Why Mulch?

Benefits of Mulching

Mulch, simply put, is a protective barrier of material that is evenly spread on top of the soil. There are many advantages to applying mulch to your yard, let’s look at some of them.

Moisture Retention

Mulch helps retain moisture in the soil by limiting the amount of evaporation from the soil’s surface and can reduce water use by as much as 25-50%. Plants that have constant levels of adequate moisture are less likely to become stressed, which means they are better able to resist insects and diseases.

Temperate Control

Mulch serves as an insulating layer for the soil that regulates changes in soil temperature. This will help keep soils warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer.

Weed Suppression

Mulch helps block sunlight from reaching germinating weeds so that they aren’t able to grow as well as adding a barrier that is difficult for weeds to grow through. There is an opportunity for weed seeds to blow in and germinate on top of the mulch, but since the weeds aren’t deeply rooted in the soil they will be easier to remove.

Adds Soil Nutrients

As organic mulches, such as cypress mulch or pine bark, decompose on top of the soil they release vital nutrients into the soil.  These nutrients help to feed the plants and organisms that exist in the area covered with mulch. This broken down organic matter will also improve the structure of the soil by adding space between soil particles. This added space will help better supply the plant roots with the needed water, oxygen, and nutrients because the roots aren’t compressed in compacted soil.

Prevents Soil Erosion

The protective layer that mulch provides helps protects against rainwater that will wash away your valuable soil.

Encourages Earthworms

Organic mulch encourages earthworms to move into your plant beds. Earthworms are great for soil structure and nutrient cycling.

Visual Appeal

Mulch can help add a colorful finishing touch on what otherwise would look like an unfinished project. A beautiful, properly manicured landscape can add as much as 15% to the property value of your home. 

Be sure to check out our great selection of mulch!

Lawn Maintenance Practices for Spring and Summer

Spring and summer are finally here, and it’s time to return your lawn back to its former glory. Here are some tips for the warm season to keep your lawn looking lush and healthy.

Removing Debris

Remove any moss, leaves, or other debris that may have accumulated on your lawn over the winter/early Spring. Raking these areas will encourage airflow throughout the turf and prevent any insect infestation and disease. This process will also allow new blades of grass to grow without struggle.

Aerating

Aerating benefits your lawn in several ways: reduces soil compaction, controls thatch, stimulates new root growth and improves water, air, and nutrient filtration. The best time to aerate is during your grass’ peak growing season – for St. Augustine, Zoysia, and other warm-season grasses, this means early to mid-summer.

Weed Control

Spring is a great time to prevent those invasive weeds from sprouting. The best way to deal with weeds is to prevent weeds before they ever start germinating. Pre-emergent selective herbicides should be used if you don’t currently have an issue with weeds, but want to prevent them as well as not killing the surrounding grass. Pre-emergent herbicides work for about three months, so you may need to plan on doing another application during the summer months. Post-emergent herbicides should be used if there is already a visible weed problem.

Soil Testing

Spring is also an excellent time to test your soil. If your soil seems to be more acidic (below the optimal 6.0-7.0 pH) then you may need to add lime to your soil. If your soil tested too alkaline, sulfur or aluminum sulfate is the remedy. Soil with a pH below 6.0 or above 8.0 will cause important growth nutrients to become “bound up” in the soil making them unavailable for plant use. Achieving a neutral pH is pertinent in allowing for optimum nutrient uptake.

Fertilizing

Fertilizing with a nitrogen-rich fertilizer should occur in late spring or early summer right before your lawn enters its peak growing phase. Not sure which fertilizer to use? An example would be a 3-1-2 or 4-1-2 water-soluble fertilizer that’s used with our St. Augustine varieties. For Empire Zoysia use a fertilizer with a 1-0-1 ratio, such as 15-0-15. Argentine Bahia also thrives with regular applications of nitrogen-rich fertilizer.

Landscape Supply launches a new blog!

Greetings, welcome to our new blog!
To get things started, we just want to post a little about the store in general.
When you enter our stores, you will be amazed at the equipment we have on hand! Our Orlando store is the largest, but the amount of equipment we have in the smaller St. Cloud location surprises many visitors!
We also keep a clean and organized yard, full of bulk rock, mulch, sand and soil. We have these available every day. Last, but certainly not least, we sell lots of sod! Since sod is a living product, we do not keep pallets in our yard. We cut farm fresh sod every day. You will want to place an order in advance, since we try to cut only as much as we need for the day.
We delivery every product we sell. From farm fresh sod delivery, rock, mulch or sand/soil, to a John Deere 575E Tractor!
What else do we sell? We sell parts for all brands we carry and Stihl and John Deere merchandise. We have hats, shirts and accessories for all the John Deere fans like us!
Of course we repair lawn equipment as well. We have highly skilled technicians whose education is ongoing, since technology never stops advancing. As a matter of fact, we are the first Stihl Platinum certified dealer in the South East USA!
Keep an eye on our blog, as we will share tips, promotions and interesting industry news as it arrives.
We hope to see you soon!