The answer is obvious – if a plant dies the company that installed it must replace it.

Of course that’s the main reason to want a guarantee.  But I don’t think we choose a product or service just because it has a guarantee.  Most of us want a “quality” product or service, and then if the product or service has a problem, it’s taken care of under guarantee.

But no matter how good a plant guarantee is, it’s still a hassle to go through the process.  Typically you call the company; they have to send someone out to look, schedule the replacements, make sure they have the right plants…you know how that goes.  Yes, eventually the plants are replaced (mmm, most of the time), but it’s still something we’d all rather avoid.

Now I have to say, there are landscape companies out there that respond very well to guarantee issues.  In fact, I know of some companies that check their more recent projects and spot plants needing replacement before the homeowner does.  Rare, yes, but they do exist.

A good landscape company confidently stands by and fulfills its plant guarantee obligations. How are they able to do this?  They control plant loss with:

• Knowledge of plant types and planting design
• Ability to find and identify quality plants
• Knowledge of soil types, drainage and other influential conditions
• Knowledge of installation practices for varying conditions & circumstances

A company that operates at this level can be confident that their plant losses will be minimal.

A poor landscape company will struggle with a plant guarantee because of constant plant losses.  The picture above tells a grim story.

Not one of these nine arborvitae survived.  Why?

The exposure is directly south.  The planting area is elevated behind a wall.  There’s an asphalt parking lot in front.  I’m feeling hot and thirsty just thinking about it!

The first thing that should come to mind in this situation is: “Brutal conditions.  What can I design to sustain in this environment?”

Yes arborvitae like sun, but they prefer moist conditions.  If they struggle with dryness and challenging conditions (like these) they are doomed to failure.  Even if they somehow survived they’d be stressed and predisposed to numerous ailments.

No Worries… There’s A Plant Guarantee!

Yes, I suppose there is.  Although these have been dead for awhile.  Let’s give the landscape company the benefit of the doubt.  They’re waiting for the “fall planting season” to replace them.  I wonder if they’re going to replace them with more arborvitae?

When I say a plant guarantee is only as good as the landscaper behind it, I don’t mean to imply quality of character.  It is very likely this landscaper had and will continue to have the best of intentions.

The lesson here is don’t get false hope just because there’s a guarantee.  Do your “due diligence” and make sure a good, knowledgeable company goes along with that plant guarantee.

There are many plant guarantee stories out there.  Have any good ones?  Let us know in the comments.

The soaker hose provided one method to efficiently water plants by concentrating water over the root system.  This is essentially what drip irrigation does.

Drip irrigation is typically installed on the surface or slightly below.  The water is delivered by pipe and/or tubing and then dispersed through various types of emitters.  Often, drip irrigation zones are part of automatic systems with programmable controllers.

The basic, store-bought soaker hose we talked about in the last article can be installed as a simple and inexpensive drip-system.

The following pictures will help you visualize the process.  Click on any of them to get a larger version.

Picture 3

Picture 1

Picture 2

Picture 1 shows a group of “Emerald Green” Arborvitae that were recently installed.  The sandy soil and nearby maple tree has made it difficult to keep these new plants moist.  A basic soaker hose will do a great job of watering very efficiently.  Here’s how it’s done.

In picture 2 the mulch has been pulled back a comfortable distance of 2′ or so from the plants using a steel garden rake.  The soaker hose will be installed on top of the bare soil directly over the root balls.

This particular soaker hose is 50′ long with a threaded coupling at each end (1 male, 1 female).  This allows you to connect them for longer lengths if needed, but stay below 100′ for good operation.

For the 3 arborvitae the 50′ length is plenty.  In picture 3 the hose is measured and divided into 3 equal lengths…one section per plant.  Tape is used to mark the 2 points on the hose length to distinguish the 3 sections.  Now you have visual indicators for how much hose you can dedicate to each plant.

Picture 4

Picture 5

Picture 6

Start with the plant furthest from the water faucet.  Take the end of the soaker hose with the “male” threaded end and stake it to the ground just under the plant using a sod staple.  (This male end should have a cap on it.)  You’re really pushing the sod staple into the top of the root ball.

Now, as seen in picture 4, begin to circle the first plant with the soaker hose.  Be conscious of the tape marking the first of the 3 sections.  Remember, you want to dedicate a section per plant.  2 to 3 turns around each plant seemed to work well.  Stay relatively close to the plant to ensure you’re right over the root  ball.

Picture 5 shows the sod staples holding down the hose.  Use your judgement with where you position them.  Wherever the hose  is loose and won’t stay in position, that’s where you need a staple.

If you’ve divided the hose evenly between the 3 plants, the last one will have a few turns around it before you come to the end with the female coupling (picture 6).  Double check to make sure you have enough staples securing the soaker hose down.

Picture 7

Go ahead and connect a garden hose to the coupling so you can turn the water on and test the soaker hose.  Many come with a disc-like washer with a small (1/8″) hole in the center.  This is designed to reduce the house water pressure so the soaker hose operates correctly.

I find these disc washer pressure reducers (that’s a mouthful) annoying and prefer to remove them.  You could purchase a pressure regulator that attaches to the faucet, but if you just turn the faucet on a quarter to one-half turn, that works fine too.

You want the water to “sweat” from the hose’s pores something like in picture 7.  Adjust the faucet until you see it “sweating” adequately.

With the soaker hose secured to the ground and tested, you can now replace the mulch around the plants.

The mulch hides the hose and insulates the ground so it stays moist longer.  If you need to test and see how the hose is performing, it’s easy to expose.

How much and how long to water?

The answer to this question is always “it depends”.  There are numerous variables such as soil type, size of plant, time of year, etc. that will determine the watering amount and schedule.  And, of course, the schedule will change with time.

These arborvitae were initially watered every other day for one hour each time.  Arborvitae, by their nature, prefer moist conditions.  The sandy soil and root competition from the maple tree also influenced a “generous” watering schedule to start.

After 10 days or so we changed the schedule to once every 3rd day.  That’s where we’re at now and I’ll continue with that until this heat spell breaks.

Testing the soil moisture below ground is and always will be the best indicator for a plant’s water needs.  I use a moisture meter all the time because it’s critical for me to know what’s going on down there.

Most people don’t have a moisture meter, so try pushing a metal rod or long screwdriver into the ground near the plant.  When you pull the rod out look to see if the metal is moist or there’s moist soil on it – that’s a good sign.  If the rod is wet and muddy, the soil is probably too wet. If the rod comes out dry, increase the watering amount and/or schedule.  At the very least, pull the mulch back near the plant and check the soil beneath.  See if it looks and feels moist.

Watering and irrigation is a huge topic and I’ll continue to present aspects that should be considered for healthy plants.

What experiences have you had with keeping plants properly watered?  Have you lost plants from over-watering?

Why Replace A Plant?

Well, beyond the obvious “because it’s dead”, there are other reasons for plant replacement.

In this case the homeowner was disappointed in the way these existing Arborvitae were looking.  She said “they look like an x-ray of the plant”.  Over the years the maintenance contractor had been shearing them to keep the plant “in-bounds” and to meet the formal look requirement of the customer.

This is a good example of wrong plant in the wrong spot.

The gardener has no choice but to shear it aggressively each year because this variety of Arborvitae (Dark American) wants to get so much wider than the space allows.  The result is a “skeletal-like” plant that would be more at home in front of the Adam’s Family house.

One Of Several Plant Replacement Methods

The perfect combination of attributes for any home improvement contractor is know what you’re doing and be neat about it.  This home’s landscape was well established and meticulously maintained .  The plants needing replacement were big, heavy and not easily accessible.  The landscape company we used for this task is known for its strategic systems.  The NYC Parks Commission uses them because they are so professional, efficient and methodical.

The utility companies were contacted to identify and mark-out all underground utilities.

The contractor used a mini-excavator with rubber tracks so as not to harm the driveway surface.  With a chain attached to each plant, the excavator lifted slowly while ground men with hand tools assisted and monitored the progress.  Once out of the ground, each tree was swung onto a large tarp and loaded into a truck for recycling.

Proper Plant Selection

Now it’s time to install the right plant in the right spot and take a major step towards no more plant replacement.

A narrow, columnar plant is the category to search, but by measuring we know that this plant should not mature to a width greater than 5 to 6′.  Therefore, you must be aware of this specific information.  Just because a plant is called “columnar” does not clarify its mature width – “columnar” is a broad enough term to mean anything between perhaps 2 to 12′.  The plant chosen is Arborvitae ‘Emerald Green’.

In the picture to the left are the new trees being readied for installation.  The foreman is fitting the first root ball with a “chain cradle” which will allow the excavator to pick the plant up without damaging it, and enable the men to position the tree perfectly as its lowered into its new home.

Like most arborvitae Emerald Green prefers full sun.  And although it will tolerate some dryness once established, moist soil is its friend.  I have found the plant becomes susceptible to spider mites when stressed from drought for too long.

The other susceptibility Emerald shares with many other arborvitae is “deer browsing”.  There are other varieties like ‘Green Giant’ to choose from if deer are an issue.  Always check with nurseries and the agricultural extension service in your area on “deer resistant” plants.  This is not a universal science and varies from region to region.

Like many (but not all) arborvitae it can have multiple stems. These stems can splay out under the heavy load of snow and ice. Whenever I plant an arborvitae with multiple stems, I tie a loose loop with ArborTie around the main stems about 3/4 of the way up.

This happens to be a favorite of mine, in part because it’s so useful as a taller plant in tight spaces.  Have you used other plants besides Emerald Green in situations like this?

Some Examples Where Form “Should” Follow Function

You might wish to make an area appear more spacious.  It’s not uncommon to come across properties where there’s more house than yard.  Zoning rules in some towns are driven by things other than aesthetics (and common sense) and don’t allow enough open space. Neighbors can borrow a cup of sugar without leaving their homes.

Naturally small spaces like those behind city dwellings and townhouses also are challenging.  Your goal in designing these spaces is mainly to maximize their usefulness (function), but also have them appear more spacious (form).

To screen an unpleasant view. Blocking a view for privacy or because something is just unsightly is a very common function of landscaping.  But how you screen brings about many things to consider.  Your best practical and attractive solution (form) evolves through these consideration.  For example. A limited space to screen AC units would require a decorative lattice screen that could be easily removed to service the units.

Perhaps you’d like an entertainment area with enough room for twenty people. And what about the driveway/parking provisions for the family and the occasional guest? These “functional” requirements need absolute solutions that, in the end, are equally attractive.

A Functional And Beautiful Walkway

I really do love simple solutions to functional challenges.  There are, however, subtleties in design that further enhance the function of something, and give it a certain distinction from the norm.

In the picture above the designer gives real identity to a backyard entrance by using brick columns and iron gates. The designer could have ended the flagstone walkway at the gates and columns, but decided to extend the walkway out into the driveway in a perfect radius. A subtle and attractive way to welcome arriving guests.

As with everything is design, avoid going too far in your effort to make something unique.  It is so easy to cross the boundary from an elegant solution to one that will not stand the test of time.