How much water is enough? It is the question all gardeners and home owners with lawns ask. Although it seems like a simple question, many factors go into getting the correct answer. In this article I will attempt to provide you with some basic information that will hopefully be helpful to you.

Watering Tips for Lawns

The type of grass that you have in your lawn will determine how much water it needs. Kentucky Blue Grass tends to be the favorite among home owners and sod growers. Unfortunately it also needs the most water at 2 – 3 inches per week. Some of the water wise grass types such as Buffalo Grass and Blue Grama Grass require only a ½ inch of water per week. If you do not know exactly what type of grass you have in your yard or if you have a mixture of grass, you can safely say your lawn needs 1 – 2 inches per week.

About now you are probably wondering how long it takes to get an inch of water with your sprinkler. My favorite method (that does not involve math formulas—I was never good at that subject in school) is to simply place some containers around the area that is being watered by your sprinkler and time how long it takes the water to reach the one inch mark. Not all the containers will fill at the same rate so you will need to average the results.

When watering, it is good to think of watering for longer periods of time with less frequency. If you water for short periods of time, this only wets the top inch or so of soil and as a result, that is where the grass roots stay also. When extremely hot weather hits, the top inch or two of soil will dry out pretty fast, and the plants cannot get enough water to stay green. Instead, the soil should be wet to a depth of 6 – 8 inches so that the roots will grow deeper, and then it can take short periods of extreme weather without too much effect.

Another problem with watering frequently and for short periods of time is that this promotes fungus and bacterial diseases. Water should be applied no faster than the soil is able to absorb it. If water begins to run off before one inch is applied (this may happen especially when you have clay soil), stop sprinkling until it is absorbed and then resume watering. The soil should completely dry between watering so that the grass roots will be encouraged to grow deeper looking for water.

However, there are two exceptions to the idea of watering longer and less frequently. First, when you are just starting a lawn from seed, you will want to keep the soil moist, but not too wet. This may mean watering more than once a day until the seed germinates. Second, if you have coarse, sandy soil then you will have to water more frequently with less water because this type of soil loses water quickly.

If you notice that your grass is wilting, showing footprints, or changing color (such as to a blue-gray), these are some signs that your grass needs to be watered.

The best time to water is in the early morning, from 1 AM to 7 AM, because it is usually calm and cool, so little water is lost due to evaporation. The water pressure is usually higher at this time of day as well.

Watering Tips for Trees and Shrubs

Just like your lawn, trees and shrubs also benefit from longer, less frequent watering. New plantings will need to be watered more frequently but once established in two or three growing seasons, the frequency can be reduced. Once again, watering deeply and thoroughly will encourage a deep and healthy root system. It is also important that the soil be allowed to partially dry out prior to the next watering.

New plantings will probably need twice a week watering during the first month and once a week watering for the remainder of the growing season. During the second and third year, water deeply once every two weeks or as needed.

Instead of watering at the trunk as you do with young trees, mature trees should be watered at the drip line. The drip line is the soil area below the furthest extent of the tree’s branches. Trees do not have root systems like carrots. Instead, a trees’ root system extends 2 – 3 times wider than the height of the tree and no deeper than two feet below the surface.

In early fall, you can begin to decrease your watering to help the trees and shrubs begin their winter acclimation. Stop watering in late September or early October when the trees or shrubs begin to drop their leaves. If you continue to water during this time, it may slow the hardening of some plants and leave them susceptible to winter kill. In late fall after all of the leaves have fallen, be sure to water your trees and shrubs deeply several times prior to the soil freezing. During the winter, trees and shrubs should be watered when it is 40 degrees or above.

Watering Tips for Gardens

Once established, gardens also do best when watered longer and less frequently. Water plants as needed, making sure they get about an inch of water every 7 to 10 days. The best time to water is in the early morning so that the plants can dry quickly as the sun rises therefore reducing the risk of foliage diseases such as powdery mildew which likes moist conditions. Another way to prevent foliage diseases is to apply water to the soil rather than to the plant foliage.

Conclusion

The best watering rule to remember is to water longer and with less frequency. This will encourage stronger root growth which will make your lawn, trees, shrubs, and flowers more healthy and drought tolerant. I hope these watering tips have been informational for you.

Watering made simple www.lawnchair.com

Should you hire a professional landscaping company or not, that is the question. You have to weight the pros and cons, and use some common sense. You have to ask you self some important questions first.

Is this my first landscaping project?
Am I planning on doing a little area or a big area?
Do I under such technical things as drainage, pitching and so on?
What kind of plants work best for what I want to do?
Do I understand how plants work together in landscaping?
Do I want just flowers, or flower and bushes, or flower and trees or all of them?
What kind of landscaping would be best for my lifestyle?
How much work and time do I want to put into working in my yard?
There is a lot of information you would need to know if you want your landscaping to last a long time. One good rain storm could wash away all your hard work. Your best bet is to either do some research online or go to you local garden center or local landscaping company. It’s better to go to professionals that make this their lifes work than you local chain stores for this type of information.

If you would like to try some landscaping yourself, it is suggested that you work with a small area first. Do you want a small rock garden, a flower bed or a flowerbed with built up levels?

To get the most out of your garden you create, you need to research the type of plants you would like to implement in your garden. Some plants flower all summer long. Some only in spring, early summer, late summer and fall. You can arrange you plantings so the you have different colors for their prime part of the season. This can keep your garden exciting and colorful. But you need to research this.

You also need to plant flowers in accordance to their height and spread. Some plants grow taller than others so they do need to be planted accordingly. Some of your plants are ground plants that spread along the ground, so those would most definitely need to planted in the very front of your garden or they would never be seen and probably die because the other taller plants would rob them of much needed sunlight. So there really is a lot of pre-planning and research to be done before you start planting.

Now if you want to go for a bigger project and have never landscaped before, you should hire a professional. You might not like spending the money, but if landscaping is not done properly, you could end up with some serious consequences. Some of these consequences could end up costing you hundreds if not thousands of dollars. To give you one of the worst case scenarios, if you have landscaping done around your house and the pitch for drainage incorrect, this could case foundation damage to your home leaving a very costly bill.

If you hire a professional landscaper, they should understand all the techniques to avoid these kinds of situations. But please make sure you get references, do some checking on their other completed projects, and check with federal and local business resources on their qualifications. We are talking about your home here and you need to protect her and keep her safe.

When you do make a decision on a professional landscaping company you should be rest assured that they will make all t he appropriate choices in regards to you home.

You should also be able to tell them exactly what you want and they will be able to tell you if that is attainable. And if it is not, they are the best person you can go to for a variety of other ideas.

So what ever route you decide to take, just make sure that your end result is spectacular and that is will be something you will enjoy for a long, long time.

*www.lawnchair.com will be adding a landscaping referral button to our website soon. Please check back for features and articles on quality landscaping companies and great companies you can work with on your outdoor projects.

Patio furniture can enhance any patio, backyard or garden. It would be a bit silly spending the time and money on building a great patio and leaving it bare – undressed! You have to get some patio furniture, so what should you get? What should you priorities be?

What you choose will first and foremost depend on your budget. Don’t go looking for stuff you can’t afford. Decide the total amount you want to pay – it doesn’t matter if it is just a few dollars or thousands, you must decide your limit. Then look around and decide how best to spend that money. You can make great patio furniture simply by placing a cushion or throw onto a nice big log! Use your imagination and anything is possible: you don’t have to spend a great deal of money.

You can choose from the massive selection of dining sets, recliners, benches and wicker furniture on the market depending on what effect you want to create. You can decide to go completely rustic and just knock a few tree branches together to make a decent solid chair or settee and cover it in cushions for comfort – or you can mirror your interior furniture with the best that money can buy.

A major factor in the decision you make is the climate you live in. For patio furniture you want to keep out all year, go for heavy timbers such as oak or elm which are durable and can withstand most weather conditions. You can get plastic covers for during the winter and severe weather conditions. An alternative is wrought iron, which will resist rusting if painted with weatherproof paints or varnishes, and you can also use plastic covers for these. Weatherproof covers for patio furniture are available to cover individual pieces or whole sets.

Another possibility is lightweight aluminum furniture which you can use outdoors from spring to fall, than store indoors during winter. Much of it is stackable, reducing storage space. You may opt for cane or wicker furniture which is durable, but also light enough to be moved indoors for storage during winter. Whatever material of construction you decide upon there is a large variety of designs to suit just about every need in patio furniture.

If you are stuck for ideas, try the Gardening and House and Home magazines. They usually contain sections devoted to outdoor furniture. If you don’t have a patio as such, patio furniture can be used in backyards and gardens. A patio is not essential. In fact garden furniture can be so beautiful and classy that many people use it in their conservatories.

Patio furniture is not restricted to seating and table furniture. You can also get a wide range of lighting, from simple candles to sophisticated automated lighting systems. How about a patio heater? You can get outdoor fireplaces which double as barbecues, electrical patio heaters or the in-thing at the moment, a chiminea which can also be used for cooking.

If you want to get really sophisticated, you could add a sound system and a . . . . .

But that’s enough to be going on with I think. You can start your search for suitable patio furniture locally, since many stores sell it. Check out large department stores and garden centers, and don’t just ask for patio furniture. Garden furniture and conservatory furniture may also suit your needs. Ultimately, however, you are sure to find what you want on the internet.

Your home is what you make it, and your patio is as much a part of your home as your lounge or your bedroom.

If you want your yard as beautiful as possible and have absolutely no idea of where to begin, or you simply do not have the time to sit down and make plans, take a look at preconfigured landscape designs. It doesn’t matter if you live in the Pacific Northwest or Arizona because there are hundreds to choose from for each climate to suit any range of needs.

Lending A Helping Hand

So where do you find landscape designs? A very useful place to look is the Internet, where many websites are dedicated to providing professional support for any range of landscapers, from amateurs to seasoned professionals just looking for some fresh ideas to make the perfect yard. Of course, there are also several magazines and television channels also chock full of great ideas to get a start on a project. However, one of the great aspects of landscape designs is that they are modular themselves, so you can take bits and pieces of one and combine them with others, like taking different ingredients and coming up with an entirely new design.

Some popular themes of landscape designs are centered around such topics as paths, walls, lighting, and vegetation. They’ll help you answer all your questions about which plants to use, what type of gravel would look best to complement those flower beds, and which stone works best in rainy climates. In that regard, landscape designs are really just the beginning of what you’ll do with your very own yard because you’ll pick and choose to get the perfect combination. Every yard is different, so you’ll want to custom tailor any plans to fit your own setting.

If you’re looking for even more dedicated support for landscape designs, you can always turn to a landscaping company which, for a small fee, will help you get all the ideas you could possibly need to start your project. In fact, they will even do the job for you (for more money of course), so you can enjoy all the beautiful aspects of landscaping without having to work in hot, humid weather yourself.

Of course, many people prefer to save the money and do it themselves, but hiring a landscape design company helps ensure that the job gets done right the first time, potentially saving money in the long run by preventing over purchasing a particular item, like gravel or dirt. Ultimately, landscape designs are a great starting place for any landscaping project.