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Posted October 7, 2026 The short answer: convert in this order: plan your water zones, test and prep the soil, remove or shrink the turf, set up zoned drip irrigation, plant, then mulch. Skipping ahead is where most conversions go wrong. Fall is usually a good time to start, because new plants get a chance…

Posted October 4, 2026 The short answer: there isn’t one hourly number that’s “fair” for every job. A published regional range for landscape design time is roughly $80–$130 an hour, so $100 an hour falls inside it. For hands-on work like mowing or cleanup, most companies don’t bill by the hour at all. They quote…

Posted October 4, 2026 Plants die or weeds sprout through a brand-new rock bed a few months after a landscaping job, and the first question is always the same: whose fault is it, and who fixes it? One of the most common complaints in local landscaping reviews is exactly this. A homeowner has weeds coming…

Posted October 3, 2026 There’s a real, documented pattern in local reviews worth learning from, generalized here without naming any specific company: a homeowner had a new lawn and sprinkler system installed, the sprinkler heads were spaced incorrectly (leaving overspray and uneven coverage), and the sod was planted in the wrong season for it to…

Posted October 3, 2026 There’s no yard in Las Cruces that should run entirely on one or the other — and treating “sprinkler vs. drip” as an either/or choice is one of the more common planning mistakes homeowners make before calling someone in. The real question isn’t which system is better. It’s which parts of…

Posted October 1, 2026 There’s no single answer that works for an entire yard, and that’s actually the most useful thing to understand about drip irrigation scheduling. An established xeriscape bed, a tray of new plants still rooting in, and a vegetable patch all need water on different schedules — running them on the same…

Posted September 30, 2026 Fall cleanup in Las Cruces isn’t the raking-leaves ritual it is in a lot of the country — most yards here are more xeriscape and desert-adapted than turf-heavy, so the real work is different. It’s about getting ahead of the first hard freeze, cutting back watering the right way as the…

Posted September 27, 2026 The National Weather Service defines the North American monsoon as running June 15 through September 30, which means Las Cruces just came through the wettest, most drainage-testing stretch of the year. If a spot in the yard pooled, eroded, or ran toward the house at any point this summer, now —…

Posted September 27, 2026 Las Cruces sees its average first 32°F frost around November 13, with an 80% chance of frost by November 21. That’s still a few weeks out, but the yard tasks that actually protect a property from freeze damage take time to get through — this is the point in the season…

Posted September 27, 2026 If you’re thinking about adding a tree this year, the short answer from NMSU’s own local extension office is: wait for November. It’s counterintuitive — most people associate planting with spring — but in southern New Mexico, fall is when trees actually get the best start. What Does NMSU’s Doña Ana…