Skip to content

Author: LM Staff

LM Staff

LM Staff

Landscape Management's staff brings together collective experience in journalism, research, writing, and editing. Our team stays tapped into the pulse of the industry, covering a wide range topics with a commitment to delivering compelling stories and high-quality content.

The Integra Group, Inc.

and

BOSS LM PRO is designed especially for small to medium landscape firms intent on keeping things simple and overheads low. Based on BOSS LM Enterprise, BOSS LM PRO is the foundation for entrepreneurs with a vision for profitable, managed growth. In addition, sibling product BOSS LM Mobile is a ruggedized, vehicle-mounted unit for automated field […]

Gaillardia x grandiflora ‘Arizona Apricot’

and

Benary’s Gaillardia ‘Arizona Apricot’ is an AAS Flower Winner for 2011. Judges noted the apricot flower color of the 3 to 3 1/2 in. daisy-like flowers, described as lighter in color than traditional gaillardia. Blooms have yellow edges that deepen to a rich apricot in the center. The compact 12 in. tall plants offer bright […]

LebanonTurf

and

LebanonTurf has reintroduced its line of Roots iron chelated products as part of a comprehensive approach to improved turf health. Following a routine EPA regulatory review, Fe-8, ironROOTS, Lawnplex, AGRIplex, Total Tree, ironROOTS with mycorrhizae and 1>2>3 Premix Plus are now available. The cost-effective products contain a unique iron chelate formulation that provides efficient nutrient […]

Nobody asked me, but . . .

and

By: Ron Hall Childhood obesity has more than tripled in the past 30 years. The incidence of obesity among children aged 6 to 11 years increased from 6.5% in 1980 to 19.6% in 2008, similar to the prevalence of obesity in adolescents aged 12 to 19 years. Fully one third of young people (adults too) are […]

Moving to a surgical approach to landscape irrigation

and

By: Andy Smith, CIC, CID, CLIA It wasn’t that long ago when the terms LEED, WaterSense and Sustainable Sites weren’t in the vocabulary of the landscape industry. Now they are (and may become) the driving forces of “green” construction and landscaping. It wasn’t that long ago, of course, that green implied a color choice and happened […]

Industry’s so-far-so-good attitude to irrigation doesn’t cut it

and

By: Ron Hall If we don’t do better with landscape irrigation we’re going to lose it, or at least as we’ve practiced it to this point. The we in this case are homeowners and those of us who offer professional irrigation design, installation and maintenance. I use the word “professional” broadly because there are way too […]

Project of the Month: Tyler Arboretum’s Sustainable Gardening Learning Center

and

Designed by: Jules Bruck, PhD, APLD, Jon Cox, and a University of Deleware team of graduate and undergraduate students Over the past several months, Bruck, a UD faculty member, and Cox, a UD instructor and former Tyler Arboretum gardener, have worked on a collaborative design project to create a comprehensive master plan for a three-acre Sustainable Learning Center […]

Underhill International

and

A new custom-designed, stainless steel Turf Box houses the company’s long-throw Mirage-125 sprinklers, typically installed around the perimeter of synthetic sports fields to cool down and clean artificial track and field surfaces before practice or competition. The enclosures sit 18 in. below grade and measure 15×18 in. wide. Artificial turf is laid up to the […]

Dixie Chopper, Weed Man celebrate anniversaries

and

There are a few companies who will be at the GIE+EXPO on Oct. 28-30 in Louisville, KY, who are celebrating milestone anniversaries this year. Stop by their booths and wish them well. DIXIE CHOPPER TURNS 30 – Booth# 7214 It was 1980. And in an old dairy barn on a small farm east of Fillmore, […]

Join the LM Community

and

Landscape Management is the No. 1 resource for business management content from the most experienced editorial team in the industry! And now it’s also the best place to connect online. Visit us on Facebook, Twitter or at the LM blog and ask us your burning questions, become a fan or see what other contractors are talking about. The LM Blog […]

Seeking the truest measure of synthetic turf’s benefits versus turfgrass

and

By: Ron Hall Every week it seems new uses are being found for artificial turf, which now covers horse tracks, dog runs, home lawns (including backyard putting greens), highway medians and is replacing natural grass at airports. I’m sure I’ve missed some applications and am not prescient enough to see what other new uses will be […]

Behind the bulbs

Here’s the scenario: Your landscape business is in the Northeast. Winter is approaching. How do you maintain your business until spring? Snow plowing and removal is one solution, but what if it doesn’t snow? Then the light bulb turns on — or light bulb strands, actually. Hundreds of them. Holiday lighting could be the answer. […]

Budget crunch

Loving the industry used to be enough. Now more than ever, ‘you have to have business sense, too.’   Where does the landscape marketplace fall short most today? “Bidding, billing and paperwork,” explains the president of Chicago’s Christy Webber Landscapes. “We’re not savvy businesspeople.” The numbers don’t lie. Only 56% of landscape business owners prepared […]

The bad and not so bad of hiring today

While applicants abound, contractors learn to hire smarter, control costs and build their management teams.   In Landscape Management’s survey results and contractor interviews, there is one thing that was fairly unanimous: No one is having a problem with hiring today. But that also depends how you define “problem.” While contractors are receiving an unprecedented […]

Commercial value

Contractors try to uncover true value in commercial maintenance work as clients force price reductions.   As Brian Golembiewski describes the state of the commercial market, one can only picture a vast, vacant Western movie street with just the hint of wind and the slightest bits of tumbleweed rolling across the dusty, quiet space. “There […]

House of cards

The sensitive residential housing market will stabilize at a ‘frustratingly slow pace’ as home prices return to pre-boom levels.   If most of your landscape work was in residential design/build in Tempe, AZ, then “you’re probably out of business because it dried up.” This from Brian Golembiewski, president of Tempe’s $2.95 million Paramount Landscape. And […]

Surviving the ‘Undercutters’

Contractors fight lowballers in a battle for core business.   What’s the biggest obstacle to growth today for the average landscape contractor? Certainly, the prolonged recession comes to mind for most contractors, as that tops Landscape Management readers’ list of top success blockers. But a mere fraction of a percentage point behind sits lowball/underpricing competitors. Giuseppe […]

Word of mouth is no longer enough

To increase sales, landscapers move beyond referrals as their only means of marketing.   Landscapers lose clients. It’s inevitable. “They die. They lose jobs. They sell their houses and move. They divorce. They get sick. They can’t afford us.” Jerry Tindel lists the many ways he’s lost Cutting Edge Lawn Care clients in Austin, TX. […]

The consumer recovery

Consumers will spend again… but not excessively.   Some people described it as gluttony. Others called it obnoxious. It was consumers’ “I have to have it” mentality. Anything was attainable to people who wanted it. If they didn’t have the money, they borrowed it. Today, that has clearly changed. Contractors now use words like “cautious,” […]

Adapt or die

Diversification reigns as contractors adjust to the beat of what they are describing as a “fundamentally changed” industry.   Many landscapers are using the word “flat” to describe business this year as owner and consumer confidence and service pricing remain low, office buildings and homes suffer high vacancies and margins dwindle under the continued, tighter […]

Designed by: Jennifer Hoxsie, APLD Greenhaven Landscapes Inc., Lake Bluff, IL

Project of the Month: A vision in white

and

Designed by: Jennifer Hoxsie, APLD Greenhaven Landscapes Inc., Lake Bluff, IL This Long Grove, IL, residence is a study in white that blends formal garden spaces within a setting of natural conservancy.                 To marry the grand scale of this large home with the relatively small size of […]

2010 Garden Award Winners Announced

and

Public asked to choose their favorite flowers. The 2010 American Garden Award, now in its second year, featured four new flower varieties chosen by their breeders for their excellent garden performance. Once these new varieties were planted and put on display by the participating gardens, the public was invited to vote on their favorite using one […]

STMA set for January in Austin, Texas

and

LAWRENCE, KS — Taking place Jan. 11-15, 2011, in Austin, TX, the SportsTurf Managers Association’s annual conference focuses on providing solutions and new ideas for managing sports facilities. Demonstrations, classroom education, roundtables, workshops, and networking all provide opportunities for sports turf managers to access information that will lead to success. The following takeaways provide attendees […]

Observations from the Peanut Gallery

and

By: Ron Hall Most of you probably aren’t old enough to remember the Peanut Gallery. In the 1950s the Peanut Gallery was the small group of children comprising the studio audience during broadcasts of the Howdy Dowdy Show. The children, perched in rows on bleachers just off camera, delightedly reacted to the antics of the show’s […]

To top