Can I see your Pesticide applicator license?

Lawn care companies come in all sizes. Most just provide basic services like trimming and mowing. Some companies promote themselves as “full service” lawn care and provide the basic services along with more “involved” services ranging from leaf removal all the way to full landscape design. While many of these services can be honed to precision with time and experience, others take more effort and training.

Pest control is one of these “involved” services you need to watch out for when offered by a lawn care company. Pest control is the process of controlling weeds, bugs, and insects through the use of pesticides or herbicides. These are strong chemicals.

I want to warn customers against hiring professionals who apply pesticides and herbicides without proper licensing.  

Experience is everything in this business. However, handling chemicals, like pesticides, is not something that just “gets better with experience.” Proper mixing and distribution are essential for these products to be effective without being toxic. A person who mishandles these types of chemicals long enough can have chronic, potentially devastating effects to their health; not to mention potential negative effects to lawns, pets, and anyone else that may come into contact with them.

Knowledge in proper handling, storage, and usage of these kinds of chemicals is learned through study and passing the Pesticide Applicator Exam and by earning continuing education credits. Furthermore, a lawn care professional needs a Commercial Pesticide Applicator License in order to legally provide pesticide services to the public. If your lawn care professional tries to up-sell you on pesticide or herbicide, ask if they are licensed.

I understand asking for proof can become an awkward situation, especially if you’ve been a loyal customer for years. But, your safety should be top priority. Your lawn company should be willing to prove their knowledge and skill and provide the paperwork to back it up. Stand up for your family’s safety because they deserve to be protected.

Thank you Sani for helping with this post!

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A good time to prune.

It will soon be time to prune your trees! Trees can be pruned year round but late winter and early spring are usually considered the best times.  Pruning is ideally done after the worst of winter has passed but before the trees have begun to expend energy on new growth and leaves.  Pruning before the tree has begun to ‘leaf out’ makes it easier to spot branches that are growing in the wrong direction, dead and damaged limbs, and potential problem areas that could arise as the season progresses.

Be sure to use clean, sharp tools and ensure that the blades are wiped clean between cuts.  Also, make sure not to make cuts too close the trunk or branch you are keeping.  Contrary to popular belief, flush cuts tend to take longer to heal, weaken the tree and can leave it more susceptible to insects and diseases. The best place to cut is as close to the branch you are keeping but above the branch bark ridge (the swollen, wrinkly region where one branch grows out from another).  Pruning more than 1/3 of the branch growth per year can be detrimental to any tree.  Excessive pruning can stress the tree, making it more vulnerable to infection or infestation. 

Each tree species has different pruning needs but some basic pruning can easily be done by the average homeowner.  Begin by first removing all dead, diseased and damaged limbs.  Also remove suckers (shoots that come up from the base of the tree) and water sprouts (tender, tall, and succulent growths that usually grow straight up from existing branches) as well as any branches that may have grown or hang down into an unwanted space (ie, home, fence, line of sight, etc…). 

Feel free to call us at 888-905-2967 with any of your pruning questions. 

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Power Raking

How do you know if you need to power rake?
If your yard has not had it done in more than 3 years, that's what I usually tell people.
A while ago I would say to get it done every year, but then I learned that some thatch actually helps keep moisture to the roots. Thatch also provides nutrients to the grass plants. Now just like everything else; only a moderate amount is good for you. Too much thatch can make fertilizing and water intake hard to implement. Another problem that can arise from too much thatch is the spread of lawn disease! Im not saying that having too much thatch is the cause of disease, but what i'm saying is that if your lawn does get a disease heavy amounts of thatch will spread it more easily. Another problem having too much thatch is, is the ability for pest to live comfortably, thus killing your lawn from the bottom up.
So if you don't think your lawn has ever been PowerRaked aka DeThatched (Same Exact thing) it would be a good idea to do it.

P.S Sometimes PowerRaking your lawn reveals a lot of empty spaces between grass blades, so over seeding is another good idea to do immediately after.

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Green Conference

Sorry I am posting a day late, but I was at the Utah Nursery and Landscape Association also called the UNLA green conference that was held for three days. If you love gardening, trees and landscaping you should plan on making a visit to a Green Conference, it doesn’t matter which one. You learn so much and not to mention the connections you can make! There’s a workshops for every niche or interest.  I attended most of the pesticide workshops so I could earn my continuing education credits for my applicator license. It was pretty cool to have the directors of both BYU and Utah State University Pesticide applicator department speaking to us about the best times to spay herbicides for certain weeds and with what products they recommend, which I will share with you on our Facebook page!  These types of events really puts things in perspective for me, because some of my peers and friends come down on me and say that I shouldn’t tell or show people how to do things, because potentially i’m helping my competition. Like with my Weekend Tip  videos on YouTube.com/Lawnthumbs . But at these events all the professionals are pouring out all their knowledge to everyone. Even one of my biggest competitors’ last year was giving me advice on bidding big projects; after his lecture he pulled me aside and sat down to help me better understand a concept that I was not used to using. It just goes to show that helping others in your field makes the industry stronger.  

P.S My peers that say I’m helping the competition never go to conferences. 

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The design needs a house.

When I first arrive to a new clients house that I will be doing a design for, and before I knock on the door; I first try to figure out the style of the house. Ask yourself: is the house calm, crazy or old style? These styles also have names such as, Georgian, Victorian, and Greek. There are many other styles but hopefully you get the point. Let's take the Victorian style for example, very ginger bread house look, so to me it's kinda crazy. I would not want the landscape design to add more to that. I would think of ways to tone it down a bit. After I find out the style of the house, I then drive around the neighborhood to find other Victorian houses and see how they designed those. I also try and put myself in place of the client and look for the houses that are on the way, because sometimes I see a house very similar to the one I'm working on and realize why the client was inspired to call me. 

If your lucky you will find two similar style houses that have been professionally landscaped in the same area. Ask the client which one they like the best, most likely they will pick the more subtle one, because of the balance, then explain to your client why they chose that one. 

Most of my clients have brand new homes, and live in brand new neighborhoods, so most houses don't have a specific style, but you can still find distinctive characteristics and so the same rules apply. 

Building contractors are usually working on a tight budget too. In this case although I don’t install a completely fully equipped landscape I still try to give the yard balance as much as I can, even when the budget is only meant for sod, sprinklers and foundation gardens.  

P.S Every once in a while a client ( or contractor ) comes along and does not care between the relationship of house and yard. This can be frustrating but just remember it's their house not yours, so don't take it personal. 

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He is my Co-worker.

I think for some people “a calling” can be spiritual, humanitarian, work, or family. These are four attributes I strive to have in my life. I would actually like to add 2 side dishes to that list; health and finance. I usually reflect once or twice every year and look to see if I am still keeping up with the big 6. Overall I'm doing pretty good, but although my priorities should always be family at the top of the list, sometimes I forget and make work the lead focus. It's sad, but my defense is that I need to work to be able to provide for my family. See there I go again; forgetting my priorities, cause God should be at the top of the list. 

My Bishop at church gave a great talk and he said that work does not define who you are. Obviously I think that is true, and I'm not going to argue his point. I guess we need to tell ourselves that our passion at work is our callings so we can comfortably put energy into something that brings us joy. Landscaping gives me a sense of purpose that I don't find anywhere else. That doesn't mean the others aren't important, because they are in fact, more so. So why am I obsessed with Landscaping so much? Possibly because I own the business and it’s nice to do something you love and not having too take orders from anyone. Or it could be that working outdoors brings me closer to God. Most of the time i’m out there working if i’m not listening to music, I’m thinking about Him. Asking myself if i’ve got what it takes to someday be with there with him. I usually answer myself with, well are you good to your family, is your faith really strong, and do you help others?

P.S  I do think we are going to be doing some good landscaping in the next life.

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I am Stupid and Naive.

It’s January and we still have not had any snow yet! So, am I stupid enough to believe we won’t get hit?

No, I think we will eventually get hit, and it will hit really hard and long.

Okay; thats that.

What I really want to talk about is being Stupid and Naive when it comes to reaching a business Goal.

I think you need a smart business plan and a good strategy for a business to be successful, and you can’t be Stupid or Naive about who you put in place for operation either. But I think when you work as a team and you set goals; you kinda need to be. Just think back to the Boston Red Sox championship year in 2004. That year they called themselves the “idiots”. They almost had the same roster the year before and they where dubbed the “Cowboys” because individually they where all super stars. So the next year they decided to set a goal and actually work together. They said “ Forget what we individually accomplished in the past, right now we are a team of idiots who just want to hit the ball into open spaces”. And because of that philosophy they started calling themselves the ‘Idiots” of Boston.

I feel that way about my business. I’m Naive enough to believe that Lawn Thumbs can someday become a household name, by giving great customer service, quality work, and super fair prices. I am also Stupid enough to think that me, my business and team can actually deliver on those promises. When it comes to achieving a goal like that, you have to have a team that you can rely on. That also means your team being able to rely on you.

P.S If it doesn’t snow this year does that mean i’m stupid?

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