Maintenance of Landscape

1
Maintenance of Landscape

• 22.00 Maintain newly planted plants in a given
  environment
• 25.00 Prune ornamental plants to maintain an
  attractive landscape

2
What is landscape maintenance?

• Landscape maintenance includes watering,
  fertilizing, mulching, pest control, mowing,
  edging, winterization and pruning of landscape
  plants.

3
Watering Landscape Plants

• Watering should be done at planting and
  frequently for a few days to prevent roots from
  drying out and plant wilting. Then less often
  only as needed.
• After plants are established watering should be
  infrequent and enough to wet soil 12-16 deep.
  Different plants have different water needs.

4
Fertilization of Landscape Plants

• Fertilizer should be mixed in back fill soil at
  planting for shrubs and trees and in soil bed for
  annuals and perennials.
• Fertilization is not usually needed for
  established trees, but it should be done by
  making holes with a drill or soil tube about 12
  deep and at 24 intervals around the tree at the
  canopy drip line where needed.

5
Fertilization of Landscape Plants

• Shrubs may need small amounts of low analysis
  fertilizer, but not late in the growing season.
• Most lawns need fertilizer.

6
Mulching

• Mulching should be done at planting and replaced
  as needed.
• Mulch must be replaced over time as it decays.

7
Pest Control

• Pest control is necessary to control damage from
  insects, diseases, weeds, and rodents.
• For most landscape plants, pest control is done
  is done by treating the beds and other areas with
  chemicals to prevent weeds, insects and diseases
  before planting and as observed later.

8
Mowing Lawns

• Mowing lawns at the correct height for the type
  of grass and frequently enough to prevent damage
  is a key to maintaining lawn.

9
Edging

• Edging makes a sharp line of separation between a
  planting and the lawn.
• Can be done with tools or with an edging material
  such as plastic
• Edging materials should be installed at planting
  time.

10
Winterization

• Prepares the plants for winter or freezing
  weather.
• Fertilizing early in growing season prevents soft
  new growth that will die in winter, mulching,
  pruning, adequate watering, and pest control all
  help plants survive freezing temperatures of
  winter.

11
Pruning
12
Pruning

• Pruning is done to improve appearance and health
  and to control size and shape of plants.
• Pruning is usually done in off-seasons when more
  labor is available. However, some plants have to
  be pruned at specific times.
• Early spring blooming shrubs should be pruned as
  soon as flowers fall off so that new buds can
  form for next year.
• Plants that have high sap pressure in early
  spring such as maples, birches, etc. should not
  be pruned in the spring.

13
Pruning
14
Pruning

• Damaged branches of trees and shrubs should be
  removed as soon as possible to prevent more
  damage to the plant.
• Newly planted shrubs should be shaped.

15
Principles of Pruning

• Shrubs that produce flowers on wood grown the
  previous season should be pruned immediately
  after flowers fall off the plant.
• Examples
• Forsythia
• Azaleas
• Spirea

16
Principles of Pruning

• Shrubs that bloom on the current years growth
  such as roses should be pruned in fall or early
  spring.
• Shrubs such as hydrangea and spirea require
  annual pruning to thin out old dead wood
• Some suckers or shoots from plant roots should be
  removed to keep plant from becoming too thick.

17
Types or Methods of Pruning

• Thinning removes certain branches to open up the
  plant and keep the natural shape.
• Heading back removes the end section of branches
  at the same height so that new shoots make the
  plant thicker.

18
Types of Methods of Pruning

• Renewal pruning removes old branches that are
  large and unproductive by cutting them back to
  ground level. It is usually effective on
  flowering shrubs.
• Root pruning is usually done one growing season
  prior to transplanting. The general rule is that
  one inch of stem diameter equals 10 of circle
  diameter for pruning roots around the plant.

19
Pruning Tools and Supplies
20
Pruning Tool Tips

• Keep all pruning tools sharp and clean
• Keep handles and bolt nuts secure or tight
• Use caution with cutting tools. If they cut
  plants, they can cut you.

21
Types of Pruning Tools

• Pruning Saw
• Has a blade with coarse teeth
• Blade may or may not fold into the handle for
  safety and storage
• It will cut live or dead limbs

22
Types of Pruning Tools

• Pole pruner
• Has a saw and pruning tool on a pole to remove
  branches that are up to 12 feet overhead
• Power Pole Pruners have a power saw on the end of
  an extended handle

23
Types of Pruning Tools

• Grass shears
• Have two blades designed to cut grass around
  edges of walks or flower beds

24
Types of Pruning Tools

• Lopping Shears
• Have long handles
• Will cut limbs from 1 to 1 ½ in diameter

25
Types of Pruning Tools

• Hand shears or pruning shears
• Have a single blade that cuts against another
  piece of metal or . . .
• Two blades that work like scissors to cut limbs
  ½ in diameter

26
Types of Pruning Tools

• Hedge Shears
• Have longer blades that cut tender growth

27
Types of Pruning Tools

• Chainsaw
• Has a gasoline, battery, or electrical powered
  chain that cuts large limbs from 3 up to the
  blade length