Blog

Whether your driveway is cracked and crumbling or you’re looking to elevate your home’s curb appeal, a turf and concrete driveway update is a smart way to give your property a facelift. Driveways and other hardscape areas of your property are easy to overlook when considering enhancements, but it is part of your home’s first impression. Something else people notice first?
Whether you’re updating your backyard turf with a concrete pour for a deck remodel or re-doing the turf in your front yard, updating your front and backyard hardscape is a cost-efficient update that will take your property to the next level in a short period of time.

Versatility

Updating your driveway and front yard turf is a great way to enhance the versatility of your space. You could consider a design that seamlessly blends in with the lawn, so your yard will feel larger, for example. Without cars, this combo can be used in a front or backyard turf and concrete space, like a patio. This is great for parties, grilling, and bonfires, making entertaining fun and easy to clean up after.

Durability

Concrete is incredibly weather resistant. From blistering heat waves in the valleys and cities to colder winter temperatures inland and on the coast, keeping the concrete on your property well maintained and up to date can help you weather whatever’s next in Southern California weather patterns. Turf is easy to maintain and lasts for years with very little care. So, when a driveway meets concrete and turf, you get an amazing combination of durability, weather resistance, easy maintenance, and beautiful aesthetics that will give your home a welcoming look. Turf and concrete backyards are also popular because they require zero lawn mowing and add a unique feel to your outdoor space.

Cost Efficiency

A concrete and turf driveway will last years longer than one made up of asphalt. Asphalt is quick to crumble and doesn’t always settle right with the soil beneath it. When you use turf and concrete for backyards or driveways, you’re setting yourself up for little maintenance with a lot of reward. Asphalt needs repair often and is quick to fall apart. For the latest pricing on concrete or turf materials, such as pavers vs. concrete pours, reach out to us to learn your options.

Of course, calculating the long term costs of this exterior update will vary, but if you’re opting for low-maintenance landscaping with a high-quality look, considering hardscape updates is a great move to make.

Aesthetics

Laying new turf and updating your entry’s concrete is a way to enhance the welcoming appeal of your home or business.

In all things, choose what works best for you. Do an adequate amount of research, which, if you’re reading this, then you’re on the right track! Landscaping can be a taxing and confusing endeavor, especially when you don’t have a lot of experience. That’s why Gutierrez & Sons is here. With over thirty years of experience, we know every pitfall and surprise that may pop up when it comes to outdoor work. We pride ourselves on friendly and reliable communication with our clients, so you’ll never be in the dark or confused about what we’re doing with your home. You can call us with confidence and know that we’ll set you on the right path for your goals.

Call for your free estimate today!

When assessing your property for any tree issues, it can sometimes be challenging, at a glance, to discern a dead tree from one that is simply dormant. What does a dead tree look like? Sure, a tell-tale sign is no leaves, but deciduous trees, like maples or birches, lose leaves every year. Evergreens, like pines and firs, never lose their needles. These two common types of trees provide us with shade, oxygen, and some beautiful scenery, but as seasons change and years pass, disease and the elements take their toll. Dead tree cutting is a necessity, especially when it comes to safety on your property.

Now, let’s dive a little deeper and learn the difference between dead and dormant trees.

Dead Trees

What does a dead tree look like and how will you know when it’s time to act?

Its Leaves

Whether or not a tree is leafing is the most obvious sign, but some trees don’t bud leaves until late summer. This can be due to a couple of factors. Some tree varieties are just late bloomers. But the most common reason for late blooming is weather. Early fall freezes or even spring snow storms can slow down a tree’s cycle for the year, along with drought or extreme heat. When a tree does start dying, its leaves will actually cling to the branches in the winter. So, if it’s snowing in December, and you see brown, cracked leaves still on your deciduous tree, you may have to start thinking about some dead tree cutting services for your home or business.

Its Trunk

The trunk of the tree is the next place you should look. Large sections of bark peeling off the trunk is a sign that your tree may be dying. Another tell to look for would be rot. Commonly called heart rot, it’s a fungal infection in a tree that causes deterioration and weakening of the circulatory system within your tree. Surprisingly, a hollowed out trunk is not part of what a dead tree actually does look like. A trunk that’s been hollowed out can still thrive and grow in most cases.

Its Roots

As we work our way to the bottom of the tree, we get to its roots. The roots are responsible for soaking up all the water and nutrients the tree needs to survive. If those get compromised, you may have an answer to “what does a dead tree look like?” If you’re seeing a large amount of mushrooms at the base, chances are you may need to consult with an expert to check for rot issues. Another sign in the roots would be lift. If the roots are lifted from the soil, then the tree has rot or has been significantly damaged. We’re not talking about roots growing above ground, but roots that are separated from the soil and no longer firmly “rooted” in the soil.

Dormant Trees

A dormant tree is what tree service specialists call a tree in “hibernation”. Deciduous trees lose leaves with seasons, and this occurs as the tree begins its process of hibernation by cutting off nutrients to the leaves and storing it inside more important parts, like the roots and branches. But how do you know if a tree is dormant, or if you’ll need to do some dead tree cutting or trimming?

Scratch Test

This is the simplest and easiest way to decipher between a dead and dormant tree. Find a small branch or twig on your tree, take a sharp knife or blade, and cut into the wood, peeling the protective bark back. If it’s firm and green, then your tree is just dormant. If it’s brown/gray and brittle, chances are, it’s dead.

When trying to discover what a dead tree does look like or what a dormant tree is, it’s important to remember that trees need care and often need to be handled by professionals. Dead branches can be hazardous to homes, cars, neighbors, and your family. At Gutierrez & Sons we have experienced and trusted crews who know how to solve your tree problems–whatever they may be. We’re licensed, bonded, and insured, so you can trust that you’ll get professional service for a great value.

Schedule your free estimate today!

Owning a home comes with a bevy of home projects, like knowing when to trim trees. It’s something that’s easy to overlook, and people often wonder, “ Why prune my trees?” Well, there are multiple reasons to trim trees. From aesthetics to safety, maintaining your trees and knowing when to trim them is an important task every property owner needs to stay up-to-date on. Whether it’s your front yard or backyard, trees can transform your home and be a blessing or a curse. Dead branches, overgrown trees and diseases can all impact your outdoor foliage, and ultimately, your home. Learning about the intricacies and care that trees require will keep your home safe and beautiful, while putting your mind at ease.

Signs that It’s Time

Having a big, burly tree in your yard may be exactly what you want, but be wary of letting it get out of control. Worry not, there are plenty of signs for you to know when to trim your trees.

If It’s Broke, Fix It

If you’re seeing broken branches with splintering or bowing, consider picking up the phone for a consultation on next steps. Once branches start breaking, they pose a serious danger to your home, car, and people. A broken or splintering branch may not be as obvious as you think, so be sure to regularly inspect your tree and look at the branches from multiple angles.

Dead & Gone

Dead branches are sure sign that it’s time for some trimming. Good indicators of dead branches are brittle branches, holes, disease, and dead patches of leaves. One reason why you should prune trees regularly is to combat dead branches. Once you see a branch start to die, nip it in the bud quickly to stop any risk of danger and any potential disease from spreading and ruining your tree.

Crossing the Powerlines

Now, this may not be the tree’s fault, but once branches and limbs start creeping in on powerlines, you’ll know that’s when to trim your trees. Tree branches close to powerlines should be handled by a professional, so everyone stays safe and your tree can live on without doing any damage to the people and property around it. Often, your county may insist on seasonal trimming for this reason. Be sure to work with a professional that can help you navigate local ordinances and codes.

Time of Year

It’s important to time your outdoor work with the seasons. Knowing the time of year and when to trim your trees can make or break you. People often think autumn is the best time of year, but that’s not exactly right. In the fall, deciduous trees are preparing for dormancy, and this is the main reason why you shouldn’t prune trees at this time. If you start tree maintenance services in the fall and cut off branches, you’ll be running the risk of depleting the tree of nutrients.

If there’s not a dire need to prune your trees, wait until the spring or summer when the tree will have a chance to bounce back and soak up some nutrients. If you’re thinking of when to trim your trees, consult an expert and let them decide when the best time of year would be.

Why Prune Trees?

Trees need to be cared for, and when you put effort into them, it will show. Regular care and maintenance to trees is crucial in keeping the tree healthy, safe, and beautiful. When it’s time to trim trees, think about what you want that tree to provide. A place for a tire swing, some much needed shade on the lawn, or even a whimsical treehouse–these are all things the right tree with the right maintenance can easily obtain. A property maintained tree will have the structural integrity to support a number of things, and with proper tree maintenance services, you’ll be able to manipulate the limbs to their maximum potential.

Going Forward

When you’re ready to take your tree care to the next level, consider these factors:

Weather

If it’s just rained or the wood is still damp, you may want to push out your service appointment. Trimming or pruning trees while the wood is wet makes it more prone to infection, and then you’ll just be adding more work for yourself or tree-trimmer.

Don’t Go Overboard

It’s easy to get carried away when it comes to tree trimming. If you’re not a professional, taking off too much or the wrong parts is a common pitfall. Pruning the smallest amount possible while still getting the desired effect should be your goal.

At the end of the day, it’s your tree, and it’s up to you to decide what to do with it. Whether it’s for safety or aesthetic purposes, your trees could use a little love. Not sure how to show it? Gutierrez & Sons has over thirty years of experience in the tree trimming game in southern California. From small branches to complete teardowns, we can handle any tree task.

Call us with confidence and learn more about our 100% guaranteed injury-free and insured tree trimming service!

Landscaping is an art that requires patience, experience, and even some creativity, but few ever truly master it. But with these low maintenance landscape ideas, you can elevate your outdoor space from overgrown and boring, to lush and inviting. Lawn maintenance, pruning, weeding, and every other task that comes with maintaining a yard may seem laborious, but there are loads of low maintenance ideas for your front yard, courtyard, and backyard.

Your yard should be a place for relaxation and celebration. It should bring tranquility and be an asset to your home, its value, and the people you share it with. Your choice in plants, irrigation, mulch, and even design are just some of the ways you can make your outdoor life easier. Let’s explore some of these low maintenance landscape ideas and put them into action.

Plants

The vegetation you choose to plant can make or break your lawn maintenance routine.

Drought Tolerant Plants

Nature is unpredictable, at best. In places like southern California, low maintenance landscaping is a must. With warm weather all year round and intermittent spring rains, it’s important to choose plants that can take the heat and won’t wither quickly. Here are some plant ideas for a low maintenance landscape:

• Sedum
• Purple Fountain Grass
• Agave
• Hosta
• Geranium
• Jade plant

These are just a handful of plants you (probably) won’t be able to kill. They quickly develop roots and have strong stems capable of holding water and withstanding heat.

Shrubs & Trees

When considering low maintenance landscape ideas for maximizing your outdoor space’s water efficiency, evergreen shrubs will ease your worries. Shrubs and small trees are easy to maintain and can be controlled with little to zero effort. The right kind are disease resistant, capable of enduring pests, and are eye-catching as well. Dwarf conifers, smaller shrubs, and yard trees are large enough to make a statement on your lawn, but won’t take up loads of time.

Implementing low maintenance ideas for your front yard may seem like a challenge, but doing a little homework before you get to work will surely make a difference in the long run.

Hardscaping

When searching for ideas on how to keep your landscaping low maintenance in Southern California, it’s easy to overlook hardscaping. But hardscaping is a gem when it comes to keeping your lawn low maintenance.

Patios

A patio is a great space for food, family, friends, and fun. But it’s also a lazy lawn-mower’s dream. In addition to creating an integral part of Southern California living, patios or additional hardscaping cut down on mowing time by decreasing the size of your lawn. Los Angeles home owners are increasingly seeking ways to decrease water usage and reduce the need for a traditional lawn in their backyards. When choosing to make a patio, you can opt for concrete slab, asphalt, or stone pavers. It may be an investment at the moment, but this idea will save you priceless time in the future.

Decks

Decks require far less upkeep than a lawn and are great, low maintenance ideas for your front yard. They also add value to your home and elevate its curb-appeal. Wooden decks are the most popular and only require a small amount of maintenance each year like staining and powerwashing. Composite decks are a great low maintenance idea because they require little to no maintenance. The faux-wood won’t splinter, fade, or crack.

What’s Next

In all things, it’s important to remember what works for you. Every lawn is different, and so is every homeowner. At Gutierrez & Sons, we want to help you get the most out of your outdoor living space. We have over thirty years of knowledge when it comes to low maintenance landscape ideas, and we’ll personally coordinate with you to find the best for your property.

Get in touch with our expert team to learn more about our pledge to safe, reliable service that will leave you smiling and relaxed every time you look at your lawn. Call for a free estimate today!

Your residential or commercial property needs regular tree trimming throughout the year to keep it looking sharp, but it’s not so simple as sending someone in to chop it up every few months. 

The tree trimming pros at Gutierrez & Sons have put together a guide on the best time to trim trees in Southern California that you can refer to whenever you’re wondering when to call the landscapers. Having been in this business since 1982, you can trust us for all your seasonal landscaping tips in the greater Los Angeles area.

Southern California doesn’t have strong changes in seasons, but which tree trimming season you’re in still makes an impact on the life cycle of your tree, especially if it’s non-native. We’ve organized this guide according to times of the year for easy reference.

Any Time of Year

For some plants and trees, you can tree trim in Los Angeles County at virtually any time.

• Diseased branches. You don’t want this to spread and kill the tree. While Gutierrez does not treat diseased trees, we are happy to advise and refer you to partners in our community who do.
• Dead or damaged branches. They look unsightly and do no harm if removed.
• Branches growing too close to power lines. In this fire-prone state, the last thing we want our plants to do is create additional fire hazards. Don’t do this yourself: trimming trees by power lines is very dangerous and should only be done by a professional. 

Tree Trimming In Los Angeles County To Be Done Only When Necessary

There are several common species of tree in Southern California that need very little trimming. Over-pruning these trees in the wrong tree trimming season can lead to a loss of their buds and flowers for the next season, or damage that won’t heal and could potentially kill the tree.

• Saucer magnolias. These trees don’t heal very well when pruned, especially when buds or bark are damaged. The beautiful blossoms on saucer magnolias are highly susceptible to damage. It’s critical to get a professional to trim these trees, and only when it’s absolutely necessary. 
• Palm trees. Even when you think the fronds growing around the base of the tree look unsightly, trimming them back or skinning the trunks can weaken the tree trunk.
• In damp weather. Pruning when it’s humid and moist can introduce diseases, mold, and bacteria. Luckily, the Southern California climate is usually hot and dry, but you should still be aware of the damage trimming can do in damp weather.

It’s important to research your specific type of tree before pruning, or contact us for a free estimate so we can help you out ourselves.

Spring

For flowering trees, the best time to prune them is immediately after they finish flowering, which is usually the end of spring. 

Note: If your tree has a late-blooming season in summer or fall, refrain from trimming then as winter could kill the regrowth. Then, the best time to trim trees in Southern California that bloom in summer or fall is in late winter.

The best time to trim a common Los Angeles tree, the Arizona Ash, is in late February. Getting rid of dead or dying branches as well as cross branches in this season will prevent the tree from weakening later in its life.

Summer

California Box Elders are a common tree for trimming in Los Angeles County. They have their best tree trimming season in summer. Be careful not to over-prune Box Elders, and make sure you refrain from pruning them in the winter. A variegated Box Elder needs to be trimmed more often than most other trees so it doesn’t lose its variegation and revert to its green state.

Summer is the best time to remove dead tree branches, because they’ll stand out most against the bright living branches.

Autumn

Autumn is usually not the best time to trim trees in Southern California or in most other places, especially if those trees are deciduous. When you prune trees and shrubs, you stimulate the plant into a fresh new cycle of regrowth. Trimming and pruning in fall means that you could lead the new growth to happen in winter, and the cold might kill the new branches.

Pruning in autumn means that you run the risk of Autumn has also been theorized to be a poor tree trimming season because many wood-decaying fungi sporulate in the fall. 

Winter

If you want the tree you’re trimming to burst with fresh new regrowth in spring, the best time to do so is in late winter. This allows for your tree to burst into life come spring, so you can have a good bounty of fruit or beautiful blossoms come the next season.

There are many benefits to pruning deciduous trees in winter, notably that it’s easiest to see what you’re doing when the leaves have fallen and there are no leaves or blossoms. Branches are much easier to see and hack into when they’re dormant, so you’re less likely to make an error.

However, this is not the case for every tree. Some trees, notably birches and maples, bleed a lot of sap if pruned in late winter. This does not harm the tree, but it can be avoided by trimming when they’re leafy in spring and summer. 

Work With Gutierrez & Sons For All Your Tree Service Needs

Landscaping is a science and an art, so for tricky trimming and professional landscaping, it’s best to leave tree trimming in Los Angeles county to the experts. There are an enormous amount of factors that determine what makes the best time to trim trees in Southern California, but the fully-licensed services at Gutierrez & Sons are guaranteed to get any tough job done right. 

See what’s made our family business thrive since 1982. Contact us today for a free estimate.