Campbell Vaughn, an Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension agent, spoke with Southern Living about how professionals keep their yards and gardens looking great.
The first step? Test a soil sample to ensure you’re fertilizing properly.
“If your soil is not right, your root systems will struggle to intake the nutrients they need to thrive. Good roots equal good plants,” Vaughn said. “The soil sample includes a pH reading, and if your pH is off, you are wasting money on expensive fertilizers because the plant doesn’t have the ability to intake the nutrients available.”
She also shared that “regular and timely” applications of properly labeled pre-emergent herbicides help keep weeds at bay.
Also important is to avoid overwatering — something homeowners do about 85% of the time, Vaughn said. If you do use an irrigation system, don’t “set it and forget it.”
Vaughn also discussed proper planting times for trees and shrubs: “November is best, April is OK, summer is a no.”
“If you get the plants installed when the soil and air are cool and moisture isn’t rapidly moving out of the ground, the new transplants will have time to recover, and the roots can start moving during the winter,” getting them ready for spring, Vaughn explained.
Finally, make sure mulch is 3 to 4 inches deep around a plant, and 4 to 6 inches from the trunk.
“If you pile mulch on the trunk, it will trap moisture and rot the bark at base of the plant leading to a slow decline,” Vaughn said.