Rocking in the Heat

A rare occurrence has taken place we did not work the crew from July 4 to July 9th and it was a great decision because it was still smoking outside with record temperatures over 106 degrees.  Our region has had a record number of triple digit days, crops are suffering, we have stopped applying fertilizer, herbicides and insecticides for those without irrigation. Lawns are crunchy dormant with no relief in sight.  But the beat or heat  goes on.........and we progress with the next jobs.

This job on Clear Lake is nearly finished and we have installed another Millgrove first, an old fashioned lake driveway with a modern day twist of pavers.  I have advised the customers that a slow and steady approach will be the best way to assure safe parking.

Placement of a 4" October Glory Maple on the right corner of the property serves to pull the earth closer to the high roof peaks.  The tree certainly makes a statement.  Likewise the the European Hornbeam on the lakeside corner of the house both grounds the corner and the low branching fills the space to the ground providing a great visual barrier between the neighboring deck levels. Intimate property lines often mean creative planting strategies are necessary fortunately we are blessed with a wonderful variety of hardy plant species and shapes.

Our next big project is well underway on Lake James (which has receded 8' )  our first shipment of 8 pallets of Allen Block Ashlar Hickory blend block is being installed as I write, well not all at once but we will need our second shipment by Monday.

We had lots of great excavation help from Dan Eyester Excavation and John Day,  John really cowboy ed up climbing a hill of loose soil in the mini sending everyone scurrying as he precipitously rocked and teetered nearly rolling  down the hill.  Having a mini excavator, a big back hoe and our tractor really greased the wheels on this project.

Before our arrival Dan and John applied the
 engineered solution to solve the soggy yard that plagued the customer lakeside.  Tile, soil stabilization fabric and fresh dirt raise the yard and the new swales offer direction for surface water should it ever rain.  Dan, John and crews did a swell job on the lawn all we had to do was a light rake and we were ready for seed.