Decide Whether To Renovate Or Redo Your Lawn In 3 Questions
May 07th 2019
Lawns are points of pride for many Gainesville homeowners, as lush grass and healthy bushes or trees distinguish houses from other properties in their neighborhoods. But maintaining attractive landscaping takes work, and not everybody has the time. Sometimes, lawns can even be neglected for too long, at which point they deteriorate and present homeowners with a choice to renovate or redo the landscaping. If you’ve reached this point, consider these three factors to help you make the right decision. Once you’ve decided, call Evergreen Lawn Care for the Gainesville landscaping services you need.
1. Why Is Your Lawn Struggling?
Among the most common lawn care mistakes, neglect can either lead to a number of common landscaping problems or exacerbate causes that were already present. Deciding which is the case for your lawn will answer the question of whether you should renovate or redo the landscaping. One way to illustrate this point is through the example of watering.
Grass needs regular watering to grow, but the rate of irrigation must be adjusted seasonally based on the changing growth cycle at different times of the year. In winter, most lawns in North Central Florida are dormant — hence the reason you don’t have much mowing to do during cooler months — but continuing to water at the same frequency as during summer might lead to overwatering. Too much water is far worse for lawns than too little water, as the excess moisture saturates the soil and prevents absorption of oxygen, which is required to feed the roots of grass, trees, and plants. Oxygen-starved plants more easily fall prey to insect damage and diseases than plants with adequate oxygen levels. If the landscaping is struggling due to your watering habits, your yard’s glory can be restored by renovating the lawn and reforming your watering habits.
Sometimes, the causes of landscaping failures are systemic design flaws. If you’re watering the lawn correctly, but it’s still unhealthy, the reason might be inadequate drainage or improper sunlight exposure. Water needs designated low points and adequate sunshine to prevent oversaturation of the soil. Should this problem occur, renovations would merely cause a recurrence of oversaturation. Instead, the landscaping would have to be redone, preferably with design input from lawn care professionals who take into account drainage and sun exposure. For help concluding the reason your lawn is struggling, call Evergreen Lawn Care to schedule a consultation.
2. What Percentage Of The Yard Is Failing?
Problems seldom affect the whole lawn. Instead, they typically occur within a portion of the total lawn. Determining which percentage of the yard is failing can help you conclude whether it’s worthwhile to renovate or redo the landscaping. One or two patches of dead grass or trees can drag down the aesthetic of the entire landscape. Yet, isolated issues can often be solved with targeted landscape renovations. Replacing diseased trees or reseeding patches of brown grass can restore these failed portions of the lawn to equal quality as the rest, thus elevating the aesthetic value of the landscaping as a whole.
Once a certain percentage of the lawn has failed, renovations are no longer viable, and the only choice is to redo the landscaping altogether. A lawn with an inconsistent soil pH, for example, may produce a checkerboard of lush green grass interspersed with brown or even barren spots. Likewise, a weed infiltration could disperse roots underneath the whole lawn, making the problem too big for an afternoon of weed pulling. When systemic problems arise, such as those related to soil or weeds, the solution is not to address individual rough spots or problem areas but rather to replace the yard entirely, usually starting with a new layer of topsoil.
3. What’s The Timeline For Renovations?
How much time are you willing to spend replenishing the lawn? The honest answer to that question will tell you whether renovations or redoing the landscaping makes sense for your yard. Renovations are isolated projects, so these require less time and money to complete. Whereas landscape replacements are extensive and more costly, but the results are more dramatic, including increased curb appeal and boosted property values. The average length of time for a lawn redo is a few weeks. Hiring professional landscapers will speed up the timeline, but whether you can bear the wait determines which course of lawn care is appropriate for your property.
What’s convenient about landscaping in Gainesville, and across much of North Central Florida, is the climate allows for yard work year-round. That means you can schedule lawn care whenever you wish. That said, spring is a preferred season for laying sod and planting trees, shrubs, and flowers — the abundance of sunshine yet still cool temperatures during springtime in North Central Florida help plants and grasses thrive while preventing roots from drying out. To schedule landscaping services, contact Evergreen Lawn Care today.
