VOLUME 8 ⚪ ISSUE NO. 18 ⚪ SEPTEMBER 19, 2024
IN THIS ISSUE:
Autumn Arrives
CNMEC Award
Deer Control
Snow Services
SEASON OF CHANGE
Fall keeps us busy as we prepare properties for the colder months ahead. This season is all about cleanup and winter preparation. There is still time for planting and installing hardscaping, but the weather will dictate when those tasks will end.
Everyone loves to leaf-peep, but did you know there is a large variety of annuals, perennials and shrubs that also look fantastic in autumn while everything else is dying back? By adding these to your property, you can extend the life of your landscape and enjoy the gorgeous colors of fall right outside your windows.
Asters, marigolds, chrysanthemums, rudbeckia, sages and sedums can provide excellent color and beautifully fill in the bare spots left by the summer bloomers. Some shrubs and trees such as viburnums, beautyberry, winterberries and hollies are also producing colorful fruit in the fall that add splashes of color.
Ornamental grasses like sedge, oatgrass, muhly grass, and fountain grasses can also add height, texture and visual interest to fall and winter landscapes. They also provide food and a safe habitat for birds and other small creatures. Some grasses will stand upright, while others gracefully sway in the slightest breeze and create a scene with their foliage and interesting seedheads. Better yet, most won’t need to be cut back in winter adding aesthetic allure to an otherwise blank winter landscape.
THE CORPORATION FOR NEW MILFORD ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
On Thursday, September 12th, YardScapes was the proud recipient of The Corporation for New Milford Economic Development’s “Best of the Best” award for 2024 Employer of the Year at a lovely ceremony at 19 Main where other local businesses were also honored in four other categories.
YardScapes was recognized for prioritizing employee well-being and offering career growth opportunities. Shayne credits much of the company’s success to its strong company culture and teamwork. This is fostered through various programs and activities, including ‘Scaper of the Month, Photo of the Month, participation in local business networks, monthly team-building outings, membership in national trade organizations, and on-going training and career development.
YardScapes’ spirit of volunteerism was also noted, with presenter (and client) Adele Connor highlighting our annual volunteer trip to Washington, DC for Renewal & Remembrance, our spring and fall days of service where we perform property clean-ups for various local non-profit organizations, along with the YardScapes Quad-Am Golf Classic, a fund-raising golf tournament in its 19th year.
DEER CONTROL
If you take great pride in your gardens and landscaping, you know what a nuisance deer on your property can be! They feed on your tasty ornamental plants and raid your vegetable gardens. They strip bark off trees and shrubs when food is scarce and male deer rub their antlers on trees compromising their health.
While they can be enjoyable to watch, browsing deer can lead to severe landscape destruction and overgrazing, negatively affecting the health of lawns and fields.
Not only do they destroy your property, but they can also cause vehicular accidents while crossing from yard to yard, can damage fences while trying to jump them, and they carry black-legged (deer) ticks that spread nasty parasites, viruses and diseases to humans such as anaplasmosis, babesiosis, Powassan, Lyme and borrelia miyamotoi.
Managing deer can involve a combination of tactics to best protect your property and your investment. Fencing is popular but it needs to be at least 8 feet high because deer are great jumpers. Double-layered and electric fences can also be very effective. There are also motion-activated sprinklers and lights to startle them, and ultrasonic repellants that emit frequencies undetectable to us but annoying to deer and other animals.
Most homeowners prefer a commercial or homemade deterrent that is applied directly to plants causing them to taste unpleasant, while scent deterrents are strong enough to discourage the deer from entering an area. Deer resistant plants and companion planting can also create an unpleasant scent while masking the smell of the ones they prefer.
If you are concerned about deer, please let your landscape consultant know.
WINTER SERVICES
It’s not too early to think about securing your snow services!
Snow plowing and ice treatments are exclusively for our clients who have a “green season” landscape maintenance contract with us. Since we are already familiar with the property when it is not blanketed in snow, this policy significantly reduces any possibility of damage to a client’s property and/or hardscaping, while also substantially decreasing the possibility of any potential hazards to our staff, trucks, or equipment.
Some of the winter services we provide are snow plowing, shoveling, ice control, plant protection from desiccation, sun scald or breakage from heavy snow/ice (below), winter deer control, and dormant pruning.
If you had green season services and you would like a quote for winter services, please contact your landscape consultant before the snow starts falling!