What types of activities are involved in preparing for winter?
Right now we’re putting plants to bed and taking care of other maintenance projects such as pruning, taking out planting beds, cutting back perennials, taking out annuals, turf care, and top-dressing the athletic fields. At the same time we’re preparing our equipment for snow and ice removal and ordering de-icing compounds. Our annual goal is to have the equipment 50 percent ready by the end of October and 100 percent ready by November 15. Right now, there’s no question; if it snows, we’re ready to go. Last winter was one of the coldest and snowiest the Rochester area has experienced in many years. What was the biggest challenge for the snow removal teams last year? There were 179 days between the first and last snowfalls of the past winter. So, definitely, it was a very long winter. Probably the biggest problem we had, in addition to fatigue from working such long hours, was the extended number of days of single-digit temperatures. In extreme cold, de-icing compounds are not as effect
