Landscaping and tree care in Hyde Park, Utah

Watering a Hyde Park yard on canal water or city water

Start by finding out which water your lot gets. Homes below the canal can use ditch water for the yard. Homes above it use the same water that comes out of the kitchen tap, and in July 2021 the mayor asked residents to cut outdoor use by half. Rules and dates change from year to year, so check the city's current page before you plan.

On drinking water, the cheapest garden is one that needs little help. Two to three inches of mulch keeps the soil cool and slows evaporation. Water deeply and less often so roots go down instead of staying near the top. Group plants that want the same amount of water, so one thirsty shrub does not set the schedule for the whole bed. New trees still need steady water for their first seasons, and that water is worth the cost.

Pruning around Hyde Park frost, cold air and wind

Cache Valley fills with cold air like a bathtub. The Utah Geological Survey explains that cold air settles into basins when no wind stirs it, and the valley floor is slow to warm. USU Extension lists Logan's average last frost as May 14 and first fall frost as September 25, about 135 frost-free days. Treat Hyde Park the same way and wait for the soil to warm before setting out tender plants.

Wind matters too. A strong windstorm out of the east once uprooted trees in Hyde Park, North Logan and Logan, with gusts near 54 miles an hour. Trees with crossing limbs, dead wood or a heavy lean toward the house are the ones that fail. A trim in the dormant season removes that weight before the wind tests it.

Fruit trees follow their own calendar. Extension planning sheets for northern Utah point to mid-February for apples and pears and mid-March for stone fruit, and you cut when the buds are still closed.

Protecting young trees from Hyde Park deer

Hyde Park and its neighbor to the north took up an urban deer plan because deer live in town all year. Under state rule, a city with such a plan has to ban feeding deer, so do not set out feed, even for birds, in a way deer can reach.

USU Extension advises burlap or trunk guards for woody plants, repellent, and fencing in severe cases. Damage can also come in summer during a drought, when wild food dries up. Put guards on new trees at planting time and leave them on for the first few winters.

Plant choice helps, and USU Extension advises choosing plants deer tend to avoid. A planting plan can put the tender plants close to the house and the tougher ones along the edge, where a nibble does less harm.

Soil under former farmland

A lot of Hyde Park sits on ground that was farmed until the canal company's service area filled with houses. When a farm field becomes a lot, a new yard can end up with thin soil over packed subsoil, so look at what is under the surface. Compost worked into planting beds adds organic matter, and mulch on top feeds the soil as it breaks down.

Because the lime in local soil raises pH, plants that want acid ground struggle here. If a maple turns yellow between green veins, test the soil before you buy iron products. USU notes that for raised beds and small planting areas, bringing in soil that has no lime can be the most practical fix.

What to do first in a Hyde Park yard

Walk the yard in late winter with a notebook. Mark dead or crossing limbs, any tree leaning toward the roof, and young trunks that have no guard. Find out which water your home uses, since that decides how thirsty a new bed can be.

Next, send a soil sample to a lab if a plant looks yellow or a bed never does well. A sample costs little and saves you from guessing. Then plan the order of the work: pruning while trees are dormant, planting once the soil has warmed, and bed work through the summer.

In fall, rake and clear leaves and spent growth before the snow so they do not mat down the beds. Then call Eric for a free quote and a walk through the yard.