Regular landscape maintenance includes soil testing and amendments, weed control through both chemical and manual methods, pest control, pruning, and irrigation. Proper irrigation is important for plant health and involves choosing a method like drip irrigation that reduces water usage. Pests are best controlled through preventative methods like choosing pest-resistant plants and removing diseased material. Pruning techniques depend on plant type and goals but aim to improve plant form, health, and productivity through practices like thinning branches or shearing hedges.

1. Landscape maintenance

2. Regular maintenance
• Soil maintenance
– pH and nutrient testing & maintenance
– Amending
– Weed control
• Plant maintenance
– Irrigation
• Mulching
– Pest control (insects, disease, other
organisms)
– Pruning

3. Landscape tools

4. Weed control
• Chemical control
– Pre-emergent vs.
post-emergence
– Selective vs.
nonselective

5. Weed control
• Hand weeding
• Landscape fabric
• Mulch

6. Irrigation
• Water supply to a plant
– Limited by root system
• Improve soil drainage, reduce soil
compaction to improve root growth
– Avg. soil absorbs 3/8” water per hour
• Slow, less-frequent deep watering better
than frequent shallow watering
– Soaker hose
– Drip irrigation
– Basin watering (berm)

7. Irrigation

8. Irrigation
• Hand watering
• Sprinkler irrigation
– Good for lawns, densely planted beds
– Wastes water (evaporation, unplanted areas)
– Can promote foliar diseases
– Fixed heads/risers
– Portable heads
• Drip/trickle irrigation
– Reduces water usage by >50%
– Can apply fertilizers
– Nozzles, pipes can clog

9. Irrigation
• Mulching/ground covers reduces
frequent watering needs
• Standard 1/2” residential pipe can
handle one irrigation head (install ¾”-1”
piping if plan to irrigate)
• Generally need 1” water per week
– Lawns 1” per week
– Woody plants 3-4” total every 4 weeks
• Newly transplanted woody plants need to be
watered weekly (1st year), every 2 weeks (2nd year)

10. Garden pests

11. Pest control
• Choose plants with minimal pest problems
• Insect pests are often vectors for disease
• Chemical control
– Contact poisons vs. systemic pesticides
– Synthetic vs. organic

12. Biological
pest control
• Gardens Alive
• Home Harvest

13. Pruning
• Removal of excessive & undesirable
growth

14. Why prune?
• Sanitation
– Broken branches & dead tissue
• Diseased parts
• Opening canopy
– Increase air flow; reduce humidity
– Increase penetration of sprays
• Removal of undergrowth for appearance
and fire prevention
• Stimulate new, vigorous growth

15. Why prune?
• Aesthetics
– Shape
• Formal hedges
• Topiary

16. Espalier

17. Vase-shaped trees

19. Pollarding

20. Why prune?
• Enhance reproduction
– Yield enhancement
– Fruiting shoots vs. non-fruiting shoots
– Increase flower size
– Fruit distribution, size, sugar content
uniformity
– Access to fruit

21. Why prune?
• Manipulate physiology
– Pre-transplant root pruning
– Shoot tip pruning to promote branching
– Stimulate new growth on older plants
Dwarfing
• Bonsai

22. Pruning tools
• Saws
• Shears
• Hand pruners
• Loppers
• Pole pruners
• Bypass vs. anvil

23. Pruning tools
• Sanitation
• Branch size and pruner damage
– Hand pruners (< 1/2 inch dia.)
– Loppers (< 2 inch dia.)
• Maintain sharp tools
– Clean cuts heal faster

24. Pruning principles
• Cutting is irreversible
• Breaking apical dominance changes form
of plant
• Pruning invigorates regrowth
• Pruning can direct growth
• Timing of pruning is critical
– Spring flowers develop on previous season’s
growth
– Summer and fall flowers develop on current
season’s growth

25. Pruning techniques

26. Prune inward growing branches

27. Pruning for outward growth

28. Prune rubbing branches

30. Included bark

31. Crotch angles

32. Trees with central leaders
• Standard form

34. Pruning
Multiple
leaders

35. Removing the central leader

36. Branched head standard

37. Multistemed tree form

38. Drop crotching – controlling
height

39. Pruning
cuts

41. Pruning
branches
• Cut at 900
angle
• Cut in stages

42. Pruning large branches

43. Pruning pines –
pinching candles

44. Pruning shrubs
• Heading back

45. Thinning

46. Renewal pruning
(gradual renovation)

49. Coppice for color

51. Shearing

52. Hedge shapes

53. Training - Espalier