Here is a list of professional tips to remember when working on a successful commercial landscape project.
- The calcium-magnesium or sodium in the hard water can compete with the Roundup molecule and render it ineffective.
- Don’t store plant material on asphalt.
- Train your crew to jet or water in trees by paying attention to the air bubbles. No air bubbles=a tree that will survive.
- Check tree stakes. Many crews install them way too tight against the bark.
- When augering holes to install trees, scar the sidewalls of the hole with a shovel to reduce the bathtub-effect.
- Don’t choke strap trees without some protection. An old t-shirt or burlap can save you a lot of embarrassment.
- A 3 inch B&B tree will need about 6 gallons of water a day in lighter soils for the first couple of weeks.
- The organics in pond water will tie up or use up the glyphosate molecule rendering it useless.
- It’s better to have a tree planted 2” high than 2” low.
- Tree stakes and guy wires need to be adjusted as the tree grows.
- It is always a good idea to water holes before planting the trees into them.
- Treat root balls carefully. Don’t drag or drop it off the truck or trailer.
- The optimum pH when using Roundup is 5-5.5 pH.
- Always water trees when they are unloaded from the truck after delivery. Wind from highway travel will dry out the root ball.
- When digging holes for plants, save the soil from the upper half of the hole to backfill because it is more biologically active.
- Discard the lower half of the hole’s soil.
- Little things like this make a difference.