Jan 10
0

Arnie says “give back” in his new book

By | Reviews | No Comments

Be useful

You can’t go wrong by reading Arnold Schwarzenegger’s new book, “Be useful”. I found it interesting; and I suspect you will, too. Just consider his many accomplishments: Mr. Olympia, Mr. Universe, Hollywood movie star, California Governor and author.

In the book Arnie gives you seven tools for life. But I didn’t expect to see a long section on giving back; on helping out and being useful. He did it and we can, too. That includes my teenage kids. My son helped install Christmas lights in front of my building recently now that he is taller than his father; and my daughter often makes cakes for her friends. I sometimes volunteer on ivy and knotweed pulling events in public parks.

Landscape volunteers

The idea of giving back brings me to my landscaper buddy Derek. Last fall he volunteered to clean up a garden belonging to a ninety year old woman. Her run down garden was a source of stress for her but she didn’t have the money to hire people. So in stepped Derek with a few more volunteers. They weeded, cut out tree suckers and hand pruned.

Originally I wanted to join them and then write a blog post about the experience. Unfortunately, my work schedule didn’t allow for it. So I waited for Derek’s social media posts so I could poach his pictures.

The garden clean-up happened over two sessions and it was a success. The old lady was ecstatic when she saw her upgraded garden. Arnie would have been proud. I sure was.

Over to you

How can you give back and help out in the community? Arnie’s fame is a great advantage when it comes to giving back but we don’t have to go big. Not right away. Just pick a project that interests you and give it a go. Give back. Help out. Make someone’s day.

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Jan 06
0

Dandelion greens for sale! Yes, really.

By | Plants, weeds | No Comments

“What the s=*#?”

Yesterday I happened to scroll through my Facebook feed and I found a gem in a lawn care group. A professional lawn care dude, presumably running his own company, posted the picture below with a question: “What the shit?”

It’s almost comical. A lawn care professional shocked by seeing local organic dandelion greens for sale. That’s because the chemical industry has done a great job picking on the plant. Unfairly. That’s it, that’s the main point of this blog post. Landscapers have become so brainwashed by the chemical industry, they can’t believe the plant they fight and poison is available for sale. And marked as organic.

Lawn care professionals usually try to get rid of dandelions by mowing them down weekly; and by poisoning them with chemicals. In your own garden you might be able to just pick them out with a hand tool. I once spent a day doing exactly that. You can read about it here.

Or your kids can run around in the “weeds” and make wreaths. I remember playing with dandelions as a kid in Europe. I especially remember one open field like it was yesterday because I would walk it between my grandpa’s villa and my father’s office.

Great plant, great benefits

My other point is that dandelions (Taraxacum oficinale) are amazing plants. I love the way they look but I understand why some multi-family complex clients don’t appreciate the wild look.

Dandelions are so widespread because they don’t need sex to reproduce. And every single part of the plant is edible! Like the greens pictured above and the roasted roots turned into organic, USDA-approved, tea. I buy it occasionally just to create some demand for dandelions.

You can Google the many health benefits of dandelions. And this is just one plant. How many others are we “nuking” because the chemical industry wants us to have a perfect lawn? It’s just that the dandelion is a poster child for the chemical industry; that’s how good they are at selling their chemical products.

Go ahead, try it!

I openly admit to looking at dandelion tea with some reservations. USDA-approved, organic dandelion root tea for C$6? But I gave it a shot and everything was fine. You can too. So next time you see dandelion greens for sale, buy some and enjoy them. The dandelion got picked on by the chemical industry unfairly. It’s an amazing plant.

That was my reply to the post mentioned above. Greens? That’s nothing. The whole plant is edible.

Controls over 50 weeds and look which one is on the cover!
Jan 03
0

Why I love the moss appreciation society!

By | Forests, Mosses | No Comments

What’s moss?

Mosses are non-vascular plants lacking true roots. They often thrive in moist locations and reproduce through spores. Just today I took a walk in a park close to my house and moss grew on trees; on the north side where there is less direct sunlight.

People love moss!

I had no idea people loved moss so much. There is an actual Moss Appreciation Society group on Facebook. And I think I understand their fascination with moss. Imagine my delight when I walked through ancient temple grounds in Kyoto, Japan. All you see is moss on the ground, a few stone lanterns and Japanese maples and Azaleas. It was simple and beautiful.

Even a moss covered gate column in Langley, British Columbia looks good.

This north facing gate is also shaded out by field maples (Acer campestre).

Hilarious pictures

The best part about belonging to the Moss Appreciation Society is seeing the pictures people post online. People love soft mosses in the woods. I do, too. But some of the pictures are close to suggestive. Like this one. Some moss lovers might find the tights a distraction from the mosses. Who knows. I did.

Some of the pictures remind me of crime scenes from the movies. Like this one:

More women in tights and moss in the woods. But to be honest my first reaction to this photo was “is she Ok?” It does look like a crime scene.

Some people even wear moss on their heads. Why not? I’m not judging anyone.

Nature

We need nature. We must go out and enjoy it and if you love moss and it gets you out into the woods, perfect! Mosses are very interesting plants. Unfortunately, as a landscape professional I’m often asked to remove moss from lawns. Even after I point out that the conditions are ideal for moss development: shady, north facing lawn close to the house.

Running around with moss killer which turns the moss black is depressing. I want to dress my wife in her tights and take her out into the woods to enjoy the mosses. You should go too. And definitely join the Moss Appreciation Society.

Dec 30
0

Why I added lawn creep to my online course

By | Lawn Care | No Comments

Lawn care mastery online course

When I first put together my course outline, I had five of the biggest lawn care mistakes covered. The course was done and published on Teachable: greenfirstacademy.com. I thought I was done and I started working on course number two. But then I started noticing lawn creep at work and in online posts.

What’s lawn creep?

Lawn creep happens when the edge between say a sidewalk and lawn gets bigger and bigger. Eventually a large gap develops, giving the impression that the lawn is retreating from the sidewalk.

How does it happen? It’s caused by landscapers vertical edging with line trimmers from the lawn side. Since the line doesn’t hit the edge at precisely ninety degrees the way a blade edger can, the lawn edge gets shaved off on weekly or bi-weekly basis. Here’s an example.

Lawn creep in the USA: note how wide the gap is between the lawn and sidewalk

What’s wrong with lawn creep?

Lawn creep looks ugly and, once the gap is wide enough, weed seeds will take hold in the gap. Now you’ve created extra weeding work for yourself. See below how beautiful the blade edger is. The difference is huge.

How to prevent lawn creep

The best way to prevent lawn creep is by using a blade edger with a skinny blade. Since the blade follows the hard sidewalk edge at ninety degrees, there is no creep. All we get is a sharp line that keeps the lawn from spilling over the sidewalk. Here’s an example:

No creep happens with blade edger use.

I can hear the complaint: what if I don’t own a blade edger? No problem. When you vertical edge, stand on the sidewalk. That way if you don’t achieve the desired ninety degree angle, you will just chew up your line, not the lawn.

Lawn creep happens more than you think.

Another massive gap created by poor vertical edging. I didn’t touch the grass.

Here the homeowner wondered why the edge was creeping closer to her house.

Stop lawn creep

Stop unsightly lawn creep by using a blade edger or vertical line edging from the sidewalk, not the lawn side. The gaps created by lawn creep look awful and invite weeds to move in.

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Dec 26
0

Rhododendron reduction follow-up

By | Pruning | No Comments

Rhododendron reduction

What do you do when your rhododendrons get too big? You can reduce them with your hand saw and hope the shrubs recover. That’s what happened at one strata (multi-family) site where the residents wanted their rhododendron significantly reduced.

So grab a sharp hand saw and get to work. But before you do, remember one rule: rough-barked specimens recover better than smooth-barked specimens. Luckily, in my case, the shrubs were rough-barked.

Latent buds

Rhododendron reduction works because the shrubs have latent buds hiding under the bark. Once you reduce your shrub these buds start emerging and popping. You just have to be patient. Once, I reduced a client’s rhododendron so hard, the lady wasn’t exactly happy. I told her the shrub would recover nicely and I was right. It just took way longer than I expected.

Now back to our strata example.

Follow-up visit

Months later I showed up on site and went to see the rhododendrons just as daylight was fading fast. Clearly the latent buds I had seen popping months earlier were now fully grown and showing buds. Those buds are set for next summer so don’t touch them in December.

One problem

I did notice one problem. There were several large stems without any buds or growth. It’s as if there were no latent buds anywhere, which is weird. I have no idea why the odd stem is bare, looking like a stick.

The fix is obvious: follow the bare stem to the next green growth and remove it just above it so the “stick” doesn’t show anymore. If the entire branch is bare then we’ll remove right at the base. As if we were coppicing it.

This will give us the look we want: a green rhododendron shrub, nicely reduced by more than half. Now to keep it at that height, we’ll diligently remove each season’s new growth.

Remove sections highlighted in black

Remove entire branch, if bare.

Conclusion

Yes, you can reduce your rhododendrons significantly thanks to latent buds hiding under the bark. Just remember that rough-barked specimens recover better than smooth-barked specimens. If you get branch sections totally devoid of any growth and poking out like “sticks”, just remove them with a sharp hand saw.

Dec 24
0

Native plant lesson from a construction site

By | Plants | No Comments

Roadside planting

This afternoon I went for a walk while my son refereed a soccer game; and on the way back I noticed a number of pots by the trail. They were set out and ready for planting. Aha. Here was a perfect chance to see what the city is planting and to test my plant identification skills.

As soon as I saw the pots and tags I knew this was a native planting scheme. All of the plants are native and they will quickly cover up the unsightly construction zone. Most of the plants are already growing in the nearby park areas; this would be a terrible place to introduce non-native plant species.

So let’s take a look. See how many of the plants you already know. I openly admit to not knowing the botanical name of the last plant.

Vine maples (Acer circinatum) are well-known native trees in BC and they have nice fall colors.

Both the vine maple and the Black Hawthorn (Crataegus douglasii) trees are correctly positioned farthest from the newly rebuilt trail so they don’t interfere with trail users.

I love Ribes sanguineum because they flower in early spring and lift up the landscape with their flower clusters.

Indian plums (Oemlaria cerasiformis) take abuse from some people for being boring after flowering but I disagree. The white flowers are nice and so are the edible berries.

Salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis) berries are enjoyed by both people and animals. Black bears love them. But when my kids were little they didn’t believe me when I told them they were edible. I had to consume several berries before they tried them.

Thimbleberry (Rubus parviflorus) berries are also edible but don’t take my word for it. Google it before you raid the woods next summer.

The Nootka Rose (Rosa nutkana) will grow fast in its new home and its flowers should be nicely visible from the trail.

Our forests are full of Sword ferns (Polystichum munitum). See the next picture for a mature specimen.

This is the other fern species being planted. Blechnum spicant (Garden fern).

Salal (Gaultheria shallon) is a common groundcover in our forests and wild areas,

One species I didn’t know!?

The last species I had to guess at and I definitely didn’t know its botanical name. That made the whole walk into a fun learning experience. Do you know it? Since it’s the lowest growing species it’s being planted near the trail.

Asarum caudatum (Wild ginger)

Running into a native plant planting zone on my walk made my day. I tested myself on plant identification and I learned a new botanical name: Asarum caudatum (Wild ginger). So get out into nature over the holidays and see which native plants you can identify.

Dec 23
0

Are you ready for your first blade change?

By | Company News | No Comments

First time!

It’s hilarious when after working with someone for months, I discover that they have never changed the blade on their blade edger. Blade edgers give us beautiful definition where hard edges meet lawns. I love to put one last blade edge on a site before the winter holidays because it sharpens the site look; and it will last because our lawns aren’t growing actively.

Of course, it’s difficult to put in a nice, sharp edge when your edger blade is down to a short stump. You must know how to change it. There are two important keys to this simple changeover: you must know how to stop the blade from spinning and realize that blade edger bolts loosen clockwise. That’s it!

Tools you will need!

Step one is lining up the holes and inserting a Stihl screwdriver to stop the blade from rotating

Loosen the bolt clockwise and avoid cutting your hand on the blade. Wear gloves.

Remove the bolt, cover piece and old blade. Yes, this one still looks good.

Ready for a new blade!

Now we put it all together!

Safety

Back when I was young and sloppy, my hand slipped on a stubborn blade and I cut the palm of my hand open. This required freezing and stitches at a nearby clinic. So wear gloves and don’t over-tighten the bolt.

Fly baby!

I love the way hard edges look after edging and blowing. Always run your blower along the entire edge to dislodge any debris. Then look back and enjoy your beautiful work.

This is much nicer!

The edge above looks great but if you look closely there is some soil on the bottom right that could be forced out with a rake. Still, not bad, thanks to your new sharp blade.

Don’t forget to teach the next new landscaper or homeowner that comes along. Be great!

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Dec 21
0

Watch where you plant!

By | Planting | No Comments

Think about your planting spots

Some planting spots are better than others. This is what I was thinking today on a visit to my client’s place. I had to remove remnants of a pruning job I did to keep mature Photinias from touching the house; and I also had to knock down some blackberries.

As you can guess, this isn’t a well-maintained landscape. The owner calls me to put out fires periodically; I wish she would pay for regular maintenance throughout the year.

Shrubs in lawn

To reach the Photinia debris I had to walk past the front lawn where one small rhododendron sat. It’s a sad-looking specimen. The reason it’s struggling is because it’s sitting in a lawn and competing with grasses for resources like water and food. Never underestimate your turf grasses.

Even if you cut out a small tree circle around the rhododendron, you will likely get no growth or very slow growth. And I’m not making it up. Even the legendary gardener Christopher Lloyd agrees on page 17 of his excellent book “The well-tempered garden“.

Sadly, this isn’t my first blog on this topic. In 2022 I published a blog about a struggling Pieris, now long gone. This poor shrub struggled with grass competition and lawn care machine abuse. It never had a chance without a circle cut out to warn workers to stay away.

Trees in plastic turf

Next door to my client lives a homeowner with three Chinese windmill palms (Trachycarpus fortunei). Two are planted in beds and doing fine; one sits in plastic turf! I’m not kidding. It looked all brown a sad with only a hint of green this past summer. Today I found it beheaded with only a “joystick” left.

Why the difference? Well, water falling on the turf runs off and in summer the plastic heats up. That’s why soccer fields are watered down in summer; and why pet owners do the same. A palm standing in plastic turf gets cooked; and surface roots can’t find the resources they need under plastic, assuming they are alive . It’s a terrible idea.

Toast!

Conclusion

Choose your planting spots well before installing trees and shrubs. Plants struggle to survive in lawns and plastic turf. Now you know.

Dec 19
0

Lessons from a gardener’s garage sale

By | Events, gardening | No Comments

Deals!

I know that some people frequent garage sales where they buy stuff they then flip for profit online. I’m not one of them, not yet. But this morning I made the forty-five minute drive into Vancouver to visit a garage sale put on by a retired professional gardener.

A few hours later flurries would come down so it was a cold morning but I had fun visiting another gardener and ISA certified arborist. This gentleman ran his own gardening company for over thirty years, servicing well-to-do residences in Vancouver. He never had more than four employees.

So now what, I asked him. It turns out he discovered his second act: he’s working as a tourist guide in Vancouver and sharing its history! That’s definitely less taxing physically; and he’s enjoying himself.

Greed and unaffordability

The current housing situation in British Columbia and the rest of Canada is horrendous. It turns that our retired gardener got a “renoviction” notice last fall to move out by February 2024. Thus the garage sale.

Having lived at the house for the past nine years means that his rent was probably very low and affordable. So the landlord is moving back in, allegedly. But I say they will eventually rent the place out at 35% more. And finding a new place to live for a seventy-plus retired gardener must be a nightmare.

Last year my own landlord openly, and illegally, emailed me with a 35% rent increase, saying I should be paying “market rates”. Oh, the beauty of greed! Laws only permit 3% annual rent raises. Yes, the market has gone nuts.

Here we go, 2024

So now I have to make more money to cover a huge rent increase, like the rest of Canada’s renters. That’s why I combed through the garage sale for items that would help my own one-man company. And I found some. Let’s see:

An 8′ landscape ladder in great condition for cheap was a huge score for me. I will eventually need bigger ladders like 10′ and 12′ but this baby will do for now.

Old tarps. Now I know that sounds a bit sketchy but new green waste tarps are fairly expensive. It was nice to score a few.

Used tarps are extremely useful.

I also scored a STIHL safety helmet with earmuffs and a shield. It’s nice to have a back-up unit; or I might sell it later. It has a nice ISA certified arborist sticker on it.

Five and ten litre jerry cans will also come in handy; and so will another hard rake in great condition. Wooden tools eventually break.

Afternoon flurries

By the time I got home the flurries were annoying so I changed my plans. I went home to compose blog posts like this. I still have Sunday and Monday to hustle.

It’s important to stay flexible and resilient. Careers end, rents go up, the weather turns ugly. Change is constant so get ready. I’m looking forward to 2024. Are you?

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Dec 17
0

Definitely say “Thank you!” to your landscaper

By | gardening, Landscaping, Seasonal | No Comments

Thank you!

It’s a long year outside in the landscape so it’s always nice when a resident shows up with gifts to thank us. Like today. While I was deep-edging and enjoying a beautiful sunny mid-December day a resident “woke me up” from my audiobook.

The lady handed me an envelope with sweets and a card with cash inside. The sweets didn’t last very long; before lunch is the most dangerous time for landscapers because blood sugar levels are low. So I took care of that problem very quickly; and there was enough cash to buy lunch at Tim Horton’s an hour later. That was really nice.

It doesn’t matter who maintains your complex or residential garden, say “thank you” just before the holidays. Your landscapers and gardeners work hard to keep your place looking great. They will definitely appreciate a simple ‘Thank you’.

Bitch, bitch, bitch

It isn’t always rosy like this. Sometimes things go wrong so I fully expect to get several complaints a year. Not that every complaint makes sense. When I was a new landscape foreman every complaint threw me off and many times I lost sleep because of it. Not anymore. Now I’m a working manager and most complaints can be dealt with. I no longer lose sleep over it.

Now it’s also easier to blame junior staff for mistakes…….

A long season

Every Christmas it hits me how long the season is. Landscapers sweat outside all year in heavy rain, 30+ summer temperatures and in freezing temperatures. Every spring is super busy, then comes hot summer weather. When school starts, leaves start to turn and fall and the clean up can drag into December.

December is always a bit sketchy because we never know what we’ll get. This year El Nino is giving us a mild start to winter so it looks like we’ll make it to Christmas without interruptions. I can’t remember the last time I did side jobs the week before Christmas; and I have tree work ready for the new year. I’m counting my blessings.

Conclusion

When you’re enjoying your Christmas holiday this year look outside at your garden or landscape. If it’s in great shape, don’t forget to say thank you to your maintenance workers. They spend a long year outside doing their best.

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