From the biggest patio to the smallest blade of grass, there isn’t much we don’t know about landscaping, lawn care, and irrigation systems. We’ve got lots of information to share in this blog, and we hope it proves helpful. Of course, if there’s a topic on which you’d like more information, feel free to contact us and let us know.
6 Landscape Design Projects You Can Start Planning for Right Now!
Ready, set … is it spring yet? Snow. Flurries. Screaming wind. Yup…it’s official. November has finally arrived. For those among us who live for soft, warm breezes, BBQs on the patio, and grass that … Read More …
Minnesota Shrubs for All Seasons
Spring blooms to autumn shades — choosing and caring for shrubs in your landscaping Shrubs and trees form the backbone of your landscape to accentuate your perennials and annuals. Shrubs fill the … Read More …
Is There A Bad Time to Aerate Your Lawn?
Wondering when to aerate your lawn in Minnesota? The short answer — Fall, particularly after Labor Day and throughout September. Now for the long answer — Timing is one of the most important factors … Read More …
How to Care for Your New Sod Installation
When you’ve had sod installation service done and have created a beautiful lush green lawn, you need to protect that investment and … Read More …
Garden Plants That Help Pollinators Thrive
Did you know that one third of our plant-based food sources depend on insects for pollination? Pollinators are an integral part of our food supply chain and unfortunately, their populations are … Read More …
How to Create a Butterfly Garden
Butterflies are important pollinators that also add color, life, and interest to your backyard. With fewer and fewer available habits because of urban sprawl, creating a butterfly garden in your yard … Read More …
Making Your Yard a Joy, Not a Chore
What’s your biggest complaint about gardening and yard maintenance? Our guess is that you said, “weeding!” We’ve never met someone who actually enjoys weeding. The other common complaint is that it … Read More …
Illuminate your Landscape Design
Once the sun goes down, your landscape changes as focal points shift, shadows lengthen, and your outdoor living spaces become cozier. With the right outdoor Read More …
The Benefits of Fertigation Systems
Fertilization Made Easy! Have you ever walked down the fertilizer aisle at your local garden store? It can be overwhelming with so many choices — Do you buy liquid or granular fertilizer? What ratio … Read More …
Design Tips for Perfect Outdoor Kitchens
Are you looking forward to the days of having friends over and enjoying a meal together in your backyard? Or trying out some new recipes on your BBQ or in your pizza oven? With the summer coming, … Read More …
Our Commitment to Your Safety
COVID-19: What we're doing and what you need to know. Dear Rock Solid Landscape & Irrigation Customers: Rock Solid remains operational and able to continue to service our customers. We are … Read More …
The Importance of Spring Lawn Care
It’s officially spring! In other words, it’s time to start thinking about getting your yard ready for the summer. Proper spring MN lawn … Read More …
Home and Garden Shows — The Cure for Cabin Fever
Update: The North Suburban Home Show on Saturday, March 14, 2020 has been canceled. Due to the recent COVID-19 outbreak, these events have been rescheduled in efforts to comply with the … Read More …
Fall Yard Clean Up Tips — Step Up Your Lawn Care & Landscaping Game
Yard clean up and preparation NOW pays off next year! As we watch summer shrink away in the rear-view mirror, it’s tempting to think that lawn care and landscaping duties are done for the season. … Read More …
Why Choose Permeable Pavers for Your Hardscape Project
Benefits of Installing a Permeable Paver System If you’re planning a hardscape project — a patio, walkway, driveway — for your property, you’ll need to decide on the type of surface to install. … Read More …
Introduce perennial flowers to your landscape to support pollinators
Recognize national pollinator week The role of pollinators and perennial flowers is so integral to the health of the earth’s food production that since 2007, a week in June has been designated to … Read More …
Spring Lawn Care Tips for a Healthy Yard All Season Long
Help your lawn and yard spring to life and stay healthy Confused about what to do and when for springtime lawn and yard care? The team at Rock Solid has created a handy (and … Read More …
Smart Technology for Lawn and Garden Care
Sprinkler systems can run remotely with an app on the phone What once seemed so futuristic has become almost commonplace: the smart home. With a few swipes on your phone, you can turn on the porch … Read More …
4 Steps to Get Your Landscape Design Project off the Ground
Thinking ahead now saves time and money later Ever suffer from yard envy? That’s when you’re walking or driving around a neighborhood wishing your yard looked as great as that one. Maybe … Read More …
A Survivor’s Guide to Irrigation
If you survived the Minnesota winter (which ended approximately five minutes ago), congratulations are in order. In all likelihood, you’re ready to kiss your grass, roll around in it for a while and … Read More …
Six Landscaping Ideas & Trends to Try
Spruce up your space this spring Nobody expects your grounds to be the gardens at Versailles, but if your backyard consists of nothing but crabgrass, a decomposing picnic table, and a rusty swing … Read More …
Dog Days To-Dos — Lawn Care Tips
Keep your lawn from looking “RUFF” The signs are all there — Christmas decorations are out at Target, parents are counting down the days until school starts again, you’ve accepted that you’re … Read More …
Drought and Irrigation
How to win a turf war with Mother Nature We’ve been pretty lucky so far this season. It seems like we’ve had just about the right amount of rainfall. However, there is a LOT of summer left. Let a … Read More …
Trends in Water Features
Come on in! The water’s fine! Thinking about adding a water feature to your outdoor living space this summer? Great! Water … Read More …
Trends in Outdoor Lighting
See the light(s)! For those who are gone all day, but ready to play at night, outdoor lighting illuminates the way for … Read More …
How to Choose a Good MN Landscape Company
4 questions to ask before you say, “I do.” Choosing a MN Landscape Company can be a little like choosing a mate. It’s important to learn as much as possible ahead of time to ensure your ultimate … Read More …
From Lawn Care to Lawn Chairs
A checklist for your summertime backyard event It’s that time of year again…grads graduating, brides and grooms marrying, families reuniting and you…you’re freaking out. Your lawn is nowhere near … Read More …
Lawn Irrigation Tips — how much water is just right?
Improper irrigation can be a real horror story!First it’s too much rain, then there’s not enough. There’s either a flood or a drought, feast or famine, too hot or too cold. As a homeowner you start to … Read More …
Oh, deer!
4 essential items for deer-resistant gardeningIf deer were actually like Disney characters, prancing through the forest and making mischief with rabbits, we’d all get along. Unfortunately, deer have a … Read More …
What’s growing this season?
Big news from your favorite MN landscape company!For us, there’s more to this season than binging on cookies and cocoa! In fact, we’re expanding something more than just our waistlines — we’re growing … Read More …
Fall Yard Clean Up. Do We Gotta?
More than one good reason for fall lawn care The signs are all there — Christmas decorations are out at Target, parents are counting down the days until school starts again, you’ve accepted that … Read More …
Sprinkler Irrigation Systems
5 Sprinkler Myths Busted! As you survey the grass in your yard that is starting to look more like the Serengeti than a Minnesota lawn, you’re probably regretting putting off putting in that smart … Read More …
Summertime Patio Ideas
It’s time to really enjoy outdoor living When we say “outdoor living” we’re talking about something more than pitching a pup tent in your yard. This summer, why not really rev things up in your … Read More …
Outdoor lighting trends — this isn’t your mother’s porch light
There’s more to outdoor lighting than screwing a 100-watt bulb into the socket on the porch. These days, outdoor lighting adds … Read More …
Four outdoor living trends you’re going to love
There’s more to outdoor living than sleeping in a tent! Minnesota residents know three things: (1) Where “up north” is located; (2) That it’s called “pop” not “soda”; (3) And that the golden days of … Read More …
The best time to install irrigation systems
The secret to a green lawn Remember that first hot day of summer when you turned on your AC, only to discover it had died a tragic death over the winter? And remember how when you called the repair … Read More …
Springtime Lawn Care 101
Your refresher on MN lawn care It’s widely known that Minnesotans enter into a kind of conscious amnesia every winter. We choose to forget about spring and summer, playing ball on the lawn, … Read More …
What does your lawn say about you?
Smart irrigation sprinkler systems + smart homeowner = gorgeous green lawn Ever take those quizzes on Facebook? You know the ones…what does your name mean? What kind of dog are you? Well, we’ve got … Read More …
The Dirty Dozen — Top 12 Spring Gardening & Landscaping Tips
Don’t be fooled by the recent smattering of days with temps in the 60s. Only transplants from warmer climates let themselves get excited about spring arriving in March. After all…this IS … Read More …
That’s a wrap! But before we say goodbye…
Did you hear that? It was the sound of the year whooshing by us at about a million mph. It seems like it was just a minute ago we were slathering on SPF 50 and planting our veggie garden in the … Read More …
Fall gardening tips — what to do before the snow flies
If you’re a soil junkie you know your days in the garden are numbered. Make the most of this beautiful autumn weather by slapping on the garden gloves and heaving the hoe one last time. Here’s a handy … Read More …
Top Six Tasks for Fall Landscaping Cleanup
Let’s face it…now that the kids are back at school, you’ve got all kinds of spare time. Instead of refereeing who gets the last popsicle or mopping up the remnants of a Kool-Aid experiment gone … Read More …
Sprinkler madness — lawn irrigation systems offer hope!
Every season, right about now, we see a fair number of homeowners suffering from sprinkler irrigation madness. Find out if you’re at risk by asking yourself the following:
- Do you feel like … Read More …
Landscape Companies MN — How to choose the best one
Travel down Highway 10 on any given day and you’ll see there’s no shortage of trucks with logos advertising landscape companies in MN. However, a truck, a shovel, and a power mower does not a … Read More …
This summer’s #1 vacation destination? Your backyard with its new landscape design!
Traditionally, summertime means vacation time. That’s right. It’s now officially the season to load up your SUV, crawl through bumper-to-bumper traffic while listening to your children whine in the … Read More …
How intelligent is your sprinkler irrigation system?
Let’s do a little time travel this month, shall we? Flash forward to July. It’s hot and hazy and you’re surveying your crunchy brown lawn. You’re wondering, “What went wrong?” Now, we don’t like to … Read More …
MN Lawn Care — It’s about time!
Between the polar vortex and record snowfalls, I don’t know how much more of this winter we could stand. No doubt about it, we’re hardy in Minnesota and we persevere (and I must say, we do it with … Read More …
“Winter! What have you done to my lawn?” — and other lawn and landscape questions
We can only pretend that the view out the window is an endless expanse of white sand beach for so long. With less than three weeks to go until the first day of spring, we’re asking what’s with all … Read More …
Procrastinators Guide To Getting Lawn Care Done
If you’ve been a Minnesota resident for more than a year, you know that come November, we’re living on borrowed time. It could snow at any moment — before Old Man Winter moves in you’ve got to … Read More …
The Top 3 Can’t-Put-Off-A-Minute-Longer Fall Cleanup Must-Dos
In Minnesota, we love our four seasons, even though some of them last longer than others. Take autumn for example. The days are filled with sunshine, the nights are cool, the leaves turn the colors of … Read More …
The Facts About Free Time, Fall, and Fun Lawn Chores
Let’s start with the facts—the kids are back in school, all your vacation days are used up for the year and just looking at the list of chores you need to complete in your free time exhausts you. … Read More …
What’s the Poop on Fertilizer?
Just because the State Fair is around the corner and the school supplies are out at Target, doesn’t mean the Read More …
Dorothy Was Right! There’s No Place Like Home!
It’s the weekend! Time to gas up your car (at $4+/gallon), pack up your family (yes, even the kicking, screaming 2-year old), and ramp onto the interstate, where you’ll travel at a blistering 10 mph … Read More …
How to Get Rid of Crabgrass
Crabgrass is a stubborn rooting grass with the ability to aggressively grow, spread, colonize, and overwhelm native grasses. Forming “mats” close to the soil, crabgrass will put out extensive roots … Read More …
Spring Fever and What to Do About It
You know how it is—you hear a robin sing, the mercury goes above 60 degrees and suddenly you’re foaming at the mouth in anticipation of raking up all the dead grass, decaying leaves, and general … Read More …
5 Ways to “Summer-ize” Your Winter
Who says you can’t do yard work in winter? Those with a green thumb (and even those with a brown thumb who aspire to greenness) realize that just ‘cuz it’s a freezin’ season doesn’t mean you put away … Read More …
Fall Lawn Care — a Little Effort Goes a Long Way!
Fall is a great time to care for your lawn. Cooler temperatures, less traffic as the kids go back to school, lots of rain…oh, wait. Not this year. The last several months have been very difficult for … Read More …
Fall Lawn Care — Get Rid of the Grubs!
We often get calls from homeowners wanting us to treat dry, yellow, or dead patches of grass, thinking they’ve had sun or animal damage. In fact, almost every lawn we see with dead patches has a … Read More …
The Secret to a Beautiful Lawn? Try the “Big 3” this Fall
Funny how we so look forward to spring and our green lawns…but once July 15th rolls around, it’s almost as if folks feel like they shouldn’t put any more effort into their yards until next year. … Read More …
Lawn Care Tips for Hot Weather
We love summer in Minnesota! We wait all winter for warm breezes, blue skies and that wonderful green grass under our feet. But come July, warm weather becomes hot. With temperatures … Read More …
