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We appreciate the significant investment to have work done by Classic and the success of your landscape is important to us. We would like you to consider us as your horticultural resource in the months ahead. To help your plants get well established, it’s important for you to nurture them over the next year. While we have taken care to select and guarantee a variety of low-maintenance plant materials, you will need to monitor and care for your new plants to ensure that they take root and grow.

Proper watering is a key to your plants survival. During the warmer season from mid-April to late September, your plants may need watering every day on dry days. During the first year, some new plants may need supplemental watering even if you have an irrigation system. If you have sprinklers, it’s important to keep your irrigation system properly timed and adjusted. In the Puget Sound, sprinklers are normally turned off from Halloween to Easter. In the fall, systems are “blown out” to minimize water in the lines and the potential for pipes bursting in freezing temperatures.

Caring for your lawns need not be as complicated as the big box stores or garden pundits would have you believe. Lawns don’t need fertilizing and weed control applications three times a year as we are frequently told. These are falsehoods designed to get you to buy product, so take care not to over-apply garden chemicals. A recent King County survey found chemicals in local streams reaching toxic levels during the spring season. Many believe this to be caused by excessive and unnecessary application of garden chemicals. The truth is that your lawn only needs a single application of 3-1-2 ratio fertilizer right around Labor Day. We will also encourage you to lime your lawn perhaps 2x annually and aerate at that time as well. Good dates for this are Easter and Labor day.

Native plants may not need any supplemental fertilizer and you might not need to fertilize your ornamental plants until the spring after the installation is complete. Newly seeded lawns need to be kept somewhat moist, so depending upon your soil and sun orientation, you may need to water every day to get the seed completely germinated or sod fully rooted. This may take three weeks for germination. Lawn seed can be fully walkable at about six weeks and with a new lawn and intermittent rains, you are advised to hand seed to fill in as needed. Lawns may have some difficulty fully establishing between Memorial Day and Labor Day and may require additional soil with seeding.

You will likely notice some weeds in the bed areas. That’s natural, as we have created an environment that is healthy for plants. Early and methodical weed control will help to make minimize your garden care. Start looking for weeds in March and April and use a hand tool such as a “hula-hoe” to remove weeds before they go to seed. Keep in mind that weeds can be an indicator of other issues; clover indicates soil compaction and low fertility, buttercup can be a symptom of excessive moisture. If you plan to spray weed killer, Classic offers a great product called “Burnout”, made from vinegar and clove oil. It’s devastating on weeds. Put it in a pump sprayer and keep it in the garage, ready to go. You might also try a teakettle of boiling water on more limited weed areas. You can also control many chewing insect by mixing up a diluted solution of 1 part laundry soap and 10 parts water to be a natural born killer.

Prune your shrubs only when they get larger than you desire, lightly and carefully. Unless you are cultivating a hedge, most shrubs don’t want to be groomed into tight shapes. Be mindful of pruning considerations regarding plant bloom, fruit and overall shape. A good rule to follow is to not take off more than 10% of your plants foliage when pruning.

Sometime in the future, you may want to add additional shrubs, groundcover or perennials. We can help you with advice and plant lists.

You may find that you need to make a warranty claim at some point. Go online to our warranty form and submit that to us. We’ll get back to you with a response right away. Larger plants are replaced and construction repairs are completed by Classic on site; we ask that you pick up smaller plants at the nursery for your replacement. See your proposal and the corresponding long form landscape agreement for additional limitations and details.

Your business is important to us. When your project is complete, please take a moment to fill out the survey we have provided and mail it back in the self-addressed envelope. We succeed by honoring our commitments to our families, our work and to the environment. In this regard, our business achievements are measured by your referrals. If you will, please take a moment to submit a positive review on our behalf.

 

 

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