Christmas Break
This time of the year marks the middle of our winter planting season. Greencraft has been very busy up to Christmas planting trees and bare root whips to all our sites. We have a window in our landscaping year from November to March to get all the trees in the ground. The Christmas break helps to regroup and plan the last phase of planting for the season. As we return to work in the first days of the new year, we steam straight back into planting.
Trees and whips are planted once they have stopped growing, lost their leaves and they have shut down for winter. This means that there is no fluid movement in the stem and the tree can be lifted out the ground complete with roots. If an actively growing tree is lifted out of the surrounding soil, the rising sap would cause air pockets and kill the tree.
When asked what I do and I reply “landscaping” people say what do I do when it slows down in the winter. Well quite simply it does not. Apart from tree planting there are always many hard landscaping projects to keep us busy. It can be a bit more of a challenge this time of the year because certain operations are temperature dependant. Concrete and mortar does not like to freeze and it is hard to unroll turf when it is frozen. Resin Bond gravel needs to be laid in temperatures above 5 degrees Celsius and painting needs to be done in the dry.
The best thing about winter is that you are preparing landscapes for the spring bloom.
Firstly I would just like to apologise for the lag in blog posts - I’m blaming Christmas!!
Anyway, I thought I would share some thoughts with you on the importance of Quality Assurance in the world of commercial landscaping and feel confident it is Greencrafts endless site visits to get things just right that contribute to our success and repeat business.
Of course, clients expect a first class service at all times, but sometimes this is not always feasable. Other trades are working all over our planting areas . . . . . . or worse still other trades are trampling all over newly planted areas!! One some occasions we have even have painters empty out their paint ketttles on brand new plants - hardly the best start to their new life on site!
All these aspects of working in commercial landscaping need to be taken into consideration and site managers need to be alterted to these issues as and when they occur. Otherwise weeks down the line when the plants are failing through no fault of Greencraft’s and we are expected to replace there could be arguments as to who foots the bill.
In addition to scheduling work with other trades on site, we usually are beholden to the soil that is supplied by site itself. It is paramount that this conforms to British Standard BS3882, and they should be able to supply you with a certificate to show its recent test. As, once again this could be a reason why shrubs and trees fail if the soil is not up to scratch. So often as soil gets excavated and moved about on site, subsoil is replaced as topsoil and just doesn’t have sufficient nutrients to efficiently support growth. There is also the ongoing problem of compacted earth which is a hazard on the best of projects as heavy plant and machinery by its very nature will compact the soil. The answer to this problem, on a well organised site, is to ensure the groundworkers scarify the subsoil prior to laying topsoil. This will enable drainage and allow the shrub and tree roots to breathe. As the most common reason for tree and shrub failure is lack of oxygen and not a lack of water as most would imagine.
Taking all these elements into consideration is no mean feat especially as they are usually beyond our control to a certain extent.
However, what we can monitor more closely is the way in which our own landscape operatives apply their knowledge in the field. Planting pits need to be dug to an appropriate size; usually 20% larger than the rootball. All trees and shrubs must be watered in thoroughly regardless of weather conditions - yes, even if its raining! Mulch needs to be applied evenly, without letting the smaller shrubs drown in it. These are all simple instructions that need to be adhered to to ensure a successful planting scheme that should help to avoid fatalities further down the line.
Finally, we always issue our clients with an Operations and Maintenance Manual which gives them basic instructions as to the welfare of their landscaping scheme so they can enjoy it for years to come.
