Clients vs. customers
If you have good clients, congratulations! That means you also have more fun because clients can be educated, as you help them. Not so with customers who only care about pricing. As soon as Joe from Mission does something at a lower clip, they’ll dump you. What a drag.
I’m happy to help my clients solve their problems and, if I can teach them something about their gardens, even better. Let’s take a look at a few recent examples.
Homeowners have a go
Trees
As I hand-aerated a smaller lawn, I noticed awful cuts in a Japanese maple (Acer palmatum). Take a look below. What’s wrong here?
The large stubs eventually die and they can make it easier for diseases to enter the tree. They also look horrible and it’s clear the cuts were made with something dull because they’re not clean.
I made corrections before leaving and e-mailed photos to my client. There was no extra charge because it only took a few minutes and, hopefully, the client learned a lesson.
This is how you do it; make a nice cut above the branch collar. Now the tree has a chance to cover up the wound. Easy!
Weeds
Stay on top of your weeds! Not only does your garden look better, it also prevents weeds from flowering and producing copious amounts of seeds. And that pretty much guarantees more future weeding.
Now the plan for this bed pictured above is to weed it thoroughly and then install new garden mix soil. This will keep the weeds down for a while and give us an instant sharp look. And as a bonus, it won’t break the bank. Soil costs something like $30 per yard, plus delivery. I can install it in an hour, I’m sure.
Fertilizer
Applying fertilizer is a simple procedure but you have to do it right. The homeowner here had nice green lawns until he applied fertilizer. Now his lawns look like he has three dogs.
The lawn could be diseased but I suspect the homeowner had used an old, badly calibrated spreader. Spilling a pile of fertilizer on one spot has the same effect as your dog going there to answer nature’s calls. The lawn can’t handle this much fertilizer at one time and so it “burns”.
Fortunately, we can fix it easily with some top soil and seed.
I always encourage homeowners to get out into their gardens and try things out. But when you fertilize make sure you apply the product at recommended rates and avoid spilling piles of it on your lawn. When accidents like this happen, I just use a blower to spread the product around. This usually avoids any “burns”.
Conclusion
Yes, money is great but helping out clients is also extremely rewarding. Especially when you can teach them something.
So let’s review.
Make nice correct tree pruning cuts without leaving unsightly stubs. The stubs will die anyway and diseases could use them as access points into your trees.
Stay on top of your weeds. Don’t let them flower and produce even more weeds. Call Vas for help if it gets really desperate. And replenish the soil in your beds once in a while so they stay sharp looking.
Finally, when you fertilize your lawns follow the directions and use a well-calibrated spreader. Leaving piles on your lawn can “burn” it.
Have fun in your gardens and if you ever feel overwhelmed, Vas is just a text message away.
