With the right team for your landscape management in Lake Charles, you can install landscaping any time of the year.
When fall sets in, many homeowners think that just because lawns go into hibernation and turn brown they cannot install landscaping. The truth is, you can do quite a lot for next spring’s flower, shrub and tree growth.
Springtime is too late for landscaping
When the cold season sets in, many people focus on the holidays and staying warm. Not many give a second thought to their landscaping. They wait for springtime to start installing landscaping. Many miss this window of opportunity, as there is quite a lot that a professional lawn care company can do with your landscape in winter.
In Lake Charles, and much of southwest Louisiana, we advise our customers that the best time for landscape installation is late fall or early winter. Springtime landscaping installation is too late.
Here are a few reasons why you should work on your landscaping in winter:
- In Louisiana, you can do your landscaping installation any month of the year because the climate is mild and favorable
- If you install your landscaping in winter, you can have a fuller and better bloom in spring
- Contrary to popular opinion, trimming in winter is not harmful to shrubs as all the nutrients are stored in the root system by this time of the year
- If you install landscaping in winter, the root system has more time to get established
- There are hundreds of shrubs, trees and flowers whose recommended planting time is winter
What happens to plants in cold weather?
Do plants die in winter? Most people ask this question. When winter sets in, the plants will shed whatever parts of their structure cannot withstand the cold weather. For shrubs, the leaves fall. The reason is that the broad leaves cannot withstand the winter chill. Only the hardy parts of the plants remain.
The plant transfers all its nutrients to the root ball to sustain itself in the cold winter. The reason for doing this is that in frozen soil, the plant cannot get water. Therefore, it sheds what it doesn’t need and allocates nutrients into sustaining the important parts like roots, crucial buds, stalks and branches in readiness for springtime.
Therefore, the answer to the question of whether plants die in winter is no. They just take nutrients to the roots to sustain them in springtime when they can begin absorbing water from the soil again.
Can you do landscaping in the winter?
It is not a question of whether you can, it is a question of how soon you can start after winter sets in. As we offer services for landscape management in Lake Charles, we advise our clients to start in late fall and early winter as the best times for landscaping installation.
In addition to the winter regulars such as mulching, raking and in some cases watering, there is more that you can do in winter. You can plant shrubs, trees and flowers (we shall look at them later) in winter so that they bloom healthily and beautifully in springtime and summertime.
Tree and shrub trimming is best done in winter
Winter is the best time for trimming shrubs and trees because they are dormant. In fact, for some plants such as lacebark elm, we recommend that you only prune them in winter so that the wound can heal. If you prune them in the warm seasons, they can get infections from pests and diseases.
When the plants have shed their leaves, you can see what you are cutting better. For example, for some plants, you can remove the old flowers. That way, when spring comes, the plants will produce a fuller flower yield. For some trees, you need to remove the dead branches and align the structure by removing the poorly aligned boughs. If there are weak branches that can break after a snowy night, you need to remove them.
Because of the favorable climate of the southern regions, there is still a lot of green on your plants in the winter. However, the foliage could become even denser in spring and summer. Therefore, even with the evergreen plants, we still find it better to trim in winter.
What shrubs, trees and flowers can I plant in winter in Louisiana?
There are so many shrubs and trees that you can plant in Louisiana in winter. As we offer services for landscape management in Lake Charles and Sulphur, we advise our clients to plant their shrubs and trees in late fall to early winter – October to December rather than wait for spring.
We do this because as the flowers and shoots grow so minimally in winter, the plants are able to establish their root growth and strength. Root growth is the most important thing in landscaping with shrubs and trees.
Shrubs to add to your landscape in late fall and early winter
Some of the flowers/shrubs that you should include in your fall garden include roses (perennials), Azaleas, camellias, gardenias and sasanquas to name but just a few of them. All of these shrubs are best planted in late fall to early winter to give their roots time to establish themselves. They also give a better flower and leaf yield in springtime and summer as opposed to when they are planted in springtime.
Trees to add to your landscaping in late fall and winter
You can plant trees as far as mid-January. This is the time to plant southern magnolia, southern sugar maple, oriental magnolia, bald cypress, southern live oak and savannah hollies. All of these trees can be added to your landscape in winter. However, proper care and followup during the cold season is required. That is why you need to contract a good landcsape company to do the job for you.
Cold season flowers to add to your landscaping in Louisiana
Once again, here, you are spoiled for choice. You can take your pick from snapdragons, verbena, daylilies, rudbeckias, calendula, garden mums, pansies and many others. All of these flowers have one thing in common – they will perform better the following year if they are planted in late fall to early winter.
Sometimes, we also choose to plant bulbs such as crocuses and tulips in the last days of fall or early winter. We find that these bloom bigger and better during springtime.
