Oops, There Goes 96'

The Mighty Oak Tree is What is Keeping Our Truck "96" from Rolling on it's Roof

Still getting in lots of hours with little sign of slowing down.  This time last year I was getting ready to go to work at Ladera in St. Lucia what a trip that was the teeth marks from the flip saw still look pretty fresh on my leg.  Might as well share the big story first.  Ryan flipped over one of the dump trucks, he was not hurt having jumped out before it went over.

The Wrecker Could Not Move the Truck Until We Shoveled Off Some of the Sand

The problem started at the gravel pit where he drove off over loaded with nearly 7 ton of sand, the trucks should never carry more than 4 ton.  The overloading effects handling, he was backing down a driveway and got to close to the soft edge and you can see the result.  I could not help but hug him because I he was shaking and I was happy he was not hurt, that was not exactly the reaction he expected.  Our ace mechanic Gary had the truck back on the road within 24 hours, looks a little better to me since Gary put some spray paint on the bumps,oops.

Rock & Sand Make Another Beautiful Wall by Ryan Bartell

Several projects completed this month and starting a few including maybe some work in Fort Wayne, the driving is such a waste but one is a promise and the other is just gonna be fun.  It took a lot of talking to convince this customer to start all over with the foundation planting on the south side of their home.  It had been done twice before repeating the same planting.  They still want it trimmed tight but we have a brand new pallet of plants now.

Now That's a Big Barberry, Ouch Lots of Prickers

We finished up this pond for a fellow who lives in Chicago, the pond is on his mom's property which is a rural haven for this busy guy from the city.  He plans to plant it with natives and hopes to attract lot's of wildlife, shouldn't be a problem.  I gobbled handfuls of blackberries when I went to help out on this project, the apples are getting ripe so I will have to make excuses to visit soon.

This is a house on Clear Lake that we just began, we did a big tear out and now the old concrete sidewalks, patio, stoop and four stairs are gone and we are preparing for pavers.

On the drawing board this project on Coldwater Lake will have to pass a special zoning meeting to get approval before any dirt is moved.  The sight is challenging to say the least and there are some issues with the property lines as well.  But we have some great ideas.

We Just Love It

Nearly two weeks between postings tells you how crazy busy I have been.  This week end alone Bruce and I have had appointments with 11 customers, the local newspaper says that our county is second in the state for lowest unemployment numbers, things are definitely picking up.  We have hired four new people this year, one has already left us for a higher paying factory job but I hired his replacement the next day, good looking kid fresh out of the marine corps.

Of course in order to have more employees we needed more trucks. Our men are not exactly on the thin side and after a hard days work three big guys in the front seat of a dump truck down a dusty road rubbing arms makes the fellas a bit cranky.  So off to the bank and home with a 2003 Ford Super Duty which took extra time to outfit;  installing tool racks, shovels, rakes and tool boxes, we back a lot into each truck and color code the equipment for easy inventory control.

Ryan and Mike just completed this rock wall, pond and water fall in one of our favorite locations, Pine Canyon Lake.  The homeowners Louise and Steve were thrilled with the new look and very pleased with Ryan and Mike saying how nice they were and how hard they worked.   She provided them with beverages and treats which the men always enjoy.  I went for a visit and we kicked around different plant material.  I snapped the photo of the homeowners and Bruce he designed and sold the project.

I am in the process of installing plants at Patty's house where she is designing and I am advising, spacing and offering selection information.  We are having fun working out the green scape as we finish up this project from last year.  The day we were installing we had snow flurries and high winds everyone was so bundled up it was hard to tell one person from the next.  We are all loo

king forward to seeing this job completed.

We are just about complete on the 1750' of block we are installing as curbing along this driveway.  A bit of fine tuning, some rock picking and seeding should wrap it up.  We also have to finish planting this hill but are waiting for it to warm up a bit more.

In between these projects we did a quick spruce up at a factory in Angola, IMP.  Trimming and top dressing stone, adding 9 spirea and removing some ugly red lava rock.  The company was planning to entertain some customers and wanted to create better curb appeal so we had a tight deadline.

Transplanting Roses Made Easier

We are finishing up a couple of small jobs this week as well as starting two new fairly large projects which both have a fair amount of pavers. We will be moving well over a hundred ton of materials in the next couple of weeks, pavers, boulders, limestone, super slabs and soils.

One job involved transplanting a bed that was tightly planted and adding two hydrangeas. Moving the large knock out roses could have been a prickly experience wrapping the three foot by three foot plants kept losses down for both the roses and our arms. The ninety five degree heat had surprisingly small effect on the roses, they quit blooming and we have moderate leaf drop six days after transplanting. Normally we do not install stone around roses but our customer prefers the low maintenance that stone affords and I can't argue with the size and blooms of her roses.


A second project was sprucing up a house that is up for sale. Replacing the old railroad tie retaining wall with hand stacked glacial stone, installing new split rail fence and fresh limestone in the drive does wonders for curb appeal.

New company photos were necessary for our brochure since we have had some personnel changes. It is hard to imagine the diversity of talent, enthusiasm and craftsmanship that exists in our crew, thanks everyone.