As we’ve chatted about winterizing your landscape over the past few weeks, let’s not forget about your trees—they need some extra love before the snowflakes start falling. Think of it as tucking them in for a cozy winter nap! Here are some fun tips to keep your trees happy and healthy all winter long.
Trees need winterizing, too.
Remove Problem Branches
Got dead, broken, or diseased branches? Time to prune them away! It’s like giving your tree a little haircut. Cutting off these troublemakers not only keeps your tree looking sharp, but it also prevents broken branches from ripping bark off the trunk. And remember, diseased branches should go straight to the trash, not the compost—no spreading that bad vibe.
Drench Soil Before The Freeze
Once the ground turns into a frozen wonderland, any water trapped in the soil becomes a solid block of ice. If you haven’t watered adequately, the roots below won’t be able to sip any hydration. So, before winter truly settles in, give your soil a deep drink. Turn on your hose until it starts to trickle, then place it about three feet from the trunk and let it soak for about an hour. You may need to move the hose around every 10-15 minutes as it starts to pool up, so you can spread the love. Repeat this until the soil under the entire dripline is saturated—your tree’s roots will thank you for the winter spa treatment!
Deciduous trees are in hibernation mode during winter, but they still need a little love—water them about once a month on those warm, sunny days.
Evergreen trees, on the other hand, are like those energetic kids who never stop! They don’t fully go dormant, even in the coldest weather, and they need more water than their deciduous friends. So, whenever it’s above 40 degrees, do a quick soil check. If it feels dry, give those evergreens a drink to keep them happy come the spring growing season and prevent winter burn.
Winter burn on an evergreen tree.
Protect Against Winter Burn
Winter burn is like a cold injury for evergreens, showing up when new growth starts in spring. You might notice brown needles or leaf edges, and it can range from a few sad needles to a whole tree looking a bit worse for wear.
Because evergreens keep a few pores open on their needles, they can lose moisture if the wind whips through. It’s like they’re out there shivering in the cold! To help them out, we recommend using an anti-desiccant spray, such as Wilt-Pruf, on your evergreen friends. This magical potion, made from a chemical found in pine pitch, creates a protective layer on the needles, preventing moisture loss. Just make sure to cover every nook and cranny, and give it a few hours to cure in the sunlight to be fully protected. You can re-apply if needed after 60-90 days if needed depending on how harsh the weather conditions are.
Avoid Getting De-Icing Substances On Trees
Most de-icing solutions contain salt, which is like a big “no-no” for your trees. If salt seeps into the soil around them, it can be toxic. So, when the snow and ice start to melt, keep an eye out to make sure that salty slush doesn’t drain under the dripline of your trees. A little temporary berm can help channel that slush straight into the street—think of it as a mini snow moat!
Remove Snow On Branches
Too much snow on branches is like putting a heavy blanket on a sleeping child—there’s a good chance something might snap. After a snowstorm, gently shake off the snow to prevent breakage. Just be careful; we don’t want to wake the sleeping giants. This can also be a fun family activity—get the kids involved and let them help out while burning off some energy!
Our snowplows are ready for the snow to come.
Get The Royal Treatment
Royal Creations Architectural Landscaping provides snow/ice prevention and removal services for our commercial partners. We can give your landscape the Royal treatment to protect your investment and make winter more pleasant. Give us a call at (816) 825-2524 to get on our schedule. Hurry, we are filling our schedule quickly.
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.
Composting is the process of using microbes to break down organic matter into a rich, fertile, humus. This composted material, referred to as compost can then be used to enrich your landscape and encourage your plants to grow.
Organic Matter
Compost adds organic matter to the soil. This organic matter becomes fertilizer for the plants around it. In addition, mixing compost into the soil makes room for water to trickle in and soak the soil instead of running off. Adding organic matter to the soil each spring keeps it fertile and loose.
Aeration
Compost also helps aerate the soil. The irregularly shaped particles make space for air and keep the soil from compacting. Roots need oxygen to grow, and adding organic matter makes sure there is enough oxygen in the soil for the roots. Compacted soil, on the other hand, doesn’t have many spaces for air to penetrate.
pH
The pH of finished compost is usually between 6-8. The “finished” is important. Compost that is unfinished can adversely affect your plants. How do you tell if compost is finished? Grab a handful of it. There should be a uniform brown color and no lumps. It should smell like good earth. If you can see a leaf fragment or piece of manure, the compost is not finished. If the compost has an unpleasant smell, it is not finished.
How to Use Compost
Compost can be used in two ways. When first developing a landscape bed, you should till the soil to a depth of twelve inches. Layer three inches of compost on top of the soil. Mix the compost throughout the tilled soil. Now you have rich, aerated soil full of organic matter.
If your landscape bed is older, with plants already in it, you can top-dress the soil with compost. Layer about an inch of compost over the soil in the landscape bed in the early spring. Cover this with three inches of mulch. The compost acts like a slow-release nitrogen fertilizer. You can top-dress turf grass with an inch of compost if you then rake the grass with a leaf rake to make the compost fall to the ground.
How To Make Your Own Compost
Making compost is not hard. You are essentially farming microbes that will turn your food and yard waste into rich organic matter. The best way to make compost involves a three-bin system. Make three bins with the front open. In the first bin goes the raw food and yard waste. Once a month, you turn the contents of the second bin into the third bin. You then turn the contents of the first bin into the second bin. The third bin should contain the finished compost after three months. Each compost pile should be between three and five cubic feet. Smaller piles do not have the mass to stay warm and larger piles do not have enough air for the microbes.
Recipe for Compost
The best compost piles come from a simple recipe. You want browns and greens plus moisture. Browns (carbon sources) are dry leaves, wood chips, straw, hay, newspaper, and sawdust. Greens (nitrogen sources) are grass clippings, coffee grounds, fruit and vegetable waste, fresh hay, manure, and seaweed. Do not compost meats, oils, and bones, as they will attract rodents and other vermin to your pile.
Pile 3-4 inches of hedge trimmings and branches that are roughly chopped to allow air to circulate around the base of the pile.
Pile 6-8 inches of mixed browns and greens.
Pile one inch of dirt to inoculate the pile with microorganisms.
Add 2-3 inches of manure or one pound of urea fertilizer per yard of the pile.
Repeat steps one through four until the pile is big enough to compost.
We Can Help
Making a compost bin and composting your waste can take time. Turning and spreading the compost can also be labor intensive. Royal Creations Architectural Landscaping can help. We develop landscape beds and mix in compost, so you do not have to. We even provide the compost, made where it gets hot enough to sterilize any weed seeds or pathogens in the pile. Our Garden Care Team will also come out in the spring and top dress your landscape with compost, then mulch, to keep your plants growing well and your landscape looking sharp. Contact us today to schedule our services.
Winter burn is caused when an evergreen tree or shrub loses more water than it can take in. The damage ranges from brown, dry needle tips and leaf edges to the reddening of entire needles and leaves. In a bad case, entire branches can turn brown and die. Some trees, such as the one above, die entirely. Worse, the symptoms usually do not show until spring growth begins. Understanding the problem can help you prevent it.
Evergreens Never Go Totally Dormant
Even in the dead of winter, the stomates, or pores of the evergreen tree or shrub let some water out of the needle or leaf. This water has to be replaced with water the roots draw up into the tree. When the roots cannot draw up as much moisture as the tree lets out, winter burn occurs. There are several reasons why a tree or shrub cannot draw up as much water as it loses.
Drought During the Year
Roots cannot draw up water is the soil is too dry. If, at any point in the year, there has been dry weather, the tree enters the winter with drought stress. In fact, a tree or shrub that has suffered drought stress will always do worse in the winter than one who has been kept moist.
Frozen Soil, Frozen Roots
Evergreen trees and shrubs older than 2 years old should have roots that go deep in the soil. If the soil freezes deeper than the roots go, it cuts the roots off from soil moisture. It does not matter how moist the soil is, if it is frozen the roots cannot access that soil moisture. Evergreens younger than two years old do not have deep roots, so even a shallow soil freeze may cut them off from soil moisture.
Wind and Sun Are Not an Evergreen’s Friend
Winter burn is usually the worst on the side of the tree or shrub that faces the wind. As the wind goes over the stomates, it pulls water from them. This increases how much water the needles or leaves lose and increases the need for the roots to draw up moisture from the soil.
An evergreen shrub showing windburn on the side where the prevailing winds hit it.
Direct sunlight or reflected sunlight also increases water loss. If a tree or shrub get warm enough, the stomates open wider, letting more water out. The reflected sunlight and warmth from a building’s surface, especially bricks, concrete, or light-colored metal siding, can really burn a plant. For example, ornamental juniper is prone to this type of injury.
Preventing Winter Burn Starts with Water
When there is insufficient rain to keep the soil moist, it is important to give your tree or shrub a deep watering, regardless of the season. When the tree or shrub is under two years old, it needs a lot of water all at once every week during the spring, summer, and fall. Watering a little water every few days keeps the roots shallow. Deep watering trains the roots to grow deep into the soil, where the moisture they need is naturally present.
When evergreens are older than two, they only require watering spring through fall when it has not rained enough for a month to keep the soil moist. Again, deep watering is important. Stop watering when a good rain comes along or it freezes. Even if there is not a dry spell, when the first frost is forecast, but before it arrives, water the evergreens deeply to make sure the roots are well hydrated when the soil freezes.
Sealing the Water In
There is a product available that can greatly reduce the water an evergreen loses in the winter. Wilt-Pruf® uses a substance found in pine pitch to build a molecular film on the leaves or needles of evergreens that helps stop water loss. It must be applied on a warm enough day that the spray does not freeze before it reaches the evergreen. Wilt-Pruf® requires 2-3 hours of ultraviolet light to set up, so spray it on when there is at least that much daylight left before dark. Wilt-Pruf® gradually wears away, one molecular layer at a time, so it will need to be sprayed again on an above freezing day in three to four months if winter is not over.
Watering in Winter
Since evergreens never go totally dormant, they must be watered during the winter. When the temperature is above 40F, check the soil around the evergreens. If it is dry, give the trees and shrubs a big drink. It is best to do this mid-morning to allow the water to soak in before the soil freezes again. It is very important to water the evergreens whenever the soil is dry, and it is not frozen. It is essential they get water through the end the cold temperatures. When spring growth starts, revert to the regular watering schedule.
Mulch Will Help
Mulch conserves the water applied to the soil. It then slowly releases it to the evergreen. Mulch also protects the roots from the cold. Mulch 3-4 inches deep. Spread it three to six feet in diameter around the tree or shrub. Do not let the mulch actually touch the trunk or it will cause rot.
An evergreen showing winter burn to the tips of its needles.
Winter burn is frustrating because most damage is not visible until spring growth begins. The thing to remember with evergreens is to hydrate when the day is over 40F and the soil is dry. This will give them the best chance of surviving the winter without any injuries. For more information on taking care of your evergreens, ask us here at Royal Creations Architectural Landscaping.
