Do you have multiple service providers for your commercial property? If your answers is yes, this is the time to start thinking about the benefits of having a single-source provider for all of your needs. It is beneficial for your site to have one single point of contact in order to meet your goals and expectations.
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This is the time of the year when you should start thinking about your commercial property. It is almost March and there may be snow on the ground. When it melts you will want review any potential winter damage and for ways to enhance the curb appeal of your property. Reach out to your landscape professional for suggestions on site enhancements.
Continue reading “Is it time to review your commercial landscape for the upcoming season?”
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Now that spring is here, landscapes throughout Westchester and Fairfield counties are waking up. The largest component of most commercial properties frequently is the turf. Facility and property managers know when the turf looks good, a critical part of your landscape presentation is working for you.
After a record long cold spell along with spring’s wake up call, your turf is hungry! Spring fertilization is the key to building up your turf’s fertility level in preparation for the hot summer ahead. This is the time to get the key nutrients down to reach the root zone and go to work.
Each commercial property is different—shady zones, sunny zones, irrigated areas and non-irrigated areas are all part of choosing the right fertilizer application. Most important though is a soil test. Using a soil probe, representative soil samples are sent to a laboratory for a fertility and mineral analysis. The results, in the hands of a landscape professional, become the blueprint for selecting a fertility plan which best matches your property’s unique soil structure and turf needs.
Yes, your turf is hungry. Making the right fertility selection based on soil test data will definitely pay visual dividends in showcasing your landscape’s largest asset.
As we walk our properties with our clients, or meet with property managers at this time of year, a question we hear frequently asked is “what kind of winter are we in for this year?” Well, of course, the only correct answer is no one knows for sure. This being New England though, the conversation rarely stops there.
For years, keen observers of Mother Nature have attempted to make direct and quantifiable correlations from woolly bear caterpillar’s stripes, to the number of acorns on the ground, to spiders spinning over size webs. It makes for fun conversation.
Those more statistically inclined, might interject with a few heavy seasons behind us, we are due for a lighter snow fall this year. Certainly over a range of years, snowfall totals will move towards the average. Those who have lived in New England long enough know in any given year a guess is just that—a roll of the dice.
Accurate and timely forecasts are instrumental to Eastern Land Management’s snow removal operations. We utilize the services of WeatherWorks, Inc. before, during and after storms. It’s a real key to planning for and revising our approach to every storm event. Each year at this time, their meteorologists perform research to provide a scientific answer to the above. They endeavor to match several atmospheric oscillation patterns to past years data to put forth a prediction. This includes the ENSO Neutral Condition, which we have come to know as El Nino/La Nina.
As of late September, WeatherWorks’ preliminary outlook is for an “above normal likelihood for a cold outbreak from late October through mid November…with the potential for a pre-winter event.” They also see a relatively cold winter with coldest runs early and late in the season. Precipitation looks to be active. As we move into early November, they will refine this again.
So, what does it all mean? Sounds like a chilly and active winter. Here in Fairfield and Westchester County, with our proximity to Long Island Sound, a degree or two can be the difference from rain to snow. What kind of winter are we in for…place your bets.
The kids are back in school, temperatures are cooling, the leaves are turning and it won’t be too long before we wake up to a morning frost. Yes, the world of plants and grass is slowing down. A number of important landscape operations are performed at this time of year including leaf removal, fall bulb plantings and irrigation system shutdowns. When mid to late November arrives, holiday lights and seasonal decorations will be coming to commercial properties in Fairfield and Westchester counties.
However, a critical operation which may be overlooked at this time of year is fall turf fertilization. Hey, wait a minute…just exactly why is the grass being fertilized now? And, by the way, is this a wise use of precious budget dollars?
Yes, the turf will go dormant in late fall and will no longer be pushing growth. However, as your grass enters dormancy, it’s essential to have nutrients taken up at the root zone level to be stored in the plant. Those nutrients allow your property’s turf to make its way through the severe winter and be readily available for take-up in the spring. Late November and early December days can be chilly, but the soil temperatures are still moderate, allowing the critical nutrient exchange and storage to take place. It’s just exactly the right formula to help the turf overwinter and be ready for green-up as the early spring days get longer and the warmer temperatures return.
Everyone knows that strong foundation is critical to a building’s structural integrity. In many ways, the fall fertilization is the foundation to next season’s spring green-up and turf health. By next March and April, it will be easy spot the properties whose turf has a strong “foundation.”