GCLA: An organization for Columbia's landscapers

Heritage belongs to the Greater Columbia Landscape Association (GCLA), an organization in the Midlands area that focuses on the green industry. Commercial and residential landscapers comprise GCLA's membership as well as suppliers and vendors. Through their involvement with GCLA, Heritage's managers network with others, learn new information and contribute to the community.

To learn more GCLA, please visit: http://www.gcla.net/

Pre-Spring Preparation

Spring will be here before we know it so we're taking time to prepare for the changing seasons. For a properly maintained landscape, pre-emergent herbicide must be applied and ornamental grass needs to be cut back.

Sheldon and Samuel are applying pre-emergent to the turf to prevent the growth of summer weeds, particularly crab grass. FYI, this should be completed by March 15.
Here the guys are cutting back the liriope to remove the old foliage to encourage clean, new growth.

Snow in Columbia!

A week ago, Columbia was covered with 5+ inches of snow. Heritage was prepared and got to work quickly on Friday afternoon to make sure the properties we maintain were safe for customers. Here Ashley and Jamie are loading up buckets of ice melt just as the snow starts to fall. In addition to applying ice melt, Bobcats were used to plow away the snow from parking lots.
Levi was excited about the snow!
And while the snow was work for Heritage, kids certainly enjoyed it! Here's Levi learning how to shovel (in a few years he'll be out working with his dad!).
Sunday morning most of the snow had melted but some ice remained at the properties who requested snow maintenance. Ice melt was applied and did its job. You can see it working (the blue crystals in this picture).
Levi found another fun thing for the snow...food coloring in a spray bottle. Although this blue doesn't melt the snow, it added some interesting color!

The snow was fun but we're looking forward to the spring time and warmer temperatures.

Winter Pinestraw Installation

Twice a year we remove old pinestraw and spread new depending on requests made by the property. A fresh layer of pinestraw really freshens the landscape and provides a nice border. We're currently in the process of installing pinestraw at many of our properties--be on the lookout for our guys and the straw truck!

Snow removal?

After traveling to Virgina and North Carolina during the Christmas holidays where we experienced large amounts of snow and ice, we were reminded of the possibility of Columbia receiving winter weather.
Should this happen, Heritage can remove snow and ice from your properties. We will be sending out letters to confirm if you are interested in this service.

This picture is from our trip to Roseland, Virgina, where we visited Debbie's family. 15+ inches of snow fell while we were there.
This picture is from Ashe County, NC. Anna grew up in this part of North Carolina. 12+ inches of snow had fallen on Western NC a week prior to our visit.
And who says a Southern guy doesn't know how to build a snowman? Ashley demonstrated his own snow removal skills by building this snowman at Anna's parents.

Efforts to be "green" at Heritage

As a company that relies on the land for our existence, we understand the importance of doing our part to reduce our waste and impact. Recently Robert documented some of these efforts, which we would like to share with you.

Scrap iron (such as old mower blades) are collected and taken to a recycling center.
Used oil (from our lawn mowers, trucks, and other equipment) is stored in this container. This will be picked up by the Santee Cooper GOFER Program to generate energy.
Pallets from the various shipments we receive (fertilizer, mulch, etc.) are stacked and returned to a company that reuses them.
Plant containers are collected and returned to nurseries, where they are cleaned and reused.

Old mulch and flowers from the properties we maintain is returned to our lot, where we compost it instead of taking it to the landfill. We use this rich soil material to rebuild our plant beds.
These are only a few of our ways of reducing our impact on the environment. We will continue to look for additional methods of being really green as landscape professionals.

Office Holiday Party

On Tuesday, December 15, the Heritage office team and their invited guests gathered for our annual Christmas dinner. This year we met at the Mediterranean Cafe in Lexington. We enjoyed a delicious meal and fellowshiping with each other.

The youngest employees also attended--Mallory (daughter of Kleck and Carey Harman) and Levi (son of Ashley and Anna McLeod). Both are 18 months old and full of life.

Irrigation clocks off!

With all the rain the Columbia area has received in the past few weeks, folks may be wondering about the irrigation systems on their properties.

We have turned off the majority of the irrigation clocks for the winter unless new plants or flowers have been recently installed. The systems will be checked early in 2010 for needed repairs but otherwise will remain off to prevent freezing of pipes and other damage.

Rainy days...

Thanks to the remnants of Tropical Storm Ida, we've had a rainy week in the Midlands. Our guys have not been able to get in full days but will be making up time over the weekend to keep up with the busy fall. The good news is plants, flowers, and turf love the rain!

Fall Flower Installation

With the changing seasons comes new flowers for the properties we maintain. The fall flower mix is predominately pansies because they survive the (mild) South Carolina winter and provide a nice splash of color during the cooler months. The flowers arrive in large flats on a truck from our supplier. Here is one delivery waiting in our nursery.
After the summer flowers are removed and the soil is prepared for new flowers, our crews carefully position the pansies and accent plants. Here Dusty Miller has been planted and the holes for pansies have been punched.
Once the bed is prepared, the installation goes surprisingly fast.
Installing a large bed requires many hands.
Although the new flowers are smaller than those they are replacing, it won't take long before they're flourishing.