Seasons change and your yard’s needs change too—learn how to keep your yard happy and healthy.
Hot summers and cold winters turn into everything in-between during spring and fall. The season can have a huge impact on your yard, so if you want it to always look nice, you need to show it a little extra attention and care.
In this article, we will discuss top tips for keeping your yard looking great in every season!
Year-Round Yard Tips: Creating and Maintaining Your Ideal Landscape
These tips for every season can help you to enjoy a yard you love to show off to everyone!
Always: Understand Needs Change Throughout the Year
Year-round yard care means understanding that the needs of your yard will change throughout the year. In Colorado, we experience all four seasons—and a little overlap between them! As the temperatures change and new weather rolls in, it can and will impact the features of your yard. Committing to a year-round yard means knowing what thrives during which seasons and how to best support your yard as times change.
Always: Adapt Your Care Practices Based on the Weather in Any Season
Weather is a huge consideration for your yard, especially as temperatures change based on the season. A cold chill can be disastrous for some plants, but pairing it with snow can hit that much harder. As the seasons change, you will need to focus on adapting to protect your yard against these weather changes. This can impact when you water, what steps you take, and even what plants you add to your yard.
Always: Use the Right Tools for the Season
The primary season for lawn care in Colorado is summer. This is the time of year when you can pull out all of the tools—sprinklers, fertilizer, and other landscaping favorites. You may be tempted to water in spring or fall, but this should only be done with care. Watering your yard can be a poor choice if the weather doesn’t stay consistent.
Always: Research Local Recommendations
Every area is different, and what works for one area does not work for all of them. This is because different areas experience different types of weather, different levels of severity, and often have different plants too. To have a high impact on your yard, take time to learn more about your area and what you can expect. Weather patterns can change significantly, even with areas that aren’t that far apart.
The more you know, the more your yard will thrive!
Always: Consider the Impact of Pets
Seasons come and go, but pets are family. They are with you all year long, and they are a huge consideration for landscaping. Understanding how pets impact your yard is a great way to improve the overall look and feel of your outdoor spaces.
There are plenty of things to consider here, from digging habits to how you manage pet waste. Many homeowners with female dogs are also surprised to learn how urine can impact their yards.
Look into pets and their impacts on certain plants to learn more–and only put pet-safe plants in these spaces!
Spring: Don’t Be Overzealous
When the warmth of spring begins to roll in, you can feel its impact in Colorado. It spreads through our communities and beckons us all outside. The excitement fills the air, but try not to get too excited with your yard. If you start treating your yard or planting too early, you may be in for an unpleasant surprise.
Colorado is known for its ever-changing weather. A warm week in spring might not mean summer has arrived—snow could be just around the corner.
Spring: Be Realistic With Floral Arrangements
Flowers are beautiful, and in Colorado, you can grow plenty of stunning and inviting plants. However, it is important to remember that different types of flowers really require different kinds of care. Before you start planning your garden for the year, take time to consider what kind of care the different flowers will need and whether or not it is safe to put them together.
Remember, flowers are not one size fits all. Many of them have specific growing conditions that must be considered throughout the year, whether you’re planting in spring or summer.
Spring: Start Planting as the Weather Stabilizes
Anyone who has been in Colorado long enough knows that, sometimes, the state beckons in a cold front or an unexpected snow storm—even as late as May! If you’re looking to avoid headaches and disappointment, it is always best to start planting your seeds when the weather really starts to stabilize.
Since this isn’t always a guarantee, it is also a good idea to have plans in place to cover your flowers if an unexpected storm blows in.
Summer: Know Best Watering Practices
In a perfect world, you could set your sprinkler to water your yard and never have to think about it. In reality—especially in Colorado—you have to consider a little more when watering your lawn. Learn how to adapt based on the temperature, the location of the sun, and future weather that may come in.
Try to be reasonable with your watering—avoid overwatering, and try not to water your lawn or plants during the middle of the day.
Summer: Build a Consistent Maintenance Schedule
Maintenance matters, and it is your key to having a stunning yard all summer long. Take time to plan out watering schedules, when you want to add fertilizer, and when you want to mow. While grass is very important, remember that there is more to your yard in many cases—your plants, flowers, and other features will need to be watered and nourished too.
Summer: Start Preparing in Advance
Summer is when we do the most work in a yard, but it helps to get a head start. Begin by testing out your sprinkler system to make sure everything works early on. This way, if something goes wrong, you can have it fixed in time for the hot summer days.
Do your planning before summer arrives. Build your schedules, get your tools, and decide what you want to see for your yard.
Fall: Cut Back on Watering
As autumn sets in, we start to experience warm days and cooler nights. While many of us struggle to find the right way to dress for this changing weather, how we water our lawns should also be a large consideration.
With high temperatures during the day, you may be tempted to keep up your watering practices. However, this is the time of year when you actually want to scale back. Warm days turn into cold nights, and you don’t want to freeze your lawn if you can avoid it.
In early fall, your usual watering habits are probably fine. However, as the cool sets in, it is time to slow down and then eventually stop watering.
Fall: Understand Temperature Changes and Impacts
With changing fall temperatures, your yard will begin to die on its own schedule. This is an unavoidable part of life where the seasons change, but it can be sad or even frustrating to see your yard begin to wind down.
When choosing the plants you want for your yard, it helps to also learn what temperatures they can sustain so you know what to expect as the seasons change.
Fall: Manage Falling Leaves and Mold
The flowers in your yard are not the only plants that are impacted outside. Many trees are known to go through notable changes in fall, and this kicks off the falling of the leaves. To keep your yard thriving, be sure to manage your leaves and treat any areas developing more moisture or mold.
Winter: Prepare Your Sprinkler System for the Cold
Sprinkler systems are invaluable when it comes to lawn maintenance, but they require care too. Be sure to blow out your sprinkler system before winter sets in to avoid any problems that might come as the temperature drops. Frozen sprinkler lines can lead to unpleasant and unwanted expenses!
Winter: Aim to Minimize Damage
Winter is a season where we don’t really have to worry about our yards as much. When our homes are covered in snow, mowing the yard is no longer a concern.
To minimize damage, remove anything that might be covering or damaging your yard as the seasons pass. Clean up the area, and prepare for snow!
Winter: Consider Bringing Some Plants Indoors
Very few plants react well to the cold, but that doesn’t always mean that your plants are guaranteed to die. If you have planters with beautiful plants you love, consider bringing them inside somewhere warm and treating them with a UV light instead!
Care for Your Yard, and Watch How it Thrives–We Can Help!
Colorado is known for its natural beauty, but good landscaping can help you bring more of nature’s beauty right into your yard. For more Denver landscaping tips or to learn how we can help you create your dream yard, contact our team today!
