Monthly Archives: April 2014

Santa Ana Natural Gas Fuel Station Grand Opening

Natural Gas Fueling Station Opens

Today TRU Landscape Services was at the grand opening of the Timco CNG fuel station. The new natural gas fueling station is located in Santa Ana off of E First Street. It opened today, Earth Day 2014. Natural gas is a clean energy fuel alternative to gasoline. It also has other benefits like low price. We are proud to have served the community by doing the landscaping and irrigation for this new natural gas station.

What a price! Natural Gas is inexpensive.

CNG Price Per Gallon

The new compressed natural gas station is getting a lot of looks from passersby. A gallon of natural gas is only $1.49 as of April 22, 2014! This is obviously a big selling point for CNG vehicles. This Orange County station provides a convenient CNG fueling stop for those traveling between San Diego and Los Angeles.

CNG Fuel Station Santa Ana

Santa Ana CNG Station

During the grand opening, there were vehicles fueling up at the station including many Yellow Cabs which are set up to run on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). There were also vehicles from several manufacturers that can run on this alternate fuel source. This is the first Compressed Natural Gas Fueling Station that is open to the public in Santa Ana. The company, Timco CNG, is will be opening other public-access fueling stations in the future.

CNG Grand Opening

And just in case you’re looking to fuel up, the address for the Santa Ana CNG station is 1601 E 1^st Street, Santa Ana, CA 92701.

First Street Natural Gas Station

TRU Landscape is glad to have been a part of making this big day special. To learn more about TRU Landscape Services and what we can do for your commercial property, call us today at 1-866-487-1359. All of our estimates are quick and free of cost.

In the meantime, we also welcome you to watch our latest video below about some of our other Orange County landscape services including concrete patios and decks, interlocking pavers, landscape LED Lighting, and sprinkler systems.

More Information on CNG

Interlocking Pavers & Landscape Grades

There’s a lot that goes on before a landscape job. To read the story behind this Irvine Landscaping project, check out our blog “Choosing the Right Licensed Landscape Contractor.” In summary, TRU Landscape was hired because our company is licensed and can complete an entire landscape job under one roof.

Pavers Entryway Before and After

Orange County Interlocking Pavers

The primary part of the Irvine Hardscape installation was a patio of interlocking pavers. The job itself entailed a lot of work although the yard itself was on the small side. In preparation, we removed 8 inches of dirt from the whole yard to set the grade. The dirt removed amounted to several tons! While we were removing the dirt, our team dug out the patio cover footings. We also installed drains to receive water coming off of the grade. Setting Landscape Grade During the inspection, the Orange County landscape inspector noticed that we had our grades set up so that all of the water would run away from the house into the drains. He told us we were doing a professional job! It’s always nice to get a complement from a city inspector.

What is a landscape grade?

A landscape grade is set up to keep the water flowing away from your house. In the case of installing interlocking pavers, we make sure that all of the pavers slope away from the house to the drains. Over 25 years in the landscape industry, we have seen a lot of grades that drain into the house! The city inspector has most likely seen many of these improperly graded landscapes as well. Water sitting on pavers is a slipping hazard and may cause water damage over time. Also once the water is sitting against your house, it can cause moisture issues and even destroy the stucco. Most of the time this happens because the contractor doesn’t want to haul away all of the dirt to get the grade of the dirt down low enough or they don’t use a transit.

What is a transit?

It’s a spyglass-like tool that is used to measure grades. For our projects we use a laser transit to ensure an accurate measurement. This is crucial when pouring concrete patios, decks or interlocking pavers. If it’s possible, we always install a drain system and have all the water run to the drains. Keeping water off of your backyard patio and away from your house will ensure the longevity of your landscape! That’s exactly what TRU Landscape Services is all about. We are confident that our experience and attention to detail will produce a long lasting and beautiful landscape for your home. Pavers Installation To learn more about other Irvine Landscaping Projects or to contact us for a free estimate, call us now at 1-866-487-1359 or send us an email info@trulandscape.com

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

Irvine Landscaping Company

Choosing the Right Licensed Landscape Contractor

(part one of a two part post about an Irvine Landscaping project)

Sometimes you need to hire a professional landscape company. For our latest project in Irvine, the customer needed a bonded and licensed landscape contractor to follow the plans authorized by their Home Owner’s Association. Irvine is a quickly growing, master-planned community, so many of our jobs in Irvine are for new home owners and require the consent of an HOA. We met our customer a few months back when they first moved into their home. They already had a plan for the Irvine landscaping submitted to the HOA and were waiting to get approval before starting the work.

One Irvine Landscaping Company for One Landscape

Once they were approved, we gave them an estimate and were hired for the job because we could complete the entire job under one roof. The customer wanted a backyard patio area surfaced with interlocking pavers and a fresh landscape with a new sprinkler system. They took estimates from a couple of companies, but most of these other landscape companies only did hardscape or just softscape. This was a major problem for our customer because both were required for this project. They have moved several times in the last 10 years and have played the contractor game before.

One major problem with this “game” of hiring multiple contractors for one landscape is that projects take longer to complete and companies get in each others’ way. Oftentimes a project will sit unfinished because one contractor has to wait on another to complete his or her portion of the work. What a headache! This is why our customer wanted one landscaping company to install all of their outdoor elements. Do I need a Licensed Landscape Contractor? Another company that the customer really liked didn’t have a license or insurance. We were told that many of the new home owners hired this contractor for their large projects. In fact, this other company is a fairly popular Irvine landscaping contractor in that area. This raises some questions.

Do you need a contractor’s license to landscape someone’s house?

The answer is YES. Any project over $600.00 requires a license in the State of California. Most hardscape jobs are over this minimum limit. The next question is: What are the downsides to hiring an unlicensed contractor? Without insurance or a bond, there is nothing to protect the customer from faulty work. An unlicensed landscape contractor can walk away with your money even if they install something like a gas line the wrong way and cause serious damage to your property! Because of this, for all larger jobs it is best to hire a licensed landscape contractor like TRU Landscape Services (our license number is C-27 894221). To learn more about other Irvine Landscaping Projects or to contact us for a free estimate, call us now at 1-866-487-1359 or send us an email info@trulandscape.com

Click to read about the rest of this Irvine Landscaping project.