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AC Yard Services

A Portland Maine Based Landscaper

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The Benefits of Working at AC Yard Services

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Employment Benefits At AC Yard Services

At AC Yard Services, we have a strong team of dedicated professionals. Thanks to our team’s incredible work ethic and outstanding customer service, we’ve been able to grow the business quite a bit in recent years.

As a result, we’re proud to be able to offer increased career opportunities that include both financial and lifestyle benefits. We recognize that to keep talented people as employees, you need to show them they are appreciated and support them. We offer a full insurance package that includes health and dental. Our team members benefit from flexible schedules that allow them to spend more time with their families, or even to work for us on a seasonal basis if they have other work they do seasonally. The AC Yard Services workweek is four days long, and team members get weekends off!

We also make sure that our team members are paid well for the hard work they do. We offer top pay complete with medical and dental benefits. Additionally, uniforms are provided for team members, so there isn’t an out-of-pocket cost to coming to work for us before you’ve even earned a paycheck.

To support our team’s professional growth, we offer opportunities for continuing education in the horticulture field and we encourage advancement opportunities within the company as they become available.

AC Yard Services offers landscaping and property maintenance services year-round, providing ample opportunity for team members to put varied skills to use. We’re also always looking for team members with a variety of skills and experience in the field. If you are a plow driver who has had several winters under your belt, or an experienced landscaper who knows the ins-and-outs of the trade there is a place for you at AC Yard Services. If you’re a hard worker and willing to be a team player, we want to talk to you!

To learn more about our current employment openings, visit the careers page of our website!

Three Chores To Get Done In Your Yard During Late Summer

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Fall Is Coming!

It’s September, the kids are back at school, the Patriots are back, so it’s time to forget about your lawn care with the exception of raking leaves in a couple weeks, right? Wrong. It’s not fall until September 22nd – we’re still in late summer and your yard still needs your attention.

Before the leaves fall and then the snow falls, you need to make sure your lawn and gardens are ready for the change in seasons and the months of being covered by snow. So what yardwork should you be doing now? Here are three we recommend for the late summer:

Cut Your Grass Short

Yes, you should still be mowing. The difference between mowing now, though, and mowing earlier in the summer is that you want to cut your grass shorter in preparation for the fall and winter. With shorter grass, you are helping it to stay healthy because shorter grass is less susceptible to fungus and other issues that can occur when the grass gets wet and cold. When the grass is short, it’s easier for it to dry it. Taller grass gets compacted more easily under snow, stays wet, and more easily plays host to fungus and mold. For a healthier, greener lawn in the spring, put your mower settings down by a couple and cut your grass low now.

Edging Gardens

This time of year, it’s easy to let your flower beds start looking a little messy. Your flowers are starting to go, and it’s Maine, so there will be frost and snow soon enough anyway, right? But both for your property’s aesthetics and your garden’s health, now is a good time to get edging done.

Edging just makes your yard look neater, and it’s always good to have tidy landscaping – especially if you might be putting your home on the market. Getting edging done now also makes it less of a major undertaking in the spring, when you are already faced with a laundry list of yard work to accomplish.

Perhaps most importantly, though, edging in the late summer means that you aren’t putting new growth at risk. Fragile roots can be disturbed by edging, and as plants are starting to blossom in the spring they are more likely to be damaged by edging. Now, though, there isn’t new growth, and your plants are either already gone by or preparing to settle in for the winter.

Trim Shrubs

If your shrubbery is looking a bit overgrown, now is the time to give them a trim. Don’t wait until late fall or until the frost hits – if you do, the trimmed branches won’t have time to harden off and will be damaged by the cold weather. Trimming shrubs now, in late summer, will give them time to harden off but not start new growth that will require yet another trim before winter. If you get this chore done now, it’s another item on your spring list that will either be non-existent or a bit easier than usual.

If you’d like some backup on these or any of the other many chores that maintaining a property in Maine requires each season, give AC Yard Services give us a call (207) 712-5554 or send us a message over email at . Our annual plans help keep your yard looking its best year-round!

Lawn Art: Taking Your Property To The Next Level

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When you see a lawn with stripes mowed into it, doesn’t it just make the property seem somehow nicer? No matter how nicely a lawn is mowed or gardens are landscaped, a yard doesn’t look completely finished until it has a pattern mown into it.

Lawn art shows that you go the extra mile in taking care of your property. If you’re looking to improve your curb appeal, this is a simple step to neaten up your home’s appearance. If you’re a business with a lawn in front of your building, it can help make your company more appealing to clients or potential customers as they feel welcomed into a well kept-up, clearly cared for building.

Lawn Art From AC Yard Services

While stripes are a popular choice for lawn art, they are far from your only option. From simple stripes to more complex designs, the AC Yard Services team is enjoying adding a unique touch to many of our clients’ properties. We can keep it classic with straight lines, or we can get a little more intricate.

That said, having the Red Sox logo mowed into your lawn is lawn art…but that’s not really the type of lawn art we do. We’ll leave that to the Fenway grounds crew.

What can we do? All kinds of geometric designs. Zigzags, checkerboard, even curved lines – if you have an idea in mind, let us know! If you’d like our professional insight into what might work best for your lawn and your property, we’re always happy to advise on landscaping matters.

Classic straight lines can help give your property a clean look. Perhaps you have a curved stone staircase leading into your front door; you can emphasize its beauty by having arcs mowed into your lawn that are aligned with the stairway. Use a checkerboard pattern to show off how dark green and lush your grass is, or use zigzags to add a little character as you make your yard a little neater.

Alternating Lawn Art Patterns

Once you’ve settled on a lawn art pattern, you can always change it from mow to mow. In fact, not only can you change it – you should change it.

When you mow the same way, in the same pattern over and over the grass under the wheels is consistently getting crushed, which can create ruts from mower wheels as well as cause fungus and disease to grow in that part of the grass. Your grass needs to breathe to stay healthy, and by giving areas of it a break from being crushed under mower wheels, or even just have the blades pushed in a different direction, you’re giving it a bit more freedom to breath and to grow.

You don’t have to completely change patterns from curved to zig-zag and back again (though you certainly can), but do something as simple as reverse the direction the curves are facing, or have stripes run vertically instead of horizontally.

Lawn art isn’t just fun, it’s a great way to keep your yard looking its best. If you’ve been looking for a way to take your property to the next level, lawn art might be the solution.

To find out more about AC Yard Services mowing and landscaping services, contact us at by calling (207) 712-5554 or by sending us an email!.

Why Planting Smaller Trees Will Pay Off In The Long Run

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There is certainly something to be said for the gorgeous old maples and oaks that line many neighborhoods in Maine. And of course there’s the iconic pine tree, so impressive and numerous it’s a symbol of our state.

While it might be tempting to plant these recognizable trees in your yard, smaller options may be a better choice for your property.

Smaller Trees Are Better For The Rest Of Your Landscaping

You’ve spent a lot of time on your gardens, and kept your grass green and healthy. Now you’re looking at what trees to add to your landscaping. If you’re not careful, you might find that the trees you plant end up causing some headaches for the care you’ve already put into your property.

A larger tree with dense leaves will grow to the point that it prevents sunlight from reaching a good portion of your lawn or gardens. As a result, grass, flowers, and vegetables won’t be able to grow like they used to. (Not to mention the headache of all those leaves to rake up).

Smaller trees are also less likely to harbor pests that will snack on your flowers and vegetables, or just generally be a nuisance in your yard.

The roots of smaller trees are also less likely to push up through the ground and disrupt your carefully planned landscape borders and flower gardens.

Smaller Trees Are Easier To Maintain

Tall, wide trees can grow to the point that they cover up your windows and block sunlight from your porch. Their branches can get tangled up in electrical wires, and threaten to fall on your roof. Dead or sick branches may pose a danger to the rest of the tree – or to people in your yard if they fall. These are all reasons you may find yourself wanting to prune a tree. But what happens if the branches are large and out of reach? You can always call in professionals, but that gets pretty expensive pretty quickly.

With a smaller tree variety you are more likely to still be able to reach many branches to prune them using your household ladder. As a result, your trees will be able to stay healthier and your property won’t be overrun by large branches and dense leaf cover.

Small Tree Varieties To Consider

  • Beach Plum
  • Serviceberry
  • Redbud
  • Smooth Blackhaw

If you’d like the AC Yard Services team to help you keep your property looking its best, contact us today by calling (207) 712-5554 or by sending us an email!.

How Our Service Plans Work

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Keeping your property well-maintained and your lawn and gardens healthy is a year-round commitment. Yes – even in Maine where greenery is covered by snow for half the year. That’s why at AC Yard Services we offer plans that cover a variety of property needs year-round. By tending to our clients’ properties throughout the seasons, we are able to keep up with the work that needs to be done and ensure everything is prepped and ready for the needs of the next season.

We also understand that different properties have different needs and that there are some yard chores that people prefer to do themselves. So we developed three different annual service plans for our clients to choose from – and even further customize if wanted – depending on what works best for their property and their budget.

Plan One: The Basics

Our first plan covers the basic needs of each of Maine’s four seasons: spring clean-up, mowing, fall clean-up, and plowing. With this plan, you can rely on the professionals from AC Yard Services to show up regularly to do the big, time-consuming jobs. We’ll be there to mow your lawn regularly in the summer and plow after storms in the winter. In the fall and spring, you can count on us to do the dirty work and get the leaves and debris out of your yard. Each of these chores keeps your property looking good while also ensuring your lawn stays healthy and is ready to handle the demands of the Maine climate.

Plan Two: The Basics & A Bit More

Like Plan One, Plan Two includes the four big basic chores along with edging, mulching, weeding, and shrub pruning. These are time-consuming but necessary jobs to tackle for keeping your property attractive and your landscaping healthy. Edging, mulching, weeding, and shrub pruning happens in the warmer weather, and our landscaping crews will take care of it for you so you can enjoy the always too short warmer seasons in Maine.

These chores are also jobs that tend to get ignored when you get busy. When you don’t prune, weed, and edge, things can get out of control in your yard quickly and the workload just gets bigger. If you skip mulching, your yard can just look messy and the roots of your trees and plants won’t be insulated like they need to be. With Plan Two, you can count on all of this being taken care of for you on a regular basis by our professional crew.

Plan Three: The Works

What happens when you take Plan One and Plan Two, add them together and throw in lawn de-thatching, over-seeding, and aeration? You get Plan Three! De-thatching, aeration, and overseeding are all additional methods of keeping your lawn healthy. Lawns that have had heavy snowpack or get walked on quite a bit may need de-thatching to help them breathe better and grow better. Similarly, aeration helps open up a lawn for better air circulation to stimulate growth. Over-seeding helps fill in your lawn’s bare spots and helps to provide even growth throughout your yard. Having professionals who know how and when to take care of these kinds of more technical jobs can make all the difference in your yard’s appearance.

Keeping up with all of the chores required to keep a lawn healthy is a big job, even if you have the time and enjoy being outside. Whether your property is residential or commercial, AC Yard Services has a plan to fit your needs and we have the team and the equipment to get the work done well and done right, from plowing to mowing and everything in between.

Give us a call or send us an email to get started with your year-round plan today. If you don’t see a plan here that fits your specific needs, let us know and we’re happy to work with you to come up with a custom plan.

Saving Time With AC Yard Services

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It’s summer in Maine! School’s out, the kids are home, the grill’s set up, and the Red Sox are on. And you’re…mowing the lawn and taking care of the flowerbeds.

Everyone wants a beautiful lawn and landscape that makes your house feel like a home, but getting there takes a lot of work, and that work takes a lot of time. Living in Maine means you need to make the most of every season – especially summer. If you’re spending all your time landscaping and mowing, you’re not enjoying the chance to relax in the sun with your family or experience the parades, festivals and concerts that make summer in southern Maine such a special time.

To keep your lawn healthy and attractive, you should be mowing it about once a week. If you’re working during the week, that leaves the weekend for mowing. If it rains on one day, that leaves the other weekend day. Then there’s all the other chores that go along with owning a home and having a yard. Before you know it, you either have an overgrown lawn and weedy gardens or a weekend that flew by because you’ve spent half of it on yard work.

Sea Dogs game on Saturday afternoon? Can’t go – the lawn is overgrown and it’s supposed to rain on Sunday. Does that sound familiar?

If it does, it might be time to consider hiring professionals to help you take care of your property. AC Yard Services offers year-round plans that can ensure your lawn and gardens are taking care of all summer. With our mowing, edging, mulching, and general landscaping services you can be confident that your yard is looking good for the next big barbecue or just for a Sunday morning relaxing outside with the family.

We take care of the clean-up and prep work in the spring, and the clean-up and winter prep in the fall. (And even though we don’t want to ruin your summer by talking about it – we take care of snow clean-up too!) Making sure your yard looks good throughout the summer really is a year-round commitment.

But life’s short and summer in Maine is even shorter. Don’t spend it hunched over a lawn mower – contact AC Yard Services instead. We’ve got the professionals with years of knowledge and all the necessary equipment to get the job done right and save you time.

Tips to Avoid The Headaches That Come With A Late Season Winter Storm

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By the time March rolls around, we all like to think there’s a light at the end of the tunnel and snow and ice will soon be just a memory as spring nears.

But, we live in Maine.

It’s just the reality of life in the Northeast: Snowstorms are a real possibility well into March and April. To ease the pain of a late season snowstorm, it helps to be ready to tackle the mess of one. Here are two crucial tips to help you prepare for the inevitable spring storm.

Make sure salt, sand and shovels are easily accessible

Once we have a couple of warm March days, it might be tempting to put the salt and sand away in the back of the garage for next year. Remember though, doing so will just make dealing with a late season storm that much harder. When you already have to deal with snow and ice, why add to the frustration by having to fight your way to the back of the garage before work? Or when you’ve just gotten home from a day at the office? Keep your salt and sand easily accessible until the threat of snow and ice really has passed.

The same goes for shovels – don’t pack them away or leave them out where they might get covered if there is an unexpected storm. Have them ready to grab and ready to go. If you have a snowblower, keep it gassed up and ready to start. The quicker you can get started on clearing snow, the quicker you’ll be done with clearing it away.

Roof maintenance

During the depths of winter in Maine, snow and ice collect quickly on the roof. Both present dangerous and potentially expensive problems if not taken care of, and a late season storm can just exacerbate those problems.

Raking your roof regularly throughout the winter can ensure that a late season storm doesn’t catch you by surprise and cause problems. One square foot of snow weighs about 20 pounds. That quickly adds up to create a dangerous situation with potential for roof damage — or even collapse — as well as an environment where ice dams can easily form.

Ice dams are not only a danger to your property because of their weight (57 pounds for one square foot of ice!) but because they cause backups which cause water to seep through your roof and into your house. As we have warmer days followed by cooler days, melting snow and ice get trapped on your roof; the water freezes again, then melts again, and throughout this process it backs up and you might start seeing leaks in your roof. This isn’t just annoying — it’s expensive, especially when you consider the potential for mold growth on top of the water damage caused.

Taking care of the snow and ice on your roof regularly throughout the winter can help you prevent many headaches when all you want to do is start enjoying the warmer weather.

If you’d prefer to call in the professionals — as well as ensure you don’t have to worry about plowing and snow blowing — contact AC Yard Services to find out how we can help you take care of your property year round.

Year-Round Plans Aren’t Just Convenient, They’re Smart Landscaping

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AC Yard Services year-round plan customer in Cumberland, Maine

The unpredictability of Maine weather can be both frustrating and exciting. There’s something rejuvenating about stepping outside on a random spring-like day that happens to pop up in the dead of winter. “We’re almost out of it,” you think … until the very next morning when temperatures drop right back down to the low 30s, settling in that range until about mid-April.

However, that unpredictability can take a toll on the overall health and appearance of your property. That is, of course, if you are not giving it the time and attention a property needs. See, there is work to be done in every season that affects your yard for the upcoming one — and the topsy-turvy weather that comes along with it. Because of that, we have put together year-round plans that are designed to help your property thrive season after season.

It’s convenient for you to know that we have you on our radar for everything from planting to raking to shoveling, allowing you to enjoy more of your free time while knowing that your property needs are being addressed. Let us explain how it all works.

Spring & Summer Yard Work

Let’s start at the beginning of the growing season — spring. As your property begins to emerge from underneath the snow and ice, you start looking forward to bright flowers, vegetable gardens, and a green lawn. In order to set your yard and garden up for a beautiful summer, spring yard work needs to be done.

Our various year-round plans each offer different levels of services but all include spring work, like clean-up and mowing that preps your yard for ideal growth in the summer.

It’s important to tackle spring cleanup, not just for aesthetic reasons but also to allow new growth to come in. Dead branches and old leaves can stunt growth of fresh grass and flowers. The AC Yard Services team will come in during the spring to clean up your yard and get it ready for summer growth.

In the summer, your lawn and property are at their peak beauty. To help keep them that way year after year, proper mowing, pruning and other work should be done on a regular basis. Staying on top of such work keeps plants healthy and encourages good growth of your lawn. The healthier your lawn and your plants are overall, the better they will be able to handle Maine’s harsh winters. After all, the sun and warmth only return for a few months, so give your plants the chance to perk up and bloom!

With a year-round plan from AC Yard Services, you don’t have to worry about making time for every chore that needs to be done to keep your yard and gardens healthy. Instead, you can leave that to us and know that your property is being well cared for.

Fall & Winter Yard Work

Raking. Snow removal. Not really crowd favorites.

Nonetheless, they’re important both for the appearance of your property and for the health of your yard and gardens. A year-round plan with AC Yard Services will make sure the leaves are out of your yard before the first snow flies.

We live in Maine, and snow comes early, but we’ll be ready to tackle the leaves in your yard. Keeping up with leaf removal can save your lawn from the impact that months of snow cover on top of leaves can have on your grass. A general fall clean-up can make your yard much easier to deal with come spring, and much more attractive come late spring and summer.

In the winter, a year-round plan with AC Yard Services means you can depend on us to come plow out your property. No more setting your alarm two hours early to get out the shovel so you can get your car out of the driveway. Our plow service is also done with care. We know your property from having worked on it throughout the year, and we’ll take precautions to ensure we’re not running over shrubbery or gardens or causing other damage.

With four unpredictable seasons in Maine, the outdoors work never stops. But when you partner with AC Yard Services, we will make sure the work is done right and done on an effective to keep your property at its best all year.

If you’d like to save yourself some time and keep your yard at its best, contact us today.

Tips to prepare your property for warmer weather

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Freezing cold days, winter weather advisories, school cancelations: It sure does feel like springtime is a long way away.

While that may be the case, it is never too soon to think about what your yard will look like once it emerges from the springtime thaw. Owner Justin Hayden provides a few of his personal tips to get your property in tip-top shape for the spring and summer months. Check out the video below!

If you are looking for a reliable year-round landscaping company to get your property warm-weather-ready, check out our year-round plans. If you would like to learn more, please contact us today.

Early Snow get in the Way of Fall Cleanup? With a Year-Round Contract, You’re Covered

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Even for Maine it seems like the snow started early this year – and it keeps coming.

For many people, early snow means they didn’t get to finish the fall chores they intended to. Leaves left on the ground are covered in snow, and now your brush pile can’t be taken care of until next year.

There are a lot of reasons people don’t finish up their fall chores until late fall – waiting until most of the leaves are on the ground, other commitments that take up time, or just putting it off because it’s not as fun to rake as it is to watch the Patriots.

So once April comes, and there are still reminders of fall all across your property, no need to worry. With a year-round contract from AC Yard Services, our team will have your home or business springtime-ready.

Once the snow (finally) melts and you start seeing leaves emerge you can rest easy knowing the AC Yard Services team will be there ready to get your lawn ready for spring and summer. A proper spring clean-up will both make your yard look better and keep it healthier. Spring chores like raking up the leftover leaves from fall and getting branches and other debris out of your yard let your lawn breathe easier and encourage it to grow better.

Salt and sand covering your property? We’ll take care of it. We’ll also trim branches and shrubs to get your property looking neat and tidy in advance of summer. Winter in Maine can be long and tedious, and there’s no reason to keep reminders of it around longer than you need to. A year-round contract with AC Yard Services will give you more time to enjoy Maine’s beautiful but short summer and you’ll spend less time doing chores to get ready for it.

To find out more about our year-round contract options, give us a call at (207) 712-5554 or send us an email at info@acyardservices.com.

(207) 712-5554 info@acyardservices.com

Address

13 Gambo Road

Windham, ME 04062