Green team landscapes of Wellington
Awarded Best of Houzz 2023


The annual people’s choice award recognizes professionals among the Houzz community who stand out in both talent and customer service


Wellington, Florida, February 22, 2023 – Green team landscapes of Wellington has won a “Best of Houzz” award for Service,  on Houzz®, the leading platform for home remodeling and design, including the all-in-one software solution for industry professionals.  The 17-year old landscape design and install firm was chosen by the millions of homeowners that comprise the Houzz community from among more than 3 million active home building, remodeling and design industry professionals.


Best of Houzz awards are given annually, in three categories: Design, Customer Service and Photography. Design awards honor professionals whose work was the most popular among the Houzz community. Customer Service honors are based on several factors, including a pro's overall rating on Houzz and client reviews submitted in 2022. Architecture and interior design photographers whose images were most popular are recognized with the Photography award.


“Best of Houzz 2023” badges appear on winners’ profiles as a sign of their commitment to excellence. These badges help the more than 65 million homeowners and home design enthusiasts on Houzz to identify popular and top-rated home professionals for their projects.





"We are thrilled to highlight incredibly talented and customer-driven pros from the Houzz community through the Best of Houzz awards," said Liza Hausman, vice president of Industry Marketing for Houzz. "At Houzz, we strive to support professionals from building their brands and attracting clients, to managing their business efficiently and profitably, and collaborating with clients. The Best of Houzz awards provide a distinctive mark of credibility for homeowners looking for pros on Houzz. We congratulate all the winners for everything they’ve accomplished in 2022 and look forward to seeing their work and positive reviews in the year ahead."


You can see more of Green team landscape's’s work on Houzz at https://www.houzz.com/professionals/landscape-contractors/green-team-solutions-pfvwus-pf~755200969


About Green team landscapes:

Green Team was created by Luc Limbourg, a Florida Certified Horticulture Practitioner (FCHP) to order superior service and original landscape designs.





About Houzz
Houzz is the leading platform for home remodeling and design, providing an all-in-one software solution for industry professionals and tools for homeowners to update their homes from start to finish. Using Houzz, people can find ideas and inspiration, hire professionals, and shop for products. Houzz Pro (houzz.com/pro) provides home industry professionals with a business management and marketing SaaS solution that helps them to win projects, collaborate with clients and teams, and run their business efficiently and profitably. The Houzz community is made up of millions of homeowners, home design enthusiasts and home improvement professionals around the world. Houzz is available on the web and as a top-rated mobile app. For more information, visit houzz.com. Houzz is a registered trademark of Houzz Inc. worldwide.

Before you let the next guy 'clean up your trees' or sell you a 'hurricane trim', please read the following article::


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https://www.npr.org/2022/10/16/1127746570/palm-trees-hurricane-ian-fort-myers-southwest-florida

Green team Solutions, Wellington, FL

Awarded Best of Houzz 2022

​2022 people’s choice award highlights top home professionals among the Houzz community, based on quality service and most popular designs.

Wellington, FL, January 26, 2022 

– Green team Landscapes, of Wellington, FL has won a “Best of Houzz” award for Service on Houzz®, the leading platform for home remodeling and design. The South Florida Landscape and Design firm was chosen by the millions of homeowners that comprise the Houzz community from among more than 2.7 million active home building, remodeling and design industry professionals.

This is the 10 year anniversary of the Best of Houzz awards program. Badges are awarded annually, in three categories: Design, Customer Service and Photography. Design awards honor professionals whose work was the most popular among the Houzz community. Customer Service honors are based on several factors, including a pro's overall rating on Houzz and client reviews submitted in 2021. Architecture and interior design photographers whose images were most popular are recognized with the Photography award.
​
“Best of Houzz 2022” badges appear on winners’ profiles as a sign of their commitment to excellence. These badges help the more than 65 million homeowners and home design enthusiasts on Houzz to identify popular and top-rated home professionals for their projects.

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​-Per The Washington Post-


From conservative Alabama to crunchy California, electric lawn equipment is quietly sweeping the nation.


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By  
Tik Root
July 1, 2021|Updated today at 11:40 a.m. EDT

MOUNTAIN BROOK, Ala. — It was a few minutes past 6 a.m., and the sun had already started to boil the muggy Alabama air. Matt Harrison, 38, watched as his colleague backed the public works pickup truck into a parking spot alongside city hall. The two tipped the tailgate and slowly lowered a shiny orange push mower onto the pavement.
Harrison popped open the top of the mower, where a pull cord might normally be, and instead snapped two battery packs into place. Click. Click. A moment later, the low whoosh of mower blades filled the air. A slight whine from his co-worker’s electric leaf blower soon joined the din.
Passing joggers hardly noticed.
“I was kind of skeptical at first,” Harrison said after cutting the grass. Until April, he had spent his 20-year career using gas-powered lawn maintenance equipment. He worried that the electric versions wouldn’t be powerful enough, or would die too quickly. “It proved me wrong.”
From the mower and blower to weed whips and chain saws, Harrison said nothing on his truck is gas anymore. “You ain’t got to wear ear protection,” he said of the battery-powered equipment. And “you don’t have to worry about coming home smelling like gas.”

Mountain Brook Mayor Stewart Welch, left, has been the driving force behind the city's conversion to electric equipment. At right is public works employee Matt Harrison. (Cameron Carnes for The Washington Post) An affluent hamlet of about 21,000 on the outskirts of Birmingham, Mountain Brook is a set of three small village centers, each complete with boutiques, mini-mansions and neatly kept lawns. The city voted for former president Donald Trump by a 50-point margin in the last election.

Mountain Brook is also among the latest converts to America’s rapidly growing electric lawn care movement. Over the last year, the city has spent about $18,000 transitioning Harrison’s truck, along with the majority of maintenance of one of its parks, off gas.
“My hope is that in five years we can be 90 percent electric,” said Mayor Stewart Welch, the driving force behind the effort. “If we could get people to do this across the country, it could make a big difference.”

Experts say the shift is already well underway. “The transition to electric products is gaining momentum,” said John Wyatt, senior vice president of outdoor at manufacturer Stanley Black and Decker. The company estimates that the volume of electric-powered lawn equipment that North American manufacturers shipped jumped from about 9 million units in 2015 to over 16 million in 2020 — a leap of more than 75 percent in only five years. And during that time electric went from roughly 32 percent to 44 percent of the overall lawn equipment market.

“We’re just responding to customer demands,” said Wayne Hart, a spokesperson for another manufacturer, Makita, which he said has gone from having about 30 battery-powered offerings last year to 47. “And there’s more on the way.”
According to the Freedonia Group, a division of MarketResearch.com, the battery-powered lawn equipment sector is growing at a rate three times faster than gas. “It’s just exploding,” said Daniel Mabe, the founder of the American Green Zone Alliance (AGZA). The company runs workshops and trainings, as well as certification and monitoring programs, aimed at helping people transition to lower-impact landscaping. “We’re on the precipice of a revolution.”

The move to electric is particularly pronounced among residential consumers. A 2019 California Air Resources Board (CARB) survey found that more than half of household lawn and garden equipment in the state was already zero emissions. While that number is much lower (around 5 percent) for commercial landscapers, there are a number of all-electric companies across the country. Chris Regis, founder of the Florida-based lawn-care company Suntek, said he’s able to charge a premium for electric because his customers value the quiet, especially with more people at home during the pandemic.
Gas equipment is also dirty. According to CARB, operating a gas leaf blower for an hour can create as much smog-forming pollution as driving a Toyota Camry 1,100 miles. Department of Transportation data shows that in 2018 Americansconsumed nearly 3 billion gallons of gasoline running lawn and garden equipment. That’s equivalent to the annual energy use of more than 3 million homes.

As is often the case, though, it was decibels, not carbon dioxide, that initially prompted Mountain Brook’s interest in electric equipment.
The city gets about a dozen noise complaints a year about its lawn equipment, and many more informally, Welch said. In 2014, the city limited the use of the commercial lawn equipment to daytime hours, joining the some 170 communities around the country that a 2018 study in the Journal of Environmental and Toxicological Studies found have some leaf blower restrictions.

Mountain Brook’s electric awakening came five years later, in 2019, when Welch found himself on a tennis court surrounded by a caterwaul of gas leaf blower engines. The mayor’s playing partner, who was among those who had complained to the city in the past, suggested looking into electric as an alternative.

Tyler Nelson, right, and Kevin Howard clear a tennis court with electric leaf blowers at Overton Park in Mountain Brook. (Cameron Carnes for The Washington Post) Of course, going electric isn’t always the obvious choice. Runtime, cutting power and costs are all reasons for reluctance. And, environmentally, electric equipment is only part of the equation. A sustainable yard also requires reducing water, fertilizer and pesticide use.
And, experts say, how we care for our lawns is secondary to the amount of lawn we have in the first place. Having less grass and growing more plants, they advise, are among the most important factors in keeping a yard eco-friendly.

Ditching grass could help your backyard thrive
But such cultural shifts take time. Meanwhile, lawns will still need mowing, blowing and trimming.
After the tennis court experience, Welch hired Mabe at AGZA and the nonprofit Quiet Communities, which comes at lawn care from a noise and health perspective, as consultants. Going electric for him became about how the noise and emissions savings could better protect the health of city employees, who have to hear, handle and inhale gas engines for hours on end.

The electric Husqvarna blower that Harrison’s colleague was using, for instance, is rated at 94 decibels, whereas a similarly priced gas model hits 111. That’s the difference between a loud conversation and a snowmobile.
“I know these guys,” said Welch. “If I’m going to run a blower for the next 20 years, and it’s a gas blower … what effect is that going to have on my health?”
Between the two Mountain Brook crews going electric — the city villages that Harrison works on and Overton Park across town — the only major piece of gas equipment left is a riding mower for the park. More powerful gas blowers also reappear during leaf season, and gas chain saws are sometimes needed for larger trees or during storms.
AGZA estimated that these pilot projects could avoid as much as 26 tons of climate-warming carbon dioxide emissions each year, as well as hundreds of pounds of fine particulate matter and exhaust. And both have eliminated two-stroke gas engines (the most pollutant variety) from routine maintenance. That meets the minimum requirement for being certified as an AGZA “Green Zone,” and Welch held a ceremony in June at city hall to mark the achievement.
“Mountain Brook is a model for the region and the nation,” Jamie Banks, the founder of Quiet Communities, told the crowd at the event. While perhaps not the most flashy, she said, Mountain Brook’s approach is certainly replicable, and she’d like to see it catch on elsewhere. “It becomes dramatic when it scales.”

Terry Webb, a Mountain Brook parks and recreation employee, cuts tree limbs with an electric saw at Overton Park. (Cameron Carnes for The Washington Post) The transition to electric lawn equipment has been particularly swift in California, say Mabe and Banks.
South Pasadena converted all of its machines to electric and became the first AGZA “Green Zone” city in 2016. Subsequently, a local golf course did the same. Ojai also went “cold turkey,” said Mabe, adding that school districts and others in the state are making the move as well.

But interest in electric is growing elsewhere, too. Yale University, for example, is aiming to move away from gas equipment, as is North Carolina State University. The private sector is also taking note.

“We took it a step further,” said Regis, with Suntek. In addition to all of the company’s lawn equipment going electric, its landscaping vans are outfitted with solar panels to recharge the batteries on the go. “Every three months we’re building a new van.”
The company, which launched last year, now has four vans in the Orlando area and one in California. The plan is to organize as a franchise, with different van owners all operating under the same name.

It’s not cheap. Even with a manufacturer sponsoring them with discounted equipment, each van costs $100,000 to outfit. But Regis said he’s able to charge 10 to 20 percent more than his competitors. “There are people who don’t care and say, ‘I just don’t want the noise,’ ” he said.

Suntek now has more than 700 customers, said Regis, who sees enormous potential not only for his company, but also electric lawn care more broadly. “All the big [manufacturers] now are investing big time,” he said. “This thing is going to grow like a wildfire.”
But until professionals more fully embrace the equipment, the electric lawn care revolution may not progress as quickly as advocates hope. “We think battery is going to be the future,” said Britt Wood, CEO of the National Association of Landscape Professionals. “We’re just not there yet.”

Runtime, he said, is one significant hurdle. If the batteries are interchangeable, the issue could theoretically be solved by buying extra — often expensive — batteries. But when the battery is built in, as it is on the Mean Green riding mower, operation is limited by battery size — though the company said its mowing time of seven hours per charge is meant to last a whole workday.

Another barrier is power output. Harrison’s team’s top-of-the-line electric leaf blower has only two-thirds the force of a comparably priced gas model and half that of the most powerful gas version. Not having enough power or torque with the blowers is a common complaint among Mountain Brook’s Overton Park crew.

Walking across the park, crew member Jimi Layne said it takes significantly longer to blow leaves with electric equipment and questioned whether theswitch is financially sound given the extra labor. “Are we looking at dollars and cents?” he asked.
Even if the technical issues were solved, the upfront costs of electric equipment are still significantly higher than gas. Although the electric handheld equipment tends to be relatively comparable, larger items like riding mowers can be as much as twice the price.
And unlike with electric cars and Energy Star appliances, there are no federal rebates for electric lawn equipment. Any programs that exist are at the state or local level, such as in California, where several air quality districts offer incentive programs.
If passed, a bill in the California legislature would require regulators to phase out gas engines in new equipment by as soon as 2024. It’s the type of move that industry has long fought.

In 2003, manufacturer Briggs & Stratton opposed an attempt in California to clean up small gas engines, calling the standards “unreasonable.” Then-U.S.Sen. Christopher S. Bond (R-Mo.), where Briggs & Stratton has had a manufacturing plant, successfully added a rider to an appropriations bill blocking California’s efforts.

Today, the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute, an industry trade group, is also against a regulated transition away from gas equipment, which its members still produce. “The marketplace will sort this out,” said Kris Kiser, OPEI’s president. “It’s all moving in batteries’ direction across the board.”
But Banks sees government initiatives as key to speeding the movement. “It would greatly accelerate with incentive programs,” she said. “It’s an area that’s been off the radar. ”

Johnny Riley uses an electric leaf blower outside city hall in Mountain Brook, Ala. (Cameron Carnes for The Washington Post)Welch, for one, said Mountain Brook residents would be against “ramming electric equipment down their throat.” He wants to use the momentum from Mountain Brook’s AGZA certifications to continue pushing the city council to phase out as much other gas equipment as possible, when it needs to be replaced.
He has also persuaded a local landscaper with a city contract to dabble in electric. The company, Landscape Services, has been phasing in the equipment over the last few weeks. The step was likely inevitable, said co-owner Will Newton, but happened on a quicker timeline because of the city’s nudge. “I think it’s great for the municipality to lead the charge on this.”

Education is another key to speeding the transition, said Welch. After the AGZA ceremony, he had the crowd file outside city hall for a demonstration of gas versus electric equipment.

Harrison played model, with the sidewalk as his runway.
As he walked to the end of the block, the electric blower emitted a high-pitched whine that faded as he moved. On the way back, he pointed the air flow toward people’s legs to highlight its strength. The onlookers oohed and aahed.

The gas version started with the pull of a cord, and a roar that carried all the way down the street. When Harrison revved the engine, it screamed and belched exhaust. The fumes lingered even as he made it to the corner.
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That was the first time Matt Harrison had touched a piece of gas equipment in months.

By Pat Raia
 -
How much does it own to cost a horse? That depends on several factors, from where you live to how you plan to keep your horse. Calculating costs can be complicated. Here’s how to budget and learn about the cost of owning a horse. Horse board or housing costs are typically the biggest expense associated with horse ownership. Hay and feed bills are also among the highest costs and can fluctuate based on weather and other factors.


Shortly after bringing her horse home to her Florida farm from a nearby boarding barn, Helen Yakin-Palmer looked up from her desk to find her mare, Cera, peering at her through the office window.

“It was a wonderful surprise,” Yakin-Palmer recalls. “It’s the upside of keeping a horse at home.”
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In fact, it’s what some horse owners—especially prospective ones—dream about. But keeping a horse at home is not as simple as it seems. And keeping one anywhere—whether a farm or a boarding barn—is not an inexpensive proposition. Either way, providing for its needs makes all the difference between a horse that is thriving and one in danger of becoming a welfare statistic, whether he is a performance horse, a trail horse or a companion equine.

Your Costs May VaryAnnual horsekeeping expenses vary widely. Here’s a rough look at the major expenses and what they’ll cost per year on the low end and high end for the cost of owning a horse.

​ExpenseLowHigh
Basic full-care board (includes feed & hay)$4,800$9,600
Keeping a horse at homeYou’ll need to factor in the cost of property, fencing and shelter. Recurring annual expenses include electricity, repairs, insurance, pasture maintenance, hay and grain.
Farrier$600-$1,200 (barefoot trims)$1,200-$3,600 (four regular steel shoes; more for specialty shoes)
Routine Vet Care$350Veterinary emergencies are unpredicable and can escalate into the thousands.
Tack, Gear, and Riding ClothesTurnout blankets, fly spray and other items need regular replacement. Some things, such as a saddle, may last a lifetime with good care.
Equine InsuranceAlthough optional, some owners purchase equine medical and mortality insurance for at least $600 annually.
Lessons, Clinics & ShowsThe sky is the limit, but outside assistance can be vital to keep riding safe and enjoyable.
TransportationIf you own a truck and trailer, annual maintenance, fuel and payments (if financing) will cost thousands per year.Cost of Owning a Horse“The No. 1 reason why horses go into rescue or are sold is because people realize that they can’t afford them,” says Nicole Maubert-Walukewicz, founder of the Palmetto Equine Awareness and Rescue League (PEARL) in Anderson, S.C.
As most horse owners know, the cost of keeping the horse is usually greater than the cost of purchasing it.
“The cost of the horse is going to be the least expenditure an owner is going to make,” says Amy McLean, Ph.D., equine lecturer (PSOE) in the Department of Animal Sciences at the University of California. “You are going to spend more taking care of it.”
So how much can owners expect to spend on horsekeeping? Calculating costs can be complicated. While some expenses, such as basic veterinary and farrier fees, are relatively consistent over time, others vary from state to state, region to region and year to year, such as feed and hay.

Farms that can buy hay by the ton will often save on feed bills.Cost of Owning a Horse: Horse FeedAccording to the Unwanted Horse Coalition, (UHC) a horse’s dietary requirements depend on its breed, activity level and age. For example, horses with extensive training and show schedules generally require more feed and forage than horses that are only occasionally under saddle or are not ridden at all. Likewise, older horses may need to eat more just to maintain good body condition.
Generally, a healthy horse should consume at least 1.5 percent of his body weight in forage daily. For some owners, that means making sure the horse has lots of grazing time on pasture, supplemented by high-quality hay. But hay costs vary depending on your location, the volume of the local hay crop, and how far the hay must be transported. As a result, the cost of hay is higher in California than it is in the Midwest, for example.
“Hay is a large and regionally-produced crop that is shipped long distances, so problems in some areas won’t necessarily impact price,” says Daniel H. Putnam, Ph.D., extension agronomist and forage specialist in the Department of Plant Sciences at UC Davis.
In Florida, Yakin-Palmer pays $13.50 to $15.50 per bale for hay. Meanwhile, trainer Clarissa Cupolo recalls buying hay annually by the ton.
“In New Jersey, we had to buy hay by the ton,” says Cupolo. “We would pay $2,000 for hay to feed six horses for a whole year.”
Horses’ diets can also include feed, either commercially manufactured or locally milled. Those costs can vary too, depending on where the feed is milled and where ingredients are grown.
A 50-pound bag of commercially formulated equine feed runs anywhere from $15 to $35; the average stabled horse eats 5 to 15 pounds per day. Don’t forget to add onto this the cost of any supplements you feed, which can vary widely.

Unexpected medical catastrophes, such as colic surgery, can cost up to $15,000. Some owners choose to insure their horse against such possibilities.Cost of Owning a Horse: Hoof Care and Veterinary ExpensesAside from meeting their horses’ dietary needs, owners must also provide routine veterinary and other professional care to keep their animals healthy. In general, those costs do not fluctuate much from month to month or year to year. Nevertheless, having a plan to finance these costs is critical.
For example, veterinarians generally charge $25 to $75 for a basic farm call, which covers the cost of the veterinarian traveling to the horse’s location. Frequently the owners of horses kept at boarding barns split farm call costs when all the horses residing at the barn receive vaccinations at the same time.
Once the veterinarian has arrived, routine vaccinations, including rabies, tetanus, West Nile, EEE and WEE, range from $75 to $150, according to Jennifer Williams, Ph.D., executive director and founder of the Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society and author of How To Start and Run A Rescue. While some vaccinations are administered annually, booster inoculations represent an additional cost, and an additional farm visit.
General health care costs should also include $50 to $150 for annual teeth floating. Additional dental work generally adds a cost of $100 or more depending upon what the horse needs.

Budget for regular hoof care every four to eight weeks.But veterinarians are not the only professionals that help keep a horse healthy. All horses require routine farrier care every four to eight weeks, whether they are shod or not. Cost for trimming a barefoot horse may range between $25 and $40 ($150 to $240 annually), Williams says. Routine farrier care for shod horses ranges between $50 and $150 per visit, or $300 to $1,200 annually, she says.
“If your horse is lame or develops problems with his feet, he may need more frequent farrier work or the assistance of a specialist, which will cost much more,” she points out.
Unexpected Vet EmergenciesBut even if owners budget for the best routine care, all horses are at risk for injury or illness. When that happens, an emergency farm visit can cost as much as $100 before the veterinarian even begins to treat the animal’s condition. More serious treatment can require transporting the horse to an equine clinic, or even surgery.
That’s something Yakin-Palmer learned when Cera required surgery after a severe colic episode.
“The bill was $15,000 in veterinary, hospital and aftercare costs,” she says. “That’s why people should have an emergency fund for their horses if they can.”
Insurance policies are also available. One type is directly through veterinary equine practices, where owners pay an annual fee that covers routine services, such as vaccinations and farm calls, as well as for reduced “deductibles” for surgeries and other major services.
Other policies are available through equine health and liability insurance. Some supplement companies, such as SmartPak and Platinum Performance, offer a program to cover the costs of colic surgery with a qualifying order and routine wellness care from your vet.

Horses at home may seem like a dream, but there are fences and pastures to maintain.Costs of Boarding vs. Home HorsekeepingSome novice owners believe that horsekeeping costs will be lower if the animal is kept at home as opposed to being boarded at a local barn. But that’s not always the case, says McLean. Owners who intend to keep their horses at home must factor real estate costs into the horsekeeping equation and balance it against that of boarding.
“For example, real estate costs can be $700,000 to $1 million for 2 acres if you want your own horse facility,” California-based McLean points out. “But boarding costs can run between $400 to $700 for full board, depending on the facility. Barns where Olympic-level horses are boarded can run between $1,200 and $1,500 a month.”
The cost of basic services, such as stall cleaning, turnout, hay and feeding are typically included with full-care board.
At some facilities, blanketing and holding a horse for a farrier or veterinarian is also included, says Clarissa Cupolo, owner of Gemini Performance Horses in Florida. Owners must still pay their own bills for these services, however. Elsewhere, horse handling is passed on to owners at an hourly or per-service rate.
Still, boarding a horse may be most cost-effective for some owners.
“For example, if you have to travel for work, you may want to board your horses,” says McLean. “Also, you have to factor in the cost of your hours feeding your horses, cleaning their stalls, turning them out, et cetera.”


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Basic full-care board can run from $400 to $700 per month.These facts are not lost on Yakin- Palmer, who boarded both her horses before she brought them home.
“Keeping your horses at home is certainly limiting,” she says. “You have to have a flexible schedule, and you have to be there. I work at home so my schedule is flexible, but I can’t just take a vacation; my vacation is being with my horses.”
Ultimately, each owner must decide how to calculate—and afford—the cost of horse ownership. To do that, Maubert-Walukewicz advises prospective owners to gather opinions from local horse owners before they purchase a horse.
“Find out what the costs are [in your area], what kind of work is involved, and what they think of keeping a horse at home versus boarding it,” she says.
For her, the choice was simple.
“I spend about $4,800 a year on keeping my horses at home,” she says. “I’m the one feeding them, taking care of them, and interacting with them every day, so I know them much better than I would if they were boarded. But even if the cost is equal, that choice is not for everybody. Whatever you choose, you have to do what’s best for the horse.”



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All over Southwest Florida homeowners are getting ready for hurricane season by trimming their trees, and while trimming dead leaves keeps trees healthy, the hurricane haircut does not.

"With hurricane season on the way, I am seeing increased activity of landscaping. Overpruning palms with the "hurricane cut" removes nutrients, especially potassium, which keeps palms green and thriving. So never cut off green leaves. The more you cut, the more browning you will cause as the palm tries to absorb the lost potassium from fewer fronds. Eventually your palm will die."

Certified arborists know how to prune a palm yet they let the homeowner boss them around. The homeowners should listen to the professionals.

​Removing the green fronds takes away the tree's ability to get its nutrients, especially potassium. Without this palms can die. Taking off the palm's boots can also cause damage. The boots carry nutrients and provide support during high winds.

​Palm trees have only one growing point, unlike oak trees and ficus and other shade trees that have many growing points. Cutting off the green on these one-point growers is even more damaging than doing it to other greenery.

Spring clean-up for South Florida gardens.

• Weed and Feed

With temperatures still in the upper seventies to lower eighties, now is the time for any weed and feed applications. The most effective way is to apply granular, slow-release fertilizers, preferably with a pre-emergent weed control added to prevent seed germination
 

• raking leaves from hardwood trees

Those beautiful Southern Oak trees? They noticed Spring is coming! Thats why they are shedding their old growth leaves and are covered in budding light-green new growth. It is important however to rake the decayed leaves from your lawn in order to allow much needed sunlight to reach your lawn and allow the gras to emerge from its nearly dormant state.

• Trim dead branches from hardwood

Older hardwood trees might not regrow their full canopy. Unhealthy or damaged branches will slowly decay and are better removed before they form a hazard.
 

• replace annuals

Those beautiful Impatiens or Vinca’s are about to reach their maximum growth stage and will be falling over soon from their own weight. Time to think of replacing them with Summer tolerant varieties such as Coleus or Penta.

• mulch

Mulching plant beds promotes plant growth and adds organic elements (red:food) to our relatively inert Florida soil. By now the mulch that was put down by Thanksgiving or New Years should be showing signs of decay. Let’s freshen up those plant beds with a new layer of organic mulch to keep everything growing trough Summer.

• prune winter blooming plants and shrubs

To maintain all plants healthy, it is important to remove all dead flower buds; this will improve growth and help them bloom again

• check for seasonal pests on ornamentals

Aphids, Whitefly, Thrips to name only a few are common plant pests in our warm and humid climate. Keep an eye out for them and have them treated. Preferably with organic methods such as teem-oil or insect soap.

• Adequate height for mowing your lawn.

It is tempting to cut your lawn a little shorter, in order to not having to mow your grass so often but in doing so the stolen network underlying yours.-Augustine/Floratam lawn might become exposed and will die off. It is important to keep the correct mowing height set on our mower at ll times and, of course… keep your mower blades sharpened!


If you have any questions about this article, feel free to call us for advice or a free evaluation:

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At Green team we are elated to have made it to the final five best landscape companies in Palm Beach County this yea, and to have been selected for the prestigious 'Best of Palm Beach' award.

Designed to celebrate the best businesses their community has to offer, the Best of Palm Beach County awards recognize leading organizations in dozens of categories, ranging from clothing stores and restaurants to business service providers and vehicle dealers.

Winners were selected by the local community through online voting, and then honored at an Oscars-like award ceremony, this year to be held  at the Palm Beach County Convention Center, in April 2021. Due to the COVID pandemic, the event will most likely to be held virtually.

We would like to thank all our loyal customers for your appreciation, and will keep doing our best to provide beautifully designed landscapes and top landscape maintenance services!

In order to make residents aware of the many benefits of planting trees, Palm Beach County, FL has set up an innovative program to convince home owners to plant more (native) trees in their landscape.

The benefits of planting trees and replenishing our natural canopy's are proven to be beneficial in many ways: from providing shade and eliminating heat spots, improving air quality and safe harbors for our native fauna.

Under the program, Palm Beach residents can sign up to receive two, three gallon native plants and receive information on how, when and what to plant

There is an annual limit of one plant voucher, redeemable at participating nurseries for two, three-gallon native plants per Palm Beach County household, while funding lasts.

More information about the program can be found by clicking here: 

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​FNGLA Palm Beach Chapter and Mounts Botanical Garden, Palm Beach County’s oldest and largest botanical garden, will host a Winter Plant Sale on February 6 and 7. Guests are welcome to shop from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 6, and from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 7. Tickets must be purchased online ahead of the event here.

“Our fall and spring plant sales have historically been very popular, so we decided to add a Winter Sale,” said Mounts curator-director Rochelle Wolberg. “In these very challenging times, our goal is to provide a safe and enjoyable experience for our vendors and the public.”

Visitors can stroll the West Palm Beach garden while shopping for a variety of plants, shrubs, trees, garden accessories, and fine crafts. The Mounts Botanical Garden Nursery and Vintage Thrift Shop will also be open with a variety of plants and unique treasures for home and garden.

Public health and safety remain paramount. Mounts Botanical Garden will adhere to Palm Beach County and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention requirements and guidelines by operating at reduced capacity and hosting 40 to 50 vendors outside. Masks will be required.

• Weed and Feed

With temperatures still in the upper seventies to lower eighties, now is the time for any weed and feed applications. The most effective way is to apply granular, slow-release fertilizers, preferably with a pre-emergent weed control added to prevent seed germination
 

• Raking leaves from hardwood trees

Those beautiful Southern Oak trees? They noticed Spring is coming! Thats why they are shedding their old growth leaves and are covered in budding light-green new growth. It is important however to rake the decayed leaves from your lawn in order to allow much needed sunlight to reach your lawn and allow the gras to emerge from its nearly dormant state.

• Trim dead branches from hardwood

Older hardwood trees might not regrow their full canopy. Unhealthy or damaged branches will slowly decay and are better removed before they form a hazard.
 

• Replace annuals

Those beautiful Impatiens or Vinca’s are about to reach their maximum growth stag and will be falling over soon from their own weight. Time to think of replacing them with Summer tolerant varieties such as Coleus or Penta.

• Mulch

Mulching plant beds promotes plant growth and adds organic elements (red:food) to our relatively inert Florida soil. By now the mulch that was put down by Thanksgiving or New Years should be showing signs of decay. Let’s freshen up those plant beds with a new layer of organic mulch to keep everything growing trough Summer.

• Prune winter blooming plants and shrubs

To maintain all plants healthy, it is important to remove all dead flower buds; this will improve growth and help them bloom again

• Check for seasonal pests on ornamentals

Aphids, Whitefly, Thrips to name only a few are common plant pests in our warm and humid climate. Keep an eye out for them and have them treated. Preferably with organic methods such as teem-oil or insect soap.

• Adequate height for mowing your lawn.

It is tempting to cut your lawn a little shorter, in order to not having to mow your grass so often but in doing so the stolen network underlying yours.-Augustine/Floratam lawn might become exposed and will die off. It is important to keep the correct mowing height set on our mower at ll times and, of course… keep your mower blades sharpened!

​The Annual People’s Choice Award from the Houzz Community Highlights Home Remodeling and Design Professionals with Most Popular Designs and Top Ratings

Wellington, FL, February 13, 2020 – Green Team Landscapes of Wellington, FL has won a “Best Of Houzz” award for Customer Service, on Houzz®, the leading platform for home renovation and design. The 15-year old landscape design and installation firm was chosen by the millions of homeowners that comprise the Houzz community from among more than 2.5 million active home building, remodeling and design industry professionals.

The Best Of Houzz badge is awarded annually, in three categories: Design, Customer Service and Photography. Design awards honor professionals whose work was the most popular among the Houzz community. Customer Service honors are based on several factors, including a pro's overall rating on Houzz and client reviews submitted in 2019. Architecture and interior design photographers whose images were most popular are recognized with the Photography award.

A “Best Of Houzz 2020” badge will appear on winners’ profiles as a sign of their commitment to excellence. These badges help homeowners identify popular and top-rated home professionals in every metro area on Houzz.

Creating original, and personalized gardens, combined with our high standard maintenance skills paid off again and we are very thankful for receiving this award.

Luc Limbourg - Owner

“This year’s Best Of Houzz awards go to an incredibly talented and service-oriented group of home remodeling and design professionals, and we’re proud to highlight the winners on the Houzz website and app,” said Liza Hausman, vice president of Industry Marketing for Houzz. “This award is particularly meaningful as it reflects the sentiment of the millions of homeowners in the Houzz community who are hiring home professionals for their projects across the U.S. and around the world.”

Follow Green Team Landscapes  on Houzz https://www.houzz.com/pro/limbourg/

About Green Team Landscapes
It all started 15 years ago when Luc Limbourg decided for a career change and made his hobby his day-job. Many landscape designs and installs later, we keep striving to be the most original in our area, by exceeding customer expectations every day!

About Houzz

​Houzz is the leading platform for home remodeling and design, providing people with everything they need to improve their homes from start to finish – online or from a mobile device. From decorating a small room to building a custom home and everything in between, Houzz connects millions of homeowners, home design enthusiasts and home improvement professionals across the country and around the world. With the largest residential design database in the world and a vibrant community empowered by technology, Houzz is the easiest way for people to find inspiration, get advice, buy products and hire the professionals they need to help turn their ideas into reality. Headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif., Houzz also has international offices in London, Berlin, Sydney, Moscow, Tel Aviv and Tokyo. Houzz is a registered trademark of Houzz Inc. worldwide. For more information, visit houzz.com.

Meet Wilson, our gorgeous Airedale Terrier. The best dog one can get! He loves to rampage trough our yard, enjoys chasing squirrels and tking naps in the shade underneath the cocoanut palm trees.

Unfortunately, with happy dog rampage comes happy dog peerage. The acid and nitrogen in Wilson's pee burns the grass and leaves brown dog urine spots all over our combined lawns. There are several chemical and food additive solutions to this problem but my neighbors and I prefer a natural approach.​


Five organic remedies to repair those brown dog urine burns on your lawn that will not harm you or your dog.

1. Train your dog to potty in one area of your yard. 
This is easier if you have a female dog because female dogs generally like to piddle in the same place, (so the boy dogs always know where to go to read the girl dog’s pee-mail.) A boy dog might need a little more incentive to potty in one area of your yard. In that case, try using a non-toxic pheromone-treated yard stake to encourage your boy to hit the same spot such as the Simple Solutions Pee Post. I’m a bit of a traditionalist in this regard, I prefer the aesthetic quality of the pee post Fire Hydrant.

2. Hose down the pee spot with enough water to dilute the acid in the urine and wash it away. 
The downside of this method is that you must use enough water to flush the entire area of urine (female dog urine is more acidic than male dog urine.) I don’t use enough water you’ll only end up diluting the urine spot with water. Then your random brown patches will turn into random dark green patches because the nitrogen in the dog pee has been diluted to the point that it helps your grass instead of burning it.

3. Neutralize the nitrogen with baking soda. 
This is my preferred method because I don’t have to stalk the dogs in the backyard with a hose waiting for them to pee. Pouring 2 tablespoons of baking soda dissolved in a gallon of water on a burn spot neutralizes the concentrated amounts of ammonia and nitrogen that’s in the dog urine and burns the grass. The grass comes back green and healthy and I don’t have to worry about the dogs walking through a yard full of lawn chemicals and possibly ingesting something toxic when they lick their paws.

4. Give your dog a lawn to call their own. 
One of Wilson’s quirks is that he will only potty on grass. No mulch, clover, or potty pads for my boy! In that case, the PetZoom Pet Park Indoor Pet Potty may work for him and help me save my tiny lawn.

If you are interested in installing a pet corner, give us a call at (561)337-0658 so we can discuss options!

Thank you for reading,

Luc M. limbourg

The Best of Houzz 2018 for Service was awarded to Luc Limbourg and Green Team solutions, LLC for the third time, as a result of consistent favorable reviews from our clients. After 12 years of serving the Palm Beach area, as well as several international projects we continue our commitment to providing our clients with the highest level of design, build and maintenance services from concept to job completion and maintain our relationship thereafter.

Luc Limbourg and Greenteam solutions  Awarded Best Of Houzz 2018

Over 40 Million Monthly Unique Users Nominated Best Landscape Building, and Design Professionals in North America and Around the World 

WELLINGTON FL, USA, January 17, 2018 – Luc Limbourg and Green team Solutions of Wellington – Palm Beach has won “Best Of Customer Service, on Houzz®, the leading platform for home remodeling and design. The The 12-year old design build and maintenance firm was chosen by the more than 40 million monthly unique users that comprise the Houzz community from among more than one million active home building, remodeling and design industry professionals.
The Best Of Houzz is awarded annually in three categories: Design, Customer Service and Photography. Service award winners’ work was the most popular among the more than 40 million monthly users on Houzz. Customer Service honors are based on several factors, including the number and quality of client reviews a professional received in 2017. Architecture and landscape design photographers whose images were most popular are recognized with the Photography award. A “Best Of Houzz 2018” badge will appear on winners’ profiles, as a sign of their commitment to excellence. These badges help homeowners identify popular and top-rated home professionals in every metro area on Houzz.

“We at Green Team Solutions are thrilled to be a 2018 Houzz Service Award winner. It gives us great satisfaction that our work has such a broad appeal and we thank the Houzz Community for their votes.”

“The Houzz community selected a phenomenal group of Best of Houzz 2018 award winners, so this year’s recipients should be very proud,” said Liza Hausman, Vice President of Industry Marketing at Houzz. “Best of Houzz winners represent some of the most talented and customer-focused professionals in our industry, and we are extremely pleased to give them both this recognition and a platform on which to showcase their expertise.”
Follow Green team solutions on ​Houzz https://www.houzz.com/pro/limbourg/__public​

Houzz Inc., the leading platform for home renovation and design, today announced the community’s picks for Best Of Houzz 2017, a homeowner-to-homeowner guide to the top home builders, architects, interior designers, landscape pros and other residential remodeling professionals on Houzz from cabinetry or roofing pros to painters.

“We are so pleased to receive for the second time the Best of Houzz 2017 award, which sets us apart among our peers" said Luc Limbourg, head designer and owner of Green Team Solutions, LLC.  “I'm so glad to know that our busines was singled out for recognition by our community of homeowners for helping to turn their home improvement dreams into reality."

The Best Of Houzz is awarded annually in three categories: Design, Customer Service and Photography. Design award winners’ work was the most popular among the more than 40 million monthly users on Houzz. Customer Service honors are based on several factors, including the number and quality of recent client reviews. Architecture and interior design photographers whose images were most popular are recognized with the Photography award.

A “Best Of Houzz 2017” badge appears on winners’ profiles, as a sign of their commitment to excellence. These badges help homeowners identify popular and top-rated home professionals in every metro area on Houzz. Winners will be announced globally throughout the month. 

About Houzz
Houzz is the leading platform for home remodeling and design, providing people with everything they need to improve their homes from start to finish – online or from a mobile device. From decorating a small room to building a custom home and everything in between, Houzz connects millions of homeowners, home design enthusiasts and home improvement professionals across the country and around the world. With the largest residential design database in the world and a vibrant community empowered by technology, Houzz is the easiest way for people to find inspiration, get advice, buy products and hire the professionals they need to help turn their ideas into reality. Headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif., Houzz also has international offices in London, Berlin, Sydney, Moscow and Tokyo. Houzz and the Houzz logo are registered trademarks of Houzz Inc. worldwide. For more information, visit houzz.com.

Watering your mature, healthy lawn every day, or even every other day, is the definition of overwatering. This is wrong no matter what other people tell you or what your neighbors do! What is wrong with watering like this?

Overwatering drowns the plant's roots
Grass plants do not need, and cannot use, this much water! The soil underneath your sod is composed of sand, silt, and clay particles - as well as porous spaces. When it rains, water fills those porous spaces by pushing out the air. Daily watering keeps those pores filled with water instead of oxygen, which is vital to plant growth. Without oxygen, the roots of the sod will suffocate and die, leaving the plant with a very shallow root system.

Shallowly rooted plants are easily stressed
When the roots of the turf plant die due to lack of oxygen, the plant is put under stress. This, in turn, makes them more susceptible to disease and insect damage. Minor disease and insect problems can become major lawn disasters when a lawn is shallowly rooted. Even though the roots are not easily visible, they alone determine the health and beauty of the plant.

Overwatered lawns have more weeds
To compound the problem, the weeds that overwatered lawns often have are the kinds that are more difficult to control. This is especially noticeable on a lawn that has been overwatered for more than two years.

Overwatering wastes time and money and contributes to pollution
Ground water is a natural resource. Wasting water on plants that do not need it just doesn't make sense. Pumping this unneeded water also wastes electricity. Established lawns do not dry in drought - they go dormant and start growing again after a rain. Your lawn will not die if you underwater it. Fertilizer that is applied to overwatered lawns is washed past the roots before it can be absorbed by the plant. Ultimately, this results in nitrate pollution of the groundwater.

Excessive fertilizer applications are needed
Since the fertilizer that you have applied is washed through the root zone before absorption, the lawn will lose color faster. The natural response, of course, is to then apply more fertilizer. In reality, one application that is absorbed, and not washed out, is all that is needed.

How to properly water a lawn
Homeowners want to believe they can have a beautiful lawn all year long by setting their sprinkler system once in the Spring. This is simply not possible because the only settings on a system are how often and how long a zone is watered. What really determines if grass needs water is how dry the soil is. Soil moisture is determined by air temperature, humidity, wind speed, rainfall frequency and amount, soil type, and overall grass condition. These are complex and interrelated factors and the type of equipment needed to take all these factors in account is not available to homeowners today. Until this technology comes along at an affordable price, homeowners will have to take a hands-on approach to lawn watering if they truly want to have a nice looking lawn.

​The proper way to water a lawn is very simple: thoroughly but infrequently. When the soil is dry to a depth of five inches, water the lawn long enough to wet the soil five inches deep. When a homeowner has a new lawn and or a new automatic sprinkler system, he or she should take the time to become acquainted with both. The important area to explore is how much water does the sprinkler apply in, say, 30 minutes and how deep in the soil will this water go down? A garden trowel can be used to dig in the soil to see how dry it is. A screwdriver can be used to poke in the soil. By digging and poking, you can soon learn to equate how much effort it takes to poke the screwdriver in the soil with how dry the soil is. This saves you from constantly digging up your yard. Twelve hours after watering is long enough to see how deep in the soil the water traveled. Each zone should be checked the same way because there are usually differences in the amount of water each zone needs and how much water each sprinkler applies. A lawn can be watered any time of day but it is best to avoid watering in the late afternoon or evening. Early morning is a good time to water.

How do you know when to water?
Walking in your yard and looking for visual signs that it needs water is also important. St. augustine grass will get a bluish color, the leaves will look narrow, and your footprints on the grass will remain for a long time when the grass is dry. Ideally, the lawn should be watered the day before the visual symptoms occur.

Watering correctly seems complex, but all it takes is a little practice. Remember, your lawn will not die if you underwater it. There is a larger penalty to pay for overwatering than under watering!

All over Southwest Florida homeowners are getting ready for hurricane season by trimming their trees, and while trimming dead leaves keeps trees healthy, the hurricane haircut does not.

"With hurricane season on the way, I am seeing increased activity of landscaping. Overpruning palms with the "hurricane cut" removes nutrients, especially potassium, which keeps palms green and thriving. So never cut off green leaves. The more you cut, the more browning you will cause as the palm tries to absorb the lost potassium from fewer fronds. Eventually your palm will die."
Certified arborists know how to prune a palm yet they let the homeowner boss them around. The homeowners should listen to the professionals.
Removing the green fronds takes away the tree's ability to get its nutrients, especially potassium. Without this palms can die. Taking off the palm's boots can also cause damage. The boots carry nutrients and provide support during high winds.
Palm trees have only one growing point, unlike oak trees and ficus and other shade trees that have many growing points. Cutting off the green on these one-point growers is even more damaging than doing it to other greenery.