Winter Interest in the Garden

Some of us truly love winter, especially the mild type that we usually see here in North Texas. We have ample opportunities to enjoy our outdoor spaces, but with the dormant season it can be challenging to maintain attractive, interesting settings.

Nandina Domestica

Hollies and nandinas are often taken for granted, but in winter they can be big players with glossy green or red foliage and red berries, and of course they are a summer landscape staple as well. Several shrubs will bloom during the winter months. Include a few quince, camellia, mahonia, and winter flowering honeysuckle for periodic flowers. Certainly pansies and violas are the stars of winter, and an over-seeded lawn of lush rye grass really sets off flowers and shrubs.

A water feature such as a fountain or waterfall entices the senses year- round, and brings a special excitement during hard freezes when impromptu ice sculptures form.

The outdoor living craze has brought the element of fire back into the landscape in a variety of forms, from fireplaces to fire pits to chimineas. Now is the time to really make use of these accessories.

Cedar Wax Wing

And don’t forget to hang a few bird feeders for a stream of colorful, busy visitors all winter. 

So, there you are, on a brisk clear winter day, sitting next to your roaring fire pit, enjoying the splash of your fountain and your colorful flowers, watching the cedar waxwings clean the berries off you mahonia bushes.

Fill your yard and your life with interest!    

 

A Backyard Paradise

We love it when a plan comes together...

Here we have a gorgeous back yard living area and pool complete with waterfall AND water slide!

Eat your heart out, water parks!

See the turtle of enormous girth, on his shell he holds the earth;

his thought is slow but always kind, he holds us all within his mind

Fall Lawn Treatments- The Most Important Application of the Year

It's not too late to schedule the most important lawn application of the year!

If you are on our regular lawn application program you will be receiving an application of pre-emergent weed control in September-October.

This is the most important lawn application of the year! Winter weeds begin germinating in September and October, and depending on weather conditions may not be noticeable until spring. But if you want the best chance of reducing or eliminating those unsightly weeds you see in March, you must treat the seeds now!

Dandelions, thistles, henbit, chickweed, oxalis, rescue grass, and poa annua are the biggest culprits in our spring gallery of weed problems, and most of these seeds will start sprouting when soil temperatures at the surface drop below 70 degrees. It doesn’t take too many days of cool cloudy weather to achieve this, so timing is critical.

Pre-emergents never provide 100% control, but they will make a big difference. Pre-emergents work by creating a chemical barrier in the soil that kills the seedling as it starts to emerge. This application may be combined with a broadleaf weed post emergent control to kill any that have already sprouted. Heavy rains or wet winters may dilute or move the chemical barrier deeper in the soil sometimes reducing effectiveness.

Don't let those pesky weeds get the drop on you!

Our Fall application also includes fertilizers to get your lawn ready for dormancy. Nitrogen helps thicken the lawn and smother weeds, and potassium builds stronger root systems to help your lawn through hard freezes and promote early green-up in spring.

Call us today if you would like to schedule a fall application for your lawn. (817)461-4000