Hey everyone,
It is that time of year when we start to get excited about spring, and then it gets cold again to remind us it is early March. At any rate, as winter (if you can call it that) winds down we have been feverishly working on a lot of landscaping projects. I had my pre-emergent delivered last week and will be getting going on that this coming week with the goal of getting the first round done by March 23rd. I would like to get as much of the mulching, and the first application done before we have to fire up the mowers.
NOTE: If you are planning on seeding this spring (which I don't recommend..ask me why) I need to know now. If I put down pre-emergent you won't have much luck in getting the seed to pop.
MULCH
My goal, as mentioned, would be to get as much mulching done before mowing starts as possible. We generally put down over 100 yards of mulch so if you know you are going to want me to mulch please let me know so I can get you on a mulching list and then work you in as we have openings.
FERTILIZATION PROGRAM
Everything seemed to go pretty well last year. The only tweak to the program is that I am going to eliminate the ENC (liquid fertilizer that I was adding to the liquid weed control last year. While it does help to strengthen root systems to sum extent and help hold color without the extra Nitrogen I just didn't see a noticeable benefit that outweighed the cost. So instead of being billed for 7 applications this year will be 6.5 with the only application at 1.5x your rate being grub control.
We did fight the grassy weeds in late summer due to the ridiculously excessive rains but that I would think was an outlier. Going into that rainy period everything was looking as good as could be expected.
HARDSCAPES/LANDSCAPING
As I mentioned in an e-mail last fall we have gotten into patios, fire pits, seat walls, etc. If you have any questions about any of these or would like to see some pictures of our work let me know. We have also been doing a lot of Bubbling boulders which is a nice conversation piece to your landscape.
Couple of other notes:
* If I don't hear from you otherwise I will assume you are still wanting the fertilization program.
*Mowing will stay the same price as last year
*Application rates will mostly stay the same. I want to add here that I have never to this point raised application rates for anyone and it is not something that I take lightly. There are however some of you that came on board several years ago that are extremely under priced. I will send you an e-mail if there is a price increase for you. Since I should have addressed this earlier I will do round one at the current price and any increases would take effect beginning with round 2.
*Mulch will stay the same at $95 per yard. I was significantly below industry average before. I still am a bit low but closer.
*General labor like shrub trimming, landscaping, leaf cleanups, etc. will remain on a straight hourly rate of $50 per man hour. I've been way too cheap in the past and on a lot of that stuff I didn't really have a set schedule it was more or less a guess (that I ultimately under priced more times than not).
I'm sure I forgot something but will end it here for now. Let me know if you have any questions about anything.
It is that time of year when we start to get excited about spring, and then it gets cold again to remind us it is early March. At any rate, as winter (if you can call it that) winds down we have been feverishly working on a lot of landscaping projects. I had my pre-emergent delivered last week and will be getting going on that this coming week with the goal of getting the first round done by March 23rd. I would like to get as much of the mulching, and the first application done before we have to fire up the mowers.
NOTE: If you are planning on seeding this spring (which I don't recommend..ask me why) I need to know now. If I put down pre-emergent you won't have much luck in getting the seed to pop.
MULCH
My goal, as mentioned, would be to get as much mulching done before mowing starts as possible. We generally put down over 100 yards of mulch so if you know you are going to want me to mulch please let me know so I can get you on a mulching list and then work you in as we have openings.
FERTILIZATION PROGRAM
Everything seemed to go pretty well last year. The only tweak to the program is that I am going to eliminate the ENC (liquid fertilizer that I was adding to the liquid weed control last year. While it does help to strengthen root systems to sum extent and help hold color without the extra Nitrogen I just didn't see a noticeable benefit that outweighed the cost. So instead of being billed for 7 applications this year will be 6.5 with the only application at 1.5x your rate being grub control.
We did fight the grassy weeds in late summer due to the ridiculously excessive rains but that I would think was an outlier. Going into that rainy period everything was looking as good as could be expected.
HARDSCAPES/LANDSCAPING
As I mentioned in an e-mail last fall we have gotten into patios, fire pits, seat walls, etc. If you have any questions about any of these or would like to see some pictures of our work let me know. We have also been doing a lot of Bubbling boulders which is a nice conversation piece to your landscape.
Couple of other notes:
* If I don't hear from you otherwise I will assume you are still wanting the fertilization program.
*Mowing will stay the same price as last year
*Application rates will mostly stay the same. I want to add here that I have never to this point raised application rates for anyone and it is not something that I take lightly. There are however some of you that came on board several years ago that are extremely under priced. I will send you an e-mail if there is a price increase for you. Since I should have addressed this earlier I will do round one at the current price and any increases would take effect beginning with round 2.
*Mulch will stay the same at $95 per yard. I was significantly below industry average before. I still am a bit low but closer.
*General labor like shrub trimming, landscaping, leaf cleanups, etc. will remain on a straight hourly rate of $50 per man hour. I've been way too cheap in the past and on a lot of that stuff I didn't really have a set schedule it was more or less a guess (that I ultimately under priced more times than not).
I'm sure I forgot something but will end it here for now. Let me know if you have any questions about anything.
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