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

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

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

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

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

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

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"

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!

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

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

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

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?

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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