Landscape Management articles from November 2002

Landscape Management archives from November 2002

Canada pushes IPM plan. (on the record).
November 1, 2002... Canadian lawn care companies and other turf application professionals may have to embrace the concepts of Integrated Pest Management (IPM). In fact, it might be the only way they can survive. This is no ploy. An ambitious, industry-initiated...

Let's hear it: your opinions, comments, & quotes.(Letter to the Editor)
November 1, 2002... I eagerly awaited my new copy of Landscape Management, but when it arrived and I read the cover story, "Don't let lowballers bite into your profits," my usual eagerness dissolved into a mixture of different feelings. Last year, I decided...

Don't overreact to change. (my way).(Spring-Green's president/ceo discusses the lawncare industry, US)
November 1, 2002... There's nothing more boring than watching grass grow. I say that because, from customers' point of view, the past few decades have brought little change in the service they receive from their lawn care company. Offering consistent and...

Housing starts will start you up. (market watch).(how economic indicator statistics affect the landscaping industry, US)
November 1, 2002... This is the first of what will become a regular column entitled, "Market Watch." The objective of Market Watch is to take key macroeconomic indicators and market happenings and analyze how they affect the landscape professional and the Green...

Becker Underwood buys Seedbiotics. (Clippings).(US)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... AMES, IA -- Becker Underwood, a manufacturer of bioagronomic and specialty chemical products, acquired Seedbiotics, a U.S.-based specialty seed coatings company. The acquisition unites Becker Underwood's existing seed coating and polymer...

Toro wins GSA contract. (Clippings).(to supply equipment)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... BLOOMINGTON, MN -- The Toro Company was recently issued a General Services Administration (GSA) corporate contract. Included in the contract are all golf, grounds and sports field products, Toro Landscape Contractor Equipment, Sitework Systems...

SpeedZone gets CA registration. (Clippings).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... KANSAS CITY -- PBI/Gordon Corp. received registration acceptance from California for its three new herbicides containing the active ingredient carfentrazone-ethyl.

Lebanon presents check to Rutgers. (Clippings).(Lebanon Seabord Corp., US)
November 1, 2002... NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ -- Lebanon Seaboard Corp. gave a $102,934 check to Dr. William Meyer of Rutgers University to further turfgrass research. Ongoing cooperative projects have led to the release of several top rated turfgrass varieties.

'03 Leadership Jams go national Paluch's popular program coming to a site near you. (Industry almanac: news you can use).(Calendar)
November 1, 2002... Leadership Jams '03 presented by the Associated Landscape Contractors of America (ALCA) goes on the road soon. It's sponsored by equipment manufacturer Husqvarna and supported by Landscape Management magazine. "We introduced the program...

OPEI moves EXPO 2003 to October. (Industry almanac: news you can use).(Calendar)
November 1, 2002... ALEXANDRIA, VA -- The OPEI Board of Directors has changed the dates of the International Lawn, Garden and Power Equipment Exposition to Oct. 18-20, 2003. This unanimous vote for fall dates is a radical departure for the major Green...

www.landscapemanagement.net: what's new on-line.
November 1, 2002... * Check out bios on your favorite LM staffers * Look up stories from past issues * LM Week in Review * Take part in our new poll on-line--just log on and answer the hot question of the day * The latest Green Industry news ...

PGMS to unite with local branches. (Industry almanac: news you can use).(Professional Grounds Management Society, US)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... BALTIMORE, MD -- The Professional Grounds Management Society (PGMS) will soon be "one PGMS," reports Matt Vehr, president of the 91-year-old Green Industry organization, thanks to a three-year effort to unite PGMS with its local branches. ...

Roundup Ready bentgrass approval delayed. (Industry almanac: news you can use).
November 1, 2002... WASHINGTON -- The Scotts Co. and Monsanto temporarily withdrew their application for the approval of Roundup Ready bentgrass for commercial use in order to answer more questions the American Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has about the...

Industry stops leaf blower ban. (Industry almanac: news you can use).(Toronto, Ontario, Canada)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... TORONTO, ONTARIO -- Council members here voted down a proposed ban on leaf blowers. The issue surfaced late in 2001 when a city councilperson floated legislation to ban the use of leaf blowers at all times on residential properties except...

CLCA afraid paid family leave law will hurt small companies. (Industry almanac: news you can use).(California Landscape Contractors Association)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... SACRAMENTO, CA -- California Gov. Gray Davis recently signed SB 1661, a bill that amends the state's unemployment insurance code to include paid family leave for all employees starting in July 2004. Originally, the bill provided for 12 weeks of...

John Deere Landscapes. (People & companies).(executive appointments, US)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... John Deere Landscapes appointed Frank Bates senior vice president of operations, Jeff Lanahan senior vice president of supply management and information technologies, and Mark Nattinger senior vice president of sales. Thomas Childers has also...

Hunter Industries. (People & companies).(honored by St. Clare's Home charity, US)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Hunter Industries, led by CEO Richard Hunter, was named Corporate Benefactor of the Year for 2002 by St. Clare's Home, a non-denominational charity that provides housing for abused women and their children.

Pickseed West. (People & companies).(appointment)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Pickseed West hired Mandi McDowell to its sales and marketing staff.

Burlingham Seeds. (People & companies).(appointment)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Burlingham Seeds hired Zenon Lis as its vice president of sales and marketing.

Novozymes Biological. (People & companies).
November 1, 2002... Novozymes Biological hired Scott Inman as technical sales manager.

Minuteman International. (People & companies).
November 1, 2002... Minuteman International appointed Richard J. Wood as a member of its Board of Directors.

The Snow & Ice Management Association. (People & companies).
November 1, 2002... The Snow & Ice Management Association appointed new officers of its Board of Directors: Jeff Tovar, president, Charles Glossop, vice president, Samuel Granados, secretary, Craig Geller, treasurer, and John Allin, past perfect president.

FMC Corp. (People & companies).
November 1, 2002... FMC Corp. appointed Neil DeStefano communications and e-business director, Laurie Tieckelmann customer service manager, Kim Watson global development manager for the Specialty Business Products (SPB), Shelley Woods Whiting U.S. marketing...

Landscape Forms. (People & companies).
November 1, 2002... Landscape Forms has added Tim Gish as a direct sales representative.

Get ready for 2003 ALCA Student Career Days. (Industry almanac: news you can use).
November 1, 2002... RAYMOND, MS -- The Associated Landscape Contractors of America (ALCA) Student Career Days is slated for March 13-16, 2003, and Hinds Community College of Raymond, MS is busy with plans to host the 1,200-plus attendees. Planning ahead ...

Statistics: industry trends by the numbers.
November 1, 2002... TOP CITIES FOR DEVELOPMENT (Q2, 2002) City # of starts % of U.S. starts MULTIFAMILY LA 3,329 5.8% Ft. Lauderdale 3,032 5.3% NYC 2,935 ...

'03 Fast start strategies: blast your business out of the starting blocks ahead of the competition next season. (Operations Management).
November 1, 2002... Psst. Come a little closer. Here's a secret about getting your landscape or lawn care operation off to a terrific start this coming season--start planning yesterday. If you're like most landscape or lawn care company owners, you're...

'03 Fast start strategies: getting off on the right foot the grounds way. (Operations Management).
November 1, 2002... "A stitch in time saves nine." "Prepare ahead of time for all possible scenarios." "Pre-plan and carry through with the plan." No matter what grounds manager we talked to, all repeated the same general theme about how to get off to a fast start...

'02 People of the year: Wayne Richards. (Best Of The Best).
November 1, 2002... Landscape contracting It's no surprise that Wayne Richards still holds clear memories of he and his grandfather, Paul, running their part-time gardening service in the early 1960s. That experience left an indelible mark on him that hasn't...

'02 People of the year: Ellen Newell. (Best Of The Best).
November 1, 2002... Grounds management When you listen to Ellen Newell's life story, you realize she was born to be a grounds manager. Shortly after she learned to walk, she held one end of her father's saw as he cut down an appletree. By nine years old,...

'02 People of the year: Bill Hoopes. (Best Of The Best).
November 1, 2002... Lawn care But for the Beatles, the lawn care business and one of its most recognizable companies, Scotts LawnService, would look a lot different than they do today. How? That's impossible to say, but certainly they wouldn't have the...

1-2-3 pond installation: low-voltage pond kits can save you time and money by turning pond projects into one-day operations. (Pond Installation).
November 1, 2002... Water gardens add the perfect touch to any landscaping project. Creating that perfect touch can be tough to achieve for landscape professionals, but it doesn't have to be if you have the right tools. Creating a water garden can be an easy...

Be ready for erosion rules: knowing the new NPDES rules will eliminate hassles and open your eyes to new business opportunities in landscape construction. (Landscape Construction).
November 1, 2002... Stormwater runoff from construction sites is a detriment to America's water quality. It washes sediment into our bodies of water, along with chemicals and oil. This runoff also swells streams beyond capacity, eroding their banks and destroying...

Sustainable landscaping's success: Gardeners' Guild partners with a major industrial client in an ambitious program of resource management.
November 1, 2002... In 1996, Gardeners' Guild began its landscape management program at Agilent Technologies (formerly Hewlett-Packard) in Sonoma County, CA. The company's two major Sonoma County campuses, the Fountain Grove site in Santa Rosa and a facility in...

Getting back to nature: strong roots and innovative thinking bring natural grass back to Spartan Stadium. (Athletic turf: progressive athletic field management).
November 1, 2002... Michigan State University (MSU) is often lauded for having the top turfgrass science program in the United States. Yet, until recently, MSU's Big Ten football team played on artificial turf. The synthetic playing surface was installed in 1968...

Get hitched to a new trailer. (LM Reports).
November 1, 2002... The trailer towing industry has a classification system that differentiates hitches according to the amount of weight they can tow. This system addresses tongue weight and total weight. Within each classification are numerous hitches. The three...

Events: what, when & where.
November 1, 2002... November 12-14 Turf and Grounds Exposition / Syracuse, NY; 800/873-8873 13-14 Turf & Ornamental Seminar / West Lafayette, IN; Sponsored by the Midwest Regional Turf Foundation; 765/494-8039 13-17 Green Industry Expo / Nashville,...

To lime or not to lime: knowing the ins and outs of liming can lead to greater vigor and health of your customers' lawns. (Lawn Care Basics).
November 1, 2002... There's a common misconception that more nutrients and lime are necessary to maintain a high quality lawn. That, of course, isn't always true. The decision of whether to apply lime ultimately comes down to understanding why lime is applied,...

Switching colors: lawn care operator found that switching to blue coveralls made for better customer perception. (Solutions center: lawn care).
November 1, 2002... It was a re-occurring problem at For Shore Weed Control, a Waretown, NJ business with 10 full-time employees and 7,000 clients, the majority of them in affluent neighborhoods with waterfront properties. The problem: scary white coveralls...

Water right. (Products: tech center).
November 1, 2002... Irrometer Co.'s new Watermark Multiple Hydrozone System provides soil moisture automation for 24 VAC controllers. Up to eight independent zones of moisture control can be accommodated with easily selected moisture levels allowing the user to...

Stream away. (Products: tech center).
November 1, 2002... The WaterWick gravel injection system improves drainage without disturbing the soil surface. It uses multiple vibratory plow blades that gently slice into the turf. As the turf is drawn apart, a gravel vein is injected into the opening to...

Rain's coming. (Products: tech center).
November 1, 2002... Hunter Industries' new Rain-Clik is an electronic weather sensor that can be installed on a residential or commercial site without running electrical lines to the irrigation controller. It can be mounted anywhere, and it's compatible with all...

Snow be gone. (Products: tech center).
November 1, 2002... Polaris's 2x4, 4x4 and 6x6 utility task vehicles can be purchased with an optional snow removal package that includes a 72-in. plow blade, plow markers, hard cab, windshield wiper kit, strobe light, diamond plate side-mounted cargo box and tire...

Light the way. (Products: tech center).
November 1, 2002... Architectural Landscape Lighting's Focca, a focused collection of outdoor and landscape lighting luminaires, has streamlined, low-scale conal shaped lampheads with large-format, recessed lenses. The lampheads move smoothly through 180 degrees...

Don't blow it. (Products: tech center).
November 1, 2002... FINN Corp. has enhanced its B-40 straw blower with a newly developed solid discharge head configuration that increases production and reduces maintenance. The new metal discharge tube is designed to limit air loss and improve airflow. The...

New mount. (Products: tech center).
November 1, 2002... SnowEx has introduced a new receiver mount for its 1075 Pivot Pro tailgate spreader. Designed to mount in a Class III receiver hitch, the new mount option bolts onto the bumper, requiring no holes to be drilled into the truck bed or tailgate....

Talk, talk, talk. (Products: tech center).
November 1, 2002... Midland Radio Corp.'s new portable two-way radio eliminates costly airtime fees for job-site communications, allowing users to talk 24/7 at no additional cost. The 80-150/400 packs 16 channel capacity and 5 watts (VHF, 4 watts UHF) of talking...

Hooray for spray. (Products: tech center).
November 1, 2002... Rittenhouse's new stainless steel Boominator boomless spray nozzle is ideal for applying liquid de-icer in parking lots, roadside and commercial property spraying and dust control. One-sided model gives 18-ft. swath width (one direction only)...

Lift high. (Products: tech center).
November 1, 2002... Caterpillar's 232 and 242 vertical lift skid-steer loaders feature a lift height of 119.9 in. and a reach of 30.2 in. at a bucket angle of 45 degrees. With rated capacities of 1,750 lbs. for the 232 and 2,000 lbs. for the 242, the machines can...

Tractor factor. (Products: tech center).
November 1, 2002... Allmand Bros.' TLB-535 compact tractor loader backhoe has a 6,000-lb. digging force and 11-ft. digging depth. Dual cylinder, 180-degree hydraulic cushioned swing allows for precise work in tight conditions. Powered by a 33.3-hp liquid-cooled...

Aerate great. (Products: tech center).
November 1, 2002... Rock Solid's Plugr PL800 Pro aerator has the same 30-in. aeration width as the company's commercial Plugr PL600 beefed up with two additional cams--eight total--that move the tines closer together to increase the number of cores per sq. ft. by...

Remote possibilities. (Products: tech center).
November 1, 2002... The DIG, LEIT XRC is an ambient "light powered" water management irrigation controller with radio remote control capability. It can be used from remote locations to a distance of up to 5,000 ft., and can operate 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 16, 20, 24 and...

Spread out. (Products: tech center).
November 1, 2002... Buyers Products' new tailgate spreader designed for pickup trucks features a thermoplastic hopper and powder-coated steel frame. The 12-volt spreader motor is housed in a sealed motor chamber with direct to battery wire harness. It's designed...

Feeding frenzy. (Products: tech center).
November 1, 2002... The new Vermeer HG365 horizontal grinder uses the SmartFeed system that monitors RPM rates to optimize machine production--and to momentarily reverse feeding in case of a jam. It also has a thrown object deflector system that reduces the...

Get blown away. (Products: tech center).
November 1, 2002... Express Blower's new RB-20 blower truck is specifically designed to blow aggregate all day, every day with distances up to 200 ft. and/or at least three stories high. Designed around a 20-yd. box, the blower is a fully self-contained unit and...

Light up. (Products: tech center).
November 1, 2002... Vista Professional Outdoor Lighting's new 120-volt HID ballast boxes now feature waterproof compartments for all above-ground fixture installations. Injection-molded covers have a textured finish and a 1/2-in. NPSM hub for direct fixture...

Snow no mo'. (Products: tech center).
November 1, 2002... The Snow Wolf Pro Series has a floating blade that allows putting the vehicle weight onto the blade to increase scraping ability to clean compacted snow and ice. The chain typically used to lift floating blades has been replaced on this plow...

Zip it down. (Products: tech center).
November 1, 2002... Zip Pots has developed what it says is the world's first five-gallon plastic nursery container that can be "unzipped" via two tear strips down either side of the container. Using garden snips, end users cut the rim in four places along...

Spread it easily. (Products: tech center).
November 1, 2002... Meyer Products' Mate spreader is designed for standard pickups and can be used to apply salt to driveways, parking lots, walkways, access ramps and intersections. It has 9 cu. ft. of capacity, and can be easily attached and removed from the...

Get in control. (Products: tech center).
November 1, 2002... Valvette Systems' new sprinkler head bodies, pop-up shafts and fittings offer savings in time, money and water. Each part contains the Little Valve, which provides for individual on/off control for each sprinkler head for stress-free cleaning,...

Power mowing. (Products: tech center).
November 1, 2002... The Gravely 260Z zero-turn mower comes available with a 31-hp liquid-cooled turbo diesel engine and a 14-gal. fuel tank. Other engine selections include a 25-hp Kawasaki or 25-hp Kohler twin cylinder air cooled, a Kohler EFI OHV gas 26-hp twin...

Oh so reliable. (Products: tech center).
November 1, 2002... RedMax introduces the GZ24N, a new generation of strato-charged engine for its leaf blowers that is more reliable than the original. The stratified charge is now controlled by a piston port rather than a reed valve, which means that piston...

Feel the wind. (Products: tech center).
November 1, 2002... Little Wonder's high-output blowers feature 10-in. diameter steel-hubbed pneumatic wheels and a cushion-gripped height-adjustable ergonomic handle. Three models feature Briggs Intek engines from 6 to 10 hp. Two models feature either a 9-hp or...

Renewals: aim for 90% along with price increases. (Best practices: guidelines to help an industry grow).
November 1, 2002... A book of business that renews from year to year is essential for growing a landscape maintenance business. The higher percentage of jobs retained each year, the less new sales required to grow. The better companies in the industry retain at...