Boulder City Landscaping FAQ

This section of our website will answer questions that we commonly hear from our clients. We welcome any and all inquiries from our visitors but you might find an instant answer to your question listed here.

Landscaping with pavers and artificial turf

In general, any additions or improvements made to a home’s exterior grounds are considered to be landscaping projects. Most people think of landscaping as any changes made to a lawn or garden surrounding a home. Regardless of the size and shape of an outdoor area, every homeowner has a landscape to work with. Landscaping is the art of taking this space and transforming it into a complimentary work of art.

Even if you are not currently selling your home, it is a well known fact that any landscaping activity can immediately boost the overall value of your property. When you do choose to sell your home, a beautiful landscape can add thousands of dollars to the price. Think of your yard as your home. would you avoid cleaning the kitchen until you were ready to sell your home? A beautiful landscape around can make living there more enjoyable and promote a positive image to your friends and neighbors.

One of the first things that landscapers do when landscaping a yard is work with trees. A common problem for most home owners is a large amount of branches threatening to fall and damage their house. After clearing all of the large, dead branches from over the yard, you might find that the additional sunlight immediately adds a new appearance to your yard, as well as protecting what is likely the largest investment that many people make.

While we would certainly love for you to try our services, some projects can be completed at home in only a few short hours. Deciding whether or not to hire a professional generally comes down to personal taste and the size of the project. You can save a great deal of money on very small projects, however, by consulting with a professional for 30 minutes or an hour. If you feel like you do not have enough time, patience or creativity to handle your landscaping, a professional might be the right choice. However, if you look forward to starting a new lawn project, you might decide to handle many of the tasks yourself.

Start your landscaping project in an area where you feel the most comfortable working. Gather some resources to help you with your project by purchasing books or looking online. You might have a specific design plan in mind that changes once you see what previous landscapers were able to do with a similar area. After you known what you want to do, start by developing a plan. Keep a watchful eye on your yard to see where the dry or sunny spots might be. If you find dry spots, those areas might require a bit more attention. Places in your yard that get a lot of Sun might be great places for new gardens.

From a landscapers perspective, color theory is very important. This concept involves mixing and matching colors to create a complimentary piece of art with your yard. Simply put, colors such as red and yellow are warm colors while blues and greens are cool ones. To create the best color scheme in your lawn, try matching warm colors with other warm colors and cool colors in the same way. Warm colors can be exciting while cool colors are often considered to be calming. So, if you are considering designing a garden for meditation, you will likely prefer to stick to cool colors in your fixtures and flowers.

Here are 8 of the Most Common Landscaping Questions

in Las Vegas!

Landscapes need less water in colder months, however, specific plants may need special attention. Be sure to give each one an individualized touch. “Determine if your plants are winter hardy and safeguard them accordingly,” said Fritz Kollmann, Botanical Garden Supervisor at Springs Preserve.

Before freezing temperatures strike, cover sensitive plants and move potted plants to a protected area or covered patio. “Cover frost-sensitive foliage with frost cloth or blankets to prevent damage,” Kollmann said. “Use some sort of support to keep heavier fabric off the plants you are covering to prevent breakage. Tomato cages, tent poles or other scaffolding-type materials work well.” The fabric should cover the soil below the plants as well. This helps keep the heat in and protect shallow roots. Kollmann notes that frost cloths can be left on the plants for several days but heavier cloths should be removed as soon as temperatures are a few degrees above freezing.

More resilient plants require less winter maintenance, but it’s still important to be mindful of their needs. “Many leafy perennials, shrubs, trees and conifers can have improved frost tolerance if they receive water roughly once every 10 days throughout winter,” Kollmann said. “Water these plants before a hard freeze to help the leaves survive.”

Watering: Water slowly and deeply, about 5 or 6-inches deep. Deep watering is beneficial because it allows the entire root system to become saturated. And, even though June is the driest month, we need to be sure not to overwater. Best time to water is between 4 am and 8 am. Watering in the early morning hours reduces evaporation loss.

Mulch: We can keep the soil moist all summer long by applying mulch around the base of the tree. We can get the best results by applying a 3 to 4-inch layer. Applying mulch is an excellent way to keep the soil cool during the hot summer months and keep it warm during the colder days.

Lawn Care: Continue mowing your grass. During warmer weather, grass grows faster. Try to move the grass every 5 to 6 days, and do it when it is not so hot outside. June is the time to finish seeding Bermuda and warm-season grasses. Be sure to complete seeding by the end of June.

Weeds: Weeds keep growing, no matter how hot it gets. Stick to your weeding plan. Keep removing pesky weeds, and do it often. Stay safe and pull weeds before the temperatures soar.

Pruning: Citrus and other sun-sensitive plants should not be pruned, as this can expose them to sunburn. You can remove faded or dead flowers from your plants. Doing this can encourage new growth. It’s a good time to remove any unwanted or vigorous branches from trees.

Snapdragon Flowerbed

The best times to plant are reserved for the fall and spring months. In the Las Vegas climate, it is best from late September to mid-November.

The second-best time for planting is mid-February to the end of April. The absolute worst time to plant is just before and during the hot summer months. In our climate, this is from May through the early part of September.

Make sure the holes for planting are at least three times the diameter of the container and not much deeper than this unless there are drainage problems. In a few soils that have layers of caliche, there are. But if your neighbors have landscape plants that are doing well then you probably won’t have a problem.

The following vegetables can be planted during September from seed or seed pieces for fall, winter and spring harvest: beets, broccoli, carrots, collards, endive, Irish potatoes, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, peas, rutabagas, spinach and Swiss chard.

The following could be planted as small transplants: broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, cabbage, celery and Chinese cabbage. If temperatures are unusually hot, delay putting in transplants until weather cools off a bit.

Mulch the soil to keep the seeds and roots of transplants moist and cool. Mulching will improve the germination of seeds and establishment of transplants.

Mulch, mulch, mulch. Weeds are plants, after all, that need light to grow. Deprive them of that light. As you know, however, mulch is not the complete solution for keeping weeds out of the garden. Vigorous weeds will grow up through pine-bark mulch and similar mulches and also creep in from the sides. The best strategy is to lay 8 to 10 sheets of newspaper down first (or use a landscape fabric), and then put the loose mulch on top. To prevent the weeds and grasses from creeping in from the sides, take the time and trouble to install edging.

When you’re installing new landscape beds, space plants close enough together so that at maturity they’ll crowd out (and shade) weeds without crowding each other.

Try to keep the weeds from going to seed by removing or mowing them before they form seedheads.

Keep after them with continuous rooting out — most persistent weeds can eventually be squelched if you keep robbing them of their energy stores.

Before you take action, find out whether the weeds you’re coping with also provide essential food or cover for honeybees, birds and other desirable wildlife. The answer might help guide your response.

Landscaping maintenance with mowed grass and trimmed trees

Normally weekly mowing is the rule, but some lawns need cutting more often. Other lawns will grow more slowly and might need cutting only once every ten days or two weeks. Generally, don’t cut off more than one-third of the grass blade. More than that may harm the grass. Let the length of the lawn be the judge, NOT when the lawn was last mowed.

When grass goes dormant for the cold winter months, it turns brown in order to conserve water and nutrients. It can stay in this dormant state safely for 3-4 weeks without dying, although intense drought will kill it over time. Dormant turf is not very pleasant to look at with its unsightly brown tinge so you may want to spread some rye grass seed in the Fall to grow during the winter and provide some moisture for the dormant grass beneath it.

Broadleaf evergreen shrubs such as azaleas, camellias, rhododendrons often require covering during extreme cold. Potted plants, which are more susceptible to cold, may need several layers of burlap to protect the roots.

Best Time to Repot

Container plants are much more vulnerable to the extreme Las Vegas summer heat and sun than those planted in the ground. Therefore, you need to provide special care to help them thrive during the extreme weather conditions of our Las Vegas summer months.

How to Change the Soil

Watering the plant at least one day before changing the soil minimizes stress. If the roots are tightly compacted in the container, carefully knock the plant against a hard surface until loosened. Pull the plant by lifting the base and remove it from the container. The plant is now ready for transfer to its new, clean container, an important detail, according to North Dakota State University Extension. Place pieces of broken clay pots or gravel on top of the drainage holes, and then fill with fresh potting soil to about ½ inch within the rim or top of the container.

People often use the terms succulents and cacti interchangeably, which is scientifically incorrect. Understanding the relation between the two will help properly distinguish them and help with identification.

 

Succulents are plants that store water in their stems, roots, and leaves. There are about 60 different plant families within the group of succulents, including aloe, haworthia, sedum, sempervivum, and of course, cacti. Cacti are fleshy plants that store water, making them part of this group. Therefore, all cacti are succulents.

 

Cacti are simply a family, or sub-category within the group of plants collectively known as succulents. They range from tall and thin to short and round, and they usually do not have leaves or branches. In order for a succulent plant to be considered a cactus, the plant must have areoles. Areoles are small, round, cushion-like mounds of flesh where spines, hair, leaves, flowers, and more grow from the cactus. Areoles are only present on cacti, not all succulents.

 

Some succulents are often mistaken for cacti because they have thorns or spines, but these characteristics do not automatically qualify a succulent as a cactus. The areoles are the key to distinguishing the two. Without areoles, the succulent cannot be a cactus.

 

It seems pretty straight forward, right? Well, there is a small grey area when distinguishing succulents from cacti. Scientifically, cacti are considered succulents, yet some botanists and horticulturists categorize the two differently. Botanists categorize cacti as succulents, where as some horticulturists exclude cacti from succulents. We just wanted to cover all of the bases, but in general…all cacti are succulents, but not all succulents are cacti.

Succulents and cactus on a table

People often use the terms succulents and cacti interchangeably, which is scientifically incorrect. Understanding the relation between the two will help properly distinguish them and help with identification.

 

Succulents are plants that store water in their stems, roots, and leaves. There are about 60 different plant families within the group of succulents, including aloe, haworthia, sedum, sempervivum, and of course, cacti. Cacti are fleshy plants that store water, making them part of this group. Therefore, all cacti are succulents.

 

Cacti are simply a family, or sub-category within the group of plants collectively known as succulents. They range from tall and thin to short and round, and they usually do not have leaves or branches. In order for a succulent plant to be considered a cactus, the plant must have areoles. Areoles are small, round, cushion-like mounds of flesh where spines, hair, leaves, flowers, and more grow from the cactus. Areoles are only present on cacti, not all succulents.

 

Some succulents are often mistaken for cacti because they have thorns or spines, but these characteristics do not automatically qualify a succulent as a cactus. The areoles are the key to distinguishing the two. Without areoles, the succulent cannot be a cactus.

 

It seems pretty straight forward, right? Well, there is a small grey area when distinguishing succulents from cacti. Scientifically, cacti are considered succulents, yet some botanists and horticulturists categorize the two differently. Botanists categorize cacti as succulents, where as some horticulturists exclude cacti from succulents. We just wanted to cover all of the bases, but in general…all cacti are succulents, but not all succulents are cacti.