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How to Winterize Your Irrigation System

March 7, 2024November 11, 2021 by The Parke Company

Outside of a house in the woods during the winter

The savvy gardener knows that gardens do not simply lie dormant through the winter and revive themselves in the spring. Even if you aren’t preparing for more immediate growth, how you prepare your landscape for winter will have a large impact on growth you do experience in the spring.

The same can be said for your irrigation system. Your lawn irrigation system cannot simply lie dormant in the colder months if you want it to be ready for the spring and summer.

For winterizing your irrigation system, here is what you need to know with tips from The Parke Company.

What to Know About Irrigation Systems in the Winter

Potential Dangers

For some property owners, the winter brings with it inches or even feet of snow. In these regions, the freezing temperatures and layers of snow eliminate your need for an irrigation system as your grass and shrubs do not need watering for the winter season.

These low temperatures also mean that your irrigation system could be at risk for rupturing if it is not evaluated and turned off for the winter. Just like pipes in your home can freeze and burst in extreme cold, your irrigation system can also crack and burst in the winter.

Property owners in regions with harsh winters should always enlist landscaping services to inspect irrigation systems before the cold weather hits, and you run the risk of losing your irrigation system entirely. The simple, low-cost task of irrigation system inspection could save you the significant cost of fully replacing the system later.

Changing Landscape Needs

Even if you live in an area with mild temperatures, a lack of snow doesn’t mean that your landscape doesn’t have shifting needs throughout the year.

In many places that are relatively warm year-round, the winter months bring more precipitation and less sun exposure. During these months, your lawn and garden’s needs will change significantly, even if they aren’t under a blanket of snow.

It is crucial that your landscaping maintenance company devises a plan for adjusting the amount of water your irrigation system delivers to your lawn and garden. A lawn that receives too much water could result in water-logged plants that die before their time. Too much moisture can also result in dangerous mold that spreads disease over your landscape.

By adjusting the settings on your irrigation system, you will not overwater your landscape and reduce utility bills in one fell swoop.

Contact The Parke Company Today!

Having a garden is a 365 day job. Make sure that your landscape is prepared for what every season brings. With one quick call to the expert landscaping designers in Nashville, TN, keeping your lawn healthy year-round is a no-brainer.

Irrigation system installation and landscaping services from a landscaping maintenance company like The Parke Company can help you protect and beautify your property without the hassle of tackling projects on your own. For residential or commercial landscape maintenance, give us a call at 615-350-6033 or contact us online today to see how The Parke Company difference can work for you!

Can Leaves Kill My Grass?

March 7, 2024October 28, 2021 by The Parke Company

There may be nothing quite as emblematic of fall as the changing of the leaves. When the autumn leaves fall to the ground, the visual effect is gorgeous, but underneath that pile of leaves could be severe damage to your lawn.

Do you know about the threat that fallen leaves can pose to your grass? Here is what you need to know.

What to Know About Grass Damage from Leaves

Sunlight

Without raking leaves and leaf collection, things can quickly go awry for your lawn’s health. One of the greatest threats that fallen leaves can pose to your lawn is linked to sunlight.

It goes without saying that your lawn needs the sun. For those with shaded lawns due to tree coverage, you know the frustration of dead patches of grass that never quite match up to the rest of your lawn. Even in areas of high sun exposure, too much sun can dry out your lawn as well.

Sun exposure for your lawn is a delicate balance, and leaves can significantly disrupt that balance. When leaves are left on your lawn, they block the sun from delivering the necessary nutrients to your lawn and helping it grow. Leaving your yard unraked will inevitably lead to a brown, dry, malnourished lawn.

Moisture

Just like sun exposure, for all plants, moisture is essential for healthy growth. When it comes to leaves, however, the issue may come from too much moisture.

Fall and winter often bring significant changes in temperature, including heavier rainfall. When rains come, the moisture gets trapped beneath leaves with nowhere to go. Even in places with less rainfall, changing temperatures and morning dew can trap condensation below leaves.

As important as moisture is for a healthy lawn, moisture that remains trapped underneath leaves– especially if they are left for a whole season– can lead to dangerous mold.

Not only is mold messy and unappealing, but it can also spread to other parts of your lawn and cause damage to other plants and even your trees, which is a significant safety threat to your property.

While it may be tempting to let leaves sit for the season and handle them after the snow melts, leaves left on your lawn can do a lot more damage than just leave your grass brown.

Lawn Care

Leaf pick up may feel like the landscaping service you can skip, and hope that some rough winds will take care of it for you. But with all of the risks presented by leaves on your lawn, leaf collecting is a critical component of your landscape’s health.

Make it easy by letting a lawn landscaping maintenance company take care of it for you.

Contact The Parke Company Today!

With one quick call to the expert landscaping designers in Nashville, TN, keeping your lawn healthy and leaf-free is a no-brainer. Leaf removal and landscaping services from a landscaping maintenance company like The Parke Company can help you protect and beautify your property without the hassle of tackling projects on your own. For residential or commercial landscape maintenance, give us a call at 615-350-6033 or contact us online today to see how The Parke Company difference can work for you!

Should My Garden Go in the Front or Back Yard?

March 7, 2024October 14, 2021 by The Parke Company

Fall is in full swing, and it’s time to start shifting your paradigm for landscaping projects. As your focus moves away from lawn care and more of your attention is given to leaf collection and overwintering, it is important to remember that now is the time to start planning for next spring.

A garden takes a lot of strategy and effort, which all begins far before the snow melts and tulips start budding. To reap the full benefits of your garden, fall is a great time to start planning out the details.

Before you even think about flowers, fruits, or vegetables, the first step in planning for a new garden is choosing the most optimal location on your property for growth. Here’s what you should know.

Factors to Keep in Mind in Choosing a Location for Your Garden

Sun Exposure

It doesn’t take much lawn and garden knowledge to understand that exposure to the sun is crucial for fostering growth in your garden. When planning the types of plants you want in your garden, it is important to think about the tolerance level your plants will have for sun exposure.

If you have a backyard shaded by trees and neighboring homes, you may want to consider whether your garden will get enough light to grow. Conversely, a full-sun front yard could also be detrimental to plants that are more delicate.

Whatever the layout of your front and back yards, always think about the sun tolerance of your desired plants when you are deciding where to plant your garden.

Irrigation

At its most basic level, a garden needs sun and water. Once you have determined the appropriate amount of sun exposure for your garden, the next thing to consider is the amount of water available to your garden in different areas of your property.

Many property owners take advantage of a lawn irrigation system. Sprinkler irrigation is a great way to ensure that your landscape is watered efficiently without having to remember to turn the sprinklers on. If you have an irrigation system in your front or back yard, you may want to consider how that will factor into the growth of your garden.

Lawns and gardens may not require the same amount or frequency of watering, so it is important to consider how the irrigation systems (or lack thereof) in your front or back yard may affect your new garden.

Curb Appeal

The final and perhaps most important factor to consider when planning the location for your garden is where you think it would look the most beautiful! For some, curb appeal is the top priority, ensuring that your home’s front exterior looks as good as possible. For others, creating a backyard oasis is the goal. Whatever your desire is, choosing between your front yard and backyard should always prioritize the aesthetic beauty of your landscape.

Contact The Parke Company Today!

Planning your garden shouldn’t be hard– make it easy with one quick call to the expert landscaping designers in Nashville, TN! Leaf removal and landscaping services from a landscaping maintenance company like The Parke Company can help you protect and beautify your property without the hassle of tackling projects on your own. For residential or commercial landscape maintenance, give us a call at 615-350-6033 or contact us online today to see how The Parke Company difference can work for you!

Why Bag Leaf Removal Is Important

March 7, 2024September 25, 2021 by The Parke Company

As the temperatures begin to fall, you may be hanging up your gardening gloves. But your landscaping services are far from over as the fall season rolls in. While lawn mowing is important for almost every season, there is one more thing to take care of before snow or ice take over your property: leaf removal!

Spending hours in your yard raking up leaves, filling leaf bags, and hauling them to the curb is a big task, but removing the leaves from your yard is one of the best things you can do to promote a healthy landscape over the fall and winter to set yourself up for a healthy lawn in spring.

Here is why bag leaf removal is essential for your yard.

Benefits of Fall Leaf Removal

Disease Management

While it may be enticing to let winter take over and let the leaves fall where they may, this can lead to disaster in the months to come. When leaves fall on your lawn, those dead leaves can harbor disease and rot that get trapped under the leaf for the season.

With the moisture that lies trapped between layers of snow and leaves, more disease and mold can develop and spread over the winter, leaving you with a damaged lawn when the snow melts. When spring finally arrives, the difference between a healthy, vibrant lawn is leaf collection before the snow falls.

Lawn Health

Especially if your lawn is going to be blanketed in snow soon, it is crucial that you allow your lawn to “breathe” so it maintains as much health as possible. Wet, heavy leaves can weigh down your lawn and prevent nutrients from entering into the soil. Aside from the obvious dangers of diseased or moldy leaves transmitting their illness to the rest of your lawn, leaves that are left over winter can leave massive bleach spots on your lawn.

Save yourself the trouble of a huge lawn improvement project when spring comes around through leaf raking in the fall. Not only will you save your lawn from disease, mold, or unattractive sun spots, leaf raking and removal also keeps your lawn tidy and organized at times while the other aspects of your landscape may be lying dormant.

Contact The Parke Company Today!

When the spring comes around, let your focus be on building a beautiful garden and preparing for the new seasons. Avoid the pitfalls of untended leaves through leaf removal services from The Parke Company.

Taking care of your property shouldn’t be hard– make it easy with one quick call to the expert landscaping designers in Nashville, TN! Leaf removal and landscaping services from a landscaping maintenance company like The Parke Company can help you protect and beautify your property without the hassle of tackling projects on your own. For residential or commercial landscape maintenance, give us a call at 615-350-6033 or contact us online today to see how The Parke Company difference can work for you!

Why Is Pruning Important?

March 7, 2024September 13, 2021 by The Parke Company

As an amateur gardener, you may feel pretty limited working in your yard before you develop your green thumb. If you have a plan for your dream garden, executing it may feel impossible on your own without a landscaping company to help.

Even if you aren’t an experienced landscaping professional, there are some simple landscaping services you can use to significantly improve the aesthetic quality and health of your garden.

It’s simple but effective: pruning! Here is what you need to know about the importance of pruning for your landscape.

What to Know About Pruning

Plant Growth

Beyond anything else, pruninghttps://theparkecompany.com/when-is-the-best-time-of-year-to-prune/ is critical to the health of your landscape. Just like getting a routine trim is essential to encourage growth for your hair, pruning trims away dead excess and promotes growth for your plants. Even if you are not an expert, everyone can trim away a few inches of the dead ends on your plants, so only the strong portions remain.

As seasons shift and before winter begins, special pruning can help to maintain the health of your plants over a season that may normally be adverse to the health of your plants and shrubs. Pruning is important because it is often the only way to promote long-term health for your landscape.

Disease Management

Aside from pests and adverse weather, disease is your garden’s number one threat. Even in a typically healthy landscape, diseases, fungus, and other invasive species can infect your garden and entirely kill off your different shrubs and plants. In some cases, mold and weather-related factors can lead to disease in your garden. In these circumstances, long-term solutions like adjusting your watering techniques and learning the intricacies of your region’s climate can help to prevent disease from returning. But the quickest and most efficient way to keep disease from spreading in your garden is through pruning.

When you spot mold and rot spreading on your plants, your first order of business should be to trim it away so that it does not spread to other plants. Trimming away disease is even more important for larger plants and trees because compromised health is more consequential for a large plant. A disease-ridden tree is certainly unattractive and can result in the spread of disease to other plants, but a compromised tree is a fall risk that can put your home and your family in the way of danger. Especially when you see disease on your property’s trees, pruning should always be step one.

Aesthetic Improvement

In the best case scenario, your landscape will be lush, healthy, and free of disease. In these circumstances, pruning is still important, but for aesthetic reasons. An overgrown lawn or garden looks unruly and can detract from even the most carefully crafted curb appeal. In even more dire circumstances, an unkempt landscape can look like a neglected home, making a home break-in more likely if your home is believed to be unoccupied.

Pruning helps to maintain the look of your home and improve curb appeal without any extensive or costly services.

Contact The Parke Company Today!

Pruning may seem simple: just a set of garden-variety shears can get the job done. Even so, this simple task can be your first line of defense against disease and degradation in your garden. Taking care of your property shouldn’t be hard– make it easy with one quick call to the expert landscaping designers in Nashville, TN!

Landscaping services from a landscaping maintenance company like The Parke Company can help you protect and beautify your property without the hassle of tackling projects on your own. For residential or commercial landscape maintenance, give us a call at 615-350-6033 or contact us online today to see how The Parke Company difference can work for you!