Food for thought

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 According to the Virginia Cooperative Extension “…the value of… a landscape improvement increases over time since the growth and maturity of trees and shrubs enhance aesthetic appeal.” (Source)  

  By being proactive…can help maintain the health… and safety of…trees for the long term…Well-maintained trees are an asset to any property…can…increase a property’s value by up to 14%… source

  …reduce stress, improve overall health and development in children, and encourage physical activity... a healthy communitywide tree canopy fosters economic advantages source

...landscaping with a good aesthetic value added approximately 7% to the average rental rate of a building (source).  

  Shade protects asphalt surfaces, with the potential of reducing repaving costs by as much as 58% source

 ...consumers would be willing to pay, on average, a 12% premium for goods purchased in retail establishments that are accompanied by quality landscaping (source).
Respondents preferred landscaped roadsides and report positive retail behavior such as willingness-to-pay 8.8% more for goods and services in well-landscaped malls (source).

Consider what this could mean for tenants expenses not only in their electric bill but if their units do not have to "work" as hard it might mean more time between services or replacement.

Trees properly placed around buildings can reduce air conditioning needs by 30% and can save 20–50% in energy used for heating (source).

 In Baltimore, a 10% increase in tree canopy corresponded to a 12% decrease in crime(source).

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EMAIL: INFO@ONTIMEVEGAS.COM

Nevada contractors license 

C10 0070688 

Bid limit $50,000.00

Nevada department of agriculture license 7143

From the Southern Nevada Water Authority. Clay, sand and rock-hard caliche make up the majority of soil types found within the Las Vegas Valley, but one thing they all have in common is a small percentage of organic matter - which is needed to support plant life. The pH or relative alkalinity of the soil may be high which could be limiting nutrients added through fertilizer.

The Better Homes and Gardens website says 

“While granular fertilizers certainly have some… advantages, they also have a few drawbacks, such as: They’re more likely to burn plants… application takes longer because these fertilizers need to be worked into the soil (which I do not think most landscapers do)…They aren’t absorbed as quickly (correct timing is important)… They can attract pests…” 

Activation of granular fertilizer is typically done when it gets wet.  Many times, drip irrigation is a single stream of water so that does not do a wonderful job of activating the granules.   Not only does southern Nevada get very little rain that can activate the granules it often times does not come when plants need the nutrients so fertilizing with granular fertilizer is not necessarily the best way to fertilize bushes and trees.

While unused / unabsorbed they may poison animals and when activated by rain it might not be the right time the plants need the nutrients which also can create a feast and famine scenario.

There is a different way of getting nutrients / fertilizer to plants.  Many times it can be done through the irrigation system which allows the nutrients to  be customized to plants and the time of year much more easily than by using granular fertilizer.  Some studies say that applying more nutrient rich water to plants may allow some properties to reduce the amount of water they use which should also reduce their water bill.  Has anyone discussed this with you? 

  To summarize from a University of Nevada Reno paper. 

Pruning (bushes and trees) into balls and squares can cause poor plant health and an early death and earlier than anticipated replacement costs. This is especially true for some desert shrubs such as Texas rangers, a popular plant in HOA common areas.  When shrubs are hedge trimmed their interiors are a potential fire hazard due to dead wood and leaves. Hedge trimming makes more work for the landscaper and higher costs to the customer who pays for each trimming, is noisy, uses fossil fuels, fills our landfills, and the bushes look inconsistent throughout the year. There are other ways of pruning or using other plants that are better suited for the space given them to grow that do not result in the same issues. 

 “Just because something has always been done a certain way does not make it right”
 

We do not make changes for the sake of making them, but we never fail to make a change when once it is demonstrated that the new way is better than the old way.  

If I were to remain silent, 

I'd be guilty of complicity 

 “There will be obstacles. There will be doubters. There will be mistakes. But with hard work, there are no limits.”

“The proof is in the results, and the proof will be in the ongoing ability to execute.”

There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than long range risks of comfortable inaction. 

  To summarize from a University of Nevada Reno paper. 

Pruning into balls and squares can cause poor plant health and an early death and earlier than anticipated replacement costs. This is especially true for some desert shrubs such as Texas rangers, a popular plant in HOA common areas.  When shrubs are hedge trimmed their interiors are a potential fire hazard due to dead wood and leaves. Hedge trimming makes more work for the landscaper and higher costs to the customer who pays for each trimming, is noisy, uses fossil fuels, fills our landfills, and the bushes look inconsistent throughout the year. There are other ways of pruning or using other plants that are better suited for the space given them to grow that do not result in the same issues. 

Many times hedge trimming starts because plants anticipated mature size was not taken into consideration when they were planted.  This means recurring hedge trimming costs to keep them small / contained to the area they were plants. This is typically done with noisy hedge trimmers and blowers that also pollute. 

Many times hedge trimmed bushes were planted in locations that are not ideal to have them trimmed and to be able to properly clean up.  Look at the amount of room in the middle of this landscaped area where plants could have been planted to make it easier to maintain the landscaping.  This photo shows two issues.  

1.  Because of where vehicles park the time to trim and clean up is dictated by when vehicles are in parking spots, this also occurs at residential and retail properties.  
2. When the building needs work done the bushes will need to be drastically cut back or removed for access.  

Many hedge trimmed bushes have an outer layer / crust of leaves.  Just below those leaves is usually dry wood / branches.  Think about the risks if bushes at your property catch fire.  

TELEPHONE: 702-348-8399  

EMAIL: INFO@ONTIMEVEGAS.COM

When blowing is done after hedge trimming the leaves, branches, dust, dirt and more get moved around and can get onto cars, into units and bother people in the area.  When the wind blows it takes this debris in places not intended as well which is messy and can add to clean up time and not being able to clean up properly.  

When bushes are hedge trimmed, the acceptable amount of growth between trimming is subjective and can make landscaping look unkept. What one person says is ok, another says not. 

Since each round of trimming has a cost it is sometimes difficult to balance looks and costs.  Who dictates how often bushes get trimmed?  A certain number of trimmings are factored into most maintenance contracts, what happens to the monthly cost when this changes? 

One of the major equipment manufactures put a gas use calculator on their website comparing their blowers gas use to others.  The average gas use of six "brand name" blowers came out to just over one gallon of gas per hour per blower.  Most gas powered landscape equipment is two stroke which means oil is mixed in with the fuel.  

We used the calculator for running a blower 30 hours a week.  This equates to about 1560 gallons of gas a year.  Now consider how many machines get used at properties you manage or own and multiply that by the number of years it has been going on.   

 Have you ever asked your landscapers to break out the annual cost of hedge trimming at each property? Multiply that number by the number of years hedge trimming has been going on.  As costs rise; so does the cost of hedge trimming. 

TELEPHONE: 702-348-8399  

EMAIL: INFO@ONTIMEVEGAS.COM

Have your landscapers offered ways to reduce or eliminate risks of hedge trimmed bushes and the costs to maintain them?  Why not?

We prefer to take a proactive approach to dealing with costs and it involves customers understanding that other landscapers silence affect budgets and how landscaping looks. 

TELEPHONE: 702-348-8399  

EMAIL: INFO@ONTIMEVEGAS.COM