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Is Your Apple Tree Ready for a Pruning?

Thu, 25 Mar 2021 18:23:15 GMT

A Healthy Apple Tree Requires Some Attention

It’s coming up to the end of March. The weather has been cooler than normal, here on the South Island for the last few weeks. The last bit of winter and into the first few weeks of Spring (as long as the temperature remain cool) is the best time to tackle the task of pruning your apple trees.

The state of the tree is an important consideration to factor in when deciding to prune or not. By doing it this time of the season, the tree will have a chance to trigger a strong growth response and fill it, becoming healthier and producing more fruit. However, only move forward with the pruning if the tree is in a healthy state.

This means that the tree has space for the branches to be balances, especially in the crown. The fruit should be in good condition.

A tree that is so dense, with a significant amount of dead wood, making it look incredibly thick and unbalanced is not an ideal candidate for an early pruning. Likely results will not be as expected. It’s still possible to prune it, but the strategy is different. In this case, the purpose is to restore its balance and health. Once this is achieved, then proper pruning should be much more effective.

When it comes to how often an apple tree should be pruned, the answer is dependant on how much fruit production you’re seeking. By pruning a mature, healthy tree once a year, there will be an abundance of fruit produced.

Certainly, going to a routine of once every two years, is also a very viable option.

From that point on, an annual assessment of the tree, crown and balance, as well as the level of fruit production would determine if pruning can be extended another season or not.

By having a schedule and the discipline to follow it, maintaining a healthy apple tree is not a difficult task.

A word of advice – never take on the task of pruning your own trees if you don’t have the knowledge or experience to do it properly. The damage done by lack of skill can take 2 to 3 years, or even more, to reverse. Always hire a professional arborist for jobs like these. It’s well worth the investment.

Common Questions We Hear About Proper Lawn Care

Mon, 15 Feb 2021 22:59:24 GMT

Some of The Most Common Questions We Get About Caring for Lawns

Over the years, we’ve had many potential customers call us up, seeking answers to some pretty common questions. Here you’ll find some of the most typical.

They’re all great questions posed by home owners who are exploring the possibility, or have decided to start using a lawn care company for the first time.

We understand it’s hard to turn over some of the duties required to care for you lawn and garden. Our promise is to work so you don’t have to. Your job is to enjoy the fruits of your labour.

Common Questions

How do I keep my lawn healthy?

This is a big one. A lot of time, effort and money can go into creating and maintaining a healthy garden. There are multiple benefits to enjoy with a lush, thick carpet of grass.

Be confident knowing that lawns are pretty resilient. It does depend on your approach to the environmental conditions it will be subjected to.

Water, sunlight, quality of the soil, are just a few that make a huge difference.

How much water does a lawn need a day?

A blade of grass requires approximately 2.5 cm of water weekly. Too little and the roots will eventually struggle in the dry soil. Too much watering and the grass can become much more susceptible to becoming unhealthy and dying off.

The only time you should water daily is when you are attempting to grow a new lawn. One of the secrets to success is the make sure the soil is damp about 1.25 cm deep.

This needs to be maintained until the blades of grass reach about 2.5 cm in length.

How long should I water my lawn to get that 2.5 cm?

Based on a season with abundant water resources, the idea watering schedule is 3 times a week. Different sprinklers and watering systems can have varying flow rates.

On the average it would take about 60 minutes of watering an area to reach the goal of 2.5 cm. So, divide the 60 minutes by 3 and that would mean 20 minutes of watering each of those days. Essentially every other day is a perfect schedule to maintain.

When should I water my lawn?

Again, a pretty common question. By far, especially during times of rationing water supplies, the best time to water a lawn is early in the day.

The water won’t evaporate at the same rate as when the heat of the day becomes a factor. As well, it gives the grass the chance to dry and absorb the water at a proper rate.

Never water your lawn at night. A wet lawn will not dry overnight and can develop disease, negating all your effort and can be costly to correct or replace the damage caused.

Will watering dead grass bring it back?

Unfortunately, as resilient as grass is, dead grass is dead grass. Dormant grass is another story. Watering will certainly awaken dormant grass, bringing it back to life.

At what temperature should you stop watering your grass?

Our season here on the southern tip of Vancouver Island begins early and ends later than anywhere else in our country. Certainly, temperature plays a role in dictating when the need to water stops for the winter.

A rule of thumb for many landscapers is to water until the temperature of the top soil is about 4 degrees Celsius.

Does frequent mowing thicken grass?

The simple answer to this is yes, frequent mowing will thicken your grass.

The scientific reason behind this benefit is that a blade of grass actually carries hormones that stunt horizontal growth if cut. The hormone is found in the tip of each blade. When the tip is cut off, the blade is programmed to grow a thicker base nearer to its roots.

Its time to think about Spring and your Lawn

Sat, 06 Feb 2021 20:28:42 GMT

Spring Lawn Care in Victoria, BC

It’s that time of year to start thinking about waking up the grass covering your yard. With an early Spring just around the corner here in the Victoria area, there are steps to take to make sure your lawn is ready.

One of the common questions we get is “What should I do to my lawn in the Spring?”

The answer isn’t as complicated as you’d think. It really begins by raking and removing organic and non-organic debris. This will stir the blades of grass up. And also get rid of anything weighing down a delicate patch of grass.

We also take this time to do proactive weeding. It’s a good practice to get rid of weeds early on before they wake up and really become a challenge.

Seeding is what follows. Winter can be tough on grass. By even doing a once-over with fresh seed each year is a great way to build the foundation of a lush ground cover of grass.

However, depending on the climate, and environmental conditions your lawn is subjected to, you may find post-winter bald patches throughout the yard. In these areas we’d recommend over-seeding the patch.

Your soil conditions are a main factor in growing a healthy lawn. Heavy snow or hard rain constantly pounding down on the surface of the soil can make it compacted.

This doesn’t allow for good roots to grow. Without good roots, you can’t have a good lawn. Aeration will solve this problem. Aerating breaks up the compacted soil and lets oxygen permeate the ground below.

If this isn’t a problem for you, then you can skip this step. Do consider having it done every few years as maintenance for the health of your lawn.

The next step in the process is fertilization. By providing nutrients to the ground cover, the soil is able to provide a healthy foundation for the growing of a lush, green lawn.

There is one consideration here that can be the make it or break it factor in your success. And that is timing. Fertilizing to soon is not a good thing, and doing it too late in the season is also not so good.

Best thing to do would talk to your local and trusted garden and yard care store. They can advise you on what is the ideal solution for your location.

From this point, proper lawn care and maintenance kicks in. Mowing and watering are the final two considerations for us. A mowing schedule can be different for some yards because of factors like water and sun exposure.

When it comes to properly mowing a lawn, the height of the cut you’re making is vital. Having a lawn mower at a very low level will take off too much of the top surface.

And cutting too little off isn’t good either. It means more maintenance and traffic on the surface.

Once the lawn has been mowed two or three times, and has had a chance to establish itself, then the rule of thumb is to keep the cutting of the grass down to about a third of the total length.

Inground Lawn Sprinkler System vs. The Old Hose and Portable Sprinkler System

Tue, 19 Jan 2021 20:35:07 GMT

Pros and Cons

Certainly, this topic has been debated by many home owners over the years. The convenience that an inground system provides is heads and tails more effective for watering a lawn. The system can be automated and schedule days and times for watering. Very low maintenance and time from the home owner.

However, there are people who think it’s like cheating in some way. For them, caring for the lawn is a passion and something, if done well, they can take pride in. It is a work of love and to some a great lawn is a piece of living art.

Hauling out the hose every few days, and then moving the sprinkler around the yard to ensure effective watering is quite time consuming, so it does have a higher level of hands-on maintenance required by the home owner (or grounds keeper).

That doesn’t mean that if you have an inground watering system, that your lawn can’t be something to be proud of. I think it’s the exact opposite. Again, the benefit of the ability to program when and where to have the system water is incredibly effective in developing and maintaining a healthy, lush lawn.

Once the design is approved, a grid of pipes is laid down. Over a bit of time the grass regrows over them and no one would know that you had watering system. With the sprinkler heads down, unless you’re right above one, they’re not visible.

It’s very important to not skimp on quality here. Although repair and replacement work is doable, there is a toll on the area of lawn that is affected by poor or no performance.

We get asked about what is the best type of pipe material for the system. Certainly, there are some companies that build systems with PVC piping. In warmer climates this is totally acceptable for quality of material and durability.

Some systems will use a polyethylene material for the piping. Its use is better suited in climates which experience freeze-thaw cycles. The pipe is also more flexible than other options. For rocky or uneven surfaces, it is ideally the material to use.

There are some systems that are metal, and others that are a mix of metal and the plastic pipes. The metal used is either a copper or galvanized steel.

When it comes to the cost of installing a system, many companies come in around $2500 - $3000 for a section the size of a ¼ acre. This will of course fluctuate based on the size of the space you may be considering having an inground system installed.

Now you do have another option and that is going the DIY way. Places like Lowe’s or Home Depot carry great watering systems that you can install yourself for about ½ the price. It’s just the time and energy that the home owner has to put in that makes the difference in the cost to install.

It really comes down to what you have – more money than time. Or more time than money if you want to go this route. Just a word of advice…it’s best to consult the local building department to see if you need a building permit to install a sprinkler system.

The Secret to a Great Lawn

Sun, 03 Jan 2021 23:39:33 GMT