Tree and Landscape Shrub Installation
Installing shrubs and trees in landscapes is one of the most neglected skills in a landscaper’s tool belt. So many landscape companies just dig a hole, drop in a plant or tree, kick the dirt back on top of the root ball, and call it good. At Gabris Landscaping we keep an ISA Arborist on staff to ensure our employees are repeatedly educated on proper plant installation processes and techniques. Not all plants are created equal though, so some self interpretation is always required when installing a plant and tree. When a plant or tree is rotated one direction in the landscape, it could be hideous. After just a quarter turn of that same shrub or tree, it could become the best looking plant in the entire landscape.
Spacing of landscape shrubs and trees is another area in which many landscapers are lacking in skill. So many plants are often installed in such small spaces, the plants will choke one another out. If over-crowded plants don’t completely kill each other from the competition for soil space and sunlight alone, the increased insect and fungus issues from an area with poor air flow will ensure that the plants never grow to be as healthy as they could be. Like most things in life, planning prior to tree and landscape shrub installation is the key to success. Shrubs and trees for a landscape are not something which should be an impulse purchase.
The first step to plant installation is going to be finding out how much space is available for planting. Simple measurements of your landscape beds and/or yard can accomplish this. Be sure to take note of any and all visible potential hazards. These hazards could be something that caused problems during installation or potential future issues. No one wants to pay for damage to a buried utility line, nor do they want to deal with the mess such damage can cause. Once the plant increases to a mature size, interference with overhead power lines, damage to gutters, and damage to roof shingles tend to be the most common concerns.
Landscapes should be designed for maturity. No one wants to deal with the utility company cutting one side off of a tree they have watched grow for 10 years because it was planted too close to a power line. Cramming plants into a landscape, just to remove them in a few more years once they’ve grown too much is another costly mistake. This is especially true when considering the balance issues a landscape can be left with once random plants die and must be removed because of poor spacing. More often than not, over-crowded landscapes must be completely removed and replaced because balancing mature plant specimens with immature specimens is rarely aesthetically pleasing. If an instantly full landscape is desired, we recommend the use of annuals for a few years until the perennial plants, shrubs, and trees fill out the space.
Teaching our customers all of the important considerations and steps to take when installing your landscape plants, trees, and shrubs could take years. Instead, we decided to focus on training our employees to use all of the information to ensure your shrubs and trees are installed properly. We believe the best thing we can do for our customers to provide high quality tree installation service is to install them according to industry best practices, so we compiled them into a 1-page hand out for our customers and readers.
We guarantee to get your plants installed correctly according to local industry experts and our Proper Plant and Tree Installation Techniques Handout, thus we are always happy to provide customers with a warranty on installation labor for plants we installed (within a reasonable time frame). However, if the local nurseries do not provide plant warranties, we do not offer any warranties on the plants. We find plant warranties to be an unimportant part of a proper landscape installation once plants are installed properly. A healthy plant, placed in the proper sunlight conditions can almost always be treated and saved if properly watered. Some plant varieties require pro-active approaches to maintain vigorous growth and lush foliage such as extra root stimulation or preventative insect or fungus treatments. The greatest benefit to having us install your landscape shrubs or trees is our above average plant establishment rate. Thanks to planning and education, the plants and trees we install live longer and grow stronger.
Be sure to check out our 1-page handout on Proper Tree Planting Techniques and New Plant and Tree Watering Practices in our Lawn and Landscape Blog.
