Rock Water Farm Landscaping Blog | Northern Virginia

What’s Included in Landscape Maintenance? Understanding Landscaping Services

Written by Todd Thomasson | Oct 25, 2021 4:00:43 PM

If you want a picture-perfect yard, like the kind that you see in a magazine or on television, then you probably understand you need to invest in professional landscape maintenance services in Northern Virginia. If you don’t, you will likely be sorely disappointed. Shrubs are not going to look neatly trimmed, plants aren’t going to be thriving, and the plant beds won’t be free of weeds or unwanted overgrowth.

Still, you might be wondering what’s included in landscape maintenance?

And what do you really need to ensure you have completed if you want a pristine landscape for your Northern Virginia home?

We understand that landscape maintenance is a relatively broad term and that different landscaping companies might even interpret it in different ways. In this article, we’ll talk about what it means to Rock Water Farm, why it’s important, and what you should expect for your investment.

What is Included in Landscape Maintenance?

Since every property is unique, the landscape maintenance plans at Rock Water Farm are custom-designed for each of our clients. It’s important that your landscaping company is able to adapt a plan to your exact property, as each one is different (with different needs).



As far as what to ensure is included, the most important thing is to avoid cutting corners.

The truth is, landscapes are complex and composed of multiple facets and if you truly want to have that pristine property that looks like the one you saw in a magazine, you’ll want to make sure that you’re keeping up with all of these different types of landscaping services.

If you end up skimping in some areas, it tends to overshadow the areas where you did invest in landscaping services (and that defeats the purpose). When homeowners say they want their property to look like a photo in a magazine, but then they’re only willing to pay for landscaping services a handful of times during the year (usually when things start to look really bad), they’re just never going to be able to achieve those goals.

You must keep up with landscaping services if you want to get the most value out of them.

Some of the most important landscape maintenance services at Rock Water Farm include the following.

  • Spring cleanup
  • Dividing perennials
  • Cutback of ornamental grasses and perennials
  • Trimming/shearing/hand-pruning shrubs and ornamental trees
  • Weed pulling and preventative weed control treatments in plant beds
  • Edging and mulching
  • Fertilization of landscape plants
  • Treatment of insects and diseases in landscape plants

Is Lawn Care Included in Landscape Maintenance?

At Rock Water Farm, our lawn care program is separate from landscaping. In professional terms, “landscaping” refers to the trees, shrubs, and plants on your property, whereas lawn care addresses the lawn with additional key lawn care services.

These include some of the following.

  • Lawn fertilization and micronutrient treatments
  • Weed control
  • Limestone application
  • Preventative grub control
  • Double-pass core aeration and overseeding
  • Weekly mowing

While these might be separate areas, that’s not to say that they don’t go hand-in-hand. If you were to invest in your landscape but ignore your lawn (and as a result, it’s turning brown or overrun by weeds), your property as a whole isn’t going to look too good.

Similarly, if you were to invest in lawn care but ignore landscape maintenance services, your messy plant beds will likely detract from your thriving lawn.

For these reasons, the majority of homeowners in Northern Virginia end up investing in both. They want a property that looks great all-around, not just in certain areas.

Are Landscape Maintenance Services that Different from Company to Company?

Now that you have a better idea of what should be included in landscape maintenance services to match your expectations of what your property should look like, you might be wondering what really makes one company that different from another.



After all, many companies offer landscape maintenance services in Northern Virginia.

Here are a few ways that you can start to narrow the playing field and choose a company that will best meet your needs.

Multiple Services Under One Roof

One thing that can differentiate a company is being able to offer multiple lawn and landscape services under one roof. There are many companies that either offer just lawn care, or just landscaping.

But it helps to choose a company that can offer both—plus, high-quality design/build work, too.



Finding one company that does it all (and does it well), is not a simple feat. But by doing so, you can really simplify your life while ensuring that your property is getting everything that it needs to perform its best. Even if you do not have a need for multiple services at once, you are setting yourself up for success down the road when you do.

Fantastic Online Reviews

Since a lot of companies offer landscaping maintenance services, you want to make sure that you’re choosing one that is going to do an amazing job. It can help to read online reviews and see what other homeowners in the area have to say about the company you’re considering.

We suggest finding a company that has at least 40 to 50 validated reviews and a score of at least 4.5 or higher.

A High Level of Professionalism

With landscaping workers coming to your property regularly to keep it looking its best, you also want to find a company that has a high level of professionalism. That means one who hires trustworthy, dependable and highly trained individuals—and that is dedicated to offering the best.

There are a lot of companies offering landscape maintenance services but they don’t all take pride in their work. You want a professional service that is going to go above and beyond when it comes to maintaining your property whether that be treating insects or disease, fertilizing the lawn, providing seasonal flowers, or any other service they’re providing while on your property.

Considering Rock Water Farm for your Landscape Maintenance Services

Rock Water Farm got started as a design/build company in Northern Virginia. But we began offering landscape maintenance services as a direct result of client demand. Our design/build customers had come to know and trust us, and they had a hard time finding a landscaping company that could truly meet their needs.



Ultimately, it made sense for us to begin to offer landscape maintenance services with the high level of professionalism and attention to detail that we give to our design/build projects. As a result, it has allowed us to design and build a project for homeowners and then transition into maintaining it too.

After all, landscaping is an ongoing need and requires upkeep and care over time. We hate to see when a beautiful design project is completed but not maintained as it can fall into disrepair. To project the value of your investment, you want to ensure that proper landscape maintenance is maintained.

As you look for a landscaping company that you can trust, we would love for you to consider Rock Water Farm. It is that foundation of trust, professionalism, and top-quality work that has allowed us to grow over the years. And we continue to grow as we add homeowners like you to our growing family of clients.

Are you ready to have a property that you are proud of at your Haymarket, Gainesville, or Round Hill, VA home? If so, talk to an expert, choose a solution that rocks, and get ready to see your dreams begin to take shape!