This time of year Bradford pears are in full bloom. Do you love the beautiful white flowers? If you knew what Bradford pears really were, you would try to take up every Bradford pear in Greenville. Durant Ashmore, an expert in tree and shrubs, said it best "If you're looking to plant something beautiful, don't let it be a Bradford pear. In fact nurseries will not even sell Bradford pears anymore, if they are LEAVE RIGHT AWAY. Any tree nursery would not ever sell a Bradford pear if they knew anything about trees and shrubs. Why is this you ask? Let me explain a little about Bradford pears and why if you have them you want to have them removed from your property. Bradford pears are extremely harmful to our local environment, and it is happening right before you. If you were in Greenville 20 years ago you didn't see that many Bradford pears. Now you will see them in any open field, on the side of the road, in yards, and any open land that is not mowed. You can see Bradford pear forest around here, and those white blooms will be destroying our environment for decades to come. Many experts say that Bradford pears are worse than kudzu. Bradford pears were first introduced in the United States in 1964. When the tree was introduced into the United States they were thought to be sterile. Many landscapers and builders starting to plant these beautiful white blooming trees at homes and businesses. Little did anyone know they were planting a disaster. First Bradford pears are very weak and often will bust apart within 20 years; this is the good news. The bad news, Bradford pears are not sterile. While bradford pears will not reproduce with themselves, they will cross pollinate with other trees. The first big problem with bradford pears not being sterile is that we often times see a lack of natural trees to our area like maples, pines, and oaks thriving. The second problem is when the trees cross pollinate we often see large thorny Bradford pears growing that choke the life out of pines, dogwoods, maples, oaks, and many others. This would be those trees that you pass in a once open field that is now covered with dangerous Bradford pears that are weak and thorny. While the trees are weak, the thorns are strong and can not be taken out easily. It takes a steel tracked dozers to remove these trees and can cost several thousand dollars to get rid of and to repair the damage these trees cause to the land. Just to be clear the problem starts in your yard, with that one Bradford pear that you have. Your one tree can spawn hundreds of environmentally dangerous trees a year. If you truly want to make a difference, CUT DOWN ALL YOUR BRADFORD PEARS TODAY. I am not joking or saying this lightly, I could not yell this or say this any louder; "ALL BRADFORD PEARS MUST GO!" Save the environment and get rid of Bradford pears. A few good options to plant in the place of the Bradford pear are Natchez Crepe Myrtles, Maples, Oaks, Japanese Magnolias, Cherry Trees, Flowering Apricots, Serviceberry, Witch Hazel, Redbud, Carolina Silverbell, sourwood, and Japanese Maple are all great options. We have linked an article below written by Durant Ashmore that goes into detail and gives more options than what we listed here. Call, email, or drop a comment below today and we will get you a price on getting rid of those horrible trees in your yard and get you another tree to plant in its place. 864.275.2039 or email us at jason@alloutdoors-sc.com. By: Ashley Haynes
Copyright ALL Outdoors 2018 Do you ever wonder what licensed, bonded, and insured means? We get questions about that every year. Anyone can say they are licensed, bonded, and insured, but are they really? Lets dig deep so you know what RED FLAGS to look for and what to ask a contractor when hiring? Spoiler Alert, this is a long post with a lot of good information. LicensedYou can hold a license for a specific field of work by the state, county, or city. This varies depending on where you live. For a state license in South Carolina you can check to see if someone has the proper license by going to the South Carolina LLR site. This site is super important if you were renovating a house, hiring an accountant, going to the dentist, as well as many other occupations that have to be licensed to do work in South Carolina. Unfortunately lawn care, landscaping, and outdoor living projects for the most part do not require any kind of license. A license is required for forestry and only applies if you are logging wood, it does not apply to your standard tree service company. The other license required for outdoor work is landscape architects. Everything else is not covered in any state license. So why are tree companies and lawn care companies saying they are licensed to work? Some are lying and some are using loose wording to say they hold a license to do work in a city. For example, ALL Outdoors holds a license in the City of Greer to do work. This means nothing for you as the client. I did not get training, they didn't check out my company, I didn't take any test from Greer City to show I am qualified to do the work I am doing. This means I pay a percentage of my gross sales to do work in the city. Nothing too it, all about the money. Many other cities require this too, but it is nothing to you the homeowner. So if you are looking to hire someone to mow your lawn, take out trees, or build a retaining wall or patio they don't need a license; although there are other things you need to check. On a side note if someone in this line of work said they are licensed, bonded, and insured, I would say RED FLAG. If they are lying or using loose wording here, I will be willing to bet they will lie about other things. BondedBig RED FLAGS should go up right away if any lawn care, landscaping, tree services, or outdoor living business says they are bonded. First there are many different kinds of bonds that apply to different businesses. We are not going into detail about that, but a typical bond normally covers large projects up to a million dollars. For example in the home renovation business you pay a contractor 50,000 to redo your kitchen. In simple terms this bond will insure that your kitchen gets done even if the contractor skips town or can't finish the project for some reason. You don't need a bond in lawn care, if your lawn care contractor stops coming, you just hire someone else. This is the same for tree and landscaping companies, they don't come you just hire someone else. One thing I should note here is to NEVER PAY for any service upfront that does not require material. For example don't pay for lawn care service for the entire season upfront. This is a RED FLAG that they don't know how to manage money. Most lawn care companies that offer discounts for upfront payment for the entire season go out of business. I have seen this happen time and time again. Don't pay for tree work before it is performed or finished. If material, such as mulch, pavers, retaining wall block, etc, is required most contractors will ask for 50% deposit upfront. This is a standard practice and you should pay; but make sure to check prior work and get at least 4 references before paying the deposit fee for material. Some outdoor living companies are bonded, but it is not standard practice. For me the bond is not important for building your outdoor dream, references are more important. I always tell clients what you don't see is more important that what you see. A contractor can be bonded and finish your project and your paver patio can start falling apart in a year. The bond will not cover this, as the project is over and was completed. This is caused by a improper base being installed under your patio, this is where references come in. Ask for older references and newer references so you can see how there work stands up to time. InsuredThis is the most important of the three. Insurance is required, and every lawn care, landscaping, and outdoor living company should have THREE kinds of insurance. The first kind of insurance a company should have is general liability insurance. This insurance can be very costly for a company, but very important. General Liability will help to protect you the homeowner from a lawsuit if someone gets hurt. A few years ago I took a training class on safety and a great example was told on why you must have general liability and safety within your company. Somehow a screw driver was left in the grass on a property. The lawn care company came and mowed and did not see the screw driver in the grass. The mower hit the screw driver, it shot in the air and went through a car driving by, hitting the person driving, and killed them. The property owner was responsible because the lawn care company did not have general liability. Another story I heard from a neighbor was about hiring a painter. The painter fell and broke his arm. The painter had no general liability policy, and while the painter did not sue the homeowner, the hospital did. The homeowner lost and had to pay the painters medical bills. Another question I often hear is "Is it ok to let the kid down the street mow by lawn?" I would say no, unless that kid has general liability insurance. I have heard of lawsuits involving the kid down the street who got hurt or hurt someone else. Accidents happen, general liability protects the kid down the street from suing you. If the kid down the street wants to run a business, make sure they are running a legit business. I network with a kid who is now 16; he started his business when he was 14. He now has 4 employees, 2 trucks, and runs a great lawn care company. He is the kid down the street with general liability insurance and the one I would hire. General Liability is very important and all companies should have it. Ask all contractors you that do work on your property to provide you with a current copy of the policy. You can also ask that the insurance company to send you a direct copy of the policy. The second type of insurance all contractors should have is workers comp. This insurance will protect you as the homeowner if one of the contractor's employees gets hurt on your property. Example, a tree company is cutting a tree down in your yard. An employee is not careful and gets cut by the chainsaw. If the companies does not have workers comp you as the homeowner are responsible for the employees medical bills. Your contractor should be able to have to provide you with a current copy of the worker comps policy and get the insurance company to send you a copy. Make sure any contractor you hire has a workers comp policy. The third type of insurance all companies should have is automobile insurance. This policy normally doesn't effect homeowners, but it could. If your contractor pulls up at your house and accidentally hits your car, you, your house, you could be in a lawsuit because they have no automobile insurance. This is another insurance that you can ask for, but I wouldn't worry about it too much. If they provide you with general liability and workers comp policies, I would be willing to bet they have automobile insurance. In conclusion the real questions you need to ask are...
By: Ashley Haynes
Copyright ALL Outdoors 2018 Fire pits are often dreamed about, but many people think that can't afford their dream fire pit and patio. Here are 10 reason to get a fire pit installed today by ALL Outdoors.
It is time to use your outdoor space like you have always dreamed of. ALL Outdoors can build you the perfect paver patio, fire pit, kitchen, and more. Contact us now. We are currently booked until the beginning of March. Now is the perfect time to start planning so have a dreamy outdoor space to enjoy in the spring. By: Ashley Haynes
Copyright ALL Outdoors 2018
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How to trim Crepe Myrtles February is the perfect time to trim your crepe myrtles, but is it being done correctly? Often times we go to speak with new clients and discover that the previous landscaper trimmed the crepe myrtles incorrectly. Why would a professional do that? While some don't know the proper way to trim, most do it because it is more money in their pocket. I once heard a landscaper say that they knew they were trimming the crepe myrtles wrong, but knew that causing harm to the tree would result in more work which meant more money. What is the first problem with crepe myrtles? A crepe myrtle is a tree, not a bush. Do you trim your oaks or maples off at the trunk every year? No, so why would you do it to a crepe myrtle. With that being said there are dwarf crepe myrtle bushes that will stay between 3 to 5 feet. They are beautiful and would be perfect if your looking for a smaller crepe myrtle. If you say your crepe myrtle gets to big, the wrong kind of crepe myrtle was planted. There are many kinds of crepe myrtles. A few of the most popular crepe myrtle are Natchez, Miami, Sioux, Dynamite, Muskogee, and Watermelon Red. These crepe myrtles will grow at least 25-30 feet tall and need to be planted out in your yard. You don't want these crepe myrtles next to a door or window. If you would like a few next to your house it would be better to have a lower growing kind. They have some that only get as tall as 3 feet while other kinds can be 10-15 ft. Finding the right kind of crepe myrtle is essential so you don't commit "crepe murder." What is crepe murder? Crepe murder is done every year and is a pet peeve of our company. We hate seeing crepe murder happen in our area. Crepe murder is the improper trimming of crepe myrtles. You often see people take a chain saw and trim the trunk of the tree. This creates ugly knuckles that will result it sucker limbs developing. While crepe murder is irreversible, you can normally save a crepe myrtle and return the tree to beauty. This often takes 3 to 5 years to correct one trimming that was done incorrectly. Although if a crepe myrtle is murdered year after year we have had to remove dead or dying crepe myrtles and completely replace them. When should you trim crepe myrtles? Late January to the end of February is the perfect time to trim crepe myrtles. All the blooms are gone and no new blooms are starting so you can easily see all the branches on the tree. If you trim while the tree is blooming it can be hard to see the branches and makes it difficult to see what branches you should be trimming. It will also hurt the tree causing less blooms that year. If you prune your crepe myrtle now it will also promote new growth and promote more blooms in the spring. How should you trim a crepe myrtle? If your landscaper is planning on using a chain saw or electric hedge trimmers stop them right now. Those tools should never be used on a crepe myrtle. Start with a good pair of loppers and hand pruners. Any branches 4 feet or below on the main tree trunk should be trimmed off. Any sucker limps coming out of the base of the crepe myrtle should be trimmed off. Within the branches trim any branches that are growing down, inwards, crossing, and dead. If your crepe myrtle still needs to be trimmed you can trim a few of the bigger branches back, but do not trim any branch bigger than your pinkie. We would be happy to help you trim your crepe myrtles today. Simply call the office at 864.275.2039 or fill out the form below and we would be happy to schedule a crepe myrtle trimming for you today. By: Ashley Haynes
Copyright ALL Outdoors 2018 |
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