Environmental Insights

A few weeks ago, we introduced our new landscape drone, the DJI Phantom 4 Pro V2.0 quadcopter. In that post, we told the story of the commercial earthwork project that inspired us to invest in this little beauty. Now, let’s take a closer look at exactly how useful a landscaping drone can be on a commercial construction or civil engineering job.

We’re always excited to welcome new team members, especially when they bring diversity and new skills to our team. This fall, we are extra pumped to introduce the newest and most uniquely talented member of the T.Lake team: our brand new DJI Phantom 4 Pro V2.0 quadcopter drone!

Want to know how to install professional-looking landscape lighting? Sure, I can give you some landscape lighting tips. I’ll post a few of my best below.

But first, bear with me, because I just have to rant about what NOT to do with landscape lighting. It’s actually easy to demonstrate. All you have to do is get in your car and ride around after dark. I can almost guarantee that within a few blocks you’ll have passed case after case of really bad lighting installations.

Like the giant square box runway lights that just blast light at a building as if it were daylight, doing nothing to highlight the architecture or evoke a mood.

Or the residence where somebody bought bullet lights and aimed them at a shrub, and it looks like what Moses saw on Mount Horeb: a single bush all alight with nothing but harsh shadows all around.

Or the facade of a house that has a bright, bright light in one spot right next to a patch of blackness so dark the devil could be hiding there. It’s jarring. When will people learn that you can’t just go buy lights and point them at things and expect it to come out looking good?

Now that I’ve got that off my chest, let’s talk about how to do landscape lighting right.

Here at T. Lake we are problem solvers to the core. We love a challenge! In addition to the whole range of landscape work from hardscape design and installation to tree service to wetland mitigation, we’ve done everything from caulking and applying epoxy coatings onto warehouse floors to fly-over roof inspections with drones, to removal of slag and millings from manufacturing floor pits.

Our thought process is to look at the particular issue you have and find a better way to deal with it. This will often require solutions beyond the ordinary—and it is not uncommon for those solutions to require the use of specialty equipment.

We’ll be the first to admit it: T. Lake is not the biggest guy on the block. We’re a local company with local roots and local values. We like it that way.

But, that doesn’t mean we can’t play nice with the giants.

In a recent post, we discussed 5 compelling reasons for commercial real estate developers to feel comfortable working with T.Lake. But not all developers play in the same ballpark. When you start talking the biggest of the big, you’ve got to up the ante.

Very large, national and international contracting companies have unique concerns as well as a more corporate approach to doing business that doesn’t always mesh with the way small business operates. Does T. Lake have what it takes to work successfully with them?

As a matter of fact, we do.

A commercial landscape should look beautiful and inviting. However its benefits go deeper than mere aesthetics. A well-designed commercial landscape also offers many benefits related to safety and security,  cost control, sustainability, compliance with government regulations, and other areas.

In the same way, a good commercial landscape provider is one whose expertise encompasses far more than simply the ability to create an aesthetically pleasing landscape. When choosing a commercial landscaper to work with, it pays to look deeper into the company in question and find out what else they’re made of.

If you are a commercial landscape developer, here are a few reasons to consider working with T.Lake:

Chances are if your landscape has been in for 15 or more years it is overdue for renovation. Even if your landscape was well planned and maintained for the long haul, a decade and a half’s worth of growth is almost guaranteed to leave it looking a bit unkempt. Crowded roots, straggly growth, overgrown trees and shrubs, bare spots, ho-hum or dated appearance: these are all signs it’s time for an overhaul.

If you’re reading this and nodding your head in recognition, here are some landscape renovation ideas to consider this spring.

Wetlands are incredibly valuable ecosystems that until recently have been sadly underappreciated. They are an important element in the food web here in Georgia, play an integral role in water quality improvement, flood control, and shoreline erosion control, and have many economic and recreational uses. Scientists tell us that these natural ecosystems even help to regulate the climate.

It’s no wonder, then, that wetlands have started to enjoy increasing protection in recent years as people have become more environmentally aware.

Wetlands mitigation refers to any project that serves to lessen human impact on wetland environments, including wetlands creation, preservation, or restoration. Mitigation typically happens on commercial sites, government construction sites, military installations, large scale housing developments, roadways, and other projects of significant scale.  We are also increasingly seeing mitigation as part of stormwater or wastewater treatment on smaller sites, as part of the retention requirement for stormwater. (We find this very encouraging because wetland plants do a phenomenal job of filtering and reestablishing beneficial organisms in the environment.)

In a recent post, we discussed the benefits of wetland mitigation. Now, let’s explore the topics of wetland mitigation construction costs and hiring a wetland mitigation contractor in Georgia.

You’re in charge of a construction project or an industrial property that currently has a wetland on the site. What does that mean for you, and how can you ensure your work is compliant with federal regulations?

Those are some important questions if you want to avoid fines and other issues — and ones you need to get answers to.

No one wants to hear from the EPA, OSHA or even the junior soccer team down the street that you aren’t handling your site’s dust correctly.

Dust mitigation isn’t the sexiest site service, but it’s a must on construction sites and haul roads.

Dust isn’t just a nuisance, it’s also a health and environmental concern that needs to be properly managed. And it’s up to you and your service provider to make sure it’s properly taken care of — or you could face large fines to the tune of thousands a day.

Here’s a look at how and why to incorporate dust mitigation techniques during construction.