Coming at you with my week 7 of Landscape Coach Tips. These tips are things you can do in your yard with the items you have at home. They are being shared daily over on instagram / facebook and weekly here.

LANDSCAPE COACH TIP 31:

Check your irrigation system regularly to make sure it’s working properly.

I honestly should practice what I preach because I learned this the hard way. One of my emitters popped off and overwatered my Pink Lemonade Honeysuckle. The honeysuckle has mold and is suffering. This reminded me I should walk my entire irrigation system to make sure there wasn’t anything else I was missing. Much to my surprise I found a leak at my spray head. It’s creating a lovely habitat for tadpoles! LOL. Exaggeration aside, be sure to walk your irrigation system weekly to check for leaks.

LANDSCAPE COACH TIP 32:

Local Garden Nurseries are back open! There are a few rules they’d like you to follow. Masks are required by all customers, they are limiting the number of people allowed in, please respect 6’ distance when shopping, and most are requesting no cash payments to limit physical contact. Each nursery also wants everyone to know they appreciate their customers loyal support during the closures.

LANDSCAPE COACH TIP 33:

Bring some water into your landscape. Today I’m sharing an easy an inexpensive way to build a water feature (or rather set it up). Takes about 5 minutes once you’ve gotten the materials.

First find a pot WITHOUT holes, mine is a plastic one from At Home I got at an end of season sale last year. Then get a fountain pump plus a fountain head kit which can be found online or local pond supply stores in town like Potteryland. The brands Fountain Tech and Aquascape are good ones for pond products.

Center the pump with attachments in the middle of the pot, surround with large rocks for support, add water and turn on. (FYI: pumps only work when fully submereged in water, if not you risk overheating the motor).

LANDSCAPE COACH TIP 34:

Plant mint in a container. Mojitos must be on everyone’s mind because I’ve been asked 3 times this week by clients where should they plant mint. Mint will spread rapidly and take over your garden so if you want to keep it in check then you’ll want to contain it in a pot. Same goes for lemon balm.

Personally, I like to have some herbs in container pots and some in the ground. I keep thyme, basil, parsley, mint and lemon balm in pots. I plant sage, oregano and rosemary in the ground.

What herbs are you growing this year?

LANDSCAPE COACH TIP 35:

Summer fun and heat is almost here, let’s make some shade! Get instant shade from a shade sail. I prefer the quality of the Coolaroo shades. You can find them all online.

Grab yourself a shade or two, a carabiner, eye hooks and something to hang them from. My shade is hung over my new front yard patio. We used two 4×4 posts and a tree.

It’s a simple DIY that will provide you with shade for all your outdoor needs for your summer at home.