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Safety has always been a top priority at Pro Care. To ensure our team and clients are as safe as they can be, Pro Care is employing the following actions to reduce the spread of COVID-19:

• Symptomatic employees are asked not to attend work.
• Temperatures are taken of all employees upon arrival.
• All employees are given masks that must be worn during transport and other occasions where social distancing cannot be practiced.
• Crew shifts are staggered throughout the morning and work week to limit interactions.
• Access to the shop and office are strictly limited.
• Surfaces are disinfected frequently.
• Several employees are working from home.
• COVID-19 safety measures are posted at all entries and reinforced by managers.

Together, we’ll keep COVID-19 at bay for as long as possible so we may continue delivering exceptional landscape services to our community. If you’re a Pro Care client, thank you for your patience and understanding during these unpredictable times.

After a rainy spring & hot summer, most people are ready to give up on yard work by October.  After all, it’s more fun to watch football in a warm house.  However, autumn is the best time of year for most landscape projects.  A healthy, attractive landscape next season starts with the things you do this fall.

• Fertilize – the 3 numbers you see on every bag of fertilizer is “NPK,” nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), & potassium (K).  They are essential for plant health.  Use fertilizer that is low in N & higher in K.  This prevents unnecessary late-season growth while helping build roots & cell walls.  This enables your plants to better endure unpredictable winter weather & readies them for spring.
• Aerate – this removes plugs of soil & thatch from the lawn which opens up pockets for root development.  It also reduces compaction for better use of water & fertilizer.  Warning – don’t aerate if your sprinkler lines are shallow (buried less than 4″ deep).  A properly installed sprinkler system should be well below the impact zone of an aerator.  Sadly, some systems are hastily installed with little consideration to pipe depth.
• Prune – chances are your trees & shrubs got quite shaggy over the summer.  Now is the time to tame them.  When making proper cuts, you can reduce their size by up to one-third.  It’s also time to cut down spent perennials.  Wait until they’re yellow & laying on the ground.  This allows nutrients to return to the roots.
• Winterize – blowout sprinkler systems to prevent freeze damage.  Don’t wait to schedule an appointment.  Unfortunately, Pro Care only offers this service for full-service commercial clients but there are plenty of companies who can help.  Avoid hiring fly-by-night sprinkler companies (unmarked trucks towing air compressors).  If they break something or fail to do it correctly, it could result in costly damage that won’t be revealed until next spring.  By then, you might not be able to find them.
• Install – fall is the best time to plant trees, shrubs, perennials, & bulbs.  You can often find sales at nurseries, as well.

Don’t miss the opportunity to put your landscape to bed the right way!

When the extreme heat of Boise summer arrives, most of us crank up the A/C & hide from the sun.  Landscape plants don’t have that option.  Temperatures over 90 degrees can be tough on plants, especially those not native to our area (which is most of them).  To help plants make it through summer, Pro Care recommends the following actions:

1. Be proactive.  Monitor weather forecasts & increase water frequency/duration before the heat arrives.  Rule of thumb:  keep soil consistently moist to a depth of 6″-8″ but not saturated.  Easier said than done as there are many factors in play including soil type, sun exposure, slope, age of sprinkler system, water pressure, wind patterns, & much more.  To check soil moisture, dig with a shovel, probe with a large screwdriver, or better yet invest in a core soil probe.
2. Pay attention to the plants.  Wilting, yellowing, or dropping leaves can be symptomatic of drought stress, excessive watering, insects, disease, & direct sun exposure.
3. Visually inspect the sprinkler system every 2-4 weeks.  Heads & nozzles can become clogged or go out-of-adjustment.  Pressure can fluctuate.  Leaks, breaks, & other malfunctions can occur suddenly.  You can’t rely on the sprinkler program or soil probe alone.
4. Raise the mower up 1/2″ – 1″.  Cutting the grass a bit taller helps quite a bit in the heat.
5. Limit trimming or pruning, or hold off until fall if you can.  While you can trim/prune plants in the summer, it’s almost always better to do so in the fall or early spring.

Taking these steps will definitely help your plants survive the heat of summer.  However, excessive heat (over 100 degrees) will test the biological thresholds of certain plants, even when you’re doing everything else well.  For example, some leaves in river birch may turn yellow & fall in extreme heat.  If in doubt, start by probing the soil.  It should be moist but not saturated to a depth of 6″-8″.

Stay cool out there!

To our Branch Manager, Leader, Coach, Friend, & Breakfast Burrito Artisan Jeff:

Thank you for 19 years of faithful, incredible service!  There aren’t enough words to adequately describe how much you mean to the Pro Care family & the positive impact you’ve had on the careers of so many landscape professionals.  We are in awe of you each & every day.

Some projects are so fun that we have to share them with everyone we know!  Our fantastic Landscape Construction team has been working on a major residential project that includes a bocce ball court.  If you happen to be on a TV trivia show anytime soon, here’s some bocce ball trivia that could get you closer to the big prize!

• A form of bocce ball dates back to the Roman Empire; its present-day form was developed in Italy & is commonly played in Europe.
• The bocce ball court in these pictures is 90′ long by 12′ wide.
• Bocce ball is played with eight large balls & one smaller target ball called a jack or “pallina.”
• Games are between two teams of 1-4 players per team.  There are four bocce balls per team.
• The pallina & bocce balls must be delivered underhand.

There are a bunch more rules but the important thing is that bocce ball is fun and can be played while holding your favorite cold beverage in your non-throwing hand.  That’s our kind of sport!  We also installed running lights in case an intense game goes into the night.

We are so proud to have Kasey as part of our Pro Care family.  Already a seasoned vet when he joined Pro Care in 2000, Kasey has spent the last 18 years flourishing into one of the very best professionals & landscape experts in the Treasure Valley.  His expertise in landscaping is as vast & as deep as ocean.  He’s helped develop the careers of hundreds of young landscapers in our community.

Kasey, you’ve been with us so long that your Pro Care career can now legally buy lottery tickets.  We already know we’ve hit the jackpot with you, old friend.  Thank you for all you do!