Late May is a good time to evaluate your landscape. By this time of year, most plants have begun to sprout and leaf out. Take a walk around your property and look at what is working and what doesn’t look so good. It’s usually not hard to spot a struggling plant in a healthy garden. Here are some things to consider when deciding how to deal with these unhealthy plants in your landscape.
Is A Plant Healthy?
Do your plants look healthy or is something not quite right? For plants that have died, this is easy. Remove these dead plants as soon as possible. The garden always looks better with an empty space rather than a dead eyesore. This is also an opportunity to fill the space with something new that can paint new life into a landscape.
However, sometimes, it can be quite difficult to tell if a plant is doing its best or has some problems. In our experience sometimes a plant doesn’t fit the space it is in. Maybe it is too big, making the space look cramped, or maybe it is too small, making the landscape look sparse. Or maybe it needs a good pruning, or sheering to look its best. Other times, the plant just hasn’t bounced back from our tough winter yet. If that is the case, you have another decision to make.
Nurture Or Removal?
Do you nurture the plant that is struggling or remove it? Before making that decision, think about the plant’s age and size. If you replace the plant with a new one, how long before the new plant is as big as the old one? If you are looking at an oak tree that is struggling, it takes decades for a replacement tree to reach full size. In that case, you would be wise to work with a professional arborist to see if you can help the tree recover. We have some great resources for this if you need a referral.
On the other hand, if you are looking at a perennial that is a year old, it might be time to cut your losses and replace it. Right now, it is better to ere on the side of the plant in most cases. If the plant is not going to make it, you can replace it in the spring or the fall when replacements have the best chance to do well. Avoid replacing plants in the heat of the summer when they will undergo more stress. The only reason to do this would be for a special occasion or gathering and then make sure that they are irrigated properly.
Choosing Replacement Plants
When you do need to replace a plant, you should consider the space you have and the mature size you want the plant to grow to be. You may also consider why the old plant didn’t make it. Was it too sunny? Was it a disease or a critters eating it? Try to find a plant that fits with the space and either blends in or stands out. If you cannot replace it with the same species in an established hedge row, then make it seem intentional and stand out as a feature of the planting design. Choosing native plants also has the advantage of reducing the need for irrigation and pest control. Native plants also support more wildlife, including pollinators, than non-native plants. You can find native plants in all sizes and colors, so you have a lot to choose from. If you have the opportunity to use native plants, the chances of success could be much greater.
Getting Professional Advice
Royal Creations Architectural Landscaping can help you decide if a plant needs to be replaced or if it can be nurtured back to health. We can also advise you on recommendations for a replacement plant if you need one. Sometimes it is best to start over with an entire section of your landscape to make it look cohesive. This is when we can add the most value by helping you do it right, this time. Schedule a consultation soon before our schedule fills up.
Instead of giving the special person in your life a bouquet of flowers that will die in a week sitting on the dining room table. This year, consider giving them a whole pot of colorful living flowers that last all season long. Royal Creations Architectural Landscaping experts will design a colorful planter just for you, come out and fill your container with potting soil and fertilizer, and install the plants. You may select the style and color pallet you prefer. With our seasonal subscription, you can give the gift of two- or four-season swaps so the planter doesn’t get old. What mother or wife wouldn’t love to come home to a new planter pot full of flowers to brighten the curb appeal of her home?
Designs
Our color planters come in five designs. Each contains a combination of thrillers, fillers, and some spillers. The Dynasty is a symmetric design that looks classic. It contains a formal evergreen and seasonal annuals. The Renaissance is asymmetric with an organic look. It contains an informal evergreen and seasonal annuals. The Noble contains a tall, whispy grass as the centerpiece surrounded by seasonal annuals. The Crown Jewel contains colorful, tropical annuals. Finally, the Chateau has mounding and cascading annuals.
Colors
You can choose from four types of color pallets. Complementary color sets contrast but complement each other. These color combinations are bright, punchy, and pop out and draw your attention. For example, you can choose blue and pink, blue and orange, purple and yellow, or pink and yellow. Monochromatic colors are one staple color in varying shades and tones. Polychromatic planters will include lots of color variety as available and suitable for the design you choose. Finally, analogous color planters have color sets that match and are similar in tone and feel, for a soothing, mellow look. Examples include pink and purple, blue and purple, and red and orange.
Sizes
Our planters come in four sizes. Small planters are less than 16 inches in diameter. Medium planters are 17 to 21 inches in diameter. Large planters are 22-27 inches in diameter. We can also design a custom-sized planter over 27 inches for you.
Watering
Flower pots can require a lot of watering, especially in the heat of the summer. We use a water-conserving potting soil to help retain moisture longer. We can provide instructions for a do-it-yourself watering system that fits on the hose spigot, or we can install a professional watering system and tie it into your existing irrigation system if you need help with watering.
Ideal Customer
We know that lots of people enjoy going to the nursery and shopping for the perfect flowers for their home or even for their Mother’s house in the next for weeks. This program is not necessarily for those folks. This is for those who want to do something a little more special and customized for their loved ones. The value that we offer is to have it all done for you as a white glove service to be able to gift it to your special someone. Why not collaborate with your siblings and invest in a repeating seasonal subscription? It is the gift that keeps giving all year round. Right when you need it we will be out in the fall season to swap them out and to look great until we come back again for the winter arrangements just in time for the holiday season. Then again in the spring, we will have them freshened up before Easter.
Specials
We have several specials until Mother’s Day. If we plant two containers, you get $25 off. If we plant three or more containers, you get $50 off. If you sign up for a two-season swap, you get 10% off. If you sign up for a four-season swap, you get 15% off.
Give Us A Call
Royal Creations Architectural Landscaping is taking orders for these planters until Mother’s Day and will have the first planter out by the end of May. You can purchase a container from us or supply your own. You can see our flyer here for all the details. To reserve your custom-designed seasonal planter, call us at (816) 825-2524 or schedule a consultation. Remember, we need all orders by Mother’s Day, so contact us today.
With spring rains falling, you may be experiencing some problems with stormwater management. Are there places where the soil is eroding? Does stormwater get into your home or pool in your yard after a heavy rain? If so, here are some things that can help manage that water, so it doesn’t cause problems for you or your neighbors.
Grading Surface Water
Swales and berms work to slow stormwater down and direct it to give it a chance to absorb into the ground instead of running onto the hardscape. The swales are the valleys, and the berms are the ridges or high points. Swales and berms direct rainwater so that it does not cause a problem. In some cases when water passes along the back of several homes, you may have to work together with your neighbors to come up with the best solution that benefits everyone.
Bury Downspouts
In heavy rain, all the water that goes down the downspouts from your roof can dig a hole around your foundation, causing problems. One way to deal with that is to bury the downspout and get out from the foundation to where it can drain away from the house. You can also establish a rain garden where the downspout outlets the water. A rain garden lets the water soak in instead of running off and doing damage. The end of the downspout should be at least ten feet from the house to keep moisture from accumulating inside. Choose plants that can withstand being submerged up to six inches deep for twelve to twenty-four hours but can also do well when conditions are dry. Native ornamental tall grasses work really well for this.
French Drains
A French drain is a solution to help soak up groundwater in saturated lawn areas and is typically found in the low areas of the yard along swales & valleys. A French drain installation consists of a trench below a drainage problem with a perforated pipe and clean gravel. The first step is to dig a ditch that is 12” – 24” deep for the gravel and pipe to fit in. This ditch needs to slope down with the natural grade. After you dig the trench, place the perforated pipe with the drainage holes down in the ditch. Cover the pipe with gravel until the trench is filled in. Some people put a layer of soil and sod over the gravel, so it blends in with the lawn. Other times the decorative rock can be used to cover with allows more surface water to enter directly into the pipe and move the water faster.
Drainage Plans
Before you start making changes to the drainage of your property it is best to come up with a comprehensive drainage plan. In fact, in some jurisdictions, you are required to come up with a drainage plan if you add more than 400 square feet of impervious surface. This drainage plan will include changes you need to make to your landscape and the effects on neighboring properties. You don’t want change the drainage to direct your stormwater straight into your neighbor’s house, so make sure to think things through.
Over the last couple of months, we at Royal Creations Architectural Landscaping have been discussing how to maintain your equipment and landscape beds. You also need to maintain the lights that show off your landscape and outdoor living spaces. Here are the steps we recommend.
Total System Inspection
We recommend a total system inspection. This includes the wiring, lamps, transformer, fixtures, and timer/photocells. While this type of inspection takes some effort, once it is done you know the system is safe and will work without trouble for the next year. To do this, you need to turn on the system.
Check the Lamps & Connections
Check to see if the lamps inside the fixtures work. If they are not, or give signs they are failing, replace them. LED lights last thousands of hours, but they do eventually fail. Any easy way to test a failed lamp is to swap it with one in a fixture that you know is working. If it still doesn’t work it may be a connection that is the problem. You can trace back the wire to a connection within a few feet and resplice to make sure the wire is good or you could use a volt meter to check if you have power.
Clean the Fixtures
Over time, dust and dirt mar the light fixtures and cover the lens on the fixtures. Clean the fixtures with a damp cloth. Do not use a wet one or you can damage the fixture. Clean all the lenses with a glass cleaner so they can shine brightly. This step may need to be taken on a regular basis, probably 3-4 times a season, to keep everything looking nice all year around.
Adjust and Aim Fixtures
Storms, animals, and sometimes guests, may bump your fixtures so they are not aimed properly anymore. In addition, plants grow, and the light may not show them at their best anymore. This means they will not illuminate the feature you want to put a spotlight on. Adjust any fixture that isn’t just right so that it is aimed exactly where you want it. You may have to do this in the evening so you can see the lights the way your guests will.
Test the Transformer
The transformer takes the house current and reduces it so the LED light fixtures can use it without burning out. Testing the transformer makes sure it is properly reducing the current so your LED light fixtures will last a long time. Re-tighten any terminal blocks that have worked loose during the last year. Inspect all the internal components to make sure they are clean, do not show too much wear, and do not have any burned spots. Replace any problem components you find.
Check the Clocks/Photocells
Now that the time has changed, set the clocks for the season. If you use photocells, which turn on the lights at dusk and turn them off at dawn, make sure they are functioning properly. Clean the surface so dirt doesn’t block the lens and make the lights turn on prematurely. Use a damp cloth.
Repair and Re-bury Wire
Check the wire you can see for any cuts or nicks in the wire. Repair any you find. Re-bury any exposed wires that should be buried. Make sure the wires are deep enough to avoid damage during the year.
Trim Plants That Block Lights
As plants grow, they may begin to block the lights set around them. Trim any plant material that is causing a problem by blocking the light. Be careful not to trim more than a third of the plant, including any pruning you have done in the last two months, or you will damage the plant.
Make Changes as Needed
Lighting innovations are continually being developed. Update your lighting fixtures and lighting system as new and better components are available. As an example, you can find some new things for 2022 in this article.
In addition, your needs may change. Perhaps a plant has died, so there is no need for that light. Or, you have planted another tree and need new lights to show it off. New hardscape features need lights, too. Expand your lighting system to illuminate all your landscape and outdoor living areas.
We Can Help
Royal Creations Architectural Landscaping can tune your lighting system for the year. We will run through this checklist and make sure all parts of your landscape lighting system are working correctly. Schedule a consultation or call (816) 825-2524 to get on our schedule today. Hurray, our schedule is filling up fast.
Spring starts March 23rd this year, and Royal Creations Architectural Landscaping gets really busy this time of year. What are we doing? Spring maintenance for the landscapes we manage.
Freshen Bed Edges
Defining the edges of the landscape beds is very important. We use a shovel to cut a four-to-six-inch edge along the landscape bed. This makes the landscape bed look crisp and shows off the sexy curves in it. The edge also helps keep the mulch in the landscape beds instead of letting it creep into the lawn.
Mulch
Now is the time to place 1” to 2” of new mulch on all your landscape beds. We do this because this much mulch will break down and compost itself each year, so it needs to be replaced. We use a dark-colored mulch that really sets off the landscape beds. The dark mulch contrasts nicely with the green plants, too.
Slow-Release Fertilizer
As the landscape plants wake up and start to grow, they need lots of nutrients. We apply a slow-release fertilizer to the landscape plants to give them this burst of nutrients. Because it is slow release, this fertilizer application will last all spring and summer.
Pre-Emergent on Top of Mulch
Mulch will usually keep weed seeds from growing in the landscape beds. However, some weed seeds will germinate on the top of the mulch. These are usually windborne seeds or are brought by animals or birds. We apply a pre-emergent on top of the mulch to keep those seeds from germinating. The pre-emergent will not hurt the plants that are already in the beds. It only prevents new seeds from sprouting.
Check Irrigation
Finally, we check the irrigation system and bring it to life after it has been drained all winter. Some of the sprinkler heads may have broken, pipes may leak, and the controller needs to be plugged in and set for the year. We check every valve, every sprinkler head, and emitter, and set the system controller up for the spring season.
We Can Help
Royal Creations Architectural Landscaping is enrolling people in our Garden Care Program. We will take care of all the maintenance items mentioned above. After all, it takes a lot of time to get everything ready for spring. If you don’t put in the time to put in now, you won’t have a nice landscape later. We can take care of that for you. Call us today at (816) 825-2524 to set up a free estimate for your planting beds garden care and get on our schedule. Our schedule is filling up fast.
