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Inspecting new trees and palms at a home inside an HOA community

New planting assessmentMonitor

An initial assessment of every new palm and tree.

Species, size, grade, planting depth, root ball, staking and irrigation, checked against the plan and Florida Grades and Standards. The findings go to you, before or after you accept. Acceptance is between you and your installer.

Request a new planting assessmentAdd it to a Master Plan
Grade
Florida No. 1 when the plan names none
Window
Within 30 days of planting
Outcome
Pass, fix and recheck, or reject
Then
Tracked for decline and loss
Request a new planting assessment

What we see in the field

The cheapest time to refuse a bad palm is on the truck.

Refusing a defective plant at the gate costs a delivery slot. Accepting it costs the planting, years of care, and the removal and replacement when the defect shows up.

The faults we look for: palms set too deep, buried flares, a collapsed spear, frass at the crown, a root ball that crumbles, stakes nailed into a trunk, bubblers on one side of the ball. Jeff Kaulbars is a certified Landscape Inspector through the Landscape Inspectors Association of Florida (LIAF), trained to grade plant material to the state standard and inspect against the landscape plan.

A newly planted tree is the most expensive tree to lose twice: once to buy, once to replace.

Jeff Kaulbars recording findings on a phone beside a team member with a tablet
In the fieldJeff Kaulbars recording what he sees on the spot, so every plant has a record.

How we do it

From the truck to established.

  1. Delivery inspection

    On the day, before planting. Grades are verified at delivery.

  2. Installed inspection

    After planting and within 30 days, inside the state's 30-day regrading window.

  3. Outcome per plant

    Pass, fix and recheck, or reject. You accept or refuse. The installer fixes or replaces.

  4. Recheck and map

    Failed items rechecked. Every plant mapped, with the date we first assessed it.

  5. Track decline and loss

    Graded at each visit. A written notice the day we find one declining or dead. A closing report at the end.

What is included

What a new planting assessment covers.

  • Delivery inspection

    Stock checked on the truck before it is planted: species, size and grade against the plan, defects, disease and pest signs. Canary Island date palm crowns are checked before any frond is trimmed.

  • Installed inspection

    After planting, before or after you accept: planting depth, flare, root ball, staking, irrigation and mulch, plus a second look at the stock.

  • Graded to the state standard

    Florida Fancy, Florida No. 1, Florida No. 2 or Cull, verified on the plant's condition that day. On a Cull, we recommend refusing it.

  • A finding per plant

    Pass, fix and recheck, or reject, as our finding and recommendation, reviewed by an ISA Certified Arborist, in a report that lists every plant. No sign-off unless you ask for one in writing.

  • Recheck

    After the installer fixes a failed item, we recheck that item. Rechecks are dated records, never overwrites.

  • Mapped and dated

    Each assessed palm and tree goes into our GIS inventory with its ID and photo. The date we first assess it opens its record.

Priced on its own lineSupplying, planting, staking, watering or replacing plants (the installer's), lab fees, and establishment care.

Next stepRequest a new planting assessmentorbuild it into a 10-year Master Plan

Dead and declining tracking

Then we watch every install for decline and loss.

We record the date we first assess each new palm and tree. Every tracked palm and tree is graded and photographed from the same points at each visit.

When we find one declining or dead, it goes to you in writing with its ID, status, likely cause and how sure we are, the photos, the date we first assessed it and the date we found it. The notice says: "This tree died. It might be under your warranty."

We do not know or track the installer's warranty terms or dates, and we make no claims. The warranty and acceptance are between you and your installer. A replacement gets its own initial assessment.

Install faults we rule out before any disease call

  • Planting depth
  • A buried flare or a mulch volcano
  • Staking damage
  • Irrigation that is off, short or not reaching the ball
  • Compacted soil

What an inspection finds

Small install faults turn into dead trees later.

Each of these is cheap to fix on install day and costly to find years later. They are what we look for in the initial assessment.

Nylon rope still wrapped around the base. It should come off at planting. Left on, it tightens as the trunk grows.
Rope left onNylon rope still wrapped around the base. It should come off at planting. Left on, it tightens as the trunk grows.
The same tree: planted too deep, then mulch piled over the flare.
Too deepThe same tree: planted too deep, then mulch piled over the flare.
Roots that circled in the nursery pot keep circling in the ground. As they thicken, they choke the trunk.
Circling rootsRoots that circled in the nursery pot keep circling in the ground. As they thicken, they choke the trunk.
Root systems pulled from containers in a class. Few roots grow out from a circled ball, so the tree can be unstable later.
Root-bound stockRoot systems pulled from containers in a class. Few roots grow out from a circled ball, so the tree can be unstable later.

Standards we work to

The standards the installer signed up for.

Our lines

  • Culls: we recommend refusing them.
  • A palm buried more than 6 in: reject.
  • Active lethal bronzing zone on the property: no new palms in or next to it until it is cleared.
  • Confirmed Fusarium wilt site: no Phoenix or queen palm as the replacement.
  • Substitutes are your call and the landscape architect's. We do not approve them.
  • We promise the inspection, not the plant's survival.
Florida Grades and Standards for Nursery Plants (FDACS)

Four grades: Florida Fancy, Florida No. 1, Florida No. 2 and Cull. Where Collier code applies, code-required landscaping must be Florida No. 1 or better.

ANSI A300 Part 6, Planting and Transplanting

Flare at or above finished grade. An easily corrected defect may be fixed before the plant is accepted.

ANSI Z60.1, Nursery Stock

Tree root ball size matched to trunk caliper.

LIAF Landscape Inspector certification

Training in plan review, installation, plant identification and grading of plant material.

Sources: Ptolemy New Planting Assessment and Dead and Declining Palm and Tree Tracking specs; Florida Grades and Standards for Nursery Plants, FDACS; ANSI A300 Part 6; ANSI Z60.1; Collier County General Landscape Requirements.

Palm planting depth

How deep a palm sits decides its root grade.

Measured at the root-initiation zone, the point where roots start on the trunk.

Depth below gradeRoot gradeWhat happens
At grade to about 1 inNormalPass
1 to 2 inFairFix and recheck
2 to 4 inPoorFix and recheck
4 to 6 inPoor, correct urgentlyFix and recheck
More than 6 inCriticalReject

On the job

New planting assessment, in the field.

Landscape inspectors grading nursery trees in the field
Grading nursery stock to Florida Grades and Standards, in the field during the LIAF Landscape Inspector class.
An inspector checking planting depth at the base of a container tree
Checking planting depth. The container was likely too small and the tree went in too deep. Many nursery plants arrive below grade.
A cabbage palm on a new install that did not establish
A cabbage palm on a new install that did not establish. On a palm like this we typically recommend removal. Tracking puts a loss like this in front of you, with its dates, the day we find it.

On install day

Big palms, tight sites, heavy machines.

Lifting and moving is where trunks get scarred and root balls break. Every install like these is worth an initial assessment.

A coconut palm craned up to an upper-floor pool deck at a high-rise condo.
By craneA coconut palm craned up to an upper-floor pool deck at a high-rise condo.
A large palm carried to its new spot. We check the trunk and the root ball after the move.
On the forksA large palm carried to its new spot. We check the trunk and the root ball after the move.
A new palm at a commercial building, braced with wood stakes. Braces belong strapped to blocks, never nailed into the trunk.
BracedA new palm at a commercial building, braced with wood stakes. Braces belong strapped to blocks, never nailed into the trunk.
Medjool date palms going in at a commercial building.
Medjool projectMedjool date palms going in at a commercial building.

Trained to the standard

Grading plant material is a learned skill.

Our inspector holds the Landscape Inspector certification from the Landscape Inspectors Association of Florida (LIAF), and we keep going back to class.

A continuing education class on installing a Medjool palm the right way.
Continuing educationA continuing education class on installing a Medjool palm the right way.
Another view of the same Medjool installation class.
Installation classAnother view of the same Medjool installation class.
A continuing education class on taking a palm tissue sample.
Tissue samplingA continuing education class on taking a palm tissue sample.

Who it is for

Written for the people who answer for the trees.

Inside a plan

New planting assessment sits under Monitor.

MonitorManageProtect

On a Palm and Tree Master Plan, every new install gets an initial assessment and the findings are reported to you, at every level of the plan. Each one is then tracked for decline and loss, with the date we first assessed it and the date we find it dead or declining.

The Palm and Tree Master PlanThe Health Program

Questions

Questions managers and boards ask.

Still have a question? Call (239) 467-0142 or send a request.

Isn't this the landscape architect's job?
The landscape architect's certificate and the county's inspection check against code and the plan. Our assessment sits alongside both and replaces neither. It is an independent check of every plant, done for the owner, while defects are still the installer's to fix.
What grade should our plants be?
The grade the plan or contract writes. When none is written, we use Florida No. 1. Where Collier County code applies, code-required landscaping must be Florida No. 1 or better.
What if the installer disagrees with a grade?
Within 30 days after delivery, a party to the installation contract may ask the Division of Plant Industry for a regrading inspection. That is the client's or the installer's right, not ours. We schedule our installed inspection inside that window.
How deep should a palm be planted?
With the root-initiation zone at grade to about 1 in below. A palm 1 to 6 in too deep is fixed and rechecked. More than 6 in is Critical and we recommend rejecting it.
Do you install or replace plants?
No. We inspect, grade, report and track. The installer supplies, plants, stakes, waters and replaces.
Do you track the installer's warranty?
No. We record the date we first assessed each palm and tree and the date we find it dead or declining, and tell you: "This tree died. It might be under your warranty." The warranty terms are between you and your installer.

Next step

New plants arriving soon?

Call before the trucks do. We assess at delivery and again after planting, before or after you accept.

Request a new planting assessmentAdd it to a Master Plan
Or start with a property assessmentCall (239) 467-0142