The winter’s cold weather is harsh on plants. Although they have their own way of coping, helping them improve their natural defenses can help keep them healthy all year round. To accomplish this, it is essential to work with professionals from reputable landscape maintenance companies. Some of the services you can secure from them include:
1. Cleaning Up
Although leaves are a great compost material, especially if you are a natural gardener, leaving these sprawled all over has a huge impact on your landscape. When left over a long time, it creates a conducive environment for the spread of diseases to plants.
The risk increases in winter since regular moisture, airflow, and sunlight are low and your plants are under stress. When there are leaves on the lawn, they prevent sunlight from penetrating what’s beneath them. Clean up the leaves before the onset of winter to avoid this from happening.
2. Fertilization
In preparation for winter, plants naturally store up energy. They will need enough energy reserves and nutrients to take them through the season. Intervening in the process will help in promoting a healthy future for your landscape. When you fertilize your plants late in winter, it will go a long way in sustaining them through winter. Also, this will encourage new growth that is healthy over winter.
3. Protection Treatments
Many landscape plants lose more moisture than they can take in during winter. When this happens excessively, there is irreparable damage to the leaves. Repeated damage over several winters results in significant loss of leaf tissue, which affects the health of the plant since they can’t photosynthesize effectively.
To protect your plants, do winter protection treatments. These are spray treatments meant to prevent damage that comes with the cold weather. For best coverage, carry out these treatments in late fall and early winter. The number of treatments required is dependent on different factors. A professional will be best placed to advice you on the same. Other than protecting your plants, the treatments will also improve their health in the long run.
4. Trimming
It is essential to trim shrubs and grasses before winter. When done properly, healthy pruning allows your plants to stay in shape and they push new growth out. Have a professional do this for you, as there are plants that shouldn’t be trimmed in fall. This includes shrubs whose blooming in spring. In such cases, the trimming should only be done after blooming to avoid interfering with the flowering process.
5. Pruning
Over winter, snow accumulates on plants. More stems and branches give more room for this accumulation, resulting in excess pressure. At times, the extra weight will weigh down on the branches until they break. This stresses the plants, as it is not in a phase to actively grow and repair itself. Actively pruning branches that do not add value to your trees allow your plant to have less leaf tissue.
Taking good care of your landscaping elements determines how well they will emerge once the season is over. With the guidance of a professional, you can put the above measures in place to ensure your property keeps looking good for a long time.
