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Select the link below for the article of interest.
A Brief Discussion of Horticultural
Practices A Brief Discussion of Horticultural Practices Lawn Care: Regular mowing, edging, watering and fertilizing are basic activities you can expect from any reasonably competent landscape service. This is not, however, the full range of activities required to maintain a healthy lawn over time. Optimum turfgrass performance requires a soil pH of 6.0 - 7.0. Most of our area soils are below 6.0. This means that they are too acidic for optimum utilization of available nutrients. Included in our regular service are applications of ground limestone to help raise soil pH values. Each year your sod develops a little more thatch and winter-desiccated grass blades that accumulate if ignored. Constant mowing at the same height does nothing to reduce this accumulation. Eventually, more and more "brown" shows after each summer mowing. Also, as more material accumulates, more water is required to penetrate into the root zone. We begin each new spring season by "scalp" mowing your lawns (usually an inch below normal mowing height). This activity requires extra time, but results in a substantially rejuvenated lawn. Shrub Pruning: The significance of correct pruning practices cannot be overstated when it comes to protecting your landscape investment. We in the landscape industry struggle against unqualified competition, coupled with a poor appreciation of acceptable horticultural standards. The combined effects of these market conditions has led to the existence of thriving landscape service providers who lack relevant education or experience. Usually this means that pruning is not understood and is replaced with the simpler and faster alternative of shaping or shearing. The results of this treatment can have disastrous and unalterable consequences for many varieties of shrubs (and trees!). We invite your inquiry about professional care of your ornamentals. Tree Pruning: This is a very important element of landscape maintenance that is almost always minimized in service contract performance. The general lack of performance in this area stems also from ignorance, as well as bidding pressure. A dialog about pruning practices will help you to develop an appreciation of the kind of attention that will greatly benefit the health and appearance of your landscape trees.
Protect Your Landscape Investment Landscaping is your one property asset that can and should improve with age. However, diligent attention is required in order to make this happen! Skilled shrub pruning is one of the most important requirements of a sound maintenance program. Selective cutting sustains a natural form while removing twigs and branches that are getting too large or overcrowded. Often, knowledgeable work can even provide for plant reduction if necessary. Plant shearing (shaping, hedge trimming) by contrast, ignores plant growth habit with the net effect of destroying branch structure. "Carving" a sheared form into any shrub increases twig density at the surface, thereby standing out, and in many cases killing off interior growth. The sheared shrubs still continue to get larger and "woodier" with each passing season. Re-creating a natural form soon becomes impossible. Eventually, the only realistic option remaining is to remove the monsters and start over with something new. Plant health is also greatly affected by pruning/shearing practices. Each pruning cut is a wound that requires energy from the plant to heal. Shearing causes a great deal more injury, in the form of cut twigs and leaves, than selective pruning. Moderate pruning, judiciously applied, can result in benefits that outweigh the costs. Some examples of the objectives and benefits of good pruning are:
As you can see in this example of shrub pruning, one aspect of your landscape investment could have hugely different returns depending on the quality of care over time. On the one hand, the opportunity existed for maturing shrubs that contribute more each year to the esthetic appeal, enjoyment and value of your grounds. On the other hand, a situation can be created that leads to overcrowded plantings that are rigid in character and feel. Property devaluation results, and new, corrective expenditures for removal and re-planting are eventually required. The avoidable outcome in this case then, is the reinvestment in a new, small replacement plant that will again take time to contribute much to the appeal of your association. Similar quality of care issues impact every element of your landscape. Interview prospective service providers at length to learn more about quality care, as well as to determine the qualifications and the intentions of each bidding firm.
Landscaping often comprises the single largest expense item in association budgets. Add to this the reality that landscape plantings are the one element of a property that can and should improve with the passage of time, and its easy to see that good decision-making and sound landscaping budgets are absolutely important for the success of a community and the appreciation of property values. Some bits from around the country: Diane Relf (Virginia Polytechnic Institute) "... a high-quality landscape influences where people decide to live, how satisfied they are with their lives and how well they manage stress." Charlene Brown (Landscape Architect at Virginia Polytechnic Institute) surveyed residents of retirement communities and found that the landscape was often given as the most important reason for choosing a particular community. Rachel Kaplan (University of Michigan) reported that the most important factors in neighborhood satisfaction among the multi-family housing complexes she surveyed were the presence of trees, well-landscaped grounds and places for walking. In a Gallup Survey, homeowners estimated that a well-maintained landscape increased the market value of their homes by 15 percent. Also from Gallup: average 1998 household spending on landscape services was $855.00. Many studies have demonstrated a link between landscaping and stress reduction. One by Roger Ulrich of Texas A & M showed that surgery patients who could see trees had shorter post-operative stays, needed fewer pain drugs and gave fewer negative staff evaluations!
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