Kansas City Landscaping and Lawn Care Ideas

I have great news! Crabgrass has been eradicated from the state of Kansas. Absolutely annihilated — every single plant! Not a single plant growing in anyone’s yard anywhere in the state or Kansas City. Ok — here is the bad news, this is not a result of any miraculous event or secret government work. Instead, since crabgrass is a warm season annual, it all died after the first hard frost.

However, there are literally billions of small crabgrass seeds laying in wait for the soil temperature to rise to 55 degrees for 10 consecutive days. Each crabgrass plant in your yard last year produced upwards of 180,000 seeds and flung them into the air. Even if you didn’t have a single plant in your yard last year — your neighbors did and they generously shared their crop of invasive weeds with you — guaranteed. Don’t worry though — you can outsmart the crabgrass and keep it from ruining your otherwise pristine yard. Here’s how.

The battle against crabgrass is two pronged. One uses chemical warfare to initially suppress the onslaught and the second uses good cultural practices to make your lawn uninviting and able to fight off the crabgrass gremlins before they get a chance to grow.

Before you can fight the enemy — you have to know the enemy. (more…)

It’s early spring and we are all biting at the bit to get outside. If you are like me, you are grasping at anything that even remotely looks like its green or growing. This is no doubt why you so anxiously picked up this magazine – looking for spring.

One important thing with which you can busy yourself right now is deciding how you are going to care for your lawn.

1) Mow and fertilize by yourself.

2) Mow yourself and have your lawn professionally fertilized.

3) Have your lawn professionally mowed and fertilized.

The right option for you is determined by many variables and each option should be considered to decide which would allow you to most enjoy your lawn.

1) Mow and Fertilize yourself. This option is great if you are a tinkerer, one who likes to be out in your lawn several days a week and to be in complete control of each detail. This option allows you the freedom needed to attend to each detail of your lawn. If you have the time and the expertise, this can lead to a wonderful lawn. This option is the cheapest, if you consider your time very cheap. However, even if you consider your free time at a modest amount of $15-20/hr, this option can easily end up being the most expensive of all the options when you consider the time involved. Additionally, the resources available to you are much more limited and expensive than to a professional.

2) Mow yourself and have your lawn professionally fertilized. This option is best for the homeowner who enjoys spending some time in their lawn, but does not have the time available to research and study proper fertilization and the science behind turfgrass maintenance. However, by mowing the lawn on a regular basis you can still take pride in providing the primary care of your lawn. This allows somebody who specializes in turfgrass to do the work that requires the expertise and allows the homeowner to do the hard “work” of mowing.

4) Have your lawn professionally mowed and fertilized. This option is ideal for the person who values their free time very highly. There are several reasons someone might choose to have their lawn professionally maintained. The primary reason is that they work hard at something at which they are experts and would rather spend a small portion of their time doing extra work for which they get paid and pay a lawn care expert to work in their lawn. For instance, one of my customers is a nurse. By simply working two extra hours a week she was able to pay me to take care of all her lawn and flowerbed needs. Yard work usually took her 4 or 5 hours a week, so she gained 3 hours of leisure time a week and her yard looked better than ever thanks to my helpful touch!

It is important to consider the pros and cons for each of these options when you plan how to care for your lawn. The value of time, money and expertise all play into what’s best for you.

If you decide that mowing or fertilizing yourself is the best plan for you, make sure to do your research. There are a multitude of products from which to choose in regards to both fertilizers and weed controls. When you buy fertilizers, you have to be careful and look past the advertising. I have found that when shopping at the big box stores, the more expensive fertilizers tend to have the cheapest products inside. Oftentimes, you are paying more for the ink on the outside of the bags than the product on the inside. However, if you do your research and know what to look for on the labels you can find quality products.

Research is also necessary when selecting a lawn care company. Just like bags of fertilizer, you have to look past the flashy advertising and see what is offered. A high quality lawn service starts and ends with the person doing the applications. The person needs to have a large well of knowledge in order to be able to diagnose and pamper your lawn’s every need. They should be fully licensed and insured and they should readily provide you with references of satisfied customers.

The signs of spring are there – let them help lead you to the best way to enjoy your lawn!

Water — the life blood for trees, flowers and shrubs and is exactly what Kansas City gardeners pray for more than anything else.  EXCEPT when it comes down and freezes on the branches, leaves and trunks of the trees in our landscapes.  Then it becomes a massively destructive force.

The victims are predictable, elms, silver maples, birches, Bradford pears and willows.  These are some of Kansas City’s favorite landscape trees — but they are on a landscaper’s hit list.  There wood is brittle and their growth structures is suspect.  They cannot withstand the mighty weight that ice puts upon their branches.

If your trees have major damage, your first course of action is to make a decision. IS THE TREE WORTH SAVING?  Look at what the damage is.

Is it major damage to an already weak tree?

Will the aesthetic value of the tree be ruined permentantly?

Will the damage make a weak tree more prone to disease and future damage?

The costs of major repairs can be the same as removing a tree altogether.  Kansas City has a plethora of UGLY trees dotting our streets and landscapes from past years growth.  Many of these trees, even under the care of a certified arborist, would not be able to saved and would have been better off if cut down and replaced with another high quality tree that would add to the homes value and looks.

Remember - -the best time to plant a tree was 10 years ago! The second best time is today!The next question to answer is – Can you handle the repair y0ourself? Small limbs can be easily repaired with pruning shears or pole-loppers provided they are within reach. Otherwise you will have to climb a ladder up into the tree. Unfortunately – more people are killed from ladders and tree climbing in the United States than are killed skydiving – so this can be more dangerous than you might expect. Power tools should NEVER be used from a ladder since this compounds the danger incredibly. Some repairs you might consider doing yourself.Broken limbs - These should be removed back to the next major branch. Do not leave branch stubs – they lead to decay and disease.Broken tops - For trees with tops broken out, remove the snags to the next major interior branch. Generally, this will be a major fork. Avoid topping the tree to allow small side branches to grow out and continue the tree’s height growth. These branches will be weak and prone to breakage.

If the bark has been stripped from the trunk of the tree when it the ice broke the limb then cut any ragged edges off the trunk. Take care not to pull any extra bark off the tree. Cut any loose bark away with a sharp knife in the shape of an elongated football standing on it tip.

To avoid doing further damage to the trees as you cut it then this 3 step procedure should be used when cutting any heavy branches off of the tree. The first cut is made on the underneath side of the branch about 18 inches out from the trunk. The cut should be approximately half-way through the branch or until its weight first starts to bind the saw. The next cut should be made on top of the branch about 1 to 2 inches in front (toward the end of the branch) of the bottom cut. Continue cutting until the branch drops free. The last cut removes the remaining branch stub from the trunk. The cut should be made from the top of the branch at the branch collar. The collar is the slight ridge where the branch attaches to the tree’s trunk or another major branch.

Trees with split trunks or major limb forks may possibly be salvaged if the split is not too extensive. Repairing this type of damage will involve a cable and brace technique that should be left to a professional tree service. Some small to medium-sized trees may have been uprooted. It may be possible to straighten these trees and brace them with guy wires. Do not attempt this unless one-half to one-third of the tree’s original root system is still in the soil and the remaining exposed roots are relatively compact and undisturbed. Before straightening the tree, remove some of the soil from beneath the root mass so the roots will be placed below the existing grade level. Attach two to three guy wires to the trunk and anchor the wires 10 to 12 feet away from the tree. Corrective pruning to help improve the shape of damaged trees is best done now. The tree will respond quickly this spring if it has not been severely damaged. Take care not to remove more than one-third of original branches. This will severely retard the tree’s growth in the spring and may damage it beyond recovery. Treatment of the trunk and limb wounds with tree paint is not necessary. In fact, research shows that painted areas can lead to increased rot and decay due to trapped moisture in areas where the paint cracks open. You may want to fertilize your tree this spring with a good quality tree fertilizer now to encourage new growth in the spring.