Preservation - to keep alive or in existence; make lasting. to keep safe from harm or injury.

Plant Health Care

At the root of this program is… the soil. The soil on your property needs to be managed to provide the ideal fertility for optimum plant health. Beginning with soil samples a test can determine the overall health of the soil, its strengths, and its deficiencies. Knowing your soils properties will allow us to develop a program specifically for your soil type. This process will also help to reduce your water usage by creating soil structure that is best for whatever plants it is supporting.

Aeration is also a critical component to having healthy plant communities. Current construction practices, human activities, even pets, create a tremendous amount of compaction. Using special air tools, we can carefully “loosen” soil around the plant or tree to allow for necessary air exchange. This process of loosening the soil also allows us to carefully introduce quality composts and organic fertilizers directly to the roots so that the plant has nutrients that are readily available.

Pruning and dead heading are perhaps the most obvious, immediate, and beneficial service in the Plant Health Care (PHC) line up of services. By visiting your property on regularly scheduled intervals we will be able to assess and monitor all your trees, shrubs, and perennials. This approach allows for optimum visual appearance, greatest flowering and berry characteristics, maximum structural integrity, and overall healthy plants. This program also allows us to make other improvements and provide preventive measures at appropriate times of year.

With this additional level of service, we will be able to preserve and enhance the value of your property, aid in your enjoyment of being outdoors, and bring your property to its maximum visual and environmental potential.

STORM WATER MANAGEMENT 

The practice of Storm Water Management is not a new concept, although there is an increasing awareness about storm water as a large issue. For some years it has been a requirement that projects keep all the runoff of pre-development quantity on site. Traditional pipe and drain systems collect the runoff and then dump it and all its pollutants into detention and retention ponds.

Using new devices that monitor the weather more closely, using drip irrigation where possible and maintaining quality soil conditions, all contribute to less water usage. Designing landscapes that require less water are also a wise management decision. The use of indigenous plants, ground covers, drought tolerant species and minimal lawns designed only for intended purposes, are all design choices that can aid in the reduction of water demand.

Rain gardens are also gaining a wider acceptance and with a growing awareness they should become common place. Directing the runoff from your property toward one of these small, carefully designed and built depressions, allows the water to be stored temporarily in a special soil mix. The garden is designed to store water and allow it to drain slowly into the ground while offering the visual benefit of plants and trees that also benefit from this "micro" environment. Rain gardens, bio swales, and other manmade structures offer an alternative that reduces pollutants in our wetlands, streams, rivers, ponds, and lakes.

Consider these alternatives when beginning your next project.

TRANSPLANTING AND moving large trees

Preserving and enhancing the value of your property can include placing overgrown plants in a more appropriate location. Plants that have matured beyond the space they were originally intended for are too often disposed of for “new” looking plants. Intelligently designed, constructed, and managed landscapes never require “remodeling”. They mature and increase in their aesthetic and financial value almost endlessly.

Another common situation we see are homes built on farmland or in meadows where there are no existing mature plants. Carefully considered mature trees can provide much greater results than that of more modest nursery stock. When the scale of a home and its surroundings are thoughtfully considered it can be integrated into the landscape to appear as they have always been there.

Evergreens, shade trees and ornamentals of every shape and size can be relocated to block and frame views, provide privacy and create shade. Whether close to the house or a distant view transplanting trees is a sure way to create a dramatic and meaningful change to your property.

Carefully digging, balling, burlaping and moving even the most exotic tree or specimen shrub is done with the utmost attention to detail. We have equipment and techniques that can move these heavy trees and without damaging your existing landscape. Using beneficial soil amendments and watering equipment the plants are carefully managed and monitored while they acclimate to their new location.

We are also actively buying and selling mature trees and shrubs. Whether your remodeling project is going to force the removal of a familiar tree or you need just that right plant to complete your project please contact us about current availability.