Avocados are a great addition to any meal and can add an interesting flavor to a great number of dishes, but the high costs of this fruit may discourage some people from partaking. Save yourself some money and try growing your own avocado tree! Imagine thinking up a tasty southeast cuisine that would be complete with a perfectly ripe avocado. Instead of running to the store and paying an outrageous amount of money for only one avocado, you can step outside and pick one right off the vine.

If you live in a colder area and the winter months are not ideal for growing, it is wise to start this plant off indoors, making sure to give it the amount of light it would have if it were outside. Place an avocado seed in a medium to large planting pot and keep the soil damp, but not saturated. If you decide to plant the seed outdoors, choose a section of your Westford landscape that has well-drained soil and in an area where it won’t get too much sunlight, as the leaves can become sun-scorched. It is also important to choose an area in your yard where the avocado won’t have “competition.” It won’t be bad to plant a couple of trees together, but make sure there aren’t any other plants whose roots could be cut off by the roots of your avocado trees.

In the first year of growth, it’s important to keep the tree safe from pests with a mesh fence. Fruits should start to grow after seven months or so, but it could take longer depending on the climate conditions. Landscaping experts also recommend using organic fertilizer after the first year, especially if you notice a yellowish tint to the leaves, indicating an iron deficiency. If you aren’t sure what kind of fertilizer to use or you want to protect your avocado trees from pests and diseases, contact your local landscaping company and have an expert come out to tend to all your landscaping needs.

If nothing else, Westford landscaping professionals insist that you water your Westford lawn. If you do nothing else, watering at least should be a priority. But as it goes, life has a funny way of getting in the way of things that you need or want to do and the next thing you know, a couple of weeks have passed and your Westford lawn is as dry as dust. So what’s the remedy? Why, an irrigation system of course!

Many Westford landscaping companies are adding sprinkler system installation to their menu. It does no good to aerate, fertilize and maintain your Westford lawn’s pH level if you’re not properly hydrating your turf. Grass needs water more than it needs anything to remain healthy, durable and vibrant. A Westford lawn that is dehydrated is susceptible to disease and will often have brittle grass blades and look dull in color, sometimes even brown if the dehydration is severe enough.

Installing an irrigation system might seem like a luxury, but if you take into the consideration of what you might have to pay to renovate or repair your Westford lawn after a severe bout of dehydration, it’s more than worth the cost. A sprinkler system can include features such as timers to ensure that your Westford lawn is watered at the same time everyday and with just the right amount of water. Don’t want a visible system? No problem! Most irrigation systems are installed underneath the ground and some Westford landscaping companies also offer products that blend in with your Westford landscaping.

If you’re looking for a guaranteed method of keeping your Westford lawn hydrated throughout the growing season, consult your local Westford landscaping company and ask about how an irrigation system can benefit you!

So you’ve finally decided this is the season you will add an outdoor living space that will give you a place to escape to and take in the sounds, smells and sights of your gorgeous Westford landscape, as well as provide a comfortable and convenient area to entertain great friends and family. Lawn care experts suggest adding a hexagonal gazebo might just be the perfect avenue to that destination!

Hexagonal gazebos are traditional in appearance, but add a style and sophistication to your Westford landscape. And although you may choose a design and materials that exude luxury, Westford lawn care specialists say hexagonal gazebos are quite affordable. Furthermore, your property value will increase with this beautiful addition!

Hexagonal gazebos do not have to be one-size-fits-all in style. Lawn care professionals say there are several different options, including whether or not to add benches inside the gazebo and different types of railings. When it comes to topping your hexagonal gazebo, you can choose from a canopy top, an ornamental cupola or more traditional roofing shingles, perhaps to match the roof of your home.

Hexagonal gazebos typically come in 8 foot and 10 foot sizes. Lawn care pros suggest a great way to accentuate your Westford landscape gazebo is by adding garden lights and seasonal plantings around the gazebo itself. The plants and flowers will give you something beautiful to gaze upon as you relax the day away in your Westford landscape and the garden lights will allow you to enjoy this outdoor living space even on cool, summer nights.

Contact your local Westford lawn care company today to find out more about adding a hexagonal gazebo to your Westford landscape this season!

Many landscaping companies offer the design and installation of irrigation systems because proper hydration is absolutely vital to creating and maintaining a healthy Westford landscape. Many homeowners find that watering their Westford landscape or garden is more of a guessing game than anything else. Knowing precisely how much water your plants need is important because without enough water, their color and growth will suffer. If you water too much, you run the risk of soil erosion and drowning the roots, and if the watering takes place late in the evening, the development of mold.

Landscaping specialists can help you determine the correct watering procedures, but the installation of a sprinkler system can take the guesswork out of the picture. Hydration systems are designed to give your Westford landscape just the right amount of water without overburdening the roots or causing them to go thirsty. Sprinkler systems can also be programmed to be sensitive to weather conditions, so you are experiencing a few days with heavy rainfall, your sprinkler system will not activate.

Irrigation systems are also designed and installed to make sure every inch of your Westford landscape is covered. Many store-bought and self-installed hydration systems only cover one part of your Westford lawn or Westford landscape, whereas landscaping professionals will know how to install the system so that all your plants benefit.

If you are worried about the cost, think of how much money you waste by watering too much or forgetting to turn the sprinkler off. Professionally installed sprinkler systems can actually save you money, not to mention save water from being wasted.

Call your landscaping company today to find out more about the many benefits of an expertly designed sprinkler system.

There are several different varieties of mulch to choose from, but many homeowners and commercial property owners seem to prefer cedar mulch. Cedar mulch offers the Westford landscape a hint of rich color, and of course there is the aromatic cedar smell that adds an extra incentive. Cedar mulch also offers Westford landscape beds superior protection against soil erosion and compaction, weed growth and protects the roots of your plants from the hot sun. If you think cedar mulch is only useful when the weather is warm, you’ll be happy to know that mulch also protects the roots from freezing during spells of cold weather. So now that you know all the benefits of cedar mulch, you may wonder how you can make your own.

In order to make your own cedar mulch, according to professional Westford landscapers, you will need cured cedar wood in the form of a stump or logs, a chainsaw, a hatchet and a hammer. Using the chainsaw, cut the cedar stump or the logs into two-inch sections, stacking the pieces atop one another. Once you have a complete stack, use the chainsaw to cut vertically down the stack again in one- to two-inch sections. Gather the stack back together and proceed to perform another vertical cut, this time forming a crosshatch pattern. All of the resulting wood shavings and pieces will serve as part of your mulch.

You will still have some smaller pieces that need to be broken up into tinier pieces. Use your hammer and hatchet to bust them up in whatever sizes you prefer. Place all the wood in a large container and add an amount of water that is proportionate to the wood chips. Landscaping professionals say for this project, a gallon of water is usually plenty. Make sure all the wood chips have been dampened by the water and let sit for three days. Drain the water from the container and let the cedar mulch dry in the sun for a day, turning it occasionally to make sure the undersides of the wood chips have a chance to dry out as well. Once all the pieces have dried, you have your very own source of cedar mulch to adorn your Westford landscape!

Making your own cedar mulch may be a fun activity, but perhaps you’re looking for a more professional approach. Call your local Westford landscaping company and ask about their mulching services.

Ever wonder what to do with those scraps of food that shouldn’t go down the disposal, but create a terrible smell if left in the garbage for more than a day? Or perhaps you’re looking to enhance the growth of your Westford landscape plants in a more natural and cost-effective manner? Landscaping experts recommend using your kitchen waste to make your own all-organic mulch.

The first step in this journey toward a more eco-friendly way to fertilize your Westford landscape is by choosing the right type of composter. Many Westford landscapers recommend using worm bins. Filling the bin with live worms, your kitchen waste will be broken down by the worms and voila! You have a nutrient-rich fertilizer for your Westford landscape! Using a worm bin is also beneficial because you can keep it inside your home if you wish for easy access. The only rule when it comes to worm bins is to not leave it in direct sunlight.

If you’re not sure how to use a worm bin or where to get the materials (or the worms), check with your community’s Department of Water and Power; they may offer worm bins as well as instructions on how to use them.

So what can you throw in the worm bin? The ingredients that make up worm bin mulch can range from fruit and vegetable rinds and pieces to most Westford landscape debris, according to landscaping experts. So instead of throwing your kitchen scraps in the trash, or even to the dog, think about creating your own personal brand of all-organic mulch.

If making your own mulch is too much of a hassle but you still want to bring a more organic approach to fertilizing your Westford landscape, call your local landscaping company and ask about their organic fertilization program.

When the leaves on the trees start to fall, each year you are faced with a tough decision: to bag, or not to bag, that is the question.

Raking and bagging leaves is a tedious landscaping chore. It means spending countless hours outside, hoping and praying a gust of wind doesn’t come along and undo all your hard work. However, despite your disdain for this landscaping have-to, you know that leaving the leaves on the Westford lawn or Westford landscape isn’t an option. Or is it?

Many homeowners believe in the power of mulching. Landscaping experts say it is a common misunderstanding that using a Westford lawn mower to mulch leaves is bad for your turf or Westford landscape. Quite the contrary, actually. But mulching the leaves and cutting them up into teeny tiny little bits, you will create a buffet of nutrients and organic matter on which your Westford landscape can feed and thrive.

In addition to the nutritional benefit and the fact that mulching leaves with a Westford lawn mower requires less time and effort, there is also the environmental benefit. Unless you use the brown leaf bags provided by Lowe’s or The Home Depot, you’re probably filling plastic bags and hoping the garbage men don’t get too nosy when loading your trash into the compactor. These plastic bags will end up in landfills, taking up even more room and putting a material (plastic) into the ground that will never decompose.

So the next time your Westford landscape is covered with leaves, rev up the mower and get those leaves mulched!

Any recipe is only as good as its ingredients and that goes for Westford lawn care too.  If you don’t have good flour and shortening (soil and pH level), it doesn’t matter how much frosting (or fertilizer) you add, your recipe (lawn) isn’t going to turn out well.  That’s why it’s important to get a soil test and start with a good foundation.

A soil test can measure many things like soil fertility.  Elements like phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, sodium, sulfur, manganese, copper and zinc are removed from the soil to determine nutrient and contaminant content.  One of the most important things a soil test measures is pH.  Experts say if a soil is too acidic or too alkaline it can be toxic to plants.  The acidity in the soil can limit plant growth to such extremes that the plants won’t be able to utilize any fertilizer applied.  So, the soil test can help determine the best lime and fertilizer recommendations.  It’ll help save you money in the long run and help the environment by limiting the over-use of fertilizers.

Basically soils in moist climates tend to be acidic while those in dry climates are generally alkaline.  A soil pH lower than 7.0 is an acid soil, anything higher is alkaline.  The soil has to be adjusted to fit the needs of the particular plants planted in the area.

There are do-it-yourself testing kits available in many areas at reasonable prices or you can hire a company to do the testing for you.  Either way you’ll be getting important information that will help your Westford lawn and garden grow and will make you look like the expert with the green thumb without all the effort.

Bagworms are often the bane of any homeowner’s existence. These stubborn insects can take a perfectly healthy and beautiful landscape and destroy it in a matter of months. Their incessant feeding depletes trees and shrubs of the nutrients necessary to keep them alive and thriving, thus killing the plants if there is no intervention.

The presence of bagworms is usually not diagnosed until early June, at which time the introduction of pest control applications is usually effective. The key is to eliminate them before they begin to reproduce, which they do at a rapid rate. If nothing is done about their presence in your trees until mid- to late summer, Westford landscaping experts say saving your trees might be much more difficult, if not impossible. As time passes, the “bag” becomes thicker, making it more resilient against insecticides.

The primary method used by many Westford landscaping specialists is removing the bags from the trees and burning them. In addition to this process, professional-grade insecticides are applied to stop reproduction and ward off future infestations.

If you have had problems in the past with bagworms and can’t afford to lose more trees to these destructive critters, contact your local Westford landscaping professionals and ask them for their help in reducing these populations before it is too late.

Mowing might seem like the simplest of Westford lawn care tasks, but it is actually quite important to know how to properly mow your Westford lawn to ensure the best results. Over-mowing or mowing at the wrong times or height can have detrimental effects on your Westford lawn. Here are some Westford lawn care tips on proper mowing procedures.

Most Westford lawns are dormant during the winter months, so once spring rolls around, it is time to drag the mower out and get back into the routine. But when you should begin mowing? Lawn care technicians recommend keeping the mower stored away until the ground is thoroughly thawed. Once the ground is soft, that means that grass is growing and mowing it will not cause any damage to the crowns or the shoots.

Most people know that allowing the excess clippings to remain on the Westford lawn is beneficial because as the clippings deteriorate, they become natural fertilizer for the soil below. However, for the first few cuts, attach the bag and gather the clippings. Allow your Westford lawn to grow and breathe without the weight of clippings on top of it.

Lawn care professionals recommend mowing your Westford lawn at a slightly shorter height than you may typically have your mower set. If you normally mow at three inches, take it down to two. This will allow your Westford lawn better stimulation to get the season started off right.

If you have any questions about spring mowing, contact your local Westford lawn care professionals.