the Roman calendar and developed the Julian calendar. Cesar decided it appropriate to make January 1st the beginning of the New Year as it was when new consuls took office. As the Roman empire grew, the calendar was spread also and we maintained many of the same months that were on the Julian Calendar. January was named after Janus, the Roman god of doors and gates to what has been and what is to come. Janus has 2 faces, one looking forward to the future and one looking backward to the past.
The New Year is here and I encourage you to, reflect back and appreciate lessons learned, and achievements earned and celebrate the past year! Then, like Janus, look the other way into the future with hope and excitement of what is to come and what we are going to improve in our lives in the coming year!
If your landscape is on your list to improve, there are some things landscapers want you to know!
Enhancements/installations:
On the first warm day of Spring, a ton of calls come in specifically looking to renovate their property, fix drainage, install an outdoor living space and replace plants. For many reasons, we recommend starting the planning process in the winter!
Beginning the planning process in the winter opens up more opportunities for planting success, and a better timeline for projects and many projects are better done in the winter! The steps in a renovation generally involve:
Property consultation
Design presentation and pricing
Re-work of design and phases to fit the budget
HOA Approval
Utilities and Hazards marked
After the preliminary tasks have taken place the job can proceed. Some of the tasks involved:
Plant removal
Grading and drainage correction
Hardscape installation
Irrigation installation
Plantscape installation - every project is different and will have different needs, phases and priorities
Property Maintenance:
Property maintenance is a year-round endeavor! Often people want to stop services in the winter however that’s when it’s the best time to spread pine straw, mulch and do reconstructive plant thinning!
Leaf cleanups should be a weekly or bi-weekly task! It takes less time overall and thus costs less to clean up leaves as they fall instead of waiting and doing one big cleanup at the end of leaf season
Proper pruning basics say that up to 30-50% of a tree/shrub structure can be removed during the winter without overstressing the tree. Therefore, Winter is the best time to do structural pruning for many plants. If a large limb is hanging over the house or parking space, winter is the time to have it taken care of!
This does not give permission to “Crepe Murder” or completely cut off the top halves of Crepe Myrtle trees. If it is growing too big for the area it is planted, we advise removing the tree and installing a variety that only grows to a size that the area allows. It is cheaper in the long run than to continually spend time trying to keep the trees small!
Pruning is a year-round task, not a 2 or 4-times per-year task. It is easier and more cost-effective to touch up pruning throughout the year and it is less stressful to the plant!
Shrubs don’t grow in squares or in perfect balls and trying to force them to is much more time-consuming and costly than properly grooming them into their naturally occurring shapes
Thinning shrubs with hand snips help the shrubs be healthy
Keep the grass at the taller end of the recommended cutting height to protect its root system from the cold, to reduce erosion and to help prevent winter weeds!
We wish you the absolute best in the New Year and we hope you achieve your most lofty goals!
