Essential Lawn Care Tasks to Take Care of Before Winter

As you can tell by the chill in the air here in Minnesota, winter will soon be here. Have you taken care of all of the lawn care tasks necessary to prepare your lawn for the cold months ahead? Not sure where to start? That’s where we come in! As expert providers of lawn care services for Maple Grove and the surrounding areas, Advanced Irrigation can help you take all the right steps toward maintaining a beautiful lawn.

The best way to ensure a thick, green, and healthy lawn in the spring is to give it some TLC right now. Here is a list of essential lawn care services your lawn needs this autumn. And, if you need assistance with or don’t have time for any of these tasks, don’t hesitate to give us a call!

Your fall lawn care services checklist:

• Rake. Leaves may look pretty but they're no good for grass; blocking the light and trapping moisture, becoming potentially fatal for the grass beneath. So when the leaves are falling, it is important you or your professional lawn care service blows or rakes them away as often as possible. 
• Water then winterize. If your lawn isn't getting at least an inch of water a week (a rain gauge is a useful way to keep track) then keep the irrigation system running until the end of October. Then, schedule your fall blowout for your irrigation system right away. This is one of the many lawn care services we provide at Advanced Irrigation. 
• Give it a final cut. Grass continues to grown until the first hard frost and so regular cuts are still necessary to keep it at an ideal height. If it gets too long it will mat and become vulnerable to fungi like snow mold. Cutting grass too short, however, is just as bad because it curtails the root system and impedes the lawn's ability to withstand winter cold. 
• Seed. Fall is the best time to seed because the ground is still warm, moisture is more plentiful and the sun is not as hot during the day. 

Ready to put the final touches on your fall lawn care? These are just some of the essential lawn care services that should be performed before the hard frost. Give us a call today to learn more about our services and why we are considered one of the most trusted names in lawn care services in the Maple Grove area. Call Advanced Irrigation at 612-599-8675 or you can request a Free Estimate.

Choosing the Best Landscape Design for Your Unique Property

Considering a new landscaper design for your home or business? It is important to work with your landscapers to choose one that is right for your unique property’s needs. And, there are many considerations to take into account, including:

• Do you need a space to entertain guests? 
• Are you in need of an area for a garden? 
• Interested in hardscaping? 
• Looking to build a communal space for employees? 
• Do you need an irrigation system? 
• Have you considered the amount of shade you would like for your landscape design? 

 And these are just some of the questions you should be asking yourself when considering a new landscape design. As professionals in landscape design for Minnetonka and the surrounding areas, we can help you answer these questions and more. Then, we will work with you to design a landscape for your unique wants and needs.

But first, we have a few suggestions to help you get started: 

Will you want to incorporate hardscaping into your landscape design? Retaining walls are some of the most functional types of hardscapes. They either separate garden rooms or areas, or they hold soil up across varying elevations of your home’s landscape. Patios are also great forms of hardscaping. They offer an open area for holding furniture and for relaxation. Patios are lovely hardscapes that can give you even more room to entertain guests or hold outdoor meetings. How about walkways? Our landscape design experts can help you choose where to place those as well.

When it comes to color, composition and design; start thinking of your landscape in terms of plants and flowers that will complement each other but don’t match exactly. Plan to have them planted in groups and not rows. Groups of flowers are easier to maintain, plus they are more interesting to look at rather than rigid straight rows. Also consider plants and flowers that are different heights. Plan to plant them together as well, and it will also make your garden and landscaping more interesting to look at.

Have you considered shade trees? Many lawns and landscapes are fully exposed to constant sun. If you wish to be part of and directly enjoy your property, perhaps in a hammock, sometime you just want to lay in the shade. Why not implement some shade trees into your landscape design? Advanced Irrigation can help you with all of your shade tree needs.

Are you ready to get some more information about landscape design for your Minnetonka home or business? Call Advanced Irrigation at 612-599-8675 or contact us for a Free Estimate.

Begin Your Spring Cleaning Out In the Yard

When you start your spring cleaning, why not start outside and work your way in? With the weather getting nicer, venture outside and give your landscaping a little sprucing up. But rest assured, you won’t have to tackle the weeds alone! spring will soon be on its way. At Advanced Irrigation, we offer a variety of lawn care services for Lakeville and the surrounding areas and would like to offer a few tips to help get your spring lawn care kicked off right.

Don’t forget to water the lawn! Usually the morning is the best time of day. If you water during the afternoon, too much of the water might evaporate. If you water overnight, it could lead to mold growth and other problems like that. If you don’t want to worry about it, a sprinkler system could be the answer! And, it just so happens lawn irrigation is one of the many lawn care services we provide. In terms of lawn care services, aeration is another important task because it leads to healthier and stronger grass.

Also, make sure debris gets cleaned off of your grass. If stuff like buckets, toys and leaves are left on your lawn, it could cause dead spots or interfere with the effectiveness of your lawn irrigation system or other lawn care services you’ve employed.

Promote a lush lawn. Don’t forget to apply grass seed and mulch. Look for areas of your yard where the grass looks like it is dead. Apply grass seed to those spots. Then take the time to mulch the bases of any trees, shrubs or flower beds. Mulch will help them to retain water and will help keep them warm when the nights turn chilly. Contrary to popular belief, mowing your grass shorter and more frequently does not always mean that your grass will not grow back as quickly. Mow your grass when it needs it and try to keep the grass blades at about 3 to 3 1/2 inches.

About once a week, go outside and inspect your lawn irrigation system. Look for any potential problems and give us a call if you spot any. Of course, Advanced Irrigation can also come out to inspect and repair your system whenever you want. While a lawn irrigation system will help water your lawn and keep your grass looking great, there are several other lawn care services that will make sure your lawn stays looking great all year long. And, these are just some important tasks to consider.

Ready to learn more about lawn care services in Lakeville? Call Advanced Irrigation at 612-599-8675 or contact us and get a Free Estimate.

Prepare Your Lawn for the Months Ahead

As you know, winter comes quickly and can really linger, leaving lasting effects on your lawn and landscape. But, there are a few simple lawn care tips and tricks that can ensure your trees and grass come back and flourish in the spring. Before the snowflakes begin to fall, prepare your lawn and landscaping from the elements with a few simple tips. As an expert landscaping company in Buffalo, we have a few suggestions on how to help your trees survive the harsh Minnesota winters.

First, before you do anything else, you should give us a call at Advanced Irrigation and we will prepare your entire irrigation system for the winter. This is a very important element in proper cold weather lawn care! We drain the remaining water from the sprinkler system, ensuring all water if removed from your pipes. We use an air compressor to “blow out” the overall network, making sure there is no water left in there that could potentially freeze and damage the system.

Next, don’t forget to consider snow removal. Ice is a common problem and many people will automatically reach for salt to melt the ice. But when you use salt to melt the ice on your sidewalk and driveway, it can damage or even kill your plants and grass. When we come to your commercial building to remove snow and ice, we use deicer that is safe for your plants and grass.

Have you ever seen your tree begin to bloom and then a frost destroys all those little buds? Wrapping your trees can help with that! Sometimes, when the sun hits the bark, this can cue the tree to emerge from dormancy. And later in the day, when the sun goes down, parts of the tree can be hurt when the temperatures drop. Wrapping your trees can help protect them and help them regulate their temperature. Wrapping your trees can also protect them from animals and the like.

After any snow fall, you should go out to your yard and gently shake the snow off of your tree branches if the snow that fell is dry and fluffy. You can use a broom for this task, but be gentle. Keep an eye out for snow that is building up on the branches and, if it is safe, run outside during the snow storm to shake the branches if necessary.

So, are you ready to learn more about hiring our Buffalo landscaping company for all of your landscaping needs this winter? Call Advanced Irrigation at 612-599-8675 or you can contact us to get a Free Estimate on our services.

Summer Services: Commercial Landscaping Tips

As a property and business owner, you understand the importance of quality landscaping and lawn care in order to attract customers, clients, renters and new employees. After all, a good first impression on those that visit your commercial building can only happen once. And, the summer is the time of year that landscaping and lawns are expected to look lush and well-kept.

You can always call on Advanced Irrigation for help with commercial lawn care in Minnetonka and the surrounding areas. We offer an entire spectrum of commercial lawn care services and can come out on a scheduled or as-needed basis and can always fully customize our commercial lawn care services to meet your company’s needs. But, until then, here are a few of our favorite commercial lawn care services and tips:

Pruning

Corrective pruning is one of the best ways to ensure beautiful flower beds. Our commercial lawn care company will go through your flower beds and prune the flowers that need it. We can do the same for any trees and shrubs on your property as well.

Watering

Deep watering is best for your grass as well as other plants. An irrigation system and specialized commercial lawn care can take care of this task for you. And, a sprinkler system can automatically water based on the type of plant, where it is located in relation to the sun and shade and how much rain has fallen as of late. Irrigation systems help maintain steady, efficient watering unmatched by hand watering. This is one of the many commercial lawn care services we specialize in, so give us a call for more information and to have one installed.

Mowing

Cut the grass to the correct length; not too long and not too short. If you mow the grass too short, this can cause the grass to turn brown or it can damage or destroy the root system. The mowing length mostly depends on the type of grass, but the general rule of thumb is to only cut about 1/3 of the blade. Longer grass blades encourage the root system to grow even deeper into the soil, which promotes healthy and green growth. The experts at Advanced Irrigation are well-versed in all commercial lawn care best practices including mowing and can keep your grass at the length ideal for great looks and optimal growth.

After you are done mowing, leave the grass clippings on the ground. They can help with happier and healthier grass.

If you would like more information on our commercial lawn care services in Minnetonka, call Advanced Irrigation at 612-599-8675, or you can contact us and get a Free Estimate.

Landscape Design Care Tips for the Winter

With winter all but here, you have worthwhile things to do that can enhance the winterscape outside your windows, while you sit by the hearth. As a means of landscape design for your Bloomington or nearby home, we will be focusing on your hardscaping--the pavement, the back patio, the harder surfaces that you have had installed around your home. Our technicians in landscape design also install other sorts of hardscaping items like retaining walls, outdoor fire pits, pergolas and lighting. The key to maintaining their aesthetic appeal in wintertime is upkeep. Make sure that they are free of snow and ice so that they can be a focal point throughout the dead months. 

As your plants go through their dormant stages this winter, enjoy a landscape design with a little hardscaping. Your eyes will be drawn less to the trees and shrubbery that you possess and more to the pop that a master in landscape design has added to your property. With so many options as far as what you can do to enjoy your lawn and garden, why not set yourself up to enjoy it all while they sleep or are covered by snow and ice.

You will want to actively take care of your hardscaping during the winter months. If you are not vigilant you can run into a repair project or two after the thaw that could easily have been prevented. Stay on top of your salt usage. If you apply it but let it sit without removing it or the slush generated, it will eat away at or even stain any concrete, paver or stone that has been incorporated into your landscape design. Stay on top of it! In the grand scheme it does not take more than accumulated minutes for de-icer to do its work. Be there to get rid of it when needed. 

If you have had a nice and fancy patio installed, chances are that you have some metal containing furniture placed upon it. Do not leave these items outside to face winter. Take them inside, use them again as you knew them in the spring. A side effect of leaving these metallic items outside is that if they are under snow or ice the rust that emerges will also stain the hardscaping below it.

Installation is what matters most regarding your hardscaping and how it deals with winter. A winter surviving landscape design of this sort will need a good solid base and options for drainage. Snow and ice accumulate, mass, ultimately melting. The melt should not pool or sit on the surface of your hardscaping only to refreeze. A landscape design installed via hardscaping professionals should be set up adequately to allow this to occur. 

If you would like more information on our landscape design skills in Bloomington, call Advanced Irrigation at 612-599-8675, or you can contact us and get a Free Estimate.

Keep Your Landscape Looking and Feeling Cool With Shady Trees

When planting a shade tree, many do not put enough thought into just where and how a shade tree should be added. There are two major things to consider. The first is that you will want to consider planting it somewhere “inland”—streets representing water—and not on the very edge of your property. If you plant shade trees near a street or at a point where municipalities will likely one day implement imminent domain and put a highway through your property, you run the risk of your tree being violated by power lines and the like. Right of way of overhead wires wreaks havoc on a tree, often to the point of eliminating its shading value. Our landscape design team is fully aware of this issue and would seek a location within your property where risk  is minimal.

A second problem involves just how your plant your shade trees. It is often thought to be elegant and regal to implement something of a platform or raised bed—surround by brick or stone—for a noble shade tree.

Problems can quickly arise. This raised bed, especially if it is built high enough to cover any of the trunk, will make life difficult for your shade tree. Soils will remain moist and not drain or feed the as it otherwise would in a standard planting situation. The soil will not aerate properly because it is compacted to that which encases it as well as the weight and understructure of the tree. Bugs and rodents will also find the area more appealing than they otherwise would, which tends towards damaged bark. These factors combine to rob your shade tree of nutrients, drying out and eventually killing your shade tree. It will be a slow death for your beloved tree. Trees grow slow and die slow. The process will start below the soil, near the trunk, working its way through the interior of the tree outward.  

Many lawns and landscapes are fully exposed to constant sun. If you wish to be part of and directly enjoy your property, perhaps in a hammock, sometime you just want to lay in the shade. Why not implement some shade trees into your landscape design? Advanced Irrigation can help you with your shade tree needs with some landscape design for your Minneapolis home. At Advanced Irrigation, our landscape designers are fully aware of just how and where to implement proper yard shading through shade trees. Season veterans all, our designers can assemble a perfect landscape design to please any and all.

If you would like more information on our landscape design skills in Minneapolis, call Advanced Irrigation at 612-599-8675, or you can contact us and get a Free Estimate.