Now that the festive days of the year have passed and you've had your fair share of pumpkin pie, it's once again time to get to work. So without further a do lets jump right in!

Things you should be doing now:

-Planning

-Inspecting

-Preventing

-Acting

Now let’s go ahead and dive deeper on each topic.

Planning: Winter time is great to catch your breath and look at the year ahead. Now is a great time to be planning any landscape improvements such as new plantings, landscape lighting, or placing that garden gnome. If you have not fertilized your garden in more than 6 months, plan to fertilize with a balanced fertilizer right around Valentines day.

Inspecting: Deciduous trees and shrubs that lose their leaves in the winter should be inspected for potential issues. Pruning is the most important task undertaken in the dead of winter and consists of selective removal of branches to improve the quality of your shrubs/ trees. General reasons to prune are to remove dead and or diseased wood, training/ improvement of structure, and aesthetics. Inspect evergreen plant leaves for signs of disease (spots, blotches) and nutrient deficiencies (discoloration, yellowing).

Preventing: This topic has to do with the current cold temperatures and the upcoming growing season. It's always a good idea to know which of your plants/ trees are cold sensitive and to cover these plants when temperatures dip below freezing. Cold sensitivity varies between plant species and simple coverings with light blankets, old sheets, or burlap can help to shelter a plant on a cold winter night. To prevent insect/ pest issues on known plant hosts such as (roses, fruit trees, etc) it is a good idea to apply horticultural oils and or horticultural soaps. Application of these two aid in keeping pest populations low by suffocating them right before they begin their reproduction cycles.

Acting: Now! With some helpful tips it's time to get out the hand pruners, hand saws, and slip on those garden boots!

It’s a drought out there and now is the time to improve your irrigation system.

Keep reading to learn how to save time, money, and water!

One of the most critical components to all irrigation systems are irrigation controllers. These units allow our systems to run automatically with ease. Traditional controllers irrigate based on settings programmed by a professional or homeowner. They require manual programming to update settings for each seasons water mandates. Wouldn’t it be nice if you or your landscape professional could update settings from any device?

Here comes the “smart” in smart irrigation: a wifi enabled controller that’s able to be controlled remotely from any device with internet, local weather data, and many other water saving features. Our company is a Certified Rachio pro installer. After installing and working with many other brands of smart controllers we have chosen Rachio as our partner due to ease of use and outstanding customer support.

What about the rebates? Glad you asked because the Southern Nevada Water Authority offers a one-time rebate of 50% off the cost of the unit up to $100. These units typically cost around $200 and getting half off isn’t too shabby.

We can help to install your new controller, setup your irrigation zones, and program schedules that could run for up to a year! Taking the guess work out of irrigation is one less thing to worry about in our already hectic lives.