Summer Storms Force Landscapers to Sculpt Approach

When there’s rain in the forecast, landscape companies keep their eyes on the sky.

“They watch weather like golfers,” timing their work with dry skies, said Scott Grams, executive director of the Illinois Landscape Contractors Association, “They’re watching the Doppler like anyone else.”

Evanston has been soaked this summer. The Chicago area just had the wettest July ever seen here, according to the National Weather Service.

Because they work outside, local landscaping companies have to adapt when extreme summer weather comes around. Thanks to the potpourri of weather patterns including heavy rain, whipping winds, and flash flooding that hit the area last month, landscapers have had to adjust their approach.

The landscaping business has three main categories: maintenance, design and build and tree care. Maintenance includes cutting grass and leaf-blowing, design and build includes concrete work or edging, and tree care includes clearing tree branches and brush.

When the weather forecast predicts a storm, Grams said tree care companies “develop a war room-like mentality. It’s like a blizzard.”

Tree care companies like Bartlett Tree Experts help clear those unwieldy broken branches and heavy uprooted trees after a storm. When big storms bust up trees in the area, Michael Robinson, vice president and division manager Midwest at Bartlett, makes
sure there are enough workers to clean up – even if they come from another state.

“I have four guys from the East Coast heading home tomorrow after spending two weeks here,” he said.

In his 37 years at the Connecticut-based tree care company, Robinson said he hadn’t needed to call in crews from out of state in at least six years.

Robinson said he has had to deal with an especially dynamic summer season. “There was a lot of moisture in the spring, got very dry. The heat, humidity, and these winds have been very unusual.”

Grams said that though strong winds cause the most tree damage, the recent heavy rains have a big share of the blame for fallen trees.

“The ground gets super-saturated,” he said. “The tree that has been damaged by the wind will have weaknesses in the branches. The trees are just so heavy and the ground is just so wet. It can finally uproot.”

Grams said that the maintenance business, which includes lawn and garden upkeep, is most affected by heavy rains.

Barb Schwarz, owner of Evanston’s Nature’s Perspective landscaping company, said her 45 seasonal maintenance workers can’t, and shouldn’t, go in customers’ yards when there’s standing water. Cutting grass or digging into soil can damage yards and equipment.

Schwarz said most of her 300 weekly maintenance account customers understand why yard work has to wait.

“Some soil you shouldn’t dig into, because it can damage the soil structure,” she said. “That’s work that can’t be done.”