Things You Can Do Now for the Summer Season
• Mower Maintenance• Tool Maintenance• Irrigation Maintenance• Color Beds and Shrubs• Fire Ants• Trimming Flowering Shrubs• Crepe Myrtle Pruning• Turf Maintenance
Mower Maintenance
• Lawn Mower maintenance should be done early in the Spring in order to ensure proper cutting and ease of use.
Tool Maintenance• Gas Blower, Weed eater
or Trimmer• Clean or replace spark
plug. • Make sure gas mix is
fresh.• Clean or replace air filter• If you have an electric
tool – check all electric cords for frays.
Tool Maintenance• Hand Tools• Hand Pruners – clean,
sharpen and disinfect• Shovels – clean and
lubricate• Hedge shears – clean,
sharpen and disinfect
Irrigation Maintenance• No matter what type of
irrigation system you have, it will require some type of maintenance!
Irrigation Maintenance• Controller (Clock) – make
sure current time is set correctly due to day light savings time.
• Correct watering times for Spring season from last fall.
• Check watering schedule for number of watering per week based on current restrictions.
• Install a freeze and rain sensor.
Irrigation Maintenance• Run your irrigation
system during the day in order to see if you have any leaks. Carry utility flags with you so you can mark the leaks for repair latter.
Irrigation Maintenance
• Make sure rotors pop up and rotate properly.
• You will need to let it run for a few minutes so you can check rotation and spray coverage.
Irrigation Maintenance
• Check the pop up spray heads for function and for any clogs. Some spray heads are adjustable so make sure they are set the way you want.
Color Beds and Shrubs
• Remove winter kill or damaged plant material.
• Remove weeds that have already started growing.
• Get to know your garden!
Fire Ants• “Texas Two Step”• Use a general broadcast ant
bait and then treat each mound with a dust as they occur.
Trimming Flowering Shrubs
• Spring Flowering Shrubs-
• Shrubs that flower in the spring (before June), prune after they finish blooming because they bloom on “Old Wood”.
Trimming Flowering Shrubs• Summer Flowering
Shrubs-• Shrubs that flower in
the summer (after June) prune in the spring because they bloom on “New Wood”.
Crepe Myrtle Pruning• This picture
demonstrates the negative results of topping any type of tree but especially a crepe myrtle. Branches will be thin and weak. This will actually increase the long term maintenance.
Turf Maintenance
• This: Your turf will need some type of care such as fertilizer, pest control or weed control.
Turf Maintenance
• In most cases you should use a low or non Phosphorus fertilizer due to leaching into ground water.