Finally, the seasons are living up to their names (Spring/Summer)! I hope you will take a walk, ride your bike or simply slow down as you travel through the beautiful neighborhood you call home. Perhaps you or your neighbors have professionally maintained landscaping at their homes. I bet that most of the homes initially had the guidance and help of professional landscapers. As the neighborhood ages, that first effort can be a starting point as we update our exteriors.
Think of your exterior landscaping the same way you consider the interior of your home. Do any of us have the original carpeting on our floors? Is the paint the same paint that was put on our walls years or decades ago? The same thing goes for our exterior landscape.
The very first thing to do is to go outside, yard waste bag in your gloved hand and pull the weeds. Look up “Weeds in North America” for pictures of the weeds you are likely to find. Just as when you are considering new flooring for your family room, the first thing you do is to have all family members put away their belongings and tidy up the room. It’s hard to ignore the clutter and that’s exactly what weeds are — clutter. But, unlike clutter that stays inside your home, weeds move on to mess up your neighbor’s landscape. If you have dandelions and let them go to seed, your neighbors will have dandelions, too. Johnny’s Legos will stay right where he left them.
Then, look at the outlines of your beds. Chances are great that they started out as neatly defined lines separating the garden bed from the lawn. Trim the grass, install or maintain the edging that is already there or, with a shovel, make a little trench. My son Matt tidies up the borders at his home with a flat shovel, making a definitive separation. It usually lasts for a year and looks great!
We live in a beautiful community. Let’s all do our part to make Naperville look its best!
