An honest landscape review will help you have a healthier and more attractive garden next year.
Would you like to have a healthier, thriving, more attractive garden next year? Fall is a great time to take stock of your landscape and make plans for the next growing season.
Take a stroll around your yard and make an honest evaluation. What looks good? What looks sad or listless? Are there places where it feels too full or others where it feels too empty? “Do yourself a favor and start a list now that you can use when you shop next spring,” said Proven Winners.
Here are some things to consider in your landscape review.
Landscape changes
As plants grow and mature, you may need to adjust your plantings. Do you have plants that have grown too big for their location? Perhaps you could transplant them to a space that could be filled in more. Perhaps a tree has grown larger, providing more shade, and you need to replace the plants underneath it with ones that will better tolerate shade. Great Plant Picks has lists of plants for different types of shade.
In your landscape review, consider how you are using your yard and whether you would prefer to use it in different ways. Perhaps you would like your landscape to include:
- Space for entertaining friends and family
- Play area for your children
- Private refuge where you could read, relax or meditate
- Vegetable garden
- Garden for cut flowers
- Habitat for birds and other wildlife
- More (or less) sunlight on your patio
- Screening to block new construction or an unsightly view
Your landscape review can help you set landscape design goals. Our landscape designers would be happy to help you make your landscape more useful and inviting for you and your family. Contact us to discuss your needs and ideas.
Plants that performed poorly
Do you have any plants that didn’t grow well this year? Were some plants attacked by insect pests or a fungal disease?
Did the poorly performing plants get enough sunlight, or too much sunlight? What has changed in your yard to make a difference with the light?
Did your plants get enough water to thrive? In recent years we have seen more drought stress in our clients’ landscapes, including mature trees. Read our blog posts about why you need to water your landscape and about watering trees. Perhaps you need to update your irrigation system to serve your growing landscape.
Did your plants get the right nutrition? If you are a client for our natural tree and shrub care services, we have been treating your plants over the growing season with nutrients, micronutrients and organic organisms. If not, you may need to take steps to address any deficiencies.
An organic mulch, such as compost or arborist chips, will help feed your plants. Mulch provides many other benefits, such as reducing water needs and shading out weeds. You may also consider a good organic fertilizer.
How did your lawn do? Our natural lawn care services can help keep your lawn healthy, but proper mowing and watering practices are essential to keep your lawn thriving over the long term. Here are a few quick lawn care tips.
Does your soil have the right pH? Our Northwest soils tend to be acidic. You may want to do a soil test to find out. Read our blog post on soil testing.
Plants that performed too well
Do you have a plant that is taking over an area and crowding out other plants? You have several options to consider.
- Cut it back and wait for it to grow again. Some plants are tolerant of heavy pruning, and some even grow better after they are cut to the ground.
- Prune or remove nearby plants to give the large plant more room to grow.
- Remove the large plant and replace it with something else that is better suited to the location.
Plants for seasonal interest
Does your garden look great in spring but fade out by later summer and fall? Perhaps you need to add plants that bloom later or that have colored foliage in the fall. And consider the upcoming winter season. You may want to add plants with interesting bark or those that bloom in late winter and early spring. Great Plant Picks has lists of plants that provide interest in each season.
