Tree Decoration Ideas and Safety Tips by Expert Lake Charles Landscaping Services

Holiday time is decoration time. Once October sets in, the mind of the homeowner shifts to decoration gear, well, at least that is what happens in Southwest Louisiana. This is also the time that Sulphur and Lake Charles landscaping services providers get calls and emails from clients asking for information about decorating their trees with lights, their porches, their gardens and so on. If you are getting ready to decorate for Halloween, Thanksgiving or Christmas and you do not know where to start, call us on 337-313-3002 for professional assistance.


You can have decoration lights on your trees throughout the year if you like. However, the most important times to have them is during winter when the nights are really dark and the home looks like it needs some cheer on the exterior. Whatever you do, you do not want to hang lights on a trial and error basis. You want to be sure of what you are doing. Thankfully, landscape maintenance services can help with this.


While the basic concept of lawn lighting is to make it ornamental, it is also very functional. They light up the paths in the garden and yard, which by the way, receives a lot of foot traffic during the holidays. These lights contribute a lot to keeping everyone safe. However, unless they are installed by a professional, the same lights that you intend to ensure safety can become a hazard themselves.

Tree decoration and lighting ideas to try

Turns out there is much more that you can do with your string lights, apart from hanging them on trees. Here are some popular ideas for holiday decorations with lights:

Christmas tree topped with 5-pointed star

This is very common. First, you have a simple frame and a stake to hold the Christmas tree in place. Actually, the light frame is staked to the ground to keep the Christmas tree stable. At the apex of the tree, there is a five-pointed star. It has purple and white lights. The rest of the body is decorated with blue, orange, red and green blinking lights. The lights are placed on either side of the driveway to guide you home in the Christmas spirit.

Meteor shower lights

When done correctly, these string lights strung up a tree make your garden look like a piece of the galaxy scenes that you can only catch on Star Trek. They bring a lot of beauty to your yard. If you have a slanted tree, use it to string these lights up. You can use this lighting design in two ways:

• Place it in the most beautiful part of the garden where it can light up the things you want the guests to see
• Station it in a bald patch where you want to draw all attention from all other parts of the garden and direct it to the meteor shower lights

You can hang these lights on anything that stands. You can even hang them on the fence and the effect will be stunning.

Holographic rope light in palm tree design

Bring a touch of the coast to your yard by using palm tree decoration. The palm tree designs stand on a stable base made of metal so there is no danger of toppling over. The design of the palm tree is simple, just four or five palm leaves and a slim trunk will do. You can have lights with a brownish tinge snaking around the trunk and green blinking lights for the leaves. It will create an outstanding effect and landscape maintenance services can help you choose the best palm trees.

White Maple tree lit up with LED lights

This white maple tree can stand on your walkway for the entire year and you can keep it up every night if you want. Specifically, this maple tree should be decorated with 264 LED lights, but the number can differ from time to time. With 3 color options for your lights, you can choose something different for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. The Maple tree is designed with a heavy metal base, so it will not topple over.

Please note that these are just four of many ornamental lighting styles. These are simple and their design has the desired effect. However, always have our professional Sulphur and Lake Charles landscaping services teams do these lights for you for safety and functionality.

Safety tips in the yard  – Let professionals install your decorating lights

Only professional Lake Charles landscaping services should do your holiday decorations, for safety reasons. Disregard for safety can lead to many hazards, including electrocution. If you have kids and pets, you should be even more careful.

Safety starts with the selection of the lights

At TCLS, we take safety very seriously. We consider safety every step of the way. For example, we select the best lights, and ensure that they are in perfect condition before hanging them. We not only install the lights, but when the holiday seasons are over, we uninstall them and store them, to wait for the next season.

If you will install the lights on a green tree, you want to be sure it is not too old, that is, you want to know how recently it was cut. Just give it a shake and if needles drop, it is almost dry. Once you bring the tree home, cut a few centimeters out of the tree and soak it in water so that it can drink up more. That way, it stays fresher longer.

Follow the instructions of the manufacturer

There can be no guesswork in the installation of decoration lights. You must follow the instructions of the manufacturer regarding the number of lights that you can plug in together, and so on. Since you also want to be careful with the lights so that you can use them again, you need expert assistance from Sulphur and Lake Charles landscaping services. Never pass wires under doors or carpets and most importantly, never overload your electrical sockets.

Only install lights that are in the best condition

Other safety measures when installing lights include checking keenly to ensure that the cabling and the lights are in good condition. Make sure there are no exposed wires. Because of the weather elements, electrocution is a serious risk if exposed wires get in contact with water.

If you will be hanging the lights on artificial trees, ensure that the trees are made of inflammable material. Also make sure that you do not use any combustible material in your mix.

Finally, always use the light gear for lighting. For example, outdoor lighting requires you to use Ground Fault Interrupters. In Sulphur and Lake Charles, we advise our clients to use LED lights because they are very efficient.

Conclusion

As you have seen here, there are so many things to take care of regarding safety in the yard. This is why there can be no guesswork in the installation of your decoration lights. When you hire our Sulphur and Lake Charles landscaping services team, we install the lights and we make sure they are in perfect working condition for as long as you desire to have them running. When the holidays are over, we uninstall them and keep them for future use. We guarantee 100 percent hazard-free installation and usage.


Contact us:
Author        : TenderCareLawnService
Address     : 1497 W Houston River Rd,Sulphur, LA 70663
Telephone  : 337-313-3002

Landscaping Companies Advise on Best Fruit Trees to Grow in Lake Charles and Sulphur

One of the questions that landscaping companies always get is concerning what plants can do well in certain USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) zones. There are 13 hardiness zones in the USA. These zones are further divided into subsets A and B.


Each zone designates the plant hardiness needed so that a plant can survive the winter. The zones have a hardiness difference of 10 degrees. Thus, zone 9 is 10 degrees colder than zone 8. However, for two subsets in the same zone, the difference is usually 5 degrees. Thus, zone 9A is 5 degrees warmer than zone 9B.

Zone 9a is an all-year growing zone

15 states fall in USDA zone 9 and Louisiana is one of them. This is considered and all-year growing zone. Many fruit trees do well in this kind of climate. But not quite. Some do need to be hand-selected, as you will read later.


Because of the warm climate present in the Zone 9, many fruit trees do quite well. In fact, many of the most popular fruits thrive in this climate. Fruit trees like pears, cherry, apple and peach do well in the soft winter chill that happens in zone 9a. However, because factors may not remain constant, if it turns too chilly, they might not produce fruit. Likewise, many tropical fruits do well in zone 9. However, it is a gamble because a dash of extreme cold could deter fruition.


To survive in the south, the plants need to be hardy. The summers can be brazen hot and the winters can sometimes be extremely chilly. Because of this diversity of conditions, tropical fruits such as papaya and mangoes do not thrive in zone 9a.


Long story short, what are some fruit trees that you can grow in zone 9a? These are avocado, some citrus fruits, figs and others. However, here, we shall look at avocado and fig, two of the fruit trees that most landscaping companies recommend for growing in zone 9a.

Avocado

The most recommended avocado tree to grow in zone 9a is the Mexican species because such trees do well in the cold. The temperature range in zone 9a can go as low as 18° F. As the avocado species from Mexico are more resistant to cold, they are a wise choice. A couple of options are the Mexicola and Mexicola Grande.


However, for the avocado tree to thrive in USDA zone 9a, you have to know some important things. It is paramount that you give the plant the best care from when it is very young, and continue even after maturity.

Choosing a place to plant your avocado

The main thing to consider here is a place where the plant will be exposed to some hours of sunlight every day. Avocados do not do well in waterlogged soil, so you have to choose an elevated position where the soil drains faster.


Because of the size that an avocado tree reaches in maturity, you need to plant them at intervals of between 20 and 30 feet. Keep the same distance between the avocado tree and your structures/buildings.

Watering your rootball

You should dig a hole that is three times wider and deeper than the rootball. Once you have transferred your rootball to the place where you want to grow it, water it every day. You can keep checking whether the water is penetrating the soil well, using your finger. Just make sure that the soil is not waterlogged. Too much water causes the roots to rot. You can add a layer of coarse mulch for some insulation.

Applying fertilizer

Fertilize the soil with recommended avocado food. You may also use citrus food. The good thing is that avocado requires minimal care to thrive and even then, it grows fast, achieving double the size each year.


It will stop growing any taller once it reaches 30 feet. In between, there is no need for pruning. The most important thing is to know what kind of fertilizer to apply. To get the guesswork out of the picture, contact professionals from landscaping companies.


Among some of the most recommended nourishment for your avocado tree are potassium, zinc, phosphorus and nitrogen. Use a 10:30:10 (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, with zinc) mix in the first few years of the avocado tree. Once it starts bearing fruit, apply ¼ pound of fertilizer once every two months.


When the tree is mature, use a mix of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (10:5:20) applying a pound every year.

Pest control

Pests such as borers, lace bugs, thrips and scales attack avocado plants. However, to prevent damage from these pests, plant a tree that is native to your area. Consult landscaping companies to ensure you select a tree that is well suited for your area and will thrive.

Growing figs – what landscaping companies advise

Because the USDA zone 9a has a mediterranean kind of climate, figs do really well. In areas such as southwest Louisiana, landscaping companies in Lake Charles and Sulphur will advise you to try growing fig.


Hundreds of fig tree varieties grow in Louisiana. However, varieties such as Black Mission, Adriatic, Excel and Brown Turkey do very well in the zone 9a climate. They are even hardier than avocado, because they can withstand temperatures as low as 10°F. If winter gets any colder than this, it is recommended that you grow them indoors.

Where to plant your fig tree

Take the guesswork out of the picture by contacting landscaping companies to understand and meet your fig tree’s needs. For starters, you need to know the best soil, so make sure you plant the fig tree in well drained soil. Try sandy soil instead of clay soil. You can plant your tree in late fall, when there is still enough sunshine.


Spacing is important. It is recommended that you make the space between fig tree and buildings at least 20 feet. This is also the recommended spacing between two fig trees.

Transplanting a fig tree

When planting a fig tree from a pot to a hole outdoors, make the hole deeper than the rootball and at least two times wider. Make a small mound of soil inside the hole and then carefully spread the roots over it. Cover it gently with soil, shovel by shovel until it stands straight and firm. The top two inches of cover can be compost.

Care for your fig tree

Water the tree everyday unless there is rain.These trees hate waterlogged soils, so make sure that does not happen. In late winter, you can begin applying nitrogen. Fig trees are quite hardy, so they do not require a lot of fertilizing.


They also do not require pruning. However, if the winter turns extreme, the top part of the fig may die, but the part buried in the soil stays intact. Once that happens, just wait for summer so the plant can sprout up.

Pests and diseases affecting figs

Figs have many enemies. When they ripen, birds, squirrels and other rodents will try to outdo you when harvesting. However, you should worry about the disease-causing pests. This is why you need to consult landscaping companies.


One of the most common pests to watch out for when growing figs is the root knot nematodes. They affect the roots and prevent the proper absorption of nutrients. This eventually leads to the death of the affected plants because you cannot use chemicals on the roots.


Rust and blight also affect fig trees. Rust is not dangerous and you can leave it to go on its own. However, to control blights, just clean out the dead or sick branches, apply mulch and practice clean gardening procedures.


As you can see, there can be quite a lot to do for your fruit trees. That is why you need the assistance of landscaping companies. From planting, care, pest control and so on, it can be quite a handful for you. You must enlist expert help.


Contact us:
Author        : TenderCareLawnService
Address     : 1497 W Houston River Rd,Sulphur, LA 70663
Telephone  : 337-313-3002