Archive for the ‘Winter Plant Care’ Category

Fruit Tree Care and Maintenance in Northern California Winters

Thursday, December 30th, 2010

There is no substitute for experienced winter care for your delicate fruit trees. Both, quality and quantity of your fruit are hugely impacted by the winter tree care you provide.

It is important to protect your fruit trees with lasting protection from:

  • Cold and freezing temperatures
  • Pest infestations like worms, caterpillars and moths
  • Rodent problems, especially rabbits, moles, squirrels and mice
  • Damage to tree structure and root system

Therefore, when you are considering fruit tree care services, be sure to understand the following items which are important to the long term health of your trees:

  • Expert pruning: Knowing when to prune fruit trees is key to their good health. Dates, cherries, plums, etc. all have a different schedule, as do mature and young fruit trees.
  • Wrapping to prevent insect and rodent problems: Flora Terra’s certified arborists know precisely when wrapping tree trunks is effective and when it needs to be combined with soil and/or mulch covering to increase protection. We also provide insect and rodent control if necessary.
  • Dealing with damage: Damaged tree barks and limbs need attention if you want to preserve overall tree health. Flora Terra offers effective remedies and expert fruit tree care in winter.

Properly maintained and protected fruit trees add property value and aesthetic beauty to commercial and residential properties alike, not to mention seasons of fresh fruit!

Fall Grass and Lawn Maintenance – The Top 10 Items For Better Results

Sunday, November 28th, 2010

Proper fall grass and lawn maintenance reduces your spring cleanup tasks and ensures vibrancy during the growing season.  Here are the top 10 tips to enhance your commercial or residential properties’ appearance as fall turns to spring:

  • Cleaning your lawn of dead leaves, garbage
  • Dethatching because thatch cover stifles grass growth
  • Mowing your grass to appropriate height
  • Core aeration to eliminate soil compaction which prevents roots from receiving enough air, water and nutrients
  • Overseeding to ensure a thick and vibrate growth next season
  • Weed, disease and pest treatments (safe for your family, pets and the environment) to remedy infestations and persistent problems
  • Soil testing for pH levels and administering required fertilizer treatments
  • Lawn fertilization to put back essential nutrients in the soil
  • Turning off irrigation systems and draining out excess water to prevent pipe bursts

Tip 10.  Contact Flora Terra Landscape Management in San Jose for all of your commercial, HOA, medical center and retail landscaping needs – 800-455-0304.

Landscape Management Hint: Winter preparation of trees and properties ensures a vibrant growth next season

Friday, October 29th, 2010

It’s getting closer for property owners to begin winter preparations of trees and yards. It’s not time to put away the lawn maintenance tools yet. Fall is the time to make sure your lawn, plants, trees and shrubs are ready for the cold and wet spells that come in Northern California winters, and will give your commercial properties or HOA developments satisfying results next growing season.

Here are some lawn and property winterizing tips that will help you get it done right:

  • Clean up debris, dead leaves and flowers that have seen better days. It will give you a head start in spring and avoid increasing your soil’s pH levels more than necessary.
  • Cut grass to a height of two to three inches.  Grass grows more slowly in winter, but do not cut more than 1/2 of the length of lawn blades at any one time to avoid damaging the plants.
  • Prune perennials, shrubs and trees to avoid damage from winter rain and encourage healthy growth next year.
  • Preserve soil quality by remove dead plants to prevent growth of fungus, mold and insect larvae.
  • Fertilize trees, shrubs and lawns adequately to restore essential nutrients.
  • Protect young plants and trees from frost with burlap.
  • Winterize your irrigation system by draining and turning off hoses and sprinklers, or set watering frequencies and durations to 50% or less of what you were watering during the summer season
  • Service lawn mowers, leaf blowers and irrigation systems to avoid unnecessary damage and replacement costs.

Winter preparation of trees and properties requires time and effort. Experience makes it easy and gets the job done right. An established San Jose Bay Area landscape management company will ensure that your residential and commercial properties are neat and clean, and well-prepared when the cold arrives. Get your landscape ready for winter for a healthy spring!

Winter’s on its way – Don’t forget to turn down and test your sprinkler system!

Friday, October 22nd, 2010

We often forget that winter brings challenges to home and commercial irrigation systems – and plants – and we need reminders about important things to do as the weather gets cooler and the rains start to fall. 

Your sprinklers and water management systems are the lifeblood of your sustainable landscaping and GreenScaping  efforts. However, your plants and lawn don’t need anywhere near the same amount of water as they did during the heat of summer.  So take the time to protect these important investments.

It’s easy and there are just 5 main steps to remember:

  1. Reduce the frequency of watering, and the amount of time set to each watering cycle.  If you are in a heavy rain area, consider putting the system on “Pause” or “Rain” until it is needed again in the spring
  2. Winter is a great time to test the automatic sprinkler system’s controller. 
  3. Run tests on where your sprinklers are spraying.  Test their volume, aim, and ensure as little waste as possible.
  4. Clear drains, adjust sprinkler heads, test drip sprinklers instead of water-wasting spray heads.
  5. If your area risks frost or freeze, insulate any above ground piping, cover/remove backflow prevention valves to avoid rupturing, and be sure to keep sidewalk salt handy for the colder mornings

Winter is a great time to review and reinvigorate your sprinklers.  You can shut down your sprinkler system for a length of time without fear of harming your plants, and enjoy water savings as a result.

Don’t have the time to winterize your irrigation system? Not sure of how manage and test your sprinklers? Get a reliable Bay Area landscape management company to do it for you. Inexperience and insufficient knowledge can do more harm than good.  Ensure your irrigation system is in top shape in the winter and have one less thing to worry about in the spring.

Landscape Preparations for Winter Rains

Saturday, September 25th, 2010

From early November, right through March, winter in California brings rain which becomes snow in the mountains. Often these winter rains come as storms. Those who have suffered property damage know that fall is the best time to start preparing landscapes for the expected winter rains.

Proper preparation of your landscape can minimize the possibility of erosion, mudslides, flooding and other winter rain related concerns. Here’s what you can do to prepare your landscape for the winter rains:

  • Protect existing plant cover and soil by covering with plant materials and different types of mulches.
  • Establish vegetative cover on all bare or disturbed soil and slopes.
  • Have your irrigation service company carry out maintenance of your “smart controllers” to ensure proper weather and soil moisture based supply of water to your plants
  • Drainage facilities, potential runoff on driveways, and fire breaks in areas prone to fire damage need to be evaluated.
  • All existing and planned runoff, erosion and sediment control measures (including vegetative cover) should be evaluated and maintenance carried out.
  • Runoff extends beyond property lines so work out a drainage plan in tandem with neighboring property owners.
  • Prune or remove hazard trees capable of falling on to living structures before the rains arrive.
  • Have your property evaluated for rock fall hazard.
  • Get professional help with design and installation of any temporary or permanent practices to control runoff and/or prevent an erosion problem.

A professional landscape maintenance firm can take care of all these tasks for you and ensure that your landscape is properly winterized.

Fall Soil Amendments

Monday, September 20th, 2010

Fall is the best time to clear your garden and get it ready for winter. But remember that this is also the best time for improving your soil texture and quality. Through the summer months, your garden had used up the nutrients in the soil. Fall is the best time to undertake soil amendments so that the nutrient content of your soil is replenished by the time spring comes. That’s the reason why professional landscape maintenance firms begin their preparations for the spring from the previous fall.

Soil amendments are made to improve soil texture, increase its water retention capacity and to promote healthy plant growth. The first step is tilling followed by the addition of compost. Compost conditions and fertilizes the soil by adding humus, nutrients and beneficial soil bacteria. You can also consider shredding and including the dead leaves you have raked up. Why haul them to the curb for yard waste pick-up when you can use them in your garden?

Organic fertilizers like peat, bone meal and rock phosphate release their nutrients slowly, so adding them in the fall prepares the soil for spring. Different soil amendments enhance soil quality in different ways:

  • Bone meal promotes root growth in the next season
  • Peat moss helps the soil retain water and balance the soil pH
  • Lime helps balance the acidity of the soil

In the fall, the ground is warm and dry so soil amendments are easy. Another advantage of preparing the soil in the fall is that the amendments have enough time to interact with other elements before winter sets in.

Finally, covering the soil with mulch ensures that the effort put in preparing the soil does not get washed or blown away in the winter. Large property owners will benefit by partnering with professional firms and trained arborists who can take care of all these tasks for them.

Improved soil quality leads to healthier and disease free plants.

Fall Tree and Landscaping Clean Up

Friday, September 10th, 2010

As fall approaches and your landscape starts to get the gold-orange hues, it’s time to be prepared for fall tree cleanup. Start early to ensure your drainage, gutters, mulching, sidewalks, driveways, and landscaping remain clean and uncluttered into the winter and its inevitable rains.

An important task which needs to get done in time for fall tree cleanup is pruning. Any branches that need to be trimmed off should be done well before fall actually starts. If you prune too late in the fall, the deciduous trees and shrubs will be running sap as they go dormant for the winter. This may be detrimental to the trees’s growth of leaves, flowers and fruits in the spring.

Another task is to shake off leaves from trees and shrubs, and the surrounding gardens and walkways. Rake them up and use them as mulch and compost. To use as mulch, we suggest spreading the leaves to a depth of about 2-3 inches on the bare soil areas of your garden.  Leaves do a great job of protecting your soil from harsh winter rains and protecting the shallow root zone of perennials and bulbs. 

A professional landscape maintenance firm can take care of all these tasks for you. Trained arborists know how to expertly handle your fall tree cleanup and prepare your landscape for the winter.

Insect Control in Winter

Friday, February 19th, 2010

Insect control in winter is important and effective for healthy plants in the spring. Winter is a good time to take a close look at your plants. Since the leaves in the deciduous plants have fallen, the branches now lie exposed. Careful scrutiny helps you to locate the exact site of insect infestation. Before spraying, these areas can be cleaned out.

Dormant season applications are beneficial in tackling insects like aphids that curl leaves in spring, and to control scale insects. Caterpillars like leaf rollers and tent caterpillars spend winter as eggs on the plant. Many conifer-infesting species of mites also spend winter on the plant.

Dormant oil sprays are available to get rid of overwintering eggs and pupae of leaf rollers, codling moths, tent caterpillars, webworms and other caterpillars, as well as scale, mites and aphid eggs. The best time to apply these to trees is on a dry winter day. A good landscape pest management company uses a combination of sprays that kills the insects without causing damage to your plants or your landscape.

The timing of winter spraying has to take the weather conditions into consideration. Landscape companies that look after your insect control requirements will usually suggest a schedule of 2-3 sprayings between the last leaf in the fall and the beginning of the budding season.

Tackling plant diseases, particularly insect control in the winter will ensure that you have a vibrant healthy garden in the spring.