Plants

We take plants and planting very serious at Hawcott Lawn Service.  One of the most important things to do when creating a new landscape is selecting the right plant for the site.  We try to understand the environmental conditions of the site, the soil types, and possible pests of the sites we work with. All of our plants come from suppliers and growers in Iowa or areas North of Iowa. This means that the plants will be more winter hardy in this area than if they came from areas South of Iowa.

When designing a landscape it is important to have a good balance of hardscapes (walls, patios, structure) and softscapes (plants). If you have a site with larger structures on it use larger plants to help add mass to the landscape. If you are installing a bed around a tall object, use some taller plants in several areas to act as anchors.

When selecting plants for your site try to increase diversity. It is often a good idea to make sure you do not have more than 15% of any one plant. This helps reduce problems with spread of disease or harmful insects.