What is Landscape Maintenance?
Landscape maintenance is the surest means of protecting the lasting curb appeal of your outdoor living investment. While it involves the same standard lawn services that all landscaping companies offer, it also involves many foundational services that safeguard both the functionality and the aesthetics of the landscape itself. These services require an exceptional knowledge of landscaping design found only in a company like Exterior Worlds that treats the entire property as an outdoor living environment.
That being said, the most important foundation services we offer deal with maintaining the integrity of the landscape itself. Houston has many things to offer, but the weather is far from ideal. Heavy rains cause erosion in some Houston neighborhoods that can carry away several inches of soil in one season. This, in turn, can so negatively impact the land grade that proper drainage becomes all but impossible. One thing that makes our type of landscape maintenance so unique is the strong emphasis we place on soil retention and replacement. Keeping the yard itself intact, and keeping its grade even and attractive, allows us to efficiently construct and maintain concealed, custom drainage systems that move rainwater out of the yard as quickly as possible.
If you invest in maintenance this year, specific provisions will be written into your plan that will protect your property as much as possible from the damages that heavy rainfall can inflict.
These provisions go hand-in-hand with another foundational landscaping service – custom, automated irrigation. During times when rainfall is excessive, irrigation needs to be minimized or shutoff altogether. When periodic droughts strike the city, irrigation systems need to deliver appropriate levels of water to lawns, gardens, and trees without overtaxing the local water supply. This level of precision requires professional expertise to work effectively.
Landscape maintenance agreements include provisions for both seasonal and special adjustments of your irrigation system. Inspections are done in late February to make sure that your equipment is in good working order for the warm months of the year.
Soil treatments are also done at this time to prepare the yard for the rapid burst of plant growth that comes every spring. One of the most important procedures we perform is lawn aeration, which allows for healthier root penetration of the thick, claylike soil of the Gulf Coast. We also add mulch to garden areas and flower beds to provide new plant life with plenty of nutrients. During this time as well, chemical treatments are applied to lawn grass and garden plants that help protect them against fungus and disease. Fertilization is done in late February or early March and repeated at the beginning of each season. Landscape maintenance agreements also schedule weekly or bi-weekly mowing and trimming of lawn grass and ground covers.
Shrubs and trees are attended to with deep root fertilization performed at the beginning of each spring. Pruning, vine training, and rose services are also performed per agreement when appropriate. A variety of tree preservation services, aimed at preventing root damage and disease, are also included in most maintenance plans. Pruning is scheduled at regular times to keep them in proper scale and scope to the home.
Because our services focus on preserving the quality of your property’s curb appeal, landscape maintenance contracts include services aimed at preserving your hardscapes, landscape architecture, and landscape lighting. Inspection, cleaning, and repair services are itemized on the basis of individual need and usually performed at the beginning of spring.