Category: Landscaping Tips

Top Benefits of Landscaping Your Business

Grasshoppers Commercial Landscaping Portfolio in Orlando FL & Longwood FL

If you own a business, you know that time is money, and taking care of your own landscaping is a huge undertaking, especially if you have a large property. There are trees to prune, grass to mow, sprinklers to manage, and flowers to take care of. These examples alone are perfect reasons to hire a landscaping company to maintain your business. But that is just the tip of the iceberg, having a properly manicured lawn also comes with other benefits.

1. Curb Appeal

Never underestimate the power of curb appeal. The exterior of your building and the landscaping are the first things people see after all! Beautiful, well-kept looking landscaping may influence and attract potential buyers, thus increase more sales, while unmanaged eyesores may turn people in the other direction.

By beautifying your landscaping, you’re also showing customers that your business cares about its image.

2. Help Increase Your Property Value

Attractive and well-maintained landscaping can also provide you with a high return on investment as good landscaping help increase property values.

3. Support Sustainability

A great way to support sustainability in your community is to go green. Consider planting native trees and plants on your property or installing drainage systems to properly channel stormwater.

Plants and trees are great for the environment. They can filter out dust and pollutants from the air and help lower your heating and cooling costs. Trees are also attractive and can help make your business more appealing to customers. In fact, one study found trees highly influence consumer perceptions and behaviors.

4. Improve Safety

It’s important that you, your customers, and staff feel safe at your business. Keep in mind, trees can get sick and flower beds can be harborages for rodents and insects. Landscapers can diagnose plant diseases and provide pest control services on properties. They can also spot weak branches and prune them before they become safety issues. Not only that, landscapers will also ensure your walkways are in good condition as most companies also provide hardscaping services.

Lighting is another important aspect of landscaping that can improve safety. Not only can it highlight your storefront or business sign, but lighting can help people avoid stumbles in dark places or even help deter criminals.

5. Improve Employee Morale

In addition to these other benefits, landscaping your business is also a great way to improve your employee morale. You can provide them with a nice outdoor space to unwind and take breaks or even create a staff garden for team building and stress management.

Landscaping for your business is very important as you can see. If you’re interested in landscape maintenance, irrigation, patio installation, lighting, and more contact Grasshoppers. We specialize in commercial and HOA landscaping in the Orlando Florida area. We look forward to helping meet your landscaping goals.

The Importance of Maintaining Your Irrigation

Irrigation sprinklers watering lawn. Grasshoppers Landscaping serving Orlando FL talks about the importance of maintaining your irrigation.

A lush, beautiful yard adds curb appeal to your property, and to keep it looking pristine, you need to water it. Most commercial properties use underground sprinklers because they’re efficient but as with any other piece of equipment, you’ll need to maintain your irrigation system to keep it properly working.

Inspect Your Sprinklers

Your sprinkler system is comprised of many different parts. You have sprinkler heads, pipes, nozzles, and valves. Although they’re designed to withstand normal wear and tear, the environment, time, dogs, and people can cause them to move or break. You should inspect your sprinklers monthly and seasonally to ensure they’re where they should be and working properly.

Types of monthly checks include:

Sprinkler spray adjustments
Time adjustments
Mainline filter cleaning

Types of seasonal checks include:

Filter cleanings
Sprinkler head cleanings
Valve inspections

Adapt Your Sprinklers to the Changing Season

The seasons change and so should your irrigation system’s schedule. Each season has different weather patterns and temperatures that will affect your lawn and landscaping, especially during the summer. You don’t want brown patches on your lawn!

You’ll want to adjust your irrigation system seasonally to ensure your property is being well-watered–never underwatered or overwatered.

Service Your Irrigation System When Necessary

While routine maintenance helps keep your irrigation system in good working order, it’s still important to perform repairs when needed. For example, leaks and clogs are issues you’ll want to fix immediately before they become worse and damage your entire irrigation system.

Experts in Irrigation

Your irrigation system is constantly being put to the test, especially in Florida’s hot summer months as it works hard to hydrate your lawn, plants, gardens, and shrubs with just the right amount of water. We understand that it can be easy to overlook your irrigation system, especially when it’s working as it should. But in time it may start experiencing issues like line clogs which only get worse as time goes on. If your Florida irrigation system is in need of maintenance or repairs, Grasshoppers is here for you. Give us a call today for an estimate!

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Irrigation

Summer Lawn Care Tips

Summers are wonderful in Florida, but if you live here, you know it can be a challenging time to keep your lawn lush and green. Hot temperatures may stress out your lawn and weeds may flourish. Learn how to help your lawn thrive this summer with our summer lawn care tips.

Mow Regularly

Keep your lawnmower blades sharp and mow regularly. While you may be tempted to drop down your mower blade, so you don’t have to mow as much, don’t do it. This is not like the hair on your head. Cutting no more than ⅓ of the grass blade at a time will keep your lawn healthier and help prevent weed seeds from germinating.

Don’t Fertilize

Another lawn temptation is fertilizer. Fertilizer helps provide your grass with the nutrients it needs to grow. But fertilizing during the hot summer months can cause your lawn to burn and actually kill it. Instead, save it for the fall and spring seasons. If you have flower beds or vegetable gardens, ignore this summer lawn care tip.

Another tip, pull weeds as necessary. Weeds are not only unattractive but they also steal nutrients away from your grass and plants.

Water Well

Lawn watering is especially important in Florida because we have a warm, humid climate. Timing is also key. You’ll want to water between midnight and 9 a.m. for the most efficient watering. Water your lawn during the sun’s peak hours, and it will evaporate so quickly. You’ll end up just wasting more time and money in the long run.

Eliminate Lawn Pests

You may begin to see grubs in the summer as they start hatching. These tiny white insects are one of the most lawn-damaging pests. They burrow right beneath the surface of your soil and feed on grassroots, eventually killing your grass. If the damage is severe, you can use a lawn insecticide or hire a professional that’s experienced in lawn care pests.

Maintaining your yard is a year-round commitment. In fact, people spend on average around 70 hours a year on yard work. If you’re feeling overwhelmed with your commercial property, feel free to give us a call. We’re commercial landscaping professionals and we know everything from irrigation and flower beds to hardscaping and lawn pest control.

5 Tips For Hiring a Landscape Company

Considering hiring a professional to perform landscape work on your property? That can be a big decision to make. You want someone who delivers quality work but that’s also safe and well-informed.

We want to help you find the right landscaping company that’s “a cut above the rest.” Read this blog post for tips and considerations to make when looking to hire a landscaper.

1. Read Reviews

Do your research. How long has the company been in business and what’s their reputation like? Scour the reviews on their website, Google, Yelp, BBB, and Facebook to see what kind of service they provide. Check their website for awards they may have earned.

2. Learn What Services They Offer

It would be a pain to have one company mow your lawn and another take care of your shrubs and flower beds. Do your due diligence and find a company that provides all of the services you need. Many companies do more than simply cut lawns. Take us, at Grasshoppers for example. We provide everything from lawn care and irrigation to hardscapes and outdoor lighting. We also provide lawn pest control services.

3. Are They Safe?

You want to be sure your family and pets are safe so you may want to learn if the company you’re going to hire:

Goes through training
Is licensed
Performs background checks on their employees
Is insured
Uses EPA-approved products
Carries worker’s comp

Some of these questions may be easily answered by visiting the company’s website.

4. Contracts

Some landscaping companies may require a contract before providing a service, especially when the client is an HOA or commercial property. Talk with your landscaping provider and learn what the contract entails before signing.

5. What’s Their Rate?

Related to tip #4, before signing any documents, you’ll want to know how you’ll be charged. Will they charge you hourly or by the service? Compare rates in your area for the same service. This is something you may also want to look for while researching reviews. Are customers satisfied with their service and rates?

We want you to have the quality lawn care service you want and need for your property. The right landscaping company can relieve stress off of you and increase your home’s value. Put your property in the right hands and due your homework when looking to hire the right landscape company.

What Your Lawn is Telling You

Your soil serves as the foundation for a healthy lawn. Whether you have lush green grass or brown spots on your lawn, one thing is certain, your lawn growth (or lack of) reflects the quality of your soil. This is why we came up with this helpful guide to help you determine what is going on with your soil and how you can properly care for it.

Arc of Mushrooms

Has a mushroom-formed circle appeared on your lawn? This is called a fairy ring. No, it’s not a magical portal. Fairy rings are a fungus infestation. They start as dark green circles and develop into mushrooms that will break down organic matter in the soil, eventually killing the grass. If you have fungus on your lawn, you’ll want to avoid watering at night. A fungicide may also help treat the affected area.

Brown Spots

Brown patches in your lawn are a sign that your soil is too acidic. A soil test can help determine the pH of your lawn soil. These pH testing kits can be found in many hardware stores and garden centers. If the results show your soil is highly acidic, you may want to consider a lime treatment to help balance the pH.

Clumps of Grass

If your grass is coming up in clumps, you most likely have grubs. Grubs are the larvae of Japenese Beetles. They typically look like small white worms; the bigger they are, the more damage they cause. You can check for grubs by cutting out a small section of grass and lifting it up like a piece of carpet. They’ll be just under the surface. Most grub-control products sold in stores are preventive measures. If you have an existing grub infestation, you’ll want to hire a professional. They’ll be able to apply a fast-acting insecticide to eliminate these pests quickly and effectively.

Wilting Grass

Wilting can be a sign of a pest infestation, disease, a lack of soil moisture or heat stress.

You can get a better idea of the moisture in your soil by pushing a screwdriver into the soil in brown and green areas. If the blade easily slips into green areas but not through brown areas, the soil in those areas is dry.
If footprints remain on your lawn after a person has walked on it, in addition to wilting, heat stress may be the culprit.
Detecting lawn pests is a little more difficult. You could cut a section of grass and pull it back to located potential pests since most live just below the soil surface. For lawn pest care, you’ll want to contact your local landscaping company. Many landscaping companies offer lawn pest control services that provide safe treatment options for your family and pets.

If your lawn is showing any of these symptoms, we recommend you take action before your problems get worse.

lawn fungi Lawn Pest Control

Spring Lawn Care Tips

Spring is right around the corner so now is a good time for you to begin thinking about your spring lawn care. Even though we experience mild winters here in Florida, your grass still goes dormant in cooler weather. Whether you live in Orlando or Longwood follow our spring lawn care tips for an immaculate lawn this spring.

Aeration

Do you have a lot of foot traffic on your lawn did you experience a lot of rainfall? These are common reasons your lawn may become compacted. Aeration is the process of removing small plugs of soil from your lawn to help relieve some of this compaction. It’s best to aerate warm-season grasses in late spring to early summer and to aerate cool-season grasses in early spring or fall.

Dethatch

Thatch is a build-up of turfgrass. Too much thatch is bad for your lawn because it can prevent your grass from getting the water and nutrients it needs to thrive. Spring is a great time to dethatch your lawn if you grow cool-season grass.

Fertilize

Most turfgrass in Florida should be fertilized around 4 to 5 times a year. You’ll want to apply fertilizer to your lawn roughly 3 weeks after your grass begins to green. If you apply it too early, you run the risk of fertilizing weeds too. We recommend you test your soil’s PH level and purchase a fertilizer that balances out the acidity on your property.

Mowing

A good time to start mowing your lawn is when your grass is long enough to be cut and when it’s dry. Also, mow your lawn at a proper height. Cutting your grass too short will help encourage weed growth and put it at risk of drought stress.

Reseeding

Spring is a good time to fix dead patches of grass by filling them in with new grass seed. You’ll want to avoid putting any herbicides on your lawn for at least 60 days after you reseed it. We recommend you cut your grass a little shorter before you overseed to allow the seeds to germinate better and afterward keep your lawn moist.

Weed Control

If you have a lot of Crabgrass invading your lawn, you can apply pre-emergent herbicides to keep the seeds from last summer from germinating. Make sure to follow the instructions on the product for the best timing and tips.

These tips will help you get a head start for a better-looking, lush green lawn. Need help tending to your lawn? Contact your local landscaping company like Grasshoppers. They have the tools and expertise to keep your lawn looking great year-round!

Attract Tenants with Professional Landscaping

Are you having trouble attracting tenants to your property? You may want to improve your curb appeal. You see, when potential renters drive past an apartment or house that’s for lease, they want to imagine themselves living there. If your property is unkempt and isn’t attractive, potential renters may feel unwelcome. You want your investment property to stand out.

In this blog post, we’ll look at simple ways you can improve your curb appeal and help make your property more attractive to renters.

Plant Flowers

Flowers are not only aesthetically pleasing but many are very fragrant too. Surround your property with a pretty flower bed using a mix of native plants with attractive scents to make it appear more inviting.

Trim Shrubs and Trees

Do you have vegetation growing out of control? Hire a professional to correctly trim back your trees and shrubs. This will allow more natural light into your property and make it appear bigger.

Add Outdoor Lighting

Landscape lighting will allow your beautiful landscape to shine both day and night and provide safety. Landscape lighting will also add a tremendous amount of value to your investment property. For energy-efficiency, you could consider solar lights or LED bulbs.

Install Underground Sprinklers

Watering the lawn is one less chore a renter would have to do, potentially increasing their interest in your property. Underground sprinklers also help keep your grass lush and your flower thriving. They may also help increase a property’s value.

Create outdoor seating areas

If you run an apartment complex or duplex, does your property have outdoor seating available? Adding comfortable outdoor seats will enhance the property’s value. Some options for outdoor seating include benches, porch swings, picnic areas, and patio furniture.

Hire a Professional Landscaping Company

If you’re working to improve your property’s curb appeal, but you simply don’t have the time, hire a professional landscaping company like Grasshoppers to perform the design and maintenance for you. Since many rental agreements come with landscaping in their leases, now would be an opportune time to build a relationship with a landscaper you like.