Planning Next Year’s Yard Décor Now

August 17, 2022 by Peter Anania Leave a Comment

While you’ve been enjoying the summer, did you ever find yourself thinking, “I wish my yard had this,” or “why haven’t I taken care of that project yet?” If you did, don’t just let it go – start planning now to make your yard perfect for next summer. Even if you don’t have a specific project in mind, but know you want to make some changes, you can start brainstorming and figuring out what plants or hardscaping features can make your yard the best space for you.

What Do You Use Your Yard For?

When planning out décor and landscape features, you need to keep in mind what you’re planning on using your yard for. Do you have kids and their friends passing a ball around during the day? Is it a relaxing oasis for you and your spouse to sit and watch the sunset? Do you want large gardens to tend and pick bouquets from? Or, some combination of all the above?

If you have kids and pets running around, a large green space is probably best, though you can always incorporate a patio, fire pit or other features for the adults to hang out. If you’re looking for a relaxing oasis, decorative rock walls and tall shrubbery or trees for privacy are all great features to consider. Gardens of any size can be incorporated on the edges of green space and patios, or you can turn much of your yard into a beautiful display of blooms if you’d like.

Trends to Watch

If you’re looking for trends to inspire your yard décor, pollinator gardens and outdoor escapes are two to consider.

Encouraging habitats where pollinators can thrive is easy to do in your landscape, even if you enjoy having a neat, grassy lawn. Try adding flower gardens along the edges of your yard or even placing a few in dedicated areas throughout your lawn, bordering them with stones, brick, or even low-growing flowers. Perennials are a good option for these gardens, as they’ll return year after year and many are easy to maintain.

In recent years, many people have made changes to their yards to create areas that serve as a pleasant at-home escape. This trend is continuing, and is a great way to use your yard that the whole family can enjoy. You can get as complex as a patio with a built-in firepit or as simple as a trellis that leads the way into a private garden with a hammock.

Contact Us

However you plan to make the most of your yard next summer, AC Yard services can help make it happen. Give us a call at (207) 712-5554 to discuss our seasonal plans and hardscaping services.

Top 5 Trees to Plant This Summer

July 19, 2022 by Peter Anania Leave a Comment

Summer is here – and that means it’s time to plant new trees. Trees are an integral part of our ecosystem and are essential to all forms of life on earth. They are also a beautiful and functional addition to your landscape, able to provide privacy while elevating the aesthetics of your property.

In this blog, we share five types of trees that would make a great addition to your yard this summer.

Frontier Elm

A disease-resistant, medium-sized tree, the Frontier Elm is a good choice for residential and urban landscapes. Most landscapes produce yellow foliage in the fall, but the frontier elm will impress with leaves that turn shades of red and purple. The mature tree will be 30 to 40 feet tall and will provide a nice shady spot in your yard.

Apple Serviceberry

If you’re looking to attract wildlife to your yard, the Apple Serviceberry variety is an excellent choice. It has fragrant white flowers in the spring that will add a touch of beauty, and the blueberry-like fruits will also attract birds to your yard. You can also use those fruits to make jams and jellies! In the fall, the tree’s foliage will turn orange and red, adding a bright splash of color to your yard. At its mature height, an Apple Serviceberry tree will be anywhere from 15 to 25 feet tall.

River Birches

For a larger yard or property, the River Birch tree can be a good option. At maturity, it can be as tall as 70 feet and have a spread of 60 feet. It stands up well to wet conditions, as well as some levels of drought, and of the birches it is the most resistant to borers. The River Birch is also an attractive tree, with its bark providing an interesting array of brown, orange and purple shades as it curls off the tree.

Gala Apple Tree

A Gala Apple tree is an excellent choice for people who would like to grow apples in their own yard, but don’t have an expansive property. A semi-dwarf variety, the gala apple tree only grows to 15 feet tall at maturity. It’s also self-fertile, meaning that you don’t need to have more than one apple tree in your yard for the tree to successfully produce fruit. In addition to the delicious fruit you’ll get, a Gala Apple tree will also add beauty to your yard with the light pink and white flowers that bloom on it in the spring.

Ginkgo Biloba

Frequently found in urban areas due to its ability to withstand conditions like heat, pollution and confined spaces, Ginkgo Biloba is a hardy tree with a distinct appearance. Its leaves are fan-shaped, and in the fall provide a bright accent in the landscape as they turn yellow. At maturity, the trees may be anywhere from 25 to 50 feet tall.

Contact Us

If you’d like to work with a team of professionals to select and plant trees in your yard, please get in touch with AC Yard services at (207) 712-5554. We’re here to help you make sure your yard looks its best all year-round!

Have You Seen Our New Look?

June 20, 2022 by Peter Anania Leave a Comment

The AC Yard Services fleet of trucks has a new look! This summer, you’ll see our team out and about in our newly wrapped trucks as we travel from property to property. The bright colors and upgraded look don’t just make our trucks stand out, they’re the perfect reflection of our values. After all, everything we do includes a careful attention to detail, and a well-kept look. This is true for our company equipment, and it’s true for every property we work on.

The New Look

When you see our trucks drive by, the first thing you’ll notice is the bright splash of orange wrapping the truck bed. A modernized version of our logo adorns the front half of the bed, and our website address is clearly visible along the sides. We’ve also made it easier to read our contact information and our services along the back of the truck.

You might still notice some of the classic AC Yard Services bright green along the doors (we just couldn’t part with our roots). Together, these colors create a new look that lets people know AC Yard Services is the professional landscaping team they can trust.

Our Fleet Makes Us More Efficient!

In the landscaping business, our trucks are an indispensable part of our daily operations. As AC Yard Services has grown, so has our fleet of vehicles. This ensures our team members have the tools they need to travel to any job, and get your work done on schedule.

We take pride in our work, and we take pride in the professionalism we show in doing it. Keeping our fleet of vehicles looking and performing its best is part of our commitment to serving our clients well. We hope you like the new look of our trucks as much as we do!

See Our Trucks Around and Want to Set Up A Plan?

If you’d like to learn more about AC Yard Services and how we can keep your property looking its best, please get in touch. We’re here to answer any questions you may have. Contact us at (207) 712-5554 to talk to our team.

Our Summer Plans

May 23, 2022 by Peter Anania Leave a Comment

Maintaining a perfect yard can be pretty hectic and can take up much of your free summer time. From edging to weeding, mulching, lawn aeration and more, there are a whole host of activities you need to take care of before your yard finally looks like how you envisioned it. And then there’s regular upkeep like mowing!

However, with AC Yard Services, you don’t have to worry about your yard anymore. You can easily pass on this responsibility to our highly experienced, professional team and spend more of your precious and too-short summer time with your family.

Seasonal Plans For You

We’ve designed our plans to address specific landscaping and maintenance needs for each of Maine’s four seasons. To keep your yard healthy and attractive in the summer, there are certain chores that should be done in the spring and fall. Our summer plans incorporate these tasks alongside the work that should be done throughout the summer, such as mowing.

Our plans were designed to take into account that people’s needs vary depending on factors like the size of your yard, your schedule and your own interest in gardening and landscaping. That’s why we offer a variety of plans for you to choose from, with each incorporating certain essential chores to keep your yard looking its best year-round.

Plan 1

Spring Clean-up

Mowing

Fall Clean-up

Plan 2

Spring Clean-up	Weeding	Fall Clean-up
Edging	Shrub Pruning
Mulching	Mowing

Plan 3

Spring Clean-up	Weeding	Over-seeding
Lawn Dethatching	Shrub Pruning	Fall Clean-up
Edging	Mowing
Mulching	Lawn Aeration

If none of these plans is quite what you’re looking for, give us a call to talk through what we can do for you.

Taking Care of Your Summer Chores

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.

With a warm weather-focused 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. Our professional staff makes sure your lawn gets the personal attention it deserves and ensures the needs of your property are taken care of just as you want them to be.

Get In Touch

If you’d like to learn more about our summer service plans, please get in touch. We’re here to answer any questions you may have. Contact us at (207) 712-5554 to talk to our team.

Join the ACYs Team for a Career with Year-Round Benefits

April 26, 2022 by Peter Anania Leave a Comment

Do you want to come work for a high-quality and expanding landscaping and property maintenance company in Maine? At AC Yard Services, we are always looking for motivated and hardworking individuals to join our team of professionals, serve our clients well and help our company grow. Keep reading below to learn more about the company and what it’s like working for AC Yard Services.

What Makes Us Different?

As a family-owned and locally run business, AC Yard Services has been providing high-quality landscaping and property maintenance services to the greater Portland community for years. We are a fully insured landscaping business and offer a full selection of year-round services throughout all four of Maine’s seasons. Our services help business and residential properties to look their very best while keeping lawns and gardens healthy.

Benefits of working for AC Yard Services

Over the past few years, our rapid growth has enabled us to offer increased career opportunities. We genuinely believe that our employees are the backbone of our business and that happy employees are the secret to satisfied customers. That’s why we go above and beyond to ensure our employees are well-paid, well-rested and always motivated. We appreciate the hard work our team puts in every day, and our compensation and benefits packages reflect that.

What we offer:

Three-day Weekends
Competitive Pay
Optional Overtime
$1000 sign-on bonus

What it’s Like Working for a Local Company

Working for a locally-run company with no bureaucratic layers of management means you know the owner directly, and your good work does not go unappreciated. At AC Yard Services, you can build valuable relationships and job skills that will help you throughout your professional career. Here, you’re also working for a company that was started in the community and cares about it – we know Maine, we know its seasons and we want our communities to look their best.

Availability of Winter Work

During the winter months, we provide snow removal and other seasonally-needed services to our residential and commercial clients. This means we have work throughout the year, providing many of our employees with opportunities even after the busy summer season has come to a close.

Career Growth Opportunities

At AC Yard Services, we are continuously expanding, reaching out to new clientele and adding to our existing portfolio of services. With the advancement of the ACYS brand, there are always opportunities arising for upward career mobility within the company for all our employees. At AC Yard Services, your good work is noticed and rewarded.

Get in Touch

If you’re interested in pursuing a career with AC Yard Services, please feel free to call us at (207) 712-5554 or email us at info@acyardservices.com. We look forward to talking to you about joining our team!

Lawn Dethatching vs. Aeration: What’s the Difference?

March 23, 2022 by Peter Anania Leave a Comment

Restoring your lawn after a cold, snowy winter can be a challenging task. From clean-up to planting to maintenance, proper lawn care in the spring consists of a long list of responsibilities.

To give your lawn the care and treatment it deserves after a freezing Maine winter, dethatching and aerating are two of the best things you can do. Depending on the situation, your lawn may only need either aeration or dethatching. In some cases, your lawn might need both.

Dethatching and Aeration

Both dethatching and aeration are treatments that improve the flow of nutrients to the roots of your lawn. However, they do so by fixing different issues with your lawn.

Dethatching is a process that removes excess thatch – the tangled, matted areas – from your lawn so that nutrients, air, and water can reach the soil. In other words, dethatching is a powerful, deep lawn raking.

Aeration is an efficient method of breaking and treating the soil so that the lawn and the soil under it can breathe. The lawn patches that have constant foot traffic require lawn aeration more frequently than more out-of-the-way areas do.

Although both treatments are used for different issues, the results achieved are quite similar.

When to aerate and dethatch?

There are several ways you can determine if your lawn needs to be dethatched, aerated or both.

Lawn dethatching should be done if your lawn has grown over 1.5 inches tall. It is also helpful for addressing the following conditions:

Invading weeds
Spongy ground
Lawn that is springy to the touch
Thinning grass
Dry spots
Fading color
Insects and fungal diseases

Lawn aeration is helpful for addressing the following conditions:

Hard soil
Thinning grass
Brown patches
Improper drains
Invading weeds
Yellow grass, slow growth
Stressed shrubs

If you are both dethatching and aerating your lawn, we recommend that you dethatch first to remove debris, dead grass and other organic matter. Once your lawn has been dethatched it makes aeration much easier.

Get in touch with us

If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us at (207) 712-5554. Our team of experts at AC Yard Services are here to guide you and help take care of your lawn dethatching and aeration needs.

What Plants Can Survive Maine’s Harsh Winter

February 16, 2022 by Peter Anania Leave a Comment

Winter in Maine can be pretty harsh. Lack of sunlight, piles of snow and below freezing temperatures make life hard for plants. While it might be difficult for plants to survive outdoors, it doesn’t mean you cannot liven up your indoor living space with fresh greenery and colorful flowers.

Are you curious to find out which plants can thrive in an indoor setting during winter? Well, you’re in the right place. Here are some plants you can keep in any corner of your home to enjoy year-around perks without feeling the need to buy winter-specific plants.

1) Cacti

Cacti are the subset of succulents and have properties to store water in roots, leaves and stems. The fleshy plants are more adjustable to the cold than any other plant of this type; hence, seating them in a pot can be an excellent planting idea. Adding them at any place in your home will give an exotic touch. You can try keeping mini cacti on your work table. These plants need to be watered once in a while and they can survive with only a few hours of exposure to direct sunlight during winter.

2) Pine Tree

Potted pines can be brought inside for several weeks at freezing temperature for decor purposes, so you adore the daily dose of aroma paddling around your home. You can add one or more small pine trees to any corner of your home.

3) Winterberries

Winterberries are the iconic winter plants that will add a charm to your house giving your space an exotic feel. They can be used for decor and can add cool colors to your living room. Try placing a mini winterberry plant somewhere in your kitchen. We recommend you provide them with sunlight for at least four hours daily.

4) Snake Plant

The plant with the best chance of survival in winters is the Snake Plant. Place it at the entrance of your house to add an elegant touch to it. You don’t have to worry about watering it daily. You can even ignore it for a week under the shade in any corner and its long straight leaves will still remain fresh.

5) Poinsettia or Christmas Flower

Poinsettia or Christmas flowers are the top sellers during the winter months. Associated with a pine-like terpenic scent, they only need a maximum of six hours of indirect sunlight each day. Christmas Flowers come in various colors giving a cozy vibe to your home.

No matter which of the above-mentioned plants you choose to beautify your indoor setting this winter, they will surely brighten up your space with minimal care and management.

Get in Touch

If you are still confused about which plants to pick for your space, get in touch with us at (207) 712-5554. Our team of experts at AC Yard Services would love to help you out.

AC Yard Services: Our New Brand

January 11, 2022 by Peter Anania Leave a Comment

Our New Brand

We are delighted to launch our new brand with refreshed enthusiasm but with the same vision of fulfilling the residential landscaping needs of our customers and providing them with the best service all year round. Over the past 14+ years, AC Yard Services has been known for its professionalism and reliability. We are excited to take the next step in our journey as a company and give our brand a much needed refresh.

Why a New Brand?

Being an annual landscaping service provider, we find it important to highlight that we have specific services for each season along with our annual services. That is why we are rebranding by using colors of Maine’s changing seasons.

In the bloomy spring season, we add to the aesthetics of your lawns by planting flowers, plants and shrubbery besides providing cleaning and landscaping services. In the summers we continue to provide lawn mowing services, shrub pruning, planting of seasonal flowers and we are also available to help you out with your summer projects. The fall season is no different; our focus shifts towards cleaning and lawn aeration and preparing your lawn for the cold winter months. Our winters are mainly occupied with helping homeowners by providing them plowing services.

The New Website

Our new website includes modern features and exciting insights that emphasize our brand. We have integrated an interesting feature that changes the color of our logo and the website’s theme as the seasons’ change.

The sole purpose of introducing different themes and colors in our branding is to provide a unique look and feel to our website so that it represents our range of services and our annual commitment to our customers.

We have exercised extra effort in making our website more convenient for visitors and have made it mobile-friendly to enhance our clients’ overall experience!

Rebranded Trucks!

One of our favorite transformations in this rebranding project were the trucks. We want people to associate landscaping services with our brand and our clients should feel proud for being connected with us as well as differentiate ourselves from our competitors.

Annual & Seasonal Plans

With our annual plan getting popular and the number of annual services clients increasing, the demand for seasonal plans have also increased. We are committed to serving our customers in the changing seasons of Maine. We are offering redefined summer and winter plans for those who only need a little help with their seasonal needs.

Get Started

Already excited to learn more about our new seasonal plans? Feel free to schedule an appointment to learn more about the new brand. Get in touch with us at (207) 712-5554 to connect with our incredibly professional team.

End of Summer Yard Maintenance

August 17, 2021 by Peter Anania

End of Summer Yard Maintenance

Have you started thinking about packing your patio furniture and doing some end-of-summer yard maintenance? With fall on the horizon, this is the best time to rejuvenate your yard and have it prepared for the season to follow.

As lawn care professionals, we wanted to give you some insights on how you can prepare your yard for the colder months ahead:

Mowing Your Lawn

It is important to keep mowing your lawn towards the end of the summer, even if the grass is no longer growing at a rapid pace. With temperatures dropping, do not forget to adjust your watering schedule.

Prepare with Care

Before fall begins, trim branches and bushes that look unhealthy. It helps them grow back stronger next year and you would have less leaves to take care of as the weather turns colder.

Add a Good Layer of Mulch

Adding a fresh layer of mulch makes your yard look neat and it helps suppress the growth of weeds. Mulching also keeps water and nutrients close to plant roots providing the roots with the essentials they need to thrive throughout fall.

Aeration is Important

The summer sun makes the soil hard and compact making it difficult for grass roots to absorb water, air and other nutrients. With aeration loosening the soil, the roots have access to all the nutrients they need to survive and thrive. The best time to have your lawn aerated is either late summer or early fall.

From barbeques to summer parties, your lawn has endured a lot of activity this summer. Now is the time for your lawn to receive the care it needs to make it through the upcoming fall season.

At AC Yard Services, we provide comprehensive yard maintenance services. From mulching and mowing to aeration and fall clean-ups, we truly do it all to have your yard ready for the colder months ahead. Get in touch to discuss your end of summer yard maintenance needs!

Save Time by Hiring Us for Yard Work

July 15, 2021 by Peter Anania

Save Time by Hiring Us

A well-maintained yard requires a lot of time and energy. You might think that a few lawnmower rounds are enough to make your lawn look sharp. But that is rarely the case. It can take long, tedious hours before your yard starts looking remotely like what you want, in some cases. However, with a landscaping company, you can pass on this responsibility to the professionals. Hiring people to fix up your yard will free up your summer, and will make your property look incredible.

Here is how working with AC Yard Services will help you save time and will get you desired results this summer!

HIRING PROFESSIONALS WILL FREE UP YOUR SUMMER TIME

The average homeowner often has to dedicate several hours a week to yard maintenance. From cleaning up lawn clippings to mulching the garden beds, a long list of tasks needs to be completed for the upkeep of your lawn. This can take up a significant amount of time, which you could be spending with your family and enjoying the wonderful Maine summer weather instead.

Let us save you the precious time and effort. Imagine how much backbreaking work and time spent shopping for products and equipment this can save you! And your yard will look professionally maintained to boot.

YOUR PROPERTY WILL BE PROFESSIONALLY MAINTAINED

Our team can certainly meet your yard maintenance needs! With our vast property services, we offer a one-stop solution to all our clients. Our professional crew will make sure your lawn is lush and green. From mulching to pruning, from grading to landscaping, we truly do it all.

WHAT’S NEXT?

Now is the perfect time to work with a professional and experienced yard service for your residential or commercial property. You can save your valuable summer time with our services. Our expert team will keep your outdoor space looking sharp and well-kept these upcoming months, when everyone is spending time outside.

Whether you want a monthly service or a one-time yard clean up, remember we are here for you. Just give us a call at (207) 712-5554 to get a customized plan, and we will make sure your yard servicing needs are taken care of.