This article is part of a series on Central Texas Lawn Care. The hub page contains links to articles on fertilizing,  watering and more.

Texas Landscaping

Landscaping is a great way to add value and enjoyment to your home. A little landscaping can go a long way towards improving resale value, as the right or wrong garden can be the difference between a house that stands out and one that gets passed over. Here are some things to consider for getting the most out of your landscaping.

Image by Paladin27

Plant choice
Choose plants that are native to the area as they will be more resilient in the warmer weather than non-native plants. The Urban Landscape Guide has a handy reference database for native Texas plants.

Mulching
Mulching is an easy and cheap way to help your lawn out. Mulch will help retain water in the soil as it prevents it from getting evaporated from the surface. It can also put nutrients back into the soil, will help to maintain soil temperature, and can even be decorative if used smartly.

Drip Irrigation
Drip irrigation is an effective way to irrigate your lawn as well. Drip irrigation will help your plants get water as it increases water retention rate and helps to prevent runoff. This increased efficiency will decrease the amount of water you need to use and will help offset the initial costs of installation.

Hardscapes

Another way to improve your yard area is to add hardscapes. Hardscape is stone or paved areas where the soil is no longer at the surface. Adding in hardscapes can be an excellent way to increase the functionality of your space by perhaps adding in a deck, more seating, a grill area or an enjoyable water feature.

Lighting

Image by georgeogoodman

Lighting is an important way that you can accent your landscaping. Lighting can be anything from cheap solar powered lights to more expensive and complicated sets. Choose a brightness and spread that complement your design choices: too much light will run up bills and look gaudy while too little will be purposeless, so aim for the middle.

Accommodation
Make sure to adjust your watering system to whatever you’ve added to your lawn. You don’t want water running off onto your hardscape or onto newly place plants that might become inundated.

Interaction
Consider how your landscaping will look from multiple angles. Is it meant to be seen mainly from outside the house? Inside? Consider also how landscaping will affect how your move through your yard. If you’ve got a dog, be sure to know how it moves through your yard because he or she might not be as accommodating to new plants as you are!

Future Plans
Be sure to have a comprehensive plan of what you want to do with your yard, especially if it’s a plan which will be enacted over several years. Adding in a deck might be a great idea, but not if it conflicts with something else you might want to add later.

First image by Paladin27, second by georgeogoodman

February 2011 Real Estate News

From the Desk of:

Maggie Falvey

In my newsletter last month I made some pretty bold predictions about the future of the real estate market in Austin. What I did not realize at the time was that many of these predictions would start to come true almost immediately.

As soon as the holidays were behind us, I started getting calls and emails from buyers who were finally ready to get serious about moving. As I analyzed the market for my monthly newsletter I quickly realized that I was not the only agent seeing a sharp rebound in the market.

If you take a look at the statistics below comparing January 2010 and January 2011 single family home sales you will see that our market improved in virtually every way.

Market Snapshot

• Median Sold Price – Increased 5% to $193,500
• Median Asking Price – Decreased 5% to $210,000
• Number of Homes Sold – Increased 8% to 907
• Homes Under Contract – Increased 16%to 1,473
• Number of New Listings – Decreased 14% to 2,353
• Number of Available Listings – Decreased 3% to 10,709
• Average Days on Market – Increased 33% to 95 days
• Months Supply of Inventory – Decreased 20% to 5.5 months
• Local unemployment rate – fell from 7.3% to 6.6%

The most noteworthy data point is the month’s supply of inventory. Economists believe that anything under 6 months is a seller’s market, and anything over 6 months is a buyer’s market. We are now at 5.5 months of inventory, which puts us into a seller’s market in what is traditionally the slowest season of the year. It’s only February, and I am already hearing about multiple offer situations.

If you are in the market to buy and want to get ahead of this pent up demand, give me a call or send me your search criteria and we can get started looking right away.

If you are thinking about selling, the optimal time to list will be early this year as buyers are still trying to take advantage of historically low rates. Send me your address and I will analyze the market to see what your home is worth.

Thank you for taking the time to read my newsletter! I would really appreciate it if you could forward this email or send me the name of anyone in need of a customer service-oriented agent to help them buy or sell a home in Austin.

Sincerely,
Maggie Falvey

This article is part of a series on Central Texas Lawn Care. The hub page contains links to articles on fertilizing, landscaping and more.

Lawn Mowing Tips

Mowing your lawn is an important aspect of proper lawn care and mowing correctly can help keep your lawn crisp and healthy. Here are some tips for helping maintain your lawn:

• Don’t mow more than 1/3 the height of the grass. Mowing too deep will actually injure grass. If you have let your grass get too long, cut down a third of the height every few days rather than all at once to avoid damage.
• If you have a mulching lawn mower, leaving the grass clippings on the lawn. It’ll make your shoes more green, but the grass trimmings are mostly water, so leaving them on the lawn will add some moisture to it, which is a helpful way to keep your lawn fresh in the hot Texas summers.
• Keep your blades sharp. Sharp lawn mower blades will ensure a clean cut, whereas dull blades can pull on the grass and cause damage.
• Places like baseball stadiums get the cool pattern look by using a lawn roller. Trying to achieve that look by mowing in interesting patterns (unfortunately) won’t achieve the same effect.
• Don’t mow when the grass is wet: diseases are more likely to be introduced and it makes things more of a hassle to clean up.
• The three most common Texas grasses and their optimal mowing height and info:

Old shoes make excellent mowing footwear. Photo by David Deane

St. Augustine
Height Rance: 2.5-4 inches
Optimal height: 2.5 inches
Mowing Frequency: 5-7 days

Bermudagrass
Height Range: 1-3 inches
Optimal height: 1.5 inches
Mowing Frequency: 3-7 days

Coarse Bladed Zoysia
Height Rance: 1.0-2.5 inches
Optimal height : 1.5
Mowing Frequency: 7-10 days

Image Attribution: Mowing image by David Deane

This article is part of a series on Central Texas Lawn Care. The hub page contains links to articles on fertilizing, landscaping and more.

Water Use and Lawn Care

The key to a good lawn is to water it correctly. Watering your lawn too little can lead to problems, but watering your lawn too much can also be damaging. Your lawn will look best, and your wallet will be happiest, when you water your lawn smartly and efficiently.

Austin Water Restrictions

Austin is currently in Stage 1 water restrictions. This is the lowest water restriction level and is the level that the city is on for much of the year. The following is from the City of Austin’s Water Conversation page:

What does Stage 1 Water Restrictions mean to you?

No operation of irrigation systems or hose-end sprinklers between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m.

Commercial and Multi-Family customers can continue to water on Tuesdays and Fridays

Single family homes have 2 watering days a week:

• Odd addresses: Wednesdays and/or Saturdays
• Even addresses: Thursdays and/or Sundays
• Watering by sprinkler or irrigation system is allowed on your assigned day only before 10 a.m. or after 7 p.m.
• Hand watering is allowed anytime

Sprinkler Systems Output

It’s important to know the output of your sprinkler system so that you can water as much as you need to without wasting water or over-watering.

Sprinkler Photo by Andreanna Moya Photography

To measure your sprinkler system’s output place 5 shallow-rimmed containers face up in your lawn and turn the sprinklers on for 30 minutes. Calculate the average depth of the containers by adding up the depth of water in all five containers and dividing by five. This will tell you how much your sprinklers water the lawn over 30 minutes.

Also check the depth of the water’s penetration into the soil. Differences in soil composition will affect how deeply the water penetrates. If your sprinklers water the lawn .4 inches and to a depth of 2.5 inches in 30 minutes, then over an hour they will penetrate to a depth of 5 inches and give your lawn .8 inches of water.

The AggieTurf website recommends watering to 6 inches of depth. This is important to encourage your grasses roots to grown deeper. If you only ever water a couple inches deep then the root system won’t go any deeper; but watering to a lower depth will get the roots to go deeper which will in turn allow them to pull more moisture out of the ground.

Water Use Tips

• Water early in the morning so that none of your water evaporates.
• Don’t run your sprinkler system when it’s really windy otherwise the spread won’t be as you desire and you will waster a lot of water.
• Water deep and infrequently rather than in short, frequent bursts for the best lawn maintenance. Watering deeply will allow the water to reach the base of the grasses root system and encourage their growth.
• You might need to water some areas by hand if the sprinklers cannot reach these areas.

Image Attribution: Sprinkler photo by Andreanna Moya Photography

This article is part of a series on Central Texas lawn care. The hub page contains articles on watering, mowing and more.

Texas Fertilizer Basics

The Analysis:

All fertilizers are labeled with three numbers that represent the percentage, by weight, of the three major nutrients used to stimulate plant growth: nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (N-P-K).

This ratio, the ‘analysis’ of the fertilizer, represents the percentages of Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium contained in the fertilizer.

Bermuda Grass by WWWorks

How much fertilizer?

For the most common lawn grasses in Texas, here’s how much fertilizer your lawn needs:

• St. Augustine: 4-5 pounds of Nitrogen, per thousand square feet, per year
• Bermuda: 4-5 pounds of Nitrogen, per thousand square feet, per year
• Zoysia: 3-4 pounds of Nitrogen, per thousand square feet, per year

For a table with more grass types, see the AggieTurf page on fertilizers

Knowing the Nitrogen is the first percentage listed with a fertilizers ‘analysis,’ you can calculate the pounds of Nitrogen in a given fertilizer. Multiply the amount of Nitrogen (as a percentage) by the weight of the bag: a 40 pound bag with 10% Nitrogen would have 4 pounds of Nitrogen in it; (0.1 x 40 = 4)

When to Fertilize

Fertilize your yard shortly after green-up in the spring. This will usually occur in late February or early March, but be sure not to apply the first years fertilizer prior to your grass greening up. Most fertilizers will also be most effective followed by watering within 24 hours, so know Austin’s water use restrictions so that you can stay within the restrictions but still get the most out of your fertilizer. Fertilizing prior to a rainstorm is a good way to use nature to help further keep your lawn healthy.

Applying Fertilizer

You should apply the fertilizer with some regularity. Applying just once or twice per year may mean that you give your grass more Nitrogen than they are capable of absorbing at one time. Spreading out the amount of Nitrogen application 4-5 times through the year will help to keep your grass looking healthy year-round. So if your grass needs 4-5 pounds of fertilizer and you’ve got a 40 pound bag with 10% Nitrogen, you can spread it out 4 times a year.

Proper fertilizing improves your homes marketability. Photo by Gregs Landscaping

Summer Fertilizers

Use slow release fertilizer during the summer months. Slow release fertilizers are usually in the ratio of 3-1-2 (so 15-5-10 would be a good ratio) but use a less-soluble coating to lengthen the decomposition process. Check the time on your slow release fertilizers and make sure that you don’t overlap. Buying a 9-month slow release fertilizer and applying it 4 times a year would be a bit redundant, as the previous application of fertilizer would not have had time to fully release its nutrients before another fertilizer layer was laid on top of it.

Winter Fertilizers

Around October or November, apply a winterizing fertilizer to hardy up your plants for the winter. These will usually contain a higher percentage of Phosphorus and Potassium than summer fertilizers. Ratios vary though, so make sure the bag is labeled as a winterizing fertilizer and that it’s designed for southern climates.

Thatch

Thatch accumulates when dead plant parts are created faster than microorganisms can consume then. Thatch should be removed before fertilization so that the nutrients will reach the soil and not get caught in the layers of thatch.

Hopefully this article helped explain some basics of fertilizers in Texas to you. For more detailed discussions of fertilizers in Texas, we’ve found the following websites to have plenty of useful information:

Home Lawns at AggieTurf
Lawn Care at RealGreenLawns.com

Image Attribution: Grass image by WWWorks, home image by Gregs Lanscaping.

According to this article from the Austin American-Statesman, Austin had a 2% annual job growth in December, with the unemployment rate down from the previous month and the previous year as well.

Another article points to positive trends in the real estate market.  Sales in December were up 6% from the previous December; the first time since May that the market had seen positive growth from the previous year.

In total, 2010 saw less home sales than 2009, continuing the trend since 2006 of home sales per annum decreasing.

December’s growth is hoped to carry over into 2011, as the Austin Economic and Housing Forecast predicts that 2011 will be a rebounding year for employment and the real estate market.