Blooming On Kauai

Like any investment you make in your Kauai landscape, there are two key factors that will drive warm-season grass you select: time and resources.

There’s no such thing as maintenance-free turf, and some varieties require more fertilization and specific mowing practices that can be labor-intensive and drive up the cost. The more TLC turf demands, the more you can expect to spend. (Ultimately, you’ve got to ask yourself: Is your landscape maintenance budget up to the challenge?)

The conditions on your commercial property also play into the what-to-plant decision. An oceanfront resort needs grass that can stand up to salty winds. A high-traffic property needs turf that can handle pedestrian stress.

Because no two properties on Kauai have the same exact needs, there are a handful of warm-season grasses we plant. Here is an overview of our four favorites, their maintenance requirements and ideal growing conditions.

The fragrant flowers, year-round green grass and characteristic coconut palms on Kauai landscapes provide that true tropical escape for snowbirds who enjoy their home-away-from-homes during winter— seeking refuge when the weather at their full-time home is cold and snowy.

For property owners who invest in second homes on Kauai, now is the time to soak in some Hawaiian bliss. The last thing you want is to arrive and find your property in lackluster condition.

But it happens, every year. We get phone calls from property owners who need some “rescue landscape maintenance” on their vacation properties because they were not properly maintained.

On Kauai, there are no breaks from landscape maintenance; our growing season is year-round.  

Now while you are on the island is the perfect time to assess your property, identify any potential problems, and enlist in a reputable landscape maintenance provider who you can trust to care for your grounds while you are gone. That way, when you travel to Kauai to stay for the winter months, your landscape will be in tip-top shape.

Here are five landscape maintenance essentials for your winter home on Kauai.

What’s always “in” on Kauai: lush landscaping and outdoor spaces where guests can soak in the garden isle environment. Anything commercial property owners do to enhance their landscaping and make it safer, healthier, more sustainable and visually appealing is not just a trend—but a must, if you ask us.

It’s a matter of reinvesting in your Kauai property to increase its value and improve the experience for guests.

That’s why we love when landscape upgrades work double-time, improving a commercial property’s visual appeal and function. For example:

• fire pits that create ambiance plus more seating
• grass that’s more sustainable and healthy
• irrigation systems that are safer for pedestrians and more efficient to run

It’s all about maximizing your budget while improving your property each season. Even the minor landscape upgrades can make a big impact, like changing out tired plants or reinventing an entryway bed.

With Kauai tourism on the incline and the island’s positive economy, now’s the time to explore what’s new for your commercial landscape so you can attract (and entertain) visitors. Here are the top five commercial landscaping trends on Kauai that will help achieve those goals in 2016.

As we ease into the heat of summer, when Kauai’s commercial landscapes tend to get dry and thirsty, the irrigation systems may be operating on a spring schedule—and that means less watering because most sides of Kauai get more rainfall in March vs. July.

Maybe you notice some signs that your grounds need a revamped, more rigorous watering schedule:

• dry spots

• weed infestations

• general burnout

Now is an ideal time to re-evaluate the irrigation schedule for your commercial irrigation system and tune it up for summer weather conditions.

If you’re planning to plant grass on your commercial Kauai property, you know you have several options, including sodding, seeding and hydroseeding. Sod produces instant gratification, but it’s expensive to install and many property owners want an alternative for larger areas because of cost. Seeding the old-fashioned way takes patience and involves using a spreader to distribute seed, then protecting the newly seeded land with hay or another cover material while it germinates and sprouts.

Hydroseeding — also known as hydromulching — is king for planting grass in large spaces because it's efficient, economical and automated. You'll also pay about 75 percent less to hydroseed than to sod. Hydroseeding involves mixing mulch, seed, fertilizer and water in the tank of a hydromulching machine. The slurry is sprayed onto the bare land.

Not sure whether hydroseeding is the best choice for planting grass seed on your Kauai landscape? Here are some questions to ask yourself to determine if this method is a fit for your commercial property.

We hear this question a lot when we meet property managers for the first time, especially if they have been working with a company that never seems to apply fertilizer. (Perhaps the line item is listed on the contract—but why is the lawn looking so brown?)

Timing is everything, and we’re talking about when to apply fertilizer to keep Kauai properties green and growing strong year round. Turf nutrition is a critical, and often sidelined, aspect of a successful lawn care program. The reality is, property managers and homeowners alike may be tempted to reduce the cost of their services by cutting out regular “feeding” of their lawns, opting to reduce fertilization or eliminate it altogether. This is a big mistake. (And we see this happen all the time.)

Our clients are often surprised at how green their lawns and flowering shrubs look once they commit to our program. They often ask us, “What’s the secret?” We wish we had a fancy “trick” or novel response to that question, but the reality is, by customizing a lawn care program that includes consistent, properly managed applications of fertilizer, we give clients the results they desire.

Here are some guidelines we follow at No Ka Oi when determining when, and how, to fertilize the Kauai properties we service.