Oct 21
0

Why I love my Japanese hori-hori knife

By | Tools | No Comments

From Japan, with love

It used to be that only my trusted Felco 2 hand snips would hang on my belt. But now my belt also supports the Japanese hori-hori knife. It’s very sturdy so you feel its weight a little bit, it has a sharp tip like most knives and one side is serrated. This comes in handy when you are dividing perennials in the fall.

The knife also bailed me out yesterday when I was taking out dead cedar trees. Since I forgot to bring a shovel (don’t ask!) I was able to stick the knife in the ground and find the roots, which I then severed with my hand snips. I hate to do this with my hand snips because they get dull quickly. The hori-hori knife is designed for dirty work. It’s also sharp enough to slice through thin roots.

Who needs a shovel? I used the knife to stab a circle around each cedar and the extraction went well after that. All six trees were dead and fairly easy to extract.

Pro tip: leave the bottom portion of the cedar stem standing so you can use it as a joystick during removal.

Extras

This project sounds super easy, and it was. But it also highlights the importance of extras. Normally I only maintain the front of this eight unit complex, once a month. And if you stick around long enough, do a good job and get to know people, they will give you extra work.

No, I didn’t get rich from this side project but it did pay off a portion of my recent chainsaw attachment purchase.

Other uses

The hori-hori knife is labelled as a digging and weeding knife. It’s a huge gift if you work with freaks who insist on weeding with their fingers. That’s because we need to uproot the weeds and the sharp hori-hori knife is perfect for this work.

I get involved in this debate every season: weeding requires tools, unless you’re only hand picking massive trophy weeds. Professionals use tools! And as soon as I say it, people get sidetracked wondering if Red Seal Vas is a professional instead of focusing on weeds.

Personally I find hand weeding with my fingers very taxing on my fifty-something hands. Why abuse myself when I can uproot the weeds with my beautiful $30 hori-hori knife.

Sheath

You will need a sheath for your hori-hori knife because it’s sharp and you’re less likely to lose it. The Japanese got it right by making a closed belt loop sheath. Lee Valley got it wrong by making a button belt loop. It took me literally five minutes in the field to lose the knife because the button closure is too flimsy for non-stop landscape activity. Don’t buy this belt loop; get one that’s closed.

Conclusion

For $30 the hori-hori Japanese digging and weeding knife is a great tool to hang on your belt right next to your snips. You can use it for weeding, dividing perennials, digging and to keep degenerates away.

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Oct 18
0

Why is my Dawn Redwood tree browning?

By | Company News | No Comments

Do we have a problem?

The owner of this young Dawn redwood tree (Metasequoia glyptostroboides) started panicking when his prized tree showed signs of browning. Now what? People on Facebook offered lots of advice, as they often do.

My own comments were about the tree well. I would enlarge it to keep lawn care machines away from the tree; and to allow the tree to collect water and nutrients. It’s good to keep grass away from your tree because it’s a tough competitor. Sometimes trees planted in lawns don’t thrive; all you get is status quo.

Another obvious issue is water and proper planting. Was the tree planted properly at grade and watered in? Is it getting enough water right now? Or too much?

Since the owner cuts his own grass he’s confident there hasn’t been any damage done to the tree by lawn care machines. Of course, we know well that even professionals can make mistakes.

The key?

Then one lady correctly observed that Dawn redwoods are deciduous so you can expect their needles to turn orange before dropping to the ground. Bald cypress is another evergreen that loses its needles. Which means that the owner shouldn’t be panicking. The tree is doing its thing: as fall approaches its needles start to change color. If the tree pushes out new needles next year, life is good.

Dawn redwood

According to my internet search, Dawn redwoods were first identified from fossil records. But then in the 1940s, live specimens were found in China. Today we see the trees planted in our British Columbia landscapes.

Early into my stint at my current day job company, the boss took me into a strata section and asked me to identify beautiful evergreen specimens. I didn’t skip a beat: Metasequioa glyptostroboides! Impressed, my boss and co-workers didn’t know that, purely by coincidence, I had read an article about the trees the night before. Now whenever I encounter these trees I think of this day and laugh.

If you have lots of space in your garden you can’t go wrong by planting one of these trees. The bark is beautiful. And remember, when the needles turn orange and fall to the ground you don’t have a problem. Dawn redwoods are deciduous.

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Oct 14
0

Garden professor takes on myths

By | Education, gardening | No Comments

Link of gold

Usually, surfing online is an awful time-waster but not today. While checking my Facebook feed I came across a recent video recording of a presentation given by my mentor Dr. Linda Chalker-Scott. You might have read my earlier blog about Linda. In it, I call her my hero because she covers gardening as a scientist. This means that her findings and writings are based in science, not gardening hearsay. When I read about her experiments with mulch flammability I was extremely jealous. I would love to torch different mulches in the name of science.

Linda uses science to bust persistant gardening myths. You can listen to her presentation below. I can almost guarantee you that you will learn something new. It’s also possible that you too are holding on to gardening myths. Let Linda dispel it for you.

My mentor

Before the pandemic hit, I almost got to see Linda at a trade show in Abbotsford. I have several of her books -highly recommended-and I follow her because she writes on topics that apply to my everyday work as a landscape professional.

Let’s see some examples. I know a strata site where one of the residents buys lady beetles every year with after-tax dollars to deal with aphids. It sounds like a plausible idea until you realize that the lady has no way of keeping the lady beetles on her tree. There are more trees on her site. Linda has an extension paper that deals with this topic. (Spoiler alert: don’t do it!)

Now, what about landscape fabric? It’s sounds great! Put it down, cover it with soil or mulch and never weed again. Not so fast. The fabric clogs up and doesn’t let water through; and when the soil decomposes, thin layers can actually make life very cosy for weeds. Landscape fabric is a waste of money. (Now you know!)

Get to know Linda

Gardening is fascinating. There is always something new to learn and I have a lot of respect for garden professionals. But there are many opinions that aren’t backed up by science so why not let Linda show you the way. You can thank me later. She’s an awesome lady and she lives in our corner of the world, in the Pacific Northwest. That’s a huge bonus.

I’m not a garden professor but you can buy my e-books and learn!

Oct 11
0

Poor planting you must avoid

By | Installations | No Comments

Not the best

What’s wrong with this picture?

This obviously isn’t the best planting job; nor is it a great photograph. If you can, zoom in a little bit to see how the root ball is almost fifty-percent exposed. Roots anchor the rhododendron and seek out water and nutrients for the shrub. They can’t really do their job when they’re exposed to the elements. They just desiccate and die.

I took this picture in summer when the province was in drought conditions. Clearly, the plant is in a rough shape. It’s dead and I wonder if it could have been prevented with better planting.

Planting too deep is just as bad so make sure your root flare-where stem becomes root-is planted at grade or just slightly above to allow for settling.

Why so bad?

I hate to rush when I’m planting trees and shrubs but let’s be honest, workers are usually under pressure to put stuff in the ground and move on. So, why is the rhododendron dead?

One problem is planting in newly installed amender or lawn and garden mix. When the soil is installed it’s nice and fluffy but it does settle over time. And it also decomposes or gets washed away by rain. Now, if the rhododendron was planted in the fluffy stuff which subsequently settled, it could result in the trouble we see above.

It’s best to plant your shrubs in native soil and then put amender around the plants but not against the stems. I don’t like planting directly into amender; it’s always preferable to plant into native soils.

We also don’t know if the shrub got enough water post-planting. I suspect it didn’t because this is a non-irrigated site. Another, less obvious problem, is that the amender is fairly warm on the day it’s installed. Planting new shrubs into it can damage the roots. It’s best to plant later or water the planting holes at install time.

Proper planting also saves cash. Somebody had to plant the rhododendron, and somebody had to pay for it. Replanting it takes time; and replacing it is also expensive. Let’s just do it right the first time so we can have a healthy landscape that will inspire the residents. When I look at the picture above, I’m close to depression. We can do better.

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Oct 07
0

Low-profile zones need love, too!

By | gardening, landscape maintenance | No Comments

Don’t discriminate

I love seeing and knowing the entire garden or strata complex landscape. Not just the high-profile entrance and car ramp areas but every little corner, including raised box beds and back of the building areas. You must move beyond the “beauty strip” to succeed.

This isn’t the first time I’ve written about it; but I remembered the idea when I substituted recently for another vacationing landscape foreman. His main helper volunteered to cover the back of the building by himself, which sounds like he reads my blogs. Not so. He’s a smoker and by working at the back of the building he gets to smoke a lot of “fags”. My only worry, with the province in drought conditions, was a human-caused fire in the neighbouring wild zone.

Tasks

Low-profile zones are weedy; full of small weeds and big trophies. There is also some seed drift from the wild zone next door. Cultivation fluffs up the soil nicely as well.

Another less obvious task was establishing tree wells around trees planted in the lawn. Without tree wells to warn lawn care workers about trees, there is bound to be trouble as lawn care machines crash into tree bark. This leads to stress and, if repeated weekly, to death.

Blemishes

When we walked the back area later in the afternoon to assess everything we noticed several blemishes. One was tree stakes installed way too low. Normally, stakes are roughly at chest height, depending on the tree. The stakes we saw were at knee height which makes them ineffective.

Another blemish worth covering in a separate blog, involves shrub planting. Many of the shrubs were sitting high with portions of their root balls exposed. That’s crazy because the roots desiccate and die. Read my next blog post to find out how this can happen.

Residential low-profile corners

Yesterday, my job was to clean-up a backyard residential garden. It was full of magnolia leaves from last fall; there were some dead shrubs and dead branches to remove, and of course, weeds. When I did the final clean up blow I discovered a hidden corner behind a stack of chairs. A perfect example of low-profile garden neglect.

Small weedy areas like this produce weed seeds so it’s best to keep everything in check. Remember, check every single area around your house and garden. Don’t discriminate!

A cleaned-up low-profile zone

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Oct 04
0

Red Seal Vas visits the arborist store

By | Tools | No Comments

Why care?

As you visit this blog and read the headline, you’ll probably think “why should I care about an arborist store?” It’s not like I’m an arborist; I hire those people in shiny helmets so they can charge me exorbitant sums of money for tree and shrub maintenance. Hold on, let me explain.

It’s important to know where your nearest arborist store is because they sell quality, sharp hand saws, snips and loppers; tools homeowners are most likely to use. Yes, the big box stores carry those tools but they’re not as good. Go for quality so you can make great cuts, every time. It happens to me every year: I show up at a client’s place and they eagerly push their own tools on me. The hand saws have rust on them and finger prints from the Second World War. So, I politely decline the offer and use my sharp hand saws.

Getting there

The arborist store in located in an industrial area on 1515 Broadway Street, unit 605, in Port Coquitlam. I didn’t find it easily but the outdoor signs helped. The store itself is nice enough. It’s like a candy store for arborists.

I was there to buy a pole pruning attachment and not seeing prices on the items was annoying. It forces you to check the price on every item with the dude behind the counter. I found what I was looking for but it wasn’t cheap. However, I expect to get my money back after a few tree jobs; it’s an investment so I didn’t cry about it.

Then I noticed a Japanese hori-hori knife for weeding and pruning; and for protection from degenerates. I also love the sheath which attaches nicely to my belt. Months earlier I purchased a smaller knife at Lee Valley but, incredibly, the sheath had a button on the belt loop. Clearly, the designers don’t work in the field. It took fifteen minutes for the button to fail and the knife slide down my rain pants. This is a major fail. The Japanese got it right!

Exit

Before paying I registered my business with the store and now, as I suspected, I’m getting weekly junk mail with discount codes. I also picked up free stickers before snapping a few pictures and leaving the store. Obviously, professional tree dudes know this store well but I would argue that homeowners too, should get to know it. They can buy good quality, sharp tools here, from snips and hand saws to loppers.

I bought my pole pruner attachment so I can do easy tree work. The Japanese hori-hori wasn’t exactly a required item but I do like the knife. You can weed with it and divide perennials.

You don’t have to be an arborist to visit this store. Walk in and check out the sharp tools on the wall right in front of the cashier. Pay extra for good quality.

Sep 30
0

Noise isolating earmuffs from TZumi rock!

By | health and safety, Reviews | No Comments

Home depot discovery

As a landscape professional I have to protect my hearing as the seasons and years pile on. I have plugs and several Peltor earmuffs which run in the $50 range. And I also used to know several pairs of earphones so I could listen to audiobooks at work. But given the nature of my work-non-stop movement outdoors-I would thrash my earphones weekly.

Then, one lucky day I found myself inside a Home Depot store and I noticed a cardboard showcase at the end of an aisle. TZumi bluetooth headset that cost less than my trusty Peltors!? What? Really? I immediately jumped on it because I knew this blog post would eventually get written, once I tested the headset in the field.

Red Seal test

The price at roughly $50 is great when you consider that my regular Peltor headset costs slightly more. So, for the same price you get the TZumi sound guard bluetooth earmuffs and your work life improves as soon as you leave the store.

With price out of the way, let’s talk about comfort. The TZumi headset really is comfortable. I can wear it for hours without any discomfort. Of course, after eight or nine hours on the job, any headset will annoy you.

The bluetooth connection to my iPhone 10 works really well. This allows me to receive phone and message alerts while I listen to audiobooks or techno music. And all of the headset buttons work well, from on/off to volume and call accept/decline.

Since I go through several audiobooks every week, this is a game changer. I no longer waste money on earphones that snag and break or get wet and filthy. I tried to go cheap but the sound quality was awful. So, now I’m saving money with my new bluetooth TZumi headset.

The headset comes with a charger cable and the unit can go 50 hours on one charge.

The magic button

The best button is the transparency mode button. It allows you to go from noise-cancelling to conversation mode with one button. This is important because as a manager I have to be available for junior staff and I can do that without taking my headset off. Now, to be honest, this takes getting used to because the microphone is strong. In the beginning the transparency button freaked me out but now I’m used to it.

Conclusion

If you don’t mind wearing bluetooth headsets on your head, this TZumi unit is a game changer. It’s comfortable, it lasts for many hours on one charge, and the transparency button allows you to switch from noise-cancelling to conversation mode with the flick of one button.

I love this headset!

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Sep 27
0

“The joy of Gardening” book review

By | Books, gardening | No Comments

Worth your time!

I picked up Ellen Mary’s book “The joy of gardening” in audio format on Audible.com. And I’m glad I did. It was a nice listen while I worked outside in the landscape. I actually listened to it again today while weeding a residential garden for a client.

The book is written for people new to gardening and it covers every angle but it doesn’t mean that more experienced gardeners can’t learn something. I know I did. For example, I had never heard of bulb lasagnas until I listened to this book. You can read my blog post about it on my West Coast Landscape Pro blog. Briefly, it involves planting different kinds of bulbs in one pot. The top layer flowers first, and so on down the pot.

Mental health

Ellen Mary’s background is, among other things, plant therapy and it shows. While this is a book about gardening, she does bring in mental health issues. And it’s done well. It doesn’t distract you from gardening issues; and if you need help with your mental health, then it will help you.

For example, when Mary explains how to thin out seedlings she suggests letting go of negative issues in your life with every seedling you eliminate. She also describes how she mows her lawn by concentrating on the physical task of mowing without thinking about anything else.

She also touches on the Japanese concept of “shinrin-yoku” or forest bathing. By now it’s a well-known topic covered in many books. The main idea is that a walk in the woods is good for people and the Japanese have study data to back it up. For example, blood pressure drops nicely once people enter the forest.

Interconnection

Now, I know you’re focused on your own garden, whatever its size. However, Mary’s book reminds you that we are all connected. Even if your garden is very humble, it will provide homes for insects, birds and small animals. Weeds might cause panic for you but pollinators might still enjoy them.

Also, your garden gives back through beauty and contact with soil. You’re encouraged to relax in your garden and observe what’s going on.

Conclusion

Ellen Mary’s book is a nice gardening primer for beginners. She covers all angles so you can relax and learn as you read or listen. There are lessons hidden in the book that even experienced gardeners will appreciate.

The narrator does a great job, too. If you’re looking for a new book on gardening, you can’t go wrong with this one. Yes, Ellen Mary is from the UK but everything in the book applies to Canada. Don’t worry.

Happy gardening!

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Sep 23
0

How clover saved grass in a fire lane

By | Lawn Care | No Comments

A tough spot

Imagine grass growing on a fire lane made with bricks and very little soil on top; and towering above are mature Katsura trees (Cercidiphyllum japonicum) which limit the amount of sunlight the grass gets. These conditions, limited light and soil volume, make it difficult for the grass to thrive. Now, add lack of irrigation and foot traffic and no wonder the entire fire lane has a patchy look.

If you want a great lawn, you need regular watering, fertilizers and proper cutting heights.

Some years ago, we top dressed the fire lane with quality, weed-free, lawn and garden mix soil. Then we put down quality – and expensive- shade seed mix; and for a while everything looked great. Then the same poor conditions took over. Shade from the trees above, lack of regular watering and relentless foot traffic from adults, kids, and pets.

2023

In 2023 the strata council became more active in their landscape. They organized weekend work parties and planted their own plants like English laurels. This allowed them to build a community and save money. Incidentally, this strata complex is where my favorite fern lady lives. She’s the one who bought a native sword fern (Polystichum munitum) at a native plant nursery with after-tax dollars. If she had taken a shovel and traveled maybe ten metres into her forest buffer zone, she could have dug up massive specimens for free.

So, this same strata group decided to plant clover in their fire lane. Clover mixes nicely with grass, when it matures and flowers, it attracts insects, it grows fast, and it’s not as demanding as grass. It’s also disliked by European chafer beetles. Of course, since this lawn has limited soil volume, it’s unlikely the female chafers would lay their eggs in it. Clover is also cheap to buy and available.

Months after planting the clover is noticeable and there are fewer bare patches in the fire lane lawn.

One look and I would call the whole clover project a success; and it didn’t break the budget. It also fits nicely in a forest setting.

Success: clover and grass mix and fewer patches

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Sep 20
0

Mowing tips for the fall

By | Lawn Care | No Comments

Fall recovery

Last fall was extremely dry and it was the first time I saw turfgrasses not recover completely. Normally, our lawns go dormant in summer and then they green up when rains return in the fall. Except last year the rains were delayed. We’ll see what 2023 brings. But this also gives us a chance to consider mowing tips from the Guelph Turfgrass Institute.

The golden rule

One-third rule: never remove more than one third the height of the plant.

Mowing heights depend on grass species and lawn uses. If you cut your lawn higher, you won’t have to cut as often. I know a dude who cuts his grass very short and twice a week. He loves his lawns and has the time. Others don’t care as much. I visit their homes every two weeks and the grass is fine.

Best tips

  • Water deeply and infrequently as this encourages deep root formation and thus better drought tolerance
  • Overseed with drought tolerant species. Check your home region for the best seed mixes.
  • Don’t remove grass clippings. The clippings are natural fertilizer. I love this as a landscape professional because it speeds up my lawn care work: no stopping to empty my mower bag and now green waste to remove. I always do this in summer.
  • Encourage dense grass stands to out-compete weeds: overseed in spring and fall. This issue comes up a lot. Homeowners are always asking about weeds in their lawns. While their lawns will never be weed-free, dense grass stands will make it hard for weeds to establish and thrive.
  • Speaking of weeds, hand pick them and overseed the bare patches you create with seed.
  • In the fall, mulch your fallen leaves into your turf.

Brand new sod

Learn from Red Seal Vas

I find that landscapers and homeowners make the same basic mistakes over and over. It doesn’t have to be this way. I’ve taken the worst five mistakes people make and developed them into a stunning online course called “Lawn Care Mastery 101: the top 5 mistakes“. Now you too can mow like a professional. Click the link above or button below and change your life! Your lawns will thank you for it. If you’re reading this blog post to the end and inflation is making your life difficult, contact me for a discount code.

Take good care of your lawns!

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