Wet rainy san diego
In San Diego County, as of October 2018, we have received 10.35 inches of rain, exceeding our ANNUAL “normal” rainfall of 10.33 inches; and more coming today! This is a wet winter for San Diego which is fantastic. Our reservoirs are filling up and our dry landscape is getting lush and green. But how do you deal with all this rainfall and keep your landscaping, and ultimately property values, looking good? At LaBahn’s Landscaping we have a plan, and we want to share this with you.
What happens when we miss a service day because of rain? And why don’t we service on rain days? First, The safety of our team and the public we interact with is a huge priority for us. The wet conditions create exponentially unsafe conditions that we need to be aware of. Driving with trailers, walking on wet landscapes; these create potentially more dangerous conditions that can hurt our team, and possibly others. Second, when there is a rain day, we use this as an opportunity to train our team on some issue that we would like to see improvement. Training topics include irrigation management, plant identification, client experience (customer service). Additionally, we might have specialized crews on emergency “on call” for needs of our clients (fallen branches, flooding, etc). When we miss service, we do an abbreviated service the following day, or we add additional time the following weeks to make up for the lost time. If you would like more information on this, feel free to reach out to us directly!
But what are some of the things you need to think about when we have rain events? How can you protect your landscaping from excessive rain?
Ensure Your Runoff is Under Control
Storm runoff is the leading cause of flooding so make sure your swales are clear of debris, your drains are clear, downspouts on rain gutters are properly attached to underground drainage, and ground grade is sloping away from the building. If you don’t have swales and drainage, we can help you estimate what you need. If you are a current client with LaBahn’s Landscaping, we make a point of keeping swales and external drains clear.
Don’t Walk on Wet Landscaping
Not only do your shoes get dirty, but walking on water-soaked landscaping, the weight of your body compacts the soil making it difficult for plant material to get he air they need for healthy growth. In addition, when the rain stops and the spring heat comes the soil gets dry and hard making new planting and existing growth difficult.
Proactive Landscape Maintenance
Be aware of potential problems before they happen and take steps to make improvements! For example, if you have a bare slope area that is a red flag for potential erosion. So add plant material with deep and expansive root systems if possible. A more short-term plan could be to add jute netting and/or straw waddle. To prevent downed tree limbs, ensure that your trees are on a maintenance plan (we can help with this too!) so the trees are properly trimmed, and downed limbs are much less likely.
Keep Your Irrigation System Updated
Irrigation technology is constantly improving and updating. If your system is more than 5 years old, it’s time for an irrigation survey by a trustworthy landscaping contractor. Some of the best irrigation upgrades you can make are smart controllers with online access, automatic rain shut off, flow sensors/control, soil monitoring sensors, and more. These can make it easier for you to keep an eye on your irrigation and water usage, gives greater control to turn off water when needed, and rain aside, if you have a break in your valves/mainlines/sprinkler heads, the system can automatically turn itself off and alert your landscape company when and where the break occurs.
Weed Control
With the increase in rain comes an increase in WEEDS. If your landscaper has taken a proactive approach to landscape maintenance, they have likely used pre-emergent weed control which prevents the seeds from germinating. Recognizing that there will be more weeds in your landscaping is important. Using chemicals to control weed growth is important, a professional landscaping company in CA will always notify management and provide posters to place in areas of spraying for weeds.
Contact Your Local Landscaping Team
If you’re looking for a professional, local landscaping company, we are happy to help you prevent flooding, prepare for each season, and provide proactive suggestions for your landscaping. Our goal is to provide an Excellent. Experience. Everytime. Period. When we fail, we ALWAYS make it right for you and we go over and above to ensure an excellent experience with our team. So, do you have any properties you need a landscaping maintenance or construction bid proposal we can help you with?
