What You Need to Know Before Hiring a Spring Landscape Crew

Spring can be a hectic and fast paced season for everybody in the landscape industry. Having a battle plan and sticking to it will keep things moving at the right pace to ensure nothing gets missed. It is important to note, the following section applies to regions where there are distinct seasons. For tropical regions with only a single season, the approach is slightly different.

Order of operations

First and foremost, knowing which crews you’ll need for complete maintenance is critical. At the last minute, organizing the already-busy landscapers at the start of spring will be stressful. If done that way, you may end up using a company that wasn’t your first choice.

What crews will I need?

If this isn’t your first rodeo, you’ll likely already have preferred companies. Nonetheless, maybe you haven’t realized what you don’t have. Three fundamental crews for maintaining the overall health of your landscape are:

• Plant Health Care/Fertilizers/Pest Management
• Landscapers/Mowers/Gardeners/Horticulturists
• Tree/Shrub Care

Plant Health Care/Fertilizers/Pest Management

These are the “fertilizer guys.” These individuals are the ones who come by four to six times a year to provide nutrients to the soil. After all, there are a couple-hundred-thousand plants living in that soil–the nutrients deplete quickly. Plant Health Care technicians also keep a general eye out for insects and disease on the property, and will notify you if treatment is necessary.

Come springtime, the game changes big time. The first application of fertilizer is considered to be one of the most important applications. An early dose of nutrients can green your lawn up quickly (if the soil temperature is right). Another key feature in the first application is the inclusion of pre-emergent herbicide with the fertilizer. This herbicide doesn’t harm existing plants at all, but instead kills seedling plants right at germination. The herbicide will be effective in the soil for about 6-10 weeks, depending on the chemical.

Weeds are very good at propagating themselves; that’s the nature of a “weed.” Weeding is a constant battle, but the pre-emergent herbicide application is a must in any successful lawn care battle plan.

Landscapers/Mowers/Gardeners/Horticulturists

Springtime is a busy time for most landscape crews. Everybody has a property that needs attention and everybody wants to be first. Gardeners will be restocking your garden beds with annual flowers for long-lasting color. The crews will be out mowing shortly after that first fertilizer application to the grass. Some other springtime landscape operations include the reactivation of the irrigation systems, and regular inspection of pavers, stone, or walls to make sure the weight of snow or ice hasn’t compromised anything.

The removal of some old and discolored mulch is done in spring as well, though it can be done at any time. Replacing that layer with a fresh, organic layer of mulch will help in the battle against weeds, as well as maintain moisture in the soil. Mulching garden beds, tree trunks, and other shrubs also gives a safe perimeter for the plants, which otherwise might be hit with a weed wacker or mower.

Tree and Shrub Care

The tree and shrub people are generally arborists, or are working under an arborist. These people also have their eyes on your plants for disease and insects. They’re usually the most active group during the winter season, because one of their biggest and most complex tasks is done during winter: Pruning.

In spring time, the tree climbers and groundsmen are pruning the appropriate trees at that time. They’ll also contribute to both the planting of new trees, and keeping young trees and shrubs properly. Proper pruning generally means the tree, at a young age, is ‘trained’ to grow to be structurally safe and easy to care for in the future.

Leave it to us

The crews themselves are the ones who should be concerned with the specifics and details. Not you. Try to allow the crews to take the direction they see, because they’re the professionals. Stating some goals you have with the commercial landscape could provide a framework for how the crews will manage your landscape. Command7 can help with any notion or concern that you may have about commercial landscape. Give us a call at 855.214.2168 or fill out our online contact form for more information or a quote.