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June 2021 Newsletter
June 2021 Newsletter
We at Nogas Landscaping hope this newsletter finds you and yours well as we begin the summer season.
Just a quick note on timelines — Grub control will begin at the end of June and should be completed by the end of July. If you have not returned the grub control proposal, and wish to be included, please contact our office as soon as possible to get on the schedule. Also, the first round of bush trimming should be completed by July 4th. Furthermore, it is never too early to make plans for the fall season. We are happy to schedule walk-throughs and assessments for upcoming maintenance at any time.
And because it wouldn’t be Illinois without constantly changing weather, we have to adjust our services accordingly. You may notice that during times of little to no rainfall or drought conditions, our mowing services will be cut back. Please be aware that this is a measure taken to protect the turf. Mowing the grass too short or too often in times of drought can have devastating consequences. The turf can become worn, injured or even unable to recover once the rain and cooler temperatures return. Keeping the grass higher will retain photosynthetic leaf material and aid in moisture retention. If you have any questions regarding this practice, please contact our office.
As always, we appreciate your business and look forward to continuing to provide the highest quality services. Stay safe, and contact us with any questions or concerns.
NOGAS LANDSCAPING
Dave Noga
Mike Barry
Spring 2020 Newsletter
Spring 2020 Newsletter
March 31, 2020
We at Nogas Landscaping hope this newsletter finds you healthy in these uncertain times. While we are certainly embarking on uncharted terrain, the landscaping industry, and specifically Nogas Landscaping has been deemed an essential business and will continue to provide services under the guidelines set forth by the CDC and governing bodies. This includes, but is not limited to, staggered starts, limits on truck occupants, more stringent hygiene and sanitization practicing, and limiting projects that impede physical distancing requirements. We ask for your patience as schedules may shift and crews may look different. We are taking these precautions to promote the safety of our employees as well as our customers.
We will continue to do our best to provide the highest quality of service despite the current restraints. That being said, should you have any questions or concerns regarding your property, please reach out and we will do our best to address these issues whenever and wherever we are able.
As always, we appreciate your business and look forward to returning to business as usual, providing the highest quality services. Stay safe, and contact us with any questions or concerns.
NOGAS LANDSCAPING
Dave Noga
Mike Barry
Fall 2019 Newsletter
Fall 2019 Newsletter
The onset of fall means both the finalization of summer services and preparation for the winter season at Nogas Landscaping. While we begin our contracted fall clean-up services, we encourage you to contact us regarding any fall walk-through appointments in order to better meet your needs and expectations. These walk-throughs allow you to detail any questions or concerns regarding your property, and allows us to better inform you of what services we offer in caring for your landscape over the fall season.
Although we do our best to care for your property in a way that minimizes winter injury to plants and shrubs, there are several factors beyond our control that determine the frequency and severity of winter damage. Characteristics of the area in which we live including, but not limited to extreme temperature fluctuation, spring freezes, and salt damage require extra measures to encourage the health of your plants and shrubs. A common injury affecting several foliage species in our area is winter burn. Winter burn presents itself on many narrow-leafed evergreens including pine and yew, and broad-leaf evergreens such as boxwood. It is caused by a loss of water due to winter sun and winds, and rapid drops in temperature. By applying an antidesiccant, this transpiration is reduced and the damage to foliage is minimized. Application takes place in December and February in order to provide protection all winter. Winter is also a good time to prune deciduous shrubs. We offer different pruning techniques in order dependent on the level of care needed and the desired result. Please contact us with any questions or to request pricing information.
In addition, we will be performing routine maintenance on both our contracted properties and equipment in order to ensure a smooth transition to the winter season. As always, we appreciate your continued business and look forward to servicing your property during this season and seasons to come.
Sincerely,
NOGAS LANDSCAPING
Dave Noga
Mike Barry
Spring Pre-Season Service 2019
SPRING PRE-SEASON SERVICES
Dear Valued Client,
First of all, we would like to thank you for your continued business as we enter our 27thyear. We appreciate your support and look forward to servicing your property. We strive to provide top-level lawn maintenance with great customer service, and hope that the quality of services Nogas Landscaping provides exceeds your expectations.
As the weather permits and the ground thaws, we will be repairing any snow damage as well as beginning our spring landscape services. The first round of spring fertilizing will take place in April, and we are hoping to provide aeration services as soon as the ground thaws. Due to the time constraints imposed by the weather, aeration in some areas may be delayed until the fall. We will notify you if your property will be delayed. Additionally, please know that if for reasons beyond our control, crews are unable to service your property on the regularly scheduled date, service will resume the following day or as soon as conditions allow. Please be patient, as the weather during this time is often unpredictable and presents additional challenges to the maintenance of your property.
Keep in mind that spring is a great time to improve upon and renew your existing landscape and turf. Upkeep such as re-mulching landscape beds is one way to enhance your property. We recommend re-mulching at least every two years. This encourages plant growth and prevents several weeds from forming in beds without groundcover. Our website is continuously updated with newsletters as well as landscape and turf information. Please take a minute to As with every spring, comes the opportunity for your spring walk-through. A walk-through will not only allow us to assess the property so that we may best care for it, but it will give you, the client, an opportunity to discuss any new ideas for landscaping design or concerns regarding landscape maintenance. Customers can schedule their walk-through by contacting Dave or Mike directly, or our office at 815-462-4475. Please note that the best time to perform your spring walk-though is at the end of April or early May. This will allow time for perennials to bloom and a more accurate view of the property.
Again, we look forward to another successful year of servicing your property with the highest quality of service and care.
Sincerely,
NOGAS LANDSCAPING
Dave Noga
Mike Barry
Snow Removal for Nov 25, 2018
Dear Valued Client:
Hopeful all of you had a great Thanksgiving weekend. As most of you have been aware of the last few days now, we are expecting a winter snow storm for this evening Nov 25thgoing into tomorrow morning Nov 26thwith accumulations of over 2” of snow expected. We are notifying you of this because your contract for our snow removal services start on Dec 1, 2018. We are prepared and ready to plow all of our properties. If you would like this service completed there would be an additional charge on top of the monthly billing. This would be charged on a time and material basis per your contract prices. If you do not want to be serviced please let us know asap so that we can plan our routes. We appreciate your understanding with this early season snow storm. Any questions please feel free to contact us.
Thank You
Nogas Landscaping
Dave Noga 708.417.3082
Mike Barry 708.417.1393
Fall 2018 Newsletter
Dear Valued Client,
Ol’ Man Winter will soon be at our door, although we could use a break. This has been the most challenging year of landscape maintenance we have seen in our 26 years in business. With the record amount of rainfall we experienced in early and late summer, we felt like we were on a loop, never able to get ahead. But there was light at the end of the tunnel, and finally this late summer we were able to get caught up with all of our services. We would like to thank all of our customers for your patience with us and your understanding of the challenging conditions we faced. Our men have been out on the properties trying to complete fall clean-ups, but as of today, most of the leaves are still on the trees. Again, please bear with us. We will continue to perform fall clean-up services as weather permits. Let’s hope for dry conditions and a mild start to fall. We have been hard at work with our final application of fertilizer for the fall season and hope to have that completed by Nov 15th. Should you have any questions or concerns regarding the care of your landscape, please do not hesitate to call. Know that we are busy preparing our snow equipment for the upcoming winter season, and will begin staking properties in November in order to provide for a smooth transition to the snow season.
Sincerely,
NOGAS LANDSCAPING
Dave Noga
Mike Barry
Proper Watering
Hello
We have noticed many of our properties are still continuing to water after the major rain falls we have had over the past week. Please note this is not helping the turf but rather hurting it. Here are some good guidelines to help with a healthy lawn and also to save some money by not over watering.
Proper watering is knowing how to use your sprinkler system efficiently. When used properly, your sprinkler system will save you money while keeping your lawn beautiful and healthy. Most lawn sprinkler systems are not that complicated and should be fairly easy to figure out. From there, it is important that your system is equipped with rain sensors to turn the system off in the event of a rainstorm during scheduled watering. Knowing how to pause your system from its normal routine is important when rain is imminent and after periods of rain when the soil has enough moisture. Fine tuning the system and knowing how it operates will benefit the lawn and save money.
How Much Water Is Enough?
The rule of thumb for watering turf has generally been one inch of water per week. This number more or less refers to the standard Kentucky bluegrass lawn which is the quintessential lawn of the American suburb. Unfortunately, that grass type and its water requirements are not suitable, desirable, or even legal in many parts of the country. One inch of water per week is a decent average for the spring and fall months, but it’s the hot, dry months of summer when one inch of rain per week is only achievable with supplemental watering either with an automatic sprinkler system or a hose/sprinkler set-up.
Lawns consisting of modern varieties of fescues, ryegrasses, and even Kentucky bluegrass are able to withstand somewhat lesser amounts of water, especially when managed with drought in mind. Improvements are continuously being made to grass cultivars, including drought tolerance and insect/disease resistance. A well-managed lawn, even a notoriously thirsty lawn of Kentucky bluegrass, made up of newer varieties of turf will survive on much less than one inch of water per week, making it possible to grow a lawn in areas with water restrictions or drought conditions.
How Much Water Is Too Much?
An over-watered lawn is likely to be plagued by a host of negative results with the outcome being an unhealthy lawn susceptible to weeds, diseases, and insect damage. An over-watered lawn is often a gateway to a loop of turf problems and expensive chemical treatments that will not go away unless the underlying issue (over-watering) is dealt with.
A healthy lawn should be a little on the thirsty side, always sending roots deeper into the soil. The deeper the root system, the healthier and more resilient the turf. This is why an ideal watering is deep and infrequent (mimicking natural rainfall) rather than shallow and often. An overwatered lawn will likely have a shallow root system since there is no need for the roots to travel for water – it is always there, close to the surface. A shallow root system is more susceptible to insect damage and even heat stress since there is less water holding capacity within the root system.
An automatic sprinkler system would best be used sparingly by a homeowner, only to supplement rainfall during the hot months of summer. It should not be operated before anticipated rainstorms, during rainstorms, or after rainstorms. This is a waste of water (money), time, and will contribute to an unhealthy lawn. Sprinklers operate most efficiently when used at night. The ideal time to water is in the pre-dawn hours when there is less wind, it’s cooler, the water has a chance to penetrate to the root zone, and the moisture doesn’t sit on the plant for too long and create disease conditions.
What About Not Watering Enough?
Anyone who does not apply supplemental water to their lawns knows that a hot, dry summer can turn a lawn brown over time. Grass that is stressed from lack of water will go dormant, not die. When cooler temperatures and more frequent rains return, a well-managed lawn will make a complete recovery.
If you should have any questions please feel free to call or email us.
Thank You
Dave Noga
Mike Barry
Nogas Landscaping
Spring Pre-Season Services
February 28, 2018
Dear Valued Client,
Despite the heavy snow fall last week, this week it seems as though spring will soon be upon us. We look forward to yet another year of servicing your property and just wanted to give you a little information about where we’re at and where we’re headed in terms of services. As the snow continues to melt, we will take every opportunity to move forward with our spring services as weather permits. As a valued Nogas Landscape customer, this jumpstart on spring services during the mild conditions ensures your property is maintained to our high standards of excellence. We pride ourselves on not being “just a seasonal business”, and we strive to make your property look excellent throughout the year.
Keep in mind that spring is a great time to improve upon and renew your existing landscape and turf. Upkeep such as re-mulching landscape beds is just one way to enhance your property. We recommend re-mulching at least every two years. This encourages plant growth and also prevents several weeds from forming in beds without groundcover. We have also included information on winter injury which can be found on our website as well. Please take a minute to review these helpful materials so that you can be better informed regarding your property. As with every spring, comes the opportunity for your spring walk through. A walk through will not only allow us to assess the property so that we may best care for it, but it will give you, the client, an opportunity to discuss any new ideas for landscaping design or concerns regarding landscape maintenance. Customers can schedule their walk through by contacting Dave or Mike directly, or through the office at 815-462-4475.
Again, we look forward to another successful year of servicing your property with the highest quality of service and care.
Sincerely,
NOGAS LANDSCAPING
Dave Noga Mike Barry
Viburnum Beetle Memo
RE: Viburnum leaf beetle
We at Nogas Landscaping wanted to make our properties aware of a potentially damaging pest that has been reported across the Chicago region with some regularity since 2015. The Viburnum leaf beetle feeds as both larvae and adults and can do extensive damage. Left unchecked, it can lead to death of the shrub.
We have noticed some damage to properties and will continue to monitor the situation throughout the summer. Some things that residents can keep an eye out for are larvae which appear pale green to pale yellow with black dots along the sides and dashes down the back. These are present from early to mid- June. Adults will generally be present from early July until frost. Most species in all susceptibility groups exhibit more feeding damage when grown in the shade. Both larvae and adults can feed and heavy feeding over 2-3 years can lead to shrub death.
Again, we will continue monitoring the properties and notify you of any changes. We ask that you notify us if you notice anything so that we may address it as soon as possible.
Nogas Landscaping
Dave Noga Mike Barry