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Author: Landscape Management

Robots among us

I wouldn’t worry — yet. Last year, Popular Science magazine ran an article entitled “Where’s My Flying Car?” It focused on a lot of the technology science fiction writers and movie makers implied we’d be enjoying right about now, including the ever desired flying vehicle. OK, you can actually find a flying car, but these […]

The ‘Kings’ digs come under attack

For some reason I find the following new product pitch amusing. Flashback to a Monty Python skit? The part about the Elvis home in Palm Springs being such a tourist attraction . . . still? (Or ever, for that matter. Folks, maybe it’s time to get over this, right? Or maybe it’s the idea of […]

Fidel Castro nabbed with stolen lawn care booty in car

“It gets worse in America everyday. We can’t even deport Fidel Castro.” That’s what one reader wrote on the Naple News Web site in response to an article about Fidel Castro getting a judicial hand slap after being discovered with a load of stolen lawn care booty in his car.OK, this is not THE Fidel […]

Tractor ejects, lands on NY grounds worker

Henry Williams, 63, died Tuesday, June 19, when the tractor he was operating fell down a 70-ft. hill and eventually landed on top of him. Williams was towing a mower behind the tractor on the grounds of Farmingdale State University when he apparently lost control of the tractor on a dirt road adjacent to a […]

Read about Arlington National Cemetery in National Geographic

If you want to know why members of the Professional Landcare Network keep going back to Arlington National and Old Congressional cemeteries in Washington D.C. summer after summer, please read the article about Arlington National Cemetery in the June 2007 issue of the National Geographic. This wonderfully written article by Rick Atkinson (the photography is […]

Who says young folks lack drive …

Jaskaran Heir has been mowing lawns for the past six years and has done quite well at it, according to an article in the online site Indystar.com. He gets customers the old fashion way, going door to door fliers in hand — and doing what he promises to do. This week he is receiving the […]

Right (Write) on, Mark Kramer

Mark Kramer, president of JBK Landscape in Aurora, CO, perfectly described the employment issues so many companies are having — not being able to find decent workers — in an editorial in the Rocky Mountain News: “Thirty years ago, hippies like Jim and me wanted to get dirty in the sun, grass and weeds. Americans […]

Get back inside

In Landscape Management, we’ve written a lot about the trend of outdoor rooms being a huge component of landscape design/build. But according to this article from the Providence (RI) Journal, some people are finding the extra work associated with the outdoor areas not worth the effort. “The backyard misery has been a boon for exterminators […]

Add-on Biz?

East Cleveland, OH Mayor Eric Brewer has asked city firefighters to start cutting grass and perform other jobs during their down time. The firefighters, naturally, are concerned about their ability to respond to emergencies if they’re sitting on a mower in the middle of a field. Brewer enacted a provision from World War II, when […]

Good samaritans

Too often when tales of crime and landscape are put together it is the contractor who comes out smelling like fertilizer. But in this case a Kansas City, MO crew, came out looking like roses. While on their lunch break one of the crew memebers noticed a couple of teenagers running past carrying a purse.He […]

Handy fuel cost guide from G.W. Bush and friends

It’s a tough row to hoe, this $3.50-plus per gallon of gasoline. Don’t see how people making less than $10 an hour can afford to drive to work, especially if the commute is more than, say, 20 miles or so. Hell, at $10 an hour, I can’t see how they can afford to eat. But […]

Misery loves company?

KSWO Channel 7 News broadcast the plight of Kevin Williams, a landscaper in Lawton, OK. His company maintains about 85 lawns. On the broadcast he says that his average monthly bill for fuel for his truck, mowers, etc. was about $1,800. His latest bill was $3,200. He says that if the price of gasoline doesn’t […]

Sky’s the limit — it’s a gas, gas, gas

Today is gas boycott day. Since I filled up last night when the price was a mere $3.19 a gallon . . . no problemo. Today, the price of gasoline jumped to $3.29 a gallon here in my neighborhood. It’s now more expensive than it was immediately post Katrina. OK, let’s play the blame game. […]

They’re getting younger all the time

A little healthy competition can be good for business. But three Knoxville, TN, brothers that started a maintenance operation may just make their Knoxville area competitors shudder.The Dotson boys, Jarod, 14, and twins Jacob and Jordan, 13, began three years ago by cutting the grass for a neighbor. Then they added a few lawns and […]

Raleigh television unloads on lawn care industry

Talk about getting ripped. Wow, did Steve Daniels, the anchor for ABC 11 in Raleigh, NC, unload on the professional lawn care community, even though TruGreen ChemLawn was the only company mentioned in his two on-air reports. The affiliate’s “Toxic Green Part 1” and “Toxic Green Part 2” segments quoted industry critics that accused professional […]

Today’s tip — do not pick up hand grenades

NANTUCKET, MA — Today’s question: Assume during the course of your workday as a landscaper you rake up a hand grenade, what should you do?1. Gasp and exclaim “Oh, S*#! as you hi-tail it outta there?2. Prod it with the business end of your rake to see if it’s still functional?3. Leave it where you […]

Today is Earth Day. Did you remember?

Responding to growing concerns about the environment, then-U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson, (D-WI), called for an Environmental Teach-in or Earth Day to be held on April 22, 1970. More than 20 million people took part. More than 500 million people in 175 countries now observe Earth Day each year. Nelson modeled Earth Day on the increasingly […]

Kiss your grass g’bye

I have headline envy after reading this article in the New York Post. It reports that the New York City Parks Department has installed 74 artificial turf sports fields and is planning to spend $150 million more to build another 100 fields over the next five years. Synthetic turf is one of the hottest businesses […]

Laws easier to make than enforce

Making a law seems to be easier than enforcing it. Case in point the pesticide neighbor notification law that New York State legislators allow counties to pass. A handful of counties have.The law requires people (including lawn pros) who apply liquid pesticides to properties to give abutting property owners and residents 24-hour notice prior to […]

Reports of the death of Canadian lawn care are greatly exaggerated

You may not agree with the source, but a recent column from the Western Catholic Reporter cited some interesting statistics about the lawn care industry in Toronto, and how it has overcome bans on pesticide use to grow 30% since 2001. “Despite the growing trend away from chemically based lawn care, Toronto lawn companies are […]

School science project fallout continues

Wow, the science project involving pesticides that two high school students at Pedro Menendez High School conducted several weeks ago continues to make news near St. Augustine, FL. (See blog “Not your father’s science project.”) Briefly, the students, apparently using protocols established by an organization known as the Pesticide Action Network of North America (PANNA) […]

Canada craziness finally infects Guelph

Guelph, with more than 100,000 residents and home to one of the top research universities in North America, is not what you would call a hick town. But, you’ve got to wonder about the leadership in this vibrant Canadian city, located about 65 miles west of Toronto. In fact, you have to wonder about the […]

Big hug for Keating Enterprises Inc.

Talk about giving back to the community! One big pat on the back (and maybe a hug, too) to Keating Enterprises Inc., based in Worcester, MA. The company is donating its services, materials and equipment to maintain six city-owned parks this year. That includes mowing, fertility, tree replacing and snow removal.This is no small gesture. […]

Compete without ‘illegals’?

Do you have to hire illegal immigrants to compete in the landscape business? Kirsten Stewart says you do — in her California market, at least. The 40-year-old landscape business owner, who lives in Santa Monica, refuses to hire undocumented immigrant workers. Because she pays more for labor she says she can’t match competitors’ bids for […]

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