"Sometimes we win – sometimes we don't." That's Vic Scott's philosophy on being able to use certain plant materials on his customers' landscapes. As president of Vic Scott Landscaping, Ankeny, Iowa, Scott said most of his customers trust his judgement.
"We work with our customers," Scott explained. "Ninety percent of them trust us with their landscape. When our customers are insistent about certain plant materials being installed that we know aren't going to work well in their landscape, we try to explain the situation and find replacement material first. If they refuse to accept it, we give them what they want. I still give them a one-year guarantee on the plant material. I'll work with them. It's the only thing we have to offer over our competition."
Michael Hoogland, president, Hoogland's Nursery & Landscaping, Shreveport, La., has a similar situation at his company.
"We have a very alkaline soil," Hoogland explained. "Our customers love hollies, gardenias, dogwoods, azaleas – all plants that love acidic soil. These plants do not grow well here, but people love them so we do more maintenance and try to create a soil environment the plant will thrive in."
Unfortunately, working with and educating the customer is just the beginning. When it comes to good selection and installation of landscape ornamentals, knowledge of the different plant materials and their availability, existing site conditions, installation techniques and irrigation issues all become major issues.
HIGHER LEARNING. More than 50 percent of Florida contractors fail the plant material identification portion of the state nurserymen's test the first time they take it, said Tommy Aiello, president, Aiello Landscape, Hobe Sound, Fla.
"I even help them study," Aiello said. "It comes time when there are 50 plants laid out on the table and they have to be identified, No. 1 through No. 50. It's something that, with experience, most landscape contractors learn. Most contractors can recognize 50 to 75 percent of the material after seeing it and working with it everyday. It takes time – that's why most people do so poorly on this test."
Mistakes can easily be made in selection and installation of plant material when a landscape contractor isn't knowledgeable about the type of ornamental he or she is installing. For example, Aiello said, you can't plant citrus trees in an area with a high water table.
Knowing the type of conditions certain plant material thrives in can also help with designing low vs. high maintenance landscapes, Aiello said. About 50 to 75 percent of his customers ask for low maintenance. Eighty-two percent of Hoogland's residential clients ask for low maintenance. It's a trend many contractors are aware of in the industry.
"Our customers want low maintenance now more than ever," Hoogland said, recommending dwarf hollies and dwarf evergreens as low maintenance plants that require little pruning. "So many husbands and wives both work. The baby boomer generation has grown as a solid customer base for us in the last five to six years. We bring in $4 to $5 million in revenue just from customers between the ages of 35 and 50. They are aggressive spenders. They want what will look good now instead of tomorrow or two years from now; and they want their landscape to keep a nice appearance without a lot of extra work."
Low maintenance ornamentals usually require little watering and aren't fussy about whether they grow in sunny or shady areas or about the kind of treatment they get, added Jim Vaille, vice president, Village Green Landscape Contractors, Hanover, Mass.
"Junipers are a good example," Vaille said. "After establishing them the first season with regular watering and fertilizing, they are fine. Daylilies, hostas and sedum are other examples of low maintenance plants. Roses, however, are a pain in the neck. They get leaf spot and aphids. The Bonica rose and the Memorial rose are a little bit less maintenance than the Hybrid Ts."
Dwarf burning bushes and American Viburnums are also great uniform growing, low maintenance plants, Scott pointed out, while dogwoods and hydrangeas grow fast and need to be cut back every year, especially if they are being maintained at a certain height.
EXISTING SITE CONDITIONS. Within 30 to 60 days after installation, ocean salt can eat up any type of plant material on the southeast coast of Florida, Aiello said.
"It's all about putting the right plant in the right place," he explained. "For example, sable palms can take the salt."
However, landscape contractors won't always have a perfect growing medium in a customer's existing landscape for certain ornamentals. Sometimes, no matter how much you know about a plant, the goal becomes focusing on bettering the site conditions for the type of plant being installed instead of finding a good plant for the existing site conditions, said Matt Schweier, project coordinator, Cavotta Landscaping, Cleveland, Ohio.
"When there's an existing poor situation, you can't help the turnout, especially if you're just doing the installation and the landscape architect has a theory of how he or she wants the landscape to look," Schweier advised. "In one situation for us, the subgrade was so poor that unless we put drainage around each planted tree, a bathtub situation would have resulted, drowning them."
When Schweier runs into a situation like this – because his company does primarily installation work – he has to communicate the problem through the general contractor to the landscape architect. Sometimes, plant material decisions don't change, Schweier said, until the landscape architect can see the problem that could result.
"The proof is in the pudding," he said. "When you can show the landscape architect, general contractor or homeowner how the planting won't work based on soil conditions or drainage problems, then they can understand it better and be more willing to let the contractor substitute materials or add drainage pipes."
When it comes to existing soil conditions, Scott has a problem with the heavy clay soil in Iowa.
"We're not concerned too much about irrigation here," Scott said. "We pay more attention to over watering. For example, maples don't like wet feet so we put gravel in the bottom of the hole so water has a place to drain to or we plant the material a little higher in the soil."
IN TOO DEEP. Planting ornamentals too deep into the soil is one of the biggest installation mis-takes made by landscape contractors, Scott said.
"It's one of the worst things you could possibly do," he explained. "Auguring – unless you're working on a very large landscape – is actually digging too deep and, unless you really pack the plant in there, it will settle."
Plants breathe through their stems and trunks, Scott pointed out. When a plant's leaves are too small and it looks sick, that is probably a result of poor planting depth.
"I see a lot of problems with planting depth when there are grade changes that need to be made in a landscape," Vaille said. "No one thinks of the trees and they just fill over them. Then the trees die because the roots close to the surface aren't getting oxygen."
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With 42 days of 100-degree temperatures last year, Shreveport, La., landscapes needed more than the 4 to 5 inches of rainfall they received May through August to survive. "When we finished installing plant materials, we made sure to talk to our customers about their maintenance plans," said Michael Hoog-land, president, Hoogland's Nursery & Land-scaping, Shreveport, La. "We recommended they go into our maintenance program because if those plants went one week without water, they'd die. In other situations, we'd reallocate $3,000 out of a $10,000 landscaping budget for an irrigation system." When it comes to getting plants established after installation and during that first year of growth, irrigation plays a key role in the process. Some contractors, depending on their location, feel extensive irrigation is essential, while others think it's not as imperative. In Hobe Sound, Fla., Tommy Aiello, president, Aiello Landscape, said five to 10 years ago, xeriscaping, water efficient landscaping, was strongly encouraged. "Today, because it's not as big of an issue, we just make sure to water extensively for the first two months of a job to get it well established and on its way," Aiello explained. Most landscape contractors make sure to recommend a watering schedule for their cuustomers to follow after installation is complete. In an area such as Ankeny, Iowa, over watering is more of an issue than under watering due to heavy clay soils, said Vic Scott, president, Vic Scott Landscaping. "Our heavy clay soil can act as a bathtub to some plants," Scott explained. "Even through the few months we have without rainfall, the plants don't dry out as much as long as we mulch." – Nicole Wisniewski |
A way to avoid this is to install everything according to the landscape architect's specifications, Schweier advised, or paying attention to how certain plant materials are grown in a nursery.
Over planting is also a common mistake made during installation, Scott added.
"So many customers ask for that instant lush look," he said. "When trying to appease these customers, contractors forget to figure in a plant's ultimate growth during planting. You shouldn't plant materials closer than 3 to 4 feet together depending on the variety. In the long run, over planting will become a high maintenance issue."
Over mulching can cause the same problems as planting too deep, Vaille said.
"Mulch is like a sponge," he explained. "It absorbs water and chokes plants' root systems to the point where water and oxygen can't get to the roots."
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Tolerance is a big issue when it comes to certain landscape ornamentals, especially trees and shrubs. Extreme shade, drought, wind and even ocean salt can influence which plants go where. Following is a list of some trees and shrubs native to North America that work well in demanding conditions: SHADE DROUGHT OR DRY SOILS WET SOILS OR FLOODING WIND OCEANSIDE, ROADSIDE OR AERIAL SALT URBAN CONDITIONS Information for this sidebar was excerpted from Planting and Maintaining Sustainable Landscapes by William Clark and Roberta Clark, Cape Cod Cooperative Extension, University of Massachusetts. |
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Mounding mulch around a new plant instead of putting a 2-inch ring of mulch around it can also be a problem, Scott added, because the water runs off and doesn't hold in the mulch.
CUSTOMER TRENDS. Besides low maintenance, customers are asking for a landscape that looks lush immediately after installation vs. one that starts out small and grows into itself, Hoogland said.
"They want a mature looking landscape," he explained. "I can go into a project with a specific budget in mind and give them everything they ask for, yet once they see the size of the plants, they'll spend the extra money on 10- to 12-foot crepe myrtles instead of 6- to 7-foot crepe myrtles."
A lot of it, Hoogland said, has to do with curb appeal.
"The front yard is what everyone else sees," he said. "So they want a better, more finished look in the front yard."
If it's not the homeowner dictating what look they want their landscape to represent, it's the community or residential development, Aiello said.
"In this area, we have a lot of wetlands," Aiello pointed out. "Lately, there has been a movement to tie the landscape into what was existing. The developers are promoting the history and integrity of the neighborhood. Instead of ornamental hibiscus, they'd rather see sable palms."
Up to 50 percent of the materials Aiello uses are required to be native plants or they are based on restrictions made by certain communities. For example, one community Aiello did landscape work for had a "No palms allowed" rule.
"Having to follow community restrictions reduces your plant pallet considerably," Aiello explained. "Communities are very strict here. Before we start designing, we have to make sure we understand community requirements. It can be as simple as using a certain size oak tree or having all shrubs be 24 inches tall."
When it comes to customer preference vs. landscape contractor judgement, the lines of communication need to be kept wide open, Vaille said.
"Essentially, the customer is always right," he stressed. "I can try to talk them into something, but ultimately they have the final say. If I want to use white pine and they want to use blue spruce, it's not my place to tell them what they like. But when it comes to plant survival, I can explain that the plant will die in that location and that I won't stand behind it. They usually trust my judgment and this doesn't tend to effect the plant materials warranty."
Communication with the customer is key when trying to explain why a plant is wrong for a certain place, Scott added.
"A Japanese maple on the northwest corner of a home wouldn't survive," Scott explained. "It's touchy. The wind can get to a plant like that, especially during a mild winter when the plant is already starting to think it's spring. It would do better on the southeast side where it is protected by a couple of corners of the house. These type of facts just need to be explained carefully to the customer."
The author is Assistant Editor of Lawn & Landscape magazine.
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