Monthly Archives: March 2014

Commercial Concrete Repair

Tree Removal becomes Concrete Repair

Our latest commercial landscape job turned out to be more than just a tree removal. Luckily, TRU Landscape Services is also a premiere Orange County concrete repair and construction company. We were able to complete the job in a day, and our customer didn’t have to call in separate independent contractors.

The story begins when TRU Landscape was called out to Anaheim California for a estimate to remove a tree. During the estimate, our salesman realized that the tree removal was actually a curb removal and replacement too.

The project came about because someone planted a Eucalyptus tree in a small planter. The tree soon grew too big for the planter, raised up the curb and gutter, and damaged the parking lot. This raised up curb created a tripping hazard.

Orange County Concrete

Our tree crew removed the eucalyptus tree and our concrete team began removing the curb and gutter. First, the landscape concrete crew saw-cut the surrounding concrete from the parking lot. This provides separation between the concrete and the asphalt so that when our bobcat removes the concrete we don’t damage the parking lot.

After removing the concrete curb, we brought in our stump grinder and we removed the stump. All of the materials that we remove are recycled in Orange County, including concrete.

Once all of the debris were removed, our crew started setting up the forms to hold the concrete in place for the curb and gutter. When the crew began installing the forms, the foreman called up the concrete truck to bring in the concrete. Efficiency is very important to us, so we always have one portion of construction ready right after the other. After installing the concrete and letting it set up, we pulled the forms off of the finished concrete. This is the important part of the job to make sure the whole project turns out looking smooth and professional. The icing on the cake.

This entire job was finished in a day! Had we just been a tree removal company, our customer would have had to hire out separate concrete contractors for the rest of the job. Instead, we were able to solve their problem in a timely manner.

Anaheim Concrete Repair

TRU Landscape Services takes pride in providing all of your outdoor elements. Why hire several companies and have the hassle of scheduling all of the contractors around each other. We provided this customer several different services in just one day. A project like this would normally take up to 2 weeks to complete. After completing the project, our customer called us up and told us how happy they were because the parking lot was only closed for a short period.

See why everybody is hiring TRU Landscape Services to provide all of their outdoor needs. If you’re looking for a quick fix for your commercial landscape, don’t hesitate to call TRU Landscape today 1-866-487-1359 or CLICK HERE to be taken to our “quick quote” form.

5 Spring Landscaping Tips

by Tobi Ulemek

It’s spring time in Orange County California! Here are five spring landscaping tips that will make your Orange County landscape bloom and grow to its full potential.

As we all know, weather is a huge part of what makes the OC a great place to grow different varieties of plants, flowers, and trees. Orange County’s plant hardiness zones range from 9b to 10b (a temperate Mediterranean climate that rarely freezes). Because of this, our weather permits us to plant new landscapes year round. Still, springtime is definitely a great season to spruce up the yard. Here’re some tips to help you groom your Orange County landscape that are sure to last year long.

1. Check your sprinkler system

Water is what makes the flowers grow! Most areas of the USA have to shut their sprinkler systems down during the winter, but here in Orange County we need to leave our sprinklers running for most of the year. With sprinkler systems, it’s all about coverage and setting a good watering schedule. To make sure each sprinkler head is covering the proper area, turn on each sprinkler station using the timer and inspect the spray from each sprinkler. The stream from each sprinkler head should be spraying onto the next head for “head to head coverage.” Proper sprinkler coverage will help you save water in the long run and keep your landscape nice and green.

2. Apply a “weed and feed” to your lawn

We always recommend that our customers treat their lawns 2 times a year with fertilizer and weed control. The first time in the spring and the second time in the fall. By following this pattern, we’ve found the lawns we maintain to be weed free and green year-round. To eliminate or help control weeds during the summer, it is important to apply different chemicals during the spring. Mild spring days allow the chemicals to work on killing the weeds in your lawn without stressing out your grass. That way the weeds will be kept at bay and your grass will stay green and alive! Fertilizing your landscapes in the spring time will also help the landscapes to grow strong for the hot summer. Fertilizer is the “feed” part of “weed and feed.”

3. Add more plants in the spring time

We get hundreds of calls from people who haven’t planted any new shrubs in their yards for several years and now they don’t like the appearance of the landscape. If you hire a good landscape company, they should be able to keep your plants nice and healthy year round. Finding that good landscape company can be the problem. If you have been using a less expensive “mow & blow” landscaper, you may need to bring in a company who has a relationship with the nurseries and can tune up your yard on a monthly or quarterly basis.

4. Plant more annuals during the spring time

Orange County has great flowers all year around, but spring time flowers are our favorite. To pick the right annuals for your yard, shop around and find those flowers that are just starting to bloom. So many times we see people buy the flowers that are already blooming. They soon realize that these flowers don’t last the longest. Flowers that are just starting to bloom have more time to get their roots established when planted. They will always last longer. Also, when you are planting your flowers, find a fertilizer that will help your annual flowers last for months.

5. Mulch it!

Now that you have your sprinklers working and your new plants installed, it’s time to mulch everything down. Mulch not only helps control the weeds, but it also helps hold the moisture in the ground. When mulch breaks down, it also adds nutrients to the soil and the plants love this! Install a good layer of mulch on all of your planter beds 2 times a year and you’ll help your plants be healthy and save water at the same time. If you have a small yard, you can use mulch from a bag. If you have a medium to large yard, ask your landscaper where you can by mulch by the quantity. Most of these landscape suppliers will deliver a few yards to your driveway for a fair price.

6. One last thing…

Our final springtime landscaping tip is to enjoy your yard! If you’ve followed our easy steps, it’s probably looking pretty great right now!

And remember, TRU Landscape Services is on your side. If you have any questions about your landscape, please feel free and call our friendly staff. If it’s a question we can’t answer over the phone, we will be glad to come and give you a free estimate to help fix your problem.

We don’t just do sprinkler systems and gardens! Check out our Orange County landscape construction page for more information on our custom concrete installations and more. TRU Landscape Services; with over 25 years of experience in the landscape industry you know we’ll take good care of you and your lawn!

If you’d like to read more blogs like this one, check out our Orange County Landscape Contractor news feed.

or, for more information, here’re some other Spring Landscaping Tips from experts in the field:

Spring Landscaping Tips from David Beaulieu
Spring Landscaping Tips from Ronique Gibson

Garden Grove Landscaping

Pavers and Irrigation

A Paver Makeover in Garden Grove

This Garden Grove Landscaping project transformed the customer’s backyard into the perfect place to relax and unwind. We were happy to take an unusable and unattractive space and turn it into a yard the homeowners can truly enjoy.

Taking advantage of their more spacious Garden Grove yard, the customer came up with their own general design for the plot. Using the pictures on our website, they decided on a full backyard remodel including a fresh new lawn, a new irrigation system, and a full patio area of interlocking pavers. When we arrived for demolition, the backyard was full of dirt and weeds with a cracked grey concrete patio area surrounding the home.

That day, we demoed the entire back yard using the Bobcat’s breaker to remove the cracked concrete. Our team also had to remove 8″ of dirt from half of the back yard and another 4″ from the other half of the back yard. Altogether we removed (literal) tons of dirt in order to prepare for the sod and paver installation.

Orange County Interlocking Pavers

On the next day we started to replace the dirt with road base. For the right compaction, we install Road Base in small layers. This process takes a couple of days because it is so crucial to ensure proper compaction so that the pavers, once set, do not sink, move, or shift. For each layer, our tractor brings in the road base as our crew levels it out and then we compact the base.

After the road base is brought up to a proper level, we install a 1″ level of sand. The sand allows the crew install the pavers nice and level, and prevents damage from temperature change and other elements. After all of the pavers are installed, we lay a layer of polymeric sand on top of the pavers. Brooming this sand into the joints and then adding a little water creates a solid joint in between the pavers. After completing the interlocking pavers, we moved on to the sprinkler system and “softscape.”

Compacting the Road Base

Orange County Landscape Irrigation

Garden Grove landscapes, like the rest of orange County, are going through a major drought! That’s why it is so important to have an updated sprinkler system to keep your lawn green and save water. For this home, we installed an automatic sprinkler system in the back yard. On the grass area, we used Rain Bird 1800 series 4″ sprinklers. These are fixed heads that will consistently provide great coverage.

In the planters, we installed a drip line. The drip line we prefer to use has emitters built into it every 12 inches and can cut the water bill down by 50% compared to a convention sprinkler. In fact we try and use nothing but drip lines in our planters. We installed these drip lines with filters and pressure regulators to ensure water savings and even watering.

To complete the project, we installed the new sod, and there it was, a brand new backyard. We met with the customer to answer any questions they might have. Because they were so happy with our work, the customer referred us to their neighbor as well!

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