"Planted in Knowledge & Communication"

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Padre Time!

http://coastlandscaping.com/category/blog/

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New Water Regulation Resource

Ever wonder where to find the most updated state wide water regulation information?  The California Department of Water Resources is a great place to start http://www.water.ca.gov/ is the web site for viewing all aspects of our current drought and water issues the state of CA is facing. Individual state wide water authorities under the umbrella of the California Water Authority will offer their own web sites and spell out the restrictions to current water use based off of their particular situations and conditions.  Each individual sub group of local water authorities will differ greatly due to population, zoning such as agriculture, commercial or residential and their requests or demands will vary based on these facts. Elements that will affect one local water authority from the next range from state wide to even out of state water importing, desalination abilities, well water attributes and gray water use. The restrictions change based on the amounts of water that the state and local areas throughout the state experience. In San Diego, it’s smart to stay in touch with our local water authority to do our part & know what the newest regulations are.   Check out: http://www.sdcwa.org/ or http://www.sdcwa.org/mobile-news-app for the mobile app feature!

[coastlandscapinginc]

[coastlandscapinginc]

New Water Regulation Resource

Ever wonder where to find the most updated state wide water regulation information?  The California Department of Water Resources is a great place to start

http://www.water.ca.gov/

is the web site for viewing all aspects of our current drought and water issues the state of CA is facing.

Individual state wide water authorities under the umbrella of the California Water Authority will offer their own web sites and spell out the restrictions to current water use based off of their particular situations and conditions.  Each individual sub group of local water authorities will differ greatly due to population, zoning such as agriculture, commercial or residential and their requests or demands will vary based on these facts.

Elements that will affect one local water authority from the next range from state wide to even out of state water importing, desalination abilities, well water attributes and gray water use. The restrictions change based on the amounts of water that the state and local areas throughout the state experience.

In San Diego, it’s smart to stay in touch with our local water authority to do our part & know what the newest regulations are.   Check out:

http://www.sdcwa.org/

or

http://www.sdcwa.org/mobile-news-app

for the mobile app feature!

[coastlandscapinginc]

Thank you Warriors!

http://coastlandscaping.com/category/blog/

[coastlandscapinginc]

Dead or Dormant?

http://coastlandscaping.com/category/blog/

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New LOOK!

Can’t find your gardener? He’s probably just blending in with his natural surroundings.  This fall, Coast Landscaping Inc. decided to give the company a fun new camouflage dress code.  If you’ve ever met the owners of the company, you’d understand why!

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Work for Us!

We are growing, so if you know of anyone looking to move up in the landscape industry have them contact our office! Thanks!

https://www.ziprecruiter.com/job/Commercial-Landscape-Maintenance/76f29989/

[coastlandscapinginc]

Fall is time to "Winterize"

Even though it’s still hot outside, Fall is officially here!  This is the time of year we begin to winterize our properties by putting drainage gravel around all of our landscape drains.  We do this for preventative maintenance as fall can bring more “weather” (feels odd saying that in San Diego) such as increased rain and wind that can eventually lead soil, sand, and leaves to the drains.  By placing the gravel around them, clogging  and erosion of the soil can be prevented, decreasing future problems down the line

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Sometimes You Have to Have a Paid Half Day Off When You are Melting

Phew! It’s been a HOT few days.  San Diegian’s have been melting the last few weeks with the drought and recent heat wave.  “Staying cool” and indoors has been a must for most, but what about those who have to work outside in this heat??  At Coast Landscaping Inc., employee safety is always our #1 goal.  If work can’t be done safely, it’s just not worth it… Heat illness is a serious condition and getting too overheated is downright dangerous.  Today was a great example of being a proactive company.  Even though “recovery periods” & water was provided to everyone, the company decided a paid half day was the best decision for a day like today.  Hope everyone cooled down and enjoyed some time off!

[coastlandscapinginc]

Best Drought Protection

Introducing “Moisture Manager” our new favorite application to cut water up to 50%!

Here’s how it works:

Gravity & evaporation are constantly at work against you removing moisture from soil.

Dry soil becomes hydrophobic channeling water rather than absorbing it into the soil.

Roots stop growing as they hit dry soil and delicate root hairs begin to shrink, desiccate, and die.

“Moisture Manager” film can persist through multiple irrigation cycles lasting up to three full months

“Moisture Manager” constantly captures and retains water vapor forming microscopic reservoir

Treated soil readily accept new moisture making it available.

For more information, go to: http://www.moisturemanager.com/

[coastlandscapinginc]

Instant Access to Key Water Issues

The San Diego County Water Authority has a new app!

We are excited to have up to date information at hand keeping us informed with ever changing water regulations and news.  The application features easy access to the region’s latest water news on your smartphone.  According the the San Diego County Water Authority website, “the app provides access to Water Authority news releases and top issues, video and multimedia features from our [own] Channel H20, a water-related news feed, access to Board agendas and documents, fact sheets, and more.”  Definitely worth a look and a download!

For information, got to: http://www.sdcwa.org/mobile-news-app

[coastlandscapinginc]

Great Drought Tolerant Plant

Sea Green Junipers- “Easily grown in average, medium, well-drained soils in full sun. Tolerant of a wide variety of soils and some drought. Also tolerant of many city air pollutants…”

Sounds perfect for San Diego’s environment right? It is also a  good choice as it doesn’t like water soaked soil, is durable, beautiful,  and can be versatile in any  landscape setting.  It grows to two feet in height and welds together perfectly when used as a ground cover, or as an individual plant in a garden or landscape.

[coastlandscapinginc]

Nice Reviews Make Us Happy:)

“Coast Landscape has done an outstanding job installing the landscape on a very detailed apartment project with unique plant material. Holland and Coast have been very responsive, fair and thorough, sharing their expertise in the landscape industry to assure a quality project.”

Douglas Livingston | Livingston Associates Landscape Architecture and Planning

[coastlandscapinginc]

Protecting Your Landscape in the Drought

his July, roughly 58% of California was considered to be experiencing and “exceptional ” drought, the harshest on a 5 point scale.  Half of California is in this state, including San Diego, and conditions are the WORST THEY HAVE EVER BEEN in state history (LA Times, 2014).

According to the San Diego County Water Authority, wasting waster is illegal.  Here is a recap of the ordinance.

Limit outdoor watering days and times to  no more than 3 days per week.

Water waste resulting from inefficient landscape irrigation is prohibited.

Washing down paved surfaces is prohibited.

Water only during the late evening (after 6) or early morning hours (before 10).

Eliminate runoff from irrigation systems… Fix the problem within 72 hours.

Wash vehicles at a commercial car wash or by using a hose with an automatic shutoff nozzle or with a hand-held water container.

Turn off water fountains and other water features unless they use recycled water.

Use hoses with shut-off valves for washing cars (or patronizing commercial car washes that re-circulate water).

Serving water to restaurant patrons only upon request is required as well as offering hotel guests the option of not laundering towels and linens daily

Using recycled or non-potable water for construction when available

In order to protect your landscape in the drought, Coast Landscaping Inc. is responsible to carry out the laws and do our part in conservation.   We will  continue to do our best in reducing water by:

Our fast response times to emergency calls or concerns.

Continuing to educate and involve our clients in everything we do & why we do it.

Changing watering schedules and water amounts as necessary to comply with the ordinance.

Being resourceful, and staying educated and up to date on the latest news and regulations.

[coastlandscapinginc]

We Forgot We Live in a Desert

The declared statewide drought requires everyone to do their part conserving water.  The latest summer 2014 CACM’s Law Journal  (article by Matt Ober), outlines a few great ideas to make some long term reductions.

1) Engage Residents-  Member participation with the solution in reducing water such as creating a water conservation committee is a great start to making a positive change.   These committees can identify drought tolerant plants, irrigation modification or reductions, as well as eliminate poor drainage and water run-off.

2) Change Rules/ Adopt Policies- Associations should be considering new ways to reduce water.  Policy changes could include limiting watering to certain times of day or week.  Surcharges could motivate owners to monitor water use more carefully.  Selecting new drought tolerate plants should be standard.

3)  Invest in the Future- Most likely, state and local water restrictions will occur and more permanent ways to reduce water consumption by changing infrastructure would be a smart decision.  “Landscape irrigation accounts for a great majority of water use and water waste” says Ober.  Poor drainage and outdated irrigation systems need to be modernized with new irrigation layout, drip or low flow sprinklers, updated system controllers, as well as capping off areas to reduce water and provide for more effective control.

[coastlandscapinginc]

Minimizing Liability & Improving Customer Service

For over a year, we have used a great company called Fleetmatics.

It is a company that provides GPS tracking and reports in real time.  We have all of our vehicles installed with the device to help us better manage our employees.  Fleetmatics recently posted a blog on their site about our success.  This is the overview:

“Coast Landscaping, like many businesses, continuously aims to be more efficient by saving time and money. The business looked to fleet management technology to help achieve this goal and has found success with the Fleetmatics solution.

Fleetmatics has helped the company significantly lower its fuel bill. “Our gas bill alone has decreased by approximately 25% annually simply by minimizing wasteful driving,” says Tyler Mason, Operations Manager. Wasteful driving can be anything from aggressive driving to mindless idling. Fleetmatics provided the visibility to make these fuel-saving changes. Eventually, employees became more accountable for how they were driving and improved their habits.

Mason credits Fleetmatics for helping to lower overall liability within the business. “Fleetmatics reporting sends daily email alerts informing us if an employee is speeding,” explains Mason. “This makes it easy for us to minimize our liability.” The company can also better manage and create more efficient driving routes for employees.

Fleetmatics also serves as a great back up time card for the company’s employees.  If a driver forgets to clock in or out, the fleet manager can simply look up the route replay and see exactly what time they left and returned to the office.

The live tracking feature helps Coast Landscaping better serve its customers by being able to communicate more accurate arrival times of drivers.  By being able to see where each driver is, the dispatcher can alert customers if a driver is lost or in traffic. Clients are happier because expectations are managed better.

Mason concludes, “Fleetmatics has really given us more peace of mind.”

For the full blog, go to:http://www.fleetmatics.com/ourblog/2014/july/landscaping-firm-minimizes-liability-and-improves-customer-service