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GARDEN GALS
GardenGals204-325-2254 info@mordennurseries.com GardenGals
Spring is here and we are all excited to see our lawns and gardens come to life! Here are a few ways you can help your dormant shrubs and trees bounce back after winter.
• Give your plants time in spring to wake up.
Some stay dormant longer and trick people into thinking they are dead when they are not.
• To check if your deciduous trees and shrubs have life in them, scratch the bark starting at the tips and work your way to the trunk/base to see if it is green underneath. If it is green, the plant is still alive, so give it time!
• Anything on the deciduous trees and shrubs that is brown is considered dieback and should be pruned. Dead, damaged and diseased wood should always be removed and be pruned at any time it is seen.
• Pruning will stimulate sap flow and will often force out new growth.
• Do not hesitate to cut a plant back quite far, they will often regrow beautifully. Early spring flowering shrubs, such as lilacs, produce flower buds in the fall and should be pruned once they are finished flowering. • The lack of rainfall over the last couple of years, and very little snow cover this past winter, may affect how we see our plants perform this spring. Make sure, in the absence of regular and sufficient rainfall, to give all your plants a good soak to replenish the deep moisture they are missing.
• Early spring is a great time to transplant when the plants are still dormant. Once the new growth starts to emerge you want to leave them in place as they are actively growing.
Superior Seamless Exteriors has been providing the Pembina Valley with their premier exterior products since 1986 and have made a commitment to continually improve their services to the communities around them. This last year has brought big and exciting changes to the company as they have moved into their new, expanded location, while also merging with a well known company in the area, NCD Roofing. The partnership has proven to make the two companies stronger together, complimenting each other’s strengths and has produced a more complete overall product and a better customer experience. In 2006, Bill Fast along with his business partner, decided to start a small construction company together with the initial goal of offering the services of building, renovations and roofing. It didn’t take long for them to realize that trying to do everything was too much, and decided that they needed to specialize in an area. Focusing on roofing became the logical choice and the young company shifted its focus to a more manageable endeavour. The second year saw Bill and his business partner go separate ways, and with jobs starting to roll in, it left him in desperate need of help. “I had all these jobs lined up for spring, but I didn’t have anybody to work for me” said Bill. One day while out for coffee, Bill asked some acquaintances at the coffee shop if they knew anyone looking for a roofing job. It turned out that one of the men there had a nephew who was looking to get hired on to a roofing crew. Within the hour Bill had hired him. He turned out to be the gift that kept on giving, as he also had a friend who wanted a job, and the three of them were able to keep up with work coming in.
The question always on our mind is how to grow in a way that plays to our strengths
As the season went on, a powerful hail storm would make the company busier than they expected, as claim after claim was made and work became non-stop. “These two guys asked their other friends if they would also come work for us” said Bill, as the second year marked a steep growing period for NCD. “After that year, I never had a problem getting workers” said Bill as the company became a desirable place of employment.
“We were mainly focused on roofing at that time” said Bill, whose goal has always been to offer quality work delivered in as short a time as possible. “A lot of people like our services because we don’t take long to do a project” said Bill, who explained that the more time it takes being up on the roof and walking on the fresh shingles, the more damage it does to the new roof. Bill can thank the constant hail storms of southern Manitoba for his continued growth, as they brought more and more work each year. “Almost every year our growth had something to do with hail claims” said Bill. After a few years of the company concentrating on roofing, Bill figured out that he would need to expand his services if he wanted to keep getting jobs from hail claims. “When people wanted quotes for a job, they wanted the roofing, eaves troughs, siding and whatever else was damaged to also be done at the same time” said Bill. “If we only wanted to do roofing, they would hire someone else who would do everything.” This propelled NCD to further grow towards being able to complete the whole exterior in order to keep up with the industry. NCD has also been able to work with many different insurance companies over the years and would become a trusted name when recommending a company to complete the work for a claim.
STRONGER TOGETHER
SHINGLES SIDING
By 2011, NCD became in need of a permanent home, and were able to find a suitable shop on Cargill Street in Winkler. After a few years they realized that the location was getting too small when they could no longer fit their increasing number of trucks and trailers on the parking lot, and began looking for something that would fit their growing business. “The old Manitoba Hydro building came up for sale during this time” explained Bill, “we put in a bid and were lucky to get it.” The building was in an ideal location on Manitoba Road, just off of Hi-way 32 on the south side of Winkler and enough size to fit growing demands. The business continued to expand, as they bought more equipment and ramped up their complementing exterior services beyond roofing.
By the year 2020, Bill had come to a fork in the road with regards to future plans for his business. He had gotten to a place where the operation was becoming too big for just him to operate. He was faced with the decision of either needing to make the jump to the next level of expansion, including hiring more office staff, or sell the business altogether.
“One day I had to hire Superior to do an eaves trough job” said Bill, as his machine wasn’t big enough to handle the job. NCD was no stranger to working in partnership with Superior, especially in the early days of NCD, when part of their initial momentum came from receiving jobs from them. “When I came in to pay the bill, we started talking business, and I told them that I’m in the place of either expanding or looking to sell.” Talk would continue between the two businesses and the decision was made that Superior Seamless Exteriors would take on NCD Roofing, resulting in a win-win situation for both businesses. “The question always on our mind is how to grow in a way that plays to our strengths” said Travis, the owner of Superior. “When we started talking with Bill, it was like a hand in a glove, we knew it was going to work.”
STRONGER TOGETHER
FENCES & DECKS WINDOWS & DOORS
While Superior is used to working with sub-contractors to complete large projects, there are some categories where having their own staff on site to do the work is vital in order to get the job done exactly to the customer’s specifications. “This way we have better customer interaction and a better handle on quality” said Travis, who acknowledges NCD’s reputation for quality work which has been built over the years. The company is also known for their Master Elite Certification with GAF shingles, a premier brand in shingles, allowing them to offer the highest level warranty to their customers. NCD is the only company in the area with this certification to complete warranty jobs backed by GAF which covers both material and labor costs. This is a brand of shingles they have seen time and again to be of the utmost quality on the market. “We have always had the best results with GAF shingles” said Bill, “they result in less warranty jobs and fewer blows-offs than any other brand.”
With the two companies joining forces, NCD will continue to offer the same excellence in their service that customers have come to trust, while still looking to improve as a whole under the umbrella of Superior. “We will continue to move forward with our focus on improving our business by serving our customers better” said Travis, as their core values revolve around a sincere dedication to their customers and the goal to offer them the best quality product available.
Superior is well-known for their seamless steel siding; a unique and durable product that is made on site. This product has no joints, making sure all moisture is kept out. Equally unique is their seamless steel eavestroughs. “We are one of the few companies that run seamless steel eavestroughs” said Travis, explaining that the steel product is more durable and hold its shape better than the more commonly used aluminum. This is due to the increased expansion and contraction rates in aluminum, causing the product to buckle and bend much sooner than its steel equivalent. This is another example of the commitment to quality within their products which sets Superior apart.
Now with the two companies joining together, Superior Seamless Exteriors is able to offer extremely well-rounded exterior services and products like never before, completing the picture of having everything available to provide a customer’s dream project come to life, all under one roof. Visit their showrooms in Winkler and Altona to see their wide range exterior products and materials.
