FALL MULCH APPLICATION & LAWN MAINTENANCE

Autumn is your last opportunity to prepare your yard before winter arrives. One relatively easy and very effective solution is to give your landscape plants a helping hand is the application of a 2-3″ new layer of fresh mulch. Mulch is very effective at protecting plant roots from frost or freeze damage. It also assists plants with retaining critical moisture during the cold season. This will ensure your plants survive and their beauty is preserved for blooming next season. Davis Kee Outdoor can efficiently and professionally apply new mulch to keep your outdoor green spaces beautiful.

This is the perfect time to apply winterizer lawn fertilizer. This step is the most crucial of all of the steps in your lawn fertilizer regimen. A winterizer application ensures the health of your grass is properly supported so normal growth can occur right up until freezing occurs. This step also ensures that nutrients can be absorbed and stored by the roots to spur lush growth once spring arrives. At Davis Kee Outdoor, we can apply a premium witerizer fertilizer to ensure your lawn is lush and beautiful when spring arrives.

CULLING THE DEAD & DYING

Contrary to popular belief, autumn is not the best time for heavy pruning. Autumn is, however, the perfect time to remove any dead and dying shrubs, trees, plants and leaves from your landscape. Remove dead annuals and blooms and cut back dead and dying perennials and grasses. Lightly prune any dead or dying branches from shrubs and trees. Remove dead hydrangea blossoms, but leave the stalks as these will blossom again in the spring. At Davis Kee Outdoor, our professional leaf removal and landscape maintenance services can help you ensure that your yard is ready for winter.

WATERING TIPS FOR FALL

Proper watering is a crucial element of a healthy yard and garden. Your lawn and beds do not require as much water in the fall as they did in spring and summer. Overwatering is extremely harmful, so it is important to keep to a steady moderate watering schedule. Twenty minutes of watering twice a week in the morning hours should be sufficient in our climate. Once frost is forecast, discontinue watering as this will be when your lawn enters a dormant state. Pull weeds as necessary, and cut your lawn shorter-down to 2-3 inches of height. This ensures sufficient height to help your lawn retain moisture, but minimizes issues with lawn pests and fungal infections.

Spring is absolutely a critical season for lawn and garden care and ensuring your yard is healthy, lush and beautiful, but autumn preparations are every bit as crucial. A well executed and consistent lawn and garden care routine during the fall months will ensure that your entire landscape is healthy when spring arrives. For professional assistance with maintaining your outdoor spaces, contact Davis Kee Outdoor today.

1. Make sure your plants are getting enough water, especially newly installed landscaping. You’ll want to keep the soil moist, but resist the urge to overwater your plants.
2. A basic guideline to follow: Yellow leaves means you are giving plants too much water and brown leaves mean not enough water.
3. Either water early in the morning or in the early afternoon. The best time is in the morning as plants make best use of water at this time and this helps prevent rot and fungus.
4. It’s been a hot summer, so you’ll want to take care of your lawn. Only feed your lawn with slow-acting fertilizers and be sure to mow your lawn and trim the edges regularly.
5. Do not mow your lawn too short!  This is a common mistake that is unnecessarily hard on your lawn, and actually promotes the growth of noxious weeds.
6. To prevent a heat stressed lawn, cut your fescue grasses at 3 – 3 ½” or higher.
7. If you notice any yellow patches or areas of your lawn that aren’t growing well, make sure you increase the water distribution. Look for areas that are getting overwatered and underwatered and take steps to correct this imbalance.
8. During the summer heat, continue to weed your garden bed areas. You can weed by either spraying selective weed killer or pulling weeds by hand. If you’re hand weeding the best time to do it is when the soil is damp- it’ll be much easier.
9. Summer is a great time to do light pruning and clean up and improve the health and look of your landscaping. Remove any dry leaves from your perennials and annuals and any faded blooms.
10. Add or replace mulch around trees, shrubs & in bed areas to a depth of 3” to 4″ This helps maintain moisture during dry weather.
11. Make sure you’re monitoring your plants for insects and disease damage. If you notice any, treat the area as needed. There has been a large increase in insect pests due to mild winters. Spray as needed!
12. Wait to plant your fall perennials until the outside temperatures begin to drop over night. This typically will be some time in September.

July weather in the south is hot and humid. This leads to a significant spike in insect populations and fungal diseases. We highly recommend that you are diligent in your pest prevention methods during summer. Monitor your lawn and landscape plants regularly for signs of any diseases or infestation. Identify the pest or pathogen responsible, then research the best method for eradicating that particular insect or fungus. Fungicides and Pesticides usually have very specific labeling and tend to be targeted for a very specific pathogen or insect. If you plan to spray yourself, it is critical that you obtain a product labeled for use on the specific threat you intend to target. It is also imperative that you read the instructions for use carefully, and follow all manufacturer recommendations for pretective equipment. Generally, late evening is considered to be the best time to spray during the hot summer season. At Davis Kee Outdoor, we can help with all common lawn and landscape pest and fungus issues.

Mow and water your lawn and landscape on a regular basis, but don’t overwater. If you have sprinklers, or other irrigation, consider installing a rainfall sensor so that your system recognizes the amount of rainfall your landscape is receiving from thunderstorms and rain showers. This simple sensor will prevent the system from engaging when the grass has already received adequate water, and prevent over-watering. If you don’t have sprinklers, or irrigation, then you want to remain aware of the amount of water being lost to evaporation and runoff. You should water once or twice a day if there is no rain. You definitely want to keep your lawn mowed but also avoid over mowing. Grass tends to grow quickly in the summertime, but you never want to be cutting more than 1/3 the height of the grass. Mowing grass too short can lead to stress on the roots, dehydration, and discoloration.

It is recommended that you continually deadhead your annual and perennial flowers so they can rebloom later on in the season. You can also pluck the top buds of several popular flowering plant species to limit seed development, which results in the plant blooming more. If you have questions, Davis Kee can help.

Be aware that poison ivy is an issue. This poisonous and invasive plant is constantly finding its way into Chattanooga area gardens, yards, and landscapes. You can identify this noxious pest by its signature look-three pointed leaflets per leaf. If you see poison ivy, do not touch it directly! Poison Ivy can be controlled by pulling it up using gloves or yard tools, as well as brush killing products. Follow all manufacturer label instructions when using brush killer. For those brush clean up jobs, contact Davis Kee to get the job done!

Fertilize your vegetable and herb plants with a nitrogen rich fertilizer about once per month in the summertime. This will keep your garden plants strong and healthy. We do not recommend using fertilizer on dry soils. It is preferred to wait until after a rainstorm or irrigation has watered your garden to apply fertilizer. The summer months are also a good time to prune trees and shrubs. You can be thorough with this process, but limit your pruning to removing less than 15% of the leaves of a plant if you want the plant to remain healthy. The first priority is any branches that are already dead, or appear to be dying. Call Davis Kee Outdoor for assistance with this and other summer projects!

Remember to harvest your herbs, fruits, and vegetables. July is peak season for all sorts of critters that would love to take your freshly ripened produce. Birds, deer, rabbits, and insects can all steal or destroy your crops before you get to enjoy the fruits of your labor. Check your garden every day and harvest as soon as your crops reach sufficient ripeness to pick.

Get ready for fall by planting fall vegetables such as lettuce, broccoli, carrots, turnips, and radishes. These can all be planted now for maximum enjoyment when autumn rolls around. It’s nice to have something to look forward to, and our long growing season here in the south affods us that luxury.

For assistance with all of the above, and much more, contact Davis Kee Outdoor today!

That initial impression of your property is critical. Our design professionals at Davis Kee Outdoor can help you craft desirable curb appeal for your home, and also help you with providing the regular landscape maintenance services necessary to keep everything flourishing and looking top notch.

At Davis Kee we are routinely asked how to increase curb appeal on a modest budget. The improvement of your home’s curb appeal doesn’t have to be a gargantuan project. There are lots of small and simple steps you can take today that won’t break the bank, and will have a positive impact. One example is adding some is adding a pop of color pizzazz to the front entrance of your home for an instant facelift.

Start by giving your front door a fresh coat of paint. Choose a color that both complements and contrasts with your home’s facade. If your house is white, or grey, consider a bold color like bright red to add vibrance. This would also be a good time to make sure your house numbers are visible and appealing in appearance. Lastly, use potted and hanging plants to frame the steps, walkway, or porch, and the entrance itself.

We are also routinely asked what steps can be taken in the yard to increase curb appeal. The single most imprtant factor in yard curb appeal is a consistent design. Ideally, all the elements should come together to create a beautiful tapestry. In addition, their should be attention paid to making sure the landscaping suits the aesthetic of the home, and the needs of the homeowner. The design professionals at Davis Kee Outdoor can start with your vision and create a plan that suits your needs, meets your budget, and increases curb appeal.

If your home already has an excellent landscape design outdoors, nothing is more effective at increasing curb appeal than maintaining it all properly. As you already know, mowing the grass regularly and removing weeds is absolutely essential. Taking the extra step to ensure the edges of your lawn are crisp and clean greatly enhances curb appeal.

Keeping your garden beds well tended is also important. A well groomed weed free garden bed sends the message that your home and garden is your baby, and that you are the sort of person that takes great care in ensuring it is well maintained and beautiful. Make sure that fresh mulch is applied every season. Mulch helps create that well manicured, fresh look that greatly enhances curb appeal.

The planting of annual flowers is a wonderful life hack for quick color that lasts for a long period of time. Carefully choosing the right flowers will result in planting beds that are inexpensive, grow quickly, and bloom for a lengthy time frame. At Davis Kee Outdoor, we recommend a strategy of planting bright colored annuals in spring and summer, and switching gears to fall colors in the autumn. This simple changing of color palette with the seasons help reinforce the idea that your home is inviting and warm. Annual color is a wonderful and inexpensive tool for increasing the curb appeal of your home.

Next, plant annual flowers for quick and long-lasting color. Choosing the right plants allows you to have a flowering bed that is inexpensive, grows quickly, and blooms longer. The best strategy is to plant brightly colored annuals for your spring and summer beds, and autumn colors for the fall. By changing the color palette with the season, you create an image of your home as warm and living. The colors can play a significant role in increasing the curb appeal of your home.

An often overlooked aspect of curb appeal is the exterior structure. Your home’s exterior is built to hold up under inclement weather and keep the outside world outside. It takes a beating from mother nature in the course of protecting your family throughout the seasons. As a result, the exterior of your home can get very dirty without you necessarily noticing. Something as simple as putting a pressure nozzle on your hose and periodically washing dirt and debris from your home can be helpful and effective. Alternately, you can rent a pressure washer. Don’t forget to wash off your paved surfaces too! The pros at Davis Kee Outdoor can be hired to perform these services with a pressure washer and ensure that your home’s exterior is optimally cleaned.

Another simple idea is removing clutter from your driveway. Look for a way to get your garbarge and recycling bins out of sight. This could be at the side of your home, or behind a small fence, screen, or bush. Alternately, keeping them in the garage is an alternative.

If you have cracks in your paved surfaces, sealing them up to prevent water damage and unsightly weed growth is recommended and is another way to increase curb appeal.

Don’t forget your windows. Keeping those clean will make them sparkle and significantly enhance your curb appeal. As an added bonus, your outlook from indoors will be much brighter!

Contact Davis Kee Outdoor today for more information about how our services can help you increase the curb appeal of your home.