Ruppert Landscape Appoints Kang President & COO
Jessica Schwartz
Benefits & Challenges Of Transitioning To Battery Power
Sustainability Workshop With AGZA, NALP & Others Held In NJ It was a beautiful day to learn about battery power. Yesterday, Turf attended a sustainable land care certification workshop held in Chester, NJ, discussing topics such as soil, organics, native plants, changing client expectations, and the transition to battery powered equipment. “We’re trying to anticipate what the direction over the next decade will be,” commented attendee Chris Raimondi of Raimondi Horticultural Group. Deandra Hanke of Borst Landscape & Design said the event was “aligned with what we’re trying to move towards.. we have a growing client base but the are hard to manage…how to achieve where we want to be.” The event was held by the American Green Zone Alliance (AGZA), National Association of Landscape Professionals (NALP), New Jersey Green Industry Council (NJGIC), New Jersey Landscape Contractors Association (NJLCA), and New Jersey Nursery and Landscape Association (NJNLA). Nearly 30 people from NJ landscape companies attended the event, which began with classroom topics on soil success from Brian Oleksak of County College of Morris as well as a presentation from Richard McCoy of McCoy Horticultural on making the transition from conventional landscaping to sustainable land care. (Click for McCoy’s Turf article on this topic.) AGZA Workshop Attendees also had the opportunity to become AGZA Certified Sustainable Electric Lawn Care Professionals. In addition to access to 15 interactive webinars teaching the fundamentals of electric-powered land care, Dan Mabe, founder of AGZA, gave a presentation in which he spoke frankly about ...
Journey To Sustainability
Recently, I had a chance to reflect on my 30 years in the Green Industry. I was preparing a presentation and intended to speak on the recent passing of two environmental icons (one who coined the term “biodiversity”) and their influence on McCoy Horticultural, and other companies like ours, that hold ecology as a high priority in their design and land care protocols. The crucial component of this talk was to shed light on how far our industry has moved away from nature over the past 50+ years and how critical it is that we find our way back. Essentially, we, the Green Industry can have a significant impact on maintaining or restoring healthy ecosystems within the framework of landscape design. Work History I spent the first half of my landscape career like most. In the early 1990s, we did our work within the ingrained historical framework of traditional practices for no other reason than we were not aware of alternatives and the reasoning: “Well, we’ve always done it this way. Why change?” I began as an arborist, spraying trees indiscriminately. The work was carried out as per a job card that read, “Spray the tree canopy for leaf chewing and sucking insects.” At the time, I didn’t know the potential damage it could impose on beneficial insects, the local food webs, and ecology. After a few years as an arborist and applicator, I moved to a landscape company. At this time, I was still spraying synthetics as before. We ...
Journey To Sustainability
Recently, I had a chance to reflect on my 30 years in the Green Industry. I was preparing a presentation and intended to speak on the recent passing of two environmental icons (one who coined the term “biodiversity”) and their influence on McCoy Horticultural, and other companies like ours, that hold ecology as a high priority in their design and land care protocols. The crucial component of this talk was to shed light on how far our industry has moved away from nature over the past 50+ years and how critical it is that we find our way back. Essentially, we, the Green Industry can have a significant impact on maintaining or restoring healthy ecosystems within the framework of landscape design. Work History I spent the first half of my landscape career like most. In the early 1990s, we did our work within the ingrained historical framework of traditional practices for no other reason than we were not aware of alternatives and the reasoning: “Well, we’ve always done it this way. Why change?” I began as an arborist, spraying trees indiscriminately. The work was carried out as per a job card that read, “Spray the tree canopy for leaf chewing and sucking insects.” At the time, I didn’t know the potential damage it could impose on beneficial insects, the local food webs, and ecology. After a few years as an arborist and applicator, I moved to a landscape company. At this time, I was still spraying synthetics as before. We ...
Reconnect With Customers Mid-Summer
The communication is flowing between your lawn care company and your customers early in the season. Folks want you to green up their lawns and keep crabgrass at bay. This momentum keeps up until the hazy days of summer. But, how do you stay top of mind with your lawn care or landscaping customers in July? Strategy is Key Six lawn care and landscaping companies were interviewed to share how they touch base with their clients in mid-summer. Overall, these companies educate their clients, whether it’s about turf disease or upcoming fall services. All companies were purposeful in their outreach approach and some have specific strategies to reach out to their customers about their summer landscaping. For example, Jay Worth of Tomlinson and Bomberger in Lancaster, PA, says, “We strategically send out email blasts. Since turf diseases were rampant last summer in Pennsylvania because of all of the rain, we also posted blogs raising awareness of turf diseases.” Stacie Callaghan of Gachina Landscape Management located in Menlo Park, CA, shares: “(I) do my best to schedule regular social media posts highlighting seasonal tasks. It’s important to schedule more than one (social media post), so it sticks. (I) space them out far enough that it doesn’t seem repetitive.” Becoming Customer-Centric Many lawn care operators educate their clients based on what the customers see in their lawns. For example, Mike Sisti of FMC Global Solutions in Philadelphia, PA, has 25 years in the green industry, including 13 years as an lawn care ...
