In Houston, it’s common for residential property owners to rely on landscapers to maintain their lawn and gardens throughout the year. However, some property owners make the mistake of allowing their amateur landscape crews to perform tree maintenance such as tree pruning and tree removal. In today’s blog post, we’ll look at three reasons why landscape crews should never be allowed to perform tree maintenance on residential properties.
Trees Suffer From Poor Maintenance
One thing that property owners should always remember is that landscape crews are NOT the same as professional tree companies with Certified Arborists. Many amateur and mom-and-pop landscape crews that attempt tree pruning simply lop off branches with no regard to the tree’s health, future growth, or stability. They can severely damage tree health by removing too many branches, or making incorrect cuts that leave the tree with vulnerable wounds. This can jeopardize future tree growth, and make the tree more susceptible to invasive insects and tree diseases.
Property Threats From Poor Workmanship
Amateur and untrained landscape crews can quickly threaten nearby residential property because of poor workmanship and hazardous practices. Landscape crews will often cut down heavy limbs and branches without first securing them with safety cables, resulting in tree debris falling on homes, vehicles, fences, businesses or other structures. Landscape crews are not properly trained to safely prune, remove or even plant trees, and even their debris removal can jeopardize the health and safety of property owners.
Ignoring Safety Practices Leads To Liability Issues
Unsafe landscapers that also attempt tree maintenance can create a financial and legal nightmare for property owners because of the increased likelihood of workplace accidents or injuries. Most amateur and mom-and-pop landscape companies do not adhere to OSHA-required tree care standards for personal worker safety, so workers are much more likely to suffer from injuries. They typically use chainsaws in unsafe ways, and will often use unsecured ladders, leading to falls and injuries during tree trimming. In addition, many landscape crews are extremely careless with tree trimming near power lines, often ending in serious injuries or fatalities due to electrocution.
Basic landscapers should never be allowed to trim trees or perform basic tree maintenance, for their own personal safety and the protection of your trees and nearby property. Instead, residential property owners in Houston should contact Embark Services about their full range of landscape and tree care services, all performed by Certified Arborists and Landscape Professionals. All Embark Services projects are performed with the utmost safety, efficiency and professionalism, with team members adhering to ANSI A300 tree trimming standards and OSHA safety requirements for the protection of people, trees and nearby property. Contact Embark Services today for more information on their tree care and landscape maintenance services, or go online to request a free consultation.