Landscaping in Ridgeland, Mississippi

Ridgeland sits between Jackson and Madison on Interstate 55, with the Natchez Trace Parkway on its west edge and the Ross Barnett Reservoir on its east. It stayed a small railroad town until the 1970s, when Jackson's growth pushed north across County Line Road.

The Reservoir, built in the early 1960s, gave Ridgeland its lakefront neighborhoods. On the west side, Highland Colony Parkway and the Renaissance at Colony Park turned farmland into offices and shopping in the 2000s.

That history gives Ridgeland a wider mix of properties than most people expect. There are seventies and eighties neighborhoods north of County Line Road with mature trees and older irrigation, lakefront and near-lake homes along Lake Harbour Drive, Northbay and Dinsmor, townhomes and newer construction around Highland Colony, and a lot of commercial grounds along the Parkway.

Near the Reservoir the ground is sandier and wetter, the pollen and leaves come down heavy off the water and the hardwoods, and drainage toward the lake has to be handled carefully. Away from the water it's the same Yazoo clay as the rest of the county: compaction, standing water in graded subdivisions, and beds built in subsoil.

The older neighborhoods have forty-year-old oaks shading out Bermuda that was planted when the trees were saplings, so the lawn thins every year no matter how it's fed. Often the fix is thinning the canopy and moving the shaded areas to a shade-tolerant turf or to beds.

Same crew, same day every week, all year. Each visit we mow, edge, trim, blow and walk the property. Near the Reservoir we spot-treat dollarweed and Virginia buttonweed, which are common there. Fertilizer and pre-emergent go down on the warm-season calendar, we aerate the clay in late spring and early fall, and scheduled leaf removal runs from October through the holidays on the wooded lots.

In Olde Towne and off Pear Orchard and Ridgewood Roads, the original shrubs have often outgrown the house, so most of the work is a refresh. On the lakefront we plant what holds up to wind and wet feet. The townhomes near Highland Colony get foundation plantings and pine straw, and commercial designs are built for clean edges and easy upkeep. Lighting on the lake-facing side of Reservoir homes is a common request.

Reservoir-side lots slope toward the water, and the hillside neighborhoods off Old Canton Road slope every direction, so retaining walls with proper drainage are a big share of our Ridgeland hardscape work. We also build paver patios on a compacted base, replace cracked builder concrete with paver walkways, and put in French drains, catch basins and downspout lines for the side yards that stay wet for days.

We maintain the grounds for offices and medical buildings along Highland Colony Parkway, churches, HOA entrances, and retail near Northpark Mall and the Renaissance. That means scheduled visits, seasonal color, pine straw rotation and irrigation checks, with monthly invoicing.

Northbay, Dinsmor, Olde Towne Ridgeland, Highland Colony, the Lake Harbour Drive area, Pear Orchard Road, Ridgewood Road, and Old Canton Road near Old Trace Park. ZIP codes 39157 and 39158. Landmarks near our routes: Renaissance at Colony Park, Ross Barnett Reservoir, Old Trace Park, the Natchez Trace Parkway Visitor Center, the Mississippi Craft Center, the Ridgeland Multi-Use Trail and Northpark Mall.

A Ridgeland year starts quiet. In January and February pre-emergent goes down, ornamental grasses and liriope get cut back, crape myrtles get a light prune instead of a topping, and trees and shrubs go in while they're dormant. Spring near the Reservoir means pollen.

Lawns in Northbay and off Lake Harbour Drive green up in March and April, the first mow is set high, beds get fresh pine straw or mulch, and the irrigation is turned on and checked head by head.

Through summer we mow weekly with the deck raised, feed on the warm-season schedule, spot-treat weeds, and watch for fungus once the humidity settles in. Late summer is when the hardwoods along the Reservoir and Old Trace Park show dead wood, and it's better trimmed than left for a storm.

September and October do the most for next year's lawn: fall fertilization, aeration and overseeding while the soil is warm, and a bed refresh before the leaves drop. Then the leaves come down on the wooded lots, and November and December are leaf removal and the pre-freeze irrigation check. Commercial properties along Highland Colony Parkway follow the same calendar, with seasonal color at the entrances in spring and fall.

Reservoir-side properties need a few things done differently. Near the water we apply fertilizer and weed control with buffer strips and slow-release products so runoff doesn't feed the lake. The pollen in spring and the leaves in fall get cleared on a schedule, before they pile up. On the lake-facing side we plant for wind and wet feet, mostly cypress, wax myrtle, yaupon and ornamental grasses, and we aim lighting away from the water.