WEEDING TO MAINTAIN YOUR LANDSCAPE IN KAMLOOPS

Yard maintenance is essential when you’re a Kamloops homeowner. Finally have your ideal home? Without proper care of your lawn and garden, your ‘curb appeal’ will be less than appealing. You could browse landscaping blogs all day but without information particular to the interior of British Columbia, you’re simply wasting your time. Ours is a uniquely intemperate climate – one that only Kamloops landscaping companies truly understand. At Culture Care we’re proud of our years of specialized experience battling meteorological highs and lows. We’ve got all your needs covered – from environmentally friendly Xeriscape landscaping to a helping hand keeping the specific weeds Kamloops struggles with at bay. Oh yes, you know the ones we’re talking about!

Your Garden Needs Weeds

Consider the fact that almost every single inch of your garden is littered with weed seeds. Thankfully, only those in the first few inches of dirt manage to get enough light to germinate and begin their infuriating growth cycles. But what is the point of this infuriating cycle? How do weeds actually help your garden?

Weeds are nature’s bandages. As ugly as they are, they help to build healthy soil – something that is not easy in Kamloops arid climate! Growing at a rapid rate and dying just as quickly, they help to maintain carbon balance in otherwise barren soil which will be eventually utilized by ‘desirable’ plants. Everything in nature is connected, including your own private piece of it. A lawn or garden without at least some weeds is one that is missing out on the natural cycle of growth so necessary to mineralize and oxygenate your soil.

Yard Maintenance – The Weed Drama Continues

Of course, this doesn’t mean that you should allow your lawn and gardens to become overrun! There’s a fine balance when it comes to the aesthetics of landscaping vs the overall health of your property. Weed free landscaping is just as extreme an idea as purposeful weed cultivation and as such, you need to think about solutions that will help you to keep on top of the weeds rather than endeavouring to destroy them entirely.

One of the best ways to accomplish this is to incorporate organic materials such as mulch, bark and rock in your overall landscaping plan. Covering spaces you don’t intend to cultivate, such as the base of trees or shrubs, with at least two inches of mulch is an excellent way to deprive weeds of the sunlight they need to grow. You can bump that deprivation up a notch and lay an additional layer of fabric, cardboard or newspaper beneath the mulch to keep moisture at bay as well. Remember to keep the mulch/organic materials topped up regularly to ensure that it not only looks visually appealing but maintains it’s effectiveness.

Weeding Tips and Tricks

When it comes to the actual act of weeding, remember the old farmer’s saying, ‘weed when wet, hoe when dry.’ The wet earth makes it easier to pull up the offending plants by the root, easing the labour considerably. There are even rumours that a simple kitchen fork can get the job done if the conditions are right!

If you cut a weed off by its roots in dry conditions, be sure that you do so at least a few inches below the ground. This will cause the weed to shrivel up and die in the heat – something that there is a great deal of in the interior of British Columbia during the summer. There are many weeds local to the Kamloops area that are not willing to give up without a fight! Just remember to choose your methods depending on the weather and keep on top of them as best you can. We recommend daily weeding in peak growth seasons in order to both keep the task to a minimum and keep on top of these ‘helpful’ plants.

Maintaining the perfect lawn in Kamloops is not an easy task. We’re here to help. From full landscaping creation and installation to weekly maintenance, we’re happy to work with you to not only take some of the burden of your chore list but to pass along what we’ve learned in our years of experience. It is possible to enjoy a beautifully landscaped yard in BC’s interior – let us show you how!