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Author: Sarah Pfledderer

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Sarah Pfledderer

Former Associate Editor Sarah Pfledderer is a West Coast-based contributing editor for Landscape Management.

Keys to a profitable, financially stable business

This post is part of a threefold summary of A Better Way 2 Learn Financials’ 2013 Financial Management TeleSummit.  Presented by A Better Way 2 Learn, Go iLawn and Landscape Management, the event was held in three, live, hour-long segments Dec. 3 to Dec. 5.  This is a wrap-up of the conversation “The Keys to […]

Photo: Lynn Ketchum, Oregon State University

The new norm?

Suppliers discuss the underlier for turfseed shortages and high prices. Gone are the days when turfseed fields dominantly cloaked the surfaces of Willamette Valley, Ore. Crops such as wheat, corn and soybeans overtake the grounds that once were boasted as the world’s turfseed capital. Meanwhile, lawn care professionals have been pulling more money out of […]

Marketing moguls

In a state where water conservation may be more of an afterthought than a leading concern, Glen Allen, Va.-based James River Grounds Management (JRGM) acknowledged the matter from a marketing standpoint better than any other contractor in the country, as seen by the Irrigation Association (IA). The full-service company, which is 10 percent irrigation, won […]

Spotlighting spaces, locking in leads

Through its Outdoor Living Spaces Tour, Tussey Landscaping markets itself amid giving back. Arla Bratton had only one product in mind to add to her landscape when she set out on Tussey Landscaping’s Outdoor Living Spaces Tour two years ago: Bubbling rocks. “That’s what I was interested in to begin with, just the bubbling rocks,” […]

1-Minute Mentor: Pam Berrios

Secretary of the National Hispanic Landscape Association board of directors, owner of Alexandria Lawn Service, Alexandria, Va. It’s been a lot of people. My total years in business have been 17 years. Six years ago, I bought my partner out. I knew everything on the back end as far as the billing and customer service, […]

Throwback Thursday: September 1997

“It’s 30 degrees and the brutal winds blow and drift snow across the roadways, making many streets impassable.” Sound familiar? For a handful of you who are based in the Northeast and Midwest, this setting is probably far too familiar this week, thanks to the polar vortex that didn’t quite impact the entire nation, but […]

Building a business you can sell

This post is part of a threefold summary of A Better Way 2 Learn Financials’ 2013 Financial Management TeleSummit.  Presented by A Better Way 2 Learn, Go iLawn and Landscape Management, the event was held in three, live, hour-long segments Dec. 3 to Dec. 5. This is a wrap-up of the conversation “Building a Business […]

Throwback Thursday: January 2000

We gave you apps to consider applying to your business in our December issue. And a few weeks back, I wrote about technology we suggested for landscape professionals to try in 2000. But before all that—at the turn of not only a new year, but also a Millennium—we shared products expected to impact landscape business […]

Throwback Thursday: January 2001

It’s what’s on the inside that counts, right? At least that’s what was instilled in me—and maybe you too—growing up. Though, aging into adulthood and gaining some footing in my trade, I’ve realized that cliché isn’t the most applicable to my professionalism. Appearance is paramount to measuring a person or business’s professionalism—no matter how grimy […]

Throwback Thursday: December 1992

Certification. Does the word make you turn up your nose in disgust or proudly eye those letters following your name on your business card? The conversation of certification is a longstanding one in the Green Industry—to be certified or not to be certified? That is the question. Some landscaping professionals say their 30 plus years […]

1-Minute Mentor: Chris Williams

Meet Chris Williams, owner of Landscapes of the South, Canton, Ga. Who is your mentor? There were two folks who helped me in my career. Doug Davis was the owner of the prior business that I worked for. Another fellow, Jim Lanier, worked there for a number of years as the vice president. Doug taught […]

Exmark wins ASABE award

The American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) tagged Exmark Manufacturing as the winner of a 2014 AE50 award for its Lazer Z X-series zero-turn riding mower with electronic fuel injection (EFI) and RED technology. In recognition of this achievement, the mower will be featured in the January/February 2014 AE50 issue of ASABE’s magazine […]

Throwback Thursday: August 2000

Technology has been around since the start of time—some argue it dates back to the Neanderthals’ use of rocks as tools. Of course, it’s evolved tremendously over the past thousands of years. After all, today we have technology for our technologies, meaning apps for our phones, tablets, computers, etc. It’s everywhere, and it’s for that […]

1-Minute Mentor: Jason New

Meet Jason New, vice president of garden management at Southern Botanical in Dallas. Who is your mentor? It’s hard to learn all you need to know from one person. I can name a few. Presently I spend a lot of time with Jim Cali. He’s my boss here at Southern Botanical. He’s the COO, a brilliant […]

Tracking time vs. measuring value

Design/build pros weigh in on the art of charging design fees. There’s a tale about Pablo Picasso that begins with the artist sitting in a cafe, sketching a woman in his view. The picture took all but five minutes to craft, but he alleged to the woman it would cost her $2,000 to own. While not […]

Applied knowledge

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LM tracked down six mobile app-using landscape professionals. Find out how they save time and money with these tools.  #1 The app: Planimeter Price: $7.99 (iOS) The user: Adam Linnemann, president of Linnemann Lawn Care & Landscaping in Columbia, Ill. When Adam Linnemann provides an estimate, he doesn’t bother with burning fuel to measure property lines […]

Lawn Care Forum prompts peer, supplier networking

Bill Leuenberger may have best summed up the takeaway of the Landscape Management 2013 Lawn Care Forum when he said, “It’s amazing, when you talk to your peers, the things you can find out about.” Leuenberger, soil and turf management department manager at Chalet in North Chicago, Ill., was one of 34 lawn care professionals […]

Throwback Thursday: June 1991

Upon locking up the office to celebrate this holiday, my hope is you’ve left all thoughts of business behind those closed doors. My hope is you’re seated with family and friends to enjoy a warm meal and your biggest concern is who gets to snap the wishbone—or that your favorite quarterback doesn’t fumble a snap. […]

Throwback Thursday: November 1989

Whether you’ve got your feet kicked up on your desk with hands rested on the back of your head or are still finishing up your busy season, certainly winterizing equipment is on landscape business owners’ minds this time of year. And if it’s not, this week’s Throwback Thursday post will get your wheels turning. Titled […]

Throwback Thursday: June 2004

Writing from the Landscape Management Lawn Care Forum at Reunion Resort in Orlando, Fla., I can’t help but think one of the attendees may be more critical of the grounds than most: keynote speaker Anthony Williams. In opportune fashion, this week’s Throwback Thursday post, from the June 2004 issue of LM, features Williams, then director […]

Throwback Thursday: November 2007

Among the chatter about irrigation systems and products at the 2013 Irrigation Show & Education Conference this week, concerns over water restrictions due to drought also have bounced off the walls at the Austin Convention Center. Lack of water certainly isn’t a new conversation among landscape contractors, though. This week’s Throwback Thursday post from our November […]

35-mph grass: Ecolawns

Envision a lawn that needs to be mowed only a couple times a year. Your customers are likely ecstatic about the reduction of landscaping costs and so much so you make up the slump in revenue from new work, per their referrals. Sound too good to be true? It is. But this was the overrated […]

Photo slideshow: 2013 Irrigation Show drops into Austin

The 2013 Irrigation Show & Education Conference came into full swing at the Austin Convention Center Nov. 6, with the opening of the showroom floor to registrants. The education conference began Nov. 4. Visit the Irrigation Show website for a full listing of events at this year’s show.

My military experience: How Green Industry business owners have turned their military service into success

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Daryle Johnson CEO of All American Turf Beauty in Van Meter, Iowa Service: U.S. Army, 1954-1956 “I was 18. I’d worked one summer, gone two quarters to college, ran out of money and volunteered for the service. I spent 16 months in Korea. I got out when I was 20. They wouldn’t let me buy […]

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