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Trimming Archives - Proper Landscaping Inc.

Dec 18
0

Quick Trimmer Head Change

By | Arborist Insights, Company News, Education, Landscaping, Strata Maintenance | No Comments

This week I found myself on a narrow median up in the Westwood Plateau buzzing down crack weeds when my trimmer head died of old age. No problem.
With tools in the truck and a spare head, this was a quick job.

1) use a screw driver or Allen key and look for two openings, one on the edger and one on the head

2) spin the head until the holes align to immobilize the head

3) unscrew the old head

4) screw on the new one, tight but not super tight!

My new head was already full of string so I was back in action very quickly.
Put your safety equipment back on and line edge carefully.

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Dead trimmer head, save the line and discard

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Allen key immobilizes the head

Dec 11
0

Side-Job Hell….

By | Arborist Insights, Company News, Education, Landscaping | No Comments

Two young landscapers arrive at a residence and make decent cash by pruning cedar hedges. We have all been there. Living the dream, making extra cash on weekends. Then the owner asks them to prune her Acer palmatum away from the house and below the gutters. Then mistakes happen. First examine pictures of the FINAL product and then consider the many mistakes that were made.

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Owner’s request: bring the tree crown below gutters

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Brutal chainsaw cuts

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Huge stubs that will die off, potentially invite disease in and give the tree zero chance of healing the wound

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Let us consider the mistakes that were made.

1) Agreeing to top a tree

The crown could be reduced but topping is not done for several reasons. Educate your clients!

2) Starving and stressing the tree

In drought conditions, leaf openings (stomates) are closed to prevent water loss. That also means that CO2 can not enter and therefore food production stops. Now the tree is forced to use up food reserves stored in younger branches. The same branches that are likely to be pruned off.

3) Bad cuts

The chainsaw work is inadequate and the stubs amateurish. We have seen in an earlier blog how to make a nice cut, one the tree can cover over and heal.
The stubs die off, can invite disease in, and the tree has no hope of covering the wound.

4) Failure to wear protective gear

Chainsaw work can be dangerous so protection is mandatory; the same goes for high-visibility clothing since the workers repeatedly crossed the road to assess their work. Work which did not get completed.

Nov 13
0

Client versus Customer

By | Arborist Insights, Company News, Education, Landscaping, Plant Species Information | No Comments

A few weeks ago, I got called to a Coquitlam home about a tree pruning job. Perfect! I love this kind of work, as long as it does not involve climbing the tree. But this turned out to be a horrible project. The Acer palmatum in front of the house had already been severely topped once in the past and the owner wanted it crushed again, even more severely. I mean massive topping cuts on all major limbs. Then the lady asked for a senior’s discount! I mentioned crown reduction as an alternative to topping, and listed some of the major problems with the practice of topping trees. It did not help. This was my order: massive tree topping with a discount.

Now what? Take the cash and run?

Since ISA membership requires all arborists to sign a code of conduct, the decision was easy to make. Destroying a tree also feels bad. I politely declined the job and literally days later found rhododendron reduction work without any senior discounts. Somebody completed the Acer palmatum job (see picture below) but it was not as severe as first indicated. Complete removal would have been a better option.

This then brings us to the difference between a client and a customer. We want lots of good clients, people we can educate and charge fair prices. Customers are all about pricing and insist they know what they want even when there are better alternatives leading to better outcomes.

In an Arborist News story, several years back, an arborist knocks on the door and a lady opens the door. The tree professional then tells her he got a call about a tree in the back. The owner looks at him and tells him that “hired help” uses the side gate, not the main entrance. The arborist looks at her and politely tells her that he needs new clients, not more customers, turns around and leaves!

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Finished job!? I was asked to go another 3 feet lower

Nov 06
0

Basic Lawn Care Tips

By | Company News, Landscaping, Lawn Care | No Comments

A) Only mow over grass!

Running over fixed objects is dangerous for the operator, passerby and leads to costly repairs. In the example below, the mower blade was destroyed. But don’t forget about the mower shaft holding the blade. It costs hundreds to replace. The mower will likely work fine for a while with a new blade and then….not so much. Remember, get to know your mowing area well, clear away any obvious debris and avoid hitting fixed objects.

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An unforgiving fixed object

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About to be retired mower blade

B) You CAN line-trim backwards!

There are cases where line-trimming backwards is the way to go: close to cars, windows, tree-wells and bikini girls. The two examples below clearly illustrate how trimming backwards can save you time. The messed up tree well has to be carefully raked out; blowing would dislodge most of the new bark mulch. The clean tree well was line trimmed backwards, eliminating extra clean-ups.

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A clean tree well, line-edged backwards

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Line-edged freestyle, clean-up required