Vas Sladek

In my capacity as landscape supervisor I continuously examine landscapes and look for details. Here is what I found last week.

Tree suckers

Since we don’t want branches developing this low on our boulevard trees it’s best to snip them off. I always carry snips on my belt so this was a quick job. One exception would be really young trees. On young trees the lower branched shield the bark from potential sunshine damage. We can leave lower branches on, noting their eventual removal in subsequent seasons.

Lawn care rookies

Staff training never really ends. I like to gently point out mistakes and suggest corrections. As soon as possible. Just remember that some skills require significant amount of time to master. This applies to line trimming. Our new girl is still terrified of causing damage so she lacks the required aggression. Driftwood is fairly solid so we can take some liberties and get close enough to remove the shaggy grass edge. If driftwood chips fly off, we are obviously too close. We’ll give her more practice time on the line edger and she will improve. I know it takes time.

Our new worker will eventually get close enough so the shaggy edge is removed down to mower height. Practice time required.

This massive “Mohawk” is hard to explain.

Weak trees

It’s easy to spot the one weak red maple (Acer rubrum) on this street. Then you have to ask why it’s so weak when its sisters are doing fine. We found out the cause when we attempted to plant boxwoods around the weakling. The soil was so waterlogged we delayed the boxwood planting.

Water displaces oxygen in the soil and if nothing changes, plants suffocate and die. I believe the water leak problem has been corrected so we’ll see what happens with the red maple. My fingers are crossed.

One weak Acer rubrum surrounded by thriving sisters.

Cedar hedges

I personally planted these two cedars (Thuja occidentalis ‘Smaragd’). So I check on them when I can to see if they’re getting watered. Cedars are thirsty in their first year.

Then this week I noticed a wooden trellis around the cedars. The owner had installed it to protect the cedars. But all I see is shading. The trellis blocks light and will most likely lead to browning. That’s not what the lady wanted to hear.

The above is what I noticed on my sites last week. Pay attention to landscape details.

What did you notice?

Good landscape maintenance dictates that we periodically cover the entire site. On small sites this can be accomplished weekly. On larger sites, you can work out a four-week rotation. But the goal should be complete coverage without discrimination.

This was going through my head recently when I was asked to prune and clean up many parking stall inlets on a large site. This wasn’t a new idea; the work was on the site to do list for quite some time. But because the parking stall inlets are lower profile, they get pushed back. It’s not sexy work.

I am convinced we have to fight this discrimination. I treated every single parking stall as I would the main entrance and clubhouse areas. That’s what professionals do.

Parking stalls

Take a few minutes to examine the picture above. It’s hardly an inspiring area. You can see how workers would gravitate toward a clubhouse area with nice grass and plants. So the boss sent me in. Supervisor Vas on the case. No big deal. I don’t discriminate.

Step 1: set out tarps on the river rock because once cedar clippings get stuck in the rock they are extremely difficult to clean up. Raking is brutal and blowing is effective only up to a point. The clippings will get lodged in the rocks. Definitely set out two tarps to avoid headaches later.

Step 2: shear the hedges like you normally would, tight on top and lighter on the sides. All signs must be clearly visible. Once a year should suffice. Twice is OK.

Step 3: clean up and cultivate at the base of the cedars; try not to remove too much bark mulch. Also check the river rock areas for weeds. I found one that required extra time for weeding. Again, aim for complete coverage. Never discriminate. Even low profile parking stall river rock areas should be weed-free. The last thing we want is weeds producing seeds.

Step 4: watch for parked vehicles so you don’t cause any damage. You can always come back later.

Step 5: gently blow off all edges when you do your site courtesy blow.

Discrimination by design

Some landscaping companies give their workers tight deadlines so they have no choice, they have to discriminate. When this is the case, most maintenance tends to happen at high-profile areas like entrances and clubhouses.

Again, this is a bad idea. Very bad idea. Good landscape maintenance is done without discrimination. I’ve seen this at a Burnaby site that went downhill fast. Two low-budget European workers had exactly two hours to spin their magic. And there wasn’t much magic.

By contrast, we have six workers at a neighbouring site all day! Our work involves a three-week rotation so that the entire site is covered. Parking stalls included. No discrimination.

Conclusion

Cover 100% of your work sites periodically so there isn’t any discrimination. Treat lonely corners the way you would high-profile clubhouses. This will lead to happy clients and renewed contracts.