Is uncontrolled vegetation causing a major nuisance on your commercial property? When not addressed properly (and consistently), a handful of weeds or unwanted growth can quickly start to take over a property and become not only a major nuisance but a hazard.
Unfortunately, there are many types of plants that can grow so aggressively that they can be difficult to knock down. It’s important that unwanted growth is addressed effectively.
We’re explaining a bit more about what’s involved in this service and how it can benefit your commercial property.
What is Vegetation Management?
Whether it’s weed growth in plant beds, a huge tangle of growth taking over hardscaped areas or a gravel parking lot, or even weeds and tree saplings along a fence, any growth that needs to be addressed outside of the turf areas takes specialized vegetation management services. We have worked with all of these mentioned scenarios and more.
One of our clients, for instance, is a local power plant that sees aggressive weed growth in their gravel parking lot. They need to keep that area clear so that they know what equipment is being kept there and so everything is easily traversable. If these services were to fall behind, it wouldn’t take long before the equipment could become covered in overgrowth.
Commercial properties who have their lawn mowed by a professional mowing service also appreciate our vegetation management services along their fenced areas where weed-whacking can be incredibly difficult and sometimes even cause damage to the fence.
We’ve also worked on properties that border wooded areas and have growth that is as tall as 16 to 20 feet high along that woodline.
The specific reasons why vegetation management services are important can really vary from property to property. But generally speaking, overgrowth can be a nuisance as well as a hazard. It can lead to trip and fall injuries, visually obstruct a site or block signage, and of course, look terrible, too.
Every commercial client has their own specific reasons why they need overgrowth addressed, but they all can relate to at least one of those reasons.
How is Vegetation Management Performed?
Vegetation management involves using a series of professional-grade products throughout the year. We’re using a successful mix of chemistry including pre-emergent and post-emergent herbicides. We’re also changing the products quite frequently in order to be as effective as possible. After all, a single property might deal with a number of different weeds, depending upon the time of the year.
Given the large quantity of different weed types in our area (many of which need to be addressed in different ways), it’s a pretty specialized niche. It requires a different category of applicator licenses due to this specialization.
At Joshua Tree, we have a team that handles these services and who are quite adept at evaluating the different scenarios we encounter and making the best choices. It’s such a customized service and the combination of products that work on one property could be completely different from another. It’s important that the right products are used at the right time for optimal effectiveness.
Frequency is also really important. Much of this growth can be extremely aggressive and come back quickly. It’s so important that vegetation management services are routinely kept up with because of this.
Finding the right company will be key and we’ll talk about that next. Unfortunately, there are some companies that can let these services slack off and you’ll be the one to pay the price when new weeds are now very large.
How to Choose Vegetation Management Company
If this is a service that you’re considering, you might be wondering what to look for in a company. The most important thing to remember is that this is a truly specialized service—a niche—and not all lawn care companies will be equipped to handle it.
One of the most important things that can separate the best vegetation management companies from the subpar ones is experience. There’s really no shortcut to the knowledge involved to succeed with vegetation management. It just takes being out on hundreds of hundreds of properties, learning about the different unwanted growth out there, and understanding how to best tackle it.
At Joshua Tree, we have a ton of experience in assessing each individual situation and making the best decisions about what products to use (and when). So much of successful vegetation management comes down to a proper evaluation of the property.
An area where these services can go awry is when you have certain plants you want to keep and others that you want to get rid of, such as in your commercial plant beds. Making a mistake in the right product selection can ultimately mean that you harm desirable plant material.
Similarly, when we perform vegetation management along a fence, we have to be very diligent about what is on the other side of that fence. If it’s desirable turf or plants, we must be extremely cautious. We need to take care of the weed growth effectively without harming any material on the other side. Companies that are new to vegetation management services or get in over their heads can ultimately cause harm to your landscape with unintended mistakes.
Hand Over Your Weedy Worries at Your Commercial Site
Weeds are always going to be growing. As frustrating as that may seem, there is no simple fix-all solution to weeds and overgrowth. Hundreds of thousands—even millions—of seeds get distributed by weeds. Even if you’re keeping up with regular control, they can keep making their way back onto your property via the wind or even animals.
They must be managed with due diligence and proper timing. You can’t pick a band-aid solution such as a one-time application. Truly successful vegetation management will require a targeted and ongoing approach.
Fortunately, when you make a wise choice amongst vegetation management companies, you can get your weedy worries under control. That means valuable peace of mind. After all, when you have a commercial property that needs to function optimally, you shouldn’t have to worry about unwanted growth holding you back.
If you’re responsible for a commercial property and want to keep overgrowth from causing problems, we’d love to talk. Contact us for a free consultation or give us a call at 610-365-2200 so that we can answer any questions you may have and create a customized plan that works best for your property and organization.
