Aspen Creek Landscaping's Fall Lawn-Prep Checklist

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As autumn colors set in this season, make sure your all-important lawn and garden 'to-do's" are done.

Although the lawn is often overlooked during the fall, it’s actually the perfect time to make sure everything is organized before the harsher winter elements take hold ('harsh" is a relative term here in the Pacific NW, but we think you know what we mean…)

Paul James, host of HGTV’s "Gardening by the Yard," advises homeowners to start early — approximately six weeks before the first good freeze.

Here is a list of some of the tasks and items you should add to your fall checklist this year:   

• Maintain the landscape.

• Tidy up the lawn, flowerbeds, bushes, gardens, etc.

• Remove unsightly foliage, dead stems, piles of leaves and other debris.

• Fluff your mulch with a rake so water can seep into the subsoil.

• Plant fall vegetables. Cool-season vegetable gardens can flourish with the right plants — lettuce, greens, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, turnips, potatoes and loads more. Imagine all the hearty stews and delicious soups you could make from scratch.

• Make room for indoor plants. Your potted or container plants won’t survive the winter outside, so it’s time to make room indoors for tropical plants, herbs and succulents. Potted perennials can be transplanted into a garden after trimming the roots and some top growth.

If you have fall maintenance questions, we are always happy to help! Just call us at (503) 625-6888 or visit our website: www.aspencreeklandscaping.com

Aspen Creek Landscaping’s October Gardening Tips for Oregon

 (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)

With the official start of fall happening in October in Oregon, many of the questions we get from customers at Aspen Creek Landscaping are about fall gardening tasks and how to best prepare our yards and gardens for the cold months ahead.

Here are a few important tasks to keep in mind when doing your fall gardening:

• First and foremost, make sure your drainage is good. Because of the heavy rains we get here in Oregon during the late fall and winter months, it’s important to make sure your yard and garden areas have great drainage.

• For winter protection, it’s a good idea to place mulch over roots of roses, azaleas, rhododendrons and berries.

• To head off future pest problems before they happen, clean up annual flower beds by removing diseased plant materials. Mulch with manure or garden compost to feed the soil and suppress weeds.

• Clean, sharpen and oil those tools and equipment before storing for winter.

• Be sure to store garden supplies and fertilizers in a safe, dry place out of reach of children.

Have more questions? Call us today to ask your burning questions about how best to prepare your yard and garden for the winter months: (503) 625-6888

Or visit our website to view more pictures of our portfolio and to schedule a consultation:
www.aspencreeklandscaping.com  

Are you ever stumped for landscaping ideas? Here are a few to get you started

There are many different factors that go into choosing a landscaping design. It’s not uncommon for homeowners to look at their yard and feel overwhelmed.

Instead of looking at the state of the place and thinking, I don’t know how to landscape, the thought that should be running through your mind is that you have a blank canvas to work with. Woohoo!

You have to be able to see beyond the weeds and overgrown grass and see what may lie beneath. It’s not like you have to do it all on your own either – you can contact a landscaper in, oh I don’t know… Aspen Creek Landscaping in Sherwood maybe? or look at garden designs online to get some ideas of what you can do with that space.

The difficult part is going to be clearing out the backyard space by weeding and mowing, but once that is done you can really get down to the fun part of making your new garden come to life.

When you look at designs and other gardens online, you will quickly discover that the landscaping ideas backyard is virtually limitless. Here are some ideas to get you started:

Open Space: You can go with a space that is open yet alive with a million different colors that burst forth from the plants and flowers that you out in there.

Build a deck or patio to fill too much open space: You could have a great deck or patio that is perfect for barbecuing and having friends over for some fun.

Create a sanctuary: You could also have a tranquil spot away from it all, where water features hum a liquid song that will put you in your happy place. That may be taking it a little too far, but you get the idea that you can do whatever suits your style.

It’s one thing to know exactly what you want, but quite another to have the tools and imagination to put it all together.

It really is worth your while to go and visit a garden center to get a good idea of what sort of items are actually available for your backyard space. There is nothing like seeing that actual pieces to get the imagination going and that can help you start to see where things will fit in your garden and how the finished article will look.

Another good idea is to take pictures of the kinds of pieces that you like and take them to a professional landscaper. Chances are they will have done more than one garden that incorporates the styles that you like. They will be able to assess your space and see how each of the elements that you like will fit into place to give your garden a perfect look. 

Your idea of style and the landscapers experience can make for the perfect combination that can turn that overgrown space into a thing of beauty.

Come visit Aspen Creek Landscaping today for free ideas – we have a great garden center and some already landscaped spaces to help get the idea juices flowing. We’re conveniently located just outside Portland – between Sherwood and Newberg on Highway 99 at 25470 SW Gimm Lane, Sherwood, OR.