Link: http://www.embarkservices.com/blog/blogs/

Just like motion detectors and dead bolts, the placement of a prickly plant or a holly bush can help keep bad guys out of your house.

Homeowners can motivate intruders to stay out without turning the outside of your house into a fortified castle with a moat.

Environmental design can make a house less appealing to burglars who are usually lazy and adverse to pain. Plants with thorns or sharp leaves present a perimeter that few will enter.

Landscaping and plants should not function as an aid by becoming a screen to shield them from view when entering a walkway or breaking in to a building.

Fences, walkways, and plantings set psychological and physical boundaries to stay away.

A good place for a thorny shrub is underneath a window. Windows are easy access but thorns can help burglars away. The height of the shrub also shouldn’t create a hiding place either.

Do make sure that the shrubs are cut below the window in case you have to escape a fire. Proper air circulation and access for maintenance can be provided if you allow some distance between the shrub and the wall of the building.

Law enforcement also suggests the “3-7 rule,” which says to trim bushes down to three feet and have no tree limbs lower than seven feet. The cut-down shrubs provide no cover and the chopped limbs keeps burglars from climbing trees to get to the second story.

Just as ladders shouldn’t be left outside, neither should garden tools or bricks which can be used to smash a window to gain access. A trellis that could support someone’s weight could be inviting to someone eager to sneak in upstairs.

A home inviting to burglars means easy access but with the right landscaping, you can make your home less attractive. Let Embark help you before you go on vacation. Call 713-462-3261 or make an online request. http://www.embarkservices.com/request.php

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

HOUSTON, Texas. – In a continuing effort to develop and maintain a "Total Safety Culture", Embark employees consistently display vision, persistence and discipline. The company puts great effort and commitment into workplace safety – not to mention providing rewards for its safe workers. This week, Embark presented a truck and turf equipment to two employees for safe performance in the workplace as part of their Annual May Employee Appreciation Day.

“As we move into the summer months, we need to remain focused on the basic, everyday safety behaviors. These behaviors drive our safety performance and our safety culture”, said Jeff Schroeder, President of Embark Services.

Embark’s truck and equipment giveaway reinforces Embark’s deep commitment to workplace safety by encouraging employees to perform throughout the year accident-free. To qualify, full-time field employees must complete one year of service with no accidents.

The winners for 2011 are:

Juan H. Razo, Landscape Maintenance Crew Leader, 16 years, Embark Tree and Landscape Services

Jesse Rojas, Pest Control Technician, 16 years, Embark Pest Control

For more information on Embark Services, please visit www.embarkservices.com.

About Embark Services

The Embark family of services is “embarking” on a path of environmental excellence. Embark is uniquely qualified to assist our customers with Tree Care, Landscape Construction, Landscape Maintenance, Irrigation, Drainage, Interiorscaping, Floral and Pest Control Services. As an industry leader, Embark continues to provide these services in the safest, most professional and cost-effective means available. For more information, visit us at www.embarkservices.com.

With Houston's drought in full swing, the last thing on your mind is Hurricane Season. Don't let the lack of rain delay your preparations! Take action now!

Fallen trees accounted for 40 percent of all insurance claims after Hurricane Ike, according to one source. While Mother Nature is out of our control, being proactive and accountable for the trees in our yards could minimize cost and damage to your family, home and neighbors.

Don’t let fear drive you to remove a large tree close to the house without the opinion of an Arborist certified by the International Society of Arboriculture. This tree professional can help you avoid higher utility bills, a barren landscape, and guilt.

The tree closest to the house may serve as a wind buffer. A Certified Arborist can determine if the tree is structurally sound and possesses an intact root system.

Pruning trees can reduce property damage from hurricanes, tropical systems and high winds. By eliminating dead and weak branches and selectively thinning as needed, proper pruning techniques by a Certified Arborist allow the wind to blow through the canopy of the tree. Remember to have no more than 25 percent of the canopy removed.

Before hurricane season, certain types of trees should not be planted or should be removed. Young trees with shallow roots and brittle wood and branches cause the most damage during hurricane force winds. Again, a Certified Arborist can give specifics on which trees to secure or remove ahead of time.

While hurricane season has not yet arrived, it is right around the corner. Awareness and preparedness should receive the highest priority. Let a Certified Arborist from Embark Tree and Landscape help you keep your home, family and neighbors safe. Call 713-462-3261 for a free estimate and 10 percent off when you mention this blog.*

*Offer expires June 30, 2011.

Link: http://www.embarkservices.com/blog/blogs/

While pruning looks easy, lopping off branches and limbs haphazardly greatly reduces the growth potential of trees and shrubs.

Not doing anything might be better as pests kill less tree and shrubs than bad landscaping.

Understanding some basic concepts will make pruning a matter of common sense. Pruning boils down to removing plant parts to improve the value, health or aesthetic effect of the plant.

Once the objectives are determined and a few basic principles understood, pruning primarily is a matter of common sense.

Nature works as a latent pruner. For example, higher branches may block out the sun of lower branches. Soon the flow of moisture and nutrients will be slowly cut off as a lower bough is restricted by tree tissue immediately at the base that connects a branch to the trunk. Slowly but surely, the bough will break.

Picking the right plant for the location can decrease or eliminate the need for pruning. Fast-growing plants that might become too large for the spot, fragile trees or eye sores should few in number as part of a landscaping approach.

With some plants, pruning should be minimized late in the summer to allow new growth. While the Houston winters are moderate, cold weather nonetheless may not allow this growth to harden off in time.

Plants damaged by hurricanes and storms should be pruned as soon as possible to halt the potential of insect and disease problems that may follow.

Pruning should be left to the professionals to ensure that the care is not harmful to the tree or shrub. For the assistance of an Arborist certified by the International Society of Arboriculture, call Embark Tree and Landscape at 713-462-3261 or go to www.embarkservices.com

Link: http://www.embarkservices.com/blog/blogs/

Unlike a nice dinner or a special moment, preserving a memory is as easy as drying your flowers and pressing that timeless rose for posterity.

Drying and pressing flowers creates another opportunity for enjoyment in decorative crafts, precious gifts and tasteful decorations.

The process for drying flowers usually takes a couple of weeks, provided that conditions are at their best. Hanging flowers upside down in a warm, dark and dry environment will prevent the blooms from rotting while the place void of light will retain the colors.

Before inverting your flowers, remove extraneous leaves and put the blooms in small bunches held together by rubber bands, string or yarn.

The flowers should start to feel dry to the touch after two or three days. Check on them using the same time interval.

If you’re lucky enough to have a garden full of blooms, when you pick them makes a difference when the goal is to have dried flowers. Pick them first thing in the morning when the dew is gone. Also, if picked just previous to fully blooming, some flowers will open more while simultaneously drying.

A dark, sealed container makes for a good repository for the dried flowers until they’re ready to use.

Pressing flowers is another easy process to preserve and further utilize nature’s beauty and bounty.

Start by placing flowers on top of a layer of cardboard, newspaper and tissue paper. Be sure none of the flowers are touching or hang out of the tissue paper.

Lay pieces of tissue, newspaper and cardboard on top of the flowers until all the blossoms are under wraps. Top off the stack with a telephone book, brick or stone.

Your flowers should be ready in two to four weeks.

The summer days will be sweeter knowing that you’ve turned beautiful flowers into a lasting memory.