Landscape Management

Not only does K&E install and treat your landscape, but we can help you manage your landscape’s growth to see its full potential and realize the maximum return on your investment.  Our landscape management practices include the following services:

• Edging Landscape Beds

  Edging Landscaped Beds reduces the chance of unwanted weeds and grasses from spreading into mulched areas. It produces a distinctive edge separating turf from landscaped beds, creating a well-defined border. Edges are skillfully cut into soil by straight-edge shovel. The waste produced from this procedure is collected and removed.

• Mulch Installation

  K&E carries and installs an array of premium mulches, giving clients multiple choices to customize their landscape.

• Shrub & Small Tree Pruning

  All pruning is performed at appropriate times during the growing season. Proper frequency of pruning promotes dense, healthy growth and reduces plant shock associated with heavy pruning, creating a well-manicured landscape. Plant material is trimmed with skill and precision to desired shape and accumulated debris is removed from the property.

• Weed Removal From Beds

  To minimize the client’s cost, K&E applies a non-selective herbicide directly to the weeds, ensuring complete elimination of existing weeds, therefore reducing the labor time spent hand-pulling. However, hand-pulling is still preferred when weeds are growing near plants and it is not safe to spray because of possible drift.

• Seasonal Color Installation

  K&E offers a wide variety of seasonal bedding plants to provide year round color in landscaped beds and ornamental containers, such as window boxes, urns, etc. Clients may choose a year-round program or flower plantings for a specific season(s).

• Premium Turf Mowing

  All mowing is performed with “commercial” rotary mowers; blades are changed and sharpened regularly to provide greener appearance and to lessen the probability of fungal disease. K&E operators are trained to mow in directional patterns, creating a professionally striped look. Patterns are periodically changed to reduce the risk of soil compaction and rutting. Clippings are not generally caught so nutrients may be recycled to promote thick, healthy turf, thus reducing the development of broadleaf weeds. Necessary precautions are taken by operators to avoid clipping dispersal into mulched areas. After mowing, operators use string-trimmers to vertically edge hard surfaces (i.e. curbs, sidewalks, etc.) and landscape beds to produce a distinctive edge. Trimming around structures and other turf areas, also cut by a string-trimmer, is done at the same cutting height as the mowing equipment to eliminate scalping. Finally, all debris by mowing and trimming operation is blown off sidewalks, driveways, patios, porches, decks, steps and other paved surfaces.

• Leaf Removal

  During periods of light leaf coverage, the leaves are mulched to replenish nutrients back into the soil. Heavy leaf coverage is completely removed to prevent smothering the turf. Leaves are thoroughly collected from entire property by hand raking, blowers, vacuums and other turf equipment. All waste material is bulk-loaded onto trucks and removed from the property.

• Complete Turf Renovation

  Existing turf and weeds are eliminated using a non-selective herbicide. Once all turf and weeds have effectively been eliminated, power seeding as explained above, is performed. However, in complete renovation, three to four different directional patterns are used to promote quick, dense coverage of the bare lawn.

• Drop Seeding

  The turf seed is applied by broadcast, drop or hand-held spreader. This is performed after aerating or when fresh soil is laid. In cases of fresh or bare soil, K&E applies a seed starter mulch to create a good environment for seed germination. This mulch product is preferred over straw because it does not contain any weed seeds and retains more moisture.

• Aerification

  Aerification educes surface soil compaction by using an aerating machine to core 2”-3” deep plugs of soil throughout the turf. This allows air, water and fertilizer to penetrate deep in the soil to the grass root system providing for a plush, green lawn. The extracted soil plugs help reduce harmful thatch by accelerating the natural decomposition of dead organic matter accumulated on the soil surface. After aerating is a great time to fertilize and/or drop seed.

• Dethatching

  Dethatching reduces the dense organic layer of both dead and living shoots, stems and roots accumulated at the soil surface. This thatch is removed to improve air and water movement into the soil and prevent a favorable environment for harmful insects and diseases. This service involves the use of a dethatching machine, which breaks up accumulated thatch and rakes it on top of the turf. The thatch is thereafter removed by collection systems attached to mowers or by hand raking and bagging.