Disaster ResponseFeaturedIndustry NewsLawn Mowing Maintenance and Lawn CareLoaders, Excavators & TractorsMaintenanceManufacturer/Supplier UpdatesProductsProducts and EquipmentThe Latest
Bobcat Introduces TL623 Telehandler
Jessica Schwartz
Lakeside Living Space
Landmark Landscapes is a family owned and operated, full-service landscaping company based in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin. Founded 32 years ago around a passion to meld the beauty of nature with the science of horticulture, our company’s mission is to make communities more beautiful by creating “Art through Ecology.” In October 2021, the team at Landmark Landscapes was recognized with an Award of Excellence from the National Association of Landscape Professionals (NALP). This annual awards program recognizes outstanding projects in commercial and residential lawn care and landscape installation, maintenance, and design. Projects range in size and scope from less than $25,000 to more than $1 million. Landmark Landscapes was awarded the NALP Gold Award of Excellence in the Residential Design/Build category. This project is titled “Lake Country Garden.” At Landmark Landscapes, we believe our role is to be problem solvers in helping clients achieve maximum visual impact with environmentally sound and practical landscape solutions that embody the spirit of the cultural, geological, and ecological surroundings. Our goal is to provide an incredible landscape design and contracting experience. We leverage classical design and cutting-edge concepts in sustainability to create landscapes that foster connection between the outside environment and the people who engage with it. Planning The Project Our clients purchased a dilapidated cottage and rundown property on the majestic and historic Elkhart Lake in the Village of Elkhart Lake, WI. They made this purchase with the intent of converting the cottage into a summer home where their large family—seven children, with ...
Turf Winter 2021 Issue
Editor’s Letter: Raise Your Glass “At the end of each landscaping season most owners are either raising their glasses or scratching their heads,” writes Josh Currivan, owner of Currivan Green Landscaping in “Optimizing Your Profits.” And it’s true. It’s only after the craze of busy, daily work do most owners have a chance to sit, tally up the numbers, and realize how their year truly fared. The New Year is a time of reflection and resolutions for everyone—but it’s especially true for landscapers whose “off-season” occurs at the same time. What went right? What went wrong? How can 2022 be better? Currivan’s article speaks to the heart of this analysis and reminds us that client numbers—or even how busy you were—don’t always equal a great bottom line. He urges peers to do business homework now, in January, and provides a timeline and solid strategies for realizing true profit in 2022 and beyond. In many ways, it’s the most important work you’ll do all year. Even with numbers-based decisions, growth is not without risk and Currivan details his tumultuous 2021. Joel Schaubel, Senior VP of Lending at LMN, addresses this risk/reward dynamic in “Investing In Equipment.” While providing a formula for “lease vs. own vs. keep,” he points out that choosing not to buy new equipment carries its own risk of downtime and lost opportunities. In terms of opportunities, Winter is also the perfect time for exploring new revenue sources. Want billable hours on rainy days or in the off-season? This ...
Turf Winter 2021 Issue
Editor’s Letter: Raise Your Glass “At the end of each landscaping season most owners are either raising their glasses or scratching their heads,” writes Josh Currivan, owner of Currivan Green Landscaping in “Optimizing Your Profits.” And it’s true. It’s only after the craze of busy, daily work do most owners have a chance to sit, tally up the numbers, and realize how their year truly fared. The New Year is a time of reflection and resolutions for everyone—but it’s especially true for landscapers whose “off-season” occurs at the same time. What went right? What went wrong? How can 2022 be better? Currivan’s article speaks to the heart of this analysis and reminds us that client numbers—or even how busy you were—don’t always equal a great bottom line. He urges peers to do business homework now, in January, and provides a timeline and solid strategies for realizing true profit in 2022 and beyond. In many ways, it’s the most important work you’ll do all year. Even with numbers-based decisions, growth is not without risk and Currivan details his tumultuous 2021. Joel Schaubel, Senior VP of Lending at LMN, addresses this risk/reward dynamic in “Investing In Equipment.” While providing a formula for “lease vs. own vs. keep,” he points out that choosing not to buy new equipment carries its own risk of downtime and lost opportunities. In terms of opportunities, Winter is also the perfect time for exploring new revenue sources. Want billable hours on rainy days or in the off-season? This ...
Outsourcing The Design of Design-Build
For lawn care and landscape professionals, making the transition to offer design-build services can be intimidating — especially so if no one on your crew is a landscape architect. While employees may have hands-on knowledge of say, pool or hardscape installation, the ability required to sit with a client, address their wish list, and come up with a cohesive design is not in everyone’s wheelhouse. And depending on the client, the time spent on design can drain the project budget. Recently a new online service, Tilly—launched two years ago as a consumer solution to easy, affordable landscape architecture-—is realizing its potential as an outsourced design service for growing landscaping firms. The company was the brainchild of four friends: one a landscape architect; the others business savvy homeowners who saw a need in the marketplace. But what the founders didn’t initially realize was the service’s appeal to busy contractors, landscapers, and nurseries. After receiving frequent requests by green industry experts to partner, Tilly launched Tilly for Pros at the end of 2020. With designs completed in 44 states thus far, the inexpensive option is now becoming popular with companies that either do not have a design team in-house or are simply too busy to handle all incoming projects. “For me, it makes more sense that I’m out in the field, boots on the ground—acquiring clients and installing rather than designing,” says Alejandro Frezza, President of TGW Landscaping and Contracting Inc. in Rockland County, NY. “Having Tilly handle my design project ...
Outsourcing The Design of Design-Build
For lawn care and landscape professionals, making the transition to offer design-build services can be intimidating — especially so if no one on your crew is a landscape architect. While employees may have hands-on knowledge of say, pool or hardscape installation, the ability required to sit with a client, address their wish list, and come up with a cohesive design is not in everyone’s wheelhouse. And depending on the client, the time spent on design can drain the project budget. Recently a new online service, Tilly—launched two years ago as a consumer solution to easy, affordable landscape architecture-—is realizing its potential as an outsourced design service for growing landscaping firms. The company was the brainchild of four friends: one a landscape architect; the others business savvy homeowners who saw a need in the marketplace. But what the founders didn’t initially realize was the service’s appeal to busy contractors, landscapers, and nurseries. After receiving frequent requests by green industry experts to partner, Tilly launched Tilly for Pros at the end of 2020. With designs completed in 44 states thus far, the inexpensive option is now becoming popular with companies that either do not have a design team in-house or are simply too busy to handle all incoming projects. “For me, it makes more sense that I’m out in the field, boots on the ground—acquiring clients and installing rather than designing,” says Alejandro Frezza, President of TGW Landscaping and Contracting Inc. in Rockland County, NY. “Having Tilly handle my design project ...
BrightView Landscapes Lauded For Customer Engagement Commitment
BrightView Landscapes Services (BVLS) and BrightView Landscape Design (BVLD) have been welcomed to the National Business Research Institute (NBRI) Circle of Excellence. The NBRI Circle of Excellence Award recognizes organizations that place a high value on employee and customer engagement. Organizations must demonstrate their dedication by conducting best in class survey research with NBRI and taking action based upon those results. NBRI commends the leadership of these organizations for their commitment to the Continuous Improvement Process and recognizes their achievements with the Circle of Excellence Award. Blue Bell, PA-based BrightView is the largest provider of commercial landscaping services in the United States. Through its team of approximately 20,000 employees, BrightView provides services ranging from landscape maintenance and enhancements to tree care and landscape development for thousands of customers’ properties, including corporate and commercial properties, HOAs, public parks, hotels and resorts, hospitals and other healthcare facilities, educational institutions, restaurants and retail, and golf courses, among others. BrightView is the Official Field Consultant to Major League Baseball (MLB). To qualify for the NBRI Circle of Excellence Award, an organization must score at or above Stretch Performance at the 75th benchmarking percentile when measured against their industry, or the organization must improve five or more benchmarking percentiles in total company score over the previous research study, a statistically significant amount. It is no small feat to move an entire company’s score of customer loyalty or employee engagement five or more percentiles, or to reach Stretch or Best in Class Performance levels. “Customer ...
BrightView Landscapes Lauded For Customer Engagement Commitment
BrightView Landscapes Services (BVLS) and BrightView Landscape Design (BVLD) have been welcomed to the National Business Research Institute (NBRI) Circle of Excellence. The NBRI Circle of Excellence Award recognizes organizations that place a high value on employee and customer engagement. Organizations must demonstrate their dedication by conducting best in class survey research with NBRI and taking action based upon those results. NBRI commends the leadership of these organizations for their commitment to the Continuous Improvement Process and recognizes their achievements with the Circle of Excellence Award. Blue Bell, PA-based BrightView is the largest provider of commercial landscaping services in the United States. Through its team of approximately 20,000 employees, BrightView provides services ranging from landscape maintenance and enhancements to tree care and landscape development for thousands of customers’ properties, including corporate and commercial properties, HOAs, public parks, hotels and resorts, hospitals and other healthcare facilities, educational institutions, restaurants and retail, and golf courses, among others. BrightView is the Official Field Consultant to Major League Baseball (MLB). To qualify for the NBRI Circle of Excellence Award, an organization must score at or above Stretch Performance at the 75th benchmarking percentile when measured against their industry, or the organization must improve five or more benchmarking percentiles in total company score over the previous research study, a statistically significant amount. It is no small feat to move an entire company’s score of customer loyalty or employee engagement five or more percentiles, or to reach Stretch or Best in Class Performance levels. “Customer ...
Preventative Tree Care For Long-Term Health
You never want to leave money on the table—no matter what type of business you operate. But when arborists or tree care professionals leave the job site without talking to the homeowner or property manager about preventative tree care, that’s exactly what happens. Worse, this also means you’re not leveraging your skills and expertise to help keep people, as well as their pets and property, safe. Here are few preventative services all tree care providers should be offering. Recommend regular and routine pruning. Regular pruning will not only help keep your clients’ trees vigorous and looking their best, but it’ll help you spot potential red flags long before they cause problems. For example, your client may not notice that his or her maple tree is starting to display some troubling symptoms of leaf spot. But once you get to the property and set up your gear, it’ll become obvious to you. Alternatively, you may notice an insect issue developing on your client’s ash or citrus trees, which will require immediate action to head off more serious problems. But you can only notice these types of things if you are regularly visiting clients’ properties and getting up close with the trees. Additionally, by getting your clients to sign up for a regular pruning service, you’ll stay front-and-center in your client’s mind. This means he or she is less likely to go surfing on the web for other tree care providers when they do need services. Always monitor mushrooms growing near ...
