Lawn Archives - OCI Landscaping and Irrigation

26 Jul 2018

By yardmaintenance Landscaping, Lawn

How to Fix a Waterlogged Lawn

Although we all know that a well-kept lawn requires regular watering, it is important to get the right balance. Too much water can actually lead to problems such as root rot and diseased plants. If your lawn retains water, leaving pools behind every time it rains, it could be waterlogged. Here are some different ways in which you can solve this problem.

Install a Drainage System

This is, of course, the most expensive option, so you want to be sure that you do in fact have a drainage problem before you go ahead. It could just be that heavy rainfall means the water takes longer to drain away, so a simple test can determine whether your lawn is actually waterlogged. Dig a hole two feet deep and fill it with water. If that water has not drained within four hours, it does require drainage. To install a drainage system, you will need to start work in late summer or early winter when the soil is dry. The procedure then involves digging a ditch to redirect the stagnant water. There are different types of ditch, such as French and Herringbone, so it would be wise to do some research before you get started or to perhaps enlist the help of a professional.

Lawn Re-grading

If you have noticed that you have water problems in your basement, it could actually be that the lawn is on a slope, causing the water to drain towards your house. Re-grading your lawn can correct this problem whilst creating a more useable lawn at the same time. Lawn grading and leveling is a great way to fix puddling, but it may require a completely new grass reseed or sod.

Invest in a Rain Barrel

Although the guttering around your house does a great job of keeping the rain from accumulating on the roof, you may not have considered drainage for your sheds and/or outbuildings. If you install guttering around your shed and redirect it to a rain barrel, you are providing yourself with two advantages; one, you are redirecting rain that would otherwise clog your lawn, and two, you will have an extra water supply during the drier seasons.

Choose the Right Plants

Believe it or not, but the plants growing in your garden can have an impact on the way your lawn drains itself. Plants like those from the hydrangea species can actually help to regulate wet soil whereas fuchsias and geraniums are better suited to white clay soil gardens. Rodgersia pinnata is another must-have plant for a garden with poor drainage, and most forms of Iris sibirica thrive in moisture. Investing in the right plants is also a good idea if all your best efforts to remedy a waterlogged lawn have failed. Opting for a bog garden aesthetic may be the only way to go.

Dealing with a waterlogged garden need not be a life-long problem. Some of these methods could be the perfect solution for your lawn.

Contributed by: Bret Szotak, foremost expert in landscaping and irrigation.

27 Mar 2018

Grass-Fertilization-weed-control-kelowna

By yardmaintenance Lawn adding lime to lawn, fertilizing lawn

Why You Should Lime Your Lawn In Spring

Although it may not feel like it in many parts of our great (and cold) country, it is, technically, officially spring in Canada. We made it, folks! Lawn care season is just around the corner.

Early spring is an ideal time to lime your lawn, and is a great way to further improve your soil after performing a core aeration on your lawn. If your lawn is wilted or dormant, never apply lime; instead, wait for a time when the lawn is actively growing like early spring or fall.

Regular liming can do a wealth of good for your grass. With a number of benefits, calcitic lime is a welcome addition for every home lawn, especially those that need a little TLC.

With baseball starting and Easter coming fast, it’s hard to deny that spring is here. That means it’s time to start mentally preparing for the lawn care season, even if your grass won’t see any action for a few weeks yet.

Here’s why spring is the perfect time to lime your lawn

Balance Soil pH

When soil is acidic, it becomes extremely hard to grow healthy grass. As the soil acidity gets worse, plant essential nutrients become unavailable for the plant to uptake, such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium – the three macro nutrients required for healthy growth. Neutralizing soil pH effectively frees up these essential nutrients, giving your lawn a better chance to thrive.

Manage Moss

Unlike grass, moss thrives in acidic soil. Moss infestations are common in shady, moist areas well as many coastal regions with acidic soil pH, where grass finds it very difficult to compete.

Using calcitic lime will help neutralize your soil pH, giving turf a better chance at outcompeting moss, and reducing infestation.

That said, lime cannot kill moss. Although annual lime treatments are very beneficial and a good cultural practice, existing moss infestations may require moss control treatments.

Manage Weeds

Like moss, weeds can thrive in acidic soil. Getting the soil back to optimal conditions, you’re giving your grass a better chance to grow and outcompete weeds. Like a baseball player training during the off-season, it’s important to give your grass an advantage over its competitors.

Preserve and Protect Your Lawn

While the major benefit of using lime in your lawn is correcting soil acidity, calcitic lime also adds an important nutrient to your lawn; that’s right, calcium.

Calcium helps maintain your lawn’s colour and strength, and also helps protect the lawn from stress, including heat, drought, or heavy foot traffic.

Improve Fertilizer Performance

Liming can help improve the efficiency of your fertilizing efforts by nourishing the good bacteria found in soil. This in turn will make your fertilizer perform better, since the lime optimizes soil pH allowing plant essential nutrients to become available.

Correcting undesirable soil pH conditions prior to and during fertilizer applications is recommended practice.

Contributed by: Brent Szotak expert in lawn care and irrigation.

928 Arbor View Drive
Kelowna, BC.
V1W-5B5

Phone: 778.214.2352
info@ocilandscaping.com
www.ocilandscaping.com

02 Jan 2018

By yardmaintenance Lawn lawn damage, salt damage to lawn

How to Combat Salt Damage to Your Lawn

Welcome to 2018, folks! It’s great to see you all in the new year.

With the holidays over and parts of Canada smack dab in the middle of a cold, icy winter, many Canadians are turning to road salts to help stabilize their walkways and driveways.

Lawns suffer enough from the damaging effects that snow and ice can cause over the winter months. Compounding things, adding road salt and sidewalk ice-melter to the equation can make things even worse. Areas of the lawn along the edges of sidewalks, boulevards and driveways are often left damaged in the spring when the snow melts, creating an eye sore and a whole mess of problems to deal with.

Here’s how to combat salt damage on your lawn.

Salt Damage

In order to remedy the effects of salt damage to your lawn, one must first learn about what it is and what causes it.

Road salts and ice melters are effectively used to prevent the buildup of snow and ice during the winter months. However, the concentration of these salts that accumulate in places where snow is piled can be very hard on the lawn and the soil – creating damaged areas.

Salt accumulation removes moisture from the soil, preventing it from getting to the plants roots. When this happens plants become dehydrated and die. Salt accumulation also prevents and blocks the plant from absorbing the essential nutrients it requires to grow healthy – including potassium, calcium, and magnesium – instead absorbing sodium and chloride that can become toxic.

Recovery

Now that we know what salt damage is, what can we do to combat it?

To help encourage a quick recovery, aggressively flushing the salt damaged areas with deep water soakings can help leach away the salt below the root levels of the lawn. Core aeration and overseeding practices can also help re-establish turf in the damaged areas, while an application of gypsum will also help free up and break down the salt accumulation in the soil.

Need some help with your lawn we are here for you. Contact the Lawn and Yard experts at

928 Arbor View Drive
Kelowna, BC.
V1W-5B5

Phone: 778.214.2352
info@ocilandscaping.com
www.ocilandscaping.com

06 Dec 2017

protecting landscaping during winter months

By yardmaintenance Lawn lawn care, lawn winterization

What Happens to Your Lawn In Winter?

That’s right folks, the official start of winter is almost upon us. ‘Tis the season for tobogganing, ice skating, and cups of warm hot chocolate. In many parts of Canada, it’s also the season when temperatures drop and lawn’s gets covered in blankets of white, fluffy snow.

Are you curious about what happens to your lawn in winter? If so, this is the blog for you.

Winter Kill

Winter kill is a common term used to describe turf damage that takes place during winter. Most people assume winter kill only happens when snow is covering the lawn, however that is not true. Lawns covered with snow for months at a time certainly do see their fair share of turf damage, but snow alone is not the only factor that causes damage.

Region by Region

Depending on what part of the country you live in, the amount of snow coverage and the length of time the lawn is covered by snow can be significantly different region by region. The majority of Canada, with the exception of coastal regions in British Columbia, regularly experience consistent snowfall and snow coverage for the better part of 3–4 months (specifically December through March). With that being said, these areas can be faced with winter kill damage that’s caused by snow coverage depending on the year.

Snow Coverage

Generally speaking, when a lawn is covered with snow vs. not being covered during the harsh winter months, it’s usually regarded as a positive, considering the lasting effects other factors can have on a lawn. Consistent snow coverage acts similar to a blanket in that it helps insulate the grass plants and their roots from cold temperature extremes. Exposure to these temperature extremes, combined with wind, ice, and freeze/thaw conditions can be very damaging without snow coverage!

A lawn can experience a range of symptoms during the Winter months, including;

Ice damage
Low temperature kill
Crown Hydration
Winter desiccation
Salt damage
Snow mold damage
Snow plow damage
Voles damage

Contributed by: Brent Szotak, Landscaper and foremost lawncare expert

928 Arbor View Drive
Kelowna, BC.
V1W-5B5

Phone: 778.214.2352
info@ocilandscaping.com
www.ocilandscaping.com

28 Nov 2017

By yardmaintenance Lawn frost on grass, grass, lawn care

How To Avoid Frost Damage To Your Lawn

Don’t look now folks, but December is right around the corner. That means the days are growing shorter, the air is getting colder, and frost is starting to appear on our lawns. Lucky us, right?

Depending on where you live in Canada, you’ve probably started to notice some silver frost blanketing your grass and gardens in the early morning.

While it may be pleasing to the eye, frost can actually be a real problem for your lawn if not properly monitored.

Here are some tips for avoiding frost damage on your lawn

Frost Facts

While many theories exist about how frost damages living tissue, the most common belief is that ice crystals damage and kill plant cells when they are forced into the leaf by the weight of a foot or by other means of traffic across a lawn.

For frost to properly form on grass, many people believe that the temperature must fall to freezing. However, frost can occur in low lying shaded areas even when the official temperature is above 3°c, so you need to be careful depending on where you live in Canada.

Even if it’s not freezing cold outside, frost can still affect your lawn.

Stay Off Your Lawn

Walking over a lawn that is frost covered can cause significant and unsightly damage to the turf. Damage first appears as a blackening of the leaves, which gradually turns to a brown or tan colour. Sounds like a heck of an eyesore to me!

Don’t let this happen to your turf, folks. If and when it does get cold enough for frost, be sure to stay off of your frosted grass until the sun melts the frost away.

Test the Grass

Testing your grass after the temperature drops is a foolproof way of ensuring that no accidental frost damage occurs.

A quick test to determine whether it is safe to walk on the grass is to simply take your hand and wipe it parallel along the surface (tips) of the turf. If your had stays dry throughout the duration of the test, it is still too soon to walk on the turf. If your hand is wet, then the frost has started to melt and it is safe to walk on.

Contributed by: Brent Szotak Landscaper and foremost yard expert.

928 Arbor View Drive
Kelowna, BC.
V1W-5B5

Phone: 778.214.2352
info@ocilandscaping.com
www.ocilandscaping.com

07 Nov 2017

By yardmaintenance Lawn grass cutting, lawn mowing

Cutting your Lawn for Last time of Season

It’s the final countdown…. to Winter, that is. With just over a month to go before the official start of Winter, now is the time to get your final mow of the season done before the ground freezes and your lawn mower begins its hibernation. Can’t believe we’re here already!

Here is everything you need to know about your last mow of the season.

Mow It Short

The final mow before winter should be adjusted so that the lawn is cut shorter than usual. Adjusting the height between 1.5 – 2 inches is a good bet. This can help prevent disease over the winter, as longer grass gets easily matted down, making it ideal for diseases to damage the lawn.

Be careful with the height adjustment, though – you don’t want to scalp your grass – so adjusting the height in stages during the last few cuts before the final mow is a good idea.

Don’t forget to raise the mower back up to 2.5 inches for that glorious first mow in the Spring!

Bag The Clippings

When the mowing is finished, remember to bag and compost the clippings if the cuttings start to pile up on your lawn. The less organic material you have on your lawn before winter, the better.

While it’s a common practice to mulch using organic material in the summer, bagging it in the Fall is more ideal because it eliminates clumps that could lead to diseases if left unattended.

Avoid Frost

Avoid mowing your lawn if the ground is dormant, covered in frost, or is already wet. These issues will make the grass clumpy and fragile, and you’ll end up doing more harm than good to your lawn in the long run.

A frost covered lawn should always be stayed off of until the frost has lifted.

Other Maintenance

After finishing up with the mowing, use this to time to tackle other maintenance tasks that you didn’t have time for in the Spring and Summer months. Your mower has gone through a busy stretch, and needs a little TLC to get back into working shape for next season.

You should inspect your mower for damaged parts, install a new spark plug, change the oil, empty the gas tank and remove the dull mower blades for sharpening. For those of you that aren’t do-it-yourselfers, take your mowers to a small engine repair shop or your local hardware store for the necessary repairs.

Contributed by:

928 Arbor View Drive
Kelowna, BC.
V1W-5B5

Phone: 778.214.2352
info@ocilandscaping.com
www.ocilandscaping.com

11 Oct 2017

By yardmaintenance Lawn, Yard Maintenance fall fertilizer, lawn maintenance, lawn winterization

5 Tips to Get Your Best Lawn Next Spring, NOW!

Having a beautiful lawn is something every homeowner strives for. But did you know, it’s what you do when the leaves start to fall that makes all the difference between having a lawn you can be proud of, or having to press the reset button in the spring.

Fall lawn maintenance is critical to strengthening and repairing your lawn from the wear and tear of the summer. It’s important to go into winter with a strong and healthy lawn, because it’s the ONLY way you’ll come out of it with one. Showing your property some love now will set you up for your best lawn next spring.

Here’s how you can achieve next summer’s lawn goals, starting now, with these 5-key fall lawn maintenance tips!

Keep mowing: Follow normal mowing guidelines throughout the fall. As the season draws to a close, drop mower blades to its lowest setting (without removing more than 1/3 of the leaf) to allow more sunlight to reach the crown of the plant.

Aerate your soil: Fall is the best time to aerate your lawn, It will let oxygen, water and fertilizer reach the grass roots more easily, promoting a healthier lawn.

Rake your leaves: Removing fallen leaves as soon as possible, before they become wet from rain and morning dew, makes the not-so-fun task slightly more bearable. Leaves left on your lawn can suffocate the grass and breed fungal diseases.

Fertilize to winterize: Prepare your lawn to withstand the cold stress of winter and replenish essential nutrients to the soil. Fall fertilizer delivers the nutrients needed to prevent plant stress and kick start growth in the spring. Look for a fall fertilizer high in potassium and with a low nitrogen content. Potassium helps to reduce the risk of winter damage and improves plant recovery from cold weather stress.

Patch and repair: Fall is the best time to overseed your lawn and to patch and repair thin areas. Cool temperatures are conducive to germination as it allows for good moisture with less water loss due to evaporation. Overseeding NOW is a smart investment for your property and your best bet to reinforce your lawn for lasting results.

Time spent caring for your lawn now will have you spending more time enjoying your lawn sooner this coming spring and summer and less time repairing it.

Contributed by: Brent Szotak of OCI Landscaping and Irrigation.

928 Arbor View Drive
Kelowna, BC.
V1W-5B5

Phone: 778.214.2352
info@ocilandscaping.com
www.ocilandscaping.com

20 Sep 2017

By yardmaintenance Lawn grass, lawn, lawn aeration, overseeding

Aerating and Overseeding Your Lawn In Fall

Fall is arguably the most photogenic season, and guess what? It’s finally here!

The Fall months are well known for lots of earthy colours, pumpkin-flavoured everything, and crispy cool hoodie weather, but it’s also a great time of year for lawn care. After a stressful Summer, all that cool weather translates to optimal growing conditions for your lawn. Addressing any damage done in Summer, preparing for a rough Winter, and setting yourself up for a successful Spring are all tasks that can be tackled in Fall.

Aerating your lawn and adding new seed are two such jobs that should be done at least annually. Scheduling both these services for the Fall will help you wrap up the growing season in good shape, and put your lawn in a good position come Spring.

Let’s dive further into what these two services are, and how they benefit your lawn.

Aerating Your Lawn in Fall

Performing a lawn aeration in Fall is incredibly beneficial for your lawn.

Using a special machine, small cores of soil about the size of your index finger are removed from the lawn, then left there to decompose.

Removing these cores works to relieve soil compaction – a common problem for residential lawns. Over time, foot traffic and increased pressure on the lawn results in hard, compacted soil. Since compacted soil doesn’t allow much space for water and nutrients to penetrate the roots, aerating your lawn is something you should do at least annually to avoid it.

Aeration also helps remove excessive thatch from your lawn. Thatch is a layer of roots, stems, and organic material that sits between the grass and the soil. As with soil compaction, too much thatch inhibits water penetration, so it’s a good idea to address this annually, too.

After your lawn has been aerated, there’s a lot more room for water, air, and fertilizer to reach the root zone effectively. Your soil condition is key to growing good grass, so make sure you aerate at least once a year to help tackle soil compaction and thatch accumulation.

Adding New Seed in Fall

Fall overseeding is another such task that should be done once a year.

By adding new grass seed to your lawn in the Fall months, you can fill in damaged areas or bare patches, and thicken up the lawn before it goes into dormancy.

You can seed any areas by hand that need extra attention, but if you’re looking to get precise and even application, it’s best to use a broadcast spreader to evenly distribute the seed.

Even if your lawn is in reasonable shape, adding new seed each year is recommended, and Fall or Spring are good times to do it. Fall’s beneficial growing conditions help ensure good seed germination, making establishment all the more successful. Just make sure you keep on top of watering, because if the seed dries, it dies.

Combining Core Aeration with Overseeding

To maximize the benefits both services have to offer at once, combining a core aeration with overseeding is the way to go.

Overseeding a lawn after it has been aerated allows an open channel for seed to penetrate the soil and ensure optimal seed-to-soil contact.

Since the removed cores have helped relieve soil compaction and thatch accumulation, the new seed can germinate and establish itself much quicker. Oxygen and water are also able to be absorbed better, allowing for new, deeper roots and nutrient rich soil.

By prioritizing seed-to-soil contact with a combined aeration and overseeding service, you’re making the most of both services and giving your grass it’s best chance at growing thick, healthy and robust before Winter.

Contributed by: Brent Szotak expert landscaper in Kelowna, BC.

928 Arbor View Drive
Kelowna, BC.
V1W-5B5
Phone: 778.214.2352
info@ocilandscaping.com
www.ocilandscaping.com

16 Aug 2017

By yardmaintenance Landscaping, Lawn, Trees irrigation winterization, lawn care, yard cleanup

Fundamental Fall Lawn Care Services

Autumn is just around the corner, and it just so happens to be an ideal time of year for lawn care!

Repairing Summer damage and preparing for Winter are best done in the Fall. Plus, giving your lawn a little extra love during September, October, and November will help set you up for success in Spring. So do your fall yard cleanup properly for maximum benefit.

Here are our top 8 Fall lawn care services.

Core Aeration

Fall is the ideal time for your annual core aeration, since the weather is cooler and the grass is actively growing.

When your lawn is aerated, a machine mechanically removes small cores of soil and thatch from the lawn, which are left on the surface to be reincorporated.

Aerating your lawn in Fall will help reduce soil compaction, control thatch, reduce insect & disease pressures, reduce summer drought damage, and make irrigation more efficient.

Overseeding

If you have bare areas in your lawn, Fall is the ideal time to sort it out.

Overseeding is recommended for home lawns at least once a year, and since the soil and air temperatures are still warm and rainfall is common, Fall is the perfect time to do it.

Overseeding assists by filling in and thickening up thin, weak, or damaged areas in a lawn. It’s a great way to introduce new grass species that require less water, less fertilizer, and resist insect & disease pressures.

Topdressing

Topdressing is a great way to add more organic matter to your lawn before Winter. If your lawn is lacking in nutrients, it will help rejuvenate tired grass and improve the condition of your soil.

Topdressing with a quality, weed-free organic mulch helps reduce water usage, increases your lawn’s ability to fight disease, and improves the results of your fertilizer program.

For even better compost infiltration, combine topdressing with your annual core aeration.

Winterizer Fertilizer

One of the most important things you can do for your lawn is to provide it with the nutrients it needs to grow healthy.

Fertilizing in Fall with a custom ‘winterizer’ blend ensures good Winter hardiness and survival. It also helps prolong the lawn’s dark green colour and provide an early Spring green-up.

Lime

When soil becomes too acidic, the nutrients your grass needs to thrive become unavailable, resulting in unhealthy turf. The optimal soil pH for your lawn is between 6.5 and 7.5

Enhanced Calcitic Lime neutralizes acidic soil pH conditions, giving your lawn a better chance at taking up the plant essential nutrients it needs to outcompete weeds, lawn diseases, and insect infestations.

Fall is the ideal time for an annual lime application, since the lawn is actively growing.

Grub Control

Since white grub larvae begin to aggressively feed in the Fall, protecting your lawn should be in your best interests. Signs of damage typically begin to show in Fall, either from grubs feeding on the grass, which will start to turn brown, or from other animals digging into the lawn in search of grubs.

Damage from the beetle starts in the Fall and continues through Spring, until the beetle matures and escapes from the lawn.

Depending on provincial regulations, there are a number of grub control techniques to manage them. Other ways to assist in preventing the beetle from devastating your lawn is to keep it as healthy as possible. Regular maintenance and fertilizing is essential to maintaining your lawn’s health.

Tree & Shrub Fertilization

Fertilizing your trees & shrubs helps to protect their beauty and promote their growth.

Our 2-visit Deep Feed service nourishes and feeds the soil around your trees & shrubs, creating a robust and healthy rooting environment which helps minimize man made and natural stresses.

Irrigation Blowout

For those that have an irrigation system, Fall is the time to start thinking about the off-season.

Professional sprinkler winterization prevents freeze-ups and costly repairs next Spring. Generally, it includes shutting off the main water valve, opening drain valves, and inspecting all sprinklers to ensure all the water has been discharged.

No matter what your goals are for your lawn this Fall, our lawn care technicians will provide advice on how to get your lawn and landscape looking lush, as well as offering expert recommendations on our range of beneficial services.

Talk to the yard experts at OCI Landscaping and Irrigation to learn more about any of these Fall lawn care services, as well as other ecology friendly lawn care services catered for your yard.

928 Arbor View Drive
Kelowna, BC.
V1W-5B5

Phone: 778.214.2352
info@ocilandscaping.com
www.ocilandscaping.com

08 Aug 2017

By yardmaintenance General, Lawn, Renovation

10 Lawn Care Tips to Add Curb Appeal

When you’re trying to sell a house, it’s pretty important that you put yourself in the buyers’ shoes and think about the details they’re likely to scrutinize.

Any good realtor will reinforce the fact over and over again; curb appeal is a huge factor in selling any property. There’s a number of lawn care tips you can use to make your property all the more attractive when viewed from the street, which will add value to the home and help you sell faster.

Master the Art of Mowing

If you’re keen to add value to your home, keeping your lawn manicured at all times is the first step. It’s not just about mowing – you’ve got to mow the right way if you want your grass to crank up the curb appeal.

For a luscious lawn, make sure you mow when the lawn is dry, change up the patterns, and only cut about one third of the grass at a time.

Give Your Lawn A Breath of Fresh Air

If you haven’t already done it, it’s recommended to perform a core aeration at least once a year. Core aeration is the process of mechanically removing small cores of soil from the lawn using an aeration machine, which stimulates growth, reduces soil compaction and reduces weed, insect and disease infestations.

Spring and Fall are optimal times to aerate your lawn, so try and have that sorted out before you’re ready to sell.

Water Well In Advance

Even a novice knows that proper watering techniques are essential to a thick, healthy lawn.

But as the old saying goes, good things take time. Make sure you get a good watering routine going well before you put your house on the market. Check out our Lawn Watering eBook to brush up on your technique sooner rather than later.

Fertilize, Fertilize, Fertilize!

Again, fertilizing is something you need to figure out in advance. A balanced, custom fertilizer program is one of the most crucial considerations to make before putting your property on the market.

Before you invest in fertilizer, find out the soil pH so you know what you’re working with. You can buy a testing kit and do it yourself, or you can speak to a lawn care company who’ll check your soil and design a custom fertilizer program based on what your lawn needs to flourish.

Don’t Forget The Edges

When prospective buyers come to peruse your home, they’ll likely park up on the driveway and begin appraising from there. So, it’s important to make sure your sidewalk and driveway are up to standard.

Use a string trimmer to tidy up the edges of your lawn for a neat transition.

Inspect For Insects

Get your eyes down to soil level and see if you can spot any creepy crawlies in your lawn.

Insects such as white grubs feed on the roots, but more often than not, the worst damage comes from other creatures. Raccoons, birds and skunks feed on the insects found in your soil, so monitor early before you find yourself with irreparable damage during home opens.

Frame Your Lawn

Beautify your front yard and ramp up the curb appeal by framing your lawn. This will draw attention to the grass and help soften up the edges.

You could frame it with flowerbeds, hedges, stone, or maybe a few sculptures – adding attractive accents will help increase the perceived value of your property and give homebuyers a warm and fuzzy feeling about their potential new home.

Prune Your Shrubs & Hedges

While you’re giving your lawn some love, keep an eye on your trees, shrubs, hedges and other landscaping.

There’s nothing worse than an untidy feature overpowering your landscape, so make sure to take a step back and decide how you want it to look before you go ahead and remove any unwanted branches or foliage.

Watch Out For Weeds

A prospective home buyer will subconsciously pick up on the smallest of details, so don’t forget the little things. A single dandelion could be spotted from all the way down the street, so keep a watchful eye on weeds.

Spot treatments can tame the odd broadleaf weed, but a weed control program catered to your lawn’s needs is the best defense against uninvited guests.

Add a Splash of Colour

Now that the lawn is gorgeous and green, you need to make sure it’s seen!

Adding touches of vibrant colours around the front yard can direct attention to how great your lawn is looking and help add value to your property. Paint the door bright red, jazz up your mailbox, add colourful decorative pieces or get festive with flowers – all of these things will help accentuate the hard work you’ve put into your lawn and draw the eye to it.

If It’s Too Far Gone… Renovate

Sometimes, there’s just no going back. If you feel there’s just too much work to do to get your lawn looking lush, perhaps you need a complete overhaul.

Speak to a lawn care expert about renovating your lawn – we can remove the old sod, truck in new soil or compost, and then seed, fertilize and topdress the lawn to get it looking terrific and add value to a home before it goes up for sale.

Contributed by: Brent Szotak, Expert landscaper and yard maintenance professional at

928 Arbor View Drive
Kelowna, BC.
V1W-5B5

Phone: 778.214.2352
info@ocilandscaping.com
www.ocilandscaping.com

Category: Lawn

Install a Drainage System

Lawn Re-grading

Invest in a Rain Barrel

Choose the Right Plants

Here’s why spring is the perfect time to lime your lawn

Balance Soil pH

Manage Moss

Manage Weeds

Preserve and Protect Your Lawn

Improve Fertilizer Performance

Here’s how to combat salt damage on your lawn.

Salt Damage

Recovery

Winter Kill

Region by Region

Snow Coverage

Here are some tips for avoiding frost damage on your lawn

Frost Facts

Stay Off Your Lawn

Test the Grass

Here is everything you need to know about your last mow of the season.

Mow It Short

Bag The Clippings

Avoid Frost

Other Maintenance

Aerating Your Lawn in Fall

Adding New Seed in Fall

Combining Core Aeration with Overseeding

Here are our top 8 Fall lawn care services.

Core Aeration

Overseeding

Topdressing

Winterizer Fertilizer

Lime

Grub Control

Tree & Shrub Fertilization

Irrigation Blowout

Master the Art of Mowing

Give Your Lawn A Breath of Fresh Air

Water Well In Advance

Fertilize, Fertilize, Fertilize!

Don’t Forget The Edges

Inspect For Insects

Frame Your Lawn

Prune Your Shrubs & Hedges

Watch Out For Weeds

Add a Splash of Colour

If It’s Too Far Gone… Renovate