Maintenance Services
Superior
maintenance promotes a superior landscape. To truly get the most out of
your property it must be maintained properly. We
employ certified horticulturalists who can design a maintenance program
which best suits your property and you budget. Maintenance
doesn’t just mean mowing we also offer:
• Spring/Fall Cleanup
• Container Planting
• Annual installation
• Irrigation trouble shooting/upgrading
• Aeration
• Thatching
• Slice Seeding
• Specialty pruning
• Weeding
• Perennial care
• Fertilization
• Mulching
• Driveway Sweeping
• Snow Removal
At
Aspen Valley Landscaping we can take care of your year round maintenance
needs. Call us to develop a comprehensive plan to
make your property look better than ever before.
See what a difference a professional landscape maintenance program makes.
TEN TIPS FOR GARDEN CARE NOW THAT SPRING IS HERE
By Shelley Gonzales
Scripps Howard News Service
April, 2000
Mild weather has blurred the line between winter and spring in some regions,
but don't let that lull you into complacency about your garden. Experts
say now is the time to whip your landscape into shape, before spring planting
comes roaring in. "We're already quite busy," said Andrew Pierce,
director of horticulture at Hudson Gardens in Denver. "There's always
something to do outside."
We asked some garden experts to list the top 10 chores you should be doing
now. Here's what they said:
1.Let the blooming of your early bulbs, such as crocus, signal you into
action in the perennial beds. Denver Botanic Gardens horticulture director
Rob Proctor said he's busily cutting back his plants, many of which are
already poking green foliage through the earth. If we get another extended
warm spell, you may want to divide some of your overgrown perennials,
replanting them elsewhere in your yard or doling them out to friends and
neighbors.
2.Since you're out cutting back perennials anyway, you might as well take
care of any winterkill on your trees and shrubs. Without leaves, any problems
on the plants will be easily corrected. It's also time to shear any ornamental
grasses you left untouched last fall for winter interest down to 4 to
6 inches. Now, however, is not the time for major garden pruning -- perhaps
just a bit of shaping to open the plant up for optimum sunlight exposure.
The only plants that can take heavy early pruning are the summer-flowering
shrubs, such as viburnum, goldenrain tree and Japanese barberry, and the
long-blooming butterfly bush and beautyberry, Pierce said. Don't cut back
any spring-flowering shrubs, such as mock orange, forsythia, azalea or
clematis, until they've finished blooming. Hold off on touching your roses
until mid to late April.
3.This year, spring watering is a must. Any day when temperatures are
at least 40 degrees, give your lawn, trees and flowers a deep watering.
"This has been an incredibly mild winter, and the recent winds have
dried things out even more," said Carl Wilson, Colorado State University
Cooperative Extension agent in Denver. To make sure you're soaking your
landscape deeply enough, Wilson recommends using a slim garden trowel
to extract a plug of turf several inches deep. To effectively water the
root zone, the soil should be wet at least 4 to 6 inches deep. The same
method can be used to check moisture in flower beds. "People get
tired of these reminders about watering this time of year, but it is absolutely
critical," Wilson said.
4.After they finish blooming, fertilize all your early-blooming bulbs
such as crocus, snow iris, snowdrops, squills and winter aconite. Proctor
said a foliar (topical) feeding is fine, or use a fertilizer formulated
for bulbs. A good substitute is leftover tomato fertilizer, such as Miracle
Gro for tomatoes, which is high in potash.
5.Unless your planting areas are frozen or extremely wet, you can begin
bed preparation now, Pierce said. If you planted a winter crop, such as
rye, turn it into the soil. Amendments, such as peat moss, compost or
other organic material, also can be worked into the beds. Check for drainage.
If you have drainage problems, consider adding a French drain, which is
an aerated pipe laid underground to divert
water.
6.Weeding is among the worst of chores, but experts say you aren't off
the hook in late winter and early spring. In fact, this is one of the
best times to nip in the bud, so to speak, all that clover, henbit, shepherd's
purse and lawn grass that infiltrated your flower beds. Just make sure
to do this when the ground isn't frozen, Proctor said.
7.Core-aerate your lawn. This is one of the most important things you
can do for your turf, particularly if you've had compaction over the winter
or didn't aerate last fall, Wilson said. To really beef up your lawn,
seed it with high-quality grass seed after aeration and continue to water
lightly but frequently to germinate.
8.Speaking of seeding, this is a good time to scatter seeds of annuals
such as California poppy, larkspur and love-in-a-mist. Proctor said the
seeds will nestle in the cracks in the soil and germinate better in cool
weather. "Freezing temperatures won't hurt them a bit," he said.
9.Even though this winter's warm temperatures have fooled many plants,
such as day lilies and anemones, into sending up shoots ahead of time,
don't remove your winter mulch too early, Wilson said. The mulch may not
protect green foliage from getting nipped by frost, but it will continue
to hold in moisture and keep the soil cool.
10.Don't rush the planting season. Unless you're planting cold-hardy pansies
and violas or sowing cool-season vegetables (spinach,
lettuces, radishes, cauliflower), it's better to wait until the last danger
of frost has passed.
(Contact Shelley Gonzales of the Denver Rocky Mountain News at www.denver-rmn.com.)
