Lindstrom Lawn Care and Landscaping – Antioch IL

Looking to add a few plants to your landscape this year? Why not something low maintenance.  Here are a few popular plants that will take very little effort to maintain.

Echinacea- Cone Flower

Blooms: Summer

Flowers : Purple, White, Orange, Yellow, Pink

A drought tolerant perennial, native to the midwestern and southeastern United States. Flowers are arranged individually on sturdy, elongated stems with  purple petals surrounding an iridescent red-orange, coned center. Prefers full sun to partial shade in fertile, well-drained soils.

Hosta

Blooms: Mid Summer

Flowers: Purple or white

Hostas come in hundreds of varieties many different sizes, colors, and textures.  These plants are grown for their foliage, and are a great shade plant.  Hosta bulbs should be divided about every three years.

Peony

Blooms: Around Memorial Day

Flowers: Pink, White, Red, Yellow

Peony plants bear an attractive, glossy green foliage that reaches 2′-3′ in height with a similar spread. But their popularity is due mainly to their flowers, usually pink, red or white. Other colors and flower types do exist, however. . Peony plants bloom around memorial day.

Iris Siberica Siberian Iris

Blooms: Late Spring

Flowers: Blues, Purples, Whites

This beardless Iris is very easy to grow and looks great throughout the gardening season.   These plants are very hardy, easy to grow, and increase readily.  Average flower size is 3-4″ in diameter and they appear in early summer.  The sword-like leaves are bright green and remain standing for a long time.

Heuchera Corell Bells

Blooms: Late Spring/Early Summer

Flowers: White, Pink, Red

Coral Bells begin blooming in early June and don’t stop until the end of August.   Will grow in any well-drained alkaline soil.  Even though they tolerate a couple hours of shade, best results are achieved when grown in full sun.   

Winter is a great time for pruning your trees and shrubs, because insects are not out to transmit disease.  You will not have guests outside so this time of year you can prune your plants severely.  If you are a do it yourself landscaper get outside on a nice winter day and go for it!

Health

You want to take out any abnormal growths such as crown gall.  Fertilizer is good for the health of the plant but this should be done during the growing season.  Watch out or winter plant damage from snow, ice, and salt, for more information read our blog on Winter Plant Damage.

Maintenance

Keep trees limbed in a nice canopy.  All of the “suckers” coming up from the ground should be cut off.  Shrubs should be kept below windows so if you have to take a foot off that hedge growing up against your house, don’t worry it will have plenty of time to recover.

To Protect People

You want to make sure that your plants do not block the view of traffic in this can be a problem in medians in newly built subdivisions A nice small tree is planted without thinking ten years later in grows and now is blocking your view when driving. Watch out for these thaese things and if it’s problem prune them.

How to make a clean cut

By making three cuts you will take the weight off the limb before making the third cut so it will be nice and clean.  When pruning in the winter you do not need dressing also known as the “black paint” they use to cover up the pruning cuts.

Salt Damage

Salt used for deicing walks and roads in winter can cause damage to plants. To prevent salt damage, do not plant trees and shrubs in highly salted areas.  Avoid areas where salty runoff collects or where salt spray is occurs, or if you are going to use salt tolerant plants (Street Trees)

Animal Damage

Mice, rabbits (rodents), and deer can all cause severe damage to plants in the winter. These animals feed on the delicate twigs, bark, and foliage of landscape plants during the colder months. They can damage trees and shrubs and eat shrubs to the ground line. Deer can cause significant injury and breakage by rubbing their antlers on trees during the fall.  During the design process you usually want to think about planting something that is deer resistant if you know you have this problem.  You can also buy many repellents at your local hardware store. Be sure to read the instructions before using.

Snow and Ice Damage

Heavy snow and ice storms cause damage by bending and breaking branches. Multiple leader, upright evergreens, such as arborvitae and juniper, and multiple leader or clump trees, such as birch, are most likely to have problems with snow and ice damage.  Prune in the fall, to eliminate multiple leaders and weak branches.  This will reduce snow and ice damage. For trees with large wide-spreading leaders or large multi-stemmed trees, such as arborvitae and juniper you can simply go outside yourself and brush the heavy snow off the plant.  This will save you a lot of work come spring.

DO’s

1. Place your plant in indirect sunlight for at least six hours per day. If direct sun can’t be avoided, diffuse the light with a shade or sheer curtain.
2. Provide room temperatures between 68 – 70° F. Generally speaking, if you are comfortable, so is your poinsettia.
3. Water your plant when the soil feels dry to the touch.
4. Use a large, roomy shopping bag to protect your plant when transporting it.
5. Fertilize your plant after the blooming season, with a balanced, all-purpose fertilizer. 10-10-10.

DO NOT’s

1. Place plants near cold drafts or excessive heat. Avoid placing plants near appliances, fireplaces or ventilating ducts.
2. Expose plants to temperatures below 50° F. Poinsettias are sensitive to cold, so avoid placing them outside during the winter months.
3. Overwater your plant, or allow it to sit in standing water. Always remove a plant from any decorative container before watering, and allow the water to drain completely.
4. Expose your plant to chilling winds when transporting it.
5. Fertilize your plant when it is in bloom.