Landscaping can address aesthetics, air quality, biodiversity, local food production, water management, climate modification, and habitat creation. It can also help cool and warm your property.

Benefits of Commercial Landscaping

Commercial property owners can greatly benefit from commercial landscaping, which is a complete landscaping service that will include planning, designing, installation and maintenance of landscapes for both small and big businesses.

Studies have shown that with a well-maintained landscape, your business can attract new clients. Also, this will boost worker productivity. Investing in attractive landscaping is a great way of showing your ecological values to your customers. Let your customers know you are doing so by installing native plants and watering gardens, and using sustainable hardscape materials. Advocating the use of earth-friendly practices is also a smart move.

Sustainable Landscaping

Sustainable landscaping refers to designing and constructing the landscape around the building and enhancing the natural landscapes. It means putting back much of what might have been in place prior to development. It also means presenting things that weren’t there before to make sure that the landscape is economical and eco-friendly.

Plants that perform well in the area are very crucial. Sustainable plants include native and indigenous plants. Native plants are those from Australia while indigenous plants are those specific to a certain place. Ideally, these plants must perform well even without the need for soil modification, excessive watering, and thorough maintenance regimes.

What Can Commercial Landscapers Do

Commercial landscapers do more than just mowing the lawn.

First, they can help you plan as well as install an inviting workplace frontage based on your set budget.

Second, they can see what must be done so that your business is always looking its best.

Lastly, they can offer seasonal or regular maintenance services for mowing, trimming, plant replacement, pruning, and weeding.

Characteristics Commercial Landscapers Must Have

1. Excellent communication skills – They must contact you through email or phone regularly and always inform you of what must be done and how long it will take.
2. Proactive – They must anticipate possible landscape problems and opportunities.
3. Transparent – The invoices they give you must be clear and understandable. They must clearly show where your hard-earned money is going.
4. Experienced – They must have plenty of years of experience when it comes to performing commercial landscaping. Check the properties they have landscaped before.
5. Resourceful – They reuse existing site materials, like excavated rocks. Also, they use recycled materials like crushed concrete and recycled glass wherever possible.

There are no such things as maintenance-free landscapes. Everything created artificially for human purposes will require on-going maintenance. And this means investing in commercial landscaping services.

For more garden and landscaping tips, tune in for more Jim’s Mowing NZ blogs.

There are many kinds of gardens. The sub-urban small garden, the larger country garden, the city-backyard, the terrace, and the penthouse garden. There are also special gardens that aim to further enhance the aesthetic value of a property. Whatever kind of garden you want to achieve, it much depends on the gardening contractors that you will hire.

Your chosen contractors from the grounds maintenance team, to your landscapers, must have distinct traits that set them apart from the others. After all, you are hiring them to save you time and effort because they are the experienced ones.

With the long list of gardening contractors to choose from, how do you determine who’s the right one for your property? How do you shorten the list? What characteristics should you look for?

Here is a guide to help you – the 5 essential traits of good gardening contractors.

1. The trait of an expert.

As an expert, your prospective contractors must have the knowledge, skills, and experience. They should know the specific requirements of your location. They must be keenly aware of the weather in your area. And, they should be able to provide professional help when it comes to the kind of plants that are most suitable for your property.

2. The trait of a skilled professional.

As a skilled professional, your gardening contractors must have the necessary license and an impressive portfolio of clients. Their previous work must show great ingenuity and creativity. The quality of their work must be superb, offering four-season services. Also implementing sustainable landscaping methods such as smart landscape irrigation systems, drought tolerant plantings, and using low-emission equipment.

3. The trait of a passionate business partner.

When vetting potential contractors for your dream garden, they must act as your business partners. Show they truly care about the project, not only as an income generator but also as a valuable investment. They must be fully insured just in case they incur injuries or property damage while working. Your contractor must also be financially sound to ensure they are able to provide quality materials, equipment, and advanced landscape design capabilities.

4. The trait of a dependable manager.

As a manager, they must be highly dependable. Particularly when it comes to addressing conflicts, providing open communication, maintaining cleanliness, and offering after-sales services.

5. The trait of a caring friend.

And the last (but not the least) to complete the top 5 traits your gardening contractor must have, is the trait of a true friend. Your contractor must be a good listener, understanding what you really want and what you can really afford. They must also be helpful in creating your ideas and visualising your completed project.

For more garden and landscaping tips, tune in for more Jim’s Mowing NZ blogs.

Green leaves. Red leaves. Yellow leaves. Purple leaves. Orange leaves. Pink leaves. The astonishing colours of autumn – such a marvel to look at.

Autumn is indeed a vibrant season because the leaves come in various colours. But this also means that these leaves will eventually fall off.

A lot of people may regard these fallen leaves as an additional burden to their maintenance tasks. It doesn’t have to be a negative thing, however, because there are several ways that you can put these leaves to good use.

Use the leaves as compost

Autumn leaves make a great compost. They are an excellent source of high carbon material that is vital to making a successful compost. Just pile up the leaves and alternate them with a layer of regular green materials such as fruit and vegetable scraps and grass clippings and let it sit during the winter. Aerate by turning it over once in a while.

Use the leaves as organic mulch

The best way to create mulch using autumn leaves is to shred them so they don’t get blown around. Apply a deep enough layer of shredded leaves on the flower and tree beds. Just the right depth will ensure moisture retention, weed control, and soil temperature regulation. As they break down, nutrients will penetrate the soil.

Use the leaves to make leaf mould

Leaf mould is an excellent material to enhance the soil’s health, texture, and properties. Collect the leaves in the storage area and shred if you want to speed up the decomposition process. Turn the pile over a few times as you let it sit for about a year.

Mow the leaves onto the lawn

Instead of raking the leaves off the lawn, mowing them over on the lawn is a better thing to do. The shredded leaves and grass clippings are good sources of carbon and nitrogen — exactly what the soil needs. Let them sit and break down into the soil during the winter, and as spring comes, they will be gone and the nutrients will be deposited in the soil.

Whether you enjoy autumn leaves or not, they provide gardeners a great opportunity to create safe and all-natural garden essentials. They are easy to work with and are safe for you and the environment. And of course, they are free! Letting the autumn leaves do the work for your garden while you and your plants reap the benefits is definitely not a bad idea.

For more garden and landscaping tips, tune in for more Jim’s Mowing NZ blogs.

Autumn is a time for great changes; everyone can experience cooler nights and the transformation of outdoor scenery.

It is also the best time to get in your garden and start work. In addition to fertilising, pruning, and planting, mulching is an integral part of autumn gardening, too.

There are different types of mulch to choose from, the most common of which are the organic and inorganic mulches. A once-a-year mulching is usually enough to keep the soil and your plants healthy.

Why your garden will love mulching;

• It conserves soil moisture – The most familiar benefit gained from mulching is soil moisture. Adding some mulch keeps the soil from drying out and cracking. Therefore, it also reduces the need for frequent watering.

• It suppresses the growth of weeds – Weeds are considered one of the most crucial issues gardeners have to deal with. Through mulching, you can stop the growth of weeds and eventually kill them. Before you mulch, it would be helpful to pull out or cut overgrown weeds first. Then, apply the mulch deep enough to block sunlight from penetrating and to prevent the weeds from germinating.

• It adds nutrients to the soil – Various types of mulch, over time, will break down into the soil. This will add nutrients to the soil and improve its quality and structure.

• It improves the look of the garden – Mulching gives the garden a finished and clean look by filling in empty spaces. What is even better is that it is very easy to maintain and it doesn’t compete with your plants in the garden.

• It maintains the temperature of the soil – Just as it conserves the moisture in the soil, mulch also maintains the temperature around the soil. It keeps the soil cool during warm days and warm during the cold nights.

• It controls certain pests – The use of specific types of mulch, particularly the cedar bark, can help ward off pests because cedar barks release oils that are considered a natural insect repellent.

• It prevents soil erosion – Not only does mulch keep water in the soil, but it also prevents soil run-off and erosion. The mulch breaks the fall of water, which in turn lessens the impact of the water when it falls on the ground.

When spreading mulch on your garden, it is also important to learn how to do it, where to apply it, and what materials to use. All of these will determine the success of mulch application. For more garden and landscaping tips, tune in for more Jim’s Mowing NZ blogs.

Is it autumn yet? Do you feel excited about the coming of this season?

Colourful leaves of autumn aren’t just lovely to see; they’re also rich in essential minerals. If processed properly, they provide countless benefits to your lawn and garden.

For one, you can use them as fertilisers for shrubs, perennials, ferns, trees and other wood-plants. Second, you can use them as mulch for your pots and garden beds. Third, you can use
them as topdressing for your lawn. Fourth, you can use them as additional organic matter by digging them into the soil before planting. And fifth, you can also use them as seed-raising mix or as potting mix along with garden compost, washed sand, and loam.

How do you take these minerals from the leaves?

You don’t literally take out the minerals from the leaves. You break them down using a special composting process called leaf mould heap. Unlike the traditional compost where you need to balance and turn it, and keep it warm to enable fast-action bacteria to faciliate decomposition, leaf mould simply requires piling up the leaves, soaking them, and then just letting the fungi do the job of slowly decomposing the leaves.

For best results, take note of the following:

1. It is crucial to have a compost bin strategically located near a shed to shelter the bin, and at the same time to allow rain to reach the leaves. You can use the bin bag method, but it is much better to build a bin since this process takes at least six months to as long as three years, depending on your goal. To make a rich soil conditioner, let it rot for two to three years. To make a rich mulch, six to twelve months will do.
2. It is also equally important to choose the kind of leaves to include in the leaf mould. Leaves from deciduous trees are the best, like those from maple, oak, birch, elm, poplar, beech, ash, and liquidambar trees. Leaves that break down more slowly, like those from the evergreen trees as well as sycamore trees, must be kept to a minimum.
3. To facilitate the process, it is best to shred leaves finely, particularly larger ones and those that takes longer to rot. Before putting in the bin, cut them into tiny pieces using a lawnmower.

You can have as much free mulch as you can with fallen autumn leaves. Pile them up as high as you can. If there is more room for two or three leaf bins in your yard, then you can even have well-rotted leaf mould for enriching the soil.

For more garden and landscaping tips, tune in for more Jim’s Mowing NZ blogs.