Keep Your North Shore Landscape Looking Fresh

Most all of us know that curb appeal is very important when selling your North Shore home. It’s the first impression potential buyers get when pulling up to your home and can set the mood as to how they feel about your home before even walking through the front door.

Getting your landscaping ready for buyers to view may have been a challenge this summer. Between our heat and heavy rains, most of our landscapes were left looking tired and overgrown.

Here is some great advice from local landscape experts on how to keep your garden glowing through August and into the fall season:

Beautiful Pots
It’s easy to ensure that your pots are looking pretty and full. Simply pick the dead heads from the spent flowers to encourage new growth, cut back leggy and overgrown plants, and replace any annuals that need replacing.

Continue Maintaining Your Garden
Disease to your plants is caused by seasonal heat and moisture. Removing spent flowers, old leaves and overgrown plants can help increase the air circulation and protect your plants from disease.

Those pesky pests (say that 3 times) are in full force with this weather, so be sure to get the proper pest control by consulting your nursery. Many of our local nurseries offer eco-friendly pest and disease treatments that can be used in your vegetable garden as well.

Weeds are growing and multiplying at an alarming rate; pull them regularly to keep them from flowering, which will help stop them from spreading. Even a few minutes a day will help keep weeds under control.

Don’t fertilize perennials, shrubs or trees. Don’t be fooled by the weather; by early September, most will be beginning their preparation for winter.

Water Wisely
Our North Shore area has had enough consistent precipitation to help in the watering department. Your trees, shrubs and perennials need less water as they are preparing for winter.

A rain gauge can be used to help determine if your landscape needs water. Use the rain gauge while you’re using your sprinklers to note how long you need to water for the gauge to fill up to 1”; use that time for your future watering.

Daily watering of your pots and annuals will keep them looking fresh and perky. Plants in pots dry out faster and get more heat in pots than in the ground.

Mentally Prune
Although you will need to wait until your shrubs and trees are dormant before pruning, now is a great time to decide which trees and shrubs need work come winter. You may even want to take pictures so that when they are dormant, you can review how to prune so that come spring, your trees and shrubs will be the shape you envisioned.

If you are looking to sell your North Shore home, contact The Marla Schneider Team. We offer a quick "Comparative Market Analysis" for you, for free, and with no obligation. Also known as a CMA, this analysis compares your home to others that are currently on the market and to those that have recently sold, to ensure your home is priced correctly to sell within the timeframe needed.