Landscape Management articles from June 2003

Landscape Management archives from June 2003

Next month: what's coming up in July.
June 1, 2003... * Cover story: LM100 The 50 biggest ones. Great ones. Community service winners. Grounds pros. We pick 'em * Buy, rent, lease All have their advantages. We reveal which works best for you * Fall field fixups Mid-summer means football...

Prepare for the big squeeze. (on the record).(preparing for water restrictions)
June 1, 2003... The next major source of fresh water for our growing society will be squeezed from those of us who irrigate lawns and ornamentals, and from our customers, too. This "new" source of fresh water is the 25% to 35% that water purveyors say...

Relief is spelled r-e-s-e-a-r-c-h. (market watch).(benefits of market research)
June 1, 2003... To run a successful landscape or lawn service company, you must know what your customers want. This knowledge drives your business; it's the base upon which you grow and build. The company that understands market research develops a...

Leadership Jam fuels hi-octane networking. (Industry almanac: news you can use).
June 1, 2003... CHARLOTTE, NC -- NASCAR Race Week here pulsates with noise, commerce and color. Faces are red with excitement. There's whooping. Back slapping. Spirited conversation. And new friends. Whoa, partner. We haven't even gotten to the race yet....

Snow business--it's 'beautiful'. (Industry almanac: news you can use).(Allin Companies)
June 1, 2003... ERIE, PA -- "Beautiful, just beautiful." Snow king John Allin was describing this past winter's snow season on Lake Erie's far southeastern shore and what it meant to the Allin Companies' bottom line. That's just what 84 guests (most of...

Reinders Inc.(appoints John Jensen )(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Reinders Inc. appointed John Jensen Territory Manager in the company's Turf Division.

Rain Bird Corporation.(promotes Donn Mann and Dan Puthuff )(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Rain Bird Corporation promoted Donn Mann to Regional Sales Manager for the Midwest region and Dan Puthuff to Regional Sales Manager for the Southwest region.

Chapel Valley Landscape Company.(promotes Bill Benoit and Michael Holland )(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Chapel Valley Landscape Company promoted Bill Benoit to Maryland Regional Manager and Michael Holland to Maryland Commercial Sales Manager.

Bayer Environmental Science.(promotes Bryan Gooch )(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Bayer Environmental Science promoted Bryan Gooch to Program Manager for the Chipco Professional Products Division.

Seed Research of Oregon.(appoints Nancy Junk)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Seed Research of Oregon hired Nancy Junk as a Regional Sales Manager.

The Scotts Company.(Wal-Mart supplier of the year)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... The Scotts Company was named "supplier of the year" by Wal-Mart in lawn & garden category.

Girard wins big landscape contract. (Clippings).(Girard Environmental Services)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... SANFORD, FL -- Girard Environmental Services was awarded a five-year, $3 million-plus landscape contract by the Heathrow Master Association to perform landscape management services throughout the Seminole County community of Heathrow. The...

TPI takes flight July 22-25. (Clippings).
June 1, 2003... DAYTON, OH -- Ohio's Centennial of Flight Celebration is the theme of the Turfgrass Producers International (TPI) Summer Convention & Field Days being held near Dayton, OH, July 22-25. Green Velvet Sod Farms in nearby Bellbrook, OH, is this...

NFL Ravens bail on grass. (Clippings).(Baltimore Ravens choose Momentum Turf System)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... BALTIMORE, MD -- The NFL Baltimore Ravens, who have played on a real grass field since their founding in the mid-1990s, selected the Momentum Turf System for its stadium and practice facility fields. Momentum is a synthetic sand-and-rubber...

Boomers want fewer hassles: NAHB study good news to Green Industry. (Industry almanac: news you can use).(National Association of Home Builders)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... WASHINGTON DC -- Hurray for the baby boomers! That's what all of us in the landscape and lawn services industry should be shouting from the rooftops every morning when we hop out of bed. Why? A recent study by the National Association of...

Statistics: industry trends by the numbers.(Illustration)
June 1, 2003... FASTEST GROWING MARKETS From first quarter 2002 to first quarter 2003 Markets Gain Philadelphia, PA 25.7% Providence, RI 25.7% Melbourne-Titusville-Palm Bay,...

Owning a piece of mind: follow these 10 key action steps and become the 'brand' leader in your market. (Marketing Success).
June 1, 2003... Your product is your brand. Whether you offer specific products or perform services, what you sell is your brand. Brand building occurs in the mind of customers. The strength or weakness of your brand depends on the perception you're able...

Reduce callbacks: strategies to help you streamline your lawn care operation and keep your customers smiling. (Lawn Care).
June 1, 2003... Even if you've been a lawn care professional for a long time and have spent years streamlining procedures, it seems like you still have to frequently go out do the same work twice no matter what. Weeds, of course, can be stubborn. ...

Students to the rescue: this grounds manager finds that student help is often the answer to a strapped budget and a tight schedule. (Grounds Management).(Ken Stanton)
June 1, 2003... Last winter is one that Ken Stanton, Grounds Supervisor of Grand Valley State University in Allendale, MI, would like to permanently erase from his mind. It seemed his crews had to wage a war against snow and ice on a daily basis. If it hadn't...

Tame the morning circus: get your team off to a productive start with these simple-to-implement strategies. (Operations Management).
June 1, 2003... Time wasted represents lost opportunity in landscape and lawn service businesses. Every minute of wages paid to an employee not producing a service for a client is money forever lost. It's a double whammy in that both the expense of the...

George Bush Presidential Library: 2002 PGMS Grand Award Winner for School or University Grounds. (award-winning landscape management).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... "George and Barb were out here the other day," says Tommy Palmos, Superintendent for Landscape & Pavements Maintenance. He's referring of course to the President and his wife, who Palmos is on a first-name basis with. And why not? He sees...

Drought--prepare a plan: Colorado's worst drought in decades taught its Green Industry valuable lessons. (Business Management).
June 1, 2003... Smudgy clouds tumbled onto Colorado's Front Range and dumped four feet of snow on Denver and its surrounding area this past March 17. The storm crippled the region for several days but gave landscape and lawn service operators reason to smile...

Put some pull in your plow. (LM Reports).(snow plows)
June 1, 2003... The two-plow concept--that two plows are better than one--is catching on in some heavy snow markets. Charlie Nemeth, owner of Nemeth Landscaping, Johnstown, PA, got into snow removal to service his landscaping accounts. "I was cutting...

Tipping the scales: Stiles Landscape veteran shows what to do when you encounter a "new" destructive landscape pest. (Solutions center: pest management).(lobate lac scale control)
June 1, 2003... John Cannon, Manager of Stiles Landscape Company's lawn and ornamental pest control division, stopped a potentially devastating pest to trees and shrubs in several areas of Broward County, FL. But lobate lac scale, a native of South Asia, isn't...

One wide cut. (Products: tech center).
June 1, 2003... The Toro Company's Groundsmaster 4100-D out-front rotary mower offers superior operator visibility with a 10.5-ft. width of cut. Other features include a 60-hp turbo-charged Kubota diesel engine, 54-, 89- or 124-in. cutting widthes, full-time...

Slow and steady. (Products: tech center).
June 1, 2003... Lebanon Turf announces a patented slow-release fertilizer technology. The new products, marketed under the brand names MESA and EXPO, extend the benefits of ammonium and potassium sulfates in a slowly available form without the need for...

Quite a body. (Products: tech center).
June 1, 2003... Land King's truck bodies look like ordinary dove-tail beds to other maintenance crews. The difference is that these truck bodies are also powerful dump beds. The dove-tail hydraulically lifts out of the way, creating a fully functional dump...

Punch it. (Products: tech center).
June 1, 2003... Jrco's hooker aerator attachment for zero-turn mowers can aerate 11/2 acres of turf per hour at a speed of five miles per hour. Plus, there are no messy cores to deal with, only loose plugs of soil. The aerator attachment punches six holes per...

Stellar storage. (Products: tech center).
June 1, 2003... Havener Enterprises says its Pro-Box portable storage container is the perfect solution to a landscape professional's need for extra storage space. It's water resistant, rust resistant and easy to tear down. Assembly takes less than 30 minutes....

Mow like a pro. (Products: tech center).
June 1, 2003... Swisher's zero-turn mower is available in 36-, 42- and 50-in. mowing deck widths, making it perfect for a variety of jobs. Three Briggs & Stratton OHV engines are available: 14-hp for 36-in., 17.5-hp for 42-in., and 20-hp for 50-in. Other...

Ask the expert.(herbicides, sycamore disease, diseased pines)
June 1, 2003... 2, 4-D alternatives Some of our customers would like to have a weed control program free of 2, 4-D. What can we use to manage broadleaf weeds in residential and commercial lawns?--IL For broadleaf weed control on residential and...

Events: what, when & where.(Calendar)
June 1, 2003... June 17 Cornell University Field Day / Ithaca, NY; Sponsored by the New York State Turfgrass Association; 800/873-8873; www.nysta.org 19-21 OPEI Annual Meeting / Colorado Springs, CO; Sponsored by the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute;...

Quality control: consistency is the name of the game. (Best practices: guidelines to help an industry grow).
June 1, 2003... Quality control is one of the many difficult issues that landscape contractors deal with on an ongoing basis. Most companies today can do quality work, but doing it consistently is another story. There are some tried and true best practices...