Spring is for planting vegetables, annual color, new trees and shrubs, reseeding a tired lawn.
The plants are growing and may need another trimming. Sprinkler systems need to be turned on and repairs made. Pre emergent s are applied to help prevent weeds from sprouting. The mood is bright for a new year of color after a dull winter.
Summer is for enjoying the garden, sitting on the patio and enjoying the warm nights. Sprinklers are adjusted for higher temps and some plants require hand watering on hot days. Pest control becomes important along with more pruning as the shrubs max their new growth. Lawns are fertilized and cut. Vegetables are harvested.
As a landscape contractor in Auburn, Summer is the busy time. On hot weeks, drive by’s of commercial accounts can occur daily looking for a broken sprinkler, bad valve or a miss guided irrigation controller. Waiting until a weekly maintenance visit can be too long. The phone rings with new customers looking for help in their yard on a new project or repair. It can be hot and dusty.
Fall brings some relief. The landscape irrigation is readjusted for the cooler days and nights. Pest control continues as the last aphids munch on the day lilies. The trimming is starting to slow. New customers call wanting to install their landscape before winter comes. The leaves start to drop and we gear up for the 8 weeks of leaf season. We switch to rakes and tarps picking up over a ton of leaves a week. But the days are much cooler and the work seems peaceful. The irrigation gets turned off around the end of October. The frost comes and we clean the plants with dead tops.
And winter comes last. My relief from all the over time. My budget allows me time to do detail work now. Such as thinning shrubs, removing dead wood, detailing a flower bed. The schedule is much more flexible. There is time to spend on little things. Spray the fruit trees, trim the roses, cut back the pittosporum, clean the water feature, cut back perennials. Winter is a safe time to take a vacation with less things happening. We find drain and irrigation work. People still landscape and the ground is softer. It is really a great time to plant a yard or lay sod. So many people miss this time to take care of yard projects in their landscape.
