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Author: Landscape Management

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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. […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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. […]

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 […]

Forget the tie with the lightup reindeer nose; give dad a gift certificate for lawn care

A gift card to Sears for dad? Nah . . .Wouldn’t a gift card for professional lawn service be more appreciated? That’s what Gerry Okimi, owner of Turf King Hamilton (Ontario, Canada) is promoting. He says his company is offering a limited number of special lawn vouchers throughout the month of December. “During the upcoming […]

TruGreen Landcare being shopped around

In November, ServiceMaster’s board of directors said it’s exploring strategic alternatives designed to maximize value to shareholders. To that end, it’s working with Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs as its advisors and Sidley Austin as its legal advisor. Included in the company’s Form 10Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission Nov. 15, is the […]

Turf pros say that evidence is strong for global warming

It seems like we don’t hear as much about global warming these days in the mainstream media because the economy continues to dominate the nightly news. But at a recent industry event, climate change — as two speakers preferred to call it — was talked about often. And both speakers, who appeared at the recent […]

How will NY’s organic yards initiative change lawn care in the Empire State?

It’s difficult to predict just how New York’s “Be Green Organic Yards NY” initiative will change the professional lawn application business in the State . . . but it will change it. Just how much will become more evident this coming Jan. 11, the opening day of the Empire State Green Industry Show in Rochester. […]

Jump-start 2011 business growth

Landscape Management visited many booths at the GIE+EXPO Oct. 28-30 in Louisville, KY, to obtain the latest industry news and trends and gather some education for readers on the business opportunities 2011 beholds. Here is a collection of the videos we shot, providing you with tips to drive business improvement and growth next year. OVERCOME […]

Wow, this is a lot of candy for our troops!!

A tip of the hat and a “nice job” to all of the landscapers and other small businesses across the nation that promoted this year’s Treat for the Troops candy drive. And a special thanks to Allentuck Landscaping for reminding us. Today, on this special day, Veteran’s Day, Bruce Allentuck emailed this note to his […]

Huge fine should remind us to look before we dig

ST. CATHARINES, ONTARIO, CANADA — Please don’t accuse us of picking on this landscape company; we’re not. Indeed, we’re genuinely sorry the following tragedy, one of the strangest we’ve read about in a long time, happened in the first place. The purpose of this blog is to remind you of what can go wrong if […]

Expect fertilizer prices to rise 10% (maybe more) for 2011

None of us, and especially those of us in the turf health business, want to see fertilizer prices spike like they did a couple of years ago. Likely they won’t, not to that extend anyway. Even so, if you’re buying turfgrass fertilizer next season, you might want to heed Lebanon Turf’s advice to watch corn […]

GIE + EXPO staying in L’ville through 2014

LOUISVILLE, KY — The GIE + EXPO is staying here at least through 2014 and Hardscape North America is returning for 2011, reported Bill Harley, president and CEO of the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI). This was the first year that hardscape suppliers, under the sponsorship of Interlocking Concrete Paver Institute (ICPI), had a large […]

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