If you’re a homeowner looking to upgrade your property’s curb appeal, you may want to consider giving lawn landscaping a try. Lawnscaping is one of the most cost-efficient ways to add color and value to your home and enhance its beauty. From reducing maintenance costs and increasing resale worth to creating more space for activities, investing in lawn landscaping has many advantages. Here is why it might be time to start thinking about sprucing up your yard with some landscaping! Keep reading if you want an insightful look at all the benefits of beautifying your outdoor space with lawn care services today!

1. Improve curb appeal – make your home look inviting and appealing to guests and passersby:

Enhancing your home’s curb appeal can be a relatively easy and inexpensive process. Start by tidying up your yard – trim any overgrown shrubs, pull out weeds in flower beds, and neatly mow the lawn. Plant certain flowers or shrubbery that coordinate with the house’s existing style; adding cheerful pots or window boxes also helps brighten the home’s exterior. Painting shutters, doors, and trim can make a huge difference, too – use a coordinating yet contrasting color to create a pleasing combination. Finally, invest in outdoor lighting for walkways and other areas to bring an inviting atmosphere at night. With these simple steps, you can easily improve the look of your home and have it look more charming than ever!

2. Increase property value – tasteful landscaping can increase your home’s market value:

Good landscaping adds character, beauty, and value to a property. Whether you want to spruce up your yard for the summer or increase your home’s market value in preparation for a sale, tasteful landscaping is one of the most cost-effective ways to do both. From adding flowers and shrubs to creating outdoor living areas, outdoor lighting, or fences, many features can enhance an existing landscape without breaking the bank. With careful consideration of your budget, research, and knowledge of regional plants and foliage, it is easy to transform an ordinary garden into an extraordinary oasis. In addition to increased curb appeal, tasteful landscaping can meaningfully increase the value of a home before you even place it on the market.

3. Create outdoor living space – add seating, walkways, and pretty flower beds for a cozy retreat in the warm months :

Creating an outdoor living space is a great way to enjoy the warm weather months and spend quality time with family and friends. With thoughtful planning, you can turn any backyard into a comfortable retreat by adding seating, walkways, and beautiful flower beds. Seating can include simple benches or chairs that invite people to come together for conversations around the fire or just to enjoy the fresh air. A stone walkway can provide a route from your patio or deck down to your garden and pave the way for an enjoyable stroll among the blooming flowers. And when it comes to creating lush flower beds, use native plants, as they will be adapted to your area’s temperature extremes and provide an amazing array of seasonal colors in full bloom. It’s also important to remember how much sun or shade areas in your yard receive so that you choose flowers that will thrive in those conditions. By making these sorts of choices when crafting your outdoor living space, you’ll have a cozy retreat to enjoy during the summer months for years to come!

4. Enhance privacy – strategically-placed shrubs or trees can provide a sense of security for you and your family:

When it comes to enhancing privacy in your home, strategically-placed shrubs and trees are an excellent way to achieve that feeling of security. By selecting a variety of evergreen shrubs and hedges, you can create visual barriers that obstruct unwanted glances into your property. Taller plants like trees serve as effective screens and act as sound barriers, providing natural buffering against outside noise. Whether the wind is moving through the branches or birds are chirping in the garden, such sounds are welcome in any outdoor setting. When strategically chosen, foliage can provide additional benefits of filtering sunlight, reducing air pollution, and even providing wildlife habitats. It’s no wonder many people take advantage of the numerous benefits of incorporating shrubs or trees into their landscapes. These simple additions are invaluable for enhancing privacy for you and your family.

5. Attract wildlife – attract butterflies and birds with colorful plants, flowers, trees, and hedges :

Bring the wonders of wildlife closer to your home by creating a sanctuary for birds and butterflies. Diversity is key; include plants, flowers, trees, and hedges to attract different species. Colorful blooms like purple coneflowers, blue morning glories, and orange tiger lilies will do the trick. Bushes of native shrubs like spicebush or wax myrtle are excellent bird food sources. Trees can provide shade and essential nesting sites for various critters – try planting oak trees, hackberry, or crabapple evergreens, depending on your region’s climate. Plus, hedge shrubs in the area can act as attractive barriers while acting as windbreaks or hiding spots. So come explore your backyard today and invite nature in!

All in all, lawn landscaping is essential for any home to add value and charm to any outdoor space. Additionally, landscaping not only increases a property’s appeal but also helps ensure its features’ longevity by helping you maintain healthy grass and preventing soil erosion. With a few simple touches and expert advice, you can transform your backyard into an attractive and inviting area that your family and friends will love to visit. If you’re thinking about having your lawn landscaped, don’t hesitate! The results will far outweigh the cost. For more information on how Red Shovel Landscaping can help you beautify your lawn, call us today or visit our website for tips on getting started.

Having a well-maintained lawn can add incredible value and curb appeal to your home, but having one requires more than just mowing it every once in a while. Regular lawn care is essential for promoting healthy grass growth, controlling weeds and pests, and creating an inviting outdoor space. If you’re not sure whether or not you need professional lawn care services for your yard, here are some telltale signs that you need lawn care. Consider hiring a professional for the following: 

1. Overgrown Grass: One of the most obvious signs that your lawn needs some professional attention is overgrown grass. Not only does this make the area look unkempt, but it also leaves room for weeds to take over and compete with your grass for nutrients. Longer grass blades also tend to block out sunlight from reaching the soil, which can weaken and damage your existing turf. Invest in regular mowing services to keep up with the height of your grass blades as they grow. 

2. Weeds: Weeds are like tenacious little trespassers that creep into all areas of your garden, making them an unsightly nuisance if left unchecked. From wild onions to crabgrass, these obstinate weeds can quickly overtake an entire lawn if they’re not removed correctly and on time. Professional lawn care services will know exactly how to correctly identify and treat each type of weed accordingly so that they don’t spread or come back again later on down the line. 

3. Insect Infestations: Pest infestations are another common problem that commonly arises when homeowners don’t invest in proper lawn care maintenance on a regular basis. If left untreated, disease-carrying insects such as Japanese beetles and chinch bugs can wreak havoc on your turf by feeding off of sap from its roots as well as eliminating beneficial bacteria in the soil around it. A trusted lawn care service will be able to assess any insect infestation problems you have quickly so they can develop an effective treatment plan that keeps them away in the future too! 

4. Soil Compaction: Your soil needs adequate aeration in order for the roots of your grasses to take hold and remain healthy through springtime heat waves or winter frost periods alike. Unfortunately, over-trafficked areas with heavy foot traffic (or wheels such as bicycles) can cause serious compaction issues throughout your yard since there’s no air circulation happening underfoot anymore either! Professional core aeration services offered by many local landscaping companies can help you solve this problem fast before permanent damage is done to your property! 

5. Discoloration & Thin Patches: Whether due to lack of water or inadequate nutrition from fertilizer applications gone wrong, discoloration & thin patches throughout your yard are key indicators that something isn’t quite right with its health overall too! An experienced professional will be able to quickly determine what underlying issues could be causing these problems so they can create a comprehensive solution plan just for you! 

Taking good care of your lawn is essential if you want it to look lush and attractive all year long without fail! However, between busy lives and other outdoor projects taking priority over yard work – letting things go a little too long without paying attention may happen more than we sometimes realize too! 

Why Choose Red Shovel Landscape

When many of our first-time customers contact Red Shovel Landscape for lawn care Albuquerque, they are frustrated with the condition of their lawn. You may think that you are doing everything right, such as by fertilizing, mowing and watering the grass regularly. However, more is involved in achieving a lush lawn that rivals golf course grass. At Red Shovel Landscape, we make adjustments to our efforts based on the season, the grass type, soil conditions and more. Our experts know how to produce results that our clients love regardless of how challenging the conditions are.

Request Service for Your Home

Your yard should not be a source of stress and frustration. Instead, its lush beauty should be enjoyed on a daily basis. Whether you want a lawn that the kids can play on or you want your neighbors to be envious at the next backyard barbecue you host, we can deliver the results that live up to your expectations. To learn more about our lawn care services at Red Shovel Landscape, contact us today.

Every homeowner dreams of a lush, green lawn, but to have beautiful landscaping, you (or your groundskeeping partner) will need to put in the time and effort to develop and maintain your yard. Let’s look at 10 of the most common lawn problems homeowners face and how to fix them.

1. Bare Spots

When areas that should be covered in grass appear bald or bare, your lawn is in need of repair and restoration. Whether the bare areas are due to heavy foot traffic or disease, fixing bare spots is a fairly simple process.

• Dig up the affected area as well as a few inches of lawn surrounding the bare spot
• Rake and till the area
• Add in fresh topsoil and reseed

2. Compacted Soil

When areas of your grass have little to no aeration, the area may be compacted and show evidence of thatch. The solution is to aerate.

• Rent a “plug” machine
• Run it over the lawn to remove small chunks from the soil
• Once the plugs have dried, mow over them to return them to soil

3. Crabgrass

This annual weed thrives in compacted lawns, and it will push out healthy grass making crabgrass highly problematic for lawn care. In order to rid your yard of crabgrass, use either a preemergent or post-emergent weed control approach.

• Preemergent Options: apply non-chemical cornmeal 14 days before the expected last frost or an herbicide when the spring temperatures rise to 52 degrees (and be sure to water immediately)
• Post-emergent Options: pull crabgrass to the roots as they appear or use a natural vinegar spray to kill those that grow and then reseed thinned or bare spots where the crabgrass was removed

4. Dry Spots

When one area of the lawn is dried out but others are not, a few problems could be the culprit in this lawn care dilemma.

• Check for broken or improperly adjusted sprinklers in the area. Replace, repair or readjust sprinklers as needed or call Red Shovel Landscaping for same day service to help.
• Inspect the area for evidence of compacted soil that will minimize the water soil is able to absorb. If compacted soil or thatch is found, treat the affected area and surrounding grass.

5. Fungus

Dry or dead spots that appear and grow quickly can be a result of a fungus.

• Reduce the amount of water applied to the lawn or reduce or change the volume of fertilizer used.

6. Moles

When small pests like moles invade your yard, their burrowing nature can create dangerous ridges in the lawn that can damage the roots of plants. If you suspect your yard has moles,

• Call a pest control specialist like Red Shovel Landscaping to help
• Eliminate grubs to reduce the mole’s natural food source
• Set out traps to capture them

7. Pet Damage

Our pets can leave behind urine damage in our yards that leave the grass brown from repeated use. To avoid long-term pet damage:

• Create a dedicated area for pet waste
• Treat affected areas by digging up browned and nearby grass, tilling up dirt and reseeding the area to promote new growth

8. Striped Lawn

When a lawn appears striped with healthy and yellow or brown grass in between, homeowners can fix this with a few strategies.

• Use overlapping passes with fertilizer application so all areas of the lawn will be treated similarly
• Call for professional groundskeeping with Red Shovel Landscaping

9. White Grubs and Insects

Commonly seen in the fall, yards with dead spots in irregular patterns may be caused by white grubs and insects that are feeding on grass roots. Since grubs and insects can become a food source for other animal invaders like armadillos or gophers, utilizing a pest control strategy to quickly remove them is key.

• In late spring or early spring, apply Imidacloprid or predatory nematodes

10. Yellow Nutsedge

When this invasive weed arrives in your yard, it will starve out your healthy grass quickly by competing for nutrients and light all season long. Rapid, consistent weed control can help save your lawn from this invasive species.

• Pull out the nutsedge by the root since the tubers can last for 3 years underground
• Apply selective herbicides specifically for sedge

Is your lawn suffering from winter injury? Have you noticed that certain areas of your lawn have an unhealthy color and that some of your grass looks like it is dying? If so, your lawn could be suffering from something known as winter injury. When that happens, it may take a significant amount of time for your lawn to repair itself, and you may have to reseed or resod portions of your lawn. The question then becomes one of how to prevent or repair damage caused by winter injury. To help with that, here are some signs that your lawn may be a victim of winter injury:

Snow Mold

Snow mold, as its name implies, gives your lawn a moldy appearance. As your lawn begins to turn green following a cold winter, patches of grass with a white, gray, yellow-green or even pink color may cover a significant portion of your lawn. Snow mold is the result of a fungal infection that occurs when portions of your lawn stay damp and cold for an extended period of time. As snow and ice begin to melt and the grass is exposed to sunlight and a breeze, snow mold will sometimes die out. Otherwise, the following treatment is recommended:

Treatment for Snow Mold Winter Injury

Snow mold prevention begins with raking your lawn in the fall and ensuring that your lawn drains well. This will prevent excess debris from creating a layer of wet insulation that promotes fungal growth. When you fertilize your lawn in the fall, use a fertilizer with a lower concentration of nitrogen to prevent an overabundance of top growth. If your lawn is already suffering from snow mold, aerate your lawn to help it heal faster. You may need to reseed or resod certain areas. When doing so, though, be sure to use a seed or sod that is resistant to disease to prevent this problem from recurring.

Damage from Lawn Rodents

Your lawn may also be suffering damage from voles or other rodents. Such damage is particularly noticeable in the winter when rodents begin to feed on grass stems and roots because of a scarcity in their normal food supply. You may notice damage around plant beds or in areas where your grass meets up with decks, sheds or other structures. If you have a large infestation of rodents, significant portions of your lawn may be damaged.

Treatment for Lawn Rodents

The best way to eliminate lawn rodents is to reduce their food supply. You can minimize the amount of debris on your lawn by implementing the proper weed control measures and through the use of tree trimming. It is possible to trap rodents, but you may need the services of a professional lawn care or pest control company to do that. Once you have done what you can to reduce the presence of rodents and their food source, you can repair damaged areas through aeration, reseeding and resoding.

Crown Freeze

When turf grasses absorb a lot of water and are then exposed to freezing temperatures, the top of the grass will often freeze. When that happens, water inside the grass blades turns into ice and expands, which damages the cellular structure of the grass blades. This condition, known as crown freeze, can also be caused by frost and can be very damaging to your lawn. Your lawn is more likely to suffer from crown freeze if drainage is poor and water tends to stand on your lawn for extended periods of time.

Treatment for Crown Freeze Winter Injury

The best treatment for crown freeze is to improve your lawn’s drainage system. You may have to fill in low areas that accumulate water and erect berms to control water flow. Be sure that your gutter downspouts are not contributing to drainage problems. You also may want to consider installing a French drain to remove excess water. A French drain is a trench that contains perforated pipe and gravel or rock. As water seeps into the ground, it flows through the gravel into the perforated pipe and is carried away to the desired location.

Get Professional Help

Sometimes it is necessary to get professional help to solve winter lawn injury. A professional landscape company can provide landscape design and construction that will improve drainage and make your lawn less susceptible to winter injury. In addition to regular lawn care, they can also provide such services as weed control, pest control, tree trimming, de-thatching, aerating, bed care and leaf collection.

Preparing your lawn for the winter helps keep it healthy and attractive throughout the year. Winter lawn care offers protection against the effects of snow, ice, and plunging temperatures.

The following are six tips for keeping your lawn in good shape during the coldest months of the year. Most of them work best when implemented in the fall, so you shouldn’t wait to act until winter officially begins.

1) Aerate Your Lawn

Aeration loosens up compacted soil. It also breaks up thatch, a dense and tangled mass of organic matter, such as dead grass and leaves, that builds up at the base of your lawn.

After aeration, it’s easier for nutrients, water, and oxygen to reach the roots of your lawn. Other benefits of aeration include a stronger protection against certain pathogens and a greater absorption of fertilizer.

Aerating in the fall can help revitalize your lawn before cold weather sets in. Don’t hesitate to consult with us about when to time the aeration and how frequently to do it during the year. The condition of your turf, the soil type on your property, the types of grass you’ve planted, and the amount of activity on your lawn all affect the optimal timing and frequency.

2) Fertilize Before the Season’s First Frost

Fertilizing your lawn infuses it with essential nutrients. The fertilizer remains in the soil and helps nourish the grass throughout the winter, enhancing the strength of the roots.

The timing of the application is important. The fertilizer for the winter shouldn’t be applied too early, but you also don’t want to put it off for too long, delaying it past the first frost. As experts in lawn care, we know when to time the application and how much fertilizer to use; an excessive amount can damage the lawn.

3) Mow Before It Snows

As cold weather sets in, don’t let your grass stay overgrown. Mowing it to the right length helps keep it healthier and more resilient.

If the grass is shorter, it’s less likely to trap excessive moisture and develop snow mold. This fungal disease can easily take root in lawns that have poor drainage, stifled air circulation, and overly high levels of moisture.

Mowing your lawn is also an important part of pest control. For example, rodents prefer areas with tall grass when looking for places to burrow in the winter. If they form tunnels in your lawn, they can cause extensive damage to the turf.

4) Be Careful With Ice Melters

Different kinds of ice-melting products, such as rock salt, are notoriously bad for lawns. They may cause the grass to become dehydrated, and they can lead to a toxic buildup in the soil.

Of course, you don’t want paved surfaces around your property to be coated in ice. But you also don’t want to suffer preventable damage from these products.

The most vulnerable areas of your lawn are near sidewalks, front walks, streets, and driveways. Methods of protecting these areas include covering them with burlap and putting up a barrier of snow fencing. Depending on what your yard looks like, you can also use landscaping features as a shield, such as rocks or a cluster of plants that are more salt tolerant.

Some ice melters are less damaging to grass than others. For example, a product using calcium chloride may have less of a negative impact on your lawn, though you should still make sure that the grass doesn’t get exposed to large amounts of it.

5) Give Your Lawn Some Rest

You don’t have to completely avoid your lawn in the winter. You can still have snowball fights on it or build a snowman. However, you should try to reduce unnecessary traffic on your lawn. Frozen turf is especially susceptible to damage due to repeated trampling. Reducing lawn traffic can be as simple as encouraging people to use a walkway instead of crossing the lawn to your front door.

6) Keep Your Property Tidy

Raking, tree triming, and weed control have multiple benefits, and one of them is ensuring that your lawn isn’t choked by excessive organic matter. When your lawn is thickly blanketed by leaves, weeds, and fallen twigs and branches, it becomes more vulnerable to pathogens and pests, and it can suffer from oxygen and nutrient depletion.

In addition to tidying up your property, look for ways to put some of the excess organic matter to good use. For example, after raking leaves, you can grind them into mulch. The mulch may be used on your lawn or other areas of your yard, keeping the soil warmer in the winter and improving soil fertility.

Contact Red Shovel

For close to two decades, we’ve been providing a variety of landscaping and groundskeeping services to communities in New Mexico. If you live in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, or surrounding areas, don’t hesitate to reach out to us for a healthier and more beautiful property. We’re available at 505-243-2277 or through our site.

Mosquitos are not only just annoying pests that can get in your way, but they can also wreak havoc on your skin. These nasty pests can carry a number of illnesses that they can inject into your body, such as malaria and dengue fever. While not all mosquito bites are dangerous, it’s not worth the risk of having them hang around your property.

 

Understanding What Attracts Mosquitoes at Your Property

Before you can thoroughly understand how to control mosquitoes, you need to understand what attracts them to your property. Probably the most common reason that draws mosquitos to a property is stagnant water. Mosquitos will lay their eggs on the surface of the water. Any ponds, birdbaths, streams, or other areas of standing water can draw in those unwanted mosquitoes.

Another common attractant for mosquitos is moist soil. If you like to compost, it can create the perfect place for mosquitos to lay their eggs. Additionally, damp mulch and hollowed tree stumps can attract these unwanted pests to your home.

Best Tips for Controlling Mosquitoes at Your Property

If you’re tired of getting bit by these nasty pests, then it’s time to think about how to control them. Depending on the specifics of your property, there are some key things that you can do to control the mosquitoes that are flying around.

Better Manage Your Standing Water

Standing water is a big problem when it comes to mosquitos. It’s best to try and eliminate any standing water at your property. If you have excess water that hangs around after rainstorms, then you need to focus on fixing your drainage problem. It may be as simple as cleaning out your gutters or extending your drain spouts.

When it comes to standing water that you don’t want to get rid of, like a birdbath, you need to better control it. You don’t want the stagnant water to hang around for too long. You can better control mosquitos by changing the water in these areas every week or so. If you have a pool or hot tub, make sure that you have a cover on it when it isn’t in use.

Get Professional Assistance

When it comes to ultimate pest control, it’s best to contact a professional. They will have the right eco-friendly pest solutions to handle your mosquito lawn care and weed control needs. A professional will be able to identify the main sources of mosquitos on your property and provide you with a thorough treatment plan to handle these pesky biting critters.

Invest in Mosquito-Repelling Plants

There are various plants that can work to repel mosquitos. Positioning these strategically around the most trafficked outside areas of your home can help to drastically reduce the number of mosquitos that you have. Some great examples of mosquito-repelling plants include lavender, marigolds, catmint, lemongrass, scented geranium, basil, and rosemary.

Mosquitos shouldn’t be permanent guests at your home. If you’re dealing with many of these nasty creatures, it’s best to employ some of the tips that we suggested above.