Landscaping Archives - Page 9 of 13 - Proper Landscaping Inc.

May 27

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Almost a gardener: the anatomy of a great season

By Vas Sladek | Education, gardening, Landscaping, Tips | No Comments

My 2014 municipal season has, so far, been my best working year ever. Sadly, when it became clear that there wouldn’t be a repeat in 2015, I was forced to think about the anatomy of my great season. What was it that made it great?

Learning!

Robin Sharma often uses this quote: “If you are the smartest person in the room, find another room.” My gardener-boss was fun, smart, experienced and certified, with killer plant identification skills. I had her all to myself on most days. Apprentice Vas couldn’t ask for more. Progress was guaranteed.

Encouraged by her positive comments, I walked into my Red Seal exam challenge with confidence; and passed! Now I belonged. It also wasn’t just another paper. It was a huge culmination of 16 sweaty, hard seasons outside in the landscape.

Learning is critical.

Embracing change

Everything was new and exciting and I handled the change fairly well. Some people don’t. Change is good. I found out some subtle and not so subtle differences between landscapers and gardeners. For example, we rarely used a backpack blower. Not every leaf was a messy enemy. Free arbor chips didn’t go to green waste; they were made for bed and tree well mulching. Some weeds were tolerated. No cheating with banned chemicals. Trucks drove speed limits and it was OK to park them on sidewalks. Yes, on sidewalks. Road medians aren’t gardens; they should look good at 60 km/hr.

Free arbor chips, the best stuff for bed and tree well mulching

.Stretching

Scale. All of a sudden you are planting hundreds, thousands of bulbs, rototilling soil and diligently editing out spent bulbs so they don’t ruin next year’s display. Rocks that pop up stay: think soil pore spaces. Bulb planting depths stay uniform. Watering a hanging basket means soaking it.

Perennials everywhere. My notebook showed about 300 plants that were new to me. It is work in progress so I stretch myself. Weekly.

Planting trees bare-root for the first time was an awesome experience. I paid attention. That was exciting stuff.

You should always aim to be better than you were yesterday.

My first-ever bare root planting

Facing your fears

On some days I showed up literally scared. It sucked in the moment but it felt great afterwards. Imagine my horror when I was asked to use a front loader for the first time. Luckily, we were the only ones in the yard. My gardener boss patiently waited as I got used to colliding the front loader with piles of mulch.

Then there was bulb removal. Since the bulb arrangements are changed every season, it is critical to remove 100% of the old, spent bulbs. Gold help you if you missed one.

Once, late in the day, I was asked to quickly plant pots with plants on the truck. No guide, no plan. Go! That was stressful. A future blog on pots will show that there is no reason to feel stress with pots.

Fun

Work should be fun. I can not openly recount here all of the fun incidents but trust me, there was laughter with great people. On days when we installed brand new perennial beds, work didn’t feel like work. Same on the day I got to use a dibbler for planting for the first time. Magic.

One summer day, getting close to completing a new bed install, I had a young girl stop by, admire the new plants and tell me that I must be the world’s best gardener. Well, almost!

What was your best working year like?

May 20

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How to make people happy with free plants

By Vas Sladek | Landscaping, Seasonal, Species | No Comments

It pays to think before tossing perfectly good plants into your green waste. In the fall of 2015, I took bulbs pulled and discarded from a municipal display bed and planted them at my client’s rental place. For free. Of course. The municipality, which we don’t have to name, normally doesn’t reuse its bulbs. Tulips, for example, give the best show in season one. Beyond that they’re not as reliable. Other bulbs on the other hand will keep on giving, assuming you don’t get tired of them. Some bulbs, like daffodils, can be naturalized.

Happy 1

My client was totally happy this year when she looked out of her kitchen window and saw her free bulbs popping up. She had no idea what I put in last year. Not bad considering these bulbs were free, took only minutes to plant ( I have had lots of practice!) and improved bare spots.

Free bulbs!

Not bad considering these bulbs were discarded; and the bed was a weedy bare spot

Happy 2

The Rhodos and Hydrangeas pictured below came from a strata landscape edit job and were delivered to a gardener in Port Coquitlam. The owner will find a good home for them on her large property. In exchange for the free plants, the property owner gave us a quick tour of her garden; the property is on the annual Port Coquitlam garden tour circuit. It’s good to give!

Homeless Rhodos and Hydrangeas

Garden tour pictures

Astilbe hedge!

Clematis vine with (correctly!) protected base

$200 plastic planter box; doesn’t rot like wood but you need deeper pockets to buy these

Chainsaw decoration; I prefer 2016 Stihl models

Gunnera

tools!

primrose

I have some crazy stories about unwanted plants. On one memorable day, a prominent strata member came out to ask me to remove Echinacea because they were spent. I reminded her they were perennials and would bloom again next year. It didn’t matter. Next year was too far away and she had cash for new plants. I kept a few and gave away the others.

Think before you toss unwanted plants. You could make someone very happy!

May 06

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Redneck tree removal

By Vas Sladek | Arborist Insights, Landscaping, Strata Maintenance | No Comments

It’s always sad to see trees die on site. Any site. In this case we had three birches (Betula papyrifera) killed off by the bronze birch borer. Birches are shallow rooted and can suffer in heavy heat of late spring and summer. At this site the birches had little room and suffered from reflected heat as well. Drought can lead to dieback at the top of the tree and the bronze birch borer is an expert at detecting weakened trees. Weakened trees are very attractive to this urban pest. Once the tree is attacked, there is very little hope of saving it.

I was on site to install cedars (Thuja occidentalis ‘Smaragd’), Cotoneaster dammeri and Hemerocallis ‘Stella d’Oro’. The heavier tree work was left for last.

Since birches are shallow rooted and the ones on our site were not extremely mature, we decided not to bother with stump grinding. So here I introduce redneck tree removal. Don’t try this at home. Hire certified landscapers or arborists. Please.

Step 1

Remove most of the crown with chainsaws or handsaws. Safety is important here! This strata complex corner was used by cars, residents were washing their cars and kids were playing outside. Wear proper protection if you choose to use chainsaws. Always.

Step 2

Cut notches into the tree so the chains have some place to bite, otherwise they will just slip off under pressure

Step 3

Attach chains to the tree and to the back of your truck, then drive very slowly until the stump is completely out. Use good chain link fasteners. Common locks could blow out.

Step 4

Remove all stumps and fix the lawn area. We used lawn and garden mix soil from a landscape center. Good quality seed also helps.

Mission accomplished. The site will miss the many ecosystem services the birches used to provide, especially summer shade for the adjacent unit.

May 02

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Free garden and landscape seminar May 11, 2016

By Vas Sladek | Education, gardening, Landscaping, Lawn Care, Mulch, Seasonal, Tips | No Comments

Free seminar

A free gardening seminar in Port Moody within walking distance from my place will take place on Wednesday May 11, 2016. It sounds great already! Remember, this is in line with our goal of continuous improvement. Free education is awesome.

Master Gardener Dr. Linda Gilkeson will talk about “Naturally resilient gardens and landscapes.” Come learn how to make your lawns and gardens more resilient to variable weather patterns; and about year-round natural gardening, native plant selection and natural pest management. Also discussed will be gardening methods for drier and warmer summers, water shortages, and other types of extreme weather. This is very topical. I am in. Notebook in hand. Are you?

When: Wednesday May 11, 2016

Where: Inlet Theatre, 100 Newport Drive, Port Moody

Admission: Free!

A Sedum solution

The theme of this seminar reminds me of a recent strata complex case in Langley. The complex boulevard beds are exposed to the sun and the original planting didn’t survive. Planted between Acer campestre trees were Skimmias and Heathers. Many of them didn’t survive the hot summer. The proposed solution is to plant succulents like Sedums between the trees. It will be interesting to see what happens; and if we get another hot summer.

Acer campestre and some surviving Heathers and Skimmias; Sedums will replace the Skimmias and Heathers.

Apr 29

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Surviving annual winter landscape tasks

By Vas Sladek | Landscaping, Strata Maintenance | No Comments

Landscape maintenance work is normally a lot of fun. You get plenty of sunshine and color, plant installs break up any monotony, and the lawns are green and beautiful. But sometimes we face the dark side; annual tasks that are not very pretty and are attempted during the slow winter months. (Or in summer: see my 8/21/2015 blog on summer annual cuts). One just has to stay safe and survive them. Consider the site pictures below. The wild buffer zone has to be kept in check. It’s overrun with Himalayan Blackberry (Rubus armeniacus) and other weedy species.

Complicating this annual landscape task is the unknown amount of garbage, rocks, metal and small animals hiding in the weeds. Staying safe and looking out for the safety of all passersby is of utmost importance.

For the worker, steel-toe boots, good work pants, gloves, goggles and face shield are all mandatory. The idea is to aggressively cut as low to the ground as possible without getting injured or destroying the metal disc by getting stuck on a piece of rebar hiding in the weedy mess. Properly mixed gas should be kept close by in a jerry can; along with small tools. The rotating disc works very hard and can come loose if it is not checked periodically. This was the case with this particular Shindaiwa machine model.

This annual task can also be a good training exercise for new workers not yet proficient on small machines. Proper demonstration and safety talk are mandatory before proceeding.

check the disc to make sure it is tight; on this machine it would come loose after a while

head protection and gas close by for quick re-fuelling

face your fears!

We need proper balance here: aggression towards weeds and safety for the worker!

after picture

This area will not be touched again until winter 2016.

Apr 15

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PlantSomethingBC initiative

By Vas Sladek | Education, Landscape Industry, Landscaping | No Comments

The PlantSomethingBC initiative was launched at the recent BC Home and Garden Show. It is run by the BC Landscape and Nursery Association (BCLNA) and the BC Government’s Buy Local program. I’ve been buying plants from local nurseries for years so the idea is nothing new to me but it’s well worth plugging in this blog. Promoting the sale and use of BC grown plants helps everyone; it supports BCLNA members and non-members in the landscape industry from landscapers and growers to garden centers. Getting listed on the PlantSomethingBC website is free for BCLNA members. Non-members have to pay $150. You can also purchase your annual BCLNA membership. The fee is based on your company’s revenue. Check out the list of member benefits.

Key points from the PlantSomethingBC website:

Live local, buy local: People who live in BC have intimate knowledge of our local plants, how to grow them and take care of them, what diseases affect them
Feel better: Green environments are great for people, they reduce stress, lower blood pressure and calm nerves. Gardening leads to healthy eating habits and active lifestyles. Not convinced? Read this:
Chill out: Planting trees on the south and west sides of your house can reduce your air-conditioning costs by up to 30%
Air: Plants can clean your indoor air, trees produce oxygen-for free!-and add value to your property
Money: A Properly landscaped yard may increase your home value by up to 20%. Hire Proper Landscaping for your strata complex; for residential work hire Landscape Industry Professionals

All of the recent projects I worked on involved locally sourced plants. Usually the nursery-landscaper relationships are deep, benefitting both parties.

Pieris japonica

Pinus mugo

Rhododendron

Prunus lusitanica

I also had some fun on my patio, planting up pots with the kids with BC grown perennials.

Armiria maritima

Support your local growers, garden centers and landscape professionals by using locally-grown plants on your next project! It makes a lot of sense. You’ll be glad you did.

Apr 08

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Feeling happy with spring color

By Vas Sladek | Education, Landscaping, Seasonal, Species | No Comments

Spring is here and it feels fantastic to leave winter behind. Walking home with my son from Menchie’s- side trips we don’t tell mom about- I noticed my favorite Doronicum flowers by the liquor store. The yellow is very warm and happy. These are the earliest flowering daisies. They are herbaceous perennials growing from a rhizome (underground stem). I first discovered them as a municipal worker by Como Lake.

Cherries (Prunus) are everyone’s favorites even though they are bittersweet: they are beautiful but, like life, they don’t last very long. A side-note on cherries. When I lived in Japan, I got a chance to visit a revered old fuyu-zakura or winter cherry. I was blown away with the whole idea: winter flowering cherry? Really? It was true. There it stood in the middle of a snowy open field with its gorgeous flowers. Protective fencing ran around the drip line. We already know from an earlier blog what soil compaction does to trees.

This past week I discovered deep red colored Magnolias at a mall parking lot in White Rock. The effect is stunning. It’s impossible to miss the parking lot trees.

Camellia japonica flowers totally dominate gardens at the moment.

Tulips and Daffodils are perennial favorites. Tulips are good for one or two shows and then best replaced. Daffodils can be naturalized and they will keep on wowing you every spring. One such event happened in 2014 at Como Lake in Coquitlam, BC. Volunteers were recruited to plant bulbs in fall on the west side of the lake. Many were ESL students and recent immigrants; this was the first time they planted anything. I hope they got to see the result of their work.

Bulb planting tip: look at your bulb height, double it and plant it that deep. Keep the planting depth consistent, otherwise your bulbs will emerge unevenly.

What color have you noticed lately?

Apr 01

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Why you should fall in love with blade edging

By Vas Sladek | Edging, Landscaping, Lawn Care, Strata Maintenance, Tips | No Comments

Blade edging is a great landscape maintenance tool. It gives our sites definition, it’s relatively easy to learn, and it can be done bi-weekly on standard BC strata sites. The only downside is the cost of replacement blades. (Always recycle your used blades.)

Incredibly, not all landscape maintenance companies use blade edgers to maintain nice, sharp edges on their work sites. That’s too bad. I personally love the sharp, clean look.

Let’s consider my work from mid-March 2016 on a Maple Ridge site.

Tired looking strip

This boulevard strip lacks definition. Grass is growing over the curb and it obviously gets line trimmed which does not do anything for definition; it simply rounds off the edges which is not our goal.

Key idea: the mower, line trimmer and blade edger should work together by meeting to create a nice, sharp edge.

Show time

Let’s take a blade edger with a fresh blade and see what happens. Pants, safety goggles and ear protection are mandatory. No discussions. Always let passersby go. Try not to do this work as kids walk to school!

Neglected boulevard strips like this will require some “drilling”. Keep your blade edger at ninety degrees and stay stubborn like me. You might have to run over the entire line twice. It depends. Once the edge is re-established, regular maintenance will be a breeze. Bi-weekly blade edging will suffice. Some high-profile areas like club houses can be bladed weekly.

Clean up

Obviously, this will require some cleaning. Remove all grass and dirt chunks before your clean up blow. The lawn area must be clean. Don’t go cheap here. The machine can generate black earth balls. Even one left on the lawn will detract from your presentation.

Final result

Carefully, run your blower along the entire edge. You can also blow the street assuming it can be done safely. Put on a safety high-visibility vest and do it quickly. Avoid rush hour traffic times.

No contest!

I know which picture I prefer. What about you? And your clients?

Don’t stop at boulevards. Edge your tree circles, grates and metal covers and soft bed edges. You will be glad you did.

Mar 29

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Mowing 101: pilot errors crush tree wells

By Vas Sladek | Education, Landscaping, Lawn Care | No Comments

Spring is finally here – a bit early this year – the grass is shaggy and mowers are coming out. Strata members wonder when the lawns will get mowed Properly. So we send our workers out and, inevitably, blogs are born! Consider the mistakes that were made in the field today.

How many problems can you list?

Mowers don’t belong in tree wells, period! Go around the tree well instead of forcing the mower into a narrow spot. Line trimmers were designed to hit tight spots, so use them. This is a horrific way of saving time.
Scalping is a huge, HUGE, problem. The brown zone in the photo has been scalped and will require repair; most likely over seeding. Seed is expensive and extra time will be required for repairs. Remember: grass grows from meristems located about a third of the way up a blade of grass. Grass blades don’t regrow from underground roots, they grow from meristems. This is why a scalped area will likely stay bare unless we over seed.
Soil compaction is another problem. The tree well is there to channel water and nutrients into the root zone. Weekly soil compaction with mower wheels will make it difficult for fine roots near the surface to move through the soil; water will also most likely pool up and run off instead of penetrating into the soil.
The mower destroys the ninety degree tree well edge we so diligently established in winter.
The wheel marks are unsightly.
The tree well also exists to eliminate tree v. machine conflicts. The most likely outcome of any collision is bark destruction. Open wounds invite pathogens which the tree has to fight by compartmentalization and that uses up precious energy reserves, thus reducing health and growth. Wounds also affect xylem cells which means water transport is temporarily interrupted thus compromising function and growth. Collisions with machines also cause stress and reduce growth. If the tree dies and has to be replaced we face direct replacement costs and loss of ecosystem services.

Summary: Never run your mowers through tree wells. Navigate around the edges carefully.

Mar 25

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European chafer beetle damaged lawn alternative, volume 1

By Vas Sladek | Landscaping, Lawn Care | No Comments

Many Coquitlam home owners, and elsewhere, are struggling with lawn damage caused by the European chafer beetle. The grubs feed on grass roots. Birds and animals dig up lawns to feed on them. My friends in Port Moody video taped two black bears in their backyard flipping turf over and feeding on chafers.

Westwood Plateau lawn damaged by animals searching for chafer beetle grubs

So your lawn has been damaged. Now what?

Some local residents are turning to lawn alternatives. The example below is interesting because chafer beetle damage was the last straw for this resident.

Problems

The owner had very little time and inclination to “baby” her lawn
The large spruce tree shaded out the lawn and rained down needles on top of it
dogs abused the lawn with urine
foot traffic compaction

Solution

dig up the lawn (this was my humble contribution to this project!)
install wooden border
install stones
decorate with rocks and pots with succulents (low maintenance plants)

pots with low-maintenance succulent plants

Problem solved! No more mowing, no more chafers, very little maintenance required aside from needle clean up and weed control.

Landscaping