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Working on trees requires different training and equipment than traditional landscaping.
Trees take decades, sometimes centuries, to <a href="https://www.diamondcertified.org/guide/advice-for-raising-healthy-trees/" target="_self">grow to maturity</a>, and they must be cared for with more expertise than shrubbery and ground covers. A <a href="https://www.diamondcertified.org/tree-service-overview/" target="_self">qualified arborist</a> needs an in-depth knowledge of trees that a general landscaper usually doesn’t possess. Tree work also poses different safety and liability concerns, so arborists must carry more insurance and be better trained in how to safely work with and among trees.
Accreditation and certification are the most important things to look for in a tree care company. Are its arborists certified by the <a href="https://www.isa-arbor.com/" target="_self">International Society of Arboriculture</a>? Are they accredited by the <a href="https://www.diamondcertified.org/industry-organization-spotlight-tree-care-industry-association/" target="_self">Tree Care Industry Association</a>? You should also ask how long the company has been in business. Although it’s a rigorous test to become a certified arborist, some recent graduates don’t have the same amount of practical knowledge that comes from years of onsite experience.
Insurance and safety are especially important when it comes to tree care—unlike most <a href="https://www.diamondcertified.org/diamond-certified-experts-crucial-aspects-landscape-maintenance/" target="_self">standard landscaping work</a>, missteps can result in serious property damage or severe injuries. Make sure you ask the company how much liability insurance it carries and what it covers. The accreditation process includes safety, so an accredited tree care company should have a good safety record. If you have doubts or concerns, run a workers’ compensation report to see what the safety record is for yourself.
Another question to consider: What does the arborist do with the wood chips and biomass that are generated from tree care? Does the firm simply cart it to a landfill, or is it used to create bio-fuel and Green electricity?
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Learn about the major differences between tree care and landscaping.

Tree Care vs. General Landscaping: What’s the Difference?

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Spring is coming – are you ready to grow? Photo: American Ratings Corporation (2017)
Following the heavy (and much needed) rainfall of the past winter, gardening enthusiasts in the Bay Area can look forward to a bounty of opportunities come spring. In addition to the finer points involved in planting flowers and crops, here are some basic guidelines to consider for optimizing your gardening experience.
Plan for all seasons. While many assume gardening is only for the spring and summer, if you plan correctly, you can keep yours looking beautiful through the fall and winter seasons as well.
Remember, plants grow. A common mistake gardeners make is installing plants that don’t fit within the schemes of their gardens. Don’t be a victim of “cute in a gallon can” syndrome—just because a particular plant looks good at the nursery, that doesn’t mean it’ll be right for your garden.
Plan for ecological balance. Any gardener knows healthy crops attract harmful insects in search of sustenance. However, instead of going on the offensive by applying insecticides, you should allow these unwelcome guests to stick around for a while. Once there are enough of them, they’ll attract beneficial insects that will restore ecological balance.
Focus on functionality. A garden can be a lot more than a place to situate plants—it can also be an ideal setting for leisure and entertainment, so be sure to keep this in mind when designing yours. Additions like landscape lighting and hardscape features (such as a stone patio or barbeque) can transform your garden into a functional outdoor living space.
Be kind to the earth. From design to installation and beyond, be proactive about employing ecologically friendly methods and materials at every step of your gardening experience.
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Gardening should be fun and add beauty to your home. With these 5 helpful tips, your garden can be healthier, prettier and better than ever.

Tip Sheet: 5 Guidelines for Gardening

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From your garden to your pool, there are several areas where you can improve your exterior efficiency. Photo: Landmark Landscapes (2017)
Like many Bay Area homeowners, you’ve probably taken measures to reduce your home’s water and energy usage, such as installing water-saving plumbing fixtures and switching to LED lighting. However, you may have overlooked another part of your property: your yard. From your garden to your pool, there are several areas where you can <a href="https://www.diamondcertified.org/three-steps-save-water-yard/" target="_self">save water</a> and energy by improving your exterior efficiency. Consider the following measures:
Improve irrigation If you’re using an outdated sprinkler system to <a href="https://www.diamondcertified.org/lawn-watering-the-importance-of-conservation/" target="_self">water your lawn and garden</a>, you may be wasting water every day. Traditional sprinkler heads are known for their inefficiency, losing a substantial amount of the water they distribute to wind and sun evaporation. Fortunately, you can easily upgrade your system for a surprisingly low cost. One option is to convert to streamers, which are designed to provide a more direct delivery of water. All you have to do is switch out your old nozzles for streamer nozzles, which cost a little more than $1 apiece.
Another option (if you don’t have a lawn) is to convert your sprinklers to drip irrigation. This is achieved by capping off most of the sprinkler heads and connecting the remaining ones to drip hoses, which are placed throughout the yard. By delivering water directly to plants’ root zones, drip irrigation cuts down on evaporation and helps reduce weeds. Furthermore, a drip system’s emitters can be individually adjusted to custom-regulate water distribution to various areas of a garden.
Go gray <a href="https://www.diamondcertified.org/8-tips-for-reducing-water-use-during-a-drought/" target="_self">During the recent drought</a>, many conscientious Californians began embracing graywater systems—plumbing modifications that repurpose lightly used water from sinks, bathtubs, and washing machines to irrigate landscape plants and trees. While graywater isn’t potable, it’s safe to use for landscape irrigation as long as certain guidelines are followed. For example, while graywater is fine for watering fruit trees and aboveground crops, it shouldn’t be used to water root vegetables and other crops whose edible portions come into direct contact with irrigation water. Additionally, after installing a graywater system, it’s important to use only “plant-friendly” products for washing dishes and clothes—otherwise, detrimental elements like salt or boron can build up in the soil.
California’s plumbing code has recently been updated to make it easier for homeowners to install graywater systems. Under the current code, “laundry-to-landscape” graywater systems can be installed without a permit as long as 13 guidelines are followed. For the complete list of guidelines, consult California’s graywater code, which is found in Chapter 15 of the California Plumbing Code (CPC). You can also read <a href="https://greywateraction.org/requirements-for-no-permit-systems-in-california/" target="_self">this summary from Greywater Action</a>.
Let go of your lawn There’s a reason lawns have earned a reputation as “water guzzlers”—most need a minimum of one inch of water per week to stay healthy, which means even a modestly sized lawn will consume a few thousand gallons each year. That’s why, if you’re serious about conserving water on your property, it’s time to consider a landscape makeover. One good option is to install a drought-tolerant garden that features hardscape elements, mulch and native plants that require minimal watering. However, if you’re partial to the look and feel of your lawn, you have another option: <a href="https://www.diamondcertified.org/eight-reasons-to-choose-artificial-grass/" target="_self">synthetic turf</a>. Today’s sophisticated synthetic lawns are virtually indistinguishable from the real thing—the only difference is there’s no watering, mowing or fertilizing required.
Lighten your lighting’s load <a href="https://www.diamondcertified.org/how-exterior-lighting-improve-your-home-and-garden/" target="_self">Landscape lighting</a> is a great way to enhance your outdoor living space, but if you aren’t careful, it can lead to an unnecessary energy expenditure. To avoid this, make it a point to install low-energy light fixtures. Choices include solar lighting, which uses solar cells to convert sunlight to electricity for powering lights after dark; ENERGY STAR-qualified outdoor light fixtures with automatic daylight shut-offs and motion sensors; and LEDs, which can save up to $50 per year when substituted for incandescent bulbs. With the wide range of low-energy lighting products available today, you can enliven your landscape’s nocturnal ambiance for a negligible expense.
Dump your old pool pump Other than lighting, your yard probably doesn’t consume much energy—that is, unless you have a <a href="https://www.diamondcertified.org/diamond-certified-experts-swimming-pool-basics/" target="_self">swimming pool</a>. Between heating and filtration costs, a pool is often the single most expensive energy-consuming fixture on a property, which makes it a prime target for efficiency upgrades. The most impactful measure you can take is to replace your single-speed pool pump (easily the most costly aspect of pool operation) with a variable-speed pump. With a 90 percent increase in energy efficiency, you’ll soon see your power bills take a dive.
Automate ’em all One of the simplest way to increase your exterior efficiency is to automate your irrigation and outdoor lighting systems. This will allow you to program your irrigation system to run at specific intervals, such as the evening or early morning when there’s less chance for evaporation. Some high-end automation systems even allow you to control the flow and trajectory of individual sprinkler heads. Likewise, you can install a system that allows you to program your exterior lights and even control them from your smartphone. Of course, your pool filter should also have a timer—if not, you should have one installed. By setting all of your yard’s water- and energy-consuming systems to a timer, you can maximize efficiency and minimize waste at all levels.
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Reduce water and energy usage in your yard with these easy tips for irrigation, graywater, lawn replacement, outdoor lighting, pool pumps, automation, and more.

Yard-Wise: 6 Ways to Improve Your Property’s Exterior Efficiency

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With summer fast approaching, there’s no time like the present to revamp your patio. Photo: American Ratings Corporation ©2022
Like most Bay Area residents, you’re probably looking forward to spending lots of time outside this summer. If that’s the case, you’ll want your outdoor living space to be ready—particularly your backyard patio. While most homes have patios, few are as comfortable or attractive as they could be. If you’re feeling underwhelmed by your patio’s current state, consider investing some time and money into helping it reach its full potential.
<h3>Refurbish or Replace?</h3>
Depending on your patio’s overall condition, you may be able to inject some life into its existing structure and layout. For example, a drab concrete slab can be made to look new again with simple steps like power-washing and resurfacing. Likewise, refinishing and restaining can do wonders for an aged but structurally sound deck. The refurbishing route is especially beneficial if you’re working with a limited budget.
If, on the other hand, you have <a href="https://www.diamondcertified.org/why-you-should-fix-crack-sidewalk/" target="_self">cracked concrete</a> or a decrepit deck, you may be better off starting from scratch. What’s great about this is you can go in any direction you want, regardless of what was there before. Want to replace your old deck with a stamped concrete terrace? No problem. Want to swap your drab slab for a paving stone mosaic? Go for it. If you’re unsure what direction to take, consider consulting a professional designer.
<h3>Surrounding Environment</h3>
If your backyard is unsightly, you’ll want to alter it so it complements, rather than diminishes from, your patio’s aesthetic beauty. Start by trimming back overgrown vegetation, removing unwanted plants or trees, and leveling out uneven areas of soil—this will give you a clean palette to work with. Next, <a href="https://www.diamondcertified.org/tip-sheet-5-designing-landscape/" target="_self">incorporate landscaping elements</a> like gravel, grass (natural or synthetic), wood chips, flagstones and/or drought-tolerant plants. Don’t be afraid to mix and match. When tastefully arranged, these accentual ingredients imbue a yard with eye-catching colors, textures and angles to provide the perfect patio backdrop.
<h3>Patio Furniture</h3>
Much like an unsightly yard, shabby outdoor furniture can make a patio look stale and unattractive. Replacing furniture is more affordable than remodeling your patio and can go a long way toward improving its appearance. If you’re on a tight budget, consider buying a used furniture set or repainting/restaining your existing furniture pieces to make them look new again.
<h3>Shade Options</h3>
Even if you love sunshine, you’ll want protection from its harsh effects while lounging in your patio on sunny days. There are several options available for shading your patio, including free-standing structures like pergolas, fabric fixtures like shade sails and permanent additions like patio covers.
When choosing a shade product, you’ll need to <a href="https://www.diamondcertified.org/sunshade/" target="_self">consider your personal preferences</a>. If you want to have the option of shade or full sunlight, a retractable awning may be the right choice, as it can be extended or retracted as desired. If you want permanent shade, a solid patio cover is a good option. Since they’re made from insulated material, solid patio covers don’t merely provide shade—they actually decrease solar heat gain to make the patio several degrees cooler than a normal shaded area. They also provide shelter from the rain, which makes the patio usable in winter as well as summer.
For most homeowners, aesthetics are major factors when it comes to choosing shade products. That’s why pergolas are so popular—while they only provide partial shade, their main appeal is in the elegant effect they bring to a patio. Likewise, awnings and shade sails can lend visual vitality to a patio space with their striking contours and colors.
A final consideration for choosing a shade product is maintenance. Whereas a vinyl or Alumawood® patio cover requires little upkeep, a natural wood pergola needs to be periodically resealed and/or repainted. Likewise, fabric awnings should be cleaned annually to retain their aesthetic appearance. Fortunately, this isn’t very complicated—simply remove the fabric from its frame, scrub it with soap and water, rinse, air-dry, and reinstall it.
<h3>Patio Lighting </h3>
In terms of cost and effort, few patio makeover measures provide as much bang for your buck as adding lighting. Whether strung around pergola posts or hung from the roof, <a href="https://www.diamondcertified.org/how-exterior-lighting-improve-your-home-and-garden/" target="_self">patio lighting</a> extends your outdoor enjoyment into the nighttime hours. You can also add lighting to the rest of your yard to create an artful after-dark aesthetic.
<h3>Additional Features</h3>
A basic patio is perfectly serviceable for summertime lounging, but there are additional features that can augment its functionality. For example, an <a href="https://www.diamondcertified.org/outdoor-kitchens/" target="_self">outdoor kitchen</a> or bar can transform your patio into an all-purpose venue for hosting parties and get-togethers. Likewise, a water feature can give your patio a relaxing ambiance and drown out unwanted noise from traffic or neighbors.
Another great patio addition is an outdoor fireplace, which provides an inviting hub for family and friends to gather around. Outdoor fireplaces can be custom-built or purchased as prefabricated units. You can also choose between a wood-burning fireplace and a gas-powered model—just keep in mind that the latter requires permits for running the gas line and testing the pressure. While this creates an extra hoop to jump through, it’s worthwhile to eliminate nuisances like smoke and gathering firewood.
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revamped patio by the ocean

Summer is coming. Is your patio ready? Find tips to help your backyard patio reach its full potential. Learn about repair vs. replace, landscaping and patio furniture.

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