I used to have this question all the time when I was a kid: What does Santa do when it isn’t Christmas. I had a feeling things might ramp up for ol’ St. Nick around November, maybe even October. But what did the big man do in July? What did he do for R&R in January, in the weeks after his big day?
A lot of folks have this question now, about snow removal companies. When the weather turns and the snow starts coming down, snow removal companies are there. If you’re using emi landscape for snow removal, you know that the timing can seem almost as magical as a guy with a beard squeezing down your chimney. That’s because emi studies meteorological charts and tracks weather patterns so we know exactly when it’s going to snow and how much. And our snow removal professionals know what they’re doing and they’ve got the top-of-the-line equipment to do it.
But what happens when it doesn’t snow? How do snow removal companies spend their time between snowfalls? Do they catch up on R&R or are they busy as ever making preparations for next time?
We think by this point, you might be able to guess.
A Snow Removal Team’s Work Is Never Done
Snow removal and landscaping have plenty of crossovers. Many of our landscaping professionals are snow removal professionals too. All-season outdoor experts, you might call them. No? Just us? Anyway. For our landscaping/snow removal customers, our teams pay visits to clean up trash and debris from turf beds. That way our customers’ properties stay neat and tidy between snowfalls.
Whether there’s snow on the ground or not, winter gets windy and stormy. The weather in winter seems to have a bite to it that goes beyond the chill in the air. Storm damage in the winter can badly affect growth in the spring, so this is something our teams need to stay on top of.
We also perform site inspections in the winter for work we will kick off in the early spring. This is important as it allows the team plenty of time to make plans and ensures the homeowner can have as much input as they want on a project. In this, as with any project we do over at emi landscape, communication is key.
Post snowfall, snowmelt releases water. Lots of water. That water has to go somewhere and unfortunately for us, we may not always like where it goes. Ever visit the grand canyon? If so, you know about as well as anyone the awe-inspiring, destructive power of water. Left unchecked, the melted snow can cause all kinds of damage to landscaping. Especially if that snowmelt is allowed to refreeze. This is because ice expands so a frozen puddle becomes bigger than a liquid puddle. What does this mean for your landscaping? When ice freezes, it pushes landscaping features aside.
As part of our snow removal service, emi landscape sends teams to move snow buildup. We literally shift mounds of snow so that the snowmelt and flow of water are controlled, preventing water from pooling where it shouldn’t and causing damage to property.
After we perform snow removal services, emi landscape replaces all snow stakes (those orange snow indicator signs), making sure they are straight and easy to spot for drivers and passersby.
To Perform Your Best, Look Inward
Between snows is a great time for the emi landscape team to catch up on the work it can be hard to find time for in busy periods. One of the things we do is clean and service our equipment. In the landscaping/snow removal business, companies like emi landscape have a ton of tools, gadgets, and gizmos that need to be cared for to work well. While we always keep our equipment humming, it’s nice in the little snatches of downtime we get to really pull something apart and give it a deep clean. We do this for every piece of equipment we have from snowblowers to the fleet.
Beyond equipment, emi landscape also uses this time to clean and tidy the warehouse and storage facilities. You can imagine with all this equipment designed to go digging in the dirt how cluttered a warehouse can become. We don’t mind though, makes it extra satisfying when we give it a good scrub.
Lastly, whenever we have a spare minute, we focus on training. Our staff is everything to us here at emi, and training, we find, is always the best investment we can make. A well-trained staff just rises the tide in all aspects of running a landscaping company, and around here, we’re always striving to get better.