Blooming On Kauai

Before you think about hiring a landscape contractor on Kauai to perform work on your commercial property, ask this important question: Is the landscape contractor properly insured?

If the answer is no, then your commercial property could be held accountable if a landscaper gets injured on your grounds.

It’s never fun to think about worst-case scenarios—but you’ve got to protect those who use your property (employees, customers, residents) and those who work on it, including landscapers and any other contractors you hire.

Maintaining your commercial property’s landscape is a critical part of creating a great lasting impression for visitors, who will return to your site if they enjoy the experience.

So mowing, edging, pruning, cleaning up rubbish and overall upkeep is job one. But “extras” add a layer of luxury: a fire pit gathering space, a warm and colorful entryway, walkways that improve access.

Landscape enhancements are items that go above and beyond the maintenance contract. They can include design-build projects such as adding a hardscaped space (patio, walkways); or infrastructural improvements to your Kauai property, such as an updated irrigation system that takes into account water conservation.

Landscape enhancements are not included in your service contract, but as you think ahead to 2016, now is the time to consider some of the landscape projects that could improve your commercial property and figure those into the budget.

Here are three commercial landscape enhancements to consider for next year along with some budgeting tips so you can make these projects a reality.  

Pests are part of Kauai life, and their life cycle is never interrupted because of the 365 days of warm weather we enjoy on the island. That’s good news for tourists, but bad news for property owners who recognize that pests can quickly destroy their landscapes if constant monitoring is not in place.

To make matters more complex, there are always new pests “landing” on the island—they come by boat, plane, foot and strong winds.

We’re always alerting our landscape crews of new pests that have been spotted on surrounding islands so they can keep an eye out on the commercial properties we service.

All of this means pest management on Kauai is a constant effort. It’s not a summer job—it’s a year-round concern, and prepared commercial property owners will ensure that the landscape firms they employ include a high level of pest monitoring and control measures in the contract.

As we ease into the heat of summer, when Kauai’s commercial landscapes tend to get dry and thirsty, the irrigation systems may be operating on a spring schedule—and that means less watering because most sides of Kauai get more rainfall in March vs. July.

Maybe you notice some signs that your grounds need a revamped, more rigorous watering schedule:

• dry spots

• weed infestations

• general burnout

Now is an ideal time to re-evaluate the irrigation schedule for your commercial irrigation system and tune it up for summer weather conditions.

When your commercial property is on an island, the risk of tropical storms and hurricanes is a reality that must be factored into landscape maintenance activities. After 30 years in business on Kauai, No Ka Oi has helped clients deal with devastating and costly blows.

If you spot scalloped leaves on your bougainvillea plants—foliage that looks daintily munched on—then the culprit is a small but mighty hungry caterpillar known as the bougainvillea looper. The green or brown caterpillar is an inch long (earning it the nickname “inchworm”) and blends in with bougainvillea branches and stems, making it a tough pest to spot.

It doesn’t help that this looper likes to feed at night, so you won’t catch it feeding on leaves when landscape crews are generally on your property maintaining or treating plants. It’s like waking up in the morning and finding out that a hungry caterpillar had a midnight snack—your plants!

Bougainvillea looper caterpillars were first reported on Oahu in 1993, and since have spread to Maui, the Big Island, Kauai and likely Molokai. If you’re a commercial property owner in Kauai, you should know how to identify the looper, what its damage looks like and how to control it before their appetites take over and you’re left with naked (as in, no foliage) bougainvillea.

Protect the bougainvilleas on your Kauai commercial property. Here’s what you need to know to prevent bougainvillea looper caterpillar damage.

“What can I plant in the shade that’s flowering and colorful?” It’s a common question from commercial property owners across the island.

Good news. You have options that will brighten up dark areas of your Kauai property. By blending in these vibrant, flowering winners that prefer shade, you can add fresh appeal to spaces on your commercial property that visitors might have ignored in the past.

Here are five colorful, shade-loving plants for Kauai landscapes — they make a bold impact and are happier where the sun doesn’t shine.