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Practical Considerations When Planning a Lawn Space

Planning a lawn is about more than just creating an attractive space in your yard. There are many practical considerations you need to make regarding how you will use and care for your lawn area. This chapter will highlight a few of the most important of those considerations.

Anticipate the Key Lawn Maintenance Tasks

The first practical matter you should be aware of regarding lawns is that they require a considerable amount of ongoing maintenance. Without such maintenance, you cannot realistically expect your lawn to look healthy for even a single season.

Creating and caring for a lawn requires more labor than you might expect, which is why you should be mentally, physically, and financially prepared to complete these essential lawn care tasks on an ongoing basis:

Along with those key tasks, there may be other lawn-related chores you need to uptake to keep your lawn looking and growing its best. Those tasks can include seeding, aerating, and managing common lawn problems as soon as they arise.

Understand How You Plan to Use Your Lawn

When planning a lawn, you should also have a clear idea of how you intend to use it. While some lawns are nothing more than something lovely to look at, others have specific purposes.

Some lawns are great for playing games with children and other family members. Other lawns serve as a gathering place for friends to relax and catch up.

The intended use of your lawn impacts its size and shape, what type of grass you should use, and much more. For the best results, be sure to have a clear idea in your mind as to how you hope to use your lawn once it grows in.

Make Sure Your Lawn is Easy to Access

Accessibility is vital for your lawn if you wish to get the most out of it and have the easiest time maintaining it. Your lawn is a place that you’ll need to reach with your garden hose and your mower, and clear access makes doing so significantly easier.

Similarly, if your lawn is hard to get to, it will be far less likely that people will use your lawn for its intended purpose. Clear access, both visually and physically, will also help you remember your maintenance tasks and recognize any lawn problems as soon as they arise.

Choosing the Size and Shape of Your Lawn

There are many decisions to make when creating a lawn space, and choosing the size and shape are as important as any other. While these traits may seem inconsequential overall, they are more impactful than you might think. This chapter will show you why.

Selecting a Shape for Your Lawn

The shape of your lawn can be regular or irregular, and the option you choose will have a significant impact on the overall character of the space. Let’s begin by considering the effect that regular forms can have on your lawn.

Using Regular Shapes

Regular lawn shapes are nothing more than the simple shapes that you have been familiar with for most of your life, including:

These shapes are consistent and predictable and give your lawn a neat appearance. Regular shapes are often the best choice for those who want a more formal or classic look. Combining multiple regular shapes gives you more freedom while maintaining a strong sense of order.

Using Irregular Shapes

Irregular lawn shapes are less predictable than regular ones and are usually more complex. These forms can consist of either straight lines, curved lines, or a combination of both. The defining feature is a lack of consistency that creates a more amorphous form.

Irregular shapes are best if you want to achieve a more naturalistic look rather than a neat and formal appearance. These shapes may also be the only option for you if you are trying to fill leftover space in your yard with new grass.

Sizing Your Lawn

No matter what shapes you choose to use for your lawn, the size will matter as well. From a design perspective, you should choose a size that allows your lawn to remain in a good proportion to the other garden elements in your yard. Sizing your lawn with that in mind allows your lawn to fit neatly into the landscape rather than standing out more than it should.

Lawn sizing is also a matter of maintenance. As you would guess, smaller lawns are easier to care for, resulting in much less ongoing maintenance. Larger lawns require more labor and materials to upkeep.

What Is Winter Burn and How Do You Treat It?

Winter burn is a common problem in many evergreen shrubs, brought on by dry conditions and a lack of moisture. More specifically, it is caused by desiccation brought on by freezing temperatures and cold winter winds stripping water from the shrubs’ leaves. The most common symptoms are yellowing, bronzing, or browning of the foliage.

How does Winter Burn Happen?

Plants continuously lose water to the atmosphere through openings in their leaves in a process called transpiration. Usually, this water is replenished from the soil. However, in the winter, roots can’t pull moisture from the frozen ground. When transpiration is coupled with harsh winter winds removing additional water from the plant, the leaves dry out and die.

How to Treat Winter Burn

Unfortunately, there is no way to treat or repair the damage once winter burn occurs. When severe enough, it can kill the entire shrub. Because of this, prevention is critical.

How to Prevent Winter Burn

For a long time, it was recommended to wrap evergreen shrubs in burlap for the winter to protect them from winter burn. More recent research has shown there are much better ways to protect the plants from harsh, dry winter conditions.

Prevention also includes caring for your plants properly through the growing season.

Plant the best shrubs for your hardiness zone. Some varieties are more cold tolerant than others, offering natural protection.
Continue to water shrubs well through the fall and into the winter until the ground freezes.
Layer a few inches of mulch around the base of your shrubs to help insulate the soil and increase the moisture it holds. Make sure to spread the mulch out a few feet from the stem to protect the root system since they spread through the soil as they grow.
In the late fall, apply a slow-release fertilizer to your shrubs to help encourage root growth before winter.
In areas prone to high winds, create windbreaks using plastic or burlap about 18-inches from the shrub on the windward side.
Ensure good soil drainage during the growing season to prevent root rot or fungal problems. Stressed plants are more susceptible to winter burn.
Spray your shrubs in the early fall with an anti-desiccant product. It helps retain moisture in the leaves, so you’ll see less damage when spring rolls around.

Why Are the Leaves on My Shrub Turning Yellow?

Yellowing leaves on your shrub are usually a cause for concern, but the problem may have you scratching your head in wonder. Unfortunately, there are many reasons the leaves may yellow, and it isn’t always easy to determine the exact cause.

The following are some of the most common reasons for yellow leaves on your shrubs.

Is It Nutrient Deficiency?

All plants need specific nutrients for growth and produce the energy they need to drive metabolic processes. These essential nutrients all have different roles in the plant and are required in varying amounts. Because some nutrients like nitrogen are critical for producing chlorophyll, a nutrient deficiency results in the leaves turning yellow.

If you are experiencing a nutrient deficiency, it’s best to apply a quick-release, water-soluble fertilizer to your shrub through soil or foliar application. Always use per the label recommendations and choose a micronutrient formulation if possible.

Is It Fertilizer Damage?

While fertilizer is often necessary for plant growth, you must be careful when using synthetic formulations. These products are made with chemicals salts that can cause problems when too much fertilizer is applied. As these salts build up in the soil, they “burn” the roots and make it hard for plants to take in water. The salts can also be toxic at high levels in plants.

To prevent fertilizer burn, always follow label recommendations when applying fertilizers regarding the correct application rate. Periodically flush the soil with water to leach the salts out of the root zone.

Is It Drought Stress?

One of the most common abiotic stressors in shrubs is inadequate soil moisture. When there isn’t enough moisture in the soil, plants can’t take in water and nutrients through their roots leading to a nutrient deficiency.

To prevent and treat drought stress, keep the soil around the base of your shrubs consistently moist, without overwatering to the point the ground is soggy, and there is standing water.

Is It Salt Damage?

Beyond fertilizer damage, shrubs often experience salt damage when grown close to sidewalks, driveways, and roadways in areas with heavy winter snowfall. These surfaces are usually covered with ice melt or salt for safety during the winter. As they make their way into the soil, they can cause toxicity in the plant, and the leaves may be yellow.

Flush the soil with clean water as the weather warms and spring arrives to correct salt damage from deicers.

Is It Winter Burn?

Unfortunately, there is no way to treat or repair the damage once winter burn occurs, so prevention is critical.

Why Isn’t My Shrub Flowering?

One of the most aggravating things about flowering shrubs is when they aren’t flowering. If you are experiencing this, you’ll need to investigate to figure out the cause—check for possible problems, correct as many as you can, and hope the shrub bounces back and starts flowering.

Here are some of the most common reasons your shrub isn’t flowering.

Incorrect Pruning Has Affected Blooms

There are two ways incorrect pruning can result in a lack of blooming, both over-pruning and insufficient pruning.

When pruning your shrubs, timing is essential. You need to know if blooms develop on old wood or new growth. If they bloom on old wood and bloom early in the spring before the plant starts growing, you can’t prune them in late winter, or you’ll remove all of the flowers.
Not pruning your shrubs enough can cause plants to become woody with minimal new growth, so new buds don’t form.

Incorrect Fertilizer Applications are to Blame

Under fertilizing and over-fertilizing can both affect your shrub’s ability to bloom.

Your Plant Could Be Juvenile

An important thing to consider is some woody shrubs take a few years before they begin blooming. Young, juvenile plants are directing energy toward the vegetative growth of stems, leaves, and roots. They may not bloom until their third season or longer.

Winter Temperatures were Too Cold

Low winter temperatures are another culprit, especially for early spring flowering types. Harsh winter conditions may trigger cold injury that damages or destroys tender flower buds that developed in the fall.

Not Getting Enough Sunlight

Another common reason for not blooming is being planted in the wrong place in your landscape, usually in a spot that is too shaded. Some plants will bloom in a site with part to full shade, but their plant tag needs to classify them as shade plants. Shrubs that require full sun will not bloom in the wrong location; they need at least six to eight hours of direct sun daily.

Your Shrub is Under Stress

Lastly, shrubs that are under stress may not flower. Any stressor can cause the plant to direct its energy and attention to protecting itself and healing versus developing flowers. Common stress causes include recent transplanting, planting too deeply, disease or insect problems, drought, over-watering, and even air pollution.

Why and How to Feed My Shrubs?

The shrubs in your yard are living investments that need care and attention to grow in value. This care includes correct watering, pruning, and fertilizing to promote optimal growth.

Fertilizing shrubs in your landscape is different than taking care of flowering ornamentals or garden vegetables. They are on a schedule similar to the larger trees in your yard, but there are extra considerations to take into account when figuring out when to feed them.

Why Do Plants Need Regular Fertilization?

Plants need specific nutrients to live. These nutrients don’t give the plants energy directly but aid in metabolic processes like respiration and photosynthesis that drive growth. The essential nutrients are also components of important plant parts such as cell walls, amino acids, and chlorophyll.

Most of these nutrients are taken in from the soil as needed. The challenge is that suburban and urban landscapes are very different from native soils in forests and woodlands. Landscaped areas have little nutrient content because the ground’s thick layer of nutrient-rich topsoil was removed or altered during home construction.

Over time, plants pull nutrients from the soil, reducing levels, often to deficient levels. If you don’t reintroduce some of these elements back into the root zone, you will see negative impacts on your plants. They may have smaller leaves, discolored foliage, or poor growth overall.

Do My Shrubs Need Fertilizer?

The first step is determining if your shrubs need fertilizer. One of the best ways to determine this is by having your soil tested to analyze its nutrient content.

However, you also need to consider where your shrubs are growing.

How Often Should I Fertilize My Shrubs?

It is commonly recommended to only fertilize your shrubs every two to three years. This loose guideline should be followed as a bare minimum.

The best practice is to fertilize your shrubs in early spring, as they begin actively growing for the season. There isn’t any need to fertilize them again until the following spring.

Whatever you do, make sure you aren’t overfertilizing them. Too much fertilizer can decrease their growth and leave your shrubs susceptible to insect pests and diseases.

The Best Type of Fertilizer for Shrubs

Unless a soil test reveals adequate phosphorus and potassium levels, look for a fertilizer higher in nitrogen. A 12-4-8, 12-6-6, or 16-4-8 nutrient ratio is appropriate, whether in an all-purpose formulation or a shrub-specific fertilizer.

How Does the Soil Affect Your Shrub?

The type of soil you plant your shrub in and the characteristics of the soil affect your shrub in many different ways.

What is Soil Texture, and Why is It Important?

Soil texture is determined by the combination of sand, silt, and clay (in percentages) that make up the uppermost soil layer known as topsoil. Ideally, you want your soil to be a blend of all three, or what is known as loam. Loam soils drain well while holding onto a suitable amount of water and nutrients.

Soils with a higher percentage of clay don’t drain well. The water stays trapped between the soil particles, and the ground stays way too wet. One of the benefits of clay, though, is it also holds onto nutrients well.

Sand has the opposite characteristics of clay. It doesn’t hold onto water or nutrients, but they drain very quickly.

What is Organic Matter, and Why is It Important?

Soil organic matter is the fraction of decomposing or fully decomposed plant and animal matter. It helps prevent soil compaction, improves water retention, improves soil fertility by holding onto nutrients, and helps buffer soil pH changes.

What is Soil pH, and Why is It Important?

Soil pH measures how acidic or basic (i.e., alkaline) the soil is, just like the acidity we are familiar with regarding liquids like vinegar or lemon juice. Knowing your soil’s pH is important because it directly influences the nutrients in the ground. If the pH value is too acidic or basic, it can make nutrients unavailable to the plants or create toxicities.

Ideally, you want the soil to be neutral or slightly acidic—most plants like a pH value between 6.0 and 7.0 because it has the best nutrient availability.

Testing the Soil to Determine Its Characteristics

Commercial soil testing labs will analyze a soil sample for a small fee to determine its texture, organic matter content, and pH value. Along with the results, they will often provide recommendations on how to amend the soil before planting.

To collect a soil sample, collect some small shovelfuls from where you are planting and mix them in a bucket. After collecting a sample, spread the soil out on newspaper to dry overnight.

Amending The Soil Before Planting

The best way to amend the soil for shrubs is to work on an area slightly larger than the holes you need to dig. If you are planting a hedgerow or numerous shrubs in one bed, work the entire area.

The following amendments, or additions, help improve the texture, organic matter content, water holding capacity, soil pH, and fertility.

If your soil is high in clay or sand, add finished compost or fully decomposed cow manure to increase the organic matter.
If your soil is acidic, you can add lime to raise the soil pH.
If your soil is alkaline, you can add sulfur products to lower the soil pH.
If your soil is deficient in nutrients, add the recommended amount of fertilizer based on your soil test results.

Step by Step Instructions for Planting

Now that you’ve purchased your plants, it’s time for the fun part, planting! When planting shrubs, it may be easier if you have someone else who can help you position the plant in the hole and hold it in place as you start backfilling.

Digging the Planting Hole, Including the Correct Size

Using a sturdy long-handled shovel with a pointed blade, dig a hole slightly bigger than your shrub’s root system. The hold should be two to three times the width of the roots and slightly deeper, no matter if you are planting a bare-root specimen or container-grown plant.

As you dig the hole, pile the soil around the perimeter in various areas to make backfilling easier.

After you get the correct size hole dug, slash the sides with your shovel or a garden spade to penetrate the soil around the edges. Loosening up the sidewalls helps the roots grow outward into the surrounding soil.

Prepping the Soil to Backfill (Does It Need Fertilizer)

If you didn’t amend the area you’re planting in, you should at least mix some organic matter and fertilizer into the soil before backfilling the hole.

Follow the label directions on an all-purpose fertilizer for dosing and add up to about one-third compost to the soil, mixing it well.

Getting Your Shrub Ready

First, remove any labels or tags wrapped around the trunk or branches to prevent girdling as the shrub grows.

Carefully remove container-grown shrubs from their pot. Lay the container on the ground, on its side, and gently grab onto the base of the plant close to the soil. Wiggle the plant back and forth to free it from the container.

Pull the plastic off the roots of bare-root shrubs and then put the plant in a bucket of water. Set the bucket in the shade and let the shrub’s roots hydrate for a couple of hours.

Correct Planting Depth

It’s time to set your shrub in the hotel at the correct planting depth. You never want to bury it deeper than it was in the container, so you may need to build up a slight mound of soil at the bottom of the hole to get it high enough.

Position the shrub, so the potting soil of container-grown plants is at ground level or slightly higher. Look for where the branches or multiple stems flare out from the single main stem with bare-root shrubs. You want this “flare” just above the soil surface.

After getting your shrub positioned, gently fan out the roots in the bottom of the hole.

Backfilling the Hole

Using your shovel, start backfilling the holes and tamp the soil down with your foot as you go to remove the air pockets. Slightly mound the soil at the base of the shrub, so water doesn’t collect in a low spot and cause root rot. Newly planted shrubs tend to settle slightly over time.

Deciding the Best Time to Plant: Fall vs. Spring, or Anytime

There is plenty of conflicting information about the best time to plant new shrubs in your landscape. Some recommendations claim spring is the best time for planting, while other sources say the best time of year to plant new shrubs is in the fall. There are advantages and drawbacks to planting in each season.

Truthfully, the correct season depends on what you’re planting. This makes it critical to have a plan before planting to ensure a healthy future for your shrub.

Why is Timing Important?

The ultimate goal with timing is to give your plant the best chance to establish itself and the root system before the following cool-weather season sets in. For the most part, this is in the fall. Planting later in the season gives shrubs some time to establish themselves before winter, and they are ready to produce new growth and flowers the following spring.

However, there is an important exception to this.

Benefits of Fall Planting

First off, planting in the fall is a good time for you. The upkeep of your yard through the spring and summer is winding down, so you have fewer tasks needing your attention. But your shrubs see the most significant advantages.

The combination of warm soil temperatures and cooler air temps stimulates root growth over shoot growth. Roots continue developing until the soil drops below 40°F.
Fall temperatures are typically cooler, and plants lose less water through their leaves via transpiration than in hotter summer weather. Since they are losing less water, they are less stressed, and more energy is directed to growing roots.
Autumn climates tend to have more precipitation, helping shrubs establish themselves.

Risks of Planting in the Fall

Unfortunately, planting in the fall isn’t risk-free, and the chance of problems or plant failure increases as you wait to plant later in the season. The most significant risks with fall planting are unexpected freezes or early snowfall.

Aim to plant when you still have six weeks before freezing temperatures arrive in your region. For many people, this is early to mid-October.

Choosing Between Native and Non-native Species

When you are deciding which type of shrubs to plant, one of the plant characteristics to think about is whether you want native or non-native species in your yard.

What are Native Species?

Native plants are species that are original to an area. This area can be your immediate region or have a broader scope like a state, country, or even a continent. The USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA-NRCS) considers native plant species indigenous to a region if they were there at the time of European settlement.

Benefits and Disadvantages of Native Shrubs

Since native shrubs are original to your area, they are adapted to your local climate which gives them some big advantages over growing non-native species. On the other hand though, they have distinct disadvantages too.

Native Shrub Advantages

More drought resistant so they consume less water.
Hardier than developed or introduced species.
Increased resistance to insects, other pests, and diseases.
As native plant habitat, they encourage wildlife populations in open areas, increasing animal biodiversity.
Increased leaf density shades out weeds beneath the leaf canopy.
Plants are better equipped to sequesters carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from global warming.

Native Shrub Disadvantages

Fewer options to choose from than non-native shrubs.
Plants may be harder to find and more expensive.
Plants may be more invasive, so you must be careful to keep them from taking over your landscape.
May not look as neat and tidy as non-natives, they may look more messy and wild.

Benefits and Disadvantages of Non-native Shrubs

Non-native shrubs have been introduced over time to an area, typically brought in from other locations because of desirable physical characteristics.

Non-native Shrub Advantages

Non-native Shrub Disadvantages