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April 4 2005 The pot of brilliant yellow daffodils that I brought home on Easter, just a week ago, has faded all too soon. The blossoms have shriveled due to my own neglect I’m afraid. The plant was sufficiently moist when I picked it up to bring home. But as the obligations of work and family filled up the week, I neglected to water the daffodils. Fortunately they can still be planted out in the garden and they will bloom again next year. Gardeners sometimes reach a point when they can no longer spend as much time in the garden as they would like due to time constraints or physical limitations either temporary or long term. My customers often ask if I can give them names of landscapers who I would recommend. The term landscaper is often used loosely-covering a range of services from lawn mowing to landscape maintenance to installation of hard-scaping (patios, retaining walls, walkways). An individual without any professional training can set up a business easily by investing in some lawn mowing equipment and call themselves landscapers. The consumer needs to be aware of exactly who they are hiring to do the job. The type of professional to hire really depends on the services you want provided. If you are looking for someone to mow the lawn, your best friend’s cousin that just started a lawn mowing business might work out for the season. But if you are looking for fertilizer and lime applications, seeding, insect and disease controls as well as mowing; you will be better off hiring a professional lawn maintenance company. Lawn care companies that apply pesticides by law must have a valid NJ Pesticide Applicator Business License and employ licensed applicators. Hiring professionals to provide other landscapes services will also depend on the type of projects you are planning. Tree care is best done by a tree care professional or arborist trained in the proper techniques of pruning and tree maintenance. Choose one who is a NJ Certified Tree Expert. Designing and installing new landscaping with or without hardscaping may be better handled with the help of a landscape designer or landscape architect. These two professionals are specifically trained with college degrees and/or certifications in their field. Landscape maintenance professionals should also have a NJ Certified Pesticide Applicator License and be registered with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection if they are applying pesticides. Having Certified Landscape Technicians on their staff is also a plus. CLT’s have received training in proper planting and landscape maintenance techniques. When hiring a landscape company to work on your property it helps to have a little understanding of proper landscaping techniques. The proposal you are given by the prospective company may or may not be following good environmental practices. Mulching is a perfect example. Despite all the literature and promotional material on how to mulch a tree properly, there are still landscapers that plant trees incorrectly and apply deep mounds of mulch up against the trunk. From time to time in this column I refer to Rutgers Cooperative Research and Extension as a good resource for gardening information. Note the name change- they have added “Research” to their name to bring attention to one of the things they do best. RCRE is an excellent resource for learning the basics of lawn and garden care for the homeowner as well as the professional. Fact sheets and other publications on nearly every topic for the home garden are available on-line or by calling any one of the county offices. When you call the Somerset Co. office (908-526-6293) during the gardening season, you will usually be referred to a Master Gardener volunteer who can assist you by answering your gardening questions and send you appropriate RCRE publications. The Garden Helpline is staffed on weekdays from around 8:30-noon. The RCRE website lists publications from 1990 and newer that can be downloaded and printed. Particularly helpful is the “Landscape Plants Rated By Deer Resistance” list. Published in 2002, it rates close to 400 plants that can be grown in N.J. Specific to the topic of this article, there is a new series devoted to the hiring of landscape professionals which will give you further information and other links. Visit: www.rce.rutgers.edu.
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