Baton Rouge Landscaping Services: A Guide to Keeping Your Lawn and Plants Vibrant All Summer

Although summer is a season of warmth and outdoor activity, it can provide difficulties in maintaining a lush, green lawn and garden. Our green spaces need extra care and attention to thrive when temperatures rise and rainfall varies. This blog will provide some useful advice and methods to help you maintain a lush, healthy lawn and plants all summer long. These suggestions will make sure your outdoor paradise stays a lively and welcoming environment throughout the summer.

Water Your Lawn and Plants Wisely

Your lawn and plants need water to survive, but it's especially important to water carefully in the heat. To reduce evaporation, try to water your garden in the early morning or late at night. Reduce waste by directly watering the roots with a soaker hose or drip irrigation system. Additionally, think about purchasing a smart sprinkler system that can modify watering schedules based on the weather and the requirements of particular plants.

Mulch Your Flowerbeds and Landscaping

There are various benefits to spreading an organic mulch layer throughout your garden beds and around your plants. Mulch inhibits weed development, controls soil temperature, and aids in soil moisture retention. Additionally, a thick layer of mulch serves as a shield against the hot sun, keeping the roots cooler and minimizing water loss. Wood chips, straw, or finely chopped leaves are typical mulch components. It is not recommended to use grass clipping from mowing the lawn as they will actively decompose and not only over nitrogenate the soil and burn root systems, they will likely become moldy and rotting which can introduce disease into otherwise stable landscapes.

Regular Lawn Mowing and Trimming

Maintaining your grass encourages healthy growth in addition to improving its beauty. In the summer, put your lawnmower to a higher setting to leave the grass a little longer. Longer grass blades give the soil greater shade, which prevents water evaporation as well as forces the roots to grow deeper to better supply longer blades with nutrition and water. This helps to increase drought tolerance as well over time. For your landscape plantings, regular pruning of bushes and shrubs during the growing seasons promotes new denser growth while maintaining their shape. Caution should be used when pruning plants toward late summer as later pruning’s can lead to reduced blooms in the subsequent spring to follow (such as azaleas).

Fertilize Your Lawn and Plants Smartly

Your plants will thrive if you fertilize them properly, which gives them the nutrients they need. However, it's essential to utilize organic or slow-release fertilizers that release nutrients gradually during the summer. By using this method, the risk of burning your plants from nutrient overuse in hot weather is reduced. Avoid fertilizing with heavy nitrogen fertilizers or fertilizers with weed control (Weed-N-Feed) during late July through August as the high temperatures will damage the good grass permanently. Also, avoid overfertilizing and stick to the manufacturer's guidelines to protect the environment. Remember, the more you fertilize, the thicker and taller your grass will grow thus requiring more cuts or more time per cut so finding that happy balance is key to good fertilizing.

Identify and Control Pests in Your Lawn and Landscape

Your garden might suffer from pest damage to the leaves, stems, and roots. Check your plants frequently for any indications of pest infestations such as white fly’s and aphids. If you find any, try using organic pesticides or natural pest control techniques like introducing beneficial insects. Chemical pesticides should only be used when absolutely necessary because they can kill beneficial insects and disturb your garden's ecological equilibrium. For your lawn, Chinch bugs become a major issue when the temperatures warm up and can cause irreparable damage if they get chewing through a lawn. Granular controls are quite effective and can often help treat and prevent additional pest such as fleas and fire ants!

Commit to Proper Weeding

For water and nutrients, weeds compete with your plants, especially in the hot summer months. Weed your garden frequently to keep them from getting a foothold. To prevent weed development and lessen the need for ongoing weeding, think about adding natural mulch or pre-emergent weed control in garden beds. Quarterly applications of a landscape-safe pre-emergent weed control can help to reduce the time needed to tame weeds in these Louisiana tropical-style growing seasons.

Keeping your lawn and landscaping looking its best is what Kyle’s Lawn and Landscape does best!