Coastal Quality Services

 

Choosing The Right Company For The Job

 

When hiring a firm (Sole-Proprietor, Corporation, LLC) to conduct any type of tree removal, trimming and/or pruning, ensure the firm is licensed and fully insured.

 

 

FYI: PEACE OF MIND IS PRICELESS

 

Criminal Background Check, Commercial Liability Insurance and Trade References are a few items that you should be concerned about when hiring a firm. Following a few simple steps you can effectively protect yourself, your family and your property from falling victim to irresponsible contractors. In the following statements we will discuss steps that you can follow, questions you should ask and what you should look for.

 

Coastal Quality has background checks conducted on all employees prior to hiring and twice a year thereafter. Background checks are conducted by an unbiased party that specializes in these procedures. We feel that this should be the standard for all contractors in efforts to insure a safe environment for you & your family while services are rendered on your property. Ask your contractor if they require new hire and existing associates to comply with background checks.

 

When hiring a firm to conduct any service on your property, request a copy of their Commercial Liability Insurance form. State law requires that all contractors providing residential or commercial services to carry Liability Insurance for services preformed. The Commercial Liability Insurance form is identified as an Accord document. This document will display the insured name, insurance company and/or agent, limits of coverage and services covered by the policy. You should verify coverage dates, area of coverage, statues of policy and other information by contacting the insurance company and/or agent listed on the document, particularly if they are performing hazardous duties. Don’t relay solely on a commercial vehicle that advertises "Licensed and Insured".

 

Customer references are an excellent information source for you to collect pros and cons about your contractor. However, due to privacy issues and concerns, some customers are not willing to disclose their information to others in order to communicate their experience. Trade references can be attained by contacting commercial references. ie. commercial installation or maintenance accounts, local suppliers, (nursery, growers, subcontractors) local government volunteer activity.

 

 

Planting Tips:

 

To insure the best success in your home landscaping, it helps to know local soil conditions and combine them with proper planting techniques.

 

• Generally, you want to plant all trees and shrubs so that the top of the root ball is at the same height as the adjacent existing grade with no fill dirt on top of the root ball. This is the most common mistake people make, planting too deeply.

 

• If the area you are planting in is low and prone to periodic inundation, you can mound the planting area higher. If the bed area is confined between a sidewalk and the house it can act as a bathtub for your plants. Fill the area prior to planting so that it is higher than the sidewalk and drains away from the house. Leave a trench against the sidewalk to contain the mulch and prevent the dirt from washing out of the bed.

 

• As far as tree planting hole size, a newly released standard recommends excavating or at least loosening a width of 6′ or twice the width of the root ball, whichever is greater and digging the hole depth 4-6" deeper and then backfilling this area with the loosened soil excavated from the pit. The top 6" of backfill material should be a mixture of well composted leaves and recycled yard waste that has been tilled into the existing soil removed from the hole. This method of planting assures that the roots will have an easy pathway to grow outward from the tree and not be confined to the small hard walled pits that are normally dug. Shrubbery and ground cover beds should be tilled, loosened and amended the same way.

• When planting on a slope, the top of the root ball on the upslope side should be slightly below the existing adjacent grade and the root ball top on the downslope side should be slightly above the existing grade such that the trunk of the tree base is at existing grade. Form a watering ring around the tree with it being higher on the downslope side to keep the water from washing out.

 

• A soil pH test is a good idea so appropriate plants can be selected that prefers acid, neutral or alkaline soils. If the proper plant is not matched with the proper pH, the fertilizers may not be available to be converted and used as food for the plant and will appear chlorotic. Our sandy soils generally will be on the acidic side and the clay soils will be more alkaline. Soil pH can be changed by the addition of soil sulphur or aluminum sulfate to encourage a more acid soil or limed to push it towards the alkaline side, but this is a slow conversion process and takes years of continual applications. Therefore it is best to just pick the right plant in the first place!

 

 

Topping or Hatracking Trees:

 

• Money is wasted when trees are topped and mutilated because the treatment usually must be repeated several times and in the end the trees become very dangerous. Then more money is needed for treatments that reduce the high hazard risk.

 

• Trees that are topped and mutilated are usually those that have been planted in the wrong place: near power lines and buildings.

 

• If a tree must be topped, then it is time for a new tree.

 

• Do remove dead, dying and hazardous branches from mature trees.

 

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Landscape and gardening design tutorials, references, articles and commentary; resources for artistic landscape and garden design.http://tree-service-guide.com