In Our Yard: July

July can be a busy time in gardens and yards as the summer heat settles in. Whether you are harvesting vegetables, picking flowers, or just admiring plants around town, there's a lot to see (and do). We've decided to bring a more personal focus to our Heritage blog by featuring things growing in our own yards (Robert and Debbie's and Ashley and Anna's). For July, we'll visit the Niagara grapevines at Robert and Debbie's.

The Niagara grape is a cousin of the popular Concord grape---a tasty table grape that is seedless. Usually the Niagara grapes are a light green color and are most famous for being used to make white grape juice. You can read more about Niagara grapes here.

The variety growing in Robert and Debbie's backyard has more of a purple color like a Concord grape. Regardless of its appearance, it is a delicious grape and worth considering adding it to your own backyard.

Mason and Levi enjoyed harvesting (mostly eating) the grapes last weekend. Picked grapes last a couple of days in the fridge; however, because they are more fragile than varieties you find in the grocery store you won't find many for purchase. Plant some yourself or find a friend who has their own vineyard.

Grapevines are an attractive addition to your home garden--and one that is edible!

Amy Bledsoe, who works with the City of Columbia, shares her tips for July yards on the Jungle Taming web site. Read about proper fertilization, mowing techniques and more at http://jungletaming.com/2011/07/01/amys-july-horticultural-tasks-2/.

Officially Introducing Our Newest Manager: Kevin James

 

Since December 2010, Kevin James has been on the Heritage team as the manager of our lawn maintenance crews. He's done a fantastic job so far.

Kevin grew up in Walhalla, S.C., a small town just north of Clemson. He graduated from Clemson University in 1997 with a major in Turfgrass Management with minor in Agronomy.

Kevin comes to us with excellent experience and knowledge of the landscaping industry. Prior to working at Heritage, Kevin worked on various golf courses from 1997 to 2007.  His most current position was with Triangle Tree and Shrub Care in Raleigh, N.C., where he worked for 2+ years.

When asked what he enjoys most about working for Heritage, Kevin said,"The people. Everyone from top to bottom has been nothing short of incredible to me in my short time here. Everyone has made me feel welcome and comfortable from day 1. It is just great to be able to work in such a family atmosphere."

When Kevin is not working, he enjoys cooking/grilling out, running, swimming, woodworking and watching/playing sports. Kevin's wife Julie is also a Clemson graduate (they met there). She is an ER nurse at Lexington Medical Center. They have one son, Trevor, who is 3 years old.    

HLS Celebrates 25 Years

2011 marks the 25th year that Heritage Landscape Services has been in business. We officially celebrated our silver anniversary with our customers today. The entire McLeod family was present for this special event. You can read a brief history of our company on our web site.

Before everyone arrived, we snapped a family picture. From left to right: Kleck and Carey Harman with Weston and Ryan in the front; Robert McLeod holding Kleck and Carey's daughter Mallory; Debbie McLeod, Holly McLeod (Robert and Debbie's oldest daughter), Anna McLeod holding Levi, and Ashley McLeod holding Mason. We're proud to serve our customers as a family business and look forward to many more years.

We also took a group photo of the men who run Heritage every day. Left to right: Kleck Harman, Ashley McLeod, Robert McLeod, Tommy Haile, Ian Randolph, Kevin James and Darrel Adair.

Mallory and Levi sporting their Heritage t-shirts.

We held the event at 300 Senate in downtown Columbia. What a lovely venue--and excellent catering!

Quite a crowd gathered to celebrate. Thank you to our customers who trust us with your landscaping needs. We truly appreciate your business.

Robert offered a few remarks to the group.

And we had a give-away drawing that included a weed-eater and leaf blower.

Everyone who attended received a bag of fresh McLeod Farms peaches.

And a bottle of Peachy BBQ sauce.

And 12 ears of sweet corn, a cantaloupe and a watermelon. What a summer feast!

With that, we hope everyone has a happy and safe 4th of July as our great country celebrates 235 years of freedom.

Much Mulch in May

Although the majority of the properties we maintain have pinestraw as the primary groundcover, we do have several sites that use mulch. Usually a fresh layer needs to be applied at least once a year.

Here's a big load being dumped for one of our properties. We've been very pleased with our subcontractor's performance this spring spreading mulch. Once the mulch is delivered to the site, it is loaded into a mulching truck that sprays the mulch onto the ground (for most areas--some still require hand application).

If you research pinestraw and mulch comparisons online, you will learn that there are benefits to both types of groundcover. To learn more about pinestraw, visit here. Clemson Cooperative Extension provides an excellent overview of all types of mulch, including what type to use where and how much to use. Read more here.

More than leaky pipes--fixing big breaks!

These pictures are extreme cases due to construction site work, but repairing irrigation is always part of landscape maintenance. Know that you can count on Heritage to respond quickly to fix any leaks and prevent excess damage. With the economy like it is, it's even more important to keep those water bills as low as possible!

Speaking of water, Robert said the weather station monitors we installed on some properties seem to really be saving money for our customers. Read more about these "smart" irrigation clocks here. Please give us a call if you are interested in having a similar system for your property.

In Your Yard: May

Mother's Day means flowers for a lot of folks, whether that is an arrangement for the table or a new plant for the yard. We hope you had a special Mother's Day this year and celebrated the mamas, moms, and mothers in your life. And if you received a plant recently, know that the ground should be warm enough to plant all warm season annuals. For more tips for your home landscape, read on!

Turf:
Notice the flecks of blue in the Zoysia grass above? It's fertilizer and if you haven't already, you should apply the correct fertilizer to your yard now. Water conservatively but remember that all grass requires water to grow! To keep fungus at a minimum and get the most bang for your buck water-wise, water early in the day.   Keep the blade on your lawnmower sharp and raise the deck height as the temperature rises. Remember to cut no more than a third of the the height of grass to reduce the grass's stress and to discourage weeds from growing.


Perennials
Another piece of your yard that needs fertilizing are your perennials. Use a slow-release fertilizer and continue to monitor for insects.

Annuals
By mid-May you should be wrapping up your planting of warm-season annuals. According to Amy Bledsoe, "This will give young, tender roots a better chance to get established before sweltering, summer heat sets in by the end of May. Remember, don’t over water or water too frequently as this will promote shallow root growth. The goal is to water enough to keep the annuals alive, but to stress them just a little to encourage deep root growth to help them survive the hot, dry summers we experience in Columbia."

Shrubs
Established shrubs should have a large enough root system to survive the upcoming dry, hot weather and should need very little (if any) supplemental watering. Newly planted shrubs, however, will need irrigation for the first two years. As always, monitor shrubs for insects and diseases.
Trees
Two places to keep mowers and string trimmers away from are the roots and trunks of trees. Maintain a six foot diameter layer of mulch around trees to keep grass and weeds from growing too close. Only a 3-4 inch layer is needed (definitely not a "volcano"). Like new shrubs, newly planted trees will need to be watered throughout warm weather.


Want to learn more about the recommended May yard tasks? Read here.

And if you're looking for two semi-experienced yard professionals, these guys (Ashley and Anna's sons) will be ready for weekend and summer jobs in a few years--Mason just turned 1 and Levi turns 3 in June.

In Your Yard: April

Spring has definitely arrived in the Midlands. Maybe the thick coat of pollen hasn't been so refreshing but the pinks of dogwoods and azaleas, new green growth on trees and bushes, and the rainbow of colors offered by nature lift your spirit after winter.

As promised a while back, we're going to share tips for maintaining your personal landscape once a month on the Heritage blog. This month's tips are gathered from Southern Living magazine and Jungle Taming, a landscape debris removal and beautification company in Columbia.

Plant veggies and herbs after all dangers of frost have passed. Perhaps consider the Square Foot Garden (SFG) as a way to create a small salad garden to enjoy this summer. Wingard's Nursery in Lexington has planted a demonstration SFG. Check it out!

Turf: If you need to repair bare patches or replant large area in your grass, wait until the average daytime temperature is above 60 degrees. Be sure to thoroughly water newly seeded or sodded turf. After the grass has greened up, wait until at least two or three weeks to fertilize according to soil test recommendations (you can request a test through Clemson's extension service for $15 by visiting here).

Annuals: To help transplants become established before the famous South Carolina heat and humidity arrive, keep them well watered and mulched. Apply liquid fertilizers every two weeks to get new plants off to a good start. If you use slow-release fertilizers at planting time, they should not be needed again until mid summer.

Plant vines now, such as Carolina jessamine.

Care for your roses: Properly prune roses to encourage air circulation, growth and sunlight penetration. Learn more about pruning roses here. Fertilize once-blooming roses in early spring before growth begins. Repeat-blooming roses should be fertilized only if necessary. Inspect your roses for pests.


To learn more about the tips shared here, visit:

• Amy Bledsoe's Horticulture Tasks 
• Grumpy's Guide to Spring Plants

Enjoy your home yards and gardens before the sticky humidity that South Carolina is so known for arrives!

A day's work on the dove field in McBee

This past Saturday Ashley, Robert and Levi made a trip to McBee to disc the dove field in preparation for planting corn. Levi helped drive the tractor with Da (Robert) for the majority of the plowing. The older two McLeod men are looking forward to the dove hunt in September--the younger is probably looking forward to another tractor ride! Go ahead and pencil in the annual Heritage Dove Hunt in your calendars for early September.

Enjoy those pansies!

Thanks to the warmer weather, the pansies have perked back up and are putting on a good show of color. We're working hard to make sure we keep the aphids and other pests at bay. It's amazing how much this small flowers grow during a season. Refresh your memory about their starting points here.

Enjoy your pansies for a while longer. Heritage begins our spring flower installation around April 1.

Lawn Calendar

Periodically our customers ask us for information about their personal lawns, such as when to fertilize or how to encourage grass to grow in a shady area. We're working on an addition to this blog that will share lawncare tips for questions such as these each month.

Until then, check out Clemson Cooperative Extension Service's informative web site: http://www.clemson.edu/extension/hgic/plants/landscape/lawns/