J&C Blog

One of our clients in the Portland, OR area reached out to us about their landscape beds and told us they needed some help getting them cleaned up and trimming the plants. We were happy to come help restore their landscaping to its former glory. At J&C Lawn Care, we provide seasonal cleanups for clients throughout the Portland area, including Happy Valley, Troutdale, and Gresham.

Below, check out a couple of photos from the project and learn about the services we performed for this client, including bed reshaping, plant trimming, and mulching.

Why Landscapes Should Be Regularly Trimmed

First, we worked to trim the landscape plants so they wouldn't look so overgrown. Our team came in with the proper trimming tools and trimmed the shrubs back to their proper size. Keeping plants and shrubs trimmed is key to their overall health, as it can help prevent insect infestations and plant diseases from taking hold. When a trimming professional checks out landscape plants, they can easily spot signs of these problems.

Proper trimming also helps the plants look shapely and maintained, thus increasing this homeowner's overall curb appeal. An unkempt landscaping area can be unsightly and is not a desirable look, so their recently trimmed plants will help with that.

Importance of Properly Mulching a Landscape Bed

After trimming the landscape plants and reshaping the edges of their landscape bed, we replenished their existing mulch that had...

At J&C Lawn Care, one of our specialties is taking properties that have been neglected and turning them into a beautiful display. When we were presented with an opportunity in the East Portland, OR area to clean up a residential property, we jumped at the chance.

This particular project presented a couple of challenges: the homeowner wanted to keep as much of the original plant life as possible and wanted a yard that looked nice without requiring hours of lawn maintenance and mowing. We took those into consideration when planning out this yard cleanup and landscape renovation.

Property cleanups can help increase your home value as well as your curb appeal. Check out some photos below from this recent project we completed!

Renovating Landscape Beds by Adding New Mulch, Clearing Out Debris

The existing landscape beds had fallen victim to lack of maintenance, and so we went in with a plan to renovate them and eliminate debris while still preserving as many of the existing plants as we could. Our team cleared out yard debris, leaf buildup, and extra weeds so that the landscape plants would have room to breathe.

The landscape beds had also overtaken part of the brick patio that was in the yard. Once we cleaned up the area, we ended up discovering that the patio had a border of a different color, which blended well with the black mulch we chose for the renovated landscape beds. Installing mulch has many benefits for landscape beds, including helping to prevent...

When the season changes, particularly in spring and fall, many of us begin planning out our seasonal cleaning sprees for the inside of our home. Much like the inside, the outside of our home needs seasonal cleanup too. Seasonal yard cleanups are a vital part of taking care of the look of our property and maintaining its good health.

Seasonal yard cleanups are important for allowing new growth, ridding your yard of weeds, and decreases the number of potential health risks in your yard. Here are some reasons why your yard needs a seasonal cleanup in Happy Valley, Troutdale, Gresham, and the surrounding areas.

Autumn Cleanups Prepare Your Lawn for the Winter

When winter rolls around, your lawn can sustain some pretty harsh damage due to the cold and snow. A lawn that has not been properly cleaned up by our experts is already in a weakened state throughout the fall, and when winter hits it can devastate your lawn. Leaves that blanket your yard suffocate your lawn, preventing the grass from going through photosynthesis and slowly killing it entirely. Pests also thrive under wet leaves, as do various diseases, fungi, and mold.

Fall cleanup will rid your yard of all these issues and ensure your lawn has the best nutrition and is in the best health to endure the winter months and grow in strong and healthy in spring.

A Fall Cleanup Allows for New Growth in Spring

Seasonal cleanups and debris removal are essential for ensuring fresh, new...

Spring cleanups provide a host of important services that give your lawn and landscaping a fresh start for the growing season. Once the snow begins to melt, your grass, trees, and plants will come out of winter dormancy and attempt to flourish again.

Without proper maintenance, your lawn may not return to its glory during the season.

Spring Cleanups Typically Include Bed Maintenance, Leaf Removal, Mulch, and Weed Control to Refresh Your Lawn

Spring cleanups typically include bed maintenance, leaf removal, mulch, and weed control to refresh your lawn.

Here are just a few tasks included in our spring cleanups:

• Bed maintenance - Landscape beds will be cleared of debris, leaves, and weeds. Beds will be reshaped and mulch will be laid.
• Leaf removal - Accumulation of leaves is bad news for lawns and beds. Leaves can choke plants and prevent proper photosynthesis from occurring. Leaf removal clears the landscape of fallen leaves to allow plants and grass to breathe.
• Mulch - During spring cleanups, fresh mulch will be laid at the proper depth. Mulch provides critical help with water absorption, erosion control, and weed prevention. Mulch also looks great and fills in gaps where grass won’t grow.
• Weed control - Our crews will hand weed landscape beds during spring cleanups and apply pre-emergent products to prevent weeds from sprouting.

Spring Cleanups Kickstart Your Lawn With Mowing, String Trimming, Blowing, and Edging

Often times,...

Autumn is a beautiful time for colors and one of the greatest assets to your yard is having large, beautiful trees to watch the changing of the leaves. However, once those leaves change color, they inevitably fall to the ground, which causes a covering of leaves on your lawn.

• Leaves have a tendency to smother the lawn by creating a layer that blocks sunlight and nutrients from reaching the grass and the root system.
• A build-up of leaves on the ground promotes the growth of various lawn diseases such as snow mold and brown patch.
• Leaves remaining on the lawn can invite unwanted pests that will consume the roots of your grass.

Removing the leaves from your yard before your turfgrass reaches its dormancy period allows it time to soak up extra nutrients before the winter. Without these nutrients to help rejuvenate your cool season grasses, you could be looking at a damaged turf come springtime!

Methods of Leaf Removal

Hire a professional landscaping company like J&C Lawn Care to come and remove all the leaves from your property. We use rakes and blowers to remove leaves by collecting them on a giant tarp and hauling them away.

Another option for yards that do not have a leaf covering that is too thick, is to use a lawn mower or a mulching mower to break them up over the ground. Breaking the leaves up into tiny pieces ...