Lasting Landscapes

Lasting Landscapes is a Calgary based landscape construction company with a unique focus on professionalism.

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Concrete Recycling

In the renovation world, a lot of waste ends up in the landfill.  Fortunately the green movement that has risen up in the past decade or so has brought about many ways to eliminate this waste. Our earlier post about clean fill recycling can be found here http://lastinglandscapes.tumblr.com/post/5314325592/clean-fill-recycling.

Today's post will be discussing the great process of concrete recycling.  Companies like Calgary Aggregate Recycling located at 6020 - 94 Avenue SE will accept old asphalt, concrete, and precast concrete such as paving stones.  These items are then crushed up using machines such as the ones in this video.  Once the old patios, sidewalks, and roads are crushed they become a great base for new patios, sidewalks and roads. 

However, if you would like to use their service you need to make sure of a couple things.  First of all they will only accept your material if you are delivering it in a vehicle that dumps so that you can get in and out quickly.  If you do not have this there are many bin companies in Calgary that can do this for you.  You also need to remember that there can no soil mixed in with the concrete to be recycled.

Concrete is a great process that allows us to reuse concrete to make a great product and at the same time eliminates waste going to the landfill.

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Sustainable Landscaping: Clean Fill Recycling

In the world of landscape construction there is can be a lot that goes to the landfill, and almost all of it can be avoided.  Today's post will be speaking specifically about the dirt, clay, and sod that is removed while landscaping.

If this is taken to the dump it would mean hundreds of unnecessary dump truck loads being added to the city landfill.  What is fortunate about all of this situation is that there are people on farms and acreages just outside the city that are looking for clean fill. The photo below is an example of a farmer who has a large dugout on his property near Strathmore. He wants this dug out filled, and landscapers are more than happy to fill it for him.

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Pre-Landscaping Tip

Calgary is known for having drastic changes in weather, and this can be damaging to your yard before the landscaping is done.  Having your downspout run directly on to fill or fresh screened loam will cause for major soil erosion as the snow on your roof melts, and will only get worse as the rains of spring come.  If you plan on having your yard professionally landscaped you should treat this problem different then if you are doing the work yourself.  If you are doing the landscaping, the best thing you can do is to get sod down as soon as possible.  In Calgary sod can often be bought by the beginning of May but because of the overly cold winter, and wet spring it may still be a couple of weeks.  In this case I would recommend you taking the same action as if you were hiring a landscaper. If you are hiring a landscaper to do the work on your yard, you have to be prepared or lucky to get work done in May because this jobs are often booked many months in advance.  If you are like most people and have to wait at least a few weeks you should take steps to eliminate soil erosion, and water pooling that could slow down the progress of your yard and increase the time before you are able to enjoy your beautifully landscaped yard. The most cost effective way to get the water from your downspout off your property is to simply set weeping tile on top of your existing soil as seen the photo below.  Weeping tile is 4" in diameter, has several type of connectors available, and comes in either 10', 50', or 100' lengths.  You will be able to find this in either the plumbing or seasonal section of your local home improvement store such as Home Depot or Home Hardware for about $0.90-1.00 per linear foot. To install this will only take you 5 minutes, and will mean you can enjoy your yard much soon.

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We are excited to announce that as of May 2, 2011, Lasting Landscapes will be moving to a new location. The new mailing address for Lasting Landscapes is PO Box 43029 Deer Valley Post Office. 

Please check out the single page document we have made up for just such an occasion.

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Being Prepared For Your Landscape Construction Consultation

Upgrading your landscape is a big decisions that requires a great deal of thought and planning. By they time you have decided to renovate your yard, it is likely that you have thought about how you would like your yard to look when its done. To make sure that you have the same job expectations as your landscaper, there are many steps you can take. You can start by taking photos of landscaping you like. Making sure to focus on the fine details that stand out to you. Finding photos on the internet is another great way to make sure that your landscaper shares your completed vision. Just be careful to stay away from pictures with cactus's in them! Some customers even find it best to create a 3D diorama of what they want their completed yard to look like. You do not have to go out of your way to take photos of landscaping you like. It can be as easy as bringing your camera with you when you walk your dog, or leaving it in the car when driving around.  You should take photos of everything from whole yards you like to a type of paving stone or a type of tree that interests you. It is also a good idea to take photos of landscaping that you don't like, because it helps guide your landscaper towards the completed goal, your perfect outdoor living space! The internet is also a great place to research and find ideas for your yard.  You can look at websites such as HGTV.com, which discuss different ideas that they have had on their shows.  Another option is to look at suppliers for examples of their products installed. Many examples can be found at Cochrane Landscape Supply's Cochranelandscapesupply.com.  You can also look at different photos of past projects from various landscapers; Lasting Landscapes has an online library available at lastinglandscapes.ca/services.php. As a landscaper, we love it when we show up to meet a client and they have done their research. This can be the fun part of renovating, you get to be creative and decide what will make your property yours and perfect for you and your family.

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What to look for in Winter and Spring

When planning your landscaping in the summer only, you are leaving out many months of the year which need consideration. A couple of the most important aspects that you should be looking for in late winter and early spring are snow drifts, and water pooling.  This information will be extremely valuable for the design process of your yard. Throughout the winter snow is blown by the wind into snow drifts.  Where this snow collects can be very important for your backyard and most importantly for the plant life that you will be installing. The photo below was taken in Calgary in December, 2009, and is a perfect example of snow drifts that can be an issue for plantings.  It was will lead to our next point; when all of this collected snow melts it will create a large amount of water that needs to drained away from any structure. 

When the snow starts to melt in this time of year it is important that you record the areas when the water pools such as the one seen in the photo below.  The easiest way to do this is to take photos of the problem areas.  Generally this is something that the landscaper should be able to determine on their own, but there are always many factors that come into play, and it is better to be safe then sorry.  These pooling areas can be problematic for almost all parts of a landscaped yard if not accounted for, but there is also an easy solution for all parts of a landscaped yard.  This water can be accounted for by using moisture tolerant plants, creating a french drain system, or increasing the slope of a paving stone patio.

Snow drifts, and water pooling can be an issue in your yard, but these issues can be easily eliminated if your landscaper knows about them during the design process. So please if you plan on landscaping your yard, please do your homework and document these potential problems.

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Finding a Landscaping Job (Part 2) - What to Look for in Every Employer

This is a continuation of last week's post on picking the perfect job for a new landscaper. We hope that this information helps you in finding the job you are searching for. If you have worked in the construction or trades industry you know that they play by their own set of rules and often employees do not push back. It is very difficult to find an employer that pays vacation pay, overtime, or even has WCB coverage.  This is why it is important to ask the hard questions before you start a new job. Many employers in the construction industry do not pay vacation time of any sort, when in actuality it is required by the Government of Alberta that employers in the construction industry pay more than the normal vacation pay rate for a total of 6%.  This may seem like a minor increase but over the course of a summer this means that an average landscape labourer would make an extra $300!  Workers compensation is one of the most important things that an employer can have for their employees. An employer is legally required by the Workers Compensation Act to pay for workers coverage, however, many do not. If they do not have coverage an injury can leave you very exposed and vulnerable. Just remember, it is not be unreasonable to ask for their WCB account number and call WCB [phone] to confirm that their account is still active. In fact, many employers would appreciate the proactive efforts on your part. In our industry many employers believe that they do not have to pay overtime or stat holiday pay rates. Many think that their employees are not willing to go to court over it so they can save some money.  Others feel that if your not working you don't deserve to be paid.  This is an example of where the employer is right in that if they don't pay you this it is unlikely that you will take legal action.  On the odd chance that they do file a case with Labour Relations they know that the wait times on cases like this have been rumoured to have a 10 year wait time. This just proves that it is something you need to find out about before you start.  So before you take one job over the other be sure to ask the hard questions.

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Finding a Landscaping Job (Part 1) - The Right Fit

It's hiring season! To help all of the new potential landscaper artists out there, we have put together a standard list of concerns that it is important to address before you agree to work for a new company. 

Over the past six years we have had many great employee's, but we have also had a few who did not fit within our company culture.  There are a lot of aspects to look at when looking for a landscaping job, and it goes much deeper than pay and safety. That is not to say that pay rate and safety are not important, because they are, but if you are working with a company you should look for more than that.  The following article will describe some of the many aspects involved in looking for the perfect landscaping job.

The first thing to think about is whether you would like to do landscape maintenance, or landscape construction.  If you are a person who likes to be creative and doesn't mind lots of heavy lifting, you should be looking for a job on a landscape construction crew. If your work methods are more focused around efficiency and repetitive tasks, you may be looking for a job in landscape maintenance.

The next detail you should think about is what area of the city you live in and are able to get to easily.  Some companies focus on obtaining projects in one quadrant of the city. Choosing to work for a company on the opposite side of the city can cause unneeded traveling time and costs.

Another important characteristic to look for in a landscaping company is their requirement for transportation. Many companies will require their employees to have their own transportation to and from the yard or work site; if you have a vehicle, this will give you an advantage when looking for a job.  Other companies are more flexible and are willing or even prefer to pick their employees up from a C-Train station in the morning.  Either way, there are many transportation issues to make sure that there is still a job out there for you.

Another important question to ask is the number of hours your potential employer offers. If you are looking to save your money and work this summer, make sure that your company offers weekend shifts. If you are someone that enjoys their weekends to the fullest, make sure weekend shifts aren't mandatory! There are many companies that fit into each category, just make sure to the right one for you.

All of these characteristics are often overlooked by landscape employers and employees when it comes time to hire which always become an issue during the summer. This is why it is important that they be brought up during the interview process either by the hirer or the hiree. 

Stay tuned for part two - coming next week!

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Learning to use Dynascape.  Starting to get the hang of it!

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Retaining Wall Brochure

Here is the new Retaining Wall brochure we picked up yesterday.  We put a lot of work into not only the brochure itself but also the work seen in the brochure, and would love to hear about them.

Let us know what you think! Reply to twitter at @LastingLands or from our contact us page http://lastinglandscapes.ca/contact.php 

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Paving Stone Brochure

Just picked up the new Lasting Landscapes Paving Stone brochures.  

Let us know what you think! Reply to twitter at @LastingLands or from our contact us page at http://lastinglandscapes.ca/contact.php 

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What to Know About Paving Stones

With spring just around the corner many people are trying to decide whether to use concrete or paving stones for their driveways, patios, or walkways.  This posting will help to show you the advantages and disadvantages of using paving stones, or otherwise called interlocking bricks. The advantages of using paving stones can be broken down into three categories.  Paving stones are flexible, aesthetic, and durable.  Paving stones are an extremely flexible product because they are very tolerant to the natural shifts in the ground that occur during the drastic temperature changes that occur in the Calgary area. When the ground shifts with a poured concrete slab, the concrete is not flexible and therefore will eventually crack. This cracking does not occur with paving stones because the stones are not connected.  Installing paving stones also gives you the flexibility to remove small sections of the driveway, patio, or walkway in the case of an emergency such as a water line break.   You may also need to remove a section of your driveway, patio, or path if it is on the cities "right of way".  The cities right of way is the first few feet of your property moving back from the street or sidewalk.  This is where city utilities run and if work needs to be done on these utilities, the city has the right to excavate this portion of your property.  In the case of utility work or an emergency your concrete will be cut up and will not look the same when replaced. In these cases, paving stones can be replaced with ease and with out the scars of cutting.  The installation of paving stones at your home or place of business is a very aesthetically pleasing choice.  The many styles, colours, and shapes of paving stones allow for the project to adapt to the customers taste, and assist with matching the existing surroundings.  Some examples of the drastic differences and their ability to match the surroundings are seen below.

(For more photos visit Lasting Landscapes Services page) To prove that paving stones are an extremely durable product you do not need to look any farther then the cobblestone roads of Europe.  They last so long because they do not crack similar to a cement pad and if there are any issues they can be easily fixed. The main disadvantage with using paving stones is that if they are not installed correctly they can look very wavy and unlevelled because of the drastic temperature changes.  If installed without enough road crush (gravel) beneath the stones, the stones will sink and heave with the ground and will not return to the same position.  Another disadvantage is that in the summer months when the sun is hot, pavings stone can feel very warm on your bare feet.   So when the time comes for you to choose what to use for your driveway, patio, or walkway, please take the above points into consideration.  For more information about having your paving stone needs met please visit http://www.lastinglandscapes.ca.

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Insurance and Protection

A common concern that people have when renovating their home or business is the level of insurance their contractor has.

All companies should have workers compensation insurance, but it is particularly important for those in the construction industry. If the landscaper you hire does not have workers compensation insurance, the homeowner or company hiring the landscaper will be held responsible for any injuries that occur on their property, and for this reason it is important for you to check with the WCB before a contract is signed. To check this ask for the landscapers WCB Account number, and call the Workers Compensation Board of Alberta at [phone].

Unfortunately accidents do happen, and it is possible for a landscaper to damage your property or your neighbours property. In this situation it is important that you hired a landscaper that carries contractor liability insurance. This type of insurance covers such accidents and will greatly increase the chances of your damage being repaired. Once again, ask for their insurance provider and policy number to call and confirm they are covered.

After you have decided which landscaper to use, it is important that the contractor has a detailed contract that discusses all aspect of the project. This document is extremely important and must describe every detail that you and the landscaper discussed, because the landscaper is not required to perform any tasks that are not described in this document.

It is normal for landscape projects to require an upfront deposit, but you should never give your landscaper a deposit before determining if they have an up-to-date Prepaid Contractors License. It is illegal for a deposit to be taken unless the company is licensed and bonded to do so by Service Alberta. This bond is held to cover situations such as fraud, negligence, and theft. You can confirm a license by calling 1 [phone].

If you are renovating your home or yard please look into the above.

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Hiring a Landscaper in Calgary and Area

After you have decided that you are interested in having your yard landscaped, you need to go through the important process of deciding which landscape contractor to hire. This process varies slightly around the province, and country, but there will be only minor differences.

There are many factors to be considered, such as, if the company has a business licence, workers compensation, contractor liability insurance, and if a deposit is collected, a prepaid contractors licence.  These items are described in more detail below, and remember it is very reasonable for you to ask to see these documents to make sure they are up-to-date.

A business license is important for your landscaper to have because it is illegal for a contractor to be running a business with out it.  If your landscaper is operating with out a business license or their business license is expired be sure to eliminate them from your choices. Landscapers are required to keep this document with them while conducting business, and you should always ask to see this before discussions progress. Lasting Landscapes is not saying that they are the only landscaper that should be used, but all landscapers should fit the above criteria.

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Visit our website to learn more about Lasting Landscapes, see photo's, and request a quote