Home is where the heart is!! And it doesn’t hurt to invest in making it your happy place. Since much thought has already gone into making your home, the next logical thing is to make the outdoor spaces usable. For instance, getting the services of landscaping contractors will take away the headache of trying to find the perfect layout and figuring out how to execute it.
Be it hardscaping, stonework, gardens, lighting and water, invasive species plant control, water conservation, maintenance, or tree services, your safe bet is to hire landscaping professionals who will, in turn, help you create usable outdoor spaces around your home. Here are nine recommended landscaping services to hire.
1. Lawn Mowing
Landscaping contractors are one of the key landscaping services to hire to achieve a beautiful lawn. Lawn mowing services not only improve the overall look of your garden but also add value to your property. Landscapers will tell you that regularly mowed gardens have grass that’s always growing due to the better distribution of water and sun nutrients.
Whether you want to revamp an existing lawn or construct a new one, a landscaping contractor will advise you accordingly. They’re knowledgeable about how to achieve quick lawn coverage. You can also ask them for tips on the best grass species for your area’s climate.
If you desire a natural lawn devoid of chemicals, landscaping contractors can also help. As a homeowner, investing in natural lawn care involves; having your grass mowed at the highest setting and then afterward letting it stay long in length to allow it to maximize photosynthesis on its surface area, which eventually has a positive effect of deeper and thicker grassroots that outcompete weeds. Landscapers will help your garden or lawn not be overrun with weeds. They can also assist you with lawn maintenance tasks such as aerating your lawn, and creating and applying mulch and fertilizer, among others.
2. Land Clearing
A land clearing service offers a way to responsibly remove unwanted rocks, stumps, bushes, and trees in preparation for landscaping your exterior. It’ll allow you to maximize the exterior space of your property. These services can also reclaim portions of surrounding land and make them valuable in relation to their proximity to your home.
A land clearing service may employ different approaches for a job; mechanical land clearing, which uses large machinery that need to be operated by an expert, or manual clearing, which involves the use of common gardening tools such as axes, slashers, machetes, or hoes to get the task done. The latter is cheaper, slower, and inexpensive but impractical for large tracts of land. Chemical spray clearing is only recommended if you intend to grow fruits and vegetables on your land. It’s not ideal for trees and elaborate plant life. Consider hiring a land clearing service when your home landscaping needs site inspection to ascertain the extent of land clearing needed.
3. Garden Maintenance
Another key landscaping service to hire is garden maintenance. It’s a key part of great lawn and garden care. If you desire a native landscape complete with native plants that coexist harmoniously with pollinators while preserving the local ecosystem, your best bet is paying for the services of a landscaper..
The symmetry and precision of formal gardens complement colonial-style homes. This geometric landscape style’s garden maintenance involves dealing with fountains, boxwood hedges, sitting areas, and rigid plant layouts. It incorporates stonework, patios, walls, evergreen, and perfectly hedged shrubs.
If you enjoy vegetable gardening, you can use garden maintenance services to create raised beds, perfectly balance the soils with nutrients and aeration, and enclose the gardens for visual and functional purposes. If you’d like to grow a hub garden for culinary and medicinal purposes, professional garden maintenance will also be valuable.
A prairie garden is yet another option. They have an organic look and are characterized by wildflowers and native grass. They’re easy to set up and equally low maintenance. Their vibrant colored flowers play in the foreground of homes, eventually making beautiful backdrops. Regardless of what you’re going for, garden maintenance is a must-have service for a great landscape.
4. Artificial Grass Installation
You may also want to include an artificial grass installation service in your list of landscaping services to hire for several reasons. If you live in an area that receives minimal rainfall or experiences water rationing, installing artificial turf will allow you to enjoy your outdoor spaces while keeping your use of natural resources low.
Since you won’t have to water, mow, fertilize, or worry about pests, long-term maintenance costs will be quite low. You’ll only need to use a blower to remove debris for the most part. There’s also the fact that artificial grass doesn’t develop bare patches or spots due to pet urine and can withstand digging or other damage caused by dogs. Cleaning your pet’s messes will also be easier because artificial turf drains well and is easy to wash.
You can still plant trees within artificial turf. In fact, they complement each other. In contrast, trees can affect the health of living turfgrass. Note that artificial grass usually comes in long, skinny, rectangular rolls. So if you’re installing the turf in a circular space, you’ll still have to cover the cost of the corners you cut off.
That said, be ready to fork out more money than you would for installing a sod lawn with sprinklers. This is why most homeowners only install them in areas where they entertain, walk, or regularly use the lawn. Because artificial grass uses nylon or polymer, it can heat up when exposed to sunshine, which can be painful for your pet. The best place to install it is in the shade.
5. Pest Control
Landscape pest control is another great example of landscaping services to hire. Pests cause untold misery and anxiety to homeowners globally. You should be able to enjoy your home’s outdoor spaces without worrying about these little creatures. A professional and well-designed seasonal pest control program will conveniently and effectively address any pest issues on your property, allowing you to enjoy your residence all year round.
To tackle pests such as fleas, mosquitoes, midges, and ticks, they’ll pay special attention to areas beneath shrubs and trees, beneath the foliage, in wooded areas and tall grass, and all the potential pests’ hideouts. This can be scheduled intermittently between the start of spring to the beginning of winter.
It’s prudent to hire a landscape pest control service that offers both interior and exterior pest control treatments. Winter treatments should focus on interior home invasion, whereas fall, summer, and spring treatments should focus on outdoor pest invasions.
The goal is to sanitize the living spaces where residents will most likely spend the most time per season. Pest control ensures wasps, ants, crickets, centipedes, and carpenter bees don’t access the home interiors in the warm seasons. At the same time, they keep snakes, rats, scorpions, and other outdoor invaders away from your gardens, including your rock garden. During fall, overwintering pests like cluster flies, stink bugs, and boxelder bugs aren’t to be spared.
For the best results, ensure you hire professionals for artificial grass installation. Not only do they have the tools and experience to complete the job in a timely manner, but they also know which materials are great for your yard and area’s climate. Different types work best in different applications. Professionals will also give you maintenance advice, which is typically different for artificial grass than it is for natural grass.
6. Tree Care
Whether you need tree removal, tree felling, tree pruning, or stump grinding, you should always hire a professional tree care service. Doing this offers several benefits. One of these is it improves the overall health of trees on your property. An expert arborist will assess their condition and offer recommendations for maintenance, such as trimming, mulching, and fertilization. By taking these steps, your trees will be more resilient to pests, disease, and the effects of harsh weather. This can help them live longer while maintaining their aesthetic.
Trees that are properly cared for and pruned can also help you avoid hazardous scenarios like limbs falling on your home or automobile, roots penetrating the foundation, and branches obstructing traffic. So by hiring professional tree services, you’ll significantly reduce the risk posed to you and your family.
When you spend money on expert tree services, you’ll not only improve your yard’s aesthetic but also increase your home’s value. Trees are among the first features of a home that prospective buyers see and can raise a property’s value by 20%, according to J&C Tree Experts. Most buyers are on the lookout for homes with healthy and well-maintained landscapes, as it’s usually a sign that the rest of the home is well-cared for.
While there’s a cost involved with hiring professional tree services, doing so can save you money on your energy bills. Trimmed and correctly positioned trees provide shade to keep your home cooler in the summer. The savings will come from your reduced reliance on the air conditioner.
It’s a fact that the air quality in most parts of the world is degrading. This can be attributed to several factors, including agricultural activities, vehicle emissions, and industrialization. Due to their capacity to absorb harmful pollutants and release pure oxygen into the environment, trees play a key role in improving air quality.
7. Tree Removal
When you need to remove a tree from your property, your initial impulse may be to undertake the work yourself to save money. However, tree removal isn’t the job to cut corners. You need the right tools and machinery to remove a tree, and probably, none of them are lying around in your garage or shed. The cost of purchasing these instruments and the time required to remove a tree will make you realize hiring a professional tree cutting service is worth every penny.
Dying or dead tree limbs pose a safety hazard. They put your roof, those inside your home, power lines, sewers, and nearby cars at risk of damage in the eventuality that they fall. When you include professional tree removal services in your list of landscaping services to hire, they’ll assess the condition of each tree on your property, both big and small, and recommend pruning, cutting, or removal.
The process of tree removal itself can be quite dangerous. Instead of doing the job yourself or hiring your friend who needs the money, hire professionals to keep you, your family, and your home safe. If you attempt to cut a tree on your own, you’ll be left with a stump at the site where the tree once stood.
Stumps can lead to several issues on your lawn. First of all, they are unsightly and can make mowing your lawn harder than it has to be. They can also serve as a breeding ground for fungi and pests.
8. Weed Removal
When you spot weeds in your yard, your first instinct will likely be to head to your local home improvement store and grab the first weed killer you see instead of looking for the right landscaping services to hire. However, for larger spaces, these products can have a negative impact on the local environment. Certain pesticides or herbs may also be banned in your city.
There’s also the fact that the weed control formulas you find at your local hardware store won’t be strong enough to eliminate those weeds. The most effective approach to removing weeds is by hiring professional landscape businesses. These professionals know the best products for different pests and how to use them.
In some cases, a severe case of weeds may be tied to the soil’s quality. It can create a favorable environment for pests, insects, and algae. These unwanted guests can start causing issues for your lovely flowers and shrubs. Professional landscaping services can perform a soil test to establish the issues to recommend the best solution.
Your home’s landscape significantly contributes to its curb appeal. If you neglect its needs, it’ll bring down the overall aesthetic, but if you keep up with maintenance, you’ll end up with a landscape that’s the envy of your neighborhood. Consider the landscaping services to hire mentioned in this read to help you achieve your landscaping goals.