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Every so often during my travels around the highways and byways of the landscape and lawn care industry, I’ll get asked, “Hey, whatever happened to that Seth Jones character?”
For the uninitiated, Seth is Landscape Management’s editorial director. He served as editor-in-chief of this publication starting in 2019 before yielding that seat to me in April 2024. He still contributes to the magazine regularly and is fully involved in the planning and execution of every issue.
Even more for the uninitiated: As referenced numerous times in this space, Seth and I have been friends and colleagues for more than 25 years. I hired him for his first full-time job back in 1999 at the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America. We worked together there until 2012, when he was hired by North Coast Media to take over Golfdom, LM’s sister publication in the golf maintenance space. We got the band back together two years ago and have been working side by side ever since.
Considering Seth’s still very much active role with LM, I’m always a little surprised when I get asked questions about his whereabouts and that so many think he’s ridden off into the sunset to leave me flying solo with LM. I guess I shouldn’t be, though; my face has largely replaced his on this page every month, and the magazine’s weekly e-newsletter, LM Direct, carries my name when it hits 42,000 inboxes every Thursday morning.
And truth be told, Seth has had similar experiences during his travels on behalf of Golfdom. I spent a quarter of a century working with golf course superintendents in my previous role, and to this day, I contribute frequently to Golfdom, both in print and online. Still, the idea somehow persists that he and I have both put our previous industries in the rearview mirror.
So, we’ve decided to do something about that. Starting with the July issue of LM, you’re going to see Seth’s column — the appropriately named “Seth’s Cut” — back in this space quarterly. Additionally, Seth’s name is going to pop up in your inbox on a similar regular basis when you receive your weekly copy of the LM Direct e-newsletter.
We’ve concocted a similar plan going the other direction, too. I’m going to be writing a semi-regular column for Golfdom, and those who receive that magazine’s bi-weekly e-newsletter, Golfdom Insider, will see my name in the “From” field of that email on regular intervals.
Why are we doing this? Obviously, it’s to help answer those lingering questions we get from both industries about what we’re doing and where we’ve gotten off to. Because we really haven’t gone anywhere, we thought it was important to remind readers of that and let them know that we’re still intimately involved in the green industry, both on the landscape and golf maintenance sides.
But more importantly, we’re doing this because both of us feel we still have things to say and thoughts to share with readers in both markets. Combined, Seth and I have more experience than any other editorial team in the business. We know what makes landscape pros and golf course superintendents tick, what issues they find important and what news and stories make an impact in both industries.
And frankly, we both still feel deeply connected to those two worlds. Seth travels regularly to landscape and lawn care events, communicates weekly with contractors and industry partners and still has his finger on the pulse of that business. I’ve stayed in touch with countless superintendents and golf industry business partners, know the ins and outs of a golf maintenance facility and still track the comings and goings in that industry as closely as I ever have.
In short, why specialize in one particular industry when you can give readers two for the price of one?
Speaking on Seth’s behalf, I know we’re both fired up about formalizing these long-overdue plans and hope that, very soon, the questions about where we’ve been will be replaced by firm handshakes and a heartfelt, “It’s great to see you again.”
