Not a fan
Recently I read a story about how we should try to enjoy the winter season but I’m struggling with it. Winter sucks for pro landscapers! And here’s why.
It’s cold, obviously. No more shorts and T-shirts; no more warm soil and stunning landscape plants. Somehow this all seems worse during a pandemic. I now consider January a wasted month.
Short days
When snow comes, it usually means shorter days and, therefore, lower pay. And that’s annoying because I have financial goals to achieve. So, when I get home early, I ignore my wife’s chore list and start blogging to make up for the missed work hours. That’s one benefit of being a professional blogger. Snow can’t keep me down.
Shovel & salt
What little work there is involves pushing snow off walkways and salting them. It’s easy work so we take it and do it.
Last week I put down ice-melter on an icy walkway and let it work its magic while I cleared snow off plants at a site nearby. This work is important because trees and shrubs can brake under heavy snow loads. Just make sure you do it gently because cold plants can be brittle.
Then I returned to the sidewalks and shoveled them.
Tree emergencies
Sometimes we find broken branches so there can be plenty of tree work. This is why I recommend International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) certification to all professional landscapers. It allows you to get winter work when others struggle to find landscape work. Dormant trees are perfect targets for pruning; and without leaves their crown structures are nicely visible.
As a certified arborist I don’t stress on colder days because there is always some tree work on site. Look for dead or crossing branches to remove. And don’t forget to bring warm gloves.
Cheer up
Our West Coast winters are normally mild-knock on wood!-so I hope there won’t be too many snow day interruptions after the holidays. When I return to work in January, I count the days to spring; and I celebrate any signs of life in the landscape.
On cold days I usually do tree work; and on snow days, I spend the missed work hours producing brilliant blog posts like this one.
Winter sucks! It really does.
