FAQ

There is no charge for estimates, and we are happy to come look at your project and give you advice and recommendations. However, for larger projects you might want to consider a master plan.

The winter is an excellent time to “PLAN”. We are extremely busy planting in the spring so let’s talk early. Otherwise we welcome your call at any time.

Absolutely. We guarantee everything we plant for 1 full year. More importantly, we won’t recommend things that are difficult to grow. Your success is our success!

The only time we don’t plant is when the ground is frozen. The best times are the cool, moist seasons of spring and fall. Summer planting is fine if you can water about once a week.

The rule of thumb is to prune flowering things right after they finish blooming. This allows all year for them to reset buds for next year. Trees are best pruned in the winter when you can see the branching habit better.

The “wise guy” answer is 25 years ago. Otherwise, as with planting in general, the cool seasons of spring and fall are ideal. I particularly like fall because supplemental watering is often not necessary since our winters and springs are usually wet and by the following summer the trees are usually established. The more important question is “What is the best tree for me?”

“The best way to get a large tree is to plant a small tree”.
For every 1” trunk caliper, it takes a year for that transplanted tree to recover from the transplanting and start growing again. Your objective is to have an established tree, healthy and growing. So a tree with a 6” diameter trunk will basically look the same in 6 years as it does the day it’s planted. Of course the other extreme is a seedling which would have to compete with weeds, animals and lawn mowers before it gets big enough to thrive. As with most things it’s best to compromise. A 1 or 2” caliper tree might be 8 to 12’ tall so it would look good and more quickly become established.

We do not mow, spray, or aerate lawns. We can correct grading and drainage issues and overseeding.

Yes. We build paver patios, natural tone patios, and walkways.

Possibly never. We use mulch on new installations to give the beds a clean look, conserve moisture and help prevent weed seed germination. But if your beds are properly designed, you’ll have ground covering plants that would eliminate the need for annual remulching. Remulching with a thin layer for a few years is fine but mulch can be too thick and start washing out of your beds if done repeatedly over many years.

This is fine, particularly for trees that you’d like to see grow faster. But it’s best to wait a year or so for those trees to become established before adding fertilizer to the ground. Shrubs usually grow fast enough without adding fertilizer. Making them grow faster might just add to your need for pruning!

This depends on the weather and the type of plant. Newly planted trees generally like to see about 1” of rainfall or supplemental watering per week. Large balled and burlapped trees can go longer between waterings. Trees grown in containers might need watering more frequently. But when you water, it’s important to water slowly and deeply with a trickling hose and then let the hole drain out between waterings. We’ve seen more problems with overwatering than underwatering. Also, some trees tolerate dryness better than others.
Shrubs and perennials are usually watered weekly for a month or so after planting and then just watch the weather.
Newly seeded lawns, on the other hand, will need to be kept evenly moist constantly for a few weeks until green grass is evident. This might entail watering with a sprinkler once or twice a day. That’s why, for large areas, seeding is probably best done in spring and fall.

Yes we take VISA, MC and Discover but you can help keep your cost down by using check or cash.
Credit card use is limited to $2500.

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