What are the Best Landscaping Tips For Your Yard and Garden?

Posted by EdmontonRealEstate .ca on Tuesday, March 5th, 2019 at 2:32pm.

Low Maintenance Landscaping and Gardening Tips for Your Edmonton GardenLandscaping is one of the first features that people notice when they look at a house. When waiting in the winter months to begin your garden, consider the following tips to make sure your garden flourishes in time for spring.

Start Planning your Edmonton Garden

Don’t let balmy temps fool you – winter’s not over yet!  But if your green thumb is starting to itch, you can start planning your spring in anticipation of the garden’s awakening no matter what the temperature is like outside.  There’s lots that can be done while the snow melts and freezes over and over around your Edmonton home.

Plan Your Garden Before Spring Arrives

While the weatherman ponders whether flurries are on the way or slush is the order of the day, curl up with a hot cup of tea and start making plans. This is when you can browse your favourite seed catalogues on your iPad or flip through the newest gardening blogs, magazines or books you might have picked up at the store or nearest Edmonton library.

Winter is a great time to be creative and sketch out what you’d like to do when you can finally get a shovel in the ground. Think about what flowers or shrubs you’d like to plan of what you’d like to start growing from seed in a sunny window or green house.

Go shopping and buy some seeds, along with other get-gardening-get-growing things like trays, soil and peat pots.  You may feel that it’s too early, but you don’t want to wait for too much more time to go by because you might be disappointed.  Super popular varieties of seeds can often be sold out by the end of the month.

How to Prepare Your Garden For Spring

It's never too early to start preparing your garden for the spring and summer seasons. Whether you enjoy growing flowers, vegetables or anything else, a few tips can help your garden flourish. Here are a few things you can start doing to prepare your garden area for beautiful plants this year.

Get Rid of Debris

Often, debris gets in your garden due to the winter winds, snow and ice. Eliminate any debris first, such as branches, dead leaves, rocks and anything else. This will make it easier to work with your garden and make it flourish.

Replace Soil, if Necessary

You will need to look at your soil and figure out whether it will help your plants grow or needs to be replaced. The soil should be tested for nutrients and minerals. If it has any deficiencies, you may need to replace the soil with new soil.

An easy way to test it is by digging out a handful. If it crumbles quickly, you can start preparing your garden. However, if it clumps together, it needs to dry before you can start working the soil. It's always a good idea to add a little bit of top soil if you're planting new plants.

Start Edging

You don't need to wait to edge. This is a task you can start getting out of the way right now. Yes, it can be time-consuming, but it's a necessary part of gardening.

Fight the Weeds

Now is the time to start fighting weeds, too. Most won't survive through the winter, but they will return as soon as the weather turns. Make sure you use a good weed preventative to help ensure you don't have to deal with weeds emerging.

All of these tips will help you get your garden ready for plants this spring. It won't be long before you can start really working in your garden, but you can start getting it ready now.

How to Maintain Your Garden

Once your garden is planted, it’s important that you maintain it with regular care and attention. For those still learning how to garden, or those looking for a few tips to brush up on, here are some basic maintenance ideas for your spring and summer gardens.

Trim Grass Weekly

Keeping your grass trimmed is important to keep it tidy. Trimming grass on a weekly basis during the growing season can help ensure that your lawn will always look trim and tidy for everyone who sees.

Water Grass Deeply Once Per Week

In the summer, the weather can get hot and dry. When this happens, grass often turns brown, brittle and unhealthy. Watering the lawn deeply once per weekduring the growing season can help keep the grass green. Water in the morning, not at night, to prevent fungus from taking hold in your soil.

Mulch Flower Beds

Mulch is practically a miracle productIt successfully stops weeds from growing, shades soil to prevent moisture evaporation and keeps roots cool on hot summer days. Best of all, mulch can give uniformity to the ground around flowers, making flower beds look more attractive and tidy. When mulching your gardens, use the same type of mulch and the same colour of mulch in each bed.

Keep Paths and Perimeters Well Edged

Grass that grows up beyond its intended boundaries has a way of making a yard look messy. Edge pathways and perimeters around the yard at least once every couple weeks, if not once per week during the growing season.

Revitalize Old Shrubs

Old shrubs have a way of becoming spindly and lanky over time. To revitalize your old shrubs, cut them back back to a significantly smaller size at the start of the growing season. This encourages the plant to produce full, leafy growth. Many shrubs will recover from a hard pruning in only a few weeks.

Homeowners who want beautiful shrubs in a shorter period of time can pull out their old shrubs and plant new shrubs in their place, but this can be a physically taxing process. If you choose to plant new shrubs on your lawn, remember to water their new plants frequently in the first month or two as the plants become established.

Work With a Gardening Expert if You Need Advice

There's a lot you can do to improve your garden before spring! To find out more, work with a gardening expert to learn how best to take care of your plants. They will have the experience to know what plants and gardening strategies will make your garden shine.

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