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01 Apr 2020
0 Comments By Ken Hyatt GreenTalk, Ken's Quick Tip, Landscaping, Landscaping Dallas , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Secret to a Great Landscape

Examples of what you don’t want to do. These landscapes don’t frame the house or have anything interesting near the entrance. There are also far too many rectangles and mushrooms in this landscape design.

Today I am going to share a secret about how to create a great landscape design. Whether you do it yourself or use Village Green, the key to a great landscape is to follow the great painter’s lead and create a frame around your home.

How do you do that? You start with the foundation planting at the bottom of your frame. You want the foundation plants to be dwarf type plants and ground cover. The reason this is important, so the plants do not obstruct the view of your home and hurt your drive-up appeal. You mustn’t cover up any interesting architectural details like columns, windows, and doors (see examples.)

Examples of what you don’t want to do. These landscapes don’t frame the house or have anything interesting near the entrance. There are also far too many rectangles and mushrooms in this landscape design.

You want your foundation planting designed to guide your eye to the entry of your home. Use a variety of shapes, forms, and textures to achieve this, and the style of the landscape will dictate your arrangement. Nearly always simple is best, and less is more. Keep the variety of plants to a minimum and mass them, so your eye is drawn toward the entry. The area around the door should have a vertical accent (3′-5’ tall) with seasonal color and more variety to draw your eye to this area.

The corner of your home should consist of larger shrubs and ornamental trees, usually 6′ or so, that make up the sides of the frame. This planting serves as a backdrop for the layering of plants that will help guide your eye to the entry. Tall plants at the corners and progressively smaller plants draw the eye to your entry.

The top of the frame generally consists of shade trees in your front yard; however, a grouping of ornamental trees along the foundation or shade trees in the back that is visible from the front can achieve the same effect.

If you have any questions about your landscape or want more information give us a call at 972-495-6990 or email Ken@VillageGreen-Inc.com.

09 Mar 2020
Ken Hyatt
0 Comments By Ken Hyatt GreenTalk, How To, Ken's Quick Tip, Lawn and Landscape Care , , , , , , ,

Ken’s Quick Tip: How to Prevent Poa Annua in your Lawn.

Poa Annua is a very common weed for us to see in North Texas in early to mid-spring. It is a grassy type of weed, with little seed heads. It comes up from seeds, which makes it an annual weed. Learn more about the causes and prevention of Poa Annua in this informative quick tip by Ken Hyatt, Founder, and President of Village Green. The best way to prevent weeds, including Poa Annua, is with an annual fertilization and weed control plan. If you are interested in hearing more about what Village Green has to offer, give us a call at 972-495-6990 or see the frequently asked questions about our program.

If you have a lawn or landscape question give us a call at call us at 972-495-6990 or Ken@VillageGreen-Inc.com.

19 Feb 2020
0 Comments By Ken Hyatt GreenTalk, How To, Ken's Quick Tip, Lawn and Landscape Care

Ken’s Quick Tip: What’s that Grassy Weed in my Lawn?

Rescue grass is common in wintertime in North Texas. In our area, it germinates in mid to late December and is around through January and into February. The best way to get rid of rescue grass is to prevent it. At Village Green, we use a pre-emergent that works well. Like most things in life, it is all about timing, and if you don’t apply a good pre-emergent at the right time of the year, you’ll more than likely have to deal with rescue grass. When we take on a new customer’s lawn that has a rescue grass problem, we use a product that will make it go away, but the thing we always remind our new customer is that it takes a little time and patience to work. The best way to prevent weeds, including rescue grass is with an annual fertilization and weed control plan.

If you have a lawn or landscape question give us a call at call us at 972-495-6990 or Ken@VillageGreen-Inc.com.

08 Feb 2020
0 Comments By Ken Hyatt GreenTalk, How To, Ken's Quick Tip, Lawn and Landscape Care

Ken’s Quick Tip: Why You Should Aerate Your Lawn.

If you live in North Texas, one of the most important things you can do to help your lawn thrive is annual lawn aeration.

The reason why is our North Texas soil. It is made up of tiny particles that compact over time. The longer you go without aerating your lawn the harder it is for your lawn to get the vital water, oxygen, and fertilizer it needs to thrive. If your lawn has a lot of traffic, whether it be people or pets, the problem can be even worse (this is why golf course aerate their greens and fairways a few times a year.)

Most of our customers don’t need to go that far, but aerating your lawn once a year is a wise investment for anyone who wants a healthy lawn.
Whether you do it yourself or hire it done, it really boils down to time. Aeration is simply punching thousands of tiny holes into your soil so water, oxygen, and fertilizer can more easily travel to the root system.

Village Green typically schedules our lawn aerations in late winter and early spring. If you’d like to learn more or find out the cost for your lawn give us a call at call us at 972-495-6990 or Ken@VillageGreen-Inc.com.

19 Jan 2020
0 Comments By Ken Hyatt GreenTalk, Ken's Quick Tip, Lawn and Landscape Care

Why You Want a Beautifully Brown Lawn in January

As contrary as it may seem, too much green in your lawn in January is a sign that you have a lot of winter weeds. That’s why I always tell our customers that in the North Texas winter, brown is beautiful. Let me explain why.

There are two types of weeds, the kind that sprouts from seeds and those that come back from their roots every year. When we apply a winter pre-emergent it creates a barrier in the soil, blocking most weed seeds from growing which means Village Green only has to spot treat the weeds that come back from their roots. These treatments during winter, when your lawn is dormant dramatically cut spring weeds. This is important because it not only saves time, it, more importantly, but also saves herbicides.

The exception is St. Augustine lawns. These lawns are sensitive to being treated with products and blanket treating a St. Augustine lawn with weed control products almost always stunts its growth. While Village Green does apply a winter pre-emergent to St. Augustine, our strategy is to apply it at half the recommended rate. Our ultimate goal for our customers with St. Augustine lawns is to make their grass so happy and healthy with proper watering and fertilization year-round that in the winter their lawn is too thick for weeds to touch the soil. This is what we call Mother Nature’s weed control!

At Village Green, we can’t prevent all weeds, but I guarantee you we can prevent most of them. That’s why we’re celebrating our 40th year in business in 2020, we deliver quality lawn control and a fair price.

If you need help with your lawn or landscape give us a call us at 972-495-6990 or Ken@VillageGreen-Inc.com. We would love to earn your business.

13 Mar 2019
0 Comments By Ken Hyatt GreenTalk, Ken's Quick Tip, Landscaping, Lawn and Landscape Care , ,

Ken’s Quick Tip: Picking the Right Pipe

Example of ribbed pipe that will inevitable become clogged in North Texas

A critical component in a happy and healthy lawn and landscape is proper drainage. Your lawn’s health depends on how well it can retain and drain water. While grass needs the right amount to grow, too much water can impede oxygen uptake, slow metabolic processes and invite root rot. To make matters worse, in North Texas our infamous clay soil isn’t the best for natural drainage. If we get one of our famous gully washers and your downspouts aren’t properly connected (or you have other drainage challenges) you’re going to end up with standing water.

Choosing the right kind of pipe.

Most contractors in North Texas like to use a black flexible pipe that is ribbed (see example.) They like this pipe for two reasons, it’s cheap and easy to install.

These pipes are not good for drainage though because they tend to sag down to every low spot in their trench and become easily clogged by leaves and other debris which causes all kinds of problems.

At Village Green we only use a 4″ PVC pipe in our drainage system work.

This pipe costs more than the cheap black flexible kind and is harder to install, but the quality and smooth inside (that won’t become clogged) more than pays for itself over time.

If you have a drainage issue or any other lawn or landscape related problems, give us a call at 972-495-6990 or or email me at Ken@VillageGreen-Inc.com. With nearly 40 years in North Texas, we have the expertise to solve your lawn and landscape problems and would love to earn your business in 2019.

    04 Mar 2019
    0 Comments By Ken Hyatt GreenTalk, Ken's Quick Tip, Landscaping, Lawn and Landscape Care, Weeding , ,

    Ken’s Quick Tip: An Unwelcome Sign Spring is Near in North Texas

    Henbit

    At Village Green a sure sign that spring is near is the arrival of henbit North Texas lawns. And while any sign of spring is at some level is welcome, henbit is a weed.

    As far as weeds go, henbit is pretty, with a rich green and cute purple flower, but we still don’t like to see it our lawns. During our winter months, brown is beautiful. In fact you can learn on why brown is beautiful in one of my previous Quick Tips.

    So, how do you get rid of henbit? The best way is to prevent it from starting in the first place which means using a good pre-emergent in the winter. The trouble is if you are seeing henbit in your lawn now, you’re too late to do that this year and you need to use a broadleaf weed control to make it go away. A good rule of thumb is anything that will make dandelions go away will also take care of henbit.

    If you aren’t the do-it-yourself type and don’t want to mess with chemicals another easy tip is to simply cut your lawn short. PLEASE DON’T SCALP IT!) If it comes back up, mow it again. Keep in mind these are winter weeds which means as our days get and stay warmer, they will go away on their own.

    Finally, if you’d like to not have to worry about weeds period, give us a call. We offer affordable feed and fertilization programs based on eight annual visits a year. I promise with our expertise in North Texas (we’ve been doing it since 1980) we can solve any lawn or landscape problems. Give us a call at 972-495-6990 or or email me at Ken@VillageGreen-Inc.com. We’d love to have the opportunity to earn your lawn and fertilization business in 2019!

    22 Jan 2019
    0 Comments By Ken Hyatt GreenTalk, Landscaping, Lawn and Landscape Care , ,

    Ken’s Quick Tip: The #1 problem with two-thirds of the lawns in North Texas

    This is Village Green’s 39th year in the lawn and landscape business in North Texas (I’m getting old!) Seriously though, I’ve seen a lot of unhealthy lawns over the years with the same common problem. They were not watered properly. Especially during our North Texas winter. I’d go so far as to to say that two-thirds of the underperforming lawns we see have poor watering as the main culprit. That’s a lot of lawns in nearly 40 years of business!

    The secret to a great lawn isn’t a great mystery. In fact, it is pretty simple. It takes three things for a lawn to thrive. Sun, water, and fertilizer (and in that order.) Of those three things the two that are easiest for you to control are water and fertilizer. But the kicker is you have to have the water for the fertilizer to work.

    If you want a healthy lawn this spring and summer, you need to make sure are watering 12-months out of the year. Even during the North Texas winter. If your lawn hasn’t been thriving in the past more than likely under or poor watering is your main problem. Whether it be improper sprinkler settings, broken sprinkler heads, inadequate water coverage, or simply sprinklers that were turned off for the winter the result is under-watered lawns. It doesn’t matter how much sun or fertilizer they get, without proper year round watering the lawn isn’t going to thrive. Because that is what the water does, it helps spread that fertilizer down into the root system which makes your lawn stronger. That strength will sustain your lawn in the tough North Texas months (winter and summer) when we have extreme temps. That’s why it’s so important to be consistent with your lawn plan and to not forget that after sun (which is mostly beyond our control,) you have to give you lawn water and fertilizer.

    If you don’t feel your lawn is as good as it could be give us a call and let us help solve your problem. We offer affordable sprinkler repair by certified technicians and fertilization and weed control packages. If you have the time and are the DIY type, download our free watering guide and make sure your system is set for winter watering. You can also check out our resource center which has free downloadable content (including my secrets to a healthy lawn series.)

    I promise if you have the proper watering schedule and follow it up with a proper fertilizer and weed control (we offer affordable plans that will save you time and money,) your lawn will bounce back in no time and end up being the envy of your neighbors.

    We’d love to have the opportunity to earn your lawn and fertilization business in 2019! Give us a call at 972-495-6990 or email me at Ken@VillageGreen-Inc.com.

    15 Jan 2019
    0 Comments By Ken Hyatt GreenTalk, Landscaping, Lawn and Landscape Care

    Ken’s Quick Tip: Winter Weed Control (Why Brown is Beautiful)

    Last week I posted a photo on the Village Green’s Facebook page. The photo which you can see here, shows a lawn that isn’t using Village Green for fertilization and weed control. As you can see from this photo, there is a lot of green in their yard which you would think is good. It is not. That much green in January is bad. It means their lawn has far too many winter weeds. During the winter months we have a saying at Village Green, ‘brown in beautiful.’ A brown lawn in winter means it is mostly free from weeds which will lead to a thriving and healthy lawn come spring and summer.

    To understand why, it important to know a little more about weeds.

    Fortunately for us in North Texas it is rare for cold weather that is well below freezing to last that long (we’re too close to the Gulf of Mexico.) And while it may be uncomfortable to us humans (and pets,) the truth is these cold temps aren’t that big of a problem for our plants.

    There are two types of weeds, the kind that sprout from seeds and those that come back from their roots every year. Apply a winter pre-emergent will create a barrier in the soil, blocking most weed seeds from growing which means we only have to spot treat the weeds that are coming back from their roots. These treatments while the lawn is dormant in the winter cut spring weeds dramatically. This saves time and more importantly herbicides.

    The exception to this is St. Augustine lawns. They are very sensitive to being treated with products and blanket treating a St. Augustine lawn with a weed control products will often stunt its growth. While we do apply a winter pre-emergent to St. Augustine, we apply it at about half the recommended rate. Our goal with St. Augustine is to make it so happy and healthy with watering and correct fertilizer the rest of the year that during the winter it is too thick for weeds to touch the soil. I call this Mother Nature’s weed control!

    At Village Green we can’t prevent all weeds, but we can prevent most of them. If you need help with your lawn this year, give us a call at 972-495-6990 or email me at Ken@VillageGreen-Inc.com. We’ve been helping our neighbors improve the health and beauty of their lawns and landscapes for over thirty five years and have a lot of experience and answers when it comes to fertilization and weed control in North Texas.

    10 Dec 2018
    0 Comments By Ken Hyatt GreenTalk, Landscaping, Lawn and Landscape Care

    Ken’s Quick Tip: How to Protect your Plants this Winter in North Texas

    The first day of winter is December 21 which means we’ll be seeing more cold fronts pushing through North Texas over the next few months (if not before!) I’m often asked what can be done to make sure plants survive an Arctic blast or worse, snow and ice.

    Fortunately for us in North Texas it is rare for cold weather that is well below freezing to last that long (we’re too close to the Gulf of Mexico.) And while it may be uncomfortable to us humans (and pets,) the truth is these cold temps aren’t that big of a problem for our plants.

    What really harms the majority of plants in North Texas is that our cold fronts often bring very cold and DRY air. That means when you see that temperatures are predicted to plummet, the best protection you can provide your plants it water them. If the soil is wet, even if the temperature plunges into the single digits, the soil temperature won’t drop below 32 degrees which protects the roots of your plants.

    While your plants will survive the cold if you’ve watered, Village Green does recommend covering your blooming plants, such as pansies, or your more sensitive plants. But please use an old sheet or cloth towel. Do not cover your plants with a plastic sheet or tarp. This is bad! The plastic works like a magnifying glass, and will scald the plants underneath doing far more damage than the cold.

    Have a lawn or landscape question? Give us a call at 972-495-6990 or email me at Ken@VillageGreen-Inc.com. We’ve been helping our neighbors improve the health and beauty of their lawns and landscapes for over thirty five years and have a lot of experience and knowledge in what plants and trees will thrive in North Texas, which will save you time and money in the long run.

    Village Green is open for essential business. Please see this message from our owner, Ken.