Outdoor Yard Maintenance

Discussion in 'Sun City New Members' started by DDD, Jun 19, 2020.

  1. DDD

    DDD New Member

    I appreciate everyone's answers. When I am looking at homes online I see that most of the yards are gravel. What kind of maintenance is needed for the gravel yards? How do I keep weeds from growing through the gravel? Is there any other kind of outdoor maintenance that is needed in AZ as opposed to other states?

    Also, how long does an air conditioning unit last in AZ on average?

    Have a great weekend, everyone.
     
  2. CMartinez

    CMartinez Well-Known Member

    Hello DDD,

    The reason most yards are gravel is due to the summer heat. It is labor intensive to keep grass green under the sun in this area. Also, the water it takes to keep it green is a huge waste of a scarce resource to us in the desert.

    You will need to do weed maintenance in the rocks. There are several topical applications which will kill the weeds, making removal somewhat easier. Yards with palm trees will require additional maintenance, as palm fronds need to be trimmed and cut back occasionally. Depending on the type of palm, this could mean a once a quarter type of activity to once a year.

    Most other outdoor plantings such as cacti usually stay self sufficient with the amount of water mother nature bestows on it. Other plants such as Mexican Bird of Paradise, Bouganvilla and other types of shrubs require regular cutting and grooming to keep the appearance neat and keep the plant from becoming unmanageable. The shrubs will need regular watering on a drip system or by hand. It is much better to use some sort of an irrigation system for watering the plants, as a hose in the summer heat can burn your hands, either by picking up the hose and touching the brass portion, or the heat will heat up the residual water in the hose, so when the hose is turned on, the water coming out is extremely hot. In other words, you will not be getting a drink from the hose.

    True air conditioning units can last up to 20 or more years with proper maintenance. We have a yearly service check done on ours to make sure the freon is at a decent level and the coils and condenser are free of debris.

    Heat pumps, usually found on the roof, but not all roof units are heat pumps, appear to not last as long. We have regular AC and have not had to replace it, while the neighbors have had to replace their heat pump due to malfunction. I do not have an actual estimate as to how long it has been since the heat pump had to be replaced, just noticed the work was done. I also do not know if any regular maintenance was done on these units as I did not question the neighbor as to why there was a need to replace the heat pump.

    I hope I have covered most of the information for you. If not, I trust other posters will fill in the blanks I left.

    Have a marvelous weekend.
     
  3. SCR

    SCR Active Member

    Have a pre-emergent applied in March to prevent the vast majority of weeds from germinating.
     

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