Southborough trim job continued.........

Guillerme and I went back to the property in Southborough, to finish up the pruning and weeding job, we had started yesterday.

Today, it is not sunny and that is a blessing as this property is out in the open sun and yesterday, it was hot and humid.

As, I have written about in earlier posts, this years lillies have really deep, rich colors and they are very large, 2-3 feet in height and very healthy. They must have enjoyed our 2 months of cool rainy weather, unlike me and the guys who had to endure working in it.

Southborough Trim Job

Guillerme and I are in Southborough today to start a 2 day weed and prune job. I have been taking care of this property for over 15 years and the owner is very, very nice. we have installed all of the plantings at this home over the many years we have been taking care of it. When I first came to the property there was not a pool in the back yard only a small swingset. The property is in the direct sun all day long and everything just loves growing and getting bigger every year.

We start off in the front yard and as we do, the owner comes out and talks to us before she goes golfing for the day. She wants to know if it is OK, to leave her dog out while she is gone and of course we agree. We enjoy having dogs around while we work, they break up the routine and are fun to be with. It is so warm and humid todat that the dog decides laying down on the cool garage floor is more enjoyable than hanging out with us.

Crabgrass spraying

Today, I went with Guillerme and Rich to spray the crabgrass at Olin College. Crabgrass loves to grow in warm sunny areas and there are plenty of those areas at the college. Along roadways, parking areas and along all of the sidewalks.

We concentrate on the "hot spots" and do a visual check of the interior areas and spot spray any crabgrass we see. I will be using the Permagreen power spreader and the guys will be using backpack tank sprayers.

This year, with all of the cool weather we are having has, reduced the amount of crabgrass and the size of the crabgrass. Usually at this time of year it is quite large, approximately 7-8 inches in diameter and requires multiple spraying to eradicate it. This year we are seeing the crabgrass to be only about 3 inches in diameter max., which is good thing, because it will require only 2 applications to kill it off.

It takes us the full day to cover the entire campus, and we will be back in a few weeks anyways with the next fertilizer application.

Walpole trim job

Today, I went with Guillerme and Wagner to the entrance to a housing development in Holliston and trimmed what was there and weeded. Just neatened it up a bit. There are a lot of dead "Blue Rug Spruce" there that have been damaged due to the winter chemicals put down. That is another job at another time, when finances are available.

Next, we went over to a property in Walpole to trim and weed. The owner was having a party on the weekend for his son who had just graduated from college. this property needed a lot of weeding before we could even get to the bushes. So we spent the rest of the day just weeding and took out about 4 yards of weeds from 2 1/2 beds. Needles to say, we will be returning to complete the job.

The pictures are of some more Lillies, I just can't get over their color this year.

We had rain on Friday morning and did not get over to finish this job until around lunch time. I had Guillerme and Fabio with me. We worked very hard to complete the front yard and side yards by 5:00 PM. We ended up taking an additional 4 yards of weeds and trimmings from the property, but the owner was very pleased and that is what it is all about.

Continue trim job and plant Stella Dora's

Tuesday it rained so I went to the shop and worked on the Permagreen power spreader, because the plan is to go to Olin college on Friday and spray the crabgrass there and also to fertilize the soccer fields. The Permagreen Spreader is the key piece of equipment for that job. It needed to be tuned up, cleaned and have the transmission and oil changed.

Today, Wednesday, I went back to the property that is used by the President of Babson College, to continue with the weeding and trimming of the property. It was decided yesterday that we would plant Stella Dora day Lillie's in the back yard. There are 3 mulch beds surrounding very large "landscape rocks" where there are tulip's in the spring and then nothing for the rest of the year. Rob, showed up with the entire back of his pickup loaded with Stella Dora's. Guillerme and Wagner spent the next 2 1/2 hours digging holes and planting them. Hopefully there will still be time for some of them to bloom this year.

As I mentioned in the last post for some reason this year the Lillie's are vibrant in their color and it seems that all of them are close to 4 feet high. I took the pictures of these 2, that are in the perennial bed in the back of the property.

We still have not finished the entire property by the end of the day, but that is alright, because Rob, wants to send another crew there to mulch the Stella Dora beds and do a severe trim job on a large Crab Apple tree across the street.

Trim Job with Bee's

I went with Guillerme and Wagner to trim the property that is used by the President of Babson College today. This is a big trim job and we will be there for 2 days plus. The property always has to look, well "presidential", no weeds in the beds, everything trimmed nicely, nice looking lawn with no weeds in it.

I have been noticing this year, that the Astillbe's in every one's yard have very strong colors and most of them are about 4 feet in height. I have never seen them this way before, maybe it is the rain and cool weather. The pictures are of the Astillbe that is in the perennial garden on this property. In the picture on the right, you can see how they are towering over the Yew Hedge.

Out by the carriage house the guys found a large bee hive the size of a small basketball and boys being boys, got out the bee spray. They each took turns going in as close as possible, spraying and then running as fast as they could. I just watched and enjoyed their activities.

Needham trim job

Today Wagner decided he would come and join us at work today and we all went to a property in Needham. The picture in the upper left is of the home. The other 2 pictures are of some blue hydrangea's, that the owner takes good care off with a application of Holly Tone every week. This year the flowers are just brilliant and very large compared to the others we see as we drive around.

This trim project takes all day even though it is a small property, which surprised Guillerme, who thought we would be done early. There is a lot of hand clipping that has to be done. The owner just loves his yard and plants ornamental bushes were ever he can, he is really "into"his landscape. He is also a very nice guy and always wants to give us water and best of all, he is always walking by complimenting the guys on the great job they are doing. He really appreciates our work.

3 Trim jobs, no Wagner

The picture on the right is the last home we worked on, This is a property were we had done the complete installation many, many years ago. Now the bushes have grown so much it is time to think about moving some around to give the others some air and room to expand. The picture on the right is of a yellow, Coreopsis Flower.

Wagner was a no show this morning, as had, had a nose bleed yesterday and when he was playing soccer last night it started to bleed again. So he decided to give it a rest for a day with some ice on it. That left Guillerme and I to work on 3 trim projects today. They are all smaller properties and they are all close to each other in Wellesley.

Guillerme and I worked until 6 PM and did manage to get them all done. I did have a CRAVE energy drink which gave me more than enough energy to finish the day. I am really enjoying having those to make it through the day, I just need that energy boost. CRAVE allows me to get a good night's sleep. I used to drink an afternoon coffee, but then I would pay for it by not being able to sleep at night.

Sherborn Trim job- and the Police visit us

We went to a home in Sherborn, Massachusetts today to do a trim and weed job. We had worked at installing all of the bushes, trees, sod and blue stone patio quite a few years ago and that is when these pictures were taken. Most all of the plantings are at least twice a high and a lot fuller.

Wagner came up to me when Guillerme and I were in the back of the property and asked me to come and help one of the ladies who was cleaning the home. As I walked around to the front of the home the police arrived. They asked me what was going on and I explained that I did not know, but then Wagner told us that the cleaning lady had used some kind of chemical to clean the rugs and it had set off the alarm. A few minutes later the fire engine cam down the road but was waved off by the police.

We went back to work, after all of the excitement and the man who owns the property, showed up, about an hour latter, after he had been called at work. He at least knows, now, that his alarm system, does in fact work the way it is supposed too.

Condo Trim Job

Today, I am with Guillerme and Wagner doing a big 3 day trim job at a condo complex in Millis, Massachusetts. The picture above on the left, is just part of the complex, after it was trimmed and the other picture, is of a cone flower, with a Bee getting some nectar.

This is a good project for Guillerme to work on as it has many different varieties of shrubs for him to practice his shearing skills on. We tackle this project one building at a time. We weed all of the beds first, rake them out and then do all of the hand clipping and the shearing of the shrubs. Doing it this way makes it easier to clean up and is a lot easier on Wagner who is doing the majority of the clean up work.

This will take us a total of 3 days to complete, but it is well worth it, as we get a lot of compliments from the ladies who live there. That is what is so great about landscaping, making customers happy with your work.