LES Blog

Notes From the Field

Real tree, erosion control, and stormwater jobs from across Central Florida — what we ran into on site, what we did about it, and why. Written by the crew that did the work.

A massive moss-covered oak leader lying across a parked car in an apartment complex parking lot in Daytona Beach, Florida, with the roof and driver's side crushed

Arborist & Tree Risk

A Tree Leader Failed Onto a Parked Car in Daytona Beach. Nobody Was In It. That Part Was Luck.

The canopy was green. The trunk looked solid from the parking lot. Then a leader the size of a small tree tore out of it, came down across the driver's door of a resident's car, and left a cavity you could put your arm into. Here is what that failure was telling us, and why nobody saw it coming from the ground.

August 1, 20269 min read

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ISA Certified Arborist measuring the diameter at breast height of an oak with a diameter tape during a tree assessment in Central Florida

Arborist & Tree Risk

Florida's Tree Removal Law Is Not the Free Pass Everybody Thinks It Is

I get asked about this law almost every week, usually by somebody who has already been told they do not need a permit. Most of the time they are wrong, and the reason is one word in the statute that nobody reads carefully.

August 1, 20268 min read

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Tree protection fencing installed around the critical root zone of a mature live oak on an active Central Florida construction site at sunset

Arborist & Tree Risk

The Tree You Killed During Construction Does Not Die Until Year Four

The tree makes it through construction, gets its certificate of occupancy photo, and dies three years later. Everybody blames drought. It was the grading, and the damage was done in an afternoon.

August 1, 20268 min read

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Properly installed perimeter silt fence on a Central Florida construction site for erosion and sediment control compliance

Erosion & Sediment Control

Silt Fence in Florida: Why So Much of It Fails Inspection, and What the DEP Actually Requires

Half the silt fence I inspect would not survive a serious look. Here is what the DEP actually requires, why most of it fails, and what it costs a contractor when it does.

July 8, 20267 min read

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Graded granite riprap being placed over filter fabric along a Central Florida lakefront shoreline, with a stormwater outfall pipe and silt fence protecting the lake during installation

Riprap & Shoreline Stabilization

Riprap Installation on a Central Florida Lakefront: How We Stopped a Shoreline From Washing Into the Lake

A lakefront bank was losing ground to every storm and boat wake and dumping soil straight into the water. Here is how we rebuilt it with filter fabric and graded granite riprap, and why it will hold.

July 8, 20266 min read

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Have a tree or site problem like one of these?

Send us the property address and a few photos and we'll tell you what it actually needs — and what it doesn't.

Request a Proposal Call 407-502-6476

Need a tree risk assessment, erosion control, shoreline stabilization, or stormwater BMP support in Central Florida? Call 407-502-6476 or request a proposal from Local Environmental Services, serving Seminole, Orange, Lake, and Volusia counties.