Hardscaping, Landscaping
Maintaining Your Outdoor Living Space in Kansas City | Tips from the Experts
Maintaining your outdoor living space in Kansas City can be a big job, so GD Services wants to give you our expert tips for doing it the right way. We specialize in hardscaping, but our services don’t end there. If you need reliable maintenance advice, GD Services has got you covered!
From fire pits and kitchens to landscaping and lighting, we renovate outdoor spaces from top to bottom. Consequently, we’ve gained a wealth of knowledge on maintaining outdoor spaces too. Between regular wear and tear, extreme weather, and the always-growing landscaping, there’s a lot to keep up with in your outdoor living space.
How to Handle Seasonal Challenges for Patios
Living in Kansas City, we experience the full spectrum of seasonal weather. Your patio and hardscapes endure everything from sweltering 100 degree days to freezing snowstorms. The turbulent temperatures are rough on your outdoor space, making it crucial to keep up with maintenance.
Winter’s Impact: Freeze-Thaw Cycle
During the winter, we often experience a freeze-thaw cycle as temperatures fluctuate. The natural stones used in your outdoor living space are permeable, absorbing water from the ground, rain, and snow. When that moisture freezes inside the stones, it expands, pushing outwards and breaking up the stone’s surface.
That process happens multiple times throughout the colder months. Our best advice for dealing with the freeze-seal cycle is to prevent as much water absorption as possible.
Clear Snow & Ice
Allowing snow and ice to remain on your patio for extended periods can lead to moisture absorbing into the surface, causing immense damage. The best way to keep that moisture from seeping into your patio in the winter is to clear snowfall as soon as you can. Often, snow and ice pose the greatest challenge to maintaining your outdoor living space in Kansas City.
Reseal Your Patio
Spaces between your stone patio pavers can gather and trap water, ensuring that moisture penetrates the stone. Every 1 to 2 years, reseal your patio pavers. High-quality sealant will make the stone less absorbent and prevent some of the water from gathering inside. However, we advise waiting a full year before sealing your new patio for 2 reasons:
- Most pavers come pre-sealed, so that extra protection isn’t needed yet.
- Natural stone and paver patios will expel minerals in a process known as efflorescence, creating an appearance of milky white stains. If you seal your patio too soon, it can trap those mineral stains and permanently cloud it.
At GD Services, we thoroughly seal your patio and other hardscaping as we install it to protect from water seepage and the freeze-thaw cycle. Down the road, if your patio needs resealing, we can help with that too.
Spring’s Impact: Pollen, Rain, & Weeds
With spring come more mild temperatures, ending the freeze-thaw cycle, but it brings new challenges. Increased pollen and rain levels can lead to staining and mildew growth, especially in shaded areas of your patio. The presence of pollen and moisture can also cause weeds and invasive plants to grow between the cracks of your hardscaping.
Sweep Often
One straightforward method of keeping pollen and other debris from gathering on your patio is to sweep it often. You can also try installing an awning or building a roof over your outdoor space.
Ensure Drainage
A well-designed patio will route water away from itself and reduce the amount of moisture it soaks up. Ensure that water properly drains from your patio so your stone pavers are not constantly sitting in water. When we design an outdoor space, effective drainage is one of our top priorities.
Seal & Spray
No one enjoys the look of weeds and other invasive plants sprouting through their nicely laid patio pavers. When you’re maintaining your outdoor living space in Kansas City, reseal your patio every 1 to 2 years and spray for weeds annually.
For a cost-effective and powerful weed killer, try white vinegar. Spray it directly on your patio’s seams, and watch the weeds dry out instantly. If any weeds manage to pop up, make sure to pull out the whole root instead of just breaking off the top.
To prevent weeds from growing between the pavers, we use polymeric sand on every project.
Summer’s Impact: Sun & Heat
During the summer, the sun and heat pose the biggest threats to your space. Constant exposure to sunlight can fade stone, wood, fabric, paint, and more. Extreme heat can warp or crack many materials. The warm weather invites pests too, which can make relaxing in your outdoor space less pleasant.
Cover Up
To prevent the sun from harming your patio and furniture, you can cover the area in a variety of ways. GD Services often constructs covered patios for our clients that provide shelter from harmful UV rays, rainstorms, snow, and debris. Not to mention, coverings can make using your patio during hot weather more comfortable. You could also consider putting up an awning or umbrella or covering your furniture with tarps.
Prevent Pests
Everyone loves the outdoors until bugs come into the picture. To prevent insects from disrupting your patio experience, be sure to spray the perimeter and problem areas with pest repellent every spring. It’s also smart to keep bug spray, citronella candles, and insecticide on hand.
Fall’s Impact: Leaves & Layers
As temperatures drop, so does foliage from your trees and shrubs. Leaves can accumulate on your patio—and if left alone, stain the surface. Fall brings unpredictable and fluctuating temperatures, so everyone carries layers with them throughout the day. The changing temperatures also cause expansion and contraction in materials like wood and stone, potentially leading to cracks or shifting.
Clean Up
To prevent leaf tannins from staining your patio, regularly blow or sweep the leaves from its surface. Maintaining your outdoor living space in Kansas City gets much easier if you address issues proactively. Leaf stains usually fade with time, but GD Services can provide stain removal assistance if they’re especially tough.
Seal It
The best way to prevent the changing temperature from disrupting your patio is to reseal it every 1 to 2 years. You can find a variety of sealants for different patio materials like stone, concrete, or pavers. For porous surfaces like natural stone or concrete, penetrating sealants are the best choice. While film-forming sealants are great for offering additional protection and a glossy or matte finish, depending on the product.
GD Services is happy to help you select the ideal sealant for your patio and the look you’re going for.
Landscaping Maintenance
In our recent blog, Landscape Maintenance in Kansas City | Informed Advice, we covered tips for cutting back plants and lawn maintenance. However, that’s not all there is to landscaping. Here are a few more tasks you don’t want to forget about:
Weed Control
Consistently applying herbicide and regularly weeding are essential in order to maintain the integrity of your hardscaping and other plants. We also recommend removing weeds after heavy rainfall, as the moist soil makes it easier for the roots to detach.
Edging & Mulching
Use a string trimmer, also known as a weed eater, to “edge” the lines in your landscaping. By edging around your plant beds and patio, you can prevent overgrowth, safeguard the structural integrity of your hardscaping, and maintain a tidy environment. Adding mulch to landscaping beds and around trees helps retain soil moisture and suppress weeds. Both edging and mulching also contribute to a better-looking outdoor space.
Check Irrigation
Lawn or garden irrigation systems can leak for a variety of reasons, such as freezing temperatures, rusted piping, or just regular wear and tear. A leaking irrigation system can cause water to pool in your lawn, killing grass and other plants. We suggest carefully examining your irrigation system at the start of each season, with particular attention after winter.
Driveway Maintenance
In another recent blog, Driveway Maintenance in Overland Park | Learn the Ropes, we covered the most integral elements of managing your driveway’s look and lifespan. There, you can read about:
- Debris & stain removal
- Annual power washing
- Concrete sealant
- Settling concerns
If you experience settling on a driveway GD Services installed, contact us right away for help.
Spring Cleaning is Key
Spring is the best season to work on maintaining your outdoor living space in Kansas City for several reasons.
- Due to freezing temperatures, winter is most likely to damage your patio and landscaping, making spring the perfect time to clean things up and inspect your yard. It’s vital that you address damage quickly after winter to prevent any issues from getting worse.
- Spring is the start of the growing season for many plants, making it the best time to take care of landscaping responsibilities.
- Since you’ll be using your yard the most during summer, spring is a great time to spray for pests, install shade, and beautify the space before the peak season to enjoy it.
- Spring has the most mild temperatures, making it the most comfortable to be outside for extended periods.
GD Services: Our Maintenance Services
Installing hardscapes like patios, walkways, driveways, firepits, and retaining walls keeps our team at GD Services busy. If you happen to encounter a more severe maintenance issue with a completed project of ours, we can come and assess the situation.
However, we understand that our schedule may not always allow for smaller maintenance services, so we’re happy to recommend a maintenance or landscaping company we trust to assist you.
Trust GD Services for Your Outdoor Living Space Needs
Don’t worry if you feel like your whole yard needs a makeover after reading about outdoor maintenance. GD Services has the expertise and equipment to transform your space into a paradise. Maintaining your outdoor living space in Kansas City takes forethought and effort, but GD Services will always be here to support you through it.
Continue reading: Landscape Maintenance in Kansas City | Informed Advice; Driveway Maintenance in Overland Park | Learn the Ropes