Summer might be coming to an end, but that doesn’t mean your landscape should fall into disarray. Fall and winter are the perfect times to make sure your landscape is clean and healthy, crucial for any business’s image.
During these seasons, you’ll be able to prepare your business to have stunning landscaping for the following year.
Great curb appeal is necessary to show that your business is elite. You’ll be able to demonstrate your property’s beauty, showing your prospects that you care about the details.
We want to help you make your business look great to help it perform even better. Here are 5 end of the summer tips to follow for your commercial landscaping!
Damage Control
First, it’s time to take an objective look at your landscape. How does it really look, and what simple practices can help improve its health and appearance?
You should focus on your overall grass health, the base of your landscaping beauty.
While we know that mowing the lawn is essential for maintaining a clean image, sometimes taking a quick break from it can help your lawn regain energy and avoid brown or damaged spots during wintertime.
Aerate your soil so that water, oxygen, and fertilizer will reach the roots in your soil more easily. This will also help prevent it from becoming too compact, especially when covered with snow, preventing lots of winter damage.
Additionally, you should fertilize your landscape one last time before winter starts, in order to stimulate grassroots and help them grow bigger and stronger the following year.
Fall and winter are also great times to employ the use of pesticides and insecticides. These will help your trees and perennials grow stronger and withstand any diseases or pests they might encounter during the winter.
Prune Time
As the summer winds down, you should consider having your landscaping pruned. Pruning is essentially cutting away at dead, weak, or infected areas of plants or shrubbery.
This helps your landscaping heal properly, and prevents further harm, helping it look even more stunning next summer.
Remember, many perennials run the risk of not surviving the winter. This is why pruning is extremely important for your landscape. If you make sure that your spring and summer perennials are set to recover properly before winter starts, they will grow back stronger and healthier.
Inspect Your Hardscapes
Hardscapes are the man-made, non-living parts of your landscape like walkways, patios, retaining walls, or other features.
Most commercial landscapes have a lot of hardscaping features that allow easy access to buildings, entrances, parking lots, etc. While these are helpful during the summer and spring, you have to make sure that they are just as efficient during the colder months.
Conducting simple inspections of your irrigation system can be a good place to start. Make sure that your irrigation system is shut down before winter starts to avoid any unwanted freezes or bursts. If you notice any cracks or holes in your pipes, this would also be an opportune time to replace them or fill them in, helping you avoid major damage to your water systems.
You should also plan for any snow stockpile areas. These will obviously hold large amounts of snow, so it’s important to plan for them to be in an area where there is plenty of mulch and hardy grass to soak up the moisture and weight.
Make sure that your curbs and sidewalks are easily visible during the fall and winter. Utilize reflectors, posts, and cones. This will help prevent accidents that your customers or clients could have. Keeping your hardscapes visible also lets contractors know where the best locations to effectively accommodate debris from snow or leaf removal are.
Plant Now For Later
Take advantage of the end of summer; get next year’s garden planted.
To help promote early and long-lasting floral colors, consider planting spring-flowering bulbs such as daffodils, narcissi, and hyacinths in the fall. This will help them bloom early in the spring, followed by your trees and shrubs.
This kind of preparation will not only save you time in the spring and summertime, but it will also help your business’ image early on without having to spend too much extra time and money on planting perennials during these months.
Add Seasonal Colors
Just because fall is coming doesn’t mean that your landscape should be dark and dull.
This is the best time to prep your landscape with classic fall and winter perennials that will add color and life to your landscape in their own way.
A classic fall flower is a chrysanthemum, which adds plenty of color and textures to any landscape. You can also experiment with unusual plants and flowers like ornamental peppers and kale, which are able to withstand harsh temperatures while still bringing your landscape to life.
Finally, don’t forget about classic berries that can be used during the wintertime. Not only do they bring beautiful reds and purples to your landscape, but they also provide food and shelter for animals during the winter.
Trust Procare With Your Commercial Lawn Care
Partner with a landscaping company that will be able to make your landscaping look great year-round!
Join the PROCARE family, where the grass is truly greener.
We provide a full range of landscape maintenance services for businesses in the Greater Grand Rapids area, from fall and spring cleanup services, to pruning and weed control.
From the smallest perennial to the tallest tree, PROCARE’s team of landscape professionals has the experience and systems to ensure your business’s landscaping looks incredible.
Upgrade your company’s curb appeal. Contact PROCARE today! Click here to get a custom quote for your business.
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