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The Most Common Gardening Mistakes: A Guide for Gardening Newbies

October 31, 2011 By

When you’re amped up to get your garden blossoming with all kinds of flowers, plants, fruits, and/or vegetables, you tend to start taking every single tip you have learned about gardening and go full force. A lot of times, though, this can lead to doing more harm than good for your garden. Your past knowledge and experiences may not always be the right set of tips to use for your new garden, you’re going to need to incorporate some new tips with the old ones. We provide you with a list of the top 5 most common gardening mistakes to avoid so that you can create your dream garden.

 

1) Over/Under Watering

We have all heard that you need to water your garden a lot in order for it to stimulate growth and to quench your plants’ thirst. It’s important to learn the speed at which your plants absorb water and water them accordingly. You shouldn’t be watering your plants every day, because this could potentially drown them. Over-watering can lead to shallow roots, which leaves your plants highly susceptible to disease. Of course, underwatering can kill your plants. If your plants’ soil looks dry or feels dry to the touch, you should probably water the plant until the soil around the roots is moist. It’s best to water in the morning so that the water is less likely to evaporate in the sun.

2) Non-Native Species

Trying to grow plants that will not grow in the type of climate that you’re in is a sure-fire way to make you feel discouraged and like giving up. You should do your research before trying to plant something that is non-native to your area. Also, you need to be sure that you’re planting according to the season during which the plant thrives the best. For example, if you have a flower that grows the best during springtime, don’t waste your time trying to plant it during the fall season. The air may be too dry or cold for it to survive.

3) Killing All Bugs

We understand that seeing several bugs around your garden is a cause for concern, but most of the bugs that live in your garden are actually good ones that keep the bad ones at bay. Yes, there are a few good bugs that will eat leaves on occasion, but they also eat the bugs who are trying to consume your whole garden. Much like all things in life, there is a balance. Drowning your garden in pesticides is not a good way to keep a good balance of good and bad bugs.

4) Overcrowding/Invasive Plants

One of the biggest problems for new gardeners is that they want to plant so many different things, with only a limited amount of space. It is common to purchase so many plants, and when they get knee-deep in soil, they realize that they don’t have very much space. To compensate, they plant everything close together. BIG MISTAKE. Plants need a lot of room to breathe and grow. There are some very beautiful plants out there, however, some of them are very invasive and will take over the rest of your garden. Do your research and decide which plants will work well together and have similar growth patterns.

5) Not Knowing When to Give Up

We know that you want to salvage everything from your garden. But truth be told, there is only so much you can do for a plant that is diseased. Sometimes it’s best to just pull out the problem plant instead of wasting time and resources trying to revive it. It’s important to do this because that one plant could potentially kill all of the rest of the healthy plants in the garden that you have worked so hard to maintain.

 

Planting a garden is one of the most rewarding and exciting activities you can accomplish, once you know what to do and what to avoid. It’s great to be gung ho about it, but just be sure to follow these tips to ensure that your garden is at its healthiest.

 

For professional gardening help, feel free to call us at .

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Different Types of Sod- What Will Work Best in Your Lawn

October 26, 2011 By

Sod is grass that has already begun the growing process, and is preferred over grass seeds because of this fact. Growing a lawn from grass seeds takes a lot more time for grass to grow and mature into a lush lawn. Sod is generally more expensive than grass seeds, but is worth the extra money because of the fast results. It is grown on a sod farm, cut into squares to make it easier to lie, and then sold to consumers or lawn care contractors. Sod is comprised of grass and topsoil that grow into the soil where it is placed and creates a healthy lawn in up to 30 days.

Much like seeds, each type of grass has its own type of sod for the growing process.  Some of the types grow better in certain climates than other ones, and therefore require different maintenance routines. Sod can be separated into two types: warm season and cool season.

Warm Season

Warm season grass, as the name suggests, thrives best during hot weather seasons and are ideal for areas in the south.

Bahia

This type grows best in Florida and the Southern Atlantic coastlines. It is extremely drought, bug, and disease resistant; therefore it is perfect for high-traffic areas. It is a very thick and coarse grass, needs to be cut every 5-7 days, but rarely needs to be watered.

Bermuda

It is very common in the south and requires full sun for proper growth. Bermuda grass is very drought-resistant, good for high-traffic areas, coarse, and must be cut at a height of 1-2 inches. During the winter, this grass turns brown and becomes quiescent, but when the weather warms up, the grass turns green again.

Zoysia

Zoysia is a slow-growing grass that grows wells in the southern and transitional zone. It requires full sun, and must be watered if there is a drought that lasts longer than one week.

Centipede

Centipede grows at a very slow rate but is a very low-maintenance grass. It can grow in full sun or partial sun, and thrives well in acidic soil levels. This type has very shallow roots, and therefore can be infected with bugs easily.

St. Augustine

One of the most popular types of grass in the south, it provides a thick and green lawn that does not handle cold weather very well at all. It is not for high-traffic areas, and grows the best in sunny and warm areas.

 

Cool Season

Cool season grasses are mostly grown in the northern areas that have a cooler climate year-round. When these grasses are exposed to extreme heat or drought, they become dormant and must be kept moist during whilst planting the sod.

Kentucky Bluegrass

It is most often mixed with other types of grass to ensure the best growth results. This type grows the best in loose soil and with shady conditions. One problem with Kentucky Bluegrass is that it sometimes needs to be treated with a fungicide due to it being prone to leafspot disease.

Perennial Ryegrass

It doesn’t need to be exposed to full sun to survive, and is also mixed with bluegrass or fescue grasses to make it look uniform because it grows in bunches. This type is often used to seed grasses in the south that go dormant during cold seasons.

Fine Fescue

There are three different types: creeping red, hard, and chewings. Fescues grow the absolute best in cool and shady climates, so high temperatures will require more water and maintenance.

Tall Fescue

This type of fescue is used mostly in mixes due to the fact that it grows in bunches instead of in a uniform pattern. It is low maintenance and handles high traffic very well, which is why it is the grass of choice on sports fields.

 

To inquire about the types of sod that we offer, call us at .

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Sod Installation – How to turn your dead lawn into a lively one

October 21, 2011 By

So your lawn for some reason has decided to turn from green and lush to brown and dead. Perhaps it got infested with pests and there was no saving it, or perhaps it wasn’t getting enough water. Or maybe you just want to try out a new type of grass. Either way, you need to re-install your sod. This can be done either through a professional, or you can do it yourself.

Apply an Herbicide

If only some of your lawn has suffered damage, you’ll need to kill the rest of the healthy grass in addition to any weeds. The easiest way to do this is to apply a strong herbicide while your grass is in its highest growth mode (which happens when you fertilize and water your lawn). One application will typically work. If the whole lawn is dead already, then you can skip this step entirely.

Remove the Dead Grass

The next thing to do is to pull up the dead grass. You can do this easily by using a sod cutter, which can be found at any hardware store.

Tilling

After you discard of the dead grass, then you will need to till the soil. This will allow for the new grass to grow strong, get rid of weeds, and to de-compact it. It’s also imperative to install or repair your sprinkler systems. By doing this now, watering your new sod will be a much faster process. For tips on installing sprinkler systems, click here. Also at this time, you should rake the land and get rid of any rock or debris and make sure that the soil is uneven. Sod will conform to any hiccup in the soil, so if you don’t get rid of debris, then the sod will not grow correctly.

Distribute Starter Seeds

The next step is to distribute the sod starter seeds, and then roll the soil so that the seeds are distributed evenly.

Lay Down the New Sod

As soon as the sod arrives, lay it down on the soil as if you were stacking bricks so that there are no gaps in between each piece of sod. You can cut the sod if you have to get around curved boundaries or walls. After you install the first 200 feet, you should lightly water the new sod. After all of the sod is put down, use your roller so that the soil and the new sod are in contact with the other one. Water thoroughly when this is complete.

Upkeep

The grass will start growing, and it will require you to mow your lawn after one week. Continue to water your new grass regularly.

If you would like an estimate of installing new sod in your lawn by a professional, call us at .

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Sprinkler System Design – What’s the process?

October 12, 2011 By

Why would I need to install a sprinkler system?

If you want to install a sprinkler system, chances are that your home either does not have one, or your old system is not working properly. Automatic sprinklers are best for almost all lawns; due to the simplicity of setting the timer and letting the sprinklers do the watering. For one installation, it saves you many hours having to hand water your lawn.

When designing a sprinkler system on your own for your home, it takes a lot of planning, time, and effort. If you don’t mind the intense process, then this is something that wouldn’t be too hard for you. There are various guides that you can find online to help you with the process, walking you through step-by-step until the job is finished. However, if you have neither the time nor the patience for this long process, there are contractors who are available to do this job for you.

 

Get Your Information

The first thing that is done when creating a sprinkler system design is to collect all of the information that you’ll need. This involves finding your water pressure (PSI) and water flow (GPM) measurements and finding your sprinkler coverage. It’s quite helpful to have a blueprint of your property and to measure your lawn to give yourself a picture of what you’ll be dealing with.

 

What Do I Need?

Once you have done all of your research and have collected all of your data, you need to determine the type of equipment that you’ll need.

  • Water meter
  • Backflow preventer
  • Mainlines
  • Valves
  • Elevation pressure loss
  • Sprinkler heads
  • Laterals
  • Adjustments

As you can see, the equipment that you’ll need is far more extensive than just buying the sprinkler heads. The specifics of each of these items are contingent upon the data that you first collected.

 

The Installation Process

The next step is to place the sprinkler heads. This step depends upon how large the property is, what type of sprinkler heads are being used, in addition to where you want to place each sprinkler. After this, then you create valve zones and draw in where the pipes go in addition to their sizes. After making sure that you calculate pressure loss and that everything is working properly, the sprinkler system design is finished.

 

These steps will usually stay the same regardless of if you’re creating a sprinkler system for residential or commercial land. There are various tools that are available online that will customize the tools that you’re going to need for your project, depending upon the size and shape of your land, and the other unique details about your property. This task is not necessarily an easy one to accomplish, which is exactly why there are companies who offer their services to do this for you.

If you would like an estimate about designing a sprinkler system for your property, give us a call at .

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Sod replacement – How do I know when I need to replace my sod?

October 7, 2011 By

When considering the prime time to do a complete overhaul of your lawn, it’s very rare that you’ll wake up one Saturday morning and decide to replace all of your sod. It requires a bit of time and preparation, and having the proper knowledge of what is the cause behind your sod problems. You’ll recognize some of the problem areas in your lawn over a few weeks, and you can prevent having to re-sod the whole lawn by just taking care of the smaller problem areas.

Your lawn may have some brown spots of dead grass for various reasons, such as:

  • Constant foot traffic
  • Pets
  • Weeds
  • Insects
  • The elements
  • Lack of water

If your lawn is infested by insects or disease, it’s harmful to your lawn to mow it because the diseased clippings can harm the rest of the healthy grass if it has not been infected yet. If you suspect that your lawn has been invaded by pests, it’s best to consult a professional so that they can properly diagnose and take care of your problem.

For the rest of the cases of lawn deterioration, if it’s a small patch of dead grass, you can easily tear it out and replace it with new sod with few complications. This involves buying new sod seeds and taking proper care of them until they sprout new grass, and then keeping up with the maintenance for a healthy lawn. This will not take care of the situation if you just pour a bag of sod down and not take proper care of it.

If the problem has spread so much that it has taken over your whole lawn, then it’s time for a full sod replacement. You can either tackle this task on your own by tearing up the whole lawn and then applying fresh sod, or you can hire a professional to tackle the project for you. Either way, proper maintenance such as watering the newly planted sod is required by you in order for your lawn to grow back in a healthy state.

If you think that you are in need of sod replacement services, call us at .

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