Want to “Go Green” This Season With Your Outdoor Decorations?

LED lights deliver a brilliant holiday display, use less energy, and cost less to operate, making them a bright idea for eco-friendly decorating

Home and business owners looking to literally “keep the green” in their holiday decorating choices can now work with professional holiday decorators that offer versatile LED lighting options. These “light emitting diode” bulbs have less impact on the environment because they require much less electricity to provide that holiday glow, according to Jim O’Loughlin of Christmas Décor by All American Turf Beauty.

In fact, versatile LED lights are an excellent choice for holiday displays for a number of reasons, says O’Loughlin. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, LED Christmas lights use 70 percent less energy than incandescent bulbs, which makes them more eco-friendly; they emit much less heat than incandescent bulbs, making them safer; and they burn more brightly, making them the perfect choice for brilliant outdoor displays.

We believe that LEDs offer substantial benefits in flexibility, durability, cost savings, and convenience,” said O’Loughlin. “Many of our clients do choose LED lighting to support an environmentally conscious lifestyle, but the versatility and beauty of LEDs really adds to our service package for all clients. It’s a lighting option that continues to grow in popularity for our holiday decorating installations.”

Clients who work with Christmas Décor By All American Turf Beauty can count on an end-to-end outdoor decorating service that includes planning, installation, maintenance, take down, repair and storage. Each year’s display looks fresh and new, incorporating the latest trends in greenery and proprietary holiday decorative items selected during an annual, personal design consultation.

Iowa home and business owners who are interested in a turn-key solution to their holiday decorating chores need to act soon, says O’Loughlin. “Our décor specialists are already gearing up for early installations, so it’s important to reserve a time on our décor calendar soon for the widest selection of product and date options. Then just sit back and ‘flip the switch’ when you’re ready to start the holiday season.”

 

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Career Opportunities at All American Turf Beauty!

One of the things Kevin Johnson, President of All American Turf Beauty, is most proud of is the number of his employees who have made the choice to have a career providing lawn care. “We have a long list of fellow workers who have 10+ years of working at our company,” says Johnson. There seems to be a common characteristic work trait for this longevity. “Most of our long time employees enjoy working outdoors, display a great customer service attitude, and most importantly genuinely enjoy working with their clients” according to Mr. Johnson.

Although All American Turf Beauty started out as a family business, in 1995, the company switched to being an Employee Owned Company. Employees now own over 50% of the company states Johnson. “Our long term employees have become part owners of a successful business” notes Johnson, which he believes helps cement his employee’s   choice of having a rewarding career at All American Turf Beauty.

Competitive pay is afforded to employees as well. “Our pay system rewards employees who provide superior service and results for our customers” – which is attractive to performance driven individuals, according to Johnson.

Johnson feels that his company provides an excellent employment opportunity for individuals who enjoy working outdoors, working in a family environment, seeing the results of their efforts, and are looking for an opportunity to become an owner of a growing company. “It really is great opportunity” states Johnson, and more importantly “We are always looking for good people who are looking for a long term career.”

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Get Your Glow On with a Professional Holiday Decorator

Décor specialists deliver end-to-end, stress-free holiday lighting displays for home and business owners

The fast-approaching holiday decorating season can create a whole new set of demands on a home or business owner’s time and resources. For many, these demands include planning, testing, and installing outdoor lighting displays.  Jim O’Loughlin of Christmas Décor by All American Turf Beauty reminds Iowa residents that they don’t need to tackle the chore of decorating their homes or businesses on their own each year. Holiday lighting professionals provide start-to-finish, flip-the-switch services that feature the latest in lighting and design innovation to create holiday elegance, whimsy or tradition, geared to the property owner’s taste and budget.

“It can really take the joy out of the holiday season to spend frustrating hours checking and installing strings of lights, only to have half of the lights remain stubbornly dark when you flip the switch to turn them on,” says O’Loughlin. “Quality holiday decorating, especially lighting, takes time, physical ability, design skills and knowledge of electrical limitations – things that many property owners simply do not have. Our customers know that the easiest way to achieve a great-looking finished product is to hire a professional.”

Christmas Décor by All American Turf Beauty makes it their business to provide a stress free holiday experience by eliminating concerns about installation and electrical safety as well as handling the purchasing, planning and storing of decorations year over year. With schedules filling up quickly, O’Loughlin encourages interested Iowa residents to plan now to lock in their preferred lighting design and installation scheduling.

“We can’t promise to remove all the stress from your holiday season,” says O’Loughlin. “But a professional holiday decorator can sure save time and go a long way toward limiting frustration, helping you keep the focus on fun, family, and friends.”

Christmas Décor by All American Turf Beauty is a member of the Christmas Decor Franchise Network, which has been decorating homes and businesses since 1986.  Christmas Decor Franchise Network focuses primarily on exterior decorating services, offering customized lighting displays, garlands, wreaths, and bows.  Installation, maintenance, removal, and storage of all decorations are included in the full-service package that Christmas Decor clients receive.

For more information on having Christmas Decor decorate your home or business, or to schedule an appointment for a consultation or installation, please call your local office or 1-800-365-8873

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It’s a Great Idea to Book Early for Professional Christmas Decorating Services

While Christmas may not be the first holiday that comes to mind as schools start up and vacationers head home, Jim O’Loughlin with Christmas Decor by All American Turf Beauty, a member of the Christmas Décor franchise network, encourages homeowners to make their Christmas holiday home decorating plans early, while prime dates and options are still available.

“It’s never too early to reserve your spot on our holiday decorating calendar,” says O’Loughlin. “Each year, our available slots fill up earlier as both residential and commercial customers turn – and return – to our professional designers to create holiday magic for their home or business.”

Professional decor companies are attractive to both residential and business clients because we offer complete outdoor holiday decorating packages. Christmas Décor for example, include design, custom installation, proactive maintenance, and convenient removal and storage in their service package. Demand for the service begins to grow after Halloween, so early booking is the key to being able to flip the switch on a holiday display earlier, rather than later.

“Home and business owners begin to understand the value of our services after they spend hours working in the cold on the perfect holiday light display, climb down off the ladder, and see that their results are not what they expected or planned,” says O’Loughlin. “Our professional designers and installers will create the holiday look you have in mind; maintain a ‘just-decorated’ look throughout the season’ and then remove, inspect, and store the decorations until the next season. It’s a small investment that pays off big in quality, convenience, and peace-of-mind.”

For more information on having Christmas Decor by All American Turf Beauty decorate your home or business, or to schedule an appointment for a consultation or installation, please contact your local All American Turf Beauty office.You can also learn more at www.christmasdecor.net.

 

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Preparing your irrigation system for winter!

As we draw closer to another winter, it’s time to start thinking about winterizing your lawn sprinkler system prior to freezing temperatures. According to Matt Leonard, Irrigation Specialist at All American Turf Beauty, proper winterization of your irrigation system can prevent broken pipes and sprinkler heads. “Freezing water expands within the piping and sprinkler components and can cause extensive and very expensive damage to a homeowner’s system” says Leonard. Fortunately, it can be prevented by using compressed air to remove water from the piping and components – a process known as winterization.

Leonard compares the winterization process to having preventative maintenance done on your car. “A little prevention – in this case using compressed air to forcibly eject water from the piping and irrigation components – can prevent a bigger problem caused by water remaining in the pipes and freezing” notes Leonard.

There also appear to be a right way to winterizing the system as well. Some contractors may rush to perform the service and use a very high volume and high amount of air pressure to speed up the job. This too can cause problems according to Leonard. “We prefer to use an air compressor that can generate a sustained pressure of around 50 psi – which your sprinkler system is used to running at, and what all major Irrigation Manufacturers suggest as the proper amount of air flow and pressure to prevent damage. I take the extra amount of time needed to do the job correctly and prevent damage from both freezing water and excessive air pressure.”

The other advantage of winterization, says Leonard, is it gives him another “hands on” or “visual” opportunity to assess how well the irrigation system is performing for his customers. Often times a minor problem can be corrected during the winterization process. If a major problem is encountered, the customer can be made aware of the problem and given a solution – which helps prepare the customer for repairs needed next spring. This is rare, but Leonard likes to work with his customers and prevent surprises when possible.

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Fall is the best time for weed control

Fall is the best time of the year to control perennial broadleaf weeds according to Kevin Johnson, President of All American Turf Beauty, Inc. “Our successful experience with fall weed control has long been supported by Iowa State University extension research,” says Johnson. “University research has consistently led them to proclaim that Fall is the best time of the year to control perennial type weeds due to the natural growth cycle exhibited by weeds – something we have witnessed and experienced in our 40 years of service” according to Johnson.

Although it is possible to achieve weed control throughout the course of the year, the easiest time of the year to control weeds occurs in the fall time period. In fall, perennial broadleaf weeds are transporting food (carbohydrates) from their foliage to their roots in preparation for winter. Broadleaf herbicides applied in fall will be absorbed by the broadleaf weed’s foliage and transported to the roots along with the carbohydrates, resulting in the destruction of the broadleaf weeds. According to extension personnel and Johnson, difficult to control weeds that have not been successfully controlled earlier in the year often times can be controlled with a Fall application of broadleaf weed control.

“If you have been struggling with controlling certain types of perennial weeds, (ie – gound ivy or violets) a Fall broadleaf weed control application gives you the best chance of controlling these type of weeds – although it might not be 100% says Johnson and the extension experts. The best news is that you have all Fall to make these applications.
“I have often been asked ‘When is it too late to make an application of broadleaf weed control?’” says Johnson. His personal experience has shown that you can achieve great weed control with applications of broadleaf weed control up to the point in time that the ground freezes. According to Johnson, “You might not notice the results this Fall, but come next spring the weeds fail to appear and have been successfully controlled.”

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Fall is the best time to improve your lawn

Fall is the best time to Fertilize

The key to managing a healthy lawn is to have a strong root system backed up by a large carbohydrate (food) reserve stored in the roots and crown of the plant. This allows the grass to recover from long winter dormancy and to with stand stress incurred by summer drought, disease, insects and other environmental problems.

• Cool air temperatures in the fall reduce the amount of foliage the plant produces; thus reducing the amount of energy it takes to support the top growth. Even though air temperatures are cool – ground temperatures remain ideal and allow root growth to flourish.
• This set of circumstance make fall the optimum time to fertilize as all added nutrients are going to be used for root growth and food storage through photosynthesis. Aggressively fertilizing in the fall will produce a thicker, healthier lawn, and will provide an earlier green up in the spring.

Fall is the best time to Aerate

It is well documented that Lawn core aeration is one of the keys to a healthy lawn. Aeration breaks up the compaction allowing fertilizer, water, and oxygen to penetrate the root zone. It also propagates the turf by severing the roots and crowns of the plant.

For the same reasons fall is the best time to fertilize, fall is the best time to aerate. Breaking up the compaction and allowing room for roots to grow at a time of the season when root growth is flourishing serves to accelerate the process, and leads to a much thicker healthier lawn.

Fall is the best time to seed

Bare spots, thin areas or complete renovations are best seeded in the fall. Warm fall days coupled by cool fall evening combine for the optimum temperatures for new seedlings to grow. Fall is the time we also experience periodic rain fall and often a heavy dew in the morning that helps ease the watering requirements.

New seedlings have very little weed competition in the fall. Annual weeds such as crabgrass and foxtail germinate in the spring and have exhausted their life cycle by early fall allowing new grass seedlings to develop and not be crowded out by aggressively growing weeds. The long fall growing season allows seedlings to benefit from the same root production and photosynthesis that mature plants do allowing them to survive the stress of the cold winter and putting them in a heathy position to mature in the spring.

Fall is the best time to spray weed control

The best weed control for Dandelions and other broadleaf weeds occurs when the plants are actively growing and nutrients are being stored in the root system. Just like with the grass plant with the onset of cooler temperatures this happens in the fall. When spraying broad leaf weed control at this time the weed plant will rapidly translocate the herbicide to the root system to provide for a complete kill of the plant. When sprayed late in the fall the plant may not be visibly dying, but will not survive the winter and will not be present in the lawn following spring.

 

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