Don't Forget to Mulch!!

Walk outside along one of the bayous or parks in the Houston area, and look down. What do you see? In a healthy ecosystem, you won’t see bare ground. Nature covers its own soil with plant growth, decaying matter, or even inorganic matter. This is what you want to imitate in your own yard!

The best way to protect the ground in your garden and flower beds at home is by using mulch, which is material spread over and around the roots of your plants. Why should you use mulch?

• It preserves the moisture in your soil, which means you don’t have to water as much. In the hot Houston area, that’s a big advantage!! Mulching will save on your water bill, as well as protect your home from hard-to-remove stains that occur if you don’t have mulch in the flower beds next to your house.
• Mulch regulates the temperature of your soil. In the winter, a layer of mulch can prevent freezing. In the hot Texas summer, mulch can keep top soil from reaching temperatures that inhibit plant growth.
• Mulch protects your soil from erosion caused by wind and rain.
• Mulch significantly reduces weeds. That means prettier landscaping, and less work for you!!

When is the best time of year to apply mulch? It is ideal in this part of Texas to put mulch down in late Spring once the ground has started to warm up. So it’s time to start thinking about what type of mulch you will choose for your own yard! You want to protect and maintain healthy landscaped plants, shrubs, and flowers, not to mention adding to the value of your home by making your yard look beautiful and complete.

Contact C4 Landscape & Design today for all your landscaping needs.

Protect Your Landscape

A well maintained landscape takes time, effort, and money so you surely want to protect your investment! If cared for properly, your landscaping will appreciate with each passing year. A shrub that you paid $100 to install a few years ago may be worth 10 times that amount today. Your investment is literally growing in your yard, so make sure that you take steps to protect and even enhance it.

It’s no secret that the Houston area endured a very serious drought over the past year. These conditions killed many plants and endangered lawns and trees. The stress of this severe weather means that you need to pay extra attention to your landscaping to help it regain its health.

First, the most obvious step is to water your landscaping properly. Set up a schedule of adequate, consistent watering. It is best to water your plants deeply and less often at a slow trickle, allowing the water to thoroughly soak into the ground. When you dump a large amount of water on hard, dry soil in a short amount of time, the water will run horizontally across the surface instead of penetrating the ground to get to the roots. However, when you water at a slow trickle (such as placing a hose at the base of a tree for an hour where the water is barely running out), the moisture is absorbed deeper. You should strive to give your plants this treatment weekly. If you have a sprinkler system, be careful not to overwater.

Next, manage infectious diseases and destructive insects that can attack your landscaping. By performing careful, regular observation of your plants and lawn, you can spot most problems. Scheduled treatments and preventative programs will also help avoid problems before they occur.

Another important step is to get rid of weeds, which not only look bad but they compete with your plants and decrease their health and value. Make sure you keep your flower beds mulched and your grass thick and not mowed too short. Also, using pre-emergent weed controls for your lawns and beds will keep seeds from germinating.

Finally, give your landscape a regular diet of balanced food. Fertilization timed for the most effective results is best, and will help keep your entire landscape lush and healthy.

Contact C4 Landscape & Design today for all your landscaping needs.

Putting the Spotlight on Landscape Lighting

 A quality job of landscape lighting will turn an ordinary home and garden into the extraordinary. It allows you to showcase trees and other focal points, as well as to take the spotlight off of areas you’d rather people not see. Lighting also provides safety and security, and a good way to increase the value of your property. Whether you choose to go dramatic or subtle with your lighting effects, you can create a whole different level of beauty at your home.

There are a variety of options when it comes to landscape lighting.

• Up-lighting – To achieve dramatic effects, up-lights are a great way to illuminate small trees or ones with interesting trunks. Experts usually recommend using mercury vapor lights for up-lighting purposes.
• Down-lighting – The idea of down-lighting is to mimic the effects of a full moon shining down on a yard. When properly done, it creates unique shadows on the ground. Mercury vapor is also a good choice for down-lighting because it highlights the green colors in plants.
• Feature lighting – This can be compared to using a spotlight. Feature lighting is perfect for highlighting fountains, address signs, sculptures, and benches. Incandescent bulbs are recommended for this purpose because they bring out the colors in materials like stone, brick, and wood.
• Incandescent lighting – As stated, incandescent lights emphasize colors and features of your home and landscaping. A great benefit is that incandescent lights can be dimmed, which allows for added drama. They are well-suited for lighting arbors, columns, and other landscaping elements.
• Architectural illumination – This describes the use of various lighting techniques to focus on a home’s architecture.

In addition to selecting the type of landscape lighting that best suits your goals and your property, there are some other important things to consider. The voltage is one element to decide upon. High voltage lighting illuminates large area of lawn and big trees. An example is mercury vapor lights. Low voltage lighting usually requires 12 volts and are common for illuminating residential paths and small items like sculptures, outdoor fountains or fireplaces, and urns. Unlike high voltage lights that require conduit, low voltage is less expensive; however, the wiring may be damaged during yard work.

Another consideration is the type of controls for your lighting system. Mechanical time clocks avoid wasting electricity and going through lots of light bulbs, and are recommended for up-lighting, feature lighting, and architectural lighting. Such timers are also helpful because you don’t have to remember to turn the lights on and off. A different type of control is called a photocell, which monitors natural light. Photocell controls are commonly used with down-lighting.

One of the most important choices you’ll make about landscape lighting is who will design, plan, and install your system. Expertise is required to determine the ideal placement of lights so that you don’t see too many fixtures or end up with glares. The experts at C4 Landscape and Design are qualified to handle your lighting, whether it’s a big job or a small one.

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Preparing your Yard for Cooler Weather

Doing some things to get your yard ready for cooler weather can make all the difference in improving its health. Spread the tasks out over a few weekends and it won’t be so bad, or call C4 Landscape & Design to take the work off of your hands. Even though the Houston area doesn’t get that cold compared to some parts of the country, you will still be glad you get these jobs done now.

• Use a basic rake to redistribute your mulch to allow water to access the roots more easily. Plus, it perks your landscaping right up!
• Don’t fall victim to piling your mulch up like a hill, which is an enticing spot for pests. Instead, even out the mulch around trees and leave a few inches between the mulch and the tree.
• Do your research to learn what kind of fertilizer is best for Fall, and apply it before it gets too cold. Fall is the most important time to fertilize your lawn.
• If your lawn has bare spots or dry patches, reseed those areas before lawn growth slows in the cold weather.
• Aerate your lawn to move air among the soil, which promotes healthy grass. Also remove thatch, the layer of dead grass and debris on your soil, which impedes the growth of grass, blocks water from reaching roots, and promotes fungal diseases.
• Keep your grass at least 2 to 2-1/2 inches tall. Even though it may be tempting to cut it short to avoid more frequent mowing, your lawn won’t be as healthy.
• Get rid of dried leaves, branches, and twigs. Consider renting a wood chipper from a home improvement store to create mulch full of nutrients for your landscaping.
• Carefully prune your bushes and trees, but be sure not to remove new growth.
• Remove dead leaves, branches, and dried fruit from perennials to lower the appeal to bugs.
• Planting Spring bulbs now will provide a longer time for their roots to develop and become strong.
• Tune up your lawn equipment such as the mower and leaf blower. Get them ready for storage in the off-season so that they’re good to go next Spring.

Contact C4 Landscape & Design today for all your landscaping needs.

End of Summer Lanscaping Tips

September is here, and although in the greater Houston area that doesn't mean you can kiss summer weather goodbye, it does mean you can start thinking about the autumn weather to come. There are some things that you can do now to give your lawn and landscaping beds a better chance for success when it starts to cool off.

• Brown patch disease in St. Augustine grass can still be a problem into the Fall, so continue to watch for it.
• If you have a dead spot or area that appears stressed in your lawn, consider chinch bugs as the culprit. They can still thrive in the Fall.
• For warm-season grasses like most lawns in the Houston area, the final nitrogen fertilizer application of the year shouldn't be any later than September 15.
• Pay attention to your watering and make sure your landscaping is getting what it needs.
• Damage from white grubs can appear in September. If you notice a problem, apply soil insecticide and water it in thoroughly. Ask your local garden store or contact C4 Landscape & Design if you need suggestions for what kind to use.
• By the second week of September, complete application of pre-emergent control for winter-annual weeds on your lawn. You can skip this application if you are planning to over-seed your lawn with rye grass. 

Contact C4 Landscape & Design today for all your landscaping needs.

Mowing Your Lawn: Do It Right

One of the most important things you do in your landscaping is mow your lawn. Your home’s curb appeal goes down the drain if you have poor lawn cutting techniques that damage the lawn and promote weeds and insects. Instead, your goal should be a neatly manicured lawn that will be the envy of the neighborhood. How do you know the best mowing practices? Here are some guidelines to help you achieve success.

Select the right mower.

Rotary mowers are the most popular type used for both residential and commercial lawns, although they vary depending on the size of the job. Homeowners usually opt for push mowers on small to medium yards where speed and power aren’t a requirement. Larger riding mowers are a good choice when push mowers aren’t sufficient. However, keep in mind that the blade turns slower on bigger mowers and can rip the turf, which increases your lawn’s risk for disease. Faster blades make sharper cuts that are healthier for your lawn. Heavier big mowers can also cause soil compaction, inhibiting the ability for air, water, and nutrients to pass through your soil. If you use a larger mower, aerate your lawn annually to combat soil compaction issues.

Set the right height.

The height that you mow your grass is critical to its health. It varies somewhat depending on the type of grass, but generally the most important thing to know is the 1/3 rule. This rule means that you shouldn’t cut any more than 1/3 of the leaf blade at any one mowing. Cutting more than that at a time can cause drought damage or root stunting, especially during the hot Houston area summers. If your lawn need to be cut more than 1/3 of a leaf blade, take several passes on your lawn over several days. This give the grass time to recover and your lawn won’t be shocked so much.

Decide if mulching is right for your yard.

Many lawn mowers come with the ability to mulch or shred grass clippings and spread them back to your soil surface. Adversely, bagging and removing clippings means your lawn will need more fertilizer because valuable nutrients leaving with the clippings will need to be added back. Some homeowners are afraid that returning clippings to your lawn creates a layer of thatch that water and nutrients can’t get through, but this is false. Mulched clippings from a routinely mowed lawn acts as an organic fertilizer. Thatch from clippings is only a problem for lawns that are cut from high growth to extremely low heights.

Mow at the right time.

How often you mow depends on the amount of rainfall, sun exposure, temperature, length of day, and fertilizer applications. Therefore, you shouldn’t set a strict schedule for mowing. It is better to cut the lawn when it reaches the needed height. And during the hot Houston summer months, lawns should be mowed less frequently to lower drought and heat stress.

Know the right way.

Always alternate the direction that you cut your lawn every other time you mow. Don’t follow the same pattern each time, because it can increase soil compaction and cause inconsistent growth patterns. Also, make sure your lawn mower blade is sharp. Disease and ripped turf become issues when dull blades are used for cutting. Make a habit of sharpening your lawn mower blades at the beginning of the mowing season, and you can make it easy on yourself by taking the blades to your local hardware store.

Contact C4 Landscape & Design today for all your landscaping needs.

Drip Irrigation

Watering your lawn and garden is often not an easy task, and it can also get very expensive and waste water. Drip irrigation offers an efficient and cost-effective way to water your landscaping.

What is drip irrigation?

This type of watering system has been used in dry areas of the country for some time, and the Houston area fits the bill. It applies water slowly at the plant’s roots where it is most needed. Plants are over 90% efficient in using the water applied, while other irrigation methods like sprinklers are only 65% to 75% efficient. Also, evaporation and runoff are reduced. Homeowners most often incorporate drip irrigation into the bedding areas of their landscaping, as well as for watering shrubs and trees.

What are the benefits?

• The quality and productivity of plants improve.
• The areas between plants remain dry, reducing weed growth.
• The efficiency of drip systems saves money and water.
• Leaking of water and nutrients below the roots is minimized.
• Uneven ground is properly irrigated.
• Leaves, fruit, and stems of plants do not contact the water as much, preventing disease.

Is operation and upkeep difficult?

Like sprinkler systems, drip irrigation may be set to run automatically or controlled manually. Manual control allows you to decrease watering after rainfall. Most drip irrigation systems are designed to run every day without rain, and it may run once or twice a day. Watering your landscaping early in the morning allows less evaporation, while evening watering increases your landscaping’s risk for disease. Maintenance of your drip irrigation systems involves regular checks for proper function, and most companies provide detailed guidelines for you to follow to keep your system running smoothly.

What about the cost?

As you might guess, the cost of a drip irrigation system varies according to the size of your target area and the materials needed for your system. No matter what the size of your space, there are upfront costs for items required in every system such as the pressure regulator and backflow preventer. Ask Outdoor Development for an estimate for incorporating drip irrigation into your own home’s landscaping.