Great spring landscaping starts with a staple of most yard types: trees and shrubs.
Often overlooked, trees and shrubs can draw the eye to particular spots on your lawn, enhance hard and soft landscaping features, and provide a complete, finished feel to any outdoor space. They’re also as much about form as function.
Tall shrubs can be sculpted around the perimeter of a property to act as a natural-looking fence or work as partitions within a yard for enhanced privacy. Likewise, the character and elegance trees lend a lawn are bolstered by their shade on a warm spring afternoon. Whether you plan to plant a new tree type or want to take better care of the beloved ones already shading your backyard, you should know the ways to revitalize seedlings.
It’s paramount to inspect the health of your trees and shrubs after the wear and tear of a long winter. Stay on the lookout for several common seasonal effects, or consult a tree and shrub care expert for their insight and help with the following steps:
- Remove dead or diseased branches
- Trim overgrowth and ground cover
- Determine tree or shrub fertilization needs
Remove Dead or Diseased Branches
For trees and shrubs alike, dead or listless branches are your property’s most likely source of household, garage, or yard damage. They should be pruned first thing, as they’re liabilities for your home and property during the strong winds and turbulent storms commonly seen in spring.
Remember not to get antsy though. Give yourself a buffer room of a few weeks in mid-spring to make sure you’re chopping off genuinely dead branches and not just dormant late bloomers.
Trim Overgrowth and Ground cover
The overall health and vitality of your shrubs, as well as any plants or flowers surrounding their bases, depends on maintaining shrub overgrowth. Use hedge trimmers to keep their overflow neat and attractive. Keep an eye out for patches that grow particularly fast, or conversely, gaps or holes that develop. Shrub and tree pruning is essential to keeping up the polished look of your overall landscape as well as encouraging healthy shrub or hedge regrowth.
Determine Tree or Shrub Fertilization Needs
Like your lawn, trees and shrubs require surface and deep-root fertilization to maintain optimal health. There are lots of specially made fertilizers for these plant types, each containing formulas to match their exact nutritional needs. Fertilizing your trees and shrubs will also lower their risks for insect infestations or harmful diseases, all while fortifying these plants from environmental stressors.
Contact LanDesign LLC for more tips on how to maintain your St. Louis landscaping.
