A pig in a park

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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?

"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?

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

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'

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

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

$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.?

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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