One common problem that many homeowners struggle with is maintaining a healthy yard. Countless dollars are spent annually on planting, upkeep, and replacing landscaping and lawns, leading some homeowners to downsize their properties in an effort to save time and money. Fortunately, with the proper care and knowledge, your lawn and landscape can thrive without costing you too much time and money. Here are some tips on how to get your yard looking better than ever without breaking the bank or your back.

Choose The Right Types Of Plants And Sod

It is easy to get excited about all of the plants, trees, and sod types you find at your local nursery, but don’t get so swept away in the beautiful options too easily. Half of the battle of maintaining a healthy landscape is choosing the right plants for your space. Plants are often given numbers to correspond with their ideal growing zones. Choose the ones that match your specific region to ensure best case scenario with growth and longevity. Make sure you know your soil type before laying sod and other plants so that they have the greatest chance of survival.

Provide Your Landscape Proper Nutritian

The second thing you probably forget about is giving your plants and grass the proper nutrients they need to be healthy in any season. Most people think that simply watering the yard is enough, when in actuality if you want a picture-perfect yard, you’re going to have to do a lot more. Plants and grass require particular nutrients to thrive, so you should look into exactly which ones are right for you and your yard. If your grass is looking faded, brown, or patchy, this is a sign that you need to fertilize it with the correct nutrients to get it back to good health properly.

Up Your Lawncare Game

Finally, we have a cheat code for those who still have an unhealthy yard and don’t know what to do to keep it in shape. Landscaping companies are professional businesses designed to care for your yard in any way that is needed, doing whatever it takes to make it look amazing. With expert knowledge in what it takes to keep yards and grass healthy, these companies will regularly come and tend to your yard for you. That means no more working in the hot sun for hours a day with little results and no more patchy unprofessional-looking yards. With landscaping companies, you will have the best yard in the neighborhood guaranteed.

When you get down to the basics, plants are pretty simple. They require sunlight, water, and oxygen. This makes them pretty foolproof, right?

However, what if your plants have all the essentials, but they still struggle to grow? If this happens, it may be time to invest in a soil test.

When Should You Conduct a Soil Test?

There are several situations when you should conduct a soil test. These include:

• One hasn’t been done in three years
• You want to see if amendments have an impact
• You moved and want to see what type of soil you have
• You plan to expand your garden
• Your plant is struggling to grow

Is There a Right Time of the Year to Conduct a Soil Test?

If you think there is a problem, it’s best to conduct a soil test sooner rather than later. It is best to do this when the soil is not frozen. That way, you can make any needed changes as soon as you get the results back. You will also have time to recalibrate the soil. Remember, when it comes to changing any issues with the soil in your yard, it will take some time. This means you need to remain patient and don’t give up.

Who Conducts Soil Testing?

For immediate results, you can purchase a soil kit from the local home and garden store and handle the process yourself. Or, if you are patient, have a professional handle the job. In most cases, the results received from the pros will be more accurate. There are plenty of landscaping services that provide this as a service along with your local Extension office.

What Information Does the Soil Test Provide?

A soil test is going to let you know everything about your soil. This includes the amount of organic matter present, the level of macronutrients, and the pH level. The standard tests will only provide you with information on the characteristics of the soil. This means they do not test for other things, such as pesticides, pollutants, or other compounds that may be toxic.

With more advanced tests, you can get even more information, such as the soil’s texture (i.e., sand, clay, or silt). You will also be able to learn more about the different micronutrients that are in your soil. You can even measure the soil salinity, which tells you the amount of salt that is present. If your plants do not grow well, this is information can be valuable.

Once you have this information, you can make changes as needed or have the professional service you hired to do this for you. Some of the most common solutions for poor soil include:

• Add organic matter
• Add organic mulch for high pH and a product containing lime for low pH
• Use fertilizer with the nutrients lacking in your soil

By having a soil test conducted, you will know what is going on with your soil and what your plants need to not only survive but thrive. Keep this information in mind to make the most of this growing season.

When the snow is falling in the wintertime, heaters are on full blast, and young children frolic in the snowmaking snow angels; what better time is there than now to plan to make your garden from springtime? The answer is yes; you will arrange for the future like little chipmunks storing up food for the wintertime. You have the whole season to pick your vegetables, build or mend raised beds, clean your tools, and make a map of your garden.  

Tidy the vegetable Garden Beds  

By the end of the year, often, the vegetable garden is a complete disaster. Please make use of your time and break up jobs working to clean one vegetable bed or section at a time until they are all cleaned up and ready for winter. You can do this by removing all dead vegetation. Often, diseases, including light blight and pests, can stay on foliage and fruit left in the garden. Be sure to take out all dead plants and any rotted fruit or vegetables left in the garden. Add plants to the compost pile that isn’t affected by the disease. Unfortunately, most compost piles do not get hot enough to kill off disease or fungus. If your foliage were unhealthy with the disease, remove the vegetation in the household trash or burn it to keep it from seeping into the compost pile.  

Add a Layer of Compost and Mulch

Move aside any mulch, pull weeds, and add a 1-2 inch layer of compost.  Cover the beds with the old mulch to keep weeds from growing and protect the soil. Many diseases and pests die off when the soil freezes in the wintertime. If you mulch the beds too thickly, it could prevent the ground from freezing completely. When the ground freezes, add another layer of mulch to perennial herbs and flowers. It is also an excellent time to do a soil test to tell if your soil will benefit from additions to add nutrients and alter the pH level. Soil test results will indicate the Soil pH, potassium levels, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, and sulfur. It also will tell you the level of organic matter and lead content in your soil.  

Fertilizing and Tilling

Nicely grown vegetables get the nutrients they need for a full life from both fertilizer and organic matter. Work aged compost into the vegetable beds before you plant will make the soil structure better and provide the plants with much-needed nutrition. Most vegetable beds will benefit from an additional 2-inch layer of compost while adding a more profound layer will improve the quality of moisture retention in sandier soils. Amending the soil at too early of a date in spring can result in large clumps of compacting. Till the ground only when appropriate by waiting until it has dried enough to work adequately. When the soil is ready for tilling, use any fertilizer amendments over the beds and dig into the top 8 inches to a foot of soil.  Tear up any large clumps, and throw away any large roots you find while tilling.  

Enjoy your Vegetable Beds

Enjoy your gardening and what your garden yields each year. For more information and details on your lawn and gardening, visit Rhode Island lawns for the most up to date information.