Internal Job Posting

February 10th, 2022

Employment Dates: 4/1/2024 – 12/15/2024
REQUIREMENTS:
Must lift/carry 50 lbs. when necessary. Saturday and Sunday work required, when
necessary. Employer-paid drug testing required of foreign and domestic workers
prior to commencing work and post-hire at random, upon suspicion of use, and
post-accident. Post-hire background check required of foreign and domestic
workers. Requires three months of previous landscape experience.
JOB DESCRIPTION:
Landscape or maintain grounds of property using hand or power tools or equipment. Workers must be able to perform a variety of tasks without close supervision,
which may include any combination of the following: sod laying, trimming, planting, digging, raking, and mulching; assist with sprinkler installation and installation of
mortarless segmental concrete masonry wall units. Must exercise independent judgment; may be asked to demonstrate tasks to other employees but position does
not include supervision of other workers.
WORK LOCATION(S):
1213 East 24th street, Lawrence, KS 66046 and multiple worksites within Jackson(MO), Wyandotte(KS), Shawnee(KS), Johnson(KS) and Douglas(KS) counties. No
daily transportation to/from workers’ home and primary worksite. Such transportation complies with all applicable Federal, State, and local laws/regulations. Employer
provides incidental transport between job sites.
WAGE & WORK SCHEDULE:
Wage rate is no less than $17.47 per hour. Overtime hours vary at $26.21 /hr. Raises and/or bonuses may be offered at employer’s discretion, based on individual
factors such as performance, skill, and tenure.
A single workweek will be used to compute wages due. The payroll period is bi-weekly. Workers are paid by check on Friday.
The standard workday is from 8:00 AM until 4:30 PM Monday through Friday. Employer will offer 40 hours per week. Employer may offer more than the stated work
hours, depending on weather, business needs, and other conditions. Extreme heat, cold, rain, or drought may affect working hours.
Employer makes all payroll deductions required by law. Employer does not envision other workforce-wide payroll deductions. Voluntary deductions must be preauthorized in writing and may include the following: Employer deducts reasonable fair market value cost of rent/utilities based on number of occupants for workers
electing to reside in employer-provided housing (cost TBD).
OTHER TERMS:
Employer pays in advance or reimburses workers in the first workweek for all government-mandated and visa-related fees (excluding passport fees). For non-local
workers (i.e., residing outside normal commuting distance), employer will reimburse inbound travel costs not already paid in advance no later than upon completion of
the first half of the contract (the 50 percent point). Inbound travel includes transportation costs from worker’s permanent residence or place of recruitment to the place
of employment, a daily subsistence for meals, and reasonable lodging costs, if applicable. Subsistence reimbursements based on rates specified in the Federal
Register (currently $15.88 per day minimum, or $59.00 per day maximum for workers with acceptable receipts). Transportation reimbursements based on worker’s
actual cost, not to exceed the most economical common carrier transportation costs for distances involved. Employer provides or pays outbound travel costs to same
workers upon completion of the contract period or early dismissal, except where the worker has subsequent employment.
Employer guarantees to offer hours equal to at least three-fourths of the workdays in each 12-week period of the total contract period, beginning with the first workday
after the worker arrives at the place of employment and ending on the contract end date or any extension thereof. Employer may count all hours worked, as well as
any hours offered within the standard work schedule that a worker chooses to not work, up to the maximum number of daily hours on the job order.
Workers who voluntarily abandon employment are not entitled to payment for outbound travel costs or the full three-fourths period guarantee described above.
Employer will provide without charge company-specific uniform and all tools, supplies and equipment necessary to perform duties assigned.
If requested, employer helps non-local workers secure optional worker-paid lodging.
APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS:
To apply, contact employer at nic@reeddillonlandscape.com or apply at the job
order holding office: Lawrence Workforce Center, 2920 Haskell Ave Ste 2
Lawrence, KS 66046, phone (785) 840-9675.
Interested applicants may also inquire within: Attn: Nic Dannevik.

Rural project

July 8th, 2015

One of the projects that I am currently developing is close to my heart- It is a parcel of land where my wife and I would like to build our final house. We found it by looking at rustic parcels on the edge of town from aerial photographs. After identifying one possibility, we pursued it with the current owner and were able to purchase it for a reasonable price. It had a lot going for it: close proximity to town, access to paved roads, complete privacy, some great existing trees and an existing (although drained) pond. It also had some issues- the upper flat portion (about 4 acres) was completely covered with cedar trees, and there was an abandoned house that had mostly collapsed and needed to be removed. In order to actually see the property, we started by removing the house and its foundation and septic tank, and bulldozing the majority of the cedar trees, just keeping the significant ones. We cleaned out and deepened the pond, and rebuilt the dam that had been opened up a long time ago. The end result of the demolition phase was just what we were seeking- a property that featured groupings of trees with wide open spaces between them, one large sentinel red oak, and two rows of mature cedars that create an interesting tension in the gap between them. The pond covers three fourths of an acre and is sixteen feet deep at its deepest, and is spring fed in the rainy season.

Presented with large expanses of raw topsoil, I knew that I needed to get the ground layer under control quickly. Given the rural feel, this landscape needs to be very different from my current garden- softer, gentler, and very low maintenance, without any necessary irrigation. I turned to a Nebraska seed company called Stock Seed Farms that specializes in native grasses and wildflowers, and purchased their Roadside Mix. This is a mix of both native and introduced wildflowers, and short prairie grasses.

I hired a grading company to smooth out the exposed soil, and they then drilled the seed into the soil and covered it with a thin layer of native grass hay. We then waited for the spring rains… which never really came. It finally started raining in late June and early July, and while a few things bloomed sparingly (there is an annual wildflower component that will bloom the first year included in the mix), not a lot was happening, and I was a little apprehensive. However, in mid- August, I noticed that lots of little perennial seedlings had appeared, and seemed to be doing pretty well. Encouraged, I tried to put my concerns aside and wait until the next spring to see what would happen.

Spring 2015:

After a fairly mild and very dry winter, I started waiting and watching the wildflower plants. The first to bloom was Siberian Wallflower, and they bloomed for about two weeks in late April and early May.

They are a somewhat odd color that I wasn’t really expecting, but I found that they were a long lasting flower, and I decided that I liked the color by the end of their bloom. Second to arrive was the Lance Leaf Coreopsis, and it coincided with what ended up being two months of heavy rain. The coreopsis loved all of the moisture, and they bloomed for about three to four weeks.

The fore-mentioned rain really caused all of the wildflowers to just explode, and the show for the past few weeks has been pretty amazing. Right now, it is just a sea of yellow Black Eyed Susan, purple Lemon Balm, yellow and burgundy Dwarf Blanket flower, yellow and red Plains Coreopsis, and burgundy Mexican Hat.

The contrast between the before and after shots, taken a year apart, is pretty amazing. The only negative aspect of this experiment has been the emergence of both yellow and white tall clover, which I don’t like. I have had some of my employees pull a lot of those by hand when it was too wet to do anything else, and it changes the looks of the wildflowers significantly for the better. I’m not sure if they were part of the seed mix, or if those seeds were already lying dormant in the soil. Whatever the source, they tend to overwhelm everything else, so I will continue to try to eradicate them.

It is now the end of June, and the rains have finally stopped. Many varieties of flowers are still in full bloom, and the quick onset of heat in the upper nineties hasn’t seemed to impact the wild flowers at all. I am very excited about the progress that has been made in creating this beautiful, low maintenance landscape, and I will continue to update the seasons as they progress.

Climbing Hydrangea

March 23rd, 2015

I have always used my personal garden as an experiment- trying different plant varieties, different plant combinations and always looking for atypical plants that will do well in our high plains environment. We are blessed with cold, often dry winters (which are brutal for broadleaf evergreens like boxwood or azaleas), searing heat in summer, but a beautiful spring and fall. Rainfall is rarely dependable, and the occasional tornado will rumble through. In short, not an easy garden environment.

That being said, there are lots of beautiful, interesting plants that will thrive here, and one of my favorites is climbing hydrangea (Hydrangea petiolaris). I have four vines planted on the north facing wall of my living room in raised limestone planters. The planters were open to the soil below on the bottom, so the roots had lots of room to expand. We completed the house in 1998, and the fact that it was new construction put to rest any concerns that I had about damaging the stucco. If this was a fifty year old house with original stucco in questionable shape, or a similarly aged brick or stone house with decaying mortar, I might have thought differently about growing a self-attaching vine. I’m sure that a lot of architects out there might disagree, but I see nothing wrong with using vines on new brick, stone or stucco houses. Wood siding is another matter- I wouldn’t ever plant any sort of vine on wood. The leaves hold in moisture and would hasten the decay of the siding. Vines that are woven through a metal trellis that is attached to the house (but removable) are the only way to go with a wood house.

My vines have performed admirably, for the most part climbing to the top of that wall. One is sort of my problem child- it will grow up three or four feet in a summer, and then peel away from the house and have to be cut back. No particular rhyme or reason for this- it is the exact same environment for all four vines. As a result, it is about eight feet shorter than the rest, but it has blended well and doesn’t look particularly out of place. Interestingly, the vine that was planted in an inside corner grew the fastest by far- one stem grew straight up in that corner to the top of the wall in about three seasons, and branched out horizontally really well.

You can see in the photos how the plants look in the blooming season in the spring, and in the fall. The blooms are large, and are held out from the wall anywhere from twelve to eighteen inches. They aren’t particularly long lasting (maybe a week and a half) but very showy. The fall color isn’t always dependable, but can turn a beautiful yellow. Birds like robins and mourning doves like to nest in it, and I have had ducks nest under the boxwoods planted at the base of the vines (as well as five foot long black snakes in pursuit of the duck eggs). I love the look of the vines, and feel that they give this part of my garden a very romantic, established feel. When viewed from inside the living room, the greenery that extends out from the wall frames the view through those large arch top doors, and makes you feel that you are very much a part of the garden. If you have the proper environment and are interested, I would wholeheartedly recommend the plant.

Welcome

March 17th, 2015

As many of you know, it is now customary for design websites to have blogs…. Witty, inspiring blogs, beautifully illustrated with spectacular photographs, filled with pearls of wisdom that will inspire and entertain all who read them. I read several blogs regularly, and I am often impressed with the amount of research, work and time that goes into producing successful ones. I am hesitant to embark on such an endeavor, because I have some idea of just how much time is involved, and the luxury of free time is one thing that I lack. Nonetheless, I have promised myself that this is something to which I am committed, and I will do my best to come up with topics, photos and research that I hope will at least entertain you, and at best leave you knowing more than you did before. My company is dedicated to designing and installing beautiful gardens, and we are lucky to have wonderful clients with both generous budgets and the desire to create something unique and beautiful. Out of respect for their privacy, I won’t ever share details of their lives, but I will share photographs of some of the wonderful gardens of which we have had a hand in creating, and tell you about some of the challenges that we have faced while designing gardens on the high plains of Kansas and Missouri.