Landscape maintenance is the scheduled care of everything planted around the lawn. Shrubs and trees get pruned at the right time and by the right amount, beds are kept weeded and edged, seasonal color goes in and comes out, and the leaves and debris leave on the truck. It suits people who want the yard kept up without giving it their Saturdays.
The grass can be part of the same schedule. Lawn mowing runs on its own plan for your grass type, and the bed and shrub work fits around it on the same visits.
What does landscape maintenance include?
The list is long, and you pick from it:
- Scheduled mowing, with trimming and edging
- Pruning of every shrub and tree on the property
- Flower bed upkeep, weeds included
- Seasonal beds, planted and rotated through the year (see seasonal flowers)
- Debris and leaf removal
- Snow and ice removal when winter brings it
- Anything else the yard needs, written into a custom plan
How much should a crape myrtle be cut back?
Much less than most people cut. You've probably seen crape myrtles with their tops sheared off flat. People do it expecting more blooms. It won't give them, and it often leaves the tree misshapen.
The rule the crews prune by is no more than 15 to 20 percent of any plant in one cutting. Each plant also has its own window when pruning does the least harm. When customers complain that a tree has weak branches or barely flowers, too much cutting at the wrong time is usually why. Bad pruning also leaves plants more open to disease, insects and storm damage.
How thorough is the bed weeding?
Down to the last runner of grass creeping in from the lawn. The crews pull the weeds, cut a clean trench along the bed edge so the turf stays out, and mulch the beds when the plan calls for it.
They trimmed all of our bushes, pulled weeds, trenched and mulched all of our flower beds. They even did a great job cleaning up afterwards.
Addison J., Franklin
What happens to the clippings and branches?
They leave with the crew, all of them. Doing your own pruning still leaves you with twigs, limbs and piles of trimmings, and that usually means bagging them up or driving loads to the recycling center. On a Green Scene visit that part simply goes away. In spring and fall the same crews handle the bigger jobs, like storm limbs and gutters full of leaves, through spring and fall cleanup.
How is maintenance priced?
By the property. Tell the office what you want looked after and how often, and you get back a written cost analysis for that yard. There's no published rate, because a lot with two foundation beds and a lot with a dozen ornamental trees aren't the same job. Doug P. in Brentwood, who had shrubs replaced and trees pruned, called the prices "competitive." Teresa Garcia runs the schedule and answers billing questions from the office on Mealer Street.