Landscapes add value to a home, provide privacy and serve functional needs. They can be low maintenance or full of eclectic features.

Scale and pacing are key factors to good landscaping. Adding curves, angular or flowing lines and eye-catching structures will draw attention to features in the garden. Repeating elements helps give a cohesive look, but don’t be afraid to introduce new elements every now and then. Visit https://www.landscaping-greensboro.com/ to learn more.

Weeds can compete for space, water and nutrients with desired plants, making them a serious garden annoyance. Many techniques can be used to reduce weed growth and help maintain a clean, productive garden. Weed suppression can include mulching, physical barriers, cultural practices and the use of herbicides. Incorporating crop rotation and organic management practices into a landscape can also reduce the number of weeds over time.

Annual weeds germinate and grow for only one season, so they’re easier to control than perennials, which live two years before flowering and producing seeds. Perennial weeds like wild blackberry vines, nut grass and wild strawberry vines are hardy, difficult to kill and have deep taproots that make it easy for them to reinvade a garden. Perennial weeds can be controlled by using a glyphosate- or 2,4-D herbicide before the first flush of flowers, and with regular cultivation and hand-weeding after that.

Mulching is one of the easiest ways to suppress weeds, especially in perennial beds. The mat of dense mulch covers the soil, asphyxiating weeds and reducing their ability to access water and sunlight. The abrasive texture of some materials, such as crushed leaves or wood chips, can also inhibit weed growth by abrading the weeds’ leaves and stems. Adding an organic matter to the top layer of mulch can also improve soil structure and fertility.

Cover crops, such as mustards (Brassicaceae) and radishes (Brassicaceae), can suppress weeds through direct competition for sunlight and space and the release of allelochemicals that inhibit germination. Choosing a mix of cover crop species is often more effective than planting a monocrop because different plants have varying nutrient requirements.

Before planting an annual flower bed, consider the weeds that are already in the soil and how much time you can devote to maintaining the garden. If you have perennial weeds that are invading, it may be easier to manage them before the annual flowers arrive with grass-selective herbicides such as fluazifop and clethodim. Landscape fabric works well in landscapes that contain primarily woody ornamental trees and shrubs, as it can be installed over the ground before these plants are planted. However, it is not a good choice in areas that will be replanted periodically or in annual beds because the fabric can inhibit rooting of desirable plants.

Moisture Retention

Landscaping with native plants, or adding organic mulch, help retain moisture in soil and reduce the need for watering. Using native plants also promotes biodiversity in the garden by providing food and shelter for local wildlife. Organic materials can also help improve drainage, and reduce the leaching of nutrients from the soil. Watering in the early morning is best, so that the water can soak into the ground before the sun causes it to evaporate. Soil moisture release curves (also known as soil-water characteristic curves) are like physical fingerprints, unique to each type of soil. They are powerful tools for predicting plant water uptake, deep drainage and runoff.

Soil Fertilization

The physical properties of different soils affect engineering and construction projects from the grading of roads, bridges and buildings to the paving of courtyards and lawns. But soils also perform biological functions that benefit us on a much broader scale. The ability of soils to supply nutrients to plants is the basis for food production and is a fundamental function that must be maintained for sustainable landscapes.

When used wisely, soil fertility techniques provide many benefits for plants and people. Well-fertile soil provides the right balance of nutrient elements for plant growth, optimizing crop yield. Healthy soil also helps filter water, sequester carbon and support a variety of ecosystems. In addition, well-fertile soil allows for crop rotation and reduces the need for synthetic chemical fertilizers that can deplete the soil over time.

Nutrient availability in the soil is determined by its cation exchange capacity (CEC). The CEC of a soil determines how easily it can hold and retain cation nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. The CEC of a soil increases as organic matter, such as compost, manure and grass clippings, is added to the soil. It decreases as the amount of inorganic material, such as chemical fertilizer and lime, is added to the soil.

The amount of cation nutrient that is available to plants depends on the nature of the materials added to the soil and how quickly they are broken down in the soil by microorganisms. This process, called microbial transformation, converts the organic material into inorganic forms that are water-soluble and available to plants. The natural decomposition of dead plants and animals by soil flora and fauna is another major source of soil fertility. This decomposition breaks down the proteins, carbohydrates and fats of these organisms into simpler, inorganic mineral forms that are then made available to plants through microbial transformation.

For example, adding a layer of organic material such as leaves, wood chips or compost improves the CEC and soil structure of sandy soils and increases the availability of cation nutrients in these soil types. Surface application of granular fertilizers, such as bone meal or blood meal, to the soil around trees and shrubs is effective in supplying these nutrient elements to roots. When determining the correct amount of a granular fertilizer to apply, be sure to use the square foot method rather than calculating based on the DBH or trunk circumference of the plant since this will help prevent over-fertilization.

Aesthetics

Landscaping is a form of gardening and also the art of creating decorative outdoor areas. It is a practice that has been around for thousands of years, with early civilizations manipulating their surroundings to cultivate food, raise animals and provide shelter from the elements. Modern landscaping techniques have evolved from purely utilitarian applications into a highly creative and expressive art form. The aesthetic qualities of a landscape can increase a property’s value, boost your home’s curb appeal and even help reduce energy costs.

The word “aesthetic” is often associated with beauty and pleasure. However, there are other aspects to this concept which can be considered as well. Aesthetics is concerned with a particular way of looking at the world, and it is centered on a particular type of attention to the things around us. It is an activity that can be applied to any area of life, from the simplest gardens to the most complex and ambitious works of art.

Aesthetics is usually thought to refer only to experiences of artworks or natural phenomena, but the anthropological study of aesthetics has argued that this restriction is not justified. It is not uncommon for mathematical equations, musical compositions and even certain types of conceptual art to be described as beautiful. The anthropology of aesthetics has attempted to deconstruct universalized histories of sensation or perception, and it is a field which has embraced traditions of many kinds.

The traditional interest in the concept of beauty broadened in the eighteenth century, and more recently, philosophers have focused on other concepts which might be considered to be pure aesthetic, including such terms as sublime and exquisite. A number of these concepts are characterized by their attention to formal properties, such as organization, unity and harmony.

Aesthetics is a complex and wide-ranging subject, and it is not easy to make clear definitions. It is a part of philosophy which has expanded to include careful studies of the arts, and it now includes the discussion of a variety of other issues as well, such as ethics, social issues, religious concerns and environmental questions. The purpose of contemporary aesthetics is to provide a forum for the discussion of these issues and to foster interdisciplinary cooperation and interaction.