The 5 Key Elements to Maintaining Your Landscape Design

Creating a beautiful landscape takes time and effort. Even the smallest yards require work and commitment to look good throughout the year. There are five key elements that are essential for a healthy, beautiful landscape design. Regular Lawn Maintenance Regular maintenance is essential to a lush green, healthy year-round landscape design. Without it, the landscape can quickly become overgrown creating an eyesore for your home and an invitation to all kinds of diseases and outdoor pests. To ensure a healthy, well-maintained landscape, plan for regular maintenance:

• Weekly or bi-weekly lawn mowing
• Regular weeding
• Regular feeding and seeding
• Cleaning of hardscaped surfaces and flower beds
• Border edging for walkways and driveways
• Tree, shrub and plant care

Fertilization A landscape must receive essential nutrients to keep grass and plants green and healthy, however most soils don't provide enough nutrients throughout the growing seasons. Proper nutrients promote healthy root systems, new leaf growth and stable plants that can fight off environmental stresses like heat, cold and drought. A landscape design plan should include a regular feeding schedule throughout the year to keep grass, trees, shrubs and plants green and healthy. Mulching Mulching is a simple way to provide great landscape benefits. It adds a protective layer to the soil that keeps grass, trees, shrubs and plants thriving year-round. Whether you use organic or inorganic mulch, the benefits for the landscape are huge:

• Retains soil moisture
• Maintains even soil temperature
• Prevents soil erosion
• Reduces soil compaction
• Prevents weed growth

Pruning Regular pruning of trees, shrubs and plants is essential to a healthy landscape. Overgrowth creates an ill-maintained landscape with falling branches and debris and the potential for diseases and outdoor pests. Regular pruning is important, but proper tools must be used to avoid damage, and pruning should be done at the right time of year. Typically, trees and evergreens are pruned during late winter or early spring, while flowering plants are best pruned after their blooming season. Irrigation Lawns need one inch of water every week, either from a sprinkler system or natural rainfall, however irrigation needs vary with grass type and soil conditions. Lawns with sandy soil drain quickly and require more frequent watering, while lawns with clay soil are slow-draining and need much less water. By choosing native plants for your Texas landscape design, you can create a beautiful, healthy landscape that conserves water and maintenance costs.