Here in Southern California, the differences between our seasons aren’t as dramatic as they are in other parts of the country. We’ll even have mild, sunny days in the middle of winter, while elsewhere folks are trudging through the snow. Make no mistake, we can still experience rain and storms throughout April and even into early May.
How to Protect Your Home & Landscaping in Light of Storms
Bearing in mind that we may not be out of the woods yet when it comes to those final storms, homeowners should schedule landscape maintenance to help handle the following:
- Mulching & Pruning: Mulching nourishes soil and helps it retain moisture. We hand-prune shrubs and bushes, helping promote healthy growth in the coming spring. Doing this work by hand rather than by machine reduces energy use and emissions – part of our overall sustainability practices – and also avoids unnecessary plant damage.
- Weed Control: Like little landscape time bombs, weed seeds wait in the soil to germinate after winter rains. We apply pre-emergent herbicide in the winter, stopping weeds before they sprout.
Tree Care: At this time of year we’re carefully trimming trees, removing low-hanging branches – which helps with pest control – and trimming those that are vulnerable to wind, so we can prevent them from doing damage if that next big storm arrives.
- And More: Routine inspection and debris removal is important to make sure drains and rain gutters will efficiently do their jobs in the remaining rains, and also to prevent erosion of landscaped areas.
In the weeks ahead, as we transition into spring, we’ll shift gears into spring maintenance, stepping up the pace of activities like mowing, weed control, and irrigation system inspections to make sure everything is in tip-top shape before we step up the pace of your watering schedule.
As always, we encourage you to call us at (800) 741-9150, any time, day or night, if your landscape needs urgent attention. When storms arrive, quick action by our team can mitigate any damage Mother Nature may be causing.