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Author: Landscape Management

Groundcovers work when turfgrass won’t

We love turfgrass, and nothing comes close to it for beauty and utility on our sports fields, in our parks, in our common areas and for our home lawns. Even so, native and regionally adapted creeping perennials are often a better design choice for some locations within landscapes and also in some regions of the […]

Accurate read of Canadian’s views on lawn chemicals?

Are Canadian’s feelings against the use of common synthetic pesticides on lawns as strong as the responses to recent news articles suggest? Or is the weight of these responses misleading because people with strong feelings regarding a particular issue tend to be more outspoken in expressing their opinions about it? Your answer, I suppose, depends […]

National Arboretum unveils first solar-powered irrigation system

The U.S. National Arboretum is “going green” with the installation of its first solar-powered drip irrigation system that will save electricity and water at the 446-acre facility operated by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in Washington, DC., writes Stephanie Yao for the USDA. The new system is part of a long-range plan to update and […]

USDA gets in on the Earth Day ‘People’s Garden’ action

WASHINGTON, D.C. — I’m beginning to get the feeling that the U.S. government, perhaps channeling Thomas Jefferson’s vision of America, would like us to return to being a nation of self-reliant, small-scale truck farmers/landscapers. I’m not sure we’ve still got the grit for that because many of the people I know take cheap food an […]

Making the connection with Mexican workers

Emeric McCleary, a first generation U.S. born Mexican-American who lives in Alexandria, KY, maintains a blog for businesses that employ Latin American workers. The tips and advice he offers on the blog help Green Industry employers of Hispanic workers (primarily Mexican) reduce frustration and identify potential profit-killing mistakes that business owners are prone to make […]

Battery-powered robot mower in your future?

BOISBRIAND, QUEBEC — RobotShip and BelRobotics have signed a distribution relationship to improve distribution of battery-powered BigMow and ParcMow commercial robot lawn mowers and a robotic BallPicker for golf practice ranges. RobotShop says the lawn mowers mow properties of up to 2.5 to 5 acres respectively. Large properties, private and commercial, can benefit from these […]

Colorado lawn care pros get into Earth Day spirit

DENVER — Davey Tree Expert Co., Whit Tree Service, Jim’s Pride Landscaping, Cyn Mar, Fertek, Van Diest Supply, Bestyard.com, Green Mountain Lawn and Tree Care, and Lawn Doctor are among the companies, aided by local boy scouts, that are fixing up rundown Riverside Cemetery here on Earth Day, April, reports the Denver Post. Riverside, established […]

Public picks winner of $35,000 park landscape

SAVANNAH, GA — Three companies have been chosen as finalists in the waterSmart Landscape Challenge here. The winner, which will be determined by public vote, will be awarded a $35,000 contract with the City of Savannah to install their garden design in Bryan Square. You see each of the plans and vote by going to […]

A fresh look at unauthorized immigrants

The Pew Hispanic Center today released “A Portrait of Unauthorized Immigrants in the United States,” which includes population and labor force estimates for each state, as well as national-level findings about families, education, income and other key indicators. The report finds that unauthorized immigrants are more geographically dispersed than in the past. A group of […]

City of Guelph plans world’s first large "pollination park"

The world’s first large-scale “pollination park” is a step closer to reality and will be on the agenda during a Pollination Symposium to be held April 18 at the Delta Hotel and Conference Centre in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. The event will feature experts from Canada and the United States speaking on a variety of topics, […]

Will Canadians become U.S. pesticide customers?

A lot has been made in our region of the Great Lakes in northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan of seniors slipping into Canada to buy cheaper prescription drugs. It looks like some Canadians might be returning the favor after April 22 when a ban on 250 lawn chemicals goes into effect throughout the Province of […]

Barthuly Irrigation team steps up to the plate

A news article in a recent issue of the Indianpolis Star, a newspaper I used to read every day as a college student in Indiana a long time ago, reminded me of something I’ve been meaning to do for a long time, but always put off because I was too busy — or maybe I […]

A peek at the Obama White House garden plan

Just after First Lady, Michelle Obama, broke ground for the White House vegetable garden, Plangarden released an online interactive version of the Obama’s organic garden layout. The interactive vegetable garden layout was built using the new 2.0 version of Plangarden’s garden design software Plangarden plans to maintain the garden views with up-to-date information as the […]

Would you describe this landscaper as a hero? We would

The word “hero” is tossed around pretty freely these days. In fact, you can hardly turn on the television news program without mention of yet another hero, which is a good thing, if you give it much thought. Hero is certainly better than swindler or racketeer or fraudster or. . . well, let’s give it […]

A reasoned response to the Ontario ban

On April 22 homeowners and landscape professionals will no longer be allowed to use about 250 chemical products on their landscapes or lawns in Ontario, the most populous province in Canada. Ontario is following the lead of Quebec Province, which took a similar action earlier this decade. Other Canadian cities and provinces are considering bans […]

Outsourcing and edibles: trends or fads?

You’re fired, You’re hired: A Fayette, GA, newspaper reports that growing, modern Peachtree City, located just southeast of Atlanta, just signed a one-year contract with TruGreen Landcare of Stone Mountain for about $256,206 for this year to do the landscape maintenance, pick up litter and perform “other duties” for the city. The contract can be […]

An Obama garden would make edibles huge

It looks like the Obamas are going to be gardening at the White House, so break out your hoes and rakes, and dust off your straw hats because edible gardens look like the next big thing. In the April issue of Oprah Winfrey’s “O” magazine, Michelle Obama indicates that the First Family is putting in […]

LEED for residential; a green rebuild project

Only portions of the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED program apply to services that the Green Industry performs, but it’s going to greatly impact the industry, especially once the Sustainable Sites Initiative dealing with landscaping practices are folded into it. You can expect that in another three years or so. The process is a lengthy […]

Force of Nature zeros in on Ontario pesticide ban

The Ontario pesticide ban is scheduled to take effect in April. About 250 products are being taken away from residential lawn care. A rather remarkable e-newsletter, called Force of Nature, being written by  William H. Gathercole, a long-time Green Industry trainer, instructor and columnist, offers a wealth of information on the ban, plus some fascinating […]

Save a tree, save your business

In these tough economic times, the tree care industry is facing a puzzling reality: the decline of business from budget-conscious clients and a rise in infestations of new, invasive pests that threaten trees from municipalities to residential communities. Insects like mountain pine beetle, emerald ash borer, hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA) and ficus whitefly have devastated […]

Trade in your mowers for goats?

If this trend catches on you might want to consider trading in your zero-turns. You won’t need so many employees either, other than a veterinarian and some experienced shepherds, which is going to make for some very curious want ads — not to mention job interviews. The city of San Jose, CA, is using goats […]

Outsourcing and expectations

Grounds workers for the Seminole County School Board may have to start looking for new jobs if the school board in this northeast Florida county goes through with its plan to outsource its grounds maintenance, reports the Orlando Sentinel the other day. Not unexpectedly, these same 26 grounds workers aren’t very happy, and have appealed […]

Here’s a neat idea — a "Staycation"

Here’s a great marketing idea from Bruce Allentuck, Allentuck Landscaping Co., Clarksburg, MD, and Mike McShane at Plantique in Allentown, PA — a “staycation.” Bruce emailed the following to his customer recently. He says he got some of it from Mike McShane’s blog. How about the following for a neat message: From rising airfares and […]

Creative ways to keep going in this recession

These extraordinary times call for creative thinking. And maybe partnering with folks you never thought about partnering with before. Today, I read an article about two formerly competing remodeling companies on Long Island, NY, sharing the same showroom and parking spaces, saving the one company more than $3,000 a month in rent and utilities. Both […]

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