Landscape maintenance
Regular maintenance
• Soil maintenance
– pH and nutrient testing & maintenance
– Amending
– Weed control
• Plant maintenance
– Irrigation
• Mulching
– Pest control (insects, disease, other
organisms)
– Pruning
Landscape tools
Weed control
• Chemical control
– Pre-emergent vs.
post-emergence
– Selective vs.
nonselective
Weed control
• Hand weeding
• Landscape fabric
• Mulch
Irrigation
• Water supply to a plant
– Limited by root system
• Improve soil drainage, reduce soil
compaction to improve root growth
– Avg. soil absorbs 3/8” water per hour
• Slow, less-frequent deep watering better
than frequent shallow watering
– Soaker hose
– Drip irrigation
– Basin watering (berm)
Irrigation
Irrigation
• Hand watering
• Sprinkler irrigation– Good for lawns, densely planted beds
– Wastes water (evaporation, unplanted areas)
– Can promote foliar diseases
– Fixed heads/risers
– Portable heads
• Drip/trickle irrigation– Reduces water usage by >50%
– Can apply fertilizers
– Nozzles, pipes can clog
Irrigation
• Mulching/ground covers reduces
frequent watering needs
• Standard 1/2” residential pipe can
handle one irrigation head (install ¾”-1”
piping if plan to irrigate)
• Generally need 1” water per week
– Lawns 1” per week
– Woody plants 3-4” total every 4 weeks
• Newly transplanted woody plants need to be
watered weekly (1st year), every 2 weeks (2nd year)
Garden pests
Pest control
• Choose plants with minimal pest problems
• Insect pests are often vectors for disease
• Chemical control
– Contact poisons vs. systemic pesticides
– Synthetic vs. organic
Biological
pest control
• Gardens Alive
• Home Harvest
Pruning
• Removal of excessive & undesirable
growth
Why prune?
• Sanitation– Broken branches & dead tissue
• Diseased parts
• Opening canopy– Increase air flow; reduce humidity
– Increase penetration of sprays
• Removal of undergrowth for appearance and fire prevention
• Stimulate new, vigorous growth
Why prune?
• Aesthetics
– Shape
• Formal hedges
• Topiary
Espalier
Vase-shaped trees
Pollarding
Why prune?
• Enhance reproduction
– Yield enhancement
– Fruiting shoots vs. non-fruiting shoots
– Increase flower size
– Fruit distribution, size, sugar content
uniformity
– Access to fruit
Why prune?
• Manipulate physiology
– Pre-transplant root pruning
– Shoot tip pruning to promote branching
– Stimulate new growth on older plants
Dwarfing
• Bonsai
Pruning tools
• Saws
• Shears
• Hand pruners
• Loppers
• Pole pruners
• Bypass vs. anvil
Pruning tools
• Sanitation
• Branch size and pruner damage
– Hand pruners (< 1/2 inch dia.)
– Loppers (< 2 inch dia.)
• Maintain sharp tools
– Clean cuts heal faster
Pruning principles
• Cutting is irreversible
• Breaking apical dominance changes form of plant
• Pruning invigorates regrowth
• Pruning can direct growth
• Timing of pruning is critical– Spring flowers develop on previous season’s
growth
– Summer and fall flowers develop on current season’s growth
Pruning techniques
Prune inward growing branches
Pruning for outward growth
Prune rubbing branches
Included bark
Crotch angles
Trees with central leaders
• Standard form
Pruning
Multiple
leaders
Removing the central leader
Branched head standard
Multistemed tree form
Drop crotching – controlling
height
Pruning
cuts
Pruning
branches
• Cut at 900
angle
• Cut in stages
Pruning large branches
Pruning pines –
pinching candles
Pruning shrubs
• Heading back
Thinning
Renewal pruning
(gradual renovation)
Coppice for color
Shearing
Hedge shapes
Training - Espalier