Lawn Blog – Page 6 – Green Servpro Home and Garden

Design, Landscape Design, Landscape Design

Landscape Design in Phoenix Q & A

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Larry

In our last article, we brought up some excellent landscape design questions.Phoenix Landscape Design Q & A

What type of soil does a gardenia grow best in?

Gardenias grow in acidic soil. If you want to use gardenias as part of your landscape design, we recommend only using them in a container with potting soil and peat moss added, otherwise it won’t grow well.

The label on my gardenia I just bought says full sun. If I plant it in full sun will it grow?

Only if you plant it in a container and move it indoors when it gets hot. Otherwise, it will die out. The ‘full sun’ that is referred to on the label is full sun in a much more temperate environment than Arizona. This is something you really have to think about where landscape design is concerned. Where does the plant come from? Do your research.

Landscape design in Arizona has it's own unique challenges — Landscape Design in Arizona | Call Us Today | (928) 356-8167

I was out in California and my sister has gorgeous fuchsias, and I want to grow them here, how do I do it?

You don’t, at least not easily. Fuchsias require a more moisture rich climate to do well. You may be able to hang them in a climate controlled greenhouse, but not outside, and they can’t be used in traditional landscape design in Phoenix.

I have heard that Jessamine or Jasmine does well in Arizona, is that true?

Again, do your homework before any landscape design decisions. Carolina jasmine or jessamine can do well in Arizona, as can Arabian jasmine. However, there are other species of jasmine that you buy from seed catalogs that are supposedly drought tolerant than will quickly become brown sticks with Arizona’s hot summer.

It’s all about the choices you make. Drought tolerant can mean that it can survive a long time without water…for England where it rains 33 inches per year. Arizona is a bit different. Your landscape design should reflect this too.

Green ServPro LLC
600 W. Ray Rd. Suite B2
Prescott AZ 85225
(928) 356-8167
http://www.greenservpro.com

Prescott Landscape Maintenance

Landscape Design in Phoenix

Posted on May 10, 2013 by Larry

Good landscape design in Phoenix is based on adaptability. After all, Phoenix is a desert.

Landscape Design in Phoenix For Beginners

Landscape Design in Prescott — Landscape Design Phoenix | Call Us Today | (928) 356-8167

Phoenix has one of the most fluid populations out there. Even though the number of Arizona natives has gone up in the past few decades, a great many of the people who live here are originally from somewhere else. As a rule, they bring their ideas regarding landscape design with them, which is not always a good thing.

Why? Well, what works in one part of the country does not work well in Phoenix. Let’s say you’re from Louisiana and you miss magnolia trees. So you find a catalog that offers them for sale, and you buy one. You pop it in the ground, follow the care instructions to the letter and your magnolia tree dies. Why? Because the instructions were written with the ideal climate for a magnolia to grow in, not Phoenix. Arizona has a desert environment, which makes landscape design Phoenix a bit more challenging.

While the Gulf Coast can hit high summer temperatures, it also has a significantly higher humidity rate. Sometimes, plants from humid climes die because the air is just too dry for them and when combined with the heat, it literally bakes plants in the ground. That’s another reason you want to consult a landscape design service before you shell out money for a plant. However, there are other reasons why you may want to consult a pro too.

Soil Types and Effective Landscape Design

Despite those that have a green thumb claiming that they can grow any type of plant anywhere, there are limits to what you can do. Here are just some of the landscape design questions that we’ve actually answered. What type of soil does a gardenia grow best in? The label on my gardenia I just bought says full sun. If I plant it in full sun will it grow? I was out in California and my sister has gorgeous fuchsias, and I want to grow them here, how do I do it?

In our next article, we’ll answer these and many more questions about landscape design.

As you see, sometimes it is more complicated than you might think. That’s why if nothing else, consult a professional landscape design service in Phoenix.

Green ServPro has been offering landscape design services in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area since 2010. Call us today.

Green ServPro LLC
600 W. Ray Rd. Suite B2
Prescott AZ 85225
(928) 356-8167

Lawn, Lawn Care

Lawn Care and Fertilizing Your Lawn

Posted on May 3, 2013 by Larry

Lawn care is a series of processes. One process that is often neglected is fertilizing.

Fertilizing Your Lawn 101

Lawn Maintenance for Your Commercial Property — Get Lawn Care | Call Us | (928) 356-8167

As lawn care professionals we’re often asked how we fertilize a lawn. It’s actually very simple. First off, we only use a high quality fertilizer, and we carefully measure the right amount. Timing is everything with fertilizer. It must be applied at the right time of the year. Back east, a lot of people fertilize in early May, early September, and early November.

Because Arizona has a much more extreme environment, however, the times of year to fertilize differ greatly. Generally early spring and late fall are best for a lawn care regimen including fertilizing. Why are these times of year the best? Simple, they help to reduce your lawn getting scorched by the fertilizer combined with the excessive heat.

Types of Fertilizer Used in Lawn Care

Fertilizer can basically be classified into three classes: chemical-based, organic, and hybrid, and they each have their pluses and minuses where lawn care is concerned. Chemical fertilizers contain controlled-release nitrogen. The amount of nitrogen to apply is about one pound of actual nitrogen per 1,000 square feet of lawn area . You have to be careful with chemical fertilizers however, as the percentage of nitrogen can be too high and you may end up scorching your lawn.

Organic fertilizer is usually a combination of animal and/or plant waste. It is better for the environment, however, like a lot of eco-friendly products, sometimes it isn’t as effective as it should be, generally because the nitrogen level is too low. A hybrid uses both chemicals and organic compounds. Often effective as a fertilizer, you have to make sure that the percentage of nitrogen is properly balanced. Proper lawn care means that you also know what type of fertilizer works best for your lawn.

Fertilizing your lawn is an important part of keeping it up. When you don’t know what to do, call in a professional lawn care company.

Green ServPro LLC
600 W. Ray Rd. Suite B2
Prescott AZ 85225
(928) 356-8167

Lawn, Lawn Care, Lawn Maintenance

Lawn Care: Frequently Asked Questions Part III

Posted on April 26, 2013 by Larry

One important process of proper lawn care is fertilizing your lawn. So let’s get started…

Lawn Care: When Should I Fertilize?

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According to most lawn care sources, early autumn is best for fertilizing your lawn. Fertilization is a basic procedure to keep your lawn green and full. If you fertilize properly, it makes your lawn beautiful. If done improperly however, it can lead to problems, such as fertilizer burn.

If you’re not careful you can over-fertilize your lawn. Fertilizer burn occurs when the levels of nitrogen reaches toxic levels for the grass. If you do over fertilize your lawn, and you notice leaf scorch or fertilizer burn, first off, don’t panic. Be aware that your lawn can recover, but it will take time. You may need a lawn care professional to come in leech the fertilizer out by diluting it slowly and gradually. The type of fertilizer you use can also help to prevent burning.

What Fertilizer Should I Use for Proper Lawn Care?

Even among lawn care services there is often debate about what fertilizer you should use. Some are strong proponents of organic fertilizer, while others use a balanced nitrogen solution. To cut through the confusion, you want to make sure that the product you’re using doesn’t have a high nitrogen percentage, and you also do not want fertilizer that has too low of a percentage.

As you see, sometimes it is a little more complicated than you might think. When you are in doubt, call in a lawn care service in Gilbert instead.

Part two of this series on lawn care explored gas and electric mowers, and part one covered when and how much to mow your lawn.

If you need lawn care, call a professional. Green Servpro has been serving the Greater Phoenix area for over 25 years.

Green ServPro LLC
600 W. Ray Rd. Suite B2
Prescott AZ 85225
(928) 356-8167
Get Lawn Care

Lawn Care: Frequently Asked Questions Part I
Lawn Care: Frequently Asked Questions Part II
Lawn Care: Frequently Asked Questions Part III

Lawn, Lawn Care, Lawn Maintenance

Lawn Care: Frequently Asked Questions Part II

Posted on April 19, 2013 by Larry

Part two of a three part series on lawn care explores the use of lawnmowers. There are three types of lawnmowers out there: manual, gas-powered, and electric. Which is best? Well, they each have their strengths and weaknesses.

What About Gas Powered Lawn Mowers and Lawn Care?

It’s estimated that over 50 million people that don’t use lawn care services in the US mow their lawns every weekend. This has an alarming cost, both to your pocketbook and to the environment. First off, gasoline is not cheap. As of the time of this article, gasoline is running at about $3.75 a gallon on average. Per year, we use 800 million gallons of gas and produce tons of air pollutants. Until the late 1990’s, garden equipment wasn’t covered under emissions standards. Lawn mowers alone emit dangerously high levels of carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, and nitrogen oxides, and are responsible for up to 5% of the nation’s air pollution particularly in metropolitan areas.

One of the most effective ways of reducing air pollution is to reduce the number of internal combustion engines out there. Hiring a lawn care service in Phoenix, AZ, is actually better for the environment. Less use of gasoline, and less use of lawn mowers. If you still wish to use a gas mower, they are fairly durable, only needing spark plugs every now and then and routine maintenance.

Are Electric Mowers Used in the Lawn Care Industry

Yes. There are two types of electric mowers used by your Phoenix lawn care service: battery based and corded. A battery powered electric mower has a battery that you put in a charger until you need it, then you pop the battery in the lawn mower and then mow. The advantage to battery-powered units is that there is obviously no danger of unplugging them accidentally all the time, however, they can also run out of a charge if they’re not fully charged. A corded mower is more likely to keep going, that is until you yank the cord out when it gets tangled.

The old-fashioned push mower is obviously the best for the environment, however, it is much more labor intensive to mow even just a small yard. So as you see, lawn care is a lot simpler in the hands of a pro.

Part one of our series on lawn care covered how much to mow, and part two explored the types of mowers to use. Part three of our series will explore how much and when to fertilize.

Green ServPro LLC
600 W. Ray Rd. Suite B2
Prescott AZ 85225
(928) 356-8167

Lawn Care: Frequently Asked Questions Part I
Lawn Care: Frequently Asked Questions Part II
Lawn Care: Frequently Asked Questions Part III

Lawn, Lawn Care, Lawn Maintenance

Lawn Care: Frequently Asked Questions Part I

Posted on April 12, 2013 by Larry

Lawn care is all about knowledge. What type of seed, how often you should mow, and what you should use to control weeds are just some of the questions you need answered before you start setting up your lawn.

Lawn Care: How Often Should I Mow?

Grass grows fairly quickly. A good rule of thumb for mowing your lawn as part of proper lawn care is every week to ten days. Otherwise, your lawn will begin to get out of control. When you mow your lawn as you may or may not know, make sure it hasn’t rained for at least two days and also that you haven’t watered your lawn. Otherwise, instead of cutting your grass all you are doing is flattening it slightly. Then it will start to grow at all angles. Cut the grass when it is relatively dry, and then figure out what you want to do with the mulch.

Lawn Care: Mulch or No?

A lot of people argue about mulching. One lawn care professional on television will highly recommend a mulching mower, while another one will recommend that all of the cut grass should be removed to help eliminate weeds. For the record, mulching neither helps nor stops weeds from growing. It can provide a level of fertilizer for your lawn and help you to build turf effectively. Too much mulch however, particularly if you haven’t mowed your lawn in a while can lead to bare spots on your lawn. So use your best judgement on mulch. You also have other considerations if you want to mow your lawn yourself, like what type of mower to get.

Believe it or not, manual lawn mowers still exist, even more than a century after they first came out, and they do have a bit going for them. For one thing, they’re durable. A manual mower can last years or even decades, and need just a bit of sharpening every now and then. They are great exercise too. The biggest drawback they have is that they are slow. It takes two to three passes of a section of grass to get it to cut down. If you get tired, you’re better off calling in a lawn care company to mow your lawn for you.

Part two of this series on lawn care will explore gas and electric mowers, and part three will cover when and how much to fertilize your lawn.

If you need lawn care, call a professional. Green Servpro has been serving the Greater Phoenix area for over 25 years.

Green ServPro LLC
600 W. Ray Rd. Suite B2
Prescott AZ 85225
(928) 356-8167
Get Lawn Care

Lawn Care: Frequently Asked Questions Part I
Lawn Care: Frequently Asked Questions Part II
Lawn Care: Frequently Asked Questions Part III

Sprinkler Repair, Sprinklers

Water Conservation Tips: Sprinkler Repair in Arizona

Posted on April 10, 2013 by Larry

Sprinkler repair is a surprising method of water conservation. And conserving water is an important priority for the entire Southwest.

How Can Sprinkler Repair Help?

Sprinkler repair-one method of water conservation | Call Us Today |

Getting a sprinkler repair company in can help to stop unintended residential water waste. Residential water waste is a problem, according to the Arizona Department of Water Resources. In the average American household, outdoor water use accounts for 58% of residential water use; and 80 to 90% of that comes directly from landscaping practices. This sizable portion is usually due to large amounts of grass or turf, over-watering, or leaky or inefficient irrigation systems.

To read more of this article, please click here. As stated by the Arizona Department of Water Resources, a large percentage of the problem is due to faulty irrigation. If you want even more reasons why you should start to consider getting sprinkler repair done, look at California. California is a state that often struggles with drought, and they have some of the harshest regulations regarding water conservation in the US. Simply leaving your sprinkler on in the rain can cause you get a $1500 fine. While Arizona doesn’t have nearly the regulation level that California does, as the population increases and the demand for fresh water also increases, who is to say which way the laws will start to go.?

Sprinkler Repair and Proactive Water Conservation

Water conservation will be one of the biggest environmental issues of the 21st century. So get in the habit now. Fix your leaky faucet, and turn it off while your shaving or washing dishes. Landscape your home to be water efficient, and above all, think about water conservation. Getting sprinkler repair done now can help save you some trouble down the pike, and it is one of the best ways of water conservation out there.

Green ServPro LLC
600 W. Ray Rd. Suite B2
Prescott AZ 85225
(928) 356-8167
http://www.greenservpro.com

Home and Garden, Landscape Design

Landscape Deisgn and the Smart Consumer Part I

Posted on April 2, 2013 by Larry

Landscape design is a service that you want to research before you contact a service. This article will help to explore why you should work with a professional instead of trying to do it yourself. Part one of

Plant Growth Rates and Landscape Design

Okay, so let’s say you’ve gone to your garden shop or home improvement center and picked out a few plants. You plant them, and you think you’re more than generous with the amount of space each of them is going to need to grow. Then a few months later, you notice that you’re trimming your plants a lot. Why? Well, you didn’t really realize how much certain plants can grow. Look at a bougainvillea or a lantana for example. If they have ample water and sunlight, both of these plants can grow everywhere, and grow at a quick rate. Your landscape design company will know what to plant and what not to plant.

Living in Arizona, we don’t really have to worry about kudzu as it doesn’t grow here, but both lantana and bougainvillea do grow here and grow quite well. You ruefully start investing in garden tools and garden tool sharpeners, both of which could have been avoided if you had just contacted a landscape design company in Prescott, AZ. However, it isn’t just the amount your plants can choke each other out. It’s also about what your plants need where water is concerned.

Landscape Design: Planting Water Compatible Plants

We’ve said it before in some of our other blog posts, but you can’t plant something like a golden barrel cactus that needs very little water near a rose which needs a lot of water. Besides the fact that it will look more than a little odd, one plant will thrive and the other one will die. Landscape design is also about placement. You place plants that work well with each other both by looks and by water consumption. Part two of this series will explore some effective strategies of how to place your plants, and where you can plant them.

Green Servpro is a landscape design company serving the Greater Phoenix Area.

Green ServPro LLC
600 W. Ray Rd. Suite B2
Prescott AZ 85225
(928) 356-8167
Landscaping Ideas

Irrigation and Sprinkler Service, Sprinkler Repair, Sprinklers

Sprinkler Repair: Protect our Water

Posted on March 29, 2013 by Larry

Sprinkler repair is something that you need to do for more reasons than just merely aesthetics. Simply fixing your system can also help to protect a precious resource in Arizona: our water.

Sprinkler Repair: Avoiding Desertification

Sprinkler repair is one method of water conservation — Sprinkler Repair Helps Conserve Water | Call Us Today | (928) 356-8167

One of the biggest challenges facing our planet in this century and centuries to come is the threat of desertification. It is up to each person to make a difference by responsible water use. Even fixing your sprinkler can help to relieve this problem and help protect a precious resource: fresh water. First off, though, what’s desertification? Well according to Wikipedia:

Desertification is a type of land degradation in which a relatively dry land region becomes increasingly arid, typically losing its bodies of water as well as vegetation and wildlife. It is caused by a variety of factors, such as climate change and human activities. Desertification is a significant global ecological and environmental problem.The Princeton University Dictionary defines it as “the process of fertile land transforming into desert typically as a result of deforestation, drought or improper/inappropriate agriculture.” [READ MORE] If you’re thinking, how much difference can sprinkler repair make in a dry place like Arizona. To put it succinctly, a lot. Consider if you will. A broken sprinkler can waste as much as 100 gallons of water if it ruptures. And drought is getting to be a big problem here.

Sprinkler Repair in Prescott

Prescott is a fast growing population center, however, with such growth comes some challenges. One of the biggest ones is availability of water resources. Lake Mead is at 39% of it’s capacity and may not be able to generate electrical power as soon as 2017. Lake Powell is down to 30%, and even lakes like Roosevelt have lowered because of water demand. As the population increases so does the demand on the water supplies. Fresh water is a rare, and precious resource. Sprinkler repair can help in a small way to protect this resource.

Green Servpro is a sprinkler repair company in Prescott, AZ.

Green ServPro LLC
600 W. Ray Rd. Suite B2
Prescott AZ 85225
(928) 356-8167

Landscape Design, Outdoor Kitchens

Landscape Design and Outdoor Kitchens

Posted on March 15, 2013 by Larry

As we discussed in an earlier post, good landscape design is all about features. One of the best features to have for your backyard is an outdoor kitchen.

Outdoor Kitchens and Good Landscape Design

Get an outdoor kitchen installed — Get an outdoor kitchen for summer | Call us today | (928) 356-8167

The weather’s getting warm, and one of the things that warm weather means is that you are going to want to have a barbeque and maybe even an outdoor dinner party. If you are the host as well as the chef, guess what? You’ll see your guests in passing as you bring out the dishes to be served. What’s the answer to this problem? Crock pots? Sure, if you prepare the right foods, however, if you’re not careful, your award winning chicken and dumplings can turn to library paste if it sits there long enough. No, a better answer, and also part of an ingenious landscape design plan is an outdoor kitchen.

Landscape Design: Incorporating an Outdoor Kitchen

An outdoor kitchen can be adapted to fit your existing landscape design. It’s all about placement. You never want to install an outdoor kitchen anywhere where it is not safe. Putting a fire source near anything flammable for example is not a good idea. You also want to keep your outdoor kitchen somewhere relatively secure, like your backyard for example. You probably don’t want some intruder to vandalize it or anyone to use it without your knowledge or permission.

As for what features you can include when you install an outdoor kitchen, that is up to you and your budget. Outdoor kitchens run the gamut from simple grills to sophisticated units with ovens and refrigerators. Above all else, get the right help to set it up and install it: namely a professional landscape design service.

Green ServPro is a landscape design service based in Prescott Arizona. Call us today and let us make you the host or hostess of dinner parties that will make the movers and shakers take notice.

Green ServPro LLC
600 W. Ray Rd. Suite B2
Prescott AZ 85225
(928) 356-8167

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