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Bermudagrass

Arizona Landscaping; What You Should Know About Transitioning Winter Rye to Bermudagrass

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Now that temperatures have consistently been above 65 degrees in the evenings, it is time to start phasing out the Winter Ryegrass in your community- making way for the revitalization of Summer Bermudagrass. Here in the Arizona desert, our climate calls for two different grass species; Bermudagrass in the Summer and Ryegrass in the Winter (should you choose to overseed). This time of year the Ryegrass starts to wilt and turn brown as it dies off for the Summer and the Bermudagrass begins to sprout. There are lots of landscaping tips and tricks that YOU can do to help this transition go smoothly!

Scalping Winter Rye

It is a good practice to scalp Winter Ryegrass to about 1/2 of its typical length. This allows the heat from the sun to get through to the soil and stress the Winter grass into submission- enabling the Bermudagrass to become dominant and begin to grow.

Decreasing Water Usage

Temporarily decreasing water usage to the Ryegrass will allow it to die off. Bermudagrass thrives with less water and warmer temperatures while the Rye does not, therefore decreasing competition between the two.

Fertilization

Fertilizing turf using a high ammonium sulfate fertilizer weakens the Ryegrass while strengthening up and coming Bermuda. Using the right fertilization practices will not only decrease competition between the grass types but will later provide a healthy and lush Summer lawn.

Lawn Aeration

While many people shy away from lawn aeration due to the unsightly holes that result, this practice is one of the best things that can be done for a transitioning lawn! Aeration allows water, oxygen, and the fertilizer to better reach the roots of the grass and will help that Bermudagrass grow in strong, healthy, and beautiful!

It is important to remember that the grass will typically appear brown/yellow and sparse during this transition time. This is perfectly normal and means that the process is underway! Being patient and allowing the grass time to go through this process will lead to amazing results and a beautiful Summer lawn!

Scalping
Turf Aeration
Bermudagrass Final Result
Ornamental Grasses Image

Ornamental Grasses in Your AZ Landscape

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This holiday season we are talking more than ornaments for your tree! Ornamental Grass is a great addition to any Arizona Landscape and is an aesthetic plant material that thrives in the Winter, providing some green to your community while other plants struggle through the colder temperatures.

Ornamental Grasses are low water use and require little maintenance outside of pruning. They add texture and color to a landscape, specifically in the Winter season as other plants go dormant during the cold. These grasses come in a variety of types to choose from and are great for providing privacy, filling up dead space, and making a landscape look unique.

Maintenance of Ornamental Grasses in an AZ Landscape

Due to their frost-hardiness, Ornamental Grasses should not be pruned during the late Fall/ early Winter timeframe that most plants are. Instead, they should be attended to in the Spring after the frost has lifted and temperatures begin to rise. They can be lightly pruned to ensure they are looking their best at this time.

Water usage should rise slightly in the summertime for these plants to help them survive the hottest months of the year, however otherwise they are low water usage grasses. This is great for a desert landscape to help save on water use that would typically be higher for other plant material and regular grasses.

For more information on landscaping tips to maintain ornamental grass, visit the Arizona Landscape Contractor’s Association blog post.

If you are interested in an AZ landscape management company to help you with the maintenance of your HOA community or commercial property’s landscape, click here.

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Woman Pruning a Shrub

What Your Commercial Landscape Management Company Should be Doing When it Comes to Rejuvenation Pruning

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Are you a decision maker when it comes to the landscape management of your HOA community or commercial property? If so, you may be asking yourself what you should expect out of your landscape contactor this season.

While we have many different posts on what to expect when it comes to communication and performance, we wanted to be sure to focus on something happening this season; Rejuvenation Pruning.

Rejuvenation pruning, aka Renovation Pruning, is a sustainable landscape practice where plants and shrubs are pruned seasonally rather that monthly or bi-monthly. This practice is done to ensure that plants and shrubs are not over pruned-leaving them in a constant state of stress and leading to plant failure.

When your commercial landscape management company is working on rejuvenation pruning, they should be following specific guidelines and schedule to promote plant health and ensure proper bloom. This is dependent on type of plant, plant characteristics, bloom time, and time of year.

Renovation Pruning Practices Your Commercial Landscape Management Company Should be Doing

To start with, your landscape contractor should be aware of the pruning schedules for the variety of plants and shrubs specific to your community. The schedules for a majority of plants and shrubs we find here in Arizona landscapes are outlined in resources such as those provided by ALCA and UofA Cooperative Extension.

Pruning plants at the right time and according to proper schedule will ensure that the plants bloom in the right season, aid in plant waste and water consumption being reduced over time, and ensure that the landscape does not become barren from over pruning.

A common misconception is that this type of pruning should be done to make the plants look aesthetically pleasing in the season of rejuvenation pruning. However, this is not the case. Your landscape contractor will ultimately be performing renovation pruning not for it to look good in the Winter months but instead to promote photosynthesis, enable light to reach the interior of the plant, and ensure healthy growth and bloom.

Interested in finding a knowledgeable and informative landscape management company for your HOA community or Commercial Property? Reach out to ELS for information on the services we provide and how we can benefit you.

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