At award ceremony were , from left to right, partners Timothy McGinley, Jeff Amici, Bruce Fritzinger and Michael McShane

We are so very proud to announce that on Thursday, June 17, 2010, Plantique was presented this year’s Excellence in Business Awards from the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business CouncilChamber EIB Award 2010 Release at a special ceremony held at Northampton Community College. Companies nominated for this award were invited to apply and then judged on customer service, quality planning, leadership, marketing, training and development, and community involvement. Our first time entering, we were the winner among businesses with 26-100 employees.

“We are extremely honored to have won this prestigious award from the Chamber,” says Plantique president and CEO, Michael McShane. “We have always held our staff and our services up to the highest standards possible, which has brought us so many loyal customers year after year, but to be recognized in this way for all these efforts is really very gratifying.”

It was also an honor to share the spotlight with  Haggerty Services LLC,  a  firm that helps nonprofit organizations raise money through grants and special events and the recipient of this year’s award for businesses with up to 25 employees.

Plantique has previously been bestowed the Sales & Marketing Executives International (SMEI) Greater Lehigh Valley’s coveted Best Marketed Company Award and the nationally recognized “Inc. 5,000” by Inc. Magazine. Within the green industry circle, we have received hundreds of landscaping and professional awards, both locally and nationally, over the years. “We are very proud of our long-standing reputation for quality craftsmanship and customer service,” says Mike.  “Even as we have grown and incorporated the latest techniques, technology and machinery to get just about any landscaping project done, our commitment to our clients hasn’t changed.”

Click here for a copy of our news release.

Today’s back-yard spaces have become so much more than a square deck and a charcoal grill.  More than just a square deck and a charcoal grill, today it is more of an extension of the indoor living space.  At Plantique, we are experts at creating outdoor living spaces. And what living space is complete without a place to prepare a meal?

Outdoor kitchens have become a requirement of the outdoor experience.  Think about it, why would you want to confine yourself indoors to cook, when your guests are all outside?   Plantique can create a well-designed and constructed outdoor kitchen, where you can prepare everything from ‘burgers and dogs’, to steaks, boiled seafood and vegetables, homemade pizzas, and all the cocktails to go along with them.  Best of all, you can do all this in the company of your guests, instead of being inside confined to the stove!

Call or email us today to discuss your outdoor kitchen, and the next time someone tells you ‘well-done,’ it won’t be just about their hamburger!  Mike Wimmer

Are you energetic and good with tools?  Do it yourself landscaping may be a great way to improve your home, raise it’s value, and have a great outdoor living area or gardens.  The key to success is having a great, well thought out landscape plan.  Making proper selections on plants and landscape materials, is necessary to create a project that will keep its function and value over time.  If  it is your first effort, having a step by step game plan will save a lot of wasted time, work, and money.   Getting the right materials, in the correct quantity, and at the time you want can be difficult.  Working with a professional and purchasing materials in blocks with phased delivery times can save many headaches and be cheaper in the long run.  It also will let you use your work time efficiently.  Done right, this can be a very rewarding  and enjoyable experience.

#1- Our Level of Experience and Education-                 Sixty-two years in business coupled with over 80 years of design/architect knowledge is coupled with an installation team that has an average tenure of 12 years. We have been doing this for a long time and our expertise shows! The home owner is the beneficiary of our extra efforts.

#2- Uniqueness of Designs-                                                                                                                                                             No two designs are alike because each client has a unique set of needs for their property. All factors are taken into consideration to make each and every project distinct. Plans are created to  exactly match home owner preferences.

#3- Quality of a Projects Outcome-                                                                                                                                                        No corners are cut and we fulfill our obligation to each and every customer regardless of size or scope. The founder of this company instilled a culture at Plantique, that no expense is spared when it comes to meeting those goals. We do things VERY differently.

#4- Length and Quality of Warranty-                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Plantique stands behind it’s work unconditionally. Our commitment to to the long term viability of our plants and hardscapes is, without question the best in the industry. The customer service department maintains a ‘no questions asked’ policy when it comes to honoring the landscapes we install

#5- Ability to Start and Complete a Project Quickly and Timely-                                                                                                                                                                         The size and breadth of Plantique allows us to run multple projects at the same time. Our staff, equipment and rsources assure that we can meet any deadline on budget, without sacrificing quality.

#6- Selection and Quality of Plant Material-                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Our sixteen acre nursery is stocked with the hardiest  and most unique plant material in the region. Our on staff horticulturist, Jake has taken years of nursery visits to locate several dozen top-of-the-line plant nurseries with which we do business.

#7- Total Project Costs-                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Plantique has the necessary means to offer such a vast array of services provides economies of scale that are passed on to our clients. Our ability to handle every phase of any outdoor project saves our clients both time and money. We have been competitive in all areas and our clients are always pleased with the outstanding value they receive.

#8- Interaction with Clients-                                                Our staff, beginning with the office personel and ending with our maintenance crews are friendly, curteous and professional. We engage our clients and they become involved in the process from design to completion. Communication throughout the process keeps our customers informed and involved.

#9- Aftercare-                                                                                                                                                                                            We care as much about your landscaping as you do! We are always interested to watch “our plants” grow, mature and bloom. We take the time to drive by to look at progress, even years after planting. To that end our aftercare division offers a wide array of services that will maintain and protect your investment, while offering suggestions.

#10- Passion-                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   We care a great deal about the quality of our workmanship and the ongoing progress of our work. We are extremely serious about making customers not just happy, but delighted with their landscape. Our passion shows in everything we do and that is a quality that Plantique takes great pride in.

Contact us today to find out how you can learn more about                            The Plantique Experience

I found a recent article that describes 5  Home Improvement To Do in 2010. This is a great article about improving the energy efficiency of your home to make it greener. I thought linking to it would be a great blog entry to kick off the new year. Even though it doesn’t address  landscaping, it highlights changes to make your house more energy efficient. 

There are, however, a number of Green benefits that professional landscaping provides:

Professional landscaping improves a property’s resale value. A study by the American Nursery and Landscape Association found that beautiful landscapes can increase property value by seven to 14 percent and can accelerate the sale of a home by five to six weeks.

Landscaping also adds energy efficiency to your home. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, carefully positioned trees can cut as much as 25% off a household’s energy consumption for heating and cooling. Properly designed landscapes promote healthy living by filtering outdoor noise and improving air quality, as well as providing safe habitats for wildlife.

Landscaping also enhances a property’s aesthetic value and creates a desirable living environment. We are spending more time at home than ever, and the benefits of adding an outdoor room to your home is appreciated instantly.

This is all important information as we trend towards sustainability. “contact our design team today”  tolearn how Plantique can help you ‘Go Green in 2010′.

We are so proud to be a part of the Lehigh Valley’s newest sporting tradition that we are celebrating with great Labor Day Weekend giveaways at Coca Cola Park. Come out to the IronPigs home game on Sept. 5 against the Buffalo Bison and enter for your chance to win great prizes from Plantique.  Just stop by our booth anytime during the event and enter our free drawing. You could win

• a shade tree (installed)
• lawn aeration
• Express Mulch service
• a garden design consultation.

Together these great prizes total more than $1,500, but you can win one of them just by filling out an entry form.  To find out more, click here.

We can’t wait to see you at Coca Cola Park on Sept. 5. Let’s go Pigs!

image courtesy of IronPigs Baseball

Plantique’s got a new blog. Some people might think this is strange for a regional landscape design/build company, but we see it as the natural progression of our long-standing commitment to customer service and community involvement.

That being said, I have a confession to make.

I’ve seen a lot of exciting new technology come into the Green industry during my 25 years with Plantique. I’m sure Ted Fritzinger, who founded our company from the backyard of his house in Allentown in 1948, will tell you he’s saw some amazing innovations during his day as well. CAD software, computerized estimating programs, patterned concrete and power blown mulch, just to name a few, have helped our architects, designers and installation specialists deliver the highest quality landscaping at the best prices. All of this technology we have welcomed and integrated readily. But writing a blog? Now that’s a little daunting to me. But since this is a great forum for connecting with our customers and Lehigh Valley neighbors, all of us here, including our design, installation, maintenance and Forever Green tree, shrub & lawncare teams, are going to be taking turns creating posts that will be of interest and use to you.

Enjoy this blog, and please email us with any suggestions for future postings. Be sure to check back here regularly for landscaping and gardening tips, valuable information on sustainable landscaping practices, photos of jobs we’ve completed in and around the Lehigh Valley, as well as our own company news and events. As always, you can visit our Web site for more great stuff, too.

Thanks for stopping by,

Michael D. McShane, Plantique president & CEO

(The above photo is of my yard, which sometimes serves as a testing ground for new products and trends. Lucky me!)