Maintenance and Cultural Practices
The Maintenance and Cultural Practices domain tests the routine decisions that keep a landscape healthy: pruning method and timing, turf mowing, aeration and overseeding, irrigation, fertilizing by soil test, mulching and winter protection. Questions reward knowing why a practice is done, because the same cut made at the wrong time of year causes a different outcome.
Pruning
- Make a removal cut with the three-cut method: undercut, top cut, then a stub cut at the branch collar. Never flush cut and never apply wound paint.
- Thinning removes a branch to its origin and keeps natural form; heading cuts stimulate regrowth and are reserved for hedges and specific structural goals.
- Rejuvenate multi-stem shrubs by removing about one third of the oldest stems each year, or cut the whole plant back hard in early spring for species that regrow from the base.
- Timing: prune spring-flowering shrubs right after bloom; summer-flowering shrubs in late winter or early spring; avoid pruning when active spores or insects are likely, and prune oaks dormant where oak wilt is present.
Turf
- Mow at 6-8 cm and follow the one-third rule: never remove more than one third of the blade in a single pass. Alternate direction, keep blades sharp, and leave short clippings.
- Aerate compacted or thatchy turf, overseed with matching species, and fertilize by soil test, weighting nitrogen to the fall.
Water, mulch and winter
- Water deeply and infrequently, preferably early morning, aiming for about 2.5 cm per week including rainfall. Mulch moderates temperature and moisture. Protect evergreens from winter burn and salt with screens, wrap or anti-desiccant where appropriate.
Worked example
Turf is 9 cm tall. One third of 9 cm is 3 cm, so the lowest acceptable cut is 6 cm. Cutting it to 3 cm removes two thirds of the blade in one pass, starving the crowns and opening the turf to weed and drought stress.
Traps that cost marks
Topping trees; sealing pruning wounds; shearing every shrub into the same shape; scalping turf; fertilizing at the wrong season.