Arbor Masters, SiteOne Landscape Supply, Mirimichi Green and Arborjet all recenrtly volunteered to help treat trees affected by the Emerald Ash Borer.

The green industry is joining forces to address the pest sweeping across the nation, the Emerald Ash Borer. The city of Des Moines requested help to treat 150 Ash trees that hadn’t been treated for several years. Arbor Masters, a provider for the city, volunteered assistance alongside SiteOne Landscape Supply, Mirimichi Green and Arborjet.

The Emerald Ash Borer is an invasive beetle that has destroyed millions of Ash trees in the U.S. since it first appeared in 2002. It was first spotted in Des Moines several years ago, leading to the removal of thousands of trees. The beetle’s larvae lay eggs in the cracks of the Ash trees and feeds on bark, killing the tree.

“Like many communities, Des Moines has many well-established Ash trees that should be preserved,” said Matthew McCarroll, national account manager at SiteOne. “This pest is impacting neighborhoods by taking memories and history when trees must be removed. It was important for us to come together as an industry to help the city maintain some of its tree canopy.”

The treatments included root collar excavation and soil amendment with LESCO CarbonPro-G, a soil optimizer, among other products. Infected Ash trees can be identified by thinning leaf coverage, yellowing leaves, canopy and bark loss, and D-shaped holes.

QuickStart creates digital storefronts for local material suppliers to sell their materials directly to the platform’s user base.

Soil Connect is rolling out a QuickStart program to partner with local construction materials suppliers across the U.S. – including quarries, recycling facilities, landscape suppliers, asphalt and cement plants, and sand and gravel locations. Soil Connect’s QuickStart program creates digital storefronts for local material suppliers to sell their materials directly to the platform’s growing user base of construction professionals.

 Soil Connect has secured fresh funding led by new investors Stellifi VC and GS Futures. Both firms launched their venture capital units in the last 12 months, and both were born out of traditional real estate and construction firms. GS Futures is an early-stage corporate venture arm of GS Group, a Korean conglomerate with operations in the energy, constructions and retail, looking for investment and business development opportunities in climate, energy transition, construction and retail innovations. Stellifi was formed by the partners of OTH Capital, an Austin-based Real Estate Private Equity & Development firm.

The QuickStart program supports Soil Connect’s broader market expansion plans by driving listings of available materials for construction professionals at the local level, while providing suppliers access to a self-serve suite of tools to more effectively market and sell their product. As part of the program, Soil Connect builds a company profile for local businesses to “claim” and take ownership of. The material supplier can then adjust the types and quantities of material that the business wants to market as part of their digital storefront on the Soil Connect marketplace. Soil Connect will initially launch the program in Indianapolis on July 27 before rolling it out to markets across the U.S.

“We are pleased to launch this new QuickStart program and welcome Stellifi VC and GS Futures as investors to further accelerate the growth of our platform,” said Cliff Fetner, founder and CEO of Soil Connect. “As longtime construction professionals, we founded Soil Connect to address many of the frustrations we had experienced in trading and transporting soil, aggregates and other construction materials – and our reputation has preceded us in markets across the country as our colleagues have proactively joined and started transacting on our platform. However, as we’ve scaled, we’ve recognized that there is an untapped opportunity to create value for local materials suppliers as well.”

“These sellers reflect the industry in that many still operate on analog systems and for the most part do not have the capability or budget to develop and manage an online store. In claiming their digital Soil Connect storefronts, suppliers gain immediate, hassle-free access to our rapidly growing community of construction professionals and a more efficient way to move product, while providing added supply liquidity to our platform to drive increased transaction volume – it’s truly a win-win for all stakeholders,” added Jonathan Alvarado, chief growth officer of Soil Connect.  

In addition to its QuickStart program, Soil Connect continues to invest in and enhance its technology to advance its mission to be a full-stack, end-to-end solution for the construction industry. Most recently, the platform built a new tech stack to support its marketplace, allowing Soil Connect to introduce new services and features to its community. This will include, among other things, the ability to triangulate and secure transport for materials within the app, as well as enhancing The Daily Dig jobsite monitoring service.  

For more information on the Soil Connect digital marketplace, visit www.soilconnect.com.

The oil is designed to help maximize bar and chain life while helping to reduce environmental pollution.

DEWALT, a Stanley Black & Decker brand, announced a new biodegradable chainsaw oil (DXCC1201) that is produced in the U.S. and is a USDA Certified Biobased Product. The new high-performance, bio-based formula is made from North American-grown plant oils contributing to lower pollution output than conventional petroleum products.

“About 20 million gallons of bar and chain oil are discharged into the environment every year,” said Dan Fitzgerald, Director of Product Sustainability, Stanley Black & Decker. “The use of chainsaw oil is known as a 100 percent loss application since there is no way to capture and recycle the oil that is released into the environment. Creating a formula from renewable, sustainable plant oil that is biodegradable is an environmentally responsible solution that DEWALT is proud to offer its customers.”

Containing no petroleum-based oils or metal-based additives, the chainsaw oil is suitable for use around waterways and other environmentally sensitive areas. The formula also meets standards of the USDA's BioPreferred Program, which requires that Federal agencies give preference to biobased products for Federally funded programs and projects.

The commercial quality lubricant boasts a flash point above 500°F and a -15°F pour point for temperature stability in extreme conditions. In addition to optimal lubricity and wear protection, the oil is high tack to reduce high speed oil sling and is compatible with gas and battery-operated chainsaws.

The biodegradable chainsaw oil is available now on Amazon, in Bomgaars Supply and Acme Tools stores, through MAC TOOLS distributors and is coming soon to The Home Depot.

To learn more about DEWALT products, please visit: dewalt.com.

The lineup includes over 40 sessions and five tracks.

The National Association of Landscape Professionals has announced the education tracks and sessions for ELEVATE, its new national conference and expo for landscape and lawn care professionals Sept 18-21, 2022, in Orlando, Florida. 

The education lineup includes over 40 sessions and five tracks. Education tracks include team building (recruiting, retaining, and developing employees), customer service and the customer experience, business and finance, operations and sustainability.

“ELEVATE brings together the best minds in the industry to share insights and learn and grow together," said NALP CEO Britt Wood. “The education is designed to help landscape and lawn care professionals elevate every facet of their business.”

General Sessions feature Alex Banayan, a bestselling business author, who will share his ThirdDoor framework for success, and entrepreneur and sports and broadcasting legend Joe Theismann.

READ MORE: Theismann spoke at the annual WorkWave event in January

The conference also includes an additional 20 education sessions at the expo, peer-learning roundtables, and extensive networking events. 

The education sessions are approved for Landscape Industry Certified CEU’s at 1 per hour of instruction attended.

Plato allows users to document site conditions on maps, along with collaborating and sharing notes.

Report: The notes that have been created on the maps can be exported in pdf format, showcasing the service history of a property that is not only highly detailed but is also organized spatially.