The Lawhead Team would like to share some helpful planting tips for those who don’t have a green thumb. Greenery and color always adds life to your home. Keep your plants alive with these tips:

• Choose plants that will do well for you. Evaluate your yard’s growing conditions and choose plant varieties that will thrive there. Daylilies are perfect for planting in hot sunny spots.
• Spread mulch over your garden to stop weeds from growing and help your soil hold moisture when the weather is hot and dry.
• Put in a soaker hose. Water slowly seeps out through the hose when you turn it on. Place it under your mulch so you don’t see it.
• Use a drip irrigation system when planting in your garden containers. It doesn’t take long to install and once it is set up it will do the watering for you for the rest of the season.
• Don’t let weeds get out of control and pull them when they’re young. Pull your crabgrass before it matures to keep it from reproducing.
• Clip off the dead heads of flowers you have been planting to encourage more room for new flowers to bloom.
• Use a raised bed to garden if you have sticky clay, loose sand or rocky soil. Fill your bed with high-quality topsoil and compost and you have perfect soil. Plus, raised beds drain better than regular garden soil.
• Remember to keep your garden simple. It is easy to go overboard planting in springtime and buy more plants than you can take care of. Start simple and add as you go.

Sometimes you can usually feel the pains of gardening the next day if you aren’t careful.  We would like to share with you some helpful tips for making sure you prevent back pain when gardening.

Working hard at gardening to make your yard the envy of your neighbors shouldn’t take a toll on your physical well being.  Weeding, mowing, digging, raking, planting and mulching can wreck havoc on your back muscles, and if you’re not careful it’s easy to strain or pull the muscles in your back.

1.    Warm Up – Before beginning gardening, take a few minutes to warm up your muscles by doing some dynamic warm up exercises. These include going for a brisk 5 – 10 minute walk around the yard, jumping jacks, walking lunges and arm circles.
2.    Hydrate – Muscles need water to function optimally. When you maintain your body’s water levels during use, you allow your muscles to coordinate with each other properly and support your physical activity. Adequate water levels in your body can help prevent the onset of muscle cramps or spasms and help prevent dehydration when gardening.
3.    Mix It Up – Vary your gardening tasks each time. Do a little pruning work, raking, bending work, digging, etc. Don’t continuously perform any particular activity for a long period.
4.    Mowing – Leaning forward as you push the lawn mower can strain your back. Be sure to maintain proper posture and push with your arms and legs instead of your back.
5.    Weeding – Bending over at the waist for prolonged periods is a sure way to cause your back muscles to start complaining. Kneel on a rubber gardening mat, sit on a wheeled gardening stool, or sit directly on the ground instead. Make sure you have all your tools close at hand when gardening.
6.    Lifting – When lifting bags of dirt, mulch or potted plants, keep your back straight and bend with your knees and hips (not your back) when reaching down. The power for your lift comes from your buttocks and legs. If you are picking up piles of grass, leaves or other yard waste, make the piles small to decrease the weight.
7.    Raking – Most people use the rake with their dominant hand only. This causes one side of your body to be overused. Try switching sides every few minutes, even though it will feel awkward. Your back, neck and arms will thank you.
8.    Wear Supportive Shoes – Yard work can put a lot of strain on your feet and legs. Good foot and arch support can stop some of that strain from reaching your back when you are gardening. Ditch the sandals and flip-flops and opt for a supportive pair of shoes instead.
9.    Take Breaks – Taking your time will make it less likely for injuries to occur. Pushing yourself to the point of exhaustion can cause you to get sloppy with good posture and lifting techniques, setting you up for injury.
10.    Outsource – Consider hiring a local student to do the heavy work that strains your back. Lots of young people can’t find summer jobs and one may be more than willing to spend a few hours a week working for you. As an added bonus, you might just turn them into a gardener for life!

This is the perfect time of the year to get some gardening done. Here are some helpful gardening tips we would like to share with all of our happy homeowners.

It is time to make the necessary preparations to have a healthy, beautiful yard this year.  Success in gardening includes proper soil cultivation and improvement, pest control, pruning and irrigation well before new plant growth emerges. By following the listed procedures faithfully each year, you will be rewarded with an even better lawn and yard than you imagined.

Test the soil — This easy but usually overlooked step will reveal the needs your soil has for improvement. For example, the pH level indicates the acidity or alkalinity of the soil; that will dictate the types of plants that will grow best in a particular location.

Amend and cultivate soil — Heavily compacted soil hinders the health of plants. They prefer well-drained, loamy soil. Add compost to flower, shrub and vegetable beds and turn over or till the soil to break it up. Aerate lawns using equipment designed for that purpose.

Fertilize properly — Lawns, shrubs, trees, flowers and vegetables each have specific requirements. Soil conditions (based on testing) also dictate specific needs.  Fertilizing too little, too frequently or at the wrong time will have a negative result.

Control pests and diseases — Indiscriminant spraying and dusting of pesticides can be harmful to plants, pets and humans. Pesticides are formulated for specific purposes and should be used only as recommended on the product’s label. As a first step, determine what pests or diseases your plants have.

Irrigate — Plants are like people when it comes to water. Too little and they dehydrate; too much and they drown. As a general rule, most plants prefer water at their “feet,” not on their “heads.” So, water at soil level, not by overhead spraying an entire bed. It is important to know when to water. An inexpensive moisture meter can be used to indicate the need. Simply push the prong into the soil to various depths around a plant and read the meter.

Mulch — Covering a soil bed with the proper mulch will retain moisture to benefit plants and maintain better soil conditioning.

Prune selectively — Some plants prefer pruning in early spring, while others can be trimmed during summer or fall. Generally, anything that flowers in the spring should be pruned after flowers die off.

The Lawhead Team wishes happy home improvement and hope these gardening tips help get your home looking its best!