Shop News, Shovel Cut Edge,Potential Client

Millgrove Landscaping added a new face, lost a couple of familiar ones plus added a time clock to start off the 2010 season on April 1st. The time clock is of interest because we have never used one in twenty five years, and I will be using it myself. Of course we have been in heavy preparation mode for the last three weeks, working on maintenance issues, pre servicing the trucks before their annual DOT inspection, sharpening, filing, cleaning, sorting tools and equipment. Before we ever take in our first dollar we spend several thousand just to get ready. With Dot inspection vehicles must be in 100% compliance that means tires you thought you would run for another 2000 miles now need replaced. So it goes if you follow all the rules federal, state and local government impose on legitimate businesses.

In these though economic times their are many individuals who have turned to landscaping to make a buck. These people go door to door soliciting jobs such as mowing, leaf clean up, fertilizing and other odd jobs that we have been traditionally performing, often the price they charge is extremely low as they do not have proper licensing, insurance, experience and knowledge. In some instances these people are also checking out property to see what they might steal when the home owner is not present. It sometimes presents a problem since the fees we charge per hour are driven by overhead which includes the government regulations that we follow.

Some other changes we made have come at the expense of others. One of our favorite vendors, Pete Wade of Angola Concrete is shutting down and liquidating stock and fixtures. The irony is that Pete received an award for having a 100 year old business just last year. From Pete we purchased some expendable products such as baby sand, geogrid, a fire pit ring and his concrete stone bins. The bins we stacked at the shop and will be concreting the bin floors after April 15th, that is to help ensure good curing since the weather will be warmer. Each concrete block weighs 4000 lbs and measures 2x2x6', this investment will allow us to keep our various stone sizes separate, clean and in stock reducing traveling to the gravel pits.

Right now our nursery stock is just what we have fenced (to keep the deer from devouring the product over winter) in and the rest of the nursery sits empty. We use the area as temporary holding. Generally we design a job then order the product and install it as soon as possible, keeping inventory fresh and reducing the need for us to provide long term care for living plants.

One of the first chores of spring is re cutting shovel cut bed edges, weeding and installing new mulch. While this process is certainly not rocket science a certain amount of skill is required to keep the bed edges crisp and not too deep, watch out for wires and know a just emerging perennial from a weed. Also it is imperative to fluff your old mulch after weeding and blowing. A strong effort needs to be made to keep mulch at only two inches thick and not allow it to pile up around plants and essentially suffocate them.
A shovel cut edge is best cut with a sharp spade. The edge debris is removed and we usually weed as we are going along. Once debris is removed new mulch can be installed and a pre emergent herbicide such as preen can be spread over the mulch to prevent weed germination.







































Much of my time this past week was occupied by this house which is located near Michigan International Speedway about an hour and fifteen minutes from the shop. This stellar make over is a complete interior/exterior renovation a contemporary edge to a Cape Cod style. Interior hardwood floors, dark walnut cabinetry and black granite counter tops couple with light blues and chocolate browns to evoke a cool lake breeze.

Meeting with the clients, discussing their needs and desires is the foundation for my landscape development plan. Low maintenance, a bird and butterfly garden, paver walkways, a privacy hedge and elegant well balanced plant material was on the plan here. My work week focused on drawing, bidding, researching the materials and customizing a plan. Checking my first drawing on site there were a couple of adjustments to make but by the second time around I felt confident that I hit the goals of our client.

Delivering the quote went well with the exception of not choosing the best paver color. After further discussion we agreed to pursue a chocolate/walnut color with some charcoal gray blends. Additionally I am going to look into wrought iron trellis and arbor features which will pull out some of the iron work in the house. If we are fortunate enough to landscape this home I will try and track the entire process on this blog, might be interesting. I will post the blueprint and try to give you a feel for a start to finish job. A total installation is something we can sink our teeth into and often makes for an amazing transformation.