Roots Landscaping

With the air cool and crisp, another beautiful Minnesota fall is upon us. As the leaves are turning colors of soft golden yellows and bright, vibrant reds, it is time to plant for winter beauty. There is still time to get everything planted and established, before the really cold weather sets in, to give your yard some color while everything else becomes brown and lifeless.

Although the variety of flowers to plant in winter is more limited than in warmer seasons, it’s possible to plant flowers in early winter before the ground freezes. Glory of the Snow has star-shaped petals that poke out of the ground in late winter and early spring. The bulbs are planted in the fall and each one produces one stem that grows up to nine inches with a flower in pink, blue, or white. Crocus is an annual that has grass-like leaves and blooms in late winter in shades of white, yellow, and purple. The bulbs need six weeks of temperatures below 45 degrees to form flowers. Some other flowers that will bloom when there is snow on the ground include camellia, pansies, hellebores, and white forsythia.

Even though hardy shrubs and flowers usually don’t bloom for a long period of time, these winter blooms provide splashes of color to brighten up the otherwise gloomy winter season.

It is time to fertilize! The most important fertilization of the year is applied in the fall. Fertilizer applied to lawns in the fall helps root systems recover from summer stress and develop food reserves for an earlier and better spring. Your lawn and trees consume a lot more food in the fall than through the rest of the year. Your entire landscape “shifts gears” in the fall to begin storing food in preparation for the explosive new growth of spring. Fall fertilization makes nutrients available that may not be present in some poor soils. The healthier the roots become the better growth you can expect in the spring.

At last, the snow is melting and spring is in the air! Soon our landscape crews will be able to get outside and get their hands dirty, preparing yards for the growing season. Let us do the dirty work for you by removing debris from your lawn, pruning your plants, and re-mulching around your trees, plants, and in planting beds.

The first step in sprucing up your lawn is to remove all of the leaves and debris that accumulated throughout the winter. This allows your lawn to get the maximum amount of sunlight and water possible.

Trimming and pruning existing plants helps to lift the tree or shrub and shape it. Removing the dead or dying branches promotes plant health and controls the plant size and appearance.

A clean, even layer of mulch will give nice sharp edges to all of your planting areas and weed-free space around all of your shrubs. In addition to making your property more beautiful, mulch allows for better water flow into soil by keeping the soil moist. Weeds have a lot harder time growing in the cooler and darker environment under a layer of mulch. An application of pre-emergent will be applied just before the mulch is spread, this makes the protection is even greater.

Your lawn may still be white, but the sun is out, and the temperatures are rising! Embrace spring fever; contact us today to schedule your spring clean-up or to request a quote on our re-mulch services. 612-382-3400