Iowa’s First

Good morning –

After a beautiful weekend in Minnesota – 75 degrees, sunny and a nice breeze – I’ll bring you back to earth today with another Emerald Ash Borer infestation reported. This one is Iowa’s first and actually doesn’t come as much of a surprise.

EAB was first reported in 2009 in Minnesota with a large infestation near Victory, WI near the Minnesota and Iowa borders. An infestation has recently been discovered in Houston County Minnesota just across the state line from the Victory site so it is very expected that an Iowa infestation would be found.

EAB Trap (photo from city of Roseville)

You’ll see purple traps throughout Iowa and Minnesota this summer looking for more sites where EAB has invaded to attempt to limit the spread of this nasty bug.

Click here to see all the information we have posted about Emerald Ash Borer.

Have a great day!

Brad

Fresh Podcast: MPCA Road Salt Education

Good afternoon! We skipped a week because of Thanksgiving, but the weekly podcast is back talking about MPCA’s Road Salt Education. There is a class coming up Dec 9 that is VERY helpful in understanding the effects salt has in our environment. Check it out!

Don’t forget you can subscribe in iTunes (recommended!) or YouTube, or subscribe to our Blog to be alerted when a new podcast appears. (Here is a little video on RSS Feeds.) Lastly, you can find us on Facebook and Twitter for all the really good, juicy updates!

Have a great week!

Brad

EPISODE NOTES

MPCA’s Road Salt Website

2009 Road Salt Symposium Brochure

List of Road Salt Training Certificate Holders (Please consider those who are certified when choosing a snow and ice management provider.)

1.03 Property Managers’ Landscape Tip Podcast

Here is our fresh episode of The Property Manager’s One Minute Landscape Tip Podcast. Today we discuss a little bit about how and why salts kill plants. I may have had too much cough syrup…

Don’t forget to Subscribe in iTunes (link opens iTunes) and check out our previous podcasts if you missed any.

Thank you and have a great weekend!

Brad

MinnPost – Boreal forest and curbing climate change

I thought this was very interesting.

MinnPost – Boreal forest and curbing climate change.

How to Save Money in Your Landscape Budget

Good morning!

Sent out the freshest issue of Quercus News this morning all about how to save money in your landscape budget. Here is the main article about three different methods for saving money. Enjoy!

Each year, you work very hard as a property manager to create your budgets. This year is proving very difficult and everyone is looking for ways to cut money from their budgets. Quercus, Inc. is here to guide you with ways to save money on your landscape budget along with promoting.

1) Reduce Your Turf Area

Turf maintenance is one of the largest items in your budget. Use this opportunity to reduce the turf area on your properties and while promoting environmentally responsible practices. By reducing turf areas you:

• save money on your contract now and in the future.
• reduce chemical inputs.
• reduce water use.
• reduce fuel consumption for mowers and line trimmers.
• reduce noise.
• reduce chemical and topsoil runoff.
• improve air and water quality.

There are many different avenues for reducing your turf area yielding great results.

• Simply cease mowing. Minnesota’s turf grass’ natural tendency is to grow 6-10″ tall. It has a wonderful flow and stays greener through summer months with less water. This works well large areas and also little-used

Fresh Podcast – How to Save Money on Your Landscape Budget: Reduce Turf Area

Subscribe to “The Property Manager’s One Minute Landscape Tip” in iTunes (Link opens in iTunes)

Congratulations Butler Square LEED Certification!

Congratulations to Butler Square for attaining their LEED Certification! This achievement makes it the first 100-year-old multi-tenant building in the country!

Quercus News: Celebrate Fall

Good evening!

Early IREM meeting tomorrow so I wanted to get Quercus News out tonight – you

Serviceberry in Fall

can check it out before it is sent to our clients! This Quercus News has a little different feel than our last few newsletters. It is a tad more laid back echoing the fall season.

Quercus News: Celebrate Fall

Let me know what you think and have a great day!

Brad