Landscape Management Blog

Plant in need

2012-01-27T15:49:00.000-05:00

I try to avoid looking at it. Because every time I see it I am racked by guilt. Every day when I arrive to work, there it is -- looking forlorn and woefully neglected: My plant.

It started as a vibrant, hot pink petunia. Now, it's not much of anything. Just look at it. I haven't seen the semblance of a flower in months. And just last week I cut nearly all of its stems and leaves off. It seemed only right. They all had evolved to brown crisps. "Help me!" the plant seemed to be saying. I suppose I could have watered it a little more. OK, a lot more.

My tragic neglect of the plant has given it a staunch following. People around here check up on it daily. They leave shaking their heads. Because despite my desperate attempt to resuscitate it, the plant never shows marked improvement. In fact, I'm not convinced it's still a flowering plant. But those in the know assure me it's definitely not a weed.

I will continue to work hard to bring it back to life. All I can do is keep watering it, I guess. Unless you have better advice? I welcome your feedback. Help me help my plant.

Do our trainers know how to train?

2012-01-23T11:38:00.003-05:00

Another entry from Fred Haskett, Managing Partner – Operations, U.S. Lawns of Westand St. Charles County

Do wereally know how to “Train Our Trainers?

A lot of us are in the midst ofworking on our “Training Programs.” This is an area that, as Ihave talked to different people around the industry is a continuing source ofangst. We live in an information rich environment. There are literally hundredsof places to get technical and business information. At PLANET (the ProfessionalLandcare Network) members are lucky to have at their fingertips: programs,books, videos, DVD’s, CD’s etc. These represent some of the most cutting edgeinformation and data available.

Yet with all of this“STUFF” why is training still a constant source of frustration for us large orsmall?

IN REALITY… (though, welike to think otherwise) … OUR PEOPLE NEVER RISE TOTHE OCCASION … THEY ALWAYS DEFAULT TOTHEIR LEVEL OF TRAINING!!!

I do not think the problem is infinding the RIGHT STUFF. The problem is: Do we, as owners andmanagers, know how to TEACH the RIGHT WAY. To be effective, we astrainers need to be familiar with the nature of the Teaching-Learning Process

Teaching isdirecting the learning process – Motivating – Reinforcing – Satisfying Needs –Creating Interest – all toward the trainees goals.

Learning isthe process by which a trainee, through his own activity, becomes changed inbehavior.

Training Methods arethose techniques (procedures / processes) used by the trainer to instruct thetrainees in the knowledge, skills, and competencies necessary to achieve theobjectives of the lesson.

BEFORE YOU TRY TO TEACH …you should know how people learn.

There are five basic ways inwhich trainees learn. Your job as a teacher / trainer is to select the way orcombination of ways best suited not only to your trainees, but also to theparticular thing being taught.

PEOPLE LEARN BY:

1) Doing: Performing a new job in the same way, with the same toolsand equipment, under the same conditions as they will have to do this task inan actual real-life situation.

2) Thinking: Solving a real-life difficulty or problem: getting thefacts needed to solve it; discussing it with others; arriving at decisions;putting the decisions into action, and testing them.

3) Seeing: Observing a thing beingdone; studying pictures, charts, videos, illustrations, and real objects

4) BeingTold: Getting information and instruction through words – written,spoken, or printed.

5) Being Checked and Corrected: Learning through mistakes brought totheir attention in a positive manner by an alert, competent trainer.

I have found over the years that adults learn their basic and fundamentalskills and tasks best with a combination of these processes. At our company wehave been using the following training process for the past few years and haveseen a definite up-tick in the effectiveness and results from our trainingefforts and events.

The most important thing about this process is that:

… You must utilize itconsistently and in the sequence it is presented in.

…You cannot skip steps and achieve the results you want.

I have found also that providing this simple tool to yourtrainers will make them more comfortable and less fearful of their role as atrainer.

We call it -- SHOW, DO, WATCH, COACH

EFFECTIVE TRAINING PROCESSES AND PROCEDURES

1) WHAT: Explain what it is thatyou are going to train on.

2) WHY: Explain why you do whatyou are going to train on.

3) LISTEN: Have the trainee explain whatand why we do the specific process or procedure.

4) SHOW: Demonstrate to the trainee thespecific process or procedure.

5) DO: Have the trainee demonstrate thespecific process or procedure.

6) WATCH: Observe the trainee demonstratingthe specific process or procedure.

7) COACH: Explain to the trainee what they didright and what they need to correct.

8) SHOW:Repeat the demonstration of the specific process or procedure emphasizingthe areas the trainee needs to correct.

9) DO: Have the traineere-demonstrate the specific process or procedure with the corrections you demonstrated.

10) WATCH: Observe the traineere-demonstrating the specific process or procedure.

11) COACH:Explain to the trainee what they did right and what they need to correct.Repeat steps 8, 9, 10, and as required.

FINALLY … AND MOST IMPORTANTLY

12) PRAISE: Compliment the trainee on theirsuccessful accomplishment.

A Simple Process … that can and will applyto virtually any person or any area of your business.

As we all know … Training is not a full time job itis an all the time job.

If your trainers have the right tools they can get thejob done for your trainees.

The People Have Spoken

2012-01-19T17:25:00.003-05:00

The people have spoken, and they had good news for the California Landscape Contractors Association (CLCA). That's because at the Wild and Scenic Film Festival, held Jan. 15 in Nevada City, CA, the CLCA's documentary, "Rock the Boat," garnered the People's Choice Award. Congrats, CLCA!

The film, which the CLCA sponsored and co-produced, chronicles a group's 51-mile boating expedition down the cement-lined Los Angeles River in 2008. Over the Army Corps of Engineers' objections, the group of 12 coasted down the river on a quest. Their mission: to have the EPA declare the Los Angeles River navigable so it could be eligible for protection under the Clean Water Act. And it ultimately did gain protection under the act, on July 7, 2010.

"We think this movie brings attention to what the river is now and what it could be in the future," said Chuck Carr, the CLCA's director of communications. "With California's water issues, rather than see all the water pushed out to sea, there are lots of ways to harness some of that water for Los Angeles to use."

For more information about the documentary or to see a trailer, visit http://www.rocktheboatfilm.com/.

ASABE to develop new water use standard

2012-01-13T16:44:00.001-05:00

The American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers wants to establish a new standardized process, and it needs your help.

The Society is launching a project that will develop a standardized procedure for determining water available for irrigation use. Those with expertise in irrigation and water issues are encouraged to participate.

Establishing a standardized process would enable landscapers to better address local, regional and national water-related initiatives, the Society stated in a release. It added that the new document will standardize the ways available water resources and irrigation requirements are quantified.

For more information or to participate, contact Travis Tsunemori at travist@asabe.org or 269.932.7009.

The H-2B seasonal guest worker program creates and protects jobs for professional and skilled American workers

2011-12-23T09:35:00.002-05:00

*Editor's Note: Fred Haskett, Managing Partner – Operations, U S Lawns of Westand St. Charles County, offers his thoughts on recent challenges to the H-2B seasonal worker program. Look for more commentary from Fred periodically on the Landscape Management Blog.

A fewdays ago we said goodbye to our H-2B team. This is always bittersweet – we areglad they are going home to be with their families, their sacrifice of notseeing their wives and children for eight to nine months at a time is somethingwe are greatly aware of and admire them for.

However,most of them have been an integral part of our team / our family for the past 8years, and we always miss them when they are gone. This year especially, whenwe have no idea – Thanks to our interference from our Government – if wewill ever see them again.

As hasbeen our custom the past few years, we had a dinner the night before they left.Our leadership team shared a few hours with them and talked about family,children, the Holidays and all manner of personnel issues that friends andco-workers share when they come together outside of the workplace.

The nextmorning Jason Winans our Operations Manager, Mike Harpole our ProductionSuperintendent, and myself drove some of them to the airport and others to thebus station. We all shook hands, grabbed a hug, and told them to travel safe. Therewere excited smiles and a few tears as they went on their way home to theirnative land.

Duringthe past seven years St. Louis has become their home away from home and thesource of income that makes it possible for them to send their children to highschool and university. To have luxuries that we take for granted: Indoor plumbing,telephones, windows, and basic appliances. To have a career that they can beproud of.

Duringthe past seven years these individuals have given us a stable andpredictable seasonalworkforce and allowed us to grow our small business by 400%in that time periodand to provide good, well-paying, seasonaljobs for them and good, well-paying year-round jobs with benefits to our professional / skilled U.S.workers.

Mycompany is a family-owned landscapeand lawn care company with a 41-person team. By way of comparison,in 2004, we had only nine teammembers, six of whom were seasonal.

Sincethe 2005 season, we haveparticipated in the H-2B visa program to hire seasonal foreign workers to meetthe company’s need for a reliable andstable seasonal workforce. Currently, of the 41-person staff,the management team is my-self,my wife, and six year-round landscape professionals. There are also five other full-time,year-round salaried employees. Theseasonal workforce consists of 28 workers, of whom 25 are H-2B seasonal workers.

Without the H-2B program,none of this would have been possible. Before we beganusing the H-2B program in 2005, ourannualized turnover rate was well over 200%. Our effort to recruit U.S. workers to fill seasonal jobs and remain inthem through the entire season waslargely unsuccessful. Today, with the H-2B program, turnoveris less than 10%.

Ifturnover increased to the level we experienced before turning to the H-2Bprogram, our companywould suffer serious economic and non-economic injury.

It woulddivert resources awayfrom customer service to hiring,training and replacing.
It wouldreduce the quality of ourservice and result in the loss of customers and good will.
It wouldreduce our operational efficiencyand negatively affect our profitability
Ourworker safety would all suffer aslarge numbers of inexperienced or barely experienced people would be present oneach crew.
Turnover at the 200% rate that we experiencedbefore using the H-2B program wouldrequire that we hire and train two or three new workers every singleweek during a 36-week season; recruiting and hiring over 100 people just tomaintain 28 positions.
Since workers often leave without notice, wewould be constantly short-handed.

This would result in an enormousnegative impact on company morale and client satisfaction.

Ifthese new rules proposed by the Department of Labor for the H-2B program gointo effect it will leave companies like ours few choices in the short term. Theonly choices it seems tome are to close our doors or to shrink our company by 40% to 50% and try to deliver aviable service level with turnover rates of up to 200%. Evenunder this second scenario up to 50% of our full time skilled workforcewould lose their jobs, and worker safety and quality of service would suffer.

Itwill take, I estimate, two to three seasons of very hard focus develop the newtraining systems required and to go through enough seasonal workers to find a smallgroup of reliable people who are willing to work in a seasonal environment.

If these new H-2B Rules are allowed to takeeffect, at “BEST,” we will loseirreplaceable skilledprofessional employees and valued customers, and, at worst,we will lose a familybusiness that we have worked to build and will put all of our U.S. employeesout of work.

— Fredric R. Haskett

Landscape Industry Certified Manager

Managing Partner – Operations

U S Lawns of Westand St. Charles County

Ohio State Research Shows Dollar Value of Urban Trees

2011-12-22T10:46:00.001-05:00

Thanks to the research of a graduate student in the Department of Entomology at The Ohio State University and funding from Bayer Environmental Science, the city of Wooster, OH now knows the true value of the trees that line its streets.

By "value" we don't simply mean trees' contribution to the ecosystem or the fact that they beautify landscapes. Rather, we mean trees' true dollar value.

In mid-2010, the graduate student, Alejandro Chiriboga, recorded tree attributes such as trunk circumference and leaf condition among more than 3,000 of Wooster's city-owned trees. Using Forest Service software, he then totaled the dollar value of the environmental services trees provide, including reducing pollution and carbon in the atmosphere.

Chiriboga's research concluded that, annually, the trees generate $270,153 in community services, including aesthetic benefits, energy conservation, stormwater control and carbon and air pollution reduction. Chiriboga's study found that most of Wooster's street trees are young and healthy, which means they will contribute environmentally--and therefore economically--to the city well into the future.

Things in nature have always seemed priceless. So this study raises an interesting question: Can you really put a dollar amount on them? Apparently, you can. The question now is, will this experiment stop at trees? Or will it extend to lawns, shrubs and plants on the landscape?

Will mowing a lawn be deemed a loss in dollars? Will planting a flower bed boost the value of a landscape? It's hard to say. But at the very least, the OSU study has given us something new and interesting to ponder.

Owners — Are you in or out?

2011-12-15T12:38:00.001-05:00

Randy's Take

Randy Newhard

Are you in or out?

It’s a tough question to ask and honestly answer.I am both — in and out. I would think your answer depends on how long you havebeen in business. For me, it almost depends on the day, week or month— but mostly the week. I have been running my own business for 32 years.Sometimes I want out. Ok honestly, I want out most of the time. I have workedthe 80-100 hour weeks for decades. Guess I am not smart enough, thinking Ishould have been done a while ago. Or am I?

Having this child (the business) and having over200 grandkids (employees) and all their siblings — probably over a 1,000 — it’svery hard to let go. It sure is like parenting, you constantly have to teach,train, say no and also pat them on the back. Grandkids (your employees )need to know they are loved and cared for. That's where you have to be in. Thiscaring for your child (company) really comes from the top.

You can hire the best management team in theworld and they can be the best managers, but bottom line is: Employees want toknow you care about them. Yes, money is in the top three things employees careabout, but number one is that they want to be involved in the growth of thebusiness and want to know what is going on.

Secondly, they want to know their boss caresabout them. Their bosses need to be trained in order to offer care and counseling.Be firm with consequences if they don't do their job. Sometimes, we’re not sogood at this. It is a family business and family atmosphere, sometimes that canget in the way. But we are working on it.


While writing this blog entry, Newhard is definitely "out." Here's his photo of a sunset while enjoying a meal with his family while vacationing in Maui.

I know I will probably never be out completely,as my exit strategy is my daughter, and working side by side with her has beena wonderful experience. Heck, she's taught this old man a lot of new tricks.She has been with our company for 15 years. Yep, right out of high school.Starting with answering the phones, to marketing, office manager, developingour databases and internal structures and processes, to corporatedirector-steering the ship, and now as president of the company, how can I beout completely? We make a great team!

I have the ultimate luxury, from wanting to beout — being out golfing with friends and clients, entertaining clients andtaking off an extra day of the week to be with wife and my biological grandkids— Gabe and Olivia. And then being in — being at work, interacting with theother grandkids (employees), saying thanks and keeping an eye on thefinancials.

So are you in or out? Can you afford to be out?By afford I mean, how can you walk away from your child and the grandkids after32 years? I’m in... Well maybe not for now, I am out. I am in Mauicelebrating my wife’s birthday, with my daughter, fiancé and our realgrandkids. Aloha!

Randy Newhard, CEO

New Way Landscape & Tree Services

2nd Generation Local Family Owned Business

Multi Local & State Landscape BeautificationAward Winner

Cleaning up after the Occupy Toronto protest

2011-12-12T12:16:00.000-05:00

We got the following email from our friend Tom Delaney, Director of Government Affairs for the Professional Landcare Network (PLANET):

"The Occupy Toronto movement trashed one of Toronto's inner city Parks. When the City issued a plea for financial support to help restore the park, one of our members came up with the idea that we as an industry should just restore the park ourselves. One email and two days of hard but very satisfying work later, 150 volunteers aerated the entire park, spread 1 inch of topsoil and sodded all 3 acres. It was an amazing experience. Everything was donated."

The park following the day of volunteer work.

Here's what the park looked like following
the Occupy Toronto protesters vacated the site.

   Apparently about $60,000 in product and services was donated by members of Landscape Ontario. It's yet another example of the extraordinary people we have in our industry.

   There are a couple of videos about the work at St. James Park. In one, someone put a stop-motion camera in place and with the addition of a background track ("Flight of the Bumblebees" if I'm not mistaken) created this highly entertaining YouTube video.

   The good deed also got coverage from a Toronto television station. See that here.

Don't lose sight of how to win, close, motivate and rally in 2012

2011-12-06T06:47:00.001-05:00

Randy Newhard

Editor's Note: Randy Newhard, CEO of New Way Landscape & Tree Services will begin contributing to Landscape Management's blog on a regular basis. Here is his first submission.

Randy's Take

As I write my first blog, I am watching mystruggling Chargers on Monday Night Football vs. the Jaguars. The Boltshave lost six straight. Their main goal this year was to start strong. Is yourcompany’s goal to start the new year strong? Most companies do start the yearstrong, set goals, monitor them for a few months and then lose sight of them.

Companies can be just like our Chargers whostarted 4-1 and then lost sight of how to win, how to close, how to motivateand how to rally a team.

Yeah, I do have to give the Chargers some slack.The quarterback Philip Rivers lost a lot of his receivers to injuries early.They could not practice together during the week as the players healed. Hislinemen also got hurt, some out for year, some out for many games.

Does your quarterback, your owner, your general manageror your operational person have healthy personnel on your team? Are they hurtor injured- feeling down from down economy? Are they motivated? Do theypractice together — have quality meetings in the office and in the field?

How about your sales team — do they have goalsfor the month, quarter and year? Do they have the tools they need? Are theymotivated and by whom? Are they motivated by salary, incentives, commissions?

There are lots of things to do this time of theyear. Whether you are back East or on the West coast or in the Midwest, the newyear brings many challenges. There is a lot of planning to do for the new yearand a great deal of equipment to get cleanup and ready for spring.

As a business owner, it's time for us to cleanup2011 and plan for 2012. It's time to budget and set realistic expectations forour team to be empowered to make proper decisions to make our companies profitable.Yep, profitable. Some clients don't think we should make one. That's a topicfor future blogs.

Have a wonderful holiday season and yes I willsay it — Merry Christmas and wishing you and yours a very prosperous andHappy New Year!

— Randy Newhard, New Way Landscape & TreeServices, is CEO of this 2nd generation local family owned business. The SanDiego-based company is a multi local and state Landscape Beautification AwardWinner.

You can't buy this kind of coverage

2011-12-02T11:11:00.001-05:00

If it's true — what goes around, comes around, then Glen Rock, NJ-based R&S Landscaping is in for some good karma this holiday season (and maybe it's already happening in the coverage they got from the New Jersey Media Group).

It seems R&S Landscaping decided to help celebrate one of the company's long-time customer's 70th birthday by giving her a holiday lighting package. "The Hoefler family is one of our first customers so we're excited to be able to offer them the gift of this complimentary service," said Robert Schucker, president, R&S Landscaping in the Glen Rock Gatzette, part of the New Jersey Media Group. Read the full story here.

You simply can't buy that kind of good will coverage. And the grateful recipient is quoted in the article saying she makes sure every one of her neighbors knows who is responsible for the beautiful display. What is it they say about word-of-mouth referrals?

We don't know if R&S has received any direct new business from the publicity, and we're not suggesting you go out and provide free services every year, but when the right opportunity comes along, it might be worth the investment.

Just when you thought it was safe to head back to the grocery store

2011-12-01T14:32:00.001-05:00

There's a local talk show host here in Northeast Ohio who likes to use the phrase "I'm living in a world I don't understand." I'm beginning to agree with him.

A few weeks back we heard about the incident of a family that was busted by a Safeway security guard when they forgot to pay for a sandwich their famished daughter ate while they were shopping. Read the details of that incident here. Well, Safeway is at it again.

This time, at store in Northwest Washington, a girl was threatened with arrest and forced to sign a paper acknowledging she is no longer welcome in Safeway stores for eating some apricots and then putting the bag back on the shelf. That might seem a reasonable solution if not for the fact that the hardened criminal in this case only 4 years old and hadn't yet learned to read or write.

The company has apologized and relieved the security guard of his duties, and the store's divisional president offered to take the girl around the story (including a visit to the bakery) to show her the grocery store is not a scary place. While the hire ups were quick to react and ultimately did the right thing (read about the story here) it shows that common sense isn't as common as we might like.

I'm not sure how you teach common sense or instill it in your employees, but if those on the front lines of your business don't have it, you could be in trouble. These incidents certainly aren't going to close the food chain's doors, but it's not really doing them any favors. I can only imagine if my kids were still that young, I'd hesitate to walk through those doors. And that can't be the kind of feeling any business wants to provide its customers.

A little dirt under his fingernails

2011-11-23T11:44:00.001-05:00


VP of Sales Pat Roberts helped free the mower from the bog-like conditions in which it was mired.

   Those of us in the publishing industry generally sit behind a desk. Sure we make it into the field once in awhile and hop on a mower or a skid steer, but the bulk of our time is at our desk with a nose near the computer screen and fingers flying over the keyboard. And even when we do make it out into the field, rarely do we suffer the usual trappings of outdoor work — dirt and mud.

   That all changed one morning for one of our fearless executives. Pat Roberts, our VP of Sales, was waiting for his morning train (which was late as usual) when he heard the strained roar of an engine and the mumblings of a very frustrated landscaper. It seems the eager city contractor found himself stuck in some mud after an all-night rain. Pat watched for a moment as the worker valiantly tried to free himself from the slimy morass. Pat knew what he had to do.

   Pat assessed the situation, and without any thought to his own safety leapt into action. With Pat's help, the contractor was able to free the machine from the muck's gooey clutches, and left our fearless hero with a little dirt under his fingernails, on his shoes, pants and shirt.

   Somewhere out there is a contractor who breathes a little easier (and so can we all) knowing there are people like Pat willing to risk a pair of freshly polished Bruno Magli's to help his fellow man. (Really, I have no idea what brand of shoe Pat wears). But the city of Shaker Heights, OH owes Pat a debt of gratitude and at least a shine.

Shining a light on customer service

2011-11-18T13:46:00.001-05:00

Just had a really nice meeting with Maria Burke from Kichler Lighting. We were ushered into the company's conference room to give our presentation and to talk about our ongoing relationship, but before we got started, there something that caught my eye.

Like many companies, their conference contains the ubiquitous large table and matching chairs. Only in this case, one of the chairs was a little different.

This seat was upholstered with a different fabric and had a sign hanging over it that read: "Reserved for our customer's point of view."

A lot of companies talk about staying customer-centric, but clearly Kichler is shining a light on the concept. Of course just having a chair with a sign doesn't mean the company automatically focuses on customers. That still takes conscious effort and persistence, but I suspect having that visual cue serves as a regular reminder to at least try to think about issues from the customer perspective.

And maybe that's why Kichler is able to report record breaking sales in 2011.

Intelligent Use of Water Awards

2011-11-15T13:01:00.001-05:00

Sitting less than a mile from one of the Great Lakes (Erie) it's sometimes hard to remember there are places in the world — places in this country — where water is much more scarce. Professional landscapers are stewards of the environment. There's no question our industry plays a huge role in the protecting this most precious resource.

The folks at Rain Bird understand that, too. That's why Landscape Management and our sister publication Golfdom supported Rain Bird's Intelligent Use of Water film competition earlier this year and we plan to do the same with a new program, the Intelligent Use of Water Awards.

Rain Bird will award a total of more than $50,000 to projects that "uses water efficiently, promotes green spaces and is an example of sustainability." Individual projects can earn $1,500, $5,000 or $10,000. Simply put the contest is open to, "anyone with a water conservation project in need of funding."

Entrants submit their projects to the contest website where the public votes on the projects it thinks are most important. As of this writing their are only six projects available to vote on, but since the contest just started, we don't think there will be so few projects to consider in the near future. You can vote on projects or submit your own here. Voting ends March 15, 2012.

According to the contest website: "Once a project is submitted it is made available for public voting, meaning anyone can anonymously cast their vote for their favorite project. All projects can be anonymously voted on by visitors (one vote a day per project, per individual user), and the projects with the most votes in each funding category will be awarded a combined $51,000 in grants to be used towards the completion of their winning project. Winners will be announced on World Water Day – March 22, 2011."

We'll do our best to check in on the contest during the next several months. So check back here periodically for updates. Let us know if you've entered the competition. We'd love to hear about the water project you think is worthy of some prize money.

Going that extra mile?

2011-11-03T12:56:00.000-04:00

Diane, a former boss of mine, posted the following question on her Facebook page (comments follow and the names have been truncated to protect the innocent):

Do you think it would be too brazen of me to call the piano tuner and ask him to stop at Winn Dixie and bring me a small carton of 2% milk on his way over here? I would pay him back:
2 people like this.

Jane LOL Go for it.
Ben Not at all! How about some "tune-a-fish" too?
Tim Um. Yes?
Diane Ha ha ha ha ha, so funny! But seriously, how well do you know him? This might start a trend with service people!
Joe You'd have to leave him a" note"
Diane Badaboom - cchh! Ladies and gentlemen, Joe and Ben will be here all week!
Jayne hahahahahahahah!!!! hahahahahaahahah!!
Mary Go for it. I'll bet you have a 50-50 chance of getting the milk! Make sure you have some cookies to give him while he is there!

My question is: How would you feel if one of your regular customers called the office and asked the crew to pick up an item or two on the way to the job (assuming there was a store along the way)? Is this something you'd consider a reasonable request for a good customer? Is it something you'd be willing to do once or on rare occasions?

What have you done to go that extra mile for a customer? Feel free to leave your comments below or send them to me at: djacobs@questex.com.

Whee for the Wii

2011-10-31T13:47:00.003-04:00

Joe Auteri, owner of Joseph Auteri Hardscape Consulting
took home a new iPad 2 courtesy of LM by posting the
low score in a 3-way, five-hole shoot out.

   As much as I'd like to think it was folks stopping by to pick up a copy of the October issue, I suspect the increased traffic at Landscape Management's booth had more to do with our Wii Golf challenge and the chance to win an iPad 2.

   Contestants earned their scores by playing three holes of Wii Golf on the beginner setting. Scores ranged from 2 under (three contestants earned that score sending them to a playoff) to 9 over (much closer to how I play in real life).

   The three finalists played a five-hole contest on the expert setting. The winner was Joe Auteri, owner of Joseph Auteri Hardscape Consulting located in Rohnert Park, CA. Joe took home the iPad 2, which was "the highlight of the trip," he said.

Of course, maybe after he reads the October issue, he'll change his mind and declare that the highlight of his trip, right? No, I didn't think so. But it is a darn good issue if we do say so ourselves. If you like, you can check out the digital version of the issue here.

A few thoughts from the show

2011-10-31T12:09:00.002-04:00

The calm before the storm. A shot down
an empty aisle shortly before the show opens.

GIE+EXPO is wrapped up for another year. The final numbers on attendance have yet to be released, but my suspicion is they'll be up some from last year. I generally spend a lot of time walking the floor, and while it's entirely unscientific, I think there were more folks wandering through the aisles (at least I seemed to get stopped a lot more and had to make a few more detours around crowds admiring the latest piece of machinery.)

STIHL's lumberjack competition always
brings out a crowd —even if it was a bit chilly.

Speaking of machinery, there were quite a few updates and introductions of new equipment. You'll learn more about all that in upcoming issues of Landscape Management and in our various newsletters. Most shows seem to develop a focus (for lack of a better word). And while I must admit it was a bit more of a challenge to discern this year's overriding sentiment, I think there were a couple of recurring themes:

First the economy. There was a lot of talk about the recession and how to best deal with it.
Second, social media. It's finding new ways to make its way into our lives and businesses.
Third, technology. Machines are becoming ever more sophisticated. They're improving our efficiency and productivity, driving our businesses to greater profitability.

I think my favorite reason for going to the show, however, is to see some of the folks we spend all year talking to on the phone, and of course, to meet a few new ones. This is an extraordinary industry in which we all work. And that is solely because of the people who comprise it. I'm already looking to head back to Louisville in 2012 (Oct. 24-26 in case you want to put it on you calendar). See you there.

Another opening, another show

2011-10-21T09:36:00.000-04:00

GIE+EXPO begins next week.

There's always a mix of excitement and dread before the big Green Industry show. Excitement because it's an opportunity to see some old friends and touch base with new ones (and perhaps raise a glass or two in their honor).

It's an opportunity to see the latest products that make our lives easier and help us do our jobs better. There are myriad educational opportunities (many of LM's columnists are presenting at the educational portion of the show). You can download the full list of conference's events including the educational programs in PDF format here here.

In addition, there's always some time to eat a few good meals and maybe, just maybe, visit one of Louisville's interesting attractions (Louisville Slugger Museum, Muhammad Ali Museum, Fourth Street Live, etc.)

The dread comes because it usually means long nights, early days and lots and lots of walking. My advice to new attendees is where comfortable shoes. But even with that, it's a good tired, because you come away feeling like you've done and learned a great deal.

This is a big show with more than 17,000 participants expected arriving from more than 20 countries. They and the more than 750 exhibits will fill the 425,700 sq. ft. exhibit hall and the 19-acre outdoor demo area. In other words it's big. GIE+EXPO always seems to be growing, last year incorporating the Hardscape North America show. There are press conferences and demonstrations of all sorts throughout the show.

Feel free to stop by Landscape Management's booth #3018 if you get a free moment. Let us know what you think of the magazine, suggest a story idea or just to say hello. Of course, you might have to leave a card. There's a pretty good chance we'll be out on the show floor wearing out that pair of comfortable shoes.

How would you handle this?

2011-10-19T15:34:00.000-04:00

Got an interesting question from a reader earlier today, and we thought you might be able to provide some feedback. First a little background.

The company has been using Sprint/Nextel for about 10 years. Most of the units are direct connect and a small number of them have phone service. The company also uses the Nextel GPS in the units to track technicians. The question is primarily one of cost. Should the company continue with the Sprint/Nextel approach or use another method.

1. Since all of the employees have their own phones, should the company pay for the Sprint/Nextel service?
2. What are your thoughts on using the GPS (Commettracker) on the phones versus installing GPS on the vehicles themselves?

A couple of issues come to mind: Is there a problem if you're using employees' personal phones for work related purposes. Are you going to pay for all or part of their service. Are you now liable to replace the phone if something happens to it.

Is there an ethical issue of tracking employees through a personal cell phone. They're not on the clock 24 hours a day.

We'd like your feedback. How are do you handle these issues. Your insight is much appreciated. Feel free to leave a comment here or send an email to djacobs@questex.com.

An icon passes

2011-10-06T13:43:00.000-04:00

Burton Sperber, FASLA, founder and chairman of the board of directors of The ValleyCrest Landscape Cos., passed away a few days ago, just a few days before another business icon, Apple's Steve Jobs.

While more people around the world will remember Jobs for his technology innovations, you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who had as wide an influence on the Green Industry as Burt Sperber.

I only had the opportunity to speak with Mr. Sperber a few times over the years, but his affable nature was clear. He was friendly and generous with his compliments. And after talking with others in the industry — those whose lives he influenced — it's not too much a stretch to say the world of landscaping would be vastly different had he not been a part of it.

Look for more on the life of Burton Sperber in the October issue of Landscape Management.

Bugging out

2011-09-26T16:15:00.000-04:00

Most of Landscape Management's forays into pest management are related to grubs, armyworms and billbugs. It's not often we get to venture into the world of larger insects. Of course when one shows up right outside our window (an 11th floor mind you), we tend to take notice.

We had a little trouble identifying this little visitor in the photo above.

With a little help from our sister publication Pest Management Professional and one of the publication's contributors, Gerry Wegner, we got this description of the creepy crawly.

"This is a leaf-footed bug, Leptoglossus oppositus, looking for a way to get into the building in preparation of overwintering. It is a fall invader."

Wegner is the Technical Director, Staff Entomologist for Varment Guard Environmental Services Inc./ProGuard Commercial Pest Solutions.

So this little bug is really bumming the office out -- not so much because it's unpleasant to look at, but more because it's a harbinger of the season to come.

Rock on

2011-09-16T16:08:00.000-04:00

One Portland, OR landscaper got a surprise recently when he spotted a semi truck that had dragged an enormous boulder down the highway.

According to a report in the Oregon Salem-News, the landscaper noticed that a boulder was missing from a turnaround near a local IKEA store. The man then followed scrape marks the boulder had left in its wake all the way to one of Portland's interstates.

On the freeway (we presume the landscaper was driving), the landscaper reportedly saw the truck with the boulder underneath it and notified police. Officers suspected that the truck driver drove the wrong way around the IKEA turnaround, catching the landscape boulder in his rear axle.

Hearing the news harkened me back to my mom's 60th birthday celebration, a National Lampoon's-like family trip to Door County, WI. My nephews were 2 years old at the time, and my mom thought it would be fun for them if we drove to Wisconsin in an RV. Why, I don't know.

When my dad and I showed up to pick up the small RV he'd reserved just outside Chicago, we found that the company had mistakenly reserved a 35-footer for us. In case you're trying to picture it, it was the size of a yacht. When we met up with the rest of my family downtown, my mom was so worried about the RV's size that she forbade anyone to drive in it.

That would have been fine, except that it's illegal to park an RV in Chicago. So my dad had to drive the RV to Wisconsin--by himself. The rest of us followed in two separate cars--my mom and I in one car and my brother and his family in the other. Every time we turned a corner, we had to wait for my dad to follow; the RV was so huge, he could never make the turn the first time.

And so it went throughout the 9-hour drive down highways and one-lane roads. Our drive began in daylight and ended at 1 a.m. And it ended with a flourish--with my dad driving the RV right over a decorative boulder at the resort's entrance.

He dragged the boulder up the long drive and across the parking lot, where the boulder became wedged so tightly beneath the RV that the camper came to a halt. I awoke at 7:30 a.m. to the sound of a jackhammer pummeling rock.

The best part about the whole thing was that my mom's car broke down the last day of our trip.

She rode in the RV with my dad on the way home. The kids rode with my brother.

Every tree tells a story

2011-09-13T13:59:00.000-04:00

There's something special about those hulking old trees with their gnarled limbs snaking outward and upward. They just begged to be climbed. And few of us (at least when we were younger) could resist the appeal of wending our way through branches, a thick canopy of leaves protecting us from the harsh summer sun.

Mothers everywhere cringed at the very thought, their minds filled with worry about broken arms, but the allure was too much. Even as adults we might encourage our children to remain earthbound, but we struggle with the thought ... because we know. We know what it's like to dangle our legs from high above, to sit with a cool breeze gently rocking us on our perch, to relax without a care.

That's why it's nice to see a celebration of those trees. The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) has put together a traveling photography exhibit — 2010 Landslide: Every Tree Tells a Story. The exhibition features 26 images of 12 different locations in the US and Puerto Rico, opens Sept. 16 at 21c Museum, Louisville, Ky., and runs through Jan. 8, 2012.

Landslide: Every Tree Tells a Story is an exhibit that travels around the country and will be open to those visiting Louisville, KY during the GIE+EXPO. The Davey Tree Expert Co. is the presenting sponsor.

Here's what the website says about the Louisville exhibit at the 21c Museum:
Olmsted Parks and Parkways ‐Louisville, Ky.
This system consists of three flagship parks (Cherokee, Shawnee, and Iroquois) and the six parkways that connect them, all designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr. and his sons. For more than three decades, the Olmsted firm shaped the city — 18 parks and 14.5 miles of boulevards in all — each designed in deference to natural topographic attributes. Today some 6,000 trees from the Olmsted design era provide the city its mature tree canopy. Photography by Bob Hower.

For more information about the exhibition, click here.

Vote for your favorite movie

2011-08-26T14:50:00.000-04:00

A film wins, the environment wins and you win.

The Intelligent Use of Water™ Film Competition invites filmmakers from around the world to promote the urgent need for water conservation. Now that we've narrowed our almost 150 entries down to the final six, we need help from Green Industry professionals like you.

Vote now for your favorite film. The finalist with the most votes will earn the 2011 Green Industry Award of $6,000. For each of the first 2,000 votes received, Rain Bird will donate $1 to the Ground Water Foundation. As a thank you, the first 2,000 voters will also receive a FREE Rain Bird hat. Click here to view our six finalists and cast your ballot.

Intelligent Use of Water film competition

2011-08-10T13:53:00.000-04:00

It would be hard to overstate the importance of water to our industry. And in many parts of the country that valuable resource is a scarce commodity. In an effort to promote the value of conserving water, Rain Bird is once again hosting its "Intelligent Use of Water" film competition.

There are six films vying for top honors ($6,000) in The Green Industry division. Voting is taking place now and your input is welcome.

Vote for your favorite here.

Youth in landscaping

2011-08-05T10:35:00.001-04:00

You've got to like headlines that have the words "landscaping" and "win-win" together.

An article in the Seaway (Cornwall, Ontario Canada) News newsletter highlighted a program designed to put youth (here defined as between the ages of 15 and 30) into the landscaping trade. It's a program called "Youth in Landscaping," which is part of the Canadian government's Individual Skills Enhancement program, which is all part of Service Canada.

In this case the youth spend three days a week in the field and two in the classroom learning everything from CPR and resume writing to the finer points of hardscaping.
For more on the program, read the full article here.

Landscaping the nation's most extraordinary landmark

2011-07-25T23:38:00.000-04:00

Even as hundreds of landscapers from around the country descended upon Arlington National Cemetery, the place seemed quiet and still.

Even as they dug, hammered, limed, aerated and cabled, the cemetery resounded with an uncanny peaceful hush, as if the cemetery itself is as resilient as those it holds once were.

Perhaps it was the row upon row of white gravestones, situated in symmetrical straight lines.

Or the grass, so well kept it’s still green in this sweltering summer.

Or the stately towering old trees that show no signs of withering.

Or the striking contrast of green and white everywhere you look.

For whatever reasons, the scene’s all very picaresque, even when you come to the shocking realization that those graves all hold the bodies of people who once were very much alive, people who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.

The landscapers were at the cemetery as part of the Professional Landcare Networks’ (PLANET’s) day of Renewal & Remembrance, in which landscapers from across the country flock to D.C. once a year to landscape Arlington National Cemetery.

The Renewal & Remembrance effort embodies the very traits of Arlington National Cemetery itself: duty, honor and strength. Every cemetery is sacred. But there’s something about Arlington that feels just a little more powerful, a little more historic, a little more majestic than the others.

Few tears were shed. There was no laughter, either. Just reverence. For the 15^th annual year, landscapers paid their respects in the best way they know how: through their work.

Hack job

2011-07-13T00:36:00.000-04:00

Chopping down a tree, even the spindliest of them all, is no easy task for yours truly. Persistence paid off, though! I enjoyed trying my hand at arboriculture ever so briefly (with a little guidance), but I'm sticking with my day job.

Notes from NASCAR

2011-07-11T00:01:00.000-04:00

The zoom. The deafening drone of the cars' engines. One bright blur after the other. The overwhelming aroma of burning rubber.

NASCAR inundates your senses from every direction. The best way to describe it is to show it through pictures and video. Thanks very much to Warren and Polly and the rest of the folks behind the GIE Expo for hosting us on Saturday! Amazing!

Surviving the Death Race

2011-07-07T11:03:00.000-04:00

Running a business is hard, but it's generally not a life and death experience.

Bruce Allentuck of Allentuck Landscaping recently participated in the Death Race, something that can only be described as one of the most physically and mentally challenging, events ever devised. And Bruce participated not only voluntarily, but eagerly.

Bruce details the experience in his blog here. All we can say is congrats to Bruce for undertaking such a monumental challenge.

It's things like this that make us all look bad

2011-07-06T16:07:00.000-04:00

The city might get the blame, but it's the landscaping industry that looks bad. A news story on KRGV.com which serves Rio Grande Valley, Texas explained how McAllen City contracted landscapers are dumping grass clippings, which get washed down city drains, clogging them, which results in flooding.

The city had been blaming residents for the problem and was quoted as saying: "It gets in the system because it sits in the yards or the parking lots. They'll come through and mow their lawn and blow it into the inlets,” said McAllen Emergency Manager Pilar Rodriguez."

According to one landscaper the KRGV reporter talked to, the only directive workers were given was "keep it out of the streets," so it was being left on the already cut grass next to the roads.

Just wondering who pays the $500 fine if it's the city's workers who are violating the city's ordinance.

You can read the complete story here.

A pig in a park

2011-06-29T11:33:00.000-04:00

Turns out sheep aren't the only eco-friendly animals to work in the landscaping market. It seems a trio of pigs have joined a Loughborough, England landscaping team to help clean up a local park.

Yeah, that's right: pigs.

Turns out a trio of porcine laborers borrowed from Brooksby Melton College to clear an acre or so of they city's Beacon Hill Country Park, according to inLoughborough.com.

Apparently the young pigs are particularly suited to the job. "The Welsh Pig is an old rare breed which is very hardy and is favoured for its management capabilities," according to the article, which can be read in full here.

New EU pesticide regs will mean loss of popular A.I's there

2011-06-29T11:05:00.000-04:00

In Jan. 2009 the European Parliament approved new European Union pesticide regulations. They went into force recently. The UK publication HorticultureWeek reports that the regulations could result in the loss of 19 active ingredients in crop protection products used by the horticulture industry there.

"The new EU legislation is going to have an impact. The potential losses are large and there is a huge degree of uncertainty in the process. We've been working with worst case scenario assumptions and it probably won't be as bad as that, but some products are likely to be lost when we are already at the bare bones. It shows that there is a real problem here," Paul Chambers, Plant Health Adviser of the National Farm Union is quoted in the article.

When the A.I's will be pulled from the market is uncertain.

The following A.I's, some of which most of you will recognize, are not expected to be around when 2020 arrives, according to the article:

Bifenthrin, Esfenvalerate, Bitertanol, Carbendazim, Flusilazole, Quinoxyfen, Cyproconazole, Epoxiconazole, Fenbuconazole, Mancozeb, Maneb, Metconazole, Tebuconazole, Flumioxazine, Glufosinate ammonium, Linuron, Pendimethalin, Amitrole, Ioxynil

One cheeky landscaper

2011-06-27T09:08:00.000-04:00

It really makes us wonder who was doing the voting.
A 28-year-old British landscaper won the title of Britain's "Best Builder's Bum." You can read the story and see the now famous backside here.
Apparently, Billy Clark, of the magnificent tush, from Writtle in Essex (love British city names) beat out a "shapely" female contestant, and he's considering (tongue in cheek we think) of moonlighting as a "stunt bottom" in movies. For more on the story (and to get your fill of rear-related puns) read the story from Britain's mailonline.com

Social media is cool, but direct mail still works for Spring-Green

2011-06-24T16:02:00.000-04:00

Spring-Green Lawn Care, the 34-year-old multi-regional lawn care service provider based in Plainfield, IL, still uses and gets acceptable sales results with direct mail. Even in this age of Twitter, Facebook and Groupon.
Not that Spring-Green President James Young is old-fashioned or anything, but he tells nbcchicago.com/blog that social media doesn't work for everything. He believes social media and digital marketing are good for staying in touch with and responding to clients' and prospects' questions. But with direct mail you can better reach prospects with your message and special offers — i.e. acquiring customers.
Click on nbcchicago.com/blog to read the short interview. Whether you agree or not, you’ll find Young’s views on the new media worthwhile.

Having fun at Snow and Ice Symposium

2011-06-23T15:31:00.000-04:00

Checking out the equipment at the 14th Annual Snow and Ice Symposium. More than 1,300 people are expected. Lots to see this year, including the SnowDozer B.A.T. and other new plows. Pretty cool so far!

Don't miss your turfgrass field day!

2011-06-23T11:50:00.000-04:00

Attend a turfgrass field day this summer. Many public land-grant universities with turf programs put one on each summer or early fall. These are great educational and networking events. A recent visit to the East Tennessee Research & Education Center just outside of Knoxville, TN, reminded us what you can miss by letting yourself get too busy to show up.

We were among about 150 other turf and sports field managers participating in the Sports Turf Managers Association (STMA) Regional Summer Conference at the University of Tennessee.

The gently rolling outdoor research site on the banks of the broad Tennessee River now features 15 acres of turfgrass research plots thanks to the efforts of the University of Tennessee’s turf team, in particular Dr. John Sorochan. When Sorochan joined the university nine years ago after earning his Ph.D. at Michigan State University the site contained no turfgrass plots. Zero. Nada.

Tennessee’s Turfgrass Field Day is Sept. 15. This should be a must-attend event, especially for sports field managers in the South and Mid-South. Sorochan and his team, thanks to the generosity of the Peebles family and its AstroTurf company, developed The University of Tennessee Center for Athletic Field Safety. The outdoor research facility has 60 small-scale athletic research fields build from a variety of playing surfaces — from the professional level to the public park level.

Initial research there started in the fall of 2010. Sorochan and his colleages will share some preliminary findings at Tennessee’s Turfgrass Field Day, Sept. 15.

Check the date for the Turfgrass Field Day nearest you and plan on attending. We can guarantee you a barbecue pork sandwich, Marconi or potato salad and ice tea lunch — and the latest research information about turfgrass and its management in your neck of the country.

Brown grass is "cool" in drought-stressed UK

2011-06-17T12:23:00.000-04:00

Turfgrass Growers Association in the United Kingdom this week provided water companies with new information to help educate homeowners that there's no need to water established turf.

Four new factsheets, available from its website at www.turfgrass.co.uk, focus on looking after newly laid and established lawns in warm, dry weather.

They advise homeowners to avoid watering established lawns after the driest spring in 20 years put pressure on water supplies.

Tim Mudge, Chief Executive of the TGA, whose members produce more than 70% of the turf grown in the British Isles, says that during hot weather, the watering of established lawns is, in most situations, wasteful and unnecessary.

"Our message is not to worry if your lawn goes brown during the summer. Going brown is the natural survival mechanism of grass. When water is in short supply grass responds by shutting down. The brown color shows that it has stopped growing until more favorable conditions return. We all have an obligation to use water responsibly and we're trying to do our bit to get the water conservation message across."

The TGA also reminded water companies that grass does, indeed, need water to get established. It recommended a discretionary 28 day exemption from discretionary use bans for newly laid turf.

The hearings and the ban — a tale of two 20-year anniversaries

2011-06-14T12:24:00.000-04:00

Summer 2011 marks the 20th anniversary of the second of two U.S. Senate sub-committee hearings on pesticide use by the lawn care industry. The first hearing on Capitol Hill took place the previous summer. Senators John Warner (R-VA), Harry Reid (D-NV) and Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) conducted the hearings. Representatives from the lawn care industry and pesticide critics, including people claiming to have been harmed by them, testified.

The professional lawn care industry was understandably concerned. The hearings marked the first time that the industry came under the national media spotlight. And, it was clear from the start that the hearings weren’t being called to pat the industry on its back for ridding the nation’s lawns of crabgrass and dandelions. Their purpose was to determine if the industry’s use of lawn care chemicals was harmful to the health of customers.

Scrutiny fails to uncover hazards

Industry professionals, business owners and spokespeople from the Professional Lawn Care Industry of America (PLCAA) defended industry practices. Industry critics received equal time to state their case. Overall, their testimony was, for the most part, anecdotal rather than substantive. In one instance it bordered on silly when the manufacturer of a “natural” lawn care product suggested that homeowners pay neighborhood children a nickel for each dandelion they dig from their yards. The supplier earnestly floated this as an alternative to professionally applied weed controls.

(You can’t make this stuff up. I had a front-row seat to both hearings.)

In the end, neither Capitol Hill hearing gave the senators ammunition enough to move against the industry or the products it uses. In terms of damning revelations the hearings were a flop.

Even so, the hearings led to the establishment of Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment (RISE), representing the specialty chemical industry, which has since successfully defended the industry's right to use pesticide products. The U.S. lawn care industry remains healthy in spite of the economic turmoil of the past several years and (to my knowledge anyway) has not been proven to result in any undue health risk either for lawn care customers, the public at large or chemical applicators.

A different sort of celebration

Coincidentally, this summer marks the 20^th anniversary of the Town of Hudson in Quebec Province banning the use of most synthetic pesticides for lawn care. The town is planning a special celebration on June 18. Hudson’s Awakening Festival will reportedly feature 14 speakers from across North America, including Paul Tukey, who has fashioned a high profile career bashing the lawn care industry's use of traditional pesticides.

Tukey, who claims that lawn care chemicals harmed his health when he was as a lawn care professional in Maine, travels the United States and Canada promoting pesticide bans wherever. Articulate and media savvy, Tukey has deftly positioned himself as the champion of the anti-pesticide movement in lawn care, and is in high demand as a speaker.

Whether out of genuine concern over the health effects of pesticides, entrepreneurial opportunism or a combination of the two, Tukey’s efforts have the potential to contribute to the failure of thousands of businesses and the loss of tens of thousands of lawn care jobs in the United States. That’s a lot of damage to be directing at an industry on what is (being generous) flimsy and poorly documented evidence of harmful effects.

The consequences of what Tukey and other like-minded individuals (for whatever reasons) are promoting are staggering. Witness Canada’s rapidly shrinking lawn care industry where provinces and local governments have implemented a welter of pesticides bans, each with its own set of rules.

All of this has taken place since Hudson’s landmark victory to enact its ban. Is this is something to be celebrated, really?

Perhaps forgotten in the town's 20^th anniversary Awakening Festival is that the issue, at least from the courts’ rulings, wasn't about the safety of lawn care pesticides, at all. The courts' ruling upheld the town’s right to enact its own legislation. — Ron Hall

2011 Intelligent Use of Water Film Competition Accepting Entries

2011-06-09T13:00:00.000-04:00

Feel strongly about water conservation issues? Now's your chance to put your passion --and creativity -- to good use. Create a short film about responsible water conservation for a shot at $6,000 and a trip to the awards ceremony in Beverly Hills, CA (Sept. 20).

Films should range from 1 to 10 minutes in length. Submissions are accepted until Aug. 1. For contest rules, a look at past winners and more information, visit http://www.iuowfilm.com.

Counting on compost tea to get the job done at CU-Boulder

2011-06-07T12:14:00.000-04:00

Boulder, CO, with the Rocky Mountains as a backdrop, is a beautiful city and home to the University of Colorado. Those leaning to the right on the political scale sometimes refer to Boulder as “The Republic of Boulder” for its progressive attitude on environmental and social issues. (Image courtesy UC-Boulder)

Therefore, we weren’t surprised to read that CU-Boulder will begin using compost tea rather than synthetic fertilizers and conventional pesticides to keep its common areas healthy and weed free.

The first phase of the program will cut the use of herbicides on turf areas this season by 45% compared to the 2009 season, and by 93% by the end of 2012, said an article on dailycamera.com. Student leaders think it’s a grand idea.

Switching from traditional products to compost tea (aided by some hand weeding) is going to be costly. Frank Bruno, vice chancellor for planning and administration at CU-Boulder, says the switchover could cost $90,000 extra a year. (Ouch!).

We’re not pooh-poohing compost teas, which have intrigued some of the industry’s more adventuresome professionals for decades. We’ve interviewed more than a few landscape/lawn service professionals who swear by their brews in improving plant performance and suppressing diseases. Almost to the person, they say their biggest challenges are manufacturing consistent product from batch to batch and producing teas in sufficient quantities for commercial purposes.

A good place to start if you're curious about compost teas is a fact sheet “Compost Tea: Miracle or Marketing Gimmick,” by Linda Chalker-Scott, associate professor and extension horticulturist, at Washington State University.

10 sure-fire landscape sales boosters

2011-06-06T14:15:00.000-04:00

Tom Oyler loves to sell. He founded and sold U.S. Lawns, and has sold millions of dollars of products, services and companies over the past three decades. He owns and still actively runs several Florida-based companies in addition to partnering with Bruce Wilson in their successful consulting business, Wilson-Oyler Group.

Oyler's an entertaining speaker, too. We attended the recent Next Level Network University and participated in a spirited day-long selling seminar with Oyler and a group of talented managers from top U.S. landscape companies.

Here's Tom's top 10 things to think about in the sales process:

1. Qualify prospects. (No bad meat in your camp. Laser sharp value proposition. Time management.)

2. Maintenance services are short-cycle and renewable services. (You do not have to sell the customer; you have to suppress the competition. Build value chains. Empathetically engineer sales solutions)

3. Build market density. (A crew behind glass is just burning gas. Speed of service and service recovery. Lower supervisory costs.)

4. Do the math. (Data base management. Time management. Meeting goals.)

5. Inside sales support may be needed. (Inexpensive. Accurate. Routine.)

6. Get there first. (Build your brand. Understand market trends. Alter pricing strategies. Sell strategically.)

7. Invest in your client. (Be selflessly selfish.)

8. Become a business leader. (Within your company. Within your community.)

9. Build trust. (Communications. Corporate and competency.)

10. Gain subject matter and domain matter expert status. (Be the knowledge leader.)

Now that's loyalty

2011-06-03T10:36:00.000-04:00

We all know it's a lot cheaper to keep customers than it is to go out and find new ones. Customer loyalty is a tenuous thing these days, with so many looking for the best deal. It was quite refreshing to read a story about a customer loyalty that we imagine will be pretty hard to beat.

A Chillicothe, Ohio woman has been a customer with her local bank since before World War I. June Gregg, who recently celebrated her 100th birthday still has the account her father set up for her in 1913. For more on the story, read the Associated Press article here.

Have you got a customer loyalty story? Let us here about it: djacobs@questex.com.

Ok, what's so "environmental" about this grass seed?

2011-05-31T23:13:00.000-04:00

"Green" or "sustainability" or whatever term you want to give to this new era of resource preservation and ecological regeneration is resulting in some far-fetched environmental claims.

A recent one coming to my attention involves a grass seed marketer — not a name most of you would recognize — that's aggressively marketing the environmental benefits of its grass seed mixtures. The company makes some rather exaggerated (remarkable?) claims for its products.

On its website it says that buyers/users of its grass seed need only mow once a month, seldom or never water (after establishment), that it thrives without chemicals and grows 12-in.-deep roots.

Yes, in theory, the grass seed mixtures it sells (a 5-lb. bag costs about $35) will probably survive and may even result is a sward acceptable to a "naturalist" with minimal care. But, my guess is that most people buying these products and expecting to have attractive, high-quality lawns without watering, fertilizing and by mowing just once a month are going to be sorely disappointed.

What do these "environmental" lawn seed mixtures contain? It turns out they're comprised of different ratios of fine fescues, turf-type tall fescues, Kentucky bluegrasses and perennial ryegrasses.

The fine fescues (hard, creeping red and chewings) predominate in the shade mixtures, with Kentucky bluegrass and tall fescues making up a goodly portion of the sunny mixtures. Combining improved varieties of these different species for different growing conditions (sun and share) are a common practice by grass seed marketers.

The fact that this company’s website bears the seal of approval of SafeLawns.org should be enough of a tipoff that this company is aiming its marketing at the naive consumer. And, judging by the press this company is getting, the naive media. (Hey, I've been a part of the media for 40-plus years, and will regretfully admit to being naive on more than a few occasions.)

I hope this one example isn't indicative of where the landscape industry is going in terms of its commitment to sustainable products and services. — Ron Hall

Canadians sneaking weed killers back across their border?

2011-05-26T18:16:00.000-04:00

Word comes that some Canadians are buying pesticides online or crossing into the United States to get weed killers and insecticides. The authorities have been informed. This is a no-no. Several provinces in Canada, including Ontario, have banned the sale and use of almost all traditional lawn care pest control products.
Could it be that some Canadian homeowners are fed up with how their properties look? From what we've been told from lawn care pros there, the so-called “natural” or “organic” replacements for these government-approved weed killers are:
— more expensive
— require the use of more product
— more frequent applications and
— provide less satisfactory results.
Moreover, whether these products are “safer” than those they've replaced is debatable. Any reasonable discussion relating to the relative “safety” of pesticides — alternative vs traditional — is now unlikely because the issue has become so emotional and politicized.
Even so, not every Canadian homeowner is enamored with lawn weeds, one of which is now apparently in consideration as the country’s official weed. OK, that’s not funny. Let it be said here first: There’s no chance, absolutely no chance, the national flag will become known as The Dandelion rather than The Maple Leaf.
We don’t condone illegal activities of any kind. We're merely commenting that some of our fine neighbors from the north are crossing our U.S. border to buy weed killers. Here’s a recent news article about that: “Gardeners cross-border shop for illegal pesticides.”

Is someone stealing your fuel? Read this

2011-05-24T11:06:00.000-04:00

Rarely do we feature products on this blog. The LM staff's postings are not for sale. Our criteria for posting is simple — helping readers offer better service, save time and money, be more environmentally responsible.

Michigan contractor Mark Bruinius came up with a product, TankShield, that helps contractors save money by stopping fuel theft from skid tanks. We're passing along the information because we've heard lots of stories about equipment and fuel theft this spring.

Bruinius, who ran a landscaping business for 15 years, contacted us after reading the article "Theft: Lock it up" in our Feb. 2011 issue.

Maybe like you, he had a problem preventing fuel theft from his skid tanks. He had three 500-gal. tanks — unleaded, on-road and off-road diesel. Most of the theft involved small amounts taken periodically. He didn’t like it, but he couldn’t figure out a way to stop it. It took the theft of $1,100 worth of unleaded fuel for him to say “enough.”

After a lot of experimentation, he came up with a rugged patented product made of 12-gauge steel and secured with using puck-style lock that allows his employees (those he trusts with keys) to access the pump through the front door. A unique internal slide rod at the rear door allows his fuel distributor to fill the tanks.

Bruinius, who manufactures the TankShields in Michigan, says they’re available in 550 and 1000 gal. UL, non-UL, double-walled tanks and high-flow pump models.

Always feel free to share your ideas with us and we’ll pass them along so that others can benefit from your experiences.

Keep your guard up; thieves see landscape equipment as easy pickens'

2011-05-17T06:37:00.000-04:00

John Levonsky, JK Landscaping, speaking to WINK News in southwest Florida, referred to the thieves that hit his company as “being like ghosts.” They cut a hole in the chain link fence at his company’s holding yard in Bonita Springs, FL, and selectively picked out and made off with thousands of dollars worth of his equipment.

“They came in, took it, closed the doors, put the locks back in their place and just disappeared,” Levonsky told the TV station reporter.

Similiar discouraging reports from across the United States and Canada have been filling the news wires. It almost seems like an epidemic this spring. Thieves apparently see landscaping equipment as easy pickens’. The small stuff is easy to fence for fast cash. Apparently, it’s no problem to move the big stuff, too — commercial mowers, skid steers, loaders etc. Thieves even make off with trucks with loaded landscape trailers.

There are two huge costs to equipment theft:

1. The monetary cost represented by the loss of the equipment. Make sure equipment is properly insured!

2. Downtown and loss of production while replacement equipment is rounded up. This will spoil any landscaper's day. Levonsky, speaking to the WINK reporter, took his loss more philosophically than most.

"You shut down for a day, you regroup, you can't let it get you down. You just gotta keep moving,” he said.

When we polled readers earlier this year, more than 60% of respondents said they had been ripped off at least once in the past three years; some said they'd been hit multiple times.

For great information about how to reduce the risk of theft of your stuff, click on our special spring report — "Theft: Lock it up."

Download the new "The Benefits of Turf" pub

2011-05-16T06:14:00.000-04:00

The Ohio State University turf team has put together a very nice digital publication, “The Benefits of Turf.” This is something you may want to share with customers, prospects or local regulatory officials. Click on “The Benefits of Turf,” and I think you will agree that this is nicely done.

The Green Industry bigger than most people realize

2011-05-13T14:22:00.000-04:00

$175.3 billion. That's serious cash money.

That was the estimated total economic contribution (revenue) for the U.S. Green Industry in 2007. Landscaping services contributed $86.6 billion. That was the largest of the 17 industry categories in the report.

The Southern Cooperative Series shared these number, along with other eye-opening statistics, in its digital publication, "Economic Contributions of the Green Industry in the United States, 2007." The report became available May 12.

Here are some numbers gathered from the 61-page report:

— The Green Industry employed almost two million full- and part-time workers in '07 with approximately half employed in landscaping services.

— Labor earnings in the Industry exceeded $53 billion with landscaping services again the largest segment handing out $28 in paychecks.

— California led the nation in Industry output contributions at about $25 billion. It was followed by Florida at $15 billion, Illinois 8.2 billion and Ohio approximately $7 billion.

— The Green Industry represented 0.76% of U.S. gross domestic product in 2007.

The report makes great bathroom reading. To download a pdf of the report click here.

Will this be the greenest building on the greenest site in the U.S.?

2011-04-18T08:57:00.000-04:00

The $7.8 million, 24,350-sq.-ft. Phipps Conservatory's Center for Sustainable Landscapes in Pittsburgh, PA, will be "one of the greenest buildings in the world," says Richards V. Piacentini, executive director. It should be complete sometime next year.

It will sit on 2.65 acres of property behind the conservatory and serve as the conservatory's education, research and administration building. It’s the first project in the world being built to simultaneously meet three sustainable building standards: LEED Platinum, the Living Building Challenge and SITES.

Sustainable Landscape

— Sustainable landscape features all non-invasive, native plants. Click here to view the proposed plant list.
— Plants will use rainwater as irrigation - no additional irrigation will be installed
— A walking trail and boardwalk lead through a variety of landscape communities including wetland, rain garden, water's edge, shade garden, lowland hardwood slope, successional slope, oak woodland and upland groves
— Restores natural landscape function, provides wildlife habitat, and offers educational opportunity

Green Roof

— Reduces volume of storm water runoff and pollutants in storm water runoff
— Insulates building to reduce HVAC cooling in summer and heating in winter
— Extensive green roof design with a 6-in. soil depth and a variety of plants, including edibles and ornamentals
— Reduces heat island effect
— Demonstration gardens for residential applications, especially urban landscapes
— Beautifully landscaped space for an event

Rainwater Harvesting

— Storm water from upper campus glass roofs and lower site will be captured and
stored in two 1,700-gal. underground cisterns
— Rainwater will be used for toilet flushing, as well as interior irrigation and maintenance as required
— Ultralow flow plumbing fixtures include waterless urinals and dual-flush toilets for water conservation
— Greatly reduces impact on municipal sewage treatment and energy-intensive potable water systems

Lagoon System

— Captures stormwater runoff from portions of the site, the CSL roof, the maintenance building roof, and overflow from the underground cisterns
— Replicates natural water treatment process that occurs in wetlands and marshes
— Water flows through a 7-step process where plants and their symbiotic root microbes absorb organic and mineral nutrients
— Water is processed to tertiary non-potable standards, which is comparable to water exiting sewage treatment plant post-treatment conservation
— Post-treatment water that overflows the lagoon will be permeated naturally into the landscape through a series of infiltration system.

Constructed Wetland

— Treat all sanitary water from CSL and adjacent maintenance building
— Subsurface flow constructed wetland system
– 2-stage wetland treatment cell system
— Sand filtration provides additional treatment of the wetland effluent
— Ultraviolet process disinfects water to gray water standards
— Greatly reduces impact on municipal sewage treatment and energy-intensive potable water systems

Permeable Paving

— Permeable asphalt, unit pavers and stone paving
— Maximizes permeability of all paved surfaces throughout site
— Allows natural infiltration of site storm water

Safety first

2011-04-15T10:41:00.000-04:00

We don't have to tell you how dangerous a profession landscaping is. Every few months (and that's conservative) we read about a contractor who rolled his mower over into a lake and drowns. Or there's carelessness with equipment that results in the loss of a limb or some other injury. Maybe it's a driving accident while guys are heading from one job to the next. Injuries on the job mean loss of productivity, workers compensation concerns, moral issues just to name a few.

The website, The Daily Beast has put together a list of the top 20 most dangerous professions. Firefighter and police officer are there right where you'd expect them to be. And sitting at No. 17 is landscaper (see the full list here).

According to the article there were 4,700 injuries and 15.6 fatalities per 100,000 full-time workers. The statistics are based on 2009 data.

Clever, very clever — The Lawn Institute calls upon its "Turfgrass Team" to tell its story

2011-04-14T15:32:00.000-04:00

A tip of the hat and hearty “well done” to the staff at The Lawn Institute for a very creative series of video vignettes to highlight the many benefits of natural turfgrass to the public.

Thanks to Jim Novak of Turfgrass Producers International for sharing the following information and images with us so we can pass it on to you.

The Lawn Institute has developed a cast of characters identified as The Turfgrass Team that will be featured in a series of short videos addressing everything from the environmental, economic and health benefits of natural grass, to misconceptions and/or misinformation about natural grass and lawns.

The Turfgrass Team will also take on other issues; for example, the pilot episodes, address the benefits of natural grass over artificial turf as it relates to field restrictions and surface temperatures. The plan is to post fture videos on You Tube and various websites to create maximum exposure.

In announcing the posting of the videos, Kirk Hunter, executive director of The Lawn Institute stated, “There’s a great deal of misinformation out there when it comes to natural turfgrass and home lawns. The environmental benefits of natural grass are numerous and our challenge is to convey information that underscores what those benefits are and how they benefit everyone. By creating The Turfgrass Team we have a vehicle, along with some appealing characters, who can address the subject in an entertaining, informative and memorable way, and more importantly, reach a broad audience of young and old alike.

"Future videos are still in the planning stages but it’s likely they will address how natural turfgrass cools the air, produces oxygen, filters air, reduces pollution, suppresses dust, recharges and filters groundwater, reduces runoff, controls erosion, stores carbon, restores soil quality, etc.

In addition to the environmental benefits, future videos might provide helpful information on best management practices as it relates to proper lawn care such as water conservation, lawn mower care, proper use of fertilizer, core aeration, etc.

You can view the pilot episodes by entering The Turfgrass Team on the You Tube site , or use the following links to go directly to the videos.

The Turfgrass Team - Talks About “A Few Restrictions”.

The Turfgrass Team - Tackles the Heat Issue. — Ron Hall

The branding lesson of a breakfast sandwich

2011-04-13T13:17:00.000-04:00

Given the choice, would you willingly spend 100% or more for one product over another essentially identical product, all other things being equal —quality, service and ease of purchase?

A no-brainer, you might think.

Think again.

What I’m about to share with you — as obvious as it might seem once I reveal it — has important implications for your success as a Green Industry service provider, my guess is far greater than many of you realize, especially those of you that, because of the excellence of your services, have earned great loyalty or positive word-of-mouth from your clients but still struggle to gain traction in your markets.

A muffin with egg, cheese and sausage

Strangely, I’ve come to this conclusion after studying the simple and popular fast food breakfast sandwich of egg, cheese, and sausage patty on a toasted muffin.

Let me start at the beginning for some perspective.

For the last several years I’ve been working from a small messy office overlooking my wife’s flower garden. Working in a home office has its good points and its bad points, but mostly good points. I no longer own and maintain an extra car, and am free of the hassles and expense of the daily commute. Best of all, shedding the drive has added extra time to my life. I spend one of these hours almost every weekday morning walking a mile to the local Number Two national burger chain outlet where I enjoy a cup of coffee, read the newspaper and share a minute of friendly banter with its staff. As I walk home I relax and plan my workday.

Better and less expensive

My early morning stroll takes me by a franchise location of the Number One fast food chain. But I continue to Number Two across the street because it’s cleaner (especially the rest room), quieter and less expensive. In fact, I can buy a coffee for 1/3^rd less there and essentially the identical egg, cheese, and sausage and egg muffin sandwich for $1 there compared to the $2.38 for basically the same sandwich at Number One.

Gven the better customer experience and lower cost for food, why do people crowd into the dining room, endure longer waits and pay the extra cost of the simple breakfast sandwich at the rival’s drive-thru window? Wouldn’t cost be the biggest buying factor, especially for comparable products, such as coffee and a simple breakfast sandwich?

What I see almost every day is that cost doesn't have to be (and often isn't) the biggest factor in customers’ buying decisions.

The power branded marketing

If not cost, then what?

People buy products and services for many reasons, but developing a brand, then keeping that brand top of mind with advertising and marketing is incredibly powerful in influencing customers to buy one product or service over another — even identical products or services. Once consumers become, in effect, bounded to a brand cost becomes less important in buying decisions. Why else do so many more people buy the $2.38 sandwich instead of the $1 breakfast sandwich?

The message seems clear. Even when the economy is tough (and probably especially so), consumers will pay more for branded products and services. I don't see any reason why this would be any different for landscape products and services than it is for breakfast sandwiches. — Ron Hall

PLANET Day of Service — get crackin', it's almost here

2011-04-06T09:09:00.002-04:00

Thinking about participating in PLANET Day of Service April 22 but haven't made up your mind yet?

My late father, bless his heart, had a saying when he saw me dithering over whether I should do something or not. "Poop or get off the pot," he would say. Fathers tend to say those kinds of things, right?

OK, so get crackin'. Pull the trigger if you've been debating whether to select a project, mobilize your team and be counted among the Day of Service volunteers. You still have time to get Day of Service shirts for your workers. The deadline is April 13. Popular projects include grounds of schools, parks, playgrounds, senior centers, shelters, etc.

“The concept behind the PLANET Day of Service is to bring volunteers together to fill needs in each community by creating and caring for green spaces,” says PLANET President David Snodgrass, Landscape Industry Certified Manager. “Our members know how important it is for people to have parks to enjoy and gardens where children can learn about the environment.”

In the past two years of the event, PLANET members completed more than 480 projects in 43 states and in Canada, with nearly 5,000 volunteers donating more than $1,000,000 in time, material, and services.

There’s a lot of great information on the PLANET Day of Service website. Start there.

The Lead Sponsors for this year’s event are Agrium Advanced Technologies, American Profit Recovery, JOHN DEERE, PBI/Gordon Corporation, and Shindaiwa.

Other sponsors include Corona — Season after Season, Duke’s Landscape Management, Inc.; Ewing; HighGrove Partners; Hoedown Gardening & Landscaping, Inc.; Kichler Lighting; Lebanon Turf; Nufarm Turf & Ornamental; Project Evergreen; Puryear Farms; Sebert Landscaping; Snapper Pro; STIHL Inc.; Terracare Associates; The Greenwood Group, LLC and Turf Appeal Inc.

Here are some images taken of the Mirrorscapes LLC team in Ohio by the Landscape Management magazine staff during its 2010 Day of Service project. — Ron Hall

Spring Green guy writes SMART check

2011-04-05T10:31:00.000-04:00

CHILLICOTHE, IL — Remember that jaw-tightening screech that chalk made when your 8th-grade English teacher diagrammed a sentence on the blackboard.

Stop! Pleeeseeee Stop!

Well, that screech may become history thanks to technology like the SMART Board. What’s a SMART Board you might be wondering (as we did)? Replace that vision of the blackboard at the head of the classroom with a huge, white I-Pad-like, interactive instructional tool. In truth, that description hardly does it full justice.

OK, why are we writing about SMART Boards in a landscape blog? It’s because Spring Green Lawn Care franchise owner Dave Vojta donated $3,500 to outfit a classroom at Illinois Valley Central (IVC) High School with a SMART Board. The IVC District is raising money to put one in each of its 110 classrooms.

“This level of instructional technology will set IVC apart as a technological leader throughout Illinois and the country,” said IVC Superintendent Dr. Nick Polyak in the Chillichothe Times Bulletin that shows a smiling Dave Vojta in a classic grip-and-grin

Vojta was the first businessperson to step forward and write a check for the “IVC Parents for Smart Students SMART Board Campaign. Cool. Very cool.

Social media — get with it!

2011-03-28T10:11:00.000-04:00

The days of the uneducated customer are over. Kaput. Done. Finished. Extinct. History. Evaporated.

That's what Tim Miles, partner in Wizard of Ads, told an audience at the Water Quality Association in San Antonio recently.

He said that social media is revolutionizing how people research and share information. Given the choice to participate or not to participate — you have to go for it, said Miles. If your service offers benefits for the environment, improves people’s well being, adds value to their properties, etc. (sounds like the landscape industry to me) why wouldn’t you?

Other points he made:

— Never overestimate the importance of word of mouth.
— Technology is transforming commerce. Get with it.
— Transparency is not an option; it’s the reality.

Added Miles, there’s still no substitute for getting face-to-face with prospects or clients. (OK, so this isn't news to those of us in the landscape business, but it's good to get a reminder anyway.) — Ron Hall

Here are the most valuable two minutes you'll spend on your business today

2011-03-16T10:44:00.000-04:00

Can you spare two minutes to find out what really motivates your front-line employees? Money? Nope, says Mel Kleiman, the one-time owner of three different businesses, including the largest group of Hertz Rent-A-Car franchise locations in the United States.

Below is the URL for the 2-minute video from Mel sharing the 5 things your best employees want from their jobs.

We can guarantee you that it will be the most valuable business-building two minutes you spend today. Click here and tell us if you agree or not.

Oyler's presentation on sales got the troops stirred up

2011-03-15T09:54:00.000-04:00

Tom Oyler, hobbled with an injured leg, nevertheless was at his animated best in sharing some of his sales and marketing thunder at the Next Level Network (NLN) University in Dallas recently. From time to time, in fact, he grabbed the wooden cane he kept at his side, and waved it around when making what he felt was a particularly vital point.

Wow, that kept everybody’s attention riveted on the speaker! That and Oyler’s recipe for marketing and sales success which he shared in his day-long presentation to a full room of managers from the seven participating NLN companies. They expected some powerful sales advice from Oyler who has sold tens of millions of dollars of landscape services and built and operated several successful Florida businesses . . . and they got it big time.

And as the presentation rolled along audience members started chiming in with their own experiences and thoughts, making for a lively exchange of ideas, some of which Oyler agreed with and some he challenged.

And why do we keep returning to the NLN event, since we’ve reported on it in previous blogs? The answer is simple. When we review our notes from the event we keep finding things to share.

In this post, let’s talk branding which Oyler says is one of the toughest things for a landscape company (or any high-labor service business) to establish. That's too bad. A brand is differentiator in the market with a “good” brand commanding a premium in sales.

So, what’s a brand, according to Oyler?

— A brand is a “living” thing.
— A brand is the “idea” about your company your created with your customers.
— A brand is what your company “stands for” in the market.
— A brand deals with every way you deal with your customers.
— A brand is “grounded” at the point of delivery of your goods and services
— A brand is a major differentiator.
— A brand is often poorly managed in high labor services industries
— A brand once established generally lasts a long time — for good, bad or for worse.

Again, the reason why you want to establish a brand, a "good" brand in the market is so that you can command a higher price for your services. And generally that's the case when everybody is offering pretty much the same services and saying pretty much the same things, such as "we can do it faster, cheaper and better." And who doesn't say that these days?

For the record: Oyler partners with Bruce Wilson in the Wilson-Oyler Group, a full-service consulting firm specializing in business improvement services to the landscape industry. Read Wilson's "Best Practices" column in Landscape Management magazine each month.

Lambert Landscape knows gardens like few other companies

2011-03-02T11:17:00.000-05:00

One of my first assignments with Landscape Management (then known as “Weeds, Trees & Turf”) in 1984 was visiting Lieds Landscape, Sussex, WI, founded in 1945 by the late Delmar Lieds. I spent that soft, early-autumn day with Delmar (he passed in the mid 1990s) and his son, Tom, who was then running the company. The company is now under the guidance of Robb Lieds, the third generation directing the family business.

What I remember most vividly about that first facility tour is the colors and textures Delmar evoked in describing the “gardens” his company designed and produced for its clients. His love for plants and their unique characteristics, which he shared as the two of us walked a stand of blue spruce in the company nursery, struck an emotional chord within me that remains to this day.

Those of us in the industry talk about landscapes. We talk property maintenance. We talk lawn care.

Why don't we talk more about giving our customers "gardens"? Who doesn't like a garden, after all?

It seems to me that to answer that from a business perspective, at least, we have to answer "yes" to two questions: 1) Do we have the special knowledge and skills required within our teams to install and to care for gardens? 2) Do we have a sufficient number of customers desiring, willing able to pay for them and their maintenance, recognizing that gardens are constantly evolving and maturing?

It's a brave landscape company, in this case Lambert Landscape, willing in late winter to show the gardens under its care — even in Texas where people are apt to be a bit more on the bold side. This time of the year the turfgrass (St. Augustinegrass in most cases) is dormant and brown, and residential gardens are a month or more away from even approaching their true attractiveness.

Several weeks ago I was fortunate (and delighted) to join a group of knowledgeable horticulturists from some of the nation’s top universities and tour gardens designed and installed by the Dallas-based company.

Lambert's Lara Moffat, MLA, director of marketing & recruitment, and several of her colleagues walked with us and answered our questions regarding the gardens their company had installed and maintains in Highland Park, an exclusive community three miles north of downtown Dallas. The gardens were impressive — the design, the attention to detail, the hardscape, the huge containers, the statuary, etc. — in spite of plant material still suffering from the unusually bitter cold and snow that dampened nearby Super Bowl activities several weeks earlier.

My main takeaway message from the afternoon walking the properties is that Lambert Landscape, founded in 1919, intimately knows its market, knows its customers' desires and needs, and the people on the Lambert team know gardens.

Enjoy some of these images we took as we walked the gardens of several of its clients. We look forward to sharing images of some of these same gardens on this blog when they're at their amazing best. — Ron Hall

This book could be your game changer

2011-02-24T08:57:00.000-05:00

DALLAS — More than 20 years ago Carl Sewell, the owner of a local motor vehicle dealership here, wrote a book. The name of the book is “Customers for Life.” Because its message is timeless the book was recently re-released by Doubleday. After the book’s initial publication, Sewell was in big demand as a speaker although he readily admits he is not professional speaker nor, for that matter, a professional writer. He sold and sells motor vehicles, just like his father did before him. And he's sold a lot of them. A lot.

He doesn’t do much public speaking these days. But when the folks at Lambert Landscaping, based here and hosting the Next Level Network University, asked Carl to speak to the 120-plus owners and managers of the seven companies here he agreed. It turns out he has been a lifelong customer of Lamberts.

Speaking in a calm and friendly voice and with more than a little folksy humor he shared some very powerful insights with the Green Industry professionals.

I’m just going to relate a couple of his key points, hoping that you’ll buy the book, read it and put in practice what he’s learned over the course of his extremely successful career running a family business. At the core of his message were two fundamentals for anyone’s business success: 1.) absolute integrity and 2.) performance.

I’ll share just a few other take-homes from Sewell’s presentation to keep this message short.

Start out by determining what exactly you want to be within your industry or market, said Sewell. Do you want to be a top 50 company? A top 10? Number one?

“If you decide you want to be the best it simplifies many things,” he added.

You get to be the best by finding out who’s the best (not necessarily the biggest) in your industry, studying how they got to be the best, in fact going to see them, if possible, and taking some of your key folks with you. You want more viewpoints than your own.

Also, find and develop mentors. This is critical. It saves a lot of mistakes and prevents a lot of sleepless nights. Sewell says retired people who have been very successful in their respective fields often greatly appreciate the opportunity to help younger people that are interested in learning. Almost in all cases, these relationships lead to lasting friendships. At least they did for him, Sewell said.

A couple final points.

While today’s economy is discouraging to a lot of people it still offers “infinite opportunity” and especially for the landscape business, he said. It’s a great time, best in decades to acquire new talent, acquire other companies and to strengthen your business teams with training and additional education, he believes.

“You might not have another opportunity like this for quite some time again,” he said.
Get Carl Sewell’s “Customers for Life." It’s a quick and enjoyable read, and a book that you will revisit again and again to keep you and your company headed in the right direction.

Note: when I goggled the book on Amazon I saw that there were used copies for as little as $1.38. Regardless of what the book costs, if you take to heart what Carl’s experiences taught him, it will repay you over and over again. – Ron Hall

Good karma is what it's all about in the end

2011-02-23T11:03:00.000-05:00

The Fisher House in Miami

DALLAS – Times are tough and budgets are tight in the landscape industry as they are in just about every sector be it private or public. There is more need in our communities and among our charitable organizations than there’s been, probably since the Great Depression.

So, how do we as landscape/lawn service companies or individuals within these companies help out? What and how do we give back to the neighborhoods and communities where we provide our services?

A small group of landscape professionals discussed this at the Next Level Network University here this morning and several things became clear:

1. Companies should contribute beyond their day-to-day revenue-producing activities to the welfare of their communities and to special causes. The community gives to you; you give back where you can, right? This is commonly called community service, but I prefer to look at it as generating good karma; it's creating bursts of positive energy the pushes us farther down the road to where we want to be as individuals, an industry or, get this, a society. (Wow, too heavy for a blog about landscaping?)

2. Companies are having to make tough choices in determining which charities and community projects to undertake or contribute to. The needs and requests are much greater than any of us can meet.

3. A lot of times we can do it in support of other business partners or vendors, in the vein of Extreme Home makeover or Habitat for Humanity.

4. Most of us probably do a lot more community service than we realize, not all of in the form of contributing to charity golf outings either. Some of us coach Little League baseball, football or soccer, touching the lives of dozens of youths. Some of us support and participate charitable and humanitarian efforts through our spiritual organizations. We could go on and on. Indeed, as the eight of us sat around the table, eating French toast and drinking coffee, more examples kept popping up.

5. Then there are some neat and established programs that we can become involved with, such asthe Professional Landcare Network's Day of Service this spring or Project Evergreen's Greencare for Troops.

6. The best and most important karma we can contribute to our neighborhoods, our charities, our neighbors, sometimes even fellow employees in need, comes from our hearts, those things that touch our souls and move us to get out of day-to-day worlds and do something cool for somebody else.

In that spirit, let me call out one great example that was shared at our round table -- and not pridefully either -- the commitment that Juan Carlos Vila and his company, Vila&Son, made in contributing to and helping raise funds to get a Fisher House established near the Veterans Hospital in Miami, FL, several years ago. Vila is the CEO of Vila&Son. His story is incredible. He and family members escaped Castro’s Cuba in the 1960s, arriving in Miami with little more than their clothes. Vila&Son is now the largest landscape company in Florida with nine locations. Few people realize his or her hard-earned good fortune more than Vila, a generous man of great personal charm and humility.

A Fisher House is “a home away from home” for families of patients receiving medical care at a major military and VA medical centers. The homes are normally located within walking distance of the treat facility or have transportation available. There are more than 53 Fisher Houses with perhaps a dozen more being readied for occupancy. Click here for more about Fisher Houses.

It’s always tough to write about stuff like this because most of things that we do, we don’t necessarily expect anybody to pat us on the back and say “hey, what a great thing you did.” (Although, isn’t it nice when that happens?)

Finally, thanks to Gary Fears, a young account manager at Heads Up Landscape (and proud BYU alum), for doing a great job facilitating our discussion.

Keep following this blog because there's some powerful sales and customer care stuff arising from this NLN University that we're going to share with you that I'm confident, if you take it to heart and act on it, will help you get to the next level too. – Ron Hall

These firms are serious about taking it to "The Next Level"

2011-02-22T07:27:00.000-05:00

DALLAS – If you want to know where the landscape industry is going – or at least where some of its most progressive companies think it should be going – you need to be paying attention to The Next Level Network (NLN), which is a tiny organization of progressive landscape companies that network and collaborate to energize their staffs and bring innovation into their operations.

Today the NLN - founded and facilitated by industry business consultant Bruce Wilson - consists of just seven companies: HighGrove Partners, Atlanta; CoCal Landscape, Denver; Heads Up, Albuquerque; Mariani Landscape, Lake Bluff, IL; Vila & Son, Homestead, FL; Pacific Landscape Management, Portland, OR; and Lamberts Landscape Company, Dallas. Owners and management of the companies get together three times a year. They’ve been doing so since 2005.

As I write this, key managers of the companies, including most of the owners, are meeting here in the Next Level Network University. Lamberts Landscape Company is hosting the University. To kick off the event, key personnel (including several owners) of the seven companies dined together in a Marriott Hotel ballroom here Monday evening (about 130 people, including guests) and shared brief overviews of their companies. Several broad themes emerged.

1. Each company is adamant about building the skill levels (technical, sales, operational and financial/business expertise) of its employees. And, in spite of several of the companies being among the largest in the country (Florida’s Vila&Son and Mariani in Chicagoland) each company views itself as a “family” of like-minded individuals working cooperatively.

2. Each company is intensely customer-focused. Vila&Son, for example sports a WIT emblem on each one of its service vehicles. WIT stands for “Whatever It Takes,” the slogan it promotes to its clients in achieving their satisfaction.

3. The owners of these companies are still totally engaged in the success of their employees, and by extension, their companies.

4. Green is not just a color. Without exception these companies are implementing best practices when it comes to environmentally responsible landscape design, construction and maintenance. Lamberts, the host company, has been practicing “organic” landscape care since the late 1980s. Companies such as CoCal and Heads Up, located in arid regions of the United States, are strong into Xeric landscaping; High-Grove Partners instituted its innovative “WaterKnow” services several years ago; but Pacific Landscape Management is taking environmental landscape practices farthest of all, even to the installation of solar panels on its headquarters.

Stay tuned and I’ll continue to report on the NLN University. This small group of entrepreneurial operations, especially as the managers of its member companies start trading experiences and observations, is going to generate some great ideas the next couple of days. – Ron Hall

Extra fees, no! Increasing productivity, yes!

2011-02-16T11:02:00.000-05:00

My wife Vicky and I just returned from a short vacation. We stayed at a nice hotel in central Florida then visited some nieces and nephews and finally ended up in Fort Myers where we hooked up with our son and daughter-in-law.

We were surprised by the “extra” expenses that we incurred in what we had planned to be a frugal vacation. First came the airline baggage and snack fees. We had anticipated these and paid them without a whimper. However, we decided not to pay extra to sit in seats closer to the front of the plane. Until recently none of these services cost extra. They used to be part of the deal when you bought an airline ticket.

Then at the hotel, a very nice hotel, we were surprised to learn that, in addition to the room rate we had been promised we were charged a daily resort fee ($16 plus tax) and also a parking fee ($13 plus tax) — this at a hotel that on our previous stays did not levy a resort fee or charge for self-parking. I don’t even want to talk about the extra taxes and charges accruing to our car rental.

So, what’s the point you’re probably wondering?

The point is this: Inflation is here and it’s likely to get worse. Perhaps much worse. Prices of commodities, all commodities, are rising. Check it out for yourselves.

Businesses that because of competitive pressures can’t raise their base prices are generating cash by other means, in the case of travel with lots of new and innovative fees. (What's next a towel use fee?)

Landscape/lawn services, participating in one of the most competitive and price-conscious industries in North America, find it difficult to tack on fees as evidenced by the fuel surcharges many of them attempted to pass to customers when fuel prices spiked prior to the 2008-09 Recession. So, what to do?

The most obvious answer is to put in place processes to generate more productivity out of each unit of input — be it capital or labor. This has got to be a continuous effort, and it'll only work if you involve your whole team. After all, everyone in your company has a stake in helping it prosper (survive?) as a business in 2011 and beyond.

If you thought operational efficiency and productivity mattered in the success of your landscape operation before, I'm saying that you ain’t seen nothing yet. — Ron Hall

What it takes to make a sustainable landscape

2011-02-14T20:41:00.000-05:00

The staff at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at the University of Texas is not only developing a green landscaping rating system with its partners in the Sustainable Sites Initiative, it consults on sustainable landscape design, such as at the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, Advanced Micro Devices' Austin campus and San Antonio's Mission Reach Project.

Below are some steps for developing sustainable landscapes from the Center:

• A team of landscape specialists conduct an extensive pre-design site assessment that includes ecological history and an evaluation of soils and vegetation. Stakeholders provide input. The design considers the land's cultural significance, the need to provide gathering places for people and to minimize building footprints. Also important are trees and shrubs to shade buildings and land contours that capture stormwater for re-use.

• During construction, the upper layer of soil is carefully retained and re-used because it contains nutrients and microbes plants need. Equipment is restricted to certain locations because the vehicle weight compacts soil and hinders plant growth. Trees and plants that are removed may be stored and replanted. Underground tanks may be installed to capture stormwater.

• Because lawns are resource and labor-intensive, rock gardens and other features are used and a mixture of grasses native to the area replaces traditional turf grasses in lawns. Native lawns often require less water, herbicides and mowing than conventional lawns .

• A mixture of native and regionally adapted plants may dominate the landscape. Besides requiring less maintenance, these plants won't compete with wild-growing native plants for resources, as do some non-native invasive species. Insects and other wildlife often prefer native plants, so native landscapes provide better habitat for wildlife.

• Garden trimmings should be recycled. Mulch and other materials are obtained locally, avoiding the greenhouse gases produced by lengthy transportation. Stone or other materials removed on site are re-used as garden walls or other structures.

• Rainwater collected in barrels or tanks called cisterns is preferable to municipal drinking water for irrigation, because it saves water and energy. Driveways and walkways are constructed of material that allows rainwater to seep into the ground. Drip irrigation is more efficient than sprinkler heads. Features such as sunken vegetated areas or rock walls slow stormwater's movement across the land so soil can remove impurities before the water reaches waterways or storm systems.

To learn how to use eco-friendly landscaping, visit the Landscape for Life Web site created by the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at The University of Texas at Austin and the United States Botanic Garden. Or visit the voluntary Guidelines and Performance Benchmarks of the Sustainable Sites Initiative of the university's Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, the American Society of Landscape Architects and the U.S. Botanic Garden.

Bland Landscape shares some great ideas

2011-02-03T09:27:00.000-05:00

Here's a heads up for a great post on another blog maintained by a company called Springleaf Strategies. The blog gives a great look at the many progressive (dare we say sustainable?) initiatives that the Bland brothers, Kurt and Matt Bland, have incorporated into their family's 35-year-old landscaping company, headquartered in Apex (near Raleigh), NC.

The blog is a good read and will give you some great ideas for your organization. Check it out here.

Hard-luck Texas family wins lawn care franchise

2011-01-28T09:04:00.000-05:00

Wesley Neukam and his family in Corpus Christi, TX, are getting a fresh start in rebuilding their lives after winning a lawn care franchise from Clean Air Lawn Care. Neukam won:

o A Clean Air Lawn Care franchise, along with ongoing support, valued at $35,000.
o Lawn equipment donated by Black & Decker, valued at $1,000.
o Patagonia Clean Air Clothing, valued at - $200.

The Ft. Collins, CO-based, lawn care company launched the contest this past October with applications submitted online. Four finalists were eventually selected and invited to post online broadcasts to be voted on by the public through December.

"There are many hard-working Americans who are currently recovering from unexpected events. We are happy to do our part by giving a chance to someone who has the skills, passion and determination to be successful, but who may not have the means," said Kelly Giard, founder and CEO of Clean Air Lawn Care, whose company and franchisees use electric mowing equipment and offer organic lawn care. Currently it numbers 27 territories across the United States.

This past year was a tough year for Neukam and his family. We wish them a much better 2011. To hear his story and watch his winning video, go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqQTyBvpg7g.

Mowing slopes with a joystick instead of an employee?

2011-01-20T10:21:00.000-05:00

The new remote-control mower looks like the Mars Rover, only it has tracks instead of wheels. You operate it like one of those monster trucks that you bought your kid for Christmas. In fact, Mississippian John Wright, the developer of the new remote-control mower (actually there are several models) says he got the idea more than a decade ago by tinkering with a Power Wheels Barbi Jeep, an alternator, a remote-control car and a lawn mower.

But it wasn’t until he was inspired by Battle Bots, a program on cable television, and did a lot of research on the Internet that he finally put together a working prototype. Now his company, The Summit Lawn Mower Company, is manufacturing and selling remote-control mowers that he says solve the safety problem associated with mowing steep banks.

Here's the news release from the company:

Remote control lawn mowers from The Summit Lawn Mower Company utilize a self-charging power system while remaining practical on any lawn. And, of course the most environmentally friendly mower is still the push reel from the good old days of Beaver Cleaver. But then again, it boils down to the practicality of the mower. If not many people use it, it is not doing the environment any good. Slope mowing capabilities up to 50 degrees is where the Summit Lawn Mower Company line of remote control lawn mowers really become practical, and not just fun. Lawn care professionals are benefiting from increased productivity. A lawn care professional generally resorts to six or eight men, equipped with time consuming weed eaters, for slopes over 30 degrees. Now they use one man, equipped with a remote control lawn mower, to take on the slopes and ditches. Their other crew members are out focusing on productivity by keeping the wheels spinning on their fleet of zero-turn mowers.

To see a video of one of the company's remote-control mowers doing its thing, visit http://www.summitmowers.com.

P.S., if any of you have tested or used one of these mowers, we'd love for you to share your experience.

Fertilizer prices on the rise; here's why

2011-01-17T10:35:00.000-05:00

Consider subscribing to the Purdue University TurfTip enewsletter. It always contains great information. Here's the latest post by Purdue's Bruce Erickson, of the university's agricultural economics department. As you're aware fertilizer prices are rising again; here's why.

By Bruce Erickson, Ph.D.

Fertilizer prices are on the upswing again, buoyed by the high prices of agricultural products that have stimulated increased demand. While the general U.S. economy struggles to recover from the financial crisis of 2008, the demand for agricultural products continues in a strong position due to favorable exchange rates, grain usage for biofuels, production concerns related to recent unfavorable weather in key crop growing regions, and a host of other factors. Higher fertilizer prices have put heavy users such as farmers, lawn care companies, and golf course superintendents on the defensive trying to best manage the input costs of their businesses. The following explains some factors that influence fertilizer prices and possible strategies in dealing with high and fluctuating prices.

Ten-year summary of prices charged by retailers to farmers for urea. 2000 to 2010 information is U.S. average for April each year. 2011 is based on a January survey of Illinois retailers. Source: USDA.

Prices Influenced by World Markets and Energy Fertilizer prices reached record levels in 2008 just prior to the financial crisis, with the prices of some key fertilizer materials such as anhydrous ammonia and diammonium phosphate exceeding $1000 per ton. Prices retreated in 2009 and 2010, but began increasing again last fall. The price of urea is approximately twice what it was a decade ago (see figure). In the 1980s the United States was a significant nitrogen exporter--now more than 57% of nitrogen used in the U.S. is imported (2008 data). Most commercial nitrogen fertilizers originate from a process that uses natural gas to convert the nitrogen gas in the air into a form usable by crops. Natural gas prices in other parts of the world are a fraction of what they are in the United States, so it is often more economical to produce there even considering transportation costs. Trinidad and Tobago, Canada, Russia, and the Middle East are major suppliers to the U.S.

Phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K) fertilizer sources such as DAP (Diammonium phosphate, 18-46-0) and muriate of potash (0-0-60) originate mostly from open or underground mines, with the bulk of production controlled by a handful of companies. The U.S. is the world’s leading supplier/exporter of phosphorus fertilizers, but imports most of its potassium from Canada. Investments in fertilizer mining and manufacturing are often long-term commitments and companies often lack the ability to adjust quickly to short-term market conditions.

Fertilizer Pricing is Complex

Fertilizer is not traded on a common exchange like stocks, currencies, or grains, so it can be much more difficult to get a read on prices. In addition, fertilizers are heavy, bulky commodities and their transport involves expense, time, and logistical constraints. Many customers also depend on their suppliers for fertilizer storage and specialized application equipment. So the market is not as fluid as many other inputs—users aren’t as likely to shop around and then just go pick up what they need as they might for chemicals or seeds.

Dealing With High Fertilizer Prices

Using the correct form and amount of fertilizer to achieve the desired plant response maximizes efficient input use and keeping costs in check. Fertilizer suppliers may be willing to enter into contractual arrangements with their larger customers that specify a future quantity and price, to help them manage their own price risk as well as that of their customers. In addition, some larger fertilizer users have also built their own bulk storage facilities that allow them to capitalize on seasonal price advantages or other price trends.

For more information on fertilizer pricing, check out:

Illinois Production Costs Report, Illinois Department of Agriculture: http://www.ams.usda.gov/mnreports/gx_gr210.txt

Agricultural Prices, United States Department of Agriculture: http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/MannUsda/viewDocumentInfo.do?documentID=1002

Factors Shaping Price and Availability of This Year’s Fertilizer Market, 2008, Purdue Agricultural Economics: http://www.agecon.purdue.edu/news/financial/Fertilizer_Market.pdf

To subscribe to TurfTips, go to https://lists.purdue.edu/mailman/listinfo/turftips

Long Island group tries to ignite statewide ban on lawn care pesticide use

2010-12-30T09:48:00.000-05:00

The Long Island Neighborhood Network has issued a call to arms for all anti-pesticide proponents in New York to stand up and be counted. The 26-year-old activist organization is kicking off a campaign today (Dec. 30, 2010) in Huntington, NY, pushing for a statewide ban on the use of "toxic" lawn care chemicals.

"We don’t believe the use of poisons that can harm our health, our families, our drinking water and the environment is justified for keeping weeds out of lawns and insects out of flowerbeds. The risk associated with these pesticides is unacceptable, because safer, effective organic methods and low-risk materials are available. If you agree, join us there, bring a sign and demonstrate with us, sign the petition and make your voice heard. If you can’t make it, write your State Legislators," proclaimed the group, seeking to ignite a statewide uprising against the use of common lawn care products.

It is not known how many people will show up for the campaign kickoff, including lawn care professionals, the people that are trained, have long used these products and have the most at stake should the campaign gain steam.

Will this be the flame that ignites NY legislation similar to that enacted in Ontario Province several years ago? If it does it will seriously harm the lawn care industry there and likely encourage groups in neighboring states to seek similar bans. — Ron Hall

Flash: Here's an update on the rally held on Long Island to protest the use of lawn care chemicals. The Long Island Press reported Jan. 1 that "a small group huddled in a parking lot" in downtown Huntington. Three of the huddlers wore haz-mat suits and others flashed signs. Doesn't exactly sound like a groundswell of support for the effort in spite of the ambitious name of MillionsOfVoters.org, the organizer. Read the account of the rally here.

Did you ever consider getting into the Christmas tree rental business?

2010-12-23T13:25:00.000-05:00

Landscape designer Scott Martin (aka Scotty Claus) rents living, healthy Christmas trees to families and businesses in and around Los Angeles. Apparently he's not the first guy to come up with the idea, but nobody else has garnered the avalanche of positive press that he and his company, Living Christmas, reeled in as this past Christmas approached.

The Los Angeles Times and New York Times were just two of many media outlets that profiled (or blogged) Scotty Claus and his unique service.

Martin did a soft rollout of the service in 2008. The idea has (pardon the pun) taken root. This holiday season, according to an article in the LA-area Daily Breeze, he expected to place 2,000 rented Christmas trees, more than three times the total he rented in 2009. According to that newspaper article he charges $25 to $125 to rent a tree with delivery charges based on the size of the tree.

The Daily Breeze article gives a pretty good description of Martin's operation.

What do you think, something for those of you in the landscape lighting business to consider adding to the mix?

Guest worker piece draws fire. . .as usual

2010-12-21T14:31:00.000-05:00

A recent opinion piece in The Arizona Republic made a case for a workable guest worker program, and this in a state with the toughest laws against undocumented workers.

The writer of the piece relates how the U.S. population is aging and the country will need more young people to tend and harvest our fruits and vegetables. Or make the beds in our hotel rooms. Or mow our lawns. Or shuck our oysters. Or degut the chickens or whittle the beeves in our huge factory-like meat processing facilities. (OK, the writer didn't mention all of the nasty, hot or bloody occupations open to any red-blooded U.S. citizen needing a job, but seemingly always only able to attract willing foreign-born workers.)

But, judging from the posted responses to the piece, you would have thought that the writer had just endorsed the Communist Manifesto with a return to Prohibition tossed into the mix. Write anything positive about allowing foreign-born workers into this country to work or perform services (even, educated, hi-tech types) and, wow, you're sure to hear from "America is only for us Americans" crowd, apparently not mindful that — assuming they're not native Americans — they or their ancestors were once immigrants.

In the case of the recent newspaper opinion piece, more than a couple of the responders pointed to our nation's high unemployment rate as an argument against allowing guest workers to take these repetitive, often exhausting, low-paying jobs. . . and this at a time when our national lawmakers have extended unemployment benefits for the chronically unemployed yet again. We can only imagine the response of guest workers to this extension — nice work if you can get it, right?

Read "Guest worker program is vital to U.S." in the Arizona Republic and if you think we're full of beans on this issue, fire away. — Ron Hall

9.5 Secrets to Growing a Lawn Care Company

2010-12-14T10:07:00.000-05:00

This blog is especially for those of you in the lawn care business. After you read it click on Barrett Ersek's 9.5 Secrets to Growing a Lawn Care Company. Ersek is CEO of Holganix, a relatively new company headquartered in Glen Mills, PA, that markets its own proprietary natural organic fertilizer. But, for the time being, let’s get beyond any discussion of natural versus synthetic.

Barrett, who has built and sold two successful lawn care companies, knows that to be successful (business or life) you have to share. In this case, Barrett is sharing some great free information with his 9.5 Secrets to Growing a Lawn Care Company.

It’s often said that free advice is worth exactly what you pay for it. But I can tell you, had I listened to and heeded some of the free advice coming my way over the years I would have avoided a lot of kicks to the posterior. . . Ron Hall

An appreciated enewsletter from California

2010-12-13T11:58:00.000-05:00

Those of us in the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes are out plowing snow or planning for the coming season. A storm walloped us this past weekend with ferocious winds, frigid temperatures and snow. Lots of snow.

So, getting a enewsletter from California showing an incredible garden was welcome. The enewsletter from Madrone Landscape also offered us some great information about water use, an issue that's growing in importance for our industry.

With greater urgency we’ve been researching and writing about water issues and how they’re affecting our landscape industry. Mostly we’ve focused on irrigation, the act of applying water to green living landscapes under our care.

But, that’s just part of the urban landscape water picture. The other equally important part is runoff. How do we keep storm water from overloading our treatment systems or flushing pollutants into our waterways?

Landscape professionals do clients and their communities an awesome service when they design and install landscapes that capture and use rainwater on site, assuming, of course, the design does not create drainage problems for structures or neighboring properties.

Writes Josh Carmichael, construction division manager at Madrone Landscapes in Atascadero, CA, in the company’s latest newsletter: “ Rainwater harvesting is quickly becoming a smart trend nationwide as people are looking to save money, protect water bodies, or keep their wells from drying up. There are many ways, simple to complex, to store rainwater for future irrigation use or allow it to infiltrate directly into the ground in a rain garden or bioswale.”

In Madrone’s market, a non-profit known as SLO Green Build will be releasing a guide on rainwater harvesting soon, he writes. This is a follow up guide to its Graywater guide released last year.

“These are both great ways to irrigate your garden with a local, free, environmentally friendly water source year round,” writes Carmichael, who is principal of Carmichael Environmental Consultants.

“Locally, SLO Green Build, a non-profit environmental construction coalition, is due to release a guide on rainwater harvesting strategies for county residents later this month. This is a follow up guide to complement their Graywater guide released last year. These are both great ways to irrigate your garden with a local, free, environmentally friendly water source year round.” — Ron Hall

We want this guy on our team

2010-12-10T06:51:00.000-05:00

Who says hard work doesn't pay off? Hey, it doesn't hurt to have smarts, drive and a willingness to help others, as well.

Jarret Krueger, a student at Wellington High School, has the complete package and earned himself a $48,000 Harry Gore Memorial Scholarship to Wichita State University, reported the Wichita Business Journal Dec. 9. (Image courtesy Wichita State University.)

We could list all of the activities and accomplishments of this young man (4.2 weighted GPA, managing the vending operations at Wellington High, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, etc.) . . . but since this blog is devoted to matters "green" we will just mention that Krueger's been running his own Krueger Lawn Service these past five years, which kinda makes us proud.

Jarret will be studying entrepreneurship at Wichita State. (Why doesn't that surprise us?)

There's no sugar-coating the effects of this economy on our industry

2010-12-05T15:10:00.000-05:00

I just came back from the Lawn Care/Pest Control Summit in Atlanta, GA, this past Friday. It was put on by the Professional Landcare Association (PLANET) and National Pest Management Association. I'm guessing there were between 150 and 200 participants.

Over the course of several days there, I talked to more than a dozen owners and they told me that they're hanging on and some said they're continuing to grow their companies, although at a slower pace than prior to 2008. To the person, however, they said things could be better — a lot better. That's very evident in several recent news articles.

On Dec. 5, the Springfield (OH) News Sun reported that sod farmer Ivan Lavy decided it was time to call it quits after 20 years in business. On Saturday, Dec. 4, he put his turf and grass company on the auction block. The property was sold and will eventually be used for homes, commercial development and sports fields, the paper reported.

Kirk Hunter, executive director of Turfgrass Producers International, is quoted in the article as doubting that the sod business will never be as robust as it was in the mid 2005s, at the height of the homebuilding boom. But, he says it will return to health eventually.

To read the article in the springfieldnewssun.com, click here.

A sizable landscape company in Georgia also packed it in this past year. Lee Daniel lost Forever Green Lawn Care and Landscaping, Newnan, GA, that, at one time, employed 40 people. But, not only did he lose his livlihood, he lost his home, his wife and, in a touching article appearing in the Newnan Times-Herald newspaper, admits to almost taking his own life.

Daniel said that he rode the wave when the housing market crested several years ago, and when that wave crashed, his company crashed with it.

To read the article in the times-herald.com, click here. — Ron Hall

Forget the tie with the lightup reindeer nose; give dad a gift certificate for lawn care

2010-12-01T10:04:00.000-05:00

A gift card to Sears for dad? Nah . . .Wouldn't a gift card for professional lawn service be more appreciated?

That's what Gerry Okimi, owner of Turf King Hamilton (Ontario, Canada) is promoting. He says his company is offering a limited number of special lawn vouchers throughout the month of December.

"During the upcoming holiday season with Christmas and Hanukkah approaching, many people will be wanting to give the gift of a healthy, green lawn to someone they love," says Okimi.

TruGreen Landcare being shopped around

2010-11-30T11:18:00.000-05:00

In November, ServiceMaster's board of directors said it's exploring strategic alternatives designed to maximize value to shareholders. To that end, it's working with Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs as its advisors and Sidley Austin as its legal advisor.

Included in the company's Form 10Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission Nov. 15, is the following comment regarding ServiceMaster’s TruGreen Landcare unit: “The Company is exploring strategic options relating to TruGreen LandCare, including the potential sale of the business.”

“The early indications we’ve seen in the market are that there is a solid interest in TruGreen LandCare, so we think the time is right to evaluate the opportunities," said ServiceMaster CEO J. Patrick Spainhour.

“Our executive team is dedicated to exploring all strategic options that have potential to allow TruGreen LandCare to reach its growth potential,” he added. “In the meantime, we will continue to operate TruGreen LandCare in the best interests of our customers.”

The ServiceMaster Form 10Q reported a 7.9% decrease in revenue in its landscape segment and a $5.2 million decrease in operating income for the third quarter of 2010 compared to 2009. Contract maintenance revenue was down 9%, and enhancement sales were down 8.3%.

TruGreen LandCare, which has operations in more than 100 locations in 40 states, generates about 14% of ServiceMaster's annual revenues. By contrast, the TruGreen LawnCare segment delivers 32% of the company's revenues.

TruGreen Landcare, as many of your remember, was born in the mad dash in the late 1990s to acquire regionally prominent (although not necessarily profitable) landscape companies by national players, such as ServiceMaster and rollup upstart Landcare U.S.A., which several years after the landscape acquisition arms race sold out.— Ron Hall

Turf pros say that evidence is strong for global warming

2010-11-29T15:19:00.000-05:00

It seems like we don't hear as much about global warming these days in the mainstream media because the economy continues to dominate the nightly news. But at a recent industry event, climate change — as two speakers preferred to call it — was talked about often. And both speakers, who appeared at the recent Green Start Academy hosted by John Deere Golf and Bayer Environmental Science, believe there's something to global warming.

During his presentation, Tom Rufty, Ph.D., a turfgrass professor from North Carolina State, displayed a slide containing two satellite photographs of Artic sea ice — one from 1979 and the other from 2008. The later photograph clearly revealed ice that had melted.

"We're in an inter-glacial period right now where the Earth should be cooling, but instead it's warming up," Rufty said.

Nick Hamon, Ph.D., who was recently named the head of sustainability for Bayer CropScience, said 95% of scientists believe there's a climate change issue.

"The 5 percent who don't think we have a climate change issue may end up being right," he said. "But 5 percent is not a great probability to live and work by when it comes to decide what the future may look like."

The basic message from Hamon and Rufty is climate change is something that can't be ignored.

"You may be cynical and say this is not going to happen," Hamon said. "But even if it's 50 percent correct, it's a little concerning."

Despite the challenges the world will face, Hamon has a good outlook for the green industry.

"Good science shows that the green industry has a place," he says.

Turfgrass plays a vital role in carbon sequestration, which can mitigate climate change, Hamon adds. He notes the following statistics should make people who work in Green Industry feel good about what they do for a living:

* Turfgrass removes 20 million tons of carbon — 5% of the carbon from our atmosphere.

* 10,000 sq. ft. of grass can produce enough oxygen for a family of four. 10,000 sq. ft. of healthy grass absorbs 6,000 gal. of rainwater without runoff.

* Managed turfgrass sequesters significantly more carbon than healthy turf.

Editor's note: Thanks to sister magazine Golfdom for the above report.

How will NY's organic yards initiative change lawn care in the Empire State?

2010-11-22T15:11:00.000-05:00

It’s difficult to predict just how New York’s “Be Green Organic Yards NY” initiative will change the professional lawn application business in the State . . . but it will change it. Just how much will become more evident this coming Jan. 11, the opening day of the Empire State Green Industry Show in Rochester.

That’s when the Cornell University team of Dr. Jennifer Grant, Dr. Frank Rossi, Walter Nelson and David Chinery will present a 4-part session. Trained lawn care companies who successfully complete the course exam can apply for a NY Department of Conservation license agreement to use the “Be Green” logo. The course exam will be presented the same day at 4:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Bring along a crisp C- note, yes, $100. DEC says you’ll have to fork it over to take the test.

Not familiar with the Be Green Organic Yards NY initiative? Here’s a website that explains it: www.dec.ny.gov/public/65071.html

For the record: Our guess is that the rooms for the organic lawn care sessions will be full. — Ron Hall

Jump-start 2011 business growth

2010-11-11T13:04:00.000-05:00

Landscape Management visited many booths at the GIE+EXPO Oct. 28-30 in Louisville, KY, to obtain the latest industry news and trends and gather some education for readers on the business opportunities 2011 beholds.

Here is a collection of the videos we shot, providing you with tips to drive business improvement and growth next year.

OVERCOME PRICING PRESSURE
John Deere's Chase Tew gives landscape professionals his best advice for alleviating pricing pressure in today's economy.

2011 LANDSCAPE BUSINESS PREVIEW
PLANET president and landscaper David Snodgrass reveals the mindset of today's typical landscape professional, his predictions for business in 2011 and PLANET news.

BRAND BUILDING
Syngenta's Dan Steltz shares his tips on how lawn care and landscape professionals can improve their brands as they go into business in 2011.

FERTILIZER PRICING UPDATE & FALL FERTILIZATION TIPS
Agrium Advanced Technologies' Chris Derrick shares current data on fertilizer pricing and offers his best advice on how lawn care operators can improve fall fertilization.

ADD-ON OPPORTUNITY: AERATION
Want to know how to start an aeration service and sustain it? Turfco's Bob Brophy reveals his secrets from 36 years in the industry.

CONQUERING CRABGRASS
Crabgrass has been tough this year. Dow AgroSciences offers some tips for getting ahead of it in 2011.

POWERED BY PROPANE
Landscape Management Editor-in-Chief interviews the Propane Education & Research Council's Brian Feehan on the growing trend in propane-powered landscape equipment.

MAKE MOWER MONEY
Properly storing a mower for winter means a quicker, more productive and instantly profitable spring start-up. Cub Cadet's Allen Baird shares his tips.

CREATING OUTDOOR LIVING SPACES
Belgard's Ken O'Neill discusses a growing trend: outdoor rooms.

COLOR READY?
Landscapers: November is the time to build relationships with your growers for 2011 orders. Are you ready? Ball's Jeff Gibson shares some tips for improving your 2011 seasonal color programs.

SEE THE LIGHT
Kichler's Scott Pesta discusses the new "green" trend in LED landscape lighting fixtures.

PAVING THE WAY
Patrick Day of Boral Bricks updates GIE+EXPO 2010 attendees on one of the hottest trends in hardscapes today: permeable pavers.

ADD-ON OPPORTUNITY: STUMP GRINDING
Expand your business in 2011 with stump grinding. Learn more from Toro's Greg Lawrence.

Wow, this is a lot of candy for our troops!!

2010-11-11T09:42:00.000-05:00

A tip of the hat and a "nice job" to all of the landscapers and other small businesses across the nation that promoted this year's Treat for the Troops candy drive. And a special thanks to Allentuck Landscaping for reminding us.

Today, on this special day, Veteran's Day, Bruce Allentuck emailed this note to his customers and friends, thanking them for their support of Treats for the Troops:

"You came through again! Congratulations on a superb candy drive for Treats for the Troops. When combined with the other groups collecting candy, the total came to over 10,000 pounds collected. That is over 5 TONS!

Mover Moms (http://www.movermoms.org/ ) has already trucked the candy up to a National Guard post near Wheeling, West Virginia where it is being sorted and orgnaized. Next it will be flown over to our men and women of all faiths serving in Afghanistan and Iraq in time for the holidays."

Sincerely, yours,

Bruce Allentuck
President

Huge fine should remind us to look before we dig

2010-11-04T13:21:00.000-04:00

ST. CATHARINES, ONTARIO, CANADA — Please don’t accuse us of picking on this landscape company; we’re not. Indeed, we’re genuinely sorry the following tragedy, one of the strangest we’ve read about in a long time, happened in the first place. The purpose of this blog is to remind you of what can go wrong if you don’t you know about and mark all underground utilities before digging.

In July 2008, a worker for a Niagara Falls landscape company punctured a propane line with a reinforcing bar on a customer’s property. To make a long story short (you can get the details from a recent article in the Hamilton Spectator), the propane gas leached through the earth and followed a television cable conduit into the home’s basement. When enough propane collected in the home’s basement, it exploded and killed a 54-old-occupant.

The company has been fined a total of $225,000 for health-and-safety violations, reported the newspaper. The court said that company did not mark the propane line and its workers made no effort to locate the underground gas line.

Click here for the full story.

Expect fertilizer prices to rise 10% (maybe more) for 2011

2010-11-02T10:38:00.000-04:00

None of us, and especially those of us in the turf health business, want to see fertilizer prices spike like they did a couple of years ago. Likely they won't, not to that extend anyway. Even so, if you're buying turfgrass fertilizer next season, you might want to heed Lebanon Turf's advice to watch corn prices.

“As corn goes, so goes nitrogen and as nitrogen goes, so go fertilizer prices,” said Harry L. Mathis, corporate director of Materials, Distribution and Order Fulfillment for Lebanon Seaboard Corp., parent company of LebanonTurf.

The USDA’s corn forecast – recently adjusted downward 3.6% – caused a ripple effect that likely will be felt at golf courses, sports fields and anywhere turf managers rely on nitrogen-based fertilizers. The forecast sent corn futures soaring to near $6 per bushel, a price that encourages farmers to plant more corn, which in turn, requires increased nutrients. The subsequent jump in worldwide demand for nitrogen increases costs to fertilizer producers.

“We were sailing along in pretty stable condition this summer, and then the USDA numbers and the corn harvest sparked the markets,” Mathis said. “It just goes to show how fragile and interconnected the supply chain is.”

While market conditions have stabilized in the last several weeks, Mathis predicts that prices for fertilizer products high in nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium will increase by 10% or more for the 2011 growing season. Any disorder in the worldwide supply chain, which could be brought on by disruptions at nitrogen plants and shipping interruptions, could cause another spike in costs. “N, P and K are in the mix together,” Mathis said.

“The corn number is real; the nitrogen situation is real, and when the season hits, low inventories of raw materials stateside could force some significant availability and pricing issues in the spring,” he said.

GIE + EXPO staying in L'ville through 2014

2010-10-31T06:43:00.000-04:00

LOUISVILLE, KY — The GIE + EXPO is staying here at least through 2014 and Hardscape North America is returning for 2011, reported Bill Harley, president and CEO of the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI). This was the first year that hardscape suppliers, under the sponsorship of Interlocking Concrete Paver Institute (ICPI), had a large presence at the event.

Harley’s announcement Thursday, Oct. 28, ended speculation (as little as there was) that the GIE + EXPO might move elsewhere as the original agreement between the three-sponsoring associations approached its end. But the board, made up of members of the OPEI, the Professional Landcare Network (PLANET), and the Professional Grounds Management Society (PGMS), decided Louisville was the place to be, at least for the next four years.

This year’s event, Oct. 28 – Oct. 30, featured 750 exhibitors and attracted an estimated 20,000 participants (including exhibitors), Harley said at a press conference the morning the trade show opened. The trade show is reported to be the 14th largest in the United States, says the OPEI. Final attendance numbers will be announced soon.

Why Louisville again?

A number of factors figured into the GIE Board’s decision to keep the trade show in Louisville, not the least being the 190,000 sq. ft. of indoor space in the Kentucky Exposition Center and the 20 acres of outdoor demonstration space just outside its doors. All of this located just minutes from the Louisville airport and an easy 10-minute drive from downtown. What other cities east of the Mississippi can offer this?

Important as that is, the efforts made by the convention people in the city itself appear to be an equally large reason why the event isn't moving soon. They genuinely seem to appreciate having the event and, from appearances anyway, do everything they can to accommodate the trade show and the concurrent PLANET and PGMS business conferences.

It's strictly business

While many of us, myself included, wouldn't squawk if a different venue were chosen (just for a change), there's no denying that, unlike other cities with huge convention centers (Las Vegas, Orlando, New Orleans immediately come to mind), if you're coming to the GIE + EXPO in Louisville, you're coming to learn, network, operate some really neat equipment out in a big dusty field and, perhaps, do business. As nice as the city's smallish Fourth Street Live entertainment district is, Louisville is not regarded as a family vacation destination. Not like other big convention cities, anyway, and certainly not in late October.

In the end, the decision to keep the event in Louisville for another couple of years is a good one. Louisville is a nice city with good facilities, and the people that run the event do a very good job.

Hey, that's just my opinion. What do you think? — Ron Hall

A chance to grab a Rain Bird grant

2010-10-27T08:52:00.000-04:00

Here’s a heads up about a neat new contest from the folks at Rain Bird. You’re getting the news here before it’s released to the public. We’re one of the partners in this contest and we’re very excited about it because it addresses just what our landscape industry is all about.

In other words, we'd love to learn that one or more of the readers of this blog pick up some of the more than $50,000 in grants that Rain Bird will be awarding to companies, non-profits, homeowners or, in fact, anybody in the whole wide world that submits a winning water conservation or environmental sustainability project that promotes green spaces. The company is awarding three $1,500 grants, three $5,000 grants and three $10,000 grants.

The contest is the latest wrinkle on the company’s Intelligent Use of Water program it initiated in 2008. Any internet user can submit a project via the Intelligent Use of Water Awards (IUOW) website and can promote it within his or her own community.

All projects can be anonymously voted upon by visitors (one vote a day per project, per individual user. The projects with the most votes will receive funding from Rain Bird according to their funding category.

OK, there you have it; you can get a head start on submitting one of your great water conservation or environmental sustainability project. Visit the IUOW awards website here to get the details, submit your project, let people know about it and start voting . . . In other words, get crackin’. — Ron Hall

New 1099 Tax Rule = Paperwork Nightmare

2010-10-22T08:55:00.000-04:00

Paperwork.

The very word sends a shutter through folks in almost every profession who after long, tiring days must succumb to the job that's not quite finished until the i's are dotted and t's are crossed.

Detectives who chase down bad guys spend most of their waking moments conducting witness and suspect interviews, but each evening as they get back to the office, there are mountains of paperwork necessary to record their day's work and justify whether someone is guilty or innocent. Paperwork lays the groundwork for their cases in court.

Doctors who make rounds from patient to patient, adjusting medications, performing surgeries, making emergency medical decisions. At the end of each day, medical charts must be in order to ensure the right continued health care for every patient and for insurance purposes.

While business owners have their own paperwork struggles ... their situation just got worse.

The impending 1099 tax rule that's slated to go into effect in 2012 in conjunction with the new health care legislation means a business owner - landscapers, too - have to file 1099 forms for EVERY vendor you spend more than $600 with in a year.

Consider this example, which shows how daunting the paperwork filing task will become: A business that spends $20 a week on pizza for its employees, for example, would spend a total of $1,040 a year — and would need to file a 1099 form to that local pizzeria.

Reuters has an easy-to-understand breakdown of how and why this rule came to be, the likelihood it will actually go into effect, and what business owners need to know about it. Check it out here and let us know what you think.

- Nicole Wisniewski

Today's Landscape Industry Pulse

2010-10-14T14:39:00.000-04:00

Grade schoolers enlisted in anti-pesticide effort

2010-09-27T08:53:00.000-04:00

OTTAWA, CANADA — A class of grade-school students at an elementary school in Canada crafted containers of natural slug bait and pesticide-free weed killer. The youngsters sent their classroom concoctions, each with accompanying note to Canadian lawmakers. The notes urged a nationwide ban on pesticide use, said a recent article appearing on Coquitlam.now,

This is wrong on several levels.

First, there is no such thing as a pesticide-free chemical weed killer. If it’s a chemical and a weed killer, synthetic or natural, it’s a pesticide

But, to the larger issue: While we applaud the students' earnest effort to advance the common good, we don't feel they should be used to advance anyone's personal agenda.

More disturbing was the image accompanying the online article. It showed a grinning Prime Minister Stephen Harper and MP (Member of Parliament) Fin Donnelly posing with one of the student’s creations, implying, whether intentional or not, an endorsement of the students' anti-pesticide message.

Pesticide use in a complicated issue with huge public health and food production issues way beyond the comprehension of most grade schoolers. .... and often it seems politicos, as well.

A great rain garden guide....and it's free!

2010-09-22T12:59:00.000-04:00

Nothing attracts Americans' attention as quickly as the phrases "free" and "all you can eat," but this blog isn't about Hometown Buffet. It's about information that can help you prevent runoff and non-point-source pollution on your clients' properties.

You can pay $4.95 for the Oregon Rain Garden Guide or you can download a pdf version of by accessing http://seagrant.oregonstate.edu/sgpubs/onlinepubs.html. That version is free.

And, don't fret because the title of the rain garden pub says "Oregon." The 44-page Guide contains great information about designing and installing rain gardens that would be helpful, regardless of where you live or offer services.

Oh, by the way, did I mention that the downloadable version produced by Oregon Sea Grant at Oregon State University is free. Yes, FREE! — Ron Hall

A neat app to serve (and impress) your livescape clients

2010-08-27T14:50:00.000-04:00

I would hardly refer to myself as a technophile, but I’m far from being a Luddite. The evidence: I've been an eager participant in the incredible technological revolution transforming publishing — starting as I did with manual typewriters, lead editing pencils, copy paper and glue pots and now sharing information in this brave new digital era.

That said, I’m not a first adopter and careful with my dollars so I’m waiting until the price of the new ereaders comes down before writing a check. But I will be getting an iPad. Indeed it's almost certain we’ll all be carrying an iPad or similar highly portable, multi-functional digital tool with us and here's why — yet another handy app.

If you're in the business of selling and installing livescapes you need to check out the modestly priced Landscaper’s Companion app for an iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch by Stevenson Software, LLC.

It’s a neat reference guide to trees, shrubs, annuals, perennials and all sorts of other plants. Landscaper’s Companion features over 1400 plants listed by their common and scientific names. Over 5700 high quality images from around the web. 16 categories of plants: Annuals, Bulbs, Cacti, Conifers, Flowering and Fruit Trees, Ground Covers, Herbs, House Plants, Ornamental Grasses, Palms, Perennials, Roses, Shade Trees, Shrubs, Vegetables Fruits Berries and Water Plants. The app is updated periodically with additional plants and images for free.

What client wouldn’t be impressed when you say (with an air of smugness and great confidence), “excuse me while I whip this out,” and start zipping through the colorful images, showing the prospect exactly what they’ll be getting in terms of greenery and seasonal color?

If you get Landscaper's Companion or any other app that you feel others would like to know about, share with us and the audience on this blog. — Ron Hall

Will this visionary landscaper/urban planner be Florida's next governor? Fat chance

2010-08-26T15:47:00.000-04:00

Michael E. Arth wants to be governor of Florida. Fat chance. Visionaries rarely become governors, and especially in Florida. The Sunshine state chooses its chief leader from that small group of insiders firmly entrenched in party politics, possessing absurdly fat war chests and predictably bereft of vision. The lack of vision is an unspoken qualification. The latest polls have the candidate from the Democratic Party with a small but significant lead over the Republican. Arth has no party affiliation.

(In light of what we’ve been experiencing this past generation in terms of political leadership at both the state and federal levels is it any wonder the tone of this post? My guess is you feel the same way. But I digress.)

I want to acquaint you to Arth for several reasons but mostly because of his vision of urban landscapes. About 10 years ago Arth (an artist, author and landscape/urban planner) founded a movement known as “New Pedestrianism.” Essentially, Arth envisions clusters of small communities with our urban centers, neighborhoods with trees, walkways and bikeways in front of homes, and tree-lined automobile streets behind homes. The centers of these "villages" would be populated with stores and other amenities, all within easy walking or biking distance within these neighborhoods.

I'm sure other urban planners have promoted and, to one degree or another, executed similar plans. But none of them (to my knowledge anyway) has run for governor in a major state and then bicycled its length and breadth promoting his candidacy and his progressive ideas. But, not beholding to any particular special interest (Florida politicos have historically been joined at the hip to powerful moneyed interests, be they developers or sugar growers), Arth doesn’t have the finances to buy the name recognition necessary to be taken as a serious threat in the race. . .But he has the imagination and drive to get things done. Impressive things.

A decade ago, while writing a book, “The Labors of Hercules: Modern Solutions to 12 Herculean Problems,” he bought 32 homes in the worst part of DeLand, FL, a neighborhood known as “Crack Town.” Arth rebuilt the dilapidated neighborhood into a pleasantly landscaped, award-winning community within a community, DeLand’s Historic Garden District.

While I’ve never met Arth and only know of him and his political ambitions through newspaper and online accounts, I do know DeLand. I know it quite well from frequent visits to my brother's home there. He and his then-young family, seeking a small, quiet city with "old Florida" charm moved there decades ago. His two daughters, my nieces, both earned degrees at Stetson University, which is in DeLand, located just west of Daytona.

Arth is a fascinating person and my guess is that we will hear more about him even after this November’s election. His ideas about urban planning and safe, sustainable neighborhoods are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of his vision for a safer and cleaner society.

Google his name and check him out. You might find him to be kindred spirit — in a political and environmental sense. Or maybe not. — Ron Hall

Having a Ball

2010-08-18T13:34:00.000-04:00

On a beautiful and sultry West Chicago afternoon, scores of landscape contractors and growers wandered the 9 acres of Ball Horticulture Co.'s well-manicured grounds. They were there as part of the company's Landscape Day, a chance to see what new varieties will be available in the coming years.
“We tend to talk about the pretty" when it comes to flowers, says Marvin Miller, Ball’s market research manager, but we often neglect the economic benefits — improving property values, drawing tourists and creating jobs.
Attendees also got the rare treat to hear Ball President and CEO talk about the history of the Ball trial gardens. To hear what she had to say about the site, click on the video.
While there was certainly lots of "pretty" to talk about, contractors got a chance to hear Ball employees explain everything from the latest varieties to the latest way to grow them. They also got to hear from a panel of experts about how growers and contractors can work together to make their operations more profitable.
The panel included: Steve Zylstra, Zylstra Greenhouses, Kalamazoo, MI; Bob Jones, SpringCreek Growers, Magnolia, TX; Ed Mrozinski, Acres Landscape, Wauconda, IL; and Bruce Hellerick, Senior Horticulturist (and LM columnist), Brickman.
According to Jones, clients have been trying to save money by reducing the number of color change-outs -- maybe skipping a spring or winter. The other big trend, Hellerick says, is the move away from annuals. Whether it's because of the U.S. Building Council's LEED program or just an attempt to save some money, people are moving away from annual installations, he explains. "I like annuals," Hellerick says. "I'm very nervous for the industry right now."
Zylstra responded by saying, "There's a lot of market out there. We need to do a better job of selling."

Take a peek into the Marianis' incredible landscape

2010-08-16T08:50:00.000-04:00

Check out the landscape of one of the best-known landscapers in the Chicago region by accessing the recent article in the Daily Herald describing Frank and Sherri Mariani’s spread in Lake Forest, IL. Frank Mariani, of course, is the founder of Mariani Landscape, a 400-employee operation that specializes in designing, installing and maintaining landscapes. It's 17-acre headquarters are located in Lake Forest, just north of Chicago.

The article written by Deborah Donovan provides a peek into the 10-acre property that the Mariani’s purchased in 1986. The Mariani property with its Tudor-style home was once part of a dairy and cattle farm. It contains a butterfly garden, vegetable garden, woodland garden, orchard and a 2-acre prairie backing up to public preserve. Gone is much of the bluegrass that once dominated the property.

The click here to access the article, which contains more than a dozen images of the Mariani property. — Ron Hall

A shrinking Cooperative Extension not good news for our industry

2010-08-05T11:04:00.000-04:00

Cooperative Extension is our bridge between research and what’s practical “down on the farm.” Or in the case of the Green Industry, what works for our growing, living landscapes.

Many of us have gotten to know and rely upon the experience and advice of extension specialists. We value the helpful and impartial service they provide.

An article today on onlineathens.com (available here) warns that Georgia could be losing yet more extension personnel due to mandated budget cuts at the University of Georgia. The University is being forced to chop 4% ($16.3 million) from its fiscal 2011 budget that began this past July 1.

Agriculture dean Scott Angle is protesting the cuts to the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. He says the state’s ag research stations and the Cooperative Extension Service already have absorbed budget cuts of 20% in the last two years. The number of county extension agents in the state has dropped from 400 to 300 since 2008.

Other states, looking to save money, have been chopping away at Cooperative Extension these past several years, as well. This is not good. Extension specialists make a big difference in keeping our environment productive in terms of food and fiber, and advising our Green Industry on best practices and greener ways of providing our services.

Those of you in Georgia may want to contact the Georgia Green Industry Association (GGIA) to see what you can do to save your Cooperative Extension from shrinking anymore.

The rest of us must continue to support our extension personnel and the work they do. — Ron Hall