What common mistakes do landscape companies make on a regular basis? Here are some to avoid.
1. Using herbicides for edging or weeding
Symptoms: Dying landscape plants, dead turf bed edges
Solution: Licensed and trained certified herbicide applicator – ask before hiring. manual or gas-powered edger. Use herbicides only as necessary 1x – 2x a season, not weekly or biweekly.
2. Pruning shrubs incorrectly
Symptoms: Bare-bottom Syndrome, flowering shrubs never bloom.
Solution: Educated landscape crew – ask before hiring. Right plant, right place so that plant doesn’t need pruning often.
3. Improper fertilization
Symptoms: fertilizing turf in winter, disease or insect issues
Solutions: Contracts follow County Extension fertilizer recommendations.
4. Excess watering of turf and plants
Symptoms: Timers set more often than 2x a week in summer, timers set more than 1x a week in winter, timers set without calibration, dollarweed, fungus issues, large water bill
Solutions: Irrigation days and amounts follow County Extension recommendations, check monthly gallon usage, calibrate irrigation system to water correct amount.
5. Failing to spot invasive or volunteer plants
Symptoms: Plants, shrubs, trees, and vines, growing through hedges and shrubs, pruning plants that are not part of the landscape.
Solutions: Educated landscape crew – ask before hiring.
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Photo: Teresa Watkins