Sunny skies and moderate temperatures make it easy to spruce up the yard or garden in early spring, but how do you stay enthused when conditions aren’t so perfect?
“This year it’s going to be easy because we had such an awful winter,” said Teena Allen, manager at PC’s Nursery and Landscaping, one of the vendors at this weekend’s Wiregrass Home Garden Expo.
“It’s hard to be enthused when it’s 100 degrees outside, and it’s important they go ahead now and get things like shrubs and trees, that kind of stuff, established before it gets hot,” Allen said. By doing things early “you’re going to work less,” she said. “You don’t struggle as much keeping things alive.”
Allen said fertilizing is going to be key this year because plants were stressed this winter. They need to be fed a good slow-release fertilizer, and Allen said she sells one used at the nursery.
Discoloration is one sign of winter stress, and Allen said all of the damage won’t be known until you see what new growth comes out. Fertilizing will help plants, especially shrubs, get back on the road to recovery.
Some chores need to be performed at certain times of the year. Allen said azaleas should be trimmed no later than July. “As soon as they bloom, that’s really the best time,” she said. “After they get through, right then, is perfect.”
One way to promote interest in the outdoor space is to have a landscape that has an entertaining aspect year-round.
Jake Bearden, owner of Alabama Landscape Creations, said a fire pit, hot tub, some sort of structure like a pavilion with ceiling fans, and an all-weather outdoor flat screen TV with a swivel mount for sporting events are options.
“Have all the entertaining aspects outside that you have inside,” he said.
Bearden’s business sells equipment and furnishings for outdoor kitchens, such as grills, refrigerators, and sinks. From natural stonework, paver patios and landscaping to aquatic gardens, spas, lighting and nice furnishings, Bearden said the yard can become “an extension of their home.”
The more time homeowners spend outside, the more they’re going to want to improve it.
Vendors at the ninth annual event provide information for homeowners looking for ideas to renovate, remodel or redecorate their home or garden. Some of the services include home security, flooring, carpet, outdoor equipment, pest control, windows, screens, roofing, gutters and landscaping.
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