While I certainly would characterize much of my most satisfying work as the initial huge overhaul of an overgrown garden or transformational trimming of a hedge, the real difference to a yard is made in what I would call the ‘trenches’ of ongoing maintenance.

Really, this means that by working consistently in a garden, through a given season, and over many seasons, will ultimately lead to one that is mainly free of recurring weeds, where shrubs or hedges are thick and healthy and where edges no longer have grass or other weeds incursions.

Ultimately, it becomes the low maintenance oasis most homeowners are after.

Below are some thoughts on each component of what I would consider essential items to maintaining a garden.


Weeding

Weeding a garden, especially an overgrown one, one time can certainly make a difference, but as mentioned above in the garden weeding section, it can only do so much. Some root remnants can remain, even with the most diligent of weeding. Using the 70-90% rule of thumb mentioned above, it takes a few visits to eliminate all of the original weeds that were there to begin with.
Then there are still usually new weeds to contend with also. Does your neighbour have a garden or lawn full of weeds? As they go to seed they can spread to your garden too. Animals like squirrels and birds can also bring weeds to your garden by simply picking up a seed or seed pod elsewhere.
Here are two examples of weeds in places one wouldn’t normally expect them to show that new weeds are indeed able to end up in spots where they weren’t before and really shouldn't be:

Garden Maintenance

Edging

Garden edges are often the most overlooked piece of the gardening puzzle in terms of maintenance.

Virtually all gardens have edges put on or fixed in spring, right before mulch is put down. A nice deep edge, and gradual slope up to the garden can do wonders to finish the look of a beautiful bed, as well as helping prevent grass encroachment into the bed. But only giving this attention once means that invariably grass will sneak in and mulch will end up piling up in bed edge.

Maintenance of edges essentially involves two things - a small rake and a good line trimmer (or weed whacker as many call them - I will comment that they should really only be used to actually ‘whack’ weeds in very limited cases - properly dealing with the actual weeds is the better plan).

The rake is used to gently pull any mulch out from the edge and back into the actual bed. This goes hand in hand with mulch maintenance.

The line trimmer is used, on a vertical plane, for two things. The first and main purpose is to clean up the actual vertical part of the edge; smooth out the dirt, knock back anything trying to grow there, etc. The second purpose is to trim back any grass that is hanging over the edge. Often, even when lawn companies trim the edges of the lawn, this part is neglected (or done poorly) and it detracts from the look of the bed.

Here is a before and after photo of an edge that I fixed, on my first visit to this particular property.

You’ll see that the lawn crew, hired by the customer, did use the trimmer in the vertical position, as there isn’t grass hanging over the edge, but if you look closely (sorry, not the best quality photos!) that they were cheating a bit, and clearly rushing. The trimmer string had been consistently hitting at an angle, not straight up and down, and had gradually been expanding the bed. The other thing is that they hadn’t been precise as they were actually leaving the edge with the string ever so slightly and leaving grass on the wrong side of the edge.

Here you can see what it should look like, if done properly, after I fixed it. In the spots where the edge needed some repair I had no choice but to move the edge out ever so slightly, but with proper maintenance further incursion into the lawn can be avoided.

This kind of issue can be avoided if the proper time and care are taken. It should be done right every time. Don’t let anyone rush around doing work that needs to be precise!

Mulch

Going hand in hand with edge maintenance, mulch needs to be maintained too. Surprised? Mulch that sits in place for the entire season can dry out on the surface, losing its original appearance and flattening (as opposed to being ‘fluffy’. It can also harden which can cause moisture not get into the bed in an even manner.

Taking a rake, or a small cultivating tool, and turning over, or moving around, the mulch can rejuvenate the colour of the mulch and give it its original ‘fluffy’ appearance back. Doing this once or twice a season is a good idea.

Here are some examples from a commercial setting (not as applicable but the best before/afters of this that I have.

Here are photos of the same effect at a home. My apologies for the fact that photos don't line up well. But you can really see the colour and texture difference.






























Exceptions to this are mulches that are colour dyed or mulch that is spread too thin. I’ve seen many black or red mulched beds with mold just under the surface. It becomes quite obvious when pulling weeds and the mulch is disturbed and kind of gross! And for beds where the mulch is too thin this would only contaminate the mulch with dirt; sometimes some new mulch is needed.

Shrub & Hedge Trimming

The benefit to regular trimming, or pruning, of shrubs or hedges are many.

The main one is that you, as a homeowner, get to enjoy the trimmed aesthetic more often. In conjunction, the time to trim generally is reduced and is often more about gently touching up & reinforcing the desired shaping.

In line with shaping, more frequent trimming tends to spur on thickening of growth in areas trimmed which ultimately leads to a fuller plant. Some types that benefit from more frequent trimming are boxwoods, yews, barberrys & spiraea. Slower growing types, like cedars, are best left to once or twice a year based on growth.

The dappled willow below is an example of a fast growing shrub that needs constant pruning throughout the season. I trim this one in particular once a month from April to September. And don't be put off by the clippings in the photo! I clean them all up with a rake & my leaf vacuum. ;-)