Do You Water Your Commercial Property Wisely?

Most of us living in the Phoenix Metro area are familiar with the slogan “Water Wisely.” But what does that mean when we are talking about a commercial property?

The average home bermudagrass 225 square foot lawn uses over 5,000 gallons of water per year. A properly xeriscaped yard, using native plants, can be maintained with little or no supplemental water.

Most folks consider that a lush green lawn makes a property look so much more appealing. That means proper maintenance and the correct amount of watering.

Signs of Underwatering

    Bermudagrass has bluish-grey tint.

    Grass doesn't spring back after being stepped on.

    It is difficult to push a screwdriver into the soil.

    Turf still feels warm in the evening after the sun goes down.

Signs of Overwatering

    Water is consistantly puddled in areas.

    Turf has a musty odor.

    Soil is extremely soft and mushy.

    Algae or mushrooms are present.

When Should You Water?

    Be a night owl.

    Night or early in the morning are the most effective times to water,

    because wind and evaporation are lower.

    High wind speeds distort sprinkler patterns and produce non-uniform irrigation.

But you may  want a lovely lush lawn in the winter, a time when we enjoy being outside? If you're planting a winter lawn, make sure you do so correctly, to keep maintenance and water to a minimum. Many municipal water departments and conservation offices offer classes on watering efficiently and designing water-efficient landscapes. Bermuda-grass lawns go dormant in the fall. Lawns should be established at least one year before overseeding with a cool-season grass. The process is traumatic, even for established lawns. To maintain the health of your Bermuda lawn, refrain from planting a winter lawn every three years. Do not overseed other types of grass lawns. Reduce the frequency of watering and fertilizing your Bermuda lawn to slow its growth and encourage it to go into dormancy quicker.

Watering frequency will depend on the weather and temperature. Water every 3 to 10 days, for about 15 minutes, but only to a depth of 4 to 6 inches. To measure water penetration, after watering, push the shaft of a long screwdriver into the soil to see how deeply it will go. If it goes deeper than 6 inches easily, you're watering too much. The water has flowed beyond the root zone and will not be used by the growing lawn. If it barely penetrates 3 inches, water a little longer so the water can reach the roots.

No matter what you call it, you don’t need to worry about your lawn maintenance. It doesn’t matter to us whether you want desert landscaping, lush lawns or some type of landscaping in between, we can help.  We serve businesses like yours all over the Phoenix Metro Area. To find out how give us a call at 623-848-8277.

Presented by:

Greens Keeper Landscape Maintenance, LLC

623-848-8277

http://www.commerciallandscapecare.com

greenskeeperllc@cox.net

After The Rain Do You Need Help With Storm Damage Cleanup?

All this week the Phoenix Metro area is recovering from this winter storm.  Many have suffered hail and storm damage. We hope you and your family are all OK. The wind and rainfall has caused property damage and reduced some trees and landscaping to rubble.

If you are looking for help in your clean up efforts give Greens Keeper a call at 623-848-8277

You want to get your property damage corrected as soon as possible.  This goes well beyond just the aesthetics of how the property looks.  You want to make sure your property is safe.  You want to make sure that debris doesn’t cause even more damage and flooding on and beyond your property.

We offer more than just the look of the landscape of properties.  We offer clean-up and haul-away services that can get the storm damage restoration underway as soon as possible.

Our crews will arrive on site and begin working to minimize your properties' damage.

We have more than fifteen years of experience in helping business owners recover from unexpected events, storm and water damage.

We will work directly for you or with your insurance company, you decide.

While removal of fallen trees is many times the most visible part of storm damage, there are others. Water run-off can be damaging as well.

Our process involves Immediate assessment of your property to identify hazardous areas and help minimize additional damage that the erosion or blockages can cause to landscaping. Controlling run-off and erosion can also be mandated by local regulations.

This means that if you have things we think could be a liability on your property related to the landscape, we will communicate with you.

Following our next valley storm think of Greens Keeper Landscape Maintenance for your repairs and property restoration.  Give us a call at 623-848-8277 to see how we can help you.

Presented by:
Greens Keeper Landscape Maintenance, LLC
623-848-8277
http://www.commerciallandscapecare.com
greenskeeperllc@cox.net

Landscape Artist Roberto Burle Marx

Roberto Burle Marx (August 4, 1909 – June 4, 1994) was a Brazilian landscape architect (as well as a painter, print maker, ecologist, naturalist, artist and musician) whose designs of parks and gardens made him world famous. He is accredited with having introduced modernist landscape architecture to Brazil. He was known as a modern nature artist and a public urban space designer. His work had a great influence on tropical garden design in the 20th century. Water gardens were a popular theme in his work. He was deftly able to transfer traditional artistic expressions such as graphic design, tapestry and folk art into his landscape designs. He also designed fabrics, jewelry and stage sets.

He was one of the first people to call for the conservation of Brazil's rainforests. More than 50 plants bear his name. He amassed a substantial collection of plants at his home, including more than 500 philodendrons.

In 1932, Burle Marx designed his first landscape for a private residence by the architects Lucio Costa and Gregori Warchavchik. This project, the Schwartz house was the beginning of a collaboration with Costa which was enriched later by Oscar Niemeyer who designed the Brazilian Pavilion at the New York World's Fair in 1939. Niemeyer also designed the Pampulha complex in 1942 for which Marx designed gardens. His first garden design was completed in 1933. In 1937, Burle Marx gained international recognition and admiration for this abstract design of a roof garden for the Ministry of Education building. The design highlighted elements of tension and drama.

Roberto Burle Marx founded a landscape studio in 1955 and in the same year he founded a landscape company, called Burle Marx & Cia. Ltda. He opened an office in Caracas, Venezuela in 1956 and started working with architects Jose Tabacow and Haruyoshi Ono in 1968. Marx worked on commissions thorough out Brazil, Argentina, in Chile and many other South American countries, France, South Africa, Washington D.C. and Los Angeles. Additionally his artwork can be found displayed throughout the city of Rio de Janeiro "it is an open-air museum of works displaying his unmistakable style, one wholly his own" (Montero 2001 p. 29). Roberto Burle Marx's 62-year career ended when he died June 4, 1994 two months before his 85th birthday.

He spent time in the Brazilian forests where he was able to study and explore. Burle Marx was one of the first Brazilians to speak out against deforestation. This enabled him to add significantly to the botanical sciences, by discovering new rocks and plants for example. At least 50 plants bear his name. Marx was also involved in efforts to protect and conserve the rain forest from the destructive commercial activities of deforestation for bananas and other crops and clear cutting of timber.

No matter what you call it, you don’t need to worry about your lawn maintenance. It doesn’t matter to us whether you want desert landscaping, lush lawns or some type of landscaping in between, we can help.  We serve businesses like yours all over the Phoenix Metro Area. To find out how give us a call at 623-848-8277.

Presented by:
Greens Keeper Landscape Maintenance, LLC
623-848-8277
http://www.commerciallandscapecare.com
greenskeeperllc@cox.net

Plant Of The Week: Elephant Tree

Elephant tree is a common name for several plants with swollen stems and refers to the following desert plant.

Bursera microphylla, a species in the Burseraceae family native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. Bursera microphylla is a North American species of tree in the Frankincense Family in the soapwood order. Bursera microphylla, known by the common name elephant tree in English or 'torote' in Spanish, is a tree in genus Bursera. It grows into a distinctive sculptural form, with a thickened, water-storing or caudiciform trunk. It is found in the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico.

Bursera microphylla is generally a small tree with a thickened trunk and relatively small branching structure in comparison to the trunk size; it is semi-succulent and stores water in the conductive and parenchymal tissues of the trunk, lower limbs, and wood. Shreve (1964) classified the plant as a sarcocaulescent tree. The sarcocaulescent habit acts as a buffer against variation in environmental water balance (Turner et al., 1995). The leaves are alternate, without stipules, and are mostly once-pinnate or twice-pinnate but can be unifoliate or trifoliate in some species (Rzedowski and Kruse 1979). Bursera microphylla reaches up to 33 feet in height and its bark is light gray to white, with younger branches having a reddish color. The light foliage is made up of long, straight, flat, legume-like leaves which are composed of paired leaflets. It flowers in rounded yellow buds which open into small, star-shaped, white or cream flowers. The fruit is a drupe containing a yellow stone

This plant is a rare plant in the US in the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park region, Sonoran Desert and also found in the Santa Rosa Mountains and also in some parts of the south western part of the Arizona. This plant is typically designed to adapt to desert climate, with a thick trunk that stores water for days. It is small in size and its branches are quite small in comparison to the size of its trunk. It also stores water in its lower limbs and wood, apart from the trunk. 

The foliage of the plant is quite lightly distributed which has flat, long, legume like leaves and exist in paired leaflets. The flowers are born as rounded yellow structures in the bud form and slowly blossom into beautiful small, star shaped white or cream colored flowers. Most of the species of this plant are drought deciduous owing to the warm climatic conditions and has leaves throughout the year, except in drought and extreme cold weather.

No matter what you call it, you don’t need to worry about your lawn maintenance. It doesn’t matter to us whether you want desert landscaping, lush lawns or some type of landscaping in between, we can help.  We serve businesses like yours all over the Phoenix Metro Area. To find out how give us a call at 623-848-8277.

Presented by:
Greens Keeper Landscape Maintenance, LLC
623-848-8277
http://www.commerciallandscapecare.com
greenskeeperllc@cox.net

Organic Weed Control

Weed control is the botanical component of pest control, which attempts to stop weeds, especially noxious or injurious weeds, from competing with domesticated plants and livestock. Many strategies have been developed in order to contain these plants.
The original strategy was manual removal including ploughing, which can cut the roots of weeds. More recent approaches include herbicides (chemical weed killers) and reducing stocks by burning and/or pulverizing seeds.

A plant is often termed a "weed" when it has one or more of the following characteristics:
Little or no recognized value (as in medicinal, material, nutritional or energy)
Rapid growth and/or ease of germination Competitive with crops for space, light, water and nutrients.

The definition of a weed is completely context-dependent. To one person, one plant may be a weed, and to another person it may be a desirable plant. In one place, a plant may be viewed as a weed, whereas in another place, the same plant may be desirable.

Weeds compete with productive crops or pasture, ultimately converting productive land into unusable scrub. Weeds can be poisonous, distasteful, produce burrs, thorns or otherwise interfere with the use and management of desirable plants by contaminating harvests or interfering with livestock.

Weeds compete with crops for space, nutrients, water and light. Smaller, slower growing seedlings are more susceptible than those that are larger and more vigorous. Onions are one of the most vulnerable, because they are slow to germinate and produce slender, upright stems. By contrast broad beans produce large seedlings and suffer far fewer effects other than during periods of water shortage at the crucial time when the pods are filling out. Transplanted crops raised in sterile soil or potting compost gain a head start over germinating weeds.

Weeds also vary in their competitive abilities and according to conditions and season. Tall-growing vigorous weeds such as fat hen (Chenopodium album) can have the most pronounced effects on adjacent crops, although seedlings of fat hen that appear in late summer produce only small plants. Chickweed (Stellaria media), a low growing plant, can happily co-exist with a tall crop during the summer, but plants that have overwintered will grow rapidly in early spring and may swamp crops such as onions or spring greens.
The presence of weeds does not necessarily mean that they are damaging a crop, especially during the early growth stages when both weeds and crops can grow without interference. However, as growth proceeds they each begin to require greater amounts of water and nutrients. Estimates suggest that weed and crop can co-exist harmoniously for around three weeks before competition becomes significant. One study found that after competition had started, the final yield of onion bulbs was reduced at almost 4% per day.

No matter what you call it, you don’t need to worry about your lawn maintenance. It doesn’t matter to us whether you want desert landscaping, lush lawns or some type of landscaping in between, we can help.  We serve businesses like yours all over the Phoenix Metro Area. To find out how give us a call at 623-848-8277.

Presented by:
Greens Keeper Landscape Maintenance, LLC
623-848-8277
http://www.commerciallandscapecare.com
greenskeeperllc@cox.net

What Are Your Commercial Property Resolutions For 2016

When we talk about New Year’s resolutions most folks are talking about themselves.  They want to improve their body with diet and exercise. They might want to improve their mind by furthering their education or simply by read more and different books or online programs. They might try to improve their finances by spending less or earning more.

But, have you considered New Year’s Resolutions as it relates to your commercial property or your local business? To keep up with or surpass your competitors you must make improvements to your business.  The outward appurtenance is one very big factor.  It goes well beyond paint and includes the complete picture your location presents to the general public.

Your commercial property is a big investment, so from time to time you need to brighten it up, it’s important to choose your renovations carefully. Thankfully, there are many inexpensive improvements you can do to boost the appearance of your business property without spending a lot of money. Plus, the small investment you do make will be quickly offset because the apartments will be rented sooner and possibly for more than what you’re charging now. For a brick and mortar store it can mean improved foot traffic. For your restaurant it can mean more dinners coming to eat your fare.

Of course one way to enhance the appearance of your property is to plant new landscaping. Newly planted trees, shrubs and flowers can have a dramatic effect on your property, and it will give potential renters the image that you care about your investment (which you do!). You may even want to consider a water feature or new hardscaping to pull in even more interest.

As we mentioned one way to improve the look of your commercial property is to give it a fresh paint job. Old, faded paint can make any property look outdated and run down, but a fresh coat of paint will have the opposite effect. When choosing your paint color, choose something neutral and modest. Do you want your property to be too flashy or stick out like a sore thumb on the block?

So if your choice is landscaping you will need a fair company you can trust to keep it looking great year round.  May we ask you to consider Greens Keeper Landscape Maintenance?

No matter what you call it, you don’t need to worry about your lawn maintenance. It doesn’t matter to us whether you want desert landscaping, lush lawns or some type of landscaping in between, we can help.  We serve businesses like yours all over the Phoenix Metro Area. To find out how give us a call at 623-848-8277.

Presented by:
Greens Keeper Landscape Maintenance, LLC
623-848-8277
http://www.commerciallandscapecare.com
greenskeeperllc@cox.net

Happy New Year

No matter what you need in 2016, you don’t need to worry about your lawn maintenance. It doesn’t matter to us whether you want desert landscaping, lush lawns or some type of landscaping in between, we can help.  We serve businesses like yours all over the Phoenix Metro Area. To find out how give us a call at 623-848-8277.

Presented by:
Greens Keeper Landscape Maintenance, LLC
623-848-8277
http://www.commerciallandscapecare.com
greenskeeperllc@cox.net