Our team offers an extensive array of Landscaping Mainentance Services that will keep your yard in the best shape possible. Read on to learn more about our yard maintenance programs.

Bark Mulching

Whether you prefer black, hemlock, pine bark, or spruce mulch we have you covered! The best time to mulch new plantings is right after installation, and for established plants, the best time is in spring when plants are just beginning to grow. The benefits of mulching are endless, but here are some of the top few:

  • Inhibits weed germination and growth
  • Helps to retain soil moisture for your plants and trees
  • Keeps the soil cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter, thus maintaining a more equitable soil temperature
  • Improves soil health; Helps prevent soil compaction
  • Adds to the beauty and value of your landscape!

Bush Trimming & Pruning

At R&B Landscaping, Inc. we know that shrubs are more than just pretty additions to your property. When properly cared for they can provide privacy screening and define boundaries within and around spaces. Not only does trimming and pruning make your yard more attractive, but when maintained regularly:

  • Re-invigorate plant growth so that new leaves and branches grow faster
  • Re-shape the plant to its desirable shape
  • Correct irregular growing habits
  • Produce denser appearance
  • Thin out growth, providing more air circulation and light
  • Limit plant size

Bushes and shrubs require at least annual care. Too often, pruning is ignored for several years. Then some trees become overgrown, weak, and oddly shaped, making it hard to bring the plant back to an attractive shape. We have seen too often customers invest in new shrubs and bushes only to not trim or prune them annually, thus wasting their investment. Please make sure to schedule this service yearly to protect your investment!

Core Aeration

Although mowing, fertilizing, and watering lawns are an important part of lawn health, aerating is another vital element that should not be overlooked! Aeration involves perforating the soil with small holes to allow air, water, and nutrients to penetrate the grass roots in order to produce a stronger more vigorous lawn.

Most lawns, due to everyday wear and tear from watering, playing, mowing, etc., will have compaction thus preventing grass to establish a healthy root system and keep water and fertilizer from reaching the roots. Thus aerating your lawn annually during fall will greatly enhance root growth and improve spring green-up and development for the following season. This in conjunction with over seeding or slice seeding will “grow” life into your lawn!

Dethatching

Thatch is the layer of living and dead leaves, stems, and roots between the green blades of grass and the soil surface. A thin layer of thatch (less than 1/2 inch thick) can be beneficial to the lawn because it helps to limit weed germination, reduce water evaporation, and protect from frost damage. However, thick thatch layers can prevent water, air, and nutrients from penetrating the soil, causing reduced root growth and increased potential for drought stress. Too much thatch also favors fungal growth and can harbor insect pests.

A good rule of thumb is to dethatch your yard annually, preferably in the spring. Similar in appearance to a large mower, we use a machine that cuts through the thatch with rotating blades or stiff wire tines, loosening the thatch and bringing it to the lawn surface.

Fall Cleanup

There are many benefits to having a Fall cleanup. It’s not just about the appearance of your property that should make you decide to have a Fall cleanup. There are several other factors you should think about as well.

By removing the leaves from the lawn, it helps to keep lawn fungus’ at bay, such as Gray and Pink Snow Mold. Snow mold is caused when there is an extended period of snow cover on ground that is not completely frozen. Snow mold can also occur under leaves that have not been cleaned up or amongst long grass that should have been mowed once more before winter set in. Leaves can smother the lawn and kill it off, which becomes expensive in the Spring when you need to repair the damaged lawn. Most lawns in the Northern U.S. are composed of one or more cool-season grasses. “Cool-season” lawn grasses are so called because they’re most active during those periods of the year when moderately cool weather predominates. Fall is one of those times. Blessed with sufficient sunlight, nutrients and water, and enjoying temperatures that are neither too cold nor too hot, cool-season grasses such as Kentucky bluegrass revitalize themselves in fall. This is when they must “make hay,” strengthening their root systems. A thick layer of fallen leaves can impede the growth of these grasses. Why? Because they can deprive the grass of a key element: sunlight. If not raked up in time, a thick and/or matted layer of fallen leaves casts excessive shade over the grass below. Last but not least….wet matted leaves are harder to clean up in the spring, which takes more time and is thus more costly.

Lawn Mowing

Mowing the lawn is a very important part of proper yard care. There are a host of benefits that are associated with mowing the lawn that make it well worth it in the end, besides just the aesthetic appearance.

  • Mowing the lawn helps keep your lawn healthy and eliminate some of the pests from the grass at the same time.
  • It also can ensure that various pieces of debris are picked up and are cleared every week; so that nothing really accumulates on the grass.
  • By slicing the growth down to a short and uniform level on a regular basis, all of the growth gets an equal distribution of resources. Due to this fact, mowing on a regular basis will allow the lawn to remain consistent in nature, because all of the resources that are gained from the sun and water are spread out evenly throughout the yard.
  • When the grass is cut, the hardiest and the healthiest shoots are the ones that do the best. With every cut, the best shoots will proliferate making the grass much more visible in nature overall. The fallen shoots of grass will help to fertilize the lawn. Even if the lawn is bagged, some of the extra debris from the act will be returned to the earth.

Seeding: Over Seeding / Slice Seeding

Why is seeding necessary? After several years, mature plants begin to slow down their reproduction rate. Since a blade of grass lives only an average of 45 to 60 days, production of new tillers must continually outpace the dieback of older leaves. Young grass will produce tillers faster than older grass. Therefore, one of the most important secrets to maintaining a healthy, thick lawn is to make sure your grass is young. Seeding will help reinvigorate your lawn, help fill in bare spots, thicken and improve the density of the lawn (especially thinning lawns), and help the lawn fight off any damaging diseases, insects, or weeds.

Over Seeding is essentially that, spreading seed in a spreader over the lawn. It is best to over seed before core aeration to help with seed-to-soil contact. As the aerator will pull the seed down and push it into the soil.

Slice Seeding plants new seed into the soil without damage to the existing lawn, and entails using a machine that cuts vertically through the grass and into the soil. At the same time, the seeder cuts furrows into the soil and plants the seed into the furrow. This method puts the seed directly in contact with the soil as opposed to merely spreading seeds onto your lawn. Slice seeding is the MOST effective way to ensure good seed-to-soil contact and prepare the seed bed at the same time. It enables you to have better looking and more resistant grass types that are adapted to the various conditions on your property. Again this with aeration will greatly improve the health of your lawn.

The best time to seed is either in early spring before the summer heat or fall. Early spring is a good time to seed if the lawn is damaged from the harsh winter, in which case slice seeding may be the most effective option. Seeding in the fall is perfect for maintenance and any everyday wear and tear on the lawn from the summer. After any seeding is performed they will need moisture to germinate. Keep the soil moist (but not overly wet) by lightly sprinkling two to three times a day throughout. You should see the grass start to germinate in 3-5 weeks. Once your grass begins sprouting, you can water less frequently. Please do not apply any fertilizers with any type of crabgrass control for at least a month.

Spring Clean-up

After our New England winters we are very excited for spring, as you probably are too! With the disappearance of snow comes broken limbs, fallen branches, left over leaves, and debris on the lawn and around your property and we are here to help! Our spring clean-up service is the process of removing all leaves, branches and other debris that have accumulated over the course of the winter season. If needed we also provide a lawn dethatching, lawn mowing, and clean up / blowing of the sand from the towns snow plowing service along the street.

Weeding

Not only are weeds unsightly, but they also steal valuable nutrients from your landscape. We recommend setting up a weeding budget for the season, this will allow us to keep up with the weeds, keeping them under control.

Fertilizing

We are please to offer full lawn Fertilizing services through our sister company, Fresh Lawn Care. Please visit the Fresh Lawn Care website for more information.