Every summer in Minnesota can have unpredictable weather. It could be rainy all week, but then suddenly, the rain hasn’t come in almost a month. Many states are subjected to periods of dry weather, especially in the summertime. During a drought, your yard will surely show that it is suffering, so many homeowners are wondering, what can they do to help their landscape survive during this tough time?
While it may seem hopeless, there are some steps you can take to save your lawn during a drought. Here are some tips.
Monitor the Weather
While the lawn grass is experiencing stress from the harsh drought, it is still growing. You will notice areas that are browning and thinning. The excess heat and lack of water are what prevent the grass from storing carbohydrates. Watering regularly can help keep the grass a bit healthy, and once the rain comes, it will bounce right back.
Over Fertilizing is a No-no
Spreading fertilizer on your grass during a drought may cause more harm than good. Over-fertilizing could end up burning the grass. The focus is to have your grass absorb water during the drought, not trying to fertilize it.
Forget Watering Cool-Season Grass
This sounds counterintuitive, but for cool-season grass, it is natural for them to go dry during the dry and warm seasons. Watering will be virtually useless. Breaking their dormant cycle can drain the reserves, which means the plant may not bounce back once their season comes.
Water Frequently
Unless your city has a water ordinance in effect, you should make sure that you are watering it enough to keep it alive. Warm-season grass has peak growth in the hot weather, so making sure it is hydrated is essential.
Summertime means mowing time. But are you treating your lawn the most effective way? Here are some tips you can follow to ensure your lawn is being cared for properly.
Mow at the Correct Height
You should adjust the height of your mower to leave the grass a bit taller. Taller grass will reduce water evaporation, and it can help the roots grow deeper. This can prevent weed seeds from germinating and spreading. Each grass type has different height variances in which you should follow.
Water Efficiently
To keep your grass healthy, you should ensure your grass is watered frequently. During rainy weeks, you won’t need to start up the irrigation. Make sure to check in with the local water authority to plan your irrigation schedule.
Clean Up After Pets
You may notice dead spots on your lawn if you have a dog. This could be from your dog’s waste. Make sure to clean up your pet’s waste and dispose of it properly, as it can flush the area and harm the soil.
Don’t Park On the Grass
Driving on the grass is not a good idea, even if it isn’t your car. If you own any other vehicle, you should limit driving and parking on the grass. This can damage turf crowns.
Make Sure To Clean Litter
Picking up litter will help avoid damaging the grass. Make sure to clean up after any activities that take place on your lawn, as toys and lawn chairs can also create dangerous obstacles when mowing.
In denser, urban neighborhoods, yards are usually on the smaller size. Because of this, some people don’t bother with upkeep, as there is this notion that traditional landscaping techniques don’t apply. Lawn equipment tends to be on the bulkier side, so it is harder to store and maneuver. Also, shade from neighboring trees and houses can make growing and gardening seem like an impossible feat.
While there are obstacles you have to overcome, developing a landscape routine can work for small yards. Here are a few tips you can follow to help transform your cramped space into an oasis you can enjoy.
Get The Right Lawn Materials
To effectively care for your lawn, you need to understand what you are working with. Some smaller residential homes will benefit from artificial turf, especially if you are wanting a low-maintenance lawn. If you do want to use real grass, you need to know which grass will thrive. For cool humid zones (the Northern Midwest), bluegrass, ryegrass, bentgrass, and fescues will be most optimal.
Get The Right Tools
If you plan on using real grass, you will need a compact lawnmower. A gas-powered lawn mower will likely be too big for storing, so your options could be a push mower, electric mower, or even a robotic mower. Other tools you should consider are typical gardening tools, such as shears, rakes, seed spreads, and possible leaf blowers.
Start a Small Scale Garden
Personalizing a small garden that fits your tiny yard will yield bountiful results. You can hang plants, tiered plants, or align pots to your back wall. Since your space will be small, you might not be able to plant in the ground.
You don’t always need to have an abundance of space to begin a landscaping project. Consider hiring a professional landscaping company if you’re considering
Halloween is officially over, and for many, that means one thing: Christmas! Whether you begin decorating right on November 1, or wait until December, there are always great holiday landscaping tips. Here are the best Christmas decorating ideas that utilize natural elements.
Using Natural Elements in Your Christmas Landscaping
The most common way to decorate your yard for Christmas is by hanging lights on your home and trees. If you are a Christmas lover, then you more than likely have other yard decorations. And while classic decoration styles are always a great start, you should incorporate nature into your holiday designs.
Shrubs and trees can play a critical role in creating a festive scene that will set your house apart from others in the neighborhood. Add some decor to all of your hearty-winter plants. Most people think of evergreen plants as the only “real” symbolic Christmassy plants, but that doesn’t mean you should ignore your deciduous trees and other shrubs that are leafless. Their branches and trunks can all make for a great base for fantastic light displays.
What to Plant in Window Boxes
The most common plants that are found in window boxes are annuals. While you won’t be planting annuals anytime soon in the coming frigid months, that doesn’t make your window boxes worthless. For Christmas decorating, and even through winter, you should plant some evergreen boughs, and to make it even more festive, add some ornaments and ribbons!
Go Crazy With Garland
One of the most iconic Christmas decorations is the evergreen garland. It is an incredibly versatile and simple way to add some color and festivity to a snowy yard. They can be wrapped around columns, doors, and pretty much any part of your home’s exterior. Even if you decide to go light with garland, you can still add an incredible amount of visual interest to your home and yard.
Getting creative with how you do your Christmas landscaping can go a long way. Following these tips are a great way to begin your Christmas decorating and have a show-stopping landscape!
It doesn’t take a whole lot of work to improve your curb appeal, especially during the fall. Many fall landscaping ideas are easy to implement. You can create a beautiful yet simple outdoor landscape with the colors of fall. Fall landscaping works with any budget. Whether you want to do a simple project or go all out, the sky’s the limit when it comes to this festive season. Here’s how you can boost your curb appeal through some simple design and landscaping choices.
Fall landscaping
Fall landscaping is surprisingly easy to execute. You don’t have to mow your lawn as often, and you can cut back a bit on the maintenance. Instead, these tasks are replaced by raking. It is still important to cut your grass, as a well-manicured lawn can boost your home’s value by almost 15%.
Entryway design
One of the most festive times of year calls for a perfectly decorated entryway! Fall-themed decorations are easy and cheap to come by, so fill your porch with hay, corn stalks, and of course, pumpkins! You can match the colorful array with an appropriately themed doormat. Updating lighting fixtures are also a great way to improve your curb appeal and can go a long way.
Exterior upkeep
Despite the cooling temperatures, there is still work that can be done to your exterior. The brisk mornings and evenings make it less strenuous to do, especially after enduring the blistering heat from the recent summer days. Check your gutters, repair and chipped siding or paint, and evaluate any damage done to your roof. You should also make sure the lightbulbs in your lighting are all in working condition.
Get creative with lighting
One of the best ways to accentuate and highlight the landscaping of your home and yard is to find unique ways to use lighting. Garden fixtures, pathway lighting, and the lighting on your home all serve a purpose in making your home stand out. The biggest piece is to not overdo your lighting. The main goal when it comes to lighting for landscaping is to use softer and subtler hues. Angle the lights towards trees and shrubs to incorporate more natural light during the darker hours. This helps boost your curb appeal.
A change in seasons is always welcomed, especially after a long and hot summer. There are many landscaping ideas you can use to welcome this fall. Of course, if you’re looking for a large landscaping project, you should always consult a professional landscaping service to ensure you have the most beautiful and practical yard.
Azaleas are flowers that are easy to maintain and bloom beautifully. While more common in the south, they can be grown in Minnesota and can be a great addition to any garden. Azaleas can become a staple of your garden, you just have to make all the necessary steps to make it a reality. Here are some tips for growing Azaleas this spring.
Choosing Azaleas
The type of Azaleas you grow depends on the type of area you have. If you have a smaller garden, pick a dwarf variety or smaller. If you have a larger garden, you can pick from some of the older varieties or a kind that has multiple blooms. It’s crucial to do some research before you decide as Azaleas can get quite big.
Where to Plant Azaleas
Azaleas need good exposure to sunlight in the mornings, and shade in the afternoon. Too much exposure to sunlight will make them more susceptible to pests. Another crucial detail is that they need acidic soil that’s well-drained in order to grow best. If the PH level is under 6.0, apply aluminium sulfate to the soil.
Watering Azaleas
Water the soil two to three times a week the first two months after planting. After 3 to 4 months, you should only have to water once a week. After the first growing season, your plants shouldn’t need water unless it hasn’t rained in two or more weeks.
How to Prune Azaleas
Old or overgrown Azaleas can be renewed if they’re given a considerable pruning. Pruning is completed within the late winter or early spring before flowering. In order to prune, cut back plants to 12 inches above the ground and always keep the soil moist and to give them the nutrients they need in order to thrive.
If given the necessary care, Azaleas can be a great addition to your yard that will amaze for years to come.
For decades the long-standing contender for the ideal lawn grass was Kentucky bluegrass. Kentucky bluegrass has been the creme-de-la crop when it comes to a show-stopping landscape, primarily due to its rich and vibrant color. If you know a little something about different types of grass, you might be aware of a couple of other varieties of popular lawn grass: fescue and perennial ryegrass.
Fescues are a very low maintenance variety of grass and work best in shady lawns. Perennial ryegrass, however, has been labeled as a “nurse” grass due to its quick germination. There is much more to know about perennial ryegrass aside from its ability to germinate. Here are its pros and cons.
Benefits of Perennial Ryegrass
As mentioned above, perennial ryegrass germinates rapidly, approximately maturing from seed to grassy lawn within three weeks. It is typically blended with other variants – including Kentucky bluegrass – to help speed up the germination process and protect the grass during its growth.
Perennial ryegrass is very resilient and durable. It is as low maintenance as fescues and resistant to many diseases and wraths of insects. The color is paler compared to Kentucky bluegrass, but it still makes for a beautiful display. The turfs at the Master’s national golf club and the Wimbledon Tennis club use varieties of perennial ryegrass.
Possible Issues With Perennial Ryegrass
The most common problem with perennial ryegrass is its growth. It is common for this grass to grow in clumps, which can make it difficult to spread. This mean that although the grass is rapidly growing, the lawn can appear to be spotty and patchy and it will require extra maintenance to fill. To fix this it is advised to reseed the barren areas as it likely won’t fill in naturally. Unlike fescues, it is much better to plant perennial ryegrass in sunnier regions because it can have a difficult time growing in the shade.
The texture can be unpleasant for some and it can be difficult to mow with cheaper lawnmowers. Because the surface is much more coarse, when cutting with a dull mower the blade of the leaf will be shredded up, rather than cut down. Perennial ryegrass is vulnerable to cold temperatures, and it is not advised to plant in areas with harsh climates. That being said, it bodes well in transitional periods.
Taking Care of Perennial Ryegrass
Perennial ryegrass is not annual ryegrass. So if you’re looking to take care of your lawn, do not mix up the two species. Perennial ryegrass, as its name suggests, is a perennial. This means it will regrow every year. Annual ryegrass is a cheaper variety because its life is shorter and it will die out every year.
References:
Burke, K. (2019, January 30). You Should Consider Growing Your Own Perennial Ryegrass. Retrieved from https://www.thespruce.com/perennial-ryegrass-a-serious-lawn-contender-2153133.
Summer is over, which means it’s time to swap out for fall-friendly plants. While flowering plants tend to thrive in the spring and summertime, many beautiful blooms are available for fall. With the change in seasons comes a change in colors. Opt-in for profound harvest-colored arrangements, as these vibrant and autumnal hues, take the spotlight this season. Here is a list of flowers that are perfect for fall decorations.
Flowering Kale
Kale is not only to be eaten–it can be put on display! But the flowering kale should not be eaten anyway, as it is technically a different plant than the kale that we eat. This ornamental plant, also commonly referred to as the flowering cabbage, is a robust plant that can bode well in the fall and winter. Rich in texture and color, flowering kale is an excellent addition to any fall floral arrangement.
Chrysanthemum (Mums)
Chrysanthemum, also commonly referred to as mums, comes in beautifully festive colors that are perfect for this time of year. Shades of orange, yellow, red, and pink are just some of the visually striking shades that this vibrant plant offers. They come in many shapes and sizes, and for this reason, they are one of the most popular fall flowers.
Pansies
While mums add the perfect amount of seasonal colors to your garden or floral arrangments, flowers, on the other hand, come in almost any color. They are a great way to add cooler tones to your gardens, and when planted in the fall, they will bloom again during the springtime.
Fountain Grass
While fountain grass is technically not a flower, it’s a fantastic accent plant. Fountain grass can also come in deep purple shades, pairing perfectly with other harvest colored flowers. It will add some texture to your floral arrangements.
Croton Plant
Croton is a houseplant that bodes well in colder climates. It can be placed outside with other floral varieties, but make sure it avoids frost. This vibrantly colored foliage comes in shades of yellow, orange, and purple, and it pairs perfectly with other tones ideal for fall.
Apple trees can provide not just tasty treats throughout the season, but they can add to the aesthetic appeal of any yard or garden. It’s not quite as simple as sticking a tree into the ground and benefiting from the fruits of your labor, though. Here are some things to know about growing apples in your garden.
Sun is Vital
For apples to grow, a tree needs a lot of sun. ideally, an apple tree should be placed where it can get at least 8 hours of sun every day. If there is too much shade then the apples will not thrive.
Pollination
Strangely enough, you need at least 2 apple trees to properly grow apples. Insects do the work of pollinating apple trees from transferring pollen from one apple tree to another. If there is only one tree in your garden, then it becomes harder for the bees to do that work. You don’t need an entire orchard, but a couple of trees will probably provide more apples than your family can handle.
Apple Tree Care
Apple trees do require some TLC to be as productive as possible. Before the growing season, around March, after the coldest temperatures have gone, prune your trees before they begin growing again. This is also the time to apply compost to help with growing.
If you have new trees, they can be planted in April or May when the soil is ready. It is at this time, after frost is no longer an issue, that you can plant potted trees.
Disease
Apple trees are susceptible to disease, so keep any eye out for any symptoms. Insect infestation can also be a problem. Be attentive and take action if you suspect these issues.
Growing apple trees is pretty easy, and give you a refreshing treat all year long.