Catching Up After Winter Weather

As reported two weeks ago, an extended cold snap with stretches of icy and snowy weather kept us from our normal February landscaping activities. The good news is that we were ahead of schedule with our winter services due to the dry January weather, and with above-normal temperatures forecast ahead, we will have favorable conditions to help us catch up. Don’t worry—it’s common to experience weather-related impacts on our winter maintenance, and we build our schedules to ensure we complete our winter activities in time for spring.

Rejuvenation Pruning

Much of our focus this winter has been on pruning and preparing our shrub beds for the season. Our most intensive work in the shrub beds takes place during the winter. Some people ask us if there's anything to do in the landscape during winter, which surprises us, as we are very active during this time and believe some of our most important work happens in January and February. Many plants, especially deciduous ones, are best pruned during the dormant season. For us, all plants are either touched up or intensively pruned at this time of year to prepare for the coming season. Our pruning during spring and summer is typically just for height control, as the best time for structural or corrective pruning is during the dormant season.

Finishing Pesky Late Leaf Drop

Through the winter, we spend a lot of time cleaning up and removing leaves and other organic debris from shrub beds. Unfortunately, some trees, including most oaks, have yet to drop all of their leaves, so this work continues into early spring. While part of this effort is to keep sites looking clean and well-maintained, it also prepares shrub beds for pre-emergent weed control applications and re-bark mulching.

Spring Moss Control

Despite treating during the winter, we recommend a second moss control treatment in early spring. Moss is very aggressive due to our dark, wet winters and tends to regrow, requiring two treatments each year to keep it under control. We will be applying moss control treatments again in late March and throughout April.

Shrub Bed Rebarkdusting

We highly recommend reapplying bark dust every other year. As bark dust decomposes, its water-saving and weed-control properties diminish over time. Bark dust is an excellent moisture and weed control agent and significantly enhances the appearance of your landscape when maintained on a biennial schedule.

Spring Irrigation System Servicing Beginning

As cold as it is outside now, irrigation season is only a month or two away. With warmer weather, we will begin preparing irrigation systems for spring. Through April, we will be busy servicing our customers’ systems to ensure they are ready for the irrigation season. While we have started irrigating as early as April 1st in the past, the season typically begins sometime in May. If you see sprinklers on in the next month, it’s likely because our staff is on-site tuning up your system for the season.

Mowing To Start In March

The cold weather in February has kept lawns dormant. In March, we’ll be getting back into our mowing routine, and hopefully, the weather will stay dry enough to help facilitate this. We can’t mow on days that start below freezing and will also be cautious about mowing during rainy conditions to avoid damage from rutting. This March looks like it may be a challenging month for mowing.

We are Excited For Spring And Seeing Our Winter Work Shine

Winter has been busy, and spring will be even busier. We're excited for the weather to improve, the plants to come back to life, and for all the work we’ve done this past winter to shine through in beautiful landscapes this spring and summer.