Certified skills for landscape professionals

You’ve been handling your own yard work for years. You’ve landscaped, or maintained the irrigation system, or even tackled some minor tree pruning. Library books, the Internet, and friends have provided you with plenty of free advice and instruction. However, you’ve reached the point where you want to hire someone to do some or all of the work. There are many enticing landscaping ads in phone directories and local newspapers, but how do you go about finding the best contractor to do the work?

First, determine exactly what it is you need accomplished. Do you want someone to mow the lawn once a week? Do you need someone to tend to your precious magnolia tree? Do you want your front yard to be transformed into something worthy of its own HGTV show? Each of these jobs requires different levels of expertise, education, and experience. Many companies and individuals claim to know how to do a particular job, but the only sure-fire way to know they can is if they are licensed by a recognized organization.

“When you are sick your doctor sometimes thinks you need to see a specialist when you have a certain problem,” said Conny Gustafson, who has owned Scandia Landscaping since 1983. “A licensed landscaping contractor may not be the best person to audit your irrigation system or to properly prune your valuable trees. You would only want a certified arborist working on all your trees and shrubs, especially older trees that can be worth thousands of dollars.”

The State of California License Board requires landscape professionals offering services to the public to be licensed through its C-27 designation, which helps ensure that all work performed by the landscape contractor is done in a safe, competent, and professional manner. They are required to have four years experience and/or education before they can take the required license examination. Once licensed, they are allowed to construct, maintain, repair, or install landscape systems and facilities for public and private use.

Certified Arborists are highly qualified specialists dedicated to excellence in the field of arboriculture, who are trained to care for trees and shrubs in many ways including installation, nutrient requirements, and pruning. To qualify, one must pass an extensive examination, keep abreast of new technology, and obtain continuing education credits.  The International Society of Arboriculture maintains this voluntary certification program.

“The biggest problem I see here in Sonoma Valley is that people are turning to a business or individual without a contractor’s license or ISA membership to save money and their trees get butchered or the business takes the client’s money and never finishes the job,” said Graham Charles, owner of Second Nature Tree Service. “On big jobs, unlicensed and unqualified landscapers are underbidding those of us with licenses and sometimes pruning old trees, like ancient oaks, at the wrong time of year and either killing them or inhibiting their growth for many years.”
Irrigation audits are an essential part of water conservation. Sonoma Valley homeowners may soon face a mandatory reduction in water use up to 25 percent. The average home’s lawn and garden irrigation water use is 30 percent of the total. Certified Landscape Irrigation Auditors can assess existing systems and suggest improvements.  Such landscape professionals must have one year of experience and pass the exam given by the Irrigation Association Certification Board.

“It benefits homeowners to have a certified auditor look at their irrigation system and make sure it is working properly, because we have been trained and certified to take an in-depth look at the whole system,” said Gabriel Lanusse, who has owned Gabriel Lanusse Landscaping since1989. He is a Certified Irrigation Auditor, a Certified Arborist, and a licensed pesticide/herbicide applicator. “You don’t just want anyone to walk up to your system’s control box and set it.”
The California Department of Pesticide Regulation’s Licensing and Certification Program is responsible for examining and licensing qualified applicators, aircraft pilots, pest control dealer designated agents, and agricultural pest control advisers and for certifying pesticide applicators who use or supervise the use of restricted pesticides. It also licenses businesses that sell or apply pesticides or use pest control methods/devices for hire, including a maintenance gardener.
“A homeowner can apply pesticides or herbicides to their garden whenever they like, but they often use the wrong type and kill even beneficial insects when they see a few aphids on their prize rose bushes,” said Gustafson, who is certified in five gardening and landscaping areas, including one that makes him a licensed pesticide/herbicide applicator. “It is illegal for anyone without a license to apply pesticides in someone else’s lawn. I have to report every pesticide I use.”
Gustafsson’s most recent certification is from the Bay-Friendly Landscaping and Gardening Coalition, which he received after taking part in one of their training and qualification programs. Participating landscape professionals received instruction to help them work with nature to reduce waste, conserve valuable resources, and prevent pollution. This holistic approach to landscaping is intended to work in harmony with the natural conditions of the San Francisco Bay Watershed.
“Bay-Friendly Landscaping puts the emphasis on using native, drought-resistant plants, which require little water, fertilizer, and do not have spurt growths that lead to pruning and more waste,” said Gustafsson, who does volunteer work through the Kiwanis Club and is presently doing landscape work and planning a student vegetable garden for the Sassarini Elementary School in Sonoma. “It’s important to get back to landscaping the way it used to be before all these plants were brought in from all over the world.”

• Gabriel Lanusse Landscaping; 707.934.7047. CA Lic. #754598.
• Scandia Landscaping, 21400 Broadway, Sonoma; 707.996.7298. CA Lic. #452594.
• Second Nature Tree Service; 707.996.5929. CA Lic. #5754657.
• Bay-Friendly Landscaping and Gardening; 415.499.6528. Web site: bayfriendly.org.
• California Department of Pesticide Regulation. Web site: cpdr.ca.gov
• California Landscape Contractors Association; 916.448.2522. Web site: clca.org
• Western Chapter International Society of Arboriculture; 866.785.8960. Web site: wcisa.net