EXCITED FOR SPRING, STILL DEALING WITH WINTER

Since our end of December week of light snow and ice, it has been a relatively mild winter. We have treated sites several times due to freezing fog over the past month and a half, but February was much warmer and drier than normal. Our private weather forecaster has said all month, “winter isn’t over yet” and here we go with a week forecast to have the lowest temperatures of the winter. Luckily, there is not a lot of precipitation or we could have had a repeat of the Valentine Day’s storm of 2021.  

The warm dry February has us ahead of schedule with spring prep but we have much more work to do over the next month to be ready for spring and the return of the mowing season. Here are our priorities:

Rejuvenation Pruning 

Much of our focus this winter has been pruning and preparing our shrub beds for the season. Our most intensive work in the shrub beds is during the winter. Some ask us if there's anything to do in the landscape during the winter and this surprises us as we are very active and believe some of the most important work that we do is during January and February. Many plants, especially deciduous ones, are best to prune during the dormant season. For us, all plants are touched up or intensely pruned this time of year to get prepared for the coming season. Our pruning during the spring and summer is normally just to maintain height control as the best time to structurally correct and prune plants is during the dormant season.

Begining Mowing

The warm weather in February has many lawns still growing but this cold week will slow them back down. We will soon be getting back into our mowing routine and hopefully we can get keep the drier weather to help facilitate this. We can’t mow on days that start below freezing and also will take care to not mow when weather is rainy to avoid damage from rutting. This March looks to be a challenging month for mowing. 



Finishing Pesky Late Leaf Drop

Through the winter, we spend much time in cleaning up and removing all of the leaves and other organic debris in the shrub beds. Unfortunately, some trees including most oaks still have yet to drop all of their leaves. This is the work that we will continue to do into the early spring. Part of this work is to just keep sites looking cosmetically clean, but it also is to prepare shrub beds for pre-emergent weed control application and barkdust casting.

Spring Moss Control

Despite treating during the winter, we recommend a second annual moss control treatment in the early spring. Moss is very aggressive due to our dark, wet winters and regrows. Thus requires two treatments each year to keep under control. We will again be treating for moss control in late March and through April.

Shrub Bed Rebarkdusting

We highly recommend rebarkdusting sites every other year. Barkdust decomposes and its water saving and weed control properties quickly fade after that. Barkdust is a great moisture control and weed control agent, and makes your property look dramatically better when maintain on an every other year basis.

Pansies Are Blooming

Despite the current winter weather, most pansy plantings are doing quite well. Some of the credit of this is due to the mild weather in February. Also, our ongoing winter maintenance program helps ensure, regardless of whether, that your pansies are healthy through the winter and into the spring.

Spring Irrigation System Servicing Beginning 

As cold as it is outside now, irrigation season is only a month or two away. We have been busy currently and will continue through April to get our system serviced and ready for the irrigation season. We have started irrigating as early as April 1st, but normally irrigation season starts sometime in May. If you see the sprinklers on in the next month, it is likely because our staff is on site tuning up your system for the season. 

WE ARE EXCITED FOR SPRING AND SEEING OUR WINTER WORK SHINE

Winter has been busy and spring will be busier. We're excited for the weather to improve as well as the plants to return to life and to see all the work that we've done this past winter shine on your beautiful landscapes this spring and summer.