It is cold, overcast and usually wet. As you look outside you see your end of fall chore piling up... leaf pickup. Well good news for all, here are some ways to make your life easier when it comes to leaf removal. 

Lawn leaf removal is really simple. Use your lawn mower with a mulching kit and simply mow your lawn. If you have a bag mower, empty it and mow over the pile a few times.  The leaves in both scenarios will become really small and blend into the grass. 
If you are completely set on removing your leaves, use a tarp. Lay a tarp down and blow you leaves onto it. The tarp will make the leaves easier to transport to a burn pile, to place in bags/cans, or to drag to your composting pile.

Why mulch leaves?
Leaves and pine needles contain macro and micro nutrients your trees have absorbed all year and no longer need for the winter. If you were to remove your leaves completely, you would remove also remove the nutrition from your soil. By mulching, you get to feed the soil, beneficial insects and micro-organisms for free. The decomposing leaves will also lower you soil pH which is great for plants like azaleas, gardenias and camellias. The other major perk is there is no need to fill dozens of bags with leaves.

The easiest way to get leaves out of your garden beds is to blow them out with a blower and mulch them in the yard with your mower. Try to return some of the mulch back to the beds so the bedding soil stays rich with nutrition for your shrubs and flower. An easier way to take care of leaves in your bed is to just leave them there. If you have pine needles, there is your natural and free mulch. If you have have an unsightly variety of leaf, now would be a great time to mulch right on top of the leaves. The leaves will still break down and act as soil conditioner.

GreenSeasons offers professional debris removal for you. We provide landscaping, lawn care and pest control services in the Greater Baton Rouge, Greater New Orleans, Slidell, Hammond and Covington areas. If you would like any of these services, just click here and we will give you a call. 

If you would simply like some advice, please contact us and we will be more than happy to help.  

Winter is when very few people think about their yard and garden, yet it is when major problems can occur. Here are a few ways to keep your lawn and garden looking good until the next growing season. Read this to for how else to winterize in fall.

Install Winter Flowers
If you haven't done so yet, rip out those poor looking summer annuals and replace them with some fresh winter annuals. Pansies, violas, snapdragons and ornamental kale will add some color to a drab landscape in the winter months.

Mulch Your Garden
Mulching your landscape will help retain moisture and heat for your plants during the hard winter months. It will also reduce the number of weeds that start growing between your plants. Additionally, mulching will help your garden keep a crisp and fresh look during the winter.

Water Your Trees
Evergreen trees especially, but also deciduous trees, still need water in winter. Please make sure they are well hydrated by watering your trees before the first big freeze of the year. This will help to keep them nice and healthy during the winter so they will look great next spring.

Winterize Your Irrigation System
This is important in areas where the temperature really drops. Failure to winterize your irrigation system will lead to the water in it expanding and breaking pipes and gauges. Winterizing in southern Louisiana is usually as simple and turning off your irrigation water main and draining the back flow regulator.

Save Your Potted Plants
Bring in your prized plant for the winter. It will make life for you a lot easier. If you cannot bring it inside, be ready for many nights of using landscape blankets and possibly heat lamps. If you cannot save your plants, wash the pots and store them in your garage.

Grow Rye Grass
Adding rye grass will lessen your soil's compaction and reduce potential weeds. Also, it looks really good to have one of the only green lawns during winter.

GreenSeasons will perform any of these services for you. We provide landscaping, lawn care and pest control services in the Greater Baton Rouge, Greater New Orleans, Slidell, Hammond and Covington areas. If you would like any of these services, just click here and we will give you a call. 

If you would simply like some advice, please contact us and we will be more than happy to help.