With the spring rains last week, we have noticed many people are experiencing drainage issues. If these are not taken care of, they can damage your foundation and other structures, cause erosion issues, or make your yard a swampy mess. Here are some things to consider making sure you don’t have those problems.
Swales and Berms
Swales and berms work to channel and direct stormwater, so it doesn’t impact your foundation or other hardscape areas. Swales are the valleys and berms are the hills. If you have a row of houses with similar stormwater problems, you may have to work with your neighbors to create a swale and berm system to shield all the homes without making the problem worse for some of them.
Burying Downspouts
A lot of water can move off the roof of your home through the downspout and cause a problem with your foundation. The solution is to bury the downspout and channel that water at least ten feet from the foundation. Alternatively, you can make a rock stream path lined with plants that can tolerate being submerged for twelve to twenty-four hours after a heavy rain, but can also tolerate being dry for long periods. Native grasses work well for this with their thick crowns that resist erosion.
French Drains
If you have a low spot that doesn’t drain well but can’t be filled in, like around the foundation, you may need a French drain. This is a trench that is lined with a fabric barrier. A perforated pipe is placed in the trench and it is filled with rock. Some people put a layer of sod on top, while others leave the rock exposed. The French drain helps the surface water drain instead of standing and providing a home for mosquitoes.
Drainage Plan
Developing a comprehensive drainage plan can help you safely direct stormwater around your landscape. Some jurisdictions require such a plan if you add more than 400 square feet of impervious surface. Comprehensive drainage plans are important to make sure you do not send water into your neighbor’s house.
If you plan on entertaining this spring or summer, you need a beautiful outdoor living space. Here are some tips on making the most of your landscape.
Assess Your Space
Look at your current outdoor space. Take note of the size, how it is laid out now, existing features such as trees, a patio, or landscape beds, and sunlight. Using graph paper, draw a map of your landscape to scale.
Define Your Purpose
What are you planning to use your property for? The layout for a landscape optimized for entertaining guests is different from a yard optimized for kids to play in. The structures and furniture needed are different, too.
Incorporate Native Plants
Incorporating native plants into the landscape saves money on water and fertilizer. You do not have as many problems with your plants dying when you use varieties adapted to the Kansas City climate. Native grasses like little bluestem, wildflowers such as purple coneflower, and native shrubs can form the basis of a low-maintenance landscape. Working with an experienced professional can really add value as they know what plants are hardy in your area and will stand the test of time.
Create Zones
Divide your outdoor space into zones based on purpose and function. For example, you may have a grassy area your kids can play in, a football-watching party area, and a dining area with a table and chairs. Do you want a roof over your space? This protects people from the elements and allows you to add a fireplace and big-screen television.
Add Comfortable Seating
Buy furniture designed for outdoor use. It will last longer and be more comfortable. Materials such as weather-resistant wicker, teak, or metal with comfortable outdoor cushions will do better than furniture for indoor use. We have found that investing a little more in higher quality can pay off in the long term, as you won’t have to replace pieces every few years.
Provide Shade
Summers can get hot, so shade is important. You can build a pergola, a roofed area, or use a shade umbrella or shade sail. Trees planted around the yard can work well, too. Trees can shade out grass, so place them in places where that won’t be a problem.
Illuminate the Space
Lighting up your outdoor living space not only extends the time you can enjoy it but is a great security feature. There are many ways to illuminate a space from string lights, lanterns, LED lights, or fixtures in the covered part of your space. Lighting up edges enhances safety, too. After all, you don’t want guests falling in the pool.
Incorporate Water Features
Speaking of pools, adding a water feature can help the local wildlife. A fountain can create the soothing sound of running water. That masks street noise and promotes relaxation. Water is a life giving element and it has tremendous effects on the health and wellbeing of your family.
Personalize Your Space
Display your personality with the rugs, furniture, and art you incorporate into your outdoor living space. Personal touches tie the landscape together and let everyone see who you are. We often specify focal features that can be sculptures, fountains, large planters, or even a specimen plant.
We Can Help
Royal Creations Architectural Landscaping is a full-service landscape design company. We will be glad to come out and talk with you about maximizing your outdoor space. Once you are happy with the design, we can build what you need to make your space suit your activities. Simply schedule a consult to get started.
Reviews help people find businesses that meet their needs. Your reviews of Royal Creations Architectural Landscaping help people who need landscaping design find us. Here are some reasons why your reviews of us are important.
Reviews Influence Consumers
When you need a product or service, the first people you ask are friends and family. If they don’t know, then most people start searching for what they need online. How do you know if a particular company is reputable? Most people read the reviews online to see what other people’s experiences with the business have been. If the business doesn’t have reviews, most people move on to the next business.
Reviews Give Us Feedback
When we read our reviews, we often find constructive criticism that we can use to improve our business. We value this information. We can’t continue to improve without feedback on what works and what doesn’t work very well. We read and consider every review.
Reviews Allow Us To See How Competitors Are Doing
Nobody is perfect. While we read our reviews, we also read the reviews of other landscape design companies. These give us ideas to improve our business and reach more people.
Reviews Help Increase Website Traffic
Reviews on popular services like Yelp! And Google help drive traffic to our website. The more people who find our website, the more people we can help. Of course, that helps us because we do need to eat and pay our bills.
Will You Help Us?
Royal Creations Architectural Landscaping would really appreciate our customers writing reviews on popular sites such as our Yelp! Page, Google Business Pages, the Better Business Bureau, and other review sites. We want everyone to enjoy their outdoor living space and the more reviews we have, the more people we can help.
The seed catalogs have been out for a while, and it is time to plan your spring vegetable garden. Here are some tips on what to do to get ready to plant.
Clean Up and Remove Debris
Remove any old plants and debris that are in your garden area. Rake up leaves and other organic matter and save for the compost pile. Rake your soil to break up clods a few weeks before planting.
Amend the Soil
Work three inches of compost into the top six inches of soil. Mix the compost in with the soil so it is evenly distributed throughout, and you can also use a little extra in the holes of your plants mixed with.
Soil Testing
Every year after adding the compost to your soil, it is helpful to do a soil test. You can get instructions from your Extension agent. The soil test will tell you the nutrients present in your soil. If you specify that you are growing vegetables, the soil test recommendations will tell you what to add before planting.
Fertilize
Follow the soil test recommendations and work the fertilizer into the top three inches of the soil. After this, the soil will have everything a plant needs to get started. You will have to fertilize your vegetables during the season because it takes a lot of nutrients to produce vegetables especially if you want high yields.
Inspect and Repair Garden Tools
While you should have cleaned and sharpened your tools last winter when you put them up, check to make sure everything is ready for use now. Clean tools and sharpen the dull ones. Sharp tools are less likely to spread disease because the clean cuts make the plants heal faster.
Plan Your Garden Layout
Decide what you want to grow this spring and make a list. Using graph paper, lay out where you will plant each crop. Remember to plan to replant areas when you harvest the first crops. Don’t buy more seeds and plants than you have room to plant.
Start Seeds Indoors
You will need to start some seeds indoors. Tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant are generally started six to eight weeks before it is time to plant them outside. You can also start crops like squash, cucumbers, melons, cabbage, and broccoli indoors. Root crops need to be sown directly in the ground because they do not like to be moved.
Check Irrigation Systems
Hauling water to your garden is no fun. Make sure your irrigation system is ready to go and in good repair before you plant your garden. Keep seeds and new plants well watered so they can develop good root systems.
Create Support Structures
If you are growing plants that vine, such as tomatoes, cucumbers, and beans, set up your support structures as you plant them. Setting them up at planting avoids damaging roots and lets the plants use the trellis or cage from the start.
Check Local Frost Dates
Plants are put in the ground at different times depending on the crop. The average date of last frost is April 15th. However, it has frosted as late as May 14th, but only once. Kansas Extension has a list of when to plant each crop here.
Purchase Seeds and Plants
Buy your seeds from some place that gets fresh seed each year. Most area nurseries will have fresh seed, as will the big box stores. You can also order it online. Order seeds early so you get what you want in time to plant. Some years, the seed companies run out of particular varieties. Buy plants when it is time to put them in the ground.
Spring Is Hopeful
Spring gardens are full of hope. While Royal Creations Architectural Landscaping doesn’t do vegetable gardens, we will take care of your landscape beds. Simply enroll in our garden care program and we will weed, add mulch, treat the beds with a pre-emergent, sharpen the edges of the beds, and fertilize the plants. We leave everything looking crisp and professional. Call (816) 825-2524 or schedule a consult to enroll.
In the Kansas City area, we recommend activating your irrigation system around St. Patrick’s Day because this is typically the time of year when the threat of freezing pipes has passed. Starting up your system is more complicated than just turning on the water. Here are the steps we recommend you go through to get things ready for spring.
Fill Backflow Valve
The first step in activating your irrigation system is to charge the backflow valve. Switching it to the on position begins to fill the irrigation system with water. If you have a master valve, which we recommend, it will open to pressurize the main line of your system to be ready to run.
Start System and Audit Zones
You might get wet doing this next step. Turn a zone on and check that the sprinkler heads are in good condition. Watch where the zone spreads water and make sure the sprinkler heads are turned in the correct direction. You want to water the plants, not the concrete or your house. After making sure the heads are watering properly, turn off that zone and start the next one. Continue until you have checked all the zones. You can set up a 1 to 2-minute test cycle also to help make this easier and not have to run back to the controller as much.
Make Repairs
Chances are you will have to make some repairs. Mowers hit sprinkler heads, the plastic cracks, or something else broke during the winter. Complete all the repairs, then return to the previous step. When you are satisfied that everything is working, you can move on.
Set Timer
The timer has two functions. You can set it to tell it what days to run and what time to run. Your sprinklers should run in the morning, before 10 a.m. That lets the water dry off the leaves before nightfall. Plants that are wet overnight are more likely to get fungal diseases.
You also need to set how long each zone runs. The run duration depends on temperature and rainfall. If the temperature is high, run the rotor zones so that each zone runs twenty to thirty minutes, and spray zones five to fifteen minutes. If you see water begin to run off then you can scale back the run times and set another start time for later. Shorter run times and more frequent watering allows the water to soak into the soil, so less runs off. If the temperature is cooler, you don’t have to cycle through as many times. Rainfall also means that you may not have to water one of the days you usually water that week, depending on the amount of rainfall. A rain sensor can shut off the system for a period of time so you don’t waste money watering when it is not needed. Smart controllers can also help conserve water and allow you to adjust controls remotely from your phone.
Summer Adjustments
You should check your system in early summer when it starts to get hot. Adjust the timer to water more often so your plants can survive the summer temperatures. Make sure none of the sprinkler heads have been damaged and everything is running smoothly.
We Can Activate Your Irrigation System
Royal Creations Architectural Landscaping can activate your irrigation system for you. We will go through each of the steps and make sure your system is running efficiently and is set correctly. In fact, we have a new Lawn Sprinkler Subscription Program. The Fresh Impressions level includes sprinkler activation, a system inspection at activation, a summer season system inspection, and winterization. The Luscious Landscape level includes all that plus two additional seasonal system inspections, a zone diagram, and 5% off all repairs. Finally, the Royal Treatment level includes sprinkler activation, system inspection at activation, four seasonal system inspections, six remote adjustments of the sprinkler during the season, winterization, zone diagram, and priority scheduling. Royal Treatment clients will also get 10% off of all repairs. To fully take advantage of this level of service, you must have a Wi-Fi-smart controller, which may require a one-time additional fee. To enroll, call the office at (816) 825-2524 today.
