Eric Gardner, Author at Country Springs Wholesale Nursery

August 8, 2025

Choosing the Right Tree for Your Landscape Project

Choosing the right tree for your Landscape Project starts with asking the right questions. What kind of sunlight does your planting area receive? How much space is available—both above and around the spot? What type of soil are you working with, and which trees thrive in your local climate zone?

Beyond site conditions, it’s also important to think about what you want your tree to provide. Are you looking for fast shade, seasonal color, long-term durability, or added habitat value?

Understanding these factors can help narrow your options and guide you toward trees that will grow well and serve your goals.

In the sections that follow, we’ll walk you through key considerations—from evaluating your planting site to identifying popular, proven choices. You’ll also find simple planting tips and ongoing care practices to support long-term success.

Ready to get started? Let’s take a closer look at what matters most when selecting a tree.

Assess Your Site Conditions

The following 4 considerations should be taken into account when choosing the right tree before you fall in love with a tree’s form or foliage. Getting to know the basics of the planting location is paramount to the success of the Right Tree for Your Landscape Project.

Sun Exposure: Is the area in full sun, part shade, or mostly shady? While many shade trees tolerate full sun, some (like red maples) prefer at least a few hours of direct light each day.
Soil Type: Sandy, loamy, or clay? Well-draining loam is ideal for most trees, but if your soil leans heavily to clay or sand, choose species known to adapt—like oak (for clay) or Kentucky coffeetree (for sand).
Available Space: Measure both overhead clearance (under power lines or eaves) and width. A mature canopy spread of 30–50 feet is common for large shade trees—so be sure you have room!
Climate Zone: Check your USDA hardiness zone. Native trees not only thrive in local temperature ranges but also support wildlife and demand less maintenance.

Match Tree Characteristics to Your Project Needs

When choosing the right tree, different trees offer unique benefits. Here is a chart to help with important questions:

Top Picks for Homeowners when Choosing the Right Tree

Here are three versatile, attractive shade-tree favorites.
When it comes to choosing a shade tree that delivers both beauty and resilience, a few timeless options rise to the top. Whether you’re looking to create a cooling canopy with a big tree, support local wildlife, or simply add standout foliage to your landscape, the right tree can make all the difference. Below, we highlight three versatile favorites—each with its own unique appeal. From the stately and ecologically rich White Oak to the light-filtering Honey Locust and the striking, low-maintenance Ginkgo, these shade trees offer lasting value for a wide range of environments.

White Oak (Quercus alba)

Mature Size: 80–100 ft tall; 60–80 ft spread

Highlights: Long-lived, deep lobed leaves, supports hundreds of insect and bird species

Honey Locust (Gleditsia triacanthos var. inermis)

Mature Size: 30–70 ft tall; 30–60 ft spread

Highlights: Light, dappled shade; tolerant of city conditions and poor soils

Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba)

Mature Size: 50–80 ft tall; 30–40 ft spread

Highlights: Unique fan-shaped leaves, stunning golden fall color, extremely disease resistant

Planting & Early Care Tips

Giving your new tree a strong start sets the stage for decades of healthy growth. Proper planting and early care practices are essential for helping roots establish, trunks strengthen, and canopies develop naturally. From digging the right hole to knowing when—and how—to prune, a few simple steps can make a big difference. Follow these foundational tips to ensure your tree not only survives but thrives in its new home.

Dig the Right Hole:
Make it as deep as the root ball and twice as wide. This encourages roots to spread into native soil.
Backfill Gently:
Mix native soil with a bit of compost, but avoid heavy mulch piles at the trunk (“volcano mulching”).
Stake If Necessary:
Young trees may need staking in windy sites—remove ties after the first year to allow natural movement and trunk strengthening.
Water Consistently:
During the first two growing seasons, aim for 1 inch of water per week (from rain or irrigation). Soaker hoses or drip irrigation work best.
Prune Thoughtfully:
Remove dead or crossing branches in late winter or early spring. Avoid heavy pruning; let the tree establish a natural form.

Long-Term Maintenance

Caring for your tree doesn’t stop after it’s established—long-term maintenance is key to ensuring lasting health and beauty. Even mature shade trees benefit from occasional deep watering during prolonged dry periods, helping them stay resilient through stress. Keep an eye out for early signs of pests or disease, such as leaf spots, cankers, or borer activity, as prompt treatment can prevent serious damage. Finally, refreshing mulch each year with a 2–3 inch layer of shredded bark or hardwood helps conserve soil moisture, suppress weeds, and protect the root zone—keeping your tree strong for seasons to come.

By matching your property’s conditions with the right species, and giving your new tree attentive care when choosing the right tree, you’ll enjoy years of cool shade, wildlife visits, and seasonal beauty. Ready to explore our current shade-tree inventory? Stop by Country Springs Wholesale Nursery and pick the perfect one for your home!

January 22, 2019July 14, 2020

How to Resolve Customer Landscape Issues

How to Solve response to landscape complaints

When handling unsatisfied customers it’s important to recognize why they’re complaining. If you don’t know what the problem is, then it’ll be rather difficult to determine your response to landscape complaints. Here are some helpful tips to deal with an angry customer.

Talk To Them Before Your Response to Landscape Complaints

This may Sound obvious but we sometimes assume we know what the problem is before any discussion. Talk to the customer and ask them what made them unhappy with the service you provided. Are they frustrated with the lawn service? Did you order the wrong colored pavers? Where the wrong plants used in the wrong place?

When providing a service, of any kind, there are a number of things that might go wrong and it’s up to the business supplying the service to make things right again. And while you won’t be able to please everyone all of the time, you need to do your best to keep the consumer in question as a customer. Sometimes this means going above and beyond your normal job duties in order to make this happen.

If they call the office to make a complaint on the telephone, you need to realize that they’re expecting the problem to be resolved. They’re giving you the opportunity to offer a response to landscape complaints which means you need to fix it as quickly as possible. When customers complain, they aren’t trying to do damage to your business; they just want the issue taken care of.

If a customer leaves a negative review on Social Media, that generally means that they’re done dealing with you. Maybe the issue wasn’t corrected or their expectations haven’t been met.

All hope is not lost however, because you still have the opportunity to avoid future problems. Take a look at how your business is handling things and consider the fact that you might need to tweak or overhaul how your company is operating. Listed below are helpful ways to deal with unhappy customers when running a lawn care business:

Solve the Problem

If there is a problem, it’s best to solve it as soon as possible. Letting it go by the wayside does nothing to retain an angry customer. Little problems can also become even bigger problems and this can happen quickly, so it’s best to make things right, right away.

Listen and Learn

Listen to response to landscape complaints

Ask the customer why they are upset and then actually listen to what they have to say. Don’t interrupt them while they are talking because doing so may create resentment. The client may think you don’t care about their point of view. When they’re finished talking, be sure to repeat what they just said, so that once again, they know that you’re listening…. a response to landscape complaints might be something like “Yes, the pump on the fountain isn’t working, and yes, we’ll be out to replace it tomorrow afternoon.”

Research

After talking to the customer, it’s best to go back and examine your notes to see if maybe you missed something. Gather your team and talk to them as well. Did someone make a mistake? Look at the issue from the viewpoint of the customer and try to put yourself in their shoes. If this was your yard, how would you feel if something went wrong? If you discover that you or your team did something wrong, apologize to the customer and do what you need to do in order to fix whatever it was that went wrong.

Avoid Technology

What I mean by this is don’t hide behind your computer when something goes wrong. Get out there and make things right! A customer is more likely to respect you when you visit them at home or at their place of business.

Documentation

It’s best to document every home or business that you landscape. You should have a file for each consumer that you service. Keeping good records allows you to backtrack in the event that something DOES go wrong.

It’s not a matter of if something goes wrong, it’s a matter of when, and you should always be prepared to make things right. When keeping documentation, however, it’s always best to be organized.

Cut Your Losses

While this method should be a last resort it may need to be considered in response to landscape complaints. When dealing with the public, it’s important to realize that you’re not going to get along with everyone. When this happens take a step back and determine whether or not this is a customer worth keeping.

However, if the customer is demanding and the two of you are not a good match, then don’t be afraid to speak up. You may want to refund their money after fixing their lawn, or you could always refer them to another landscape company. Perhaps you know of someone who might be better suited to meet their needs.

Observe the Outcome

Take note of what happened after the response to landscape complaints. Did you order the wrong flowers? Was an employee late, again? Determine what you can do in the future to make sure that you, or your employees, don’t make the same mistake twice.

No matter the complaint, it’s always best to keep a level head because it does nothing for you or your business if you get upset every time something goes wrong. In fact, feeling hurt of injured only tends to make the situation worse than it already is. So, if you get a complaint from a customer, smile, be polite and do your best to make things right!

July 31, 2018July 31, 2018

The Benefit of Offering Rainwater Harvesting Services

Rainwater harvesting is a very simple technique that anyone can practice, no matter what part of the country you’re in. All you need is an effective rainwater harvesting system.

Harvesting rainwater is the process of collecting rainwater and storing it for future use. Though it’s an old method for storing water, it’s highly effective and proves to be a highly reliable option. Here are some advantages of rainwater harvesting for your landscaping clients.

1. Rainwater Harvesting is good for the pocketbook.

Do your customers think that they don’t get enough rainfall for rainwater harvesting to be worthwhile? If so, then just point out the fact that even with only 1/2 inch of rainfall, a 1,500 sq ft house can accumulate nearly 500 gallons of water!

To put this into perspective, the average American uses 50 gallons of water for one car wash, so that’s 10 free car washes! The average car wash service is $6.34, so that’s $63 dollars of savings for minimal effort.

And of course, a rainwater harvesting system can be directed at free watering for landscaping, which means more potential opportunities for your company projects!

2. Rainwater is healthier for plants.

This one is a no brainer. It’s proven that rainwater is just healthier for plants compared to any other water source. For instance, unlike regular water, rainwater is slightly acidic and contains minerals and nutrients that plants love – like sulfur and potash.

It also contains no salt, so there’s no need to worry about salt causing any potential harm to the plants.

Because of the above factors, plants that reap the benefits of rainwater harvesting will be greener and healthier.

And if that isn’t enough reason to make the switch to harvesting rainwater, then here’s another one:

You can sometimes get free fertilizer in the form of nitrogen solution when there are thunder storms.

Your clients will definitely be shocked to hear this (pun intended).

3. Lower supply – greater demand.

On a more somber note, it’s no secret that many parts of the world are currently suffering water shortages. For example, it was a big story in international news that Cape Town South Africa will be the first major city in the world to run out of water.

And in the United States, Flint Michigan hasn’t had clean drinking water since 2014.

So clearly we shouldn’t take free and clean water for granted – and this is what rainwater harvesting allows. The possibilities are continuing to evolve so being a pioneer could be a game changer for your company.

Our hardscape supply partner, Techo-Bloc, has permeable pavers that have assisted in making them a leader in the Rainwater Harvesting arena. We have access to experts that will be glad to advise you on projects that would benefit from this technology.

Rainwater Harvesting using permeable pavers

Here is a contractor project that might offer some insight:

July 3, 2018July 9, 2018

Moving a Big Tree

It takes an expert when it comes to moving a Big Tree. We have the people & we have the tools. We recently moved a Big Tree from our Leesburg Branch and we documented the process with our local photographer. The tree is a Prunus cer Thundercloud 5-5.5”. The results are below.

Big Tree Move

May 29, 2018May 29, 2018

Guide to Retaining Walls and Landscaping

Retaining Walls and Landscaping

Retaining walls and landscaping are often used in commercial and residential premises. Walls assist with great elevations and slopes to hold back soil and prevent erosion. In landscaping, retaining walls that are low can be used for planting beds and add to the curb appeal of land that was previously flat.

Employing services of landscape designers to layout a retaining wall and landscaping project is important. Skill and keenness are needed to prevent the wall from leaning, bulging or cracking and becoming useless in the future. Keeping in mind the drainage, base, back fill, and height of the retaining wall is key before commencing construction.

Types of Retaining Walls

There are four major types of retaining walls. Putting them up will depend on the size to be erected, soil type and materials available.

1. Anchored Retaining Wall

Anchors are mechanically directed into the soil attached by strips and cables to support an assortment of fronts of the retaining wall. Ends of anchors undergo expansion after pressurized concrete or other mechanical means are used to create this physical change. Anchored retaining walls are best for thinner walls.

2. Gravity Retaining Walls and Landscaping

Commonly used by landscapers, gravity retaining walls use mass and weight to keep the soil compact and prevent erosion. Materials used to erect these walls range from bricks, unmortared stone, pavers and dry-stacked stones. For shorter walls, reinforcement is done by digging a trench for the retaining wall to fit into.

3. Sheet Piling Retaining Wall

In areas with limited space, this wall is what you need. A very thin wall made of vinyl, wood or steel is driven in the soil at least 1/3 of the length. Additional reinforcement is done by erecting a corrugated structure vertically. This type of retaining wall is suitable for areas with softer and lighter soil. If you intend to put up a larger wall, strengthen the piling with an anchored retaining wall.

4. Cantilevered Retaining Wall

Usually taking an L-shape, cantilevered retaining walls have steel bars immersed in concrete or retaining walls from masonry attached to a slab foundation. The wall remains sturdy for a long time because the weight of the soil above exerts a lot of pressure on the slab.

Block retaining walls and landscaping are commonly used because the materials used during construction are easily available. The advantage of block retaining walls is their sturdy and durable aspect that makes it an investment. You can now seed your field and with time you will have a lawn growing on healthy conserved soil. This area of landscaping conserves the environment by preventing the occurrence of rills and gullies caused by running water.