Landscape Management articles from September 2002

Landscape Management archives from September 2002

Next month: what's coming up in October.
September 1, 2002... * Cover story: Erosion control opportunities Learn how new regulations put landscapers in perfect position to profit from erosion control * Software User's Sourcebook Design, business management, equipment maintenance,...

The watchwords remain `cautious optimism'. (on the record).
September 1, 2002... Sometimes a few reassuring comments can put a bleak situation in a better light; they can ease everyone's worst fears. Less than a year ago, as we mourned a national tragedy and slipped into an economic recession, PLCAA president Bill...

Bidding wars heating up. (inside the owner's head).
September 1, 2002... It's been a year since the terrorist attack on America. The economy is still weak, and the stock market doesn't know which way to go. So, how are professional landscape companies doing? The work is still out there, say most members of...

Signature acquires Northwest. (Clippings).
September 1, 2002... REDMOND, WA -- Signature Landscape Services, Inc. acquired Northwest Grounds Maintenance, Inc., a landscape maintenance firm that has served commercial/ residential clientele for 20 years. Signature has been in business for 25 years and grosses...

Bush Hog expands. (Clippings).
September 1, 2002... JONESBOROUGH, TN -- Bush Hog and Great Bend recently opened a 400,000 sq. ft. plant expansion here to meet demand for their equipment. The new state-of-the art manufacturing facilities are designed to meet Bush Hog and Great Bend's...

Case forms alliance with Astec. (Clippings).
September 1, 2002... RACINE, WI -- Case Construction Equipment and Astec Industries have formed a strategic alliance for the marketing and sales of trenchers, horizontal directional drills and other related equipment.

Toro's third quarter results up. (Clippings).
September 1, 2002... BLOOMINGTON, MN -- The Toro Company reported its third quarter will be better than expected with net earnings per dilutive share to be up $.06 to $.08 over current analyst expectations. At the same time, the company is raising its full year...

Scotts remains on the grow Lawn care company's buy of Centex makes it a player in Texas, Florida and Georgia. (Industry almanac: news you can use).
September 1, 2002... If The Scotts Company's plans for growth weren't clear enough before, they certainly are now after the Aug. 13 announcement that the company had bought the lawn care operations of Centex Home Team Services, which grossed $20 million in revenue...

Organicare brings new look to lawn care franchising. (Industry almanac: news you can use).
September 1, 2002... There's a new twist in lawn care franchising that, in the past two years, has become hot again. Organicare, headquartered in Kensington, CT, plans to build a network of over 200 locations within the United States offering organic-based lawn...

Seed Research.
September 1, 2002... Seed Research of Oregon promoted Scott Harer to sales manager.

Irrigation, landscape and nursery products.
September 1, 2002... John Deere named David Truttmann the new national golf sales manager for irrigation, landscape and nursery products.

Bayer Environmental Science.
September 1, 2002... Bayer Environmental Science, North America named Daniel H. Carrothers head of U.S. Green Industry Business and Nicholas Hamon, Ph.D. head of Development and Technical Services.

S & S Seeds.
September 1, 2002... S & S Seeds has re-hired Bruce Berlin as the manager of Erosion Control Products and Product Testing.

The Davey Tree Expert Company.
September 1, 2002... The Davey Tree Expert Company elected Carol A. Cartwright, P.h.D., to its Board of Directors. Cartwright is the president of Kent State University, Kent, OH.

A hero speaks PLCAA member Vince Tummino recounts 9/11 experience on one-year anniversary. (Industry almanac: news you can use).
September 1, 2002... PLCAA's 2002 Legislative Day/Cemetery Project saw a record crowd of about 140 men and women from across the country in attendance. Another record set was the 130 acres that received liming and tree work covered in four hours at Arlington and...

Info center: videos and literature for the green industry.
September 1, 2002... John Deere Landscapes releases 2002-03 Supplies Catalog John Deere Landscapes has released a new 2002-2003 Supplies Catalog, which is available free to landscape professionals. The catalog can be picked up at your local John Deere...

When the going gets tough: landscape and lawn care companies say growth continues, but slower and at a price. (State of the Industry 2002).
September 1, 2002... How best to describe this season's market conditions and our landscape and lawn care industries' reaction to them? Let's start with schizophrenic. The results of recent Landscape Management magazine surveys continue to show strong...

Tight times: frozen or cut budgets have forced grounds professionals to be creative in dealing with daily challenges in 2002. (State of the Industry 2002).
September 1, 2002... Money makes the world go 'round, right? Nobody knows that better than grounds professionals. All would like a bigger budget, but they're not likely to get one in the near future as the economy stumbles along at a sluggish pace. Budget woes...

Keep your labor legal. (Employee Management).
September 1, 2002... There may be eight to 10 million Latin illegal aliens residing in the United States. Factor in all illegal aliens and the total may be 14 million, say some government sources. Most of these aliens are working and, if you're running a sizable...

Sprinkler winterization basics: an easy-to-follow guide to prepare your clients' irrigation systems for next spring. (Irrigation Maintenance).
September 1, 2002... It's spring and crews are clamoring to finish start-ups because the weather is perfect and they've got a backlog of new installations. Then a crew chief relays bad news--busted pipes, a cracked backflow device and cracked sprinkler heads....

Woodfield Country Club: 2001 PGMS Grand Award Winner for Parks, Recreation Area or Athletic Fields. (award-winning landscape management).
September 1, 2002... Members of Woodfield Country Club in Boca Raton, FL, are demanding and expect the highest quality facility. At the same time, they don't want to hear or see work being done while playing tennis or golf, or lounging at the pool. Needless to...

Ready, set ... snow! Follow these tips from experienced snow & ice specialists and you might even look forward to winter. (Snow & Ice Management).
September 1, 2002... Watching grass wilt and the cracks get wider in the soil, it's hard to imagine shoveling snow. Despite the wicked heat and dry conditions this summer, winter is just around the corner. In the "snowbelt states," there's a good chance some...

Lowdown on loaders. (LM Reports).
September 1, 2002... This morning, the boss sent the crew out with a loader to move some dirt. This afternoon, the turf the loader rolled across looks worse than the excavation project. That scenario might be a thing of the past as smaller machines with...

Be a pro at pond maintenance: look like a champ in your customers' eyes by properly maintaining a pond in fall and readying it for winter. (Fall Service Opportunity).
September 1, 2002... One of the jobs some customers desire is a full pond cleanout. Unfortunately, many landscape contractors try to sell this as a springtime task. Winter and spring are both stressful times for the fish, and a clean pond in the fall will keep the...

Seed availability at a glance. (Turfgrass Management).
September 1, 2002... The turf seed industry is making headway in matching supply with demand. This is especially true with perennial ryegrass. Over-production of perennial ryegrass in Oregon's Willamette Valley led to bargain prices in recent years, but growers...

Ground zero green again: Connecticut brothers prepared World Trade Center's glass-enclosed Winter Garden for 9/11 memorial. (Operations Management).
September 1, 2002... Certain events are so mind- numbing and unexpected that you never forget what you were doing when you learned of them. What happened one beautiful Tuesday morning a year ago this month is one of them. Brothers Stefan, 30, and Ed Kijewski,...

Ask the expert.
September 1, 2002... Fighting moisture stress We've been using Florel brand growth regulator to manage mistletoe on ponderosa pine in our area. These plants are in natural settings like woods. Our problem now is that we're experiencing a severe drought and...

Plant power. (Products: tech center).
September 1, 2002... Bio-Plex Organics' new 4-in-1 planting granules aid in transplant survival. A bio-stimulant promotes improved moisture retention, Bio-Plex Endo-EctoMycorrhizal soil and root inoculants aid in long-term stress and moisture retention, Bio-Plex...

Get to the task. (Products: tech center).
September 1, 2002... Polaris Industries' utility task vehicle (UTV) is available in 2x4, 4x4 and 6x6 models. Each features a rustproof cargo box with a molded plastic liner that holds up to a half-ton of cargo, an electric dump-box lift, and low/super low...

Don't wait, calibrate. (Products: tech center).
September 1, 2002... Toro's new computer-based sprayer calibration tool assists with checking and calibrating sprayers, plus calculating product and water mixing rates. It works with Windows-based PCs, Windows Pocket PC-based handhelds, and Palm OS-based Handhelds....

Cast it wide. (Products: tech center).
September 1, 2002... Gandy Company's new 2.3 cu. ft. capacity polyethylene and stainless steel broadcast spreader allows you to apply chemical, fertilizer or seed from a utility ATV. It holds 120 lbs. A hand lever is in easy reach for quick response to start or...

Right on schedule. (Products: tech center).
September 1, 2002... Rain Bird Corp.'s new Rain Bird Pro Software improves scheduling, dispatching and billing. Field crews can communicate electronically with the main office using handheld devices. Paper orders are eliminated. Service call scheduling and...

Turn over a new leaf. (Products: tech center).
September 1, 2002... Giant-Vac Inc.'s new leaf blower attachment for commercial zero-turn mowers called the Leaf Buster features a 16-hp Briggs & Stratton Vanguard engine with a large diameter Whisper Jet impeller and Taper Lok hub. For more information...

It takes three. (Products: tech center).
September 1, 2002... Precision Laboratories now has three formulations of Cascade Plus Fertilizer available. Cascade, which is a wetting agent and fertilizer combination product, is now available in an all synthetic 15-0-10 analysis, 5-1-0 all organic analysis, and...

Plow it up. (Products: tech center).
September 1, 2002... Meyer Products' EZ-Vector V plow for one-ton pickups and one-ton cab chassis features heavy duty trip springs and a center pin that incorporates friction reduction design for wing movement. Plow width is 88 in. at full angle. For more...

Sporty loader. (Products: tech center).
September 1, 2002... The Groundhog, from Concord Environmental Equipment, is a front-end loader attachment that mounts on all makes of ATVs. Using a hydraulic pump powered by the ATV battery, it can lift up to 300 lbs. of material at a height of 48 in. Its controls...

No low blow. (Products: tech center).
September 1, 2002... Goossen's new debris blower features a 36-in. blower fan with eight paddles made of 1/4-in. steel that spins on greaseable bearings. The 40-in. blower housing is split to allow for easy access to the fan. Bi-directional air discharge is...

You can dig it, too. (Products: tech center).
September 1, 2002... The JCB 8017 1.5-ton mini excavator can work in tight areas when the undercarriage is retracted to its minimum of 3 ft., 2 in. A two-speed tracking feature allows for a low travel speed of 1.3 mph and high of 2.2 mph. Maximum digging depth is 7...

Pull in profit. (Products: tech center).
September 1, 2002... Thanks to 2,000 lbs. of downward hydraulic pressure, Daniels Pull Plow removes snow and ice from hard-to-plow areas your front-mounted plow can't handle. Fits any four-wheel drive vehicle equipped with a 2-in. receiver-type hitch. For more...

Sit or stand. (Products: tech center).
September 1, 2002... Sit or stand with Wright Mfg.'s new Sentar zero-turn mower. It features a padded, saddle-like seat for sitting, but the seat can be folded out of the way for standing as well. It has cutting widths of 48, 52 or 61 in. Maximum ground speeds are...

Cover it up. (Products: tech center).
September 1, 2002... With the Typar professional landscape fabric, Reemay Inc. claims a contractor, with a one-time installation, creates an unseen line of defense against weed growth that lasts for years. It comes available in 3 ft. by 50 ft. and 3 ft. by 100 ft....

On the prowl. (Products: tech center).
September 1, 2002... Encore's Prowler mid-cut features a side-to-side articulating, floating deck, no slip disc brakes and maintenance free blade spindles. For a level cut at the high speed, a PTO shaft powers the blades at 19,000 fpm. New are larger, 11-gal. dual...

Pass the salt. (Products: tech center).
September 1, 2002... TruckCraft's new TC-140 D-Icer Plus tailgate replacement spreader for one-tons requires no hydraulic system (12V electric) and is easy to install. It handles any free-flowing material up to 3/4 in. in diameter, and spreads up to 10,000 lbs. of...

Let it snow. (Products: tech center).
September 1, 2002... Fisher's new Minute Mount 2 makes it a snap to attach your plow to your truck. A built-in handle disengages both connecting pins simultaneously when removing the plow. Lower gear is flared twice as wide for easier drive-in alignment. A...

Events: what, when & where.
September 1, 2002... September 16-18 Florida Turfgrass Association Conference and Trade Show / Tampa, FL; 800/882-6721 18 Nursery and Landscape Field Day / Virginia Beach, VA; Sponsored by VA Tech's Hampton Rds. Ag Research and Ext. Center; 757/363-3906...

Save hours: eliminate "lost time," improve efficiencies. (Best practices: guidelines to help an industry grow).
September 1, 2002... In landscape maintenance, the single biggest cost item is labor. Yet we often see companies spending more time trying to save money on purchases rather than managing hours. Companies that focus on managing labor hours are rewarded with nice...