landscaping services

Large commercial hardscapes are built to last. Not only are they durable features, builders often add layers of materials underneath them to make the features last even longer. But sometimes nature tries to take back the hardscaping, especially if your property has a mix of soft and hard landscaping features. Here are 3 signs you need to call in professional maintenance:

1. Grass is growing between the stones.

We’ve all seen grass grow in impossible locations like between the slabs of a major road or even between a building and the surrounding sidewalk. Grass can even find a way to wedge between the pavers or stones of your hardscaping features. Good builders insert industrial grade barriers between the features and the ground, but grass seeds can find purchase even on top of the stones and start to push down. Call in a professional maintenance team before the stones separate.

2. You notice cracks or tilts.

Over time, stone pathways and sitting areas made of pavers will start to settle just like a concrete foundation. Sometimes the stones will tilt apart from each other or settle at different heights. This can make your hardscape paths uncomfortable to walk on or hard for people in wheelchairs to use. Once you or your tenants see cracks or uneven stones, start repairs as soon as possible.

3. The features are near a pond.

Hardscaping features next to a pond are perfect for almost every property. Whether you have an office park or a multi-tenant property, everybody likes to sit or walk around a pond. But the combination demands constant maintenance. If you have any hardscaping near a water feature, plan on annual or semi-annual maintenance to keep everything in place.

Go to Texas Outdoor Oasis to schedule regular hardscaping maintenance and repairs for sudden developments.

Sometimes trees don’t grow the way the original planters wanted. Trees can last hundreds of years, so it’s tricky to plant them far away enough from the home, nearby trees, and any potential or future structures. Planning ahead becomes even more difficult with larger roots systems and shifting soil. If your trees are getting too close for comfort but you don’t want to restrict them, give us a call!

Do you need to protect your home’s foundation?

One of the more serious problems with overgrown trees occurs when they were planted too close to a house. The root system fans outward over the decades. The roots can eventually grow through everything from rocky soil to concrete foundations. Once the roots start to butt up against the edges of a foundation, they can crack the concrete. This results in crumbling edges, widening splits, and even gaps in the soil that put pressure on the whole system. If the damage isn’t detected in time, the roots can even make their way into the pipes.

Have your trees and soil inspected. Professional tree care experts can analyze your trees’ root patterns and forecast future growth. They can also recommend the right foundation guards to divert your roots. Trees can continue to grow even with adjustments to the root system.

Is a tree trunk splitting?

Trees don’t always maintain a proper upward trajectory. Either through lop-sided pruning or just bad luck, tree trunks can split until they have a wide Y shape. Unless the trunk can fully support the split weight, the tree may start to slowly split and put its surrounding in danger. We can inspect the tree and recommend the right course of action. Oftentimes, the tree can be safely supported with wire and chains that restrict sideways growth.

Old trees that outgrew expectations can be dangerous if they’re left to grow uncontrolled. Call Texas Outdoor Oasis to protect your trees and your home.

Sometimes trees have to be removed despite everyone’s best efforts to save them. This can happen after a property fire, heavy storm damage that devastates a small grove of trees, or even a quick-spreading disease. Once you have your tree management company cut down the trees and grind the stumps, it’s time to rebuild. Make sure you don’t rush by following these three steps:

1. Get the soil inspected and add back missing nutrients.

A fire can burn up a lot of the nutrients and plant matter that go into the soil. It also leaves behind a hardened layer of ash. Before you plant new trees on the site, have an arborist inspect the area and recommend the right treatments to get the soil hydrated and healthy.

The soil near a disease outbreak or fungus needs even more preparation. It’s important to completely remove or counter soil that carries stubborn traces of any parasites or problems. Follow your arborist’s recommended guidelines for wait times before planting.

2. Don’t use fast-growing trees.

It could take decades for the replacement trees to look like the ones you lost, and that’s okay. Slow-growing trees are hardier and have better defenses against temperature changes, invasive species, and physical damage. Fast-growing trees that are bred just for quick expansion have weak wood. That means they can’t handle snow or windy weather. Their thin bark also can’t ward off disease or sunscald.

3. Use local varieties.

If your lost trees provided important shade or were a vital part of the overall landscaping, then you might not be able to wait for younger trees to grow into their place. If you need to plant mature trees, look for local varieties. Native Texas trees are more drought- and heat-resistant. They can also better handle the stress of a new placement than exotic varieties, and local varieties are sturdier.

Go to Texas Outdoor Oasis for a complete landscaping and hardscaping service.

Finally purchasing your first home is obviously an exciting feeling. But a new home also comes with a lot of new responsibilities, one of which might be the landscaping and long term maintenance of your new yard. If you want to get things started on the right note, one thing you might want to consider would be to hire a professional landscaping service to help you get the ball rolling and keep things under control going forward. Here are three things a landscaping service can do for you and your yard after you move in. Three reasons to hire a professional landscaping service for your new home.

Help Focus Your Ideas

If you have plans for your yard that include more than just mowing the grass, a landscaping service can be a Godsend. Some homeowners make the mistake of biting off more than they can chew when they move into a new home with a big yard. Yes, a gazebo and a garden might be nice, but that could also be a huge time investment in addition to the money it’s going to cost. A professional landscaper can help you figure out exactly what you want and help you prioritize your list of ideas to ensure that the yard will look great every step of the way.

Help You Understand the Local Horticulture

Sometimes despite your best effort, things don’t go as planned. If you are having trouble growing a certain plant in a specific area of the yard, for example, you might end up trying multiple solutions or making multiple trips to the home improvement store or gardening center before you figure things out. Professional landscapers have likely encountered whatever your specific problem is before. They can help educate you on the best way to take care of your garden, tree or some other part of your yard so that it will look fantastic all year round.

Help Free Up Your Time for Other Tasks

Whether you have a family or a busy job, just about everyone these days wishes they had a couple more hours per week to tackle the projects they really want to do. If you’re the type that has a packed schedule, finding 2 to 3 hours every weekend to really give your yard the care and maintenance it needs to thrive could be hard to come by. Yes, hiring a landscaping service will cost money but getting back potentially hours of time to spend with your family or working on another important project may just be priceless.

A new home with a big yard is an exciting proposition if you were born with a green thumb, but be careful you don’t get in over your head. Maintaining a yard or landscape over the long haul can be a lot of hard work and it can be helpful to have a professional on your side. A landscaping service can help you plan out your dream garden, step in to help you tackle issues that arise with the local horticulture and most importantly, can help you free up more time to spend with your loved ones. Contact a local landscaping service today for more information.