Spartan Mowers Releases 2025 Product Lineup
Jessica Schwartz
Hardscape Trends For Outdoor Living
As homeowners embraced outdoor living during the COVID-19 pandemic, they prioritized functional outdoor spaces to relax, work, and spend time with family. And, according to a recent study, 85% of experts1 believe that homeowners are more willing to invest in outdoor living spaces this year. Spaces that were normally neglected or barely used for months at a time have become essential to at-home life, giving contractors the opportunity to work with on a variety of projects. One of the top trends this year is the shift from designing spaces for entertainment purposes to functional, everyday areas. Prior to quarantine and social distancing, most outdoor living areas were used for entertaining. Now, four in five homeowners in the aforementioned study reported wanting to make changes to help them enjoy and use their space more often, with 35% saying outdoor is at the top of their wish list. With the shifting mindset of how homeowners utilize their outdoor living spaces, projects that support remote work, exercise, cooking, and dining are popular. The integration of technology should be a significant consideration for contractors when planning with their clients. For example, when creating an additional work-from-home space, homeowners need a stable Wi-Fi connection and accessible electrical outlets for laptops and other devices. Heating and cooling elements as well as lighting are also crucial to ensure usability year-round. In fact, experts predict 48% of outdoor spaces2 will be adapted to allow for use during any season. Bigger Spaces, More Patterns As more homeowners seek ...
Hardscape Trends For Outdoor Living
As homeowners embraced outdoor living during the COVID-19 pandemic, they prioritized functional outdoor spaces to relax, work, and spend time with family. And, according to a recent study, 85% of experts1 believe that homeowners are more willing to invest in outdoor living spaces this year. Spaces that were normally neglected or barely used for months at a time have become essential to at-home life, giving contractors the opportunity to work with on a variety of projects. One of the top trends this year is the shift from designing spaces for entertainment purposes to functional, everyday areas. Prior to quarantine and social distancing, most outdoor living areas were used for entertaining. Now, four in five homeowners in the aforementioned study reported wanting to make changes to help them enjoy and use their space more often, with 35% saying outdoor is at the top of their wish list. With the shifting mindset of how homeowners utilize their outdoor living spaces, projects that support remote work, exercise, cooking, and dining are popular. The integration of technology should be a significant consideration for contractors when planning with their clients. For example, when creating an additional work-from-home space, homeowners need a stable Wi-Fi connection and accessible electrical outlets for laptops and other devices. Heating and cooling elements as well as lighting are also crucial to ensure usability year-round. In fact, experts predict 48% of outdoor spaces2 will be adapted to allow for use during any season. Bigger Spaces, More Patterns As more homeowners seek ...
Get Equipped: Tree Care Products
Take a look at this assortment of tree care products that can improve and add value to your professional lawn care and landscaping services. BC1500 Gas Brush Chipper From Vermeer The Vermeer BC1500 gas brush chipper is equipped with a powerful 165 HP PSI gas engine and delivers comparable chipping productivity as its diesel counterpart. Using a precision-balanced drum with two A8 double-sided knives, the BC1500 gas brush chipper is capable of chipping logs up to 15″ in diameter. The onboard SmartFeed system monitors engine rpms and automatically stops and reverses the feed rollers to optimize the productivity of the Vermeer brush chipper. In addition, the chipper comes with the Vermeer EcoIdle™ engine control system that will automatically lower engine speeds when the chipper is left idling to reduce fuel consumption and noise. CH1015H From Crary® Bear Cat® Crary Bear Cat introduces the CH1015H chipper. It features a 57HP Kubota gas engine and has a chipping capacity of 10″. The CH1015H comes mounted on a trailer that includes the standard 2″ ball w/safety chains and 4 pin wiring harness. Its telescoping tongue accommodates different lengths that allow for optimal towing performance. Inside is a factory balanced rotor, a 308 lb 32” diameter disk that is 1.25″ thick. The CH1015H comes with six reversible blades that provide double the wear and smaller bites to help keep the rpms up for higher efficiency. The Digital Display Controller (DDC) allows control of the rotor rpms for efficient operation, helps troubleshoot any issues, and ...
Get Equipped: Tree Care Products
Take a look at this assortment of tree care products that can improve and add value to your professional lawn care and landscaping services. BC1500 Gas Brush Chipper From Vermeer The Vermeer BC1500 gas brush chipper is equipped with a powerful 165 HP PSI gas engine and delivers comparable chipping productivity as its diesel counterpart. Using a precision-balanced drum with two A8 double-sided knives, the BC1500 gas brush chipper is capable of chipping logs up to 15″ in diameter. The onboard SmartFeed system monitors engine rpms and automatically stops and reverses the feed rollers to optimize the productivity of the Vermeer brush chipper. In addition, the chipper comes with the Vermeer EcoIdle™ engine control system that will automatically lower engine speeds when the chipper is left idling to reduce fuel consumption and noise. CH1015H From Crary® Bear Cat® Crary Bear Cat introduces the CH1015H chipper. It features a 57HP Kubota gas engine and has a chipping capacity of 10″. The CH1015H comes mounted on a trailer that includes the standard 2″ ball w/safety chains and 4 pin wiring harness. Its telescoping tongue accommodates different lengths that allow for optimal towing performance. Inside is a factory balanced rotor, a 308 lb 32” diameter disk that is 1.25″ thick. The CH1015H comes with six reversible blades that provide double the wear and smaller bites to help keep the rpms up for higher efficiency. The Digital Display Controller (DDC) allows control of the rotor rpms for efficient operation, helps troubleshoot any issues, and ...
Business Insurance Check
Business insurance is a requirement to operations, and as such every business owner seeks out an insurance policy to protect stakeholders in the business. As a standard part of business practices, once the insurance policy is in place, it may be lost in the daily shuffle to review policy coverage, other than on an annual basis. Consider reviewing your insurance coverage at least semi-annually with your insurance provider. Business needs may have changed, or services expanded. Your equipment fleet might have grown or changed in its makeup. Further, requirements specific to location, customer profile, or current events can all have an impact on making sure your business has sufficient coverage. As Turf reported in Fall 2020 through an interview with Scott Young, director of small business underwriting at Progressive Insurance, there are several endorsements that are sometimes overlooked but should be considered, depending on your specific operations. “For instance, if you apply pesticides and/or herbicides, make sure your policy provides liability coverage,” said Young. “If you remove snow during the winter, you’ll want to make sure you’re adequately covered on your general liability policy. For landscaping businesses with employees, we recommend a business owner strongly consider Employment Practices Liability (EPL) coverage, which provides coverage if the owners of the business are sued by an employee for wrongful termination or hiring, harassment, and other employment related issues.” In terms of limits, Young advised that a business owner should contemplate buying the “at least $1 million per occurrence limit” for both ...
Business Insurance Check
Business insurance is a requirement to operations, and as such every business owner seeks out an insurance policy to protect stakeholders in the business. As a standard part of business practices, once the insurance policy is in place, it may be lost in the daily shuffle to review policy coverage, other than on an annual basis. Consider reviewing your insurance coverage at least semi-annually with your insurance provider. Business needs may have changed, or services expanded. Your equipment fleet might have grown or changed in its makeup. Further, requirements specific to location, customer profile, or current events can all have an impact on making sure your business has sufficient coverage. As Turf reported in Fall 2020 through an interview with Scott Young, director of small business underwriting at Progressive Insurance, there are several endorsements that are sometimes overlooked but should be considered, depending on your specific operations. “For instance, if you apply pesticides and/or herbicides, make sure your policy provides liability coverage,” said Young. “If you remove snow during the winter, you’ll want to make sure you’re adequately covered on your general liability policy. For landscaping businesses with employees, we recommend a business owner strongly consider Employment Practices Liability (EPL) coverage, which provides coverage if the owners of the business are sued by an employee for wrongful termination or hiring, harassment, and other employment related issues.” In terms of limits, Young advised that a business owner should contemplate buying the “at least $1 million per occurrence limit” for both ...
My Landscape: Turf, Trees Integral To Office Park
In the San Francisco Bay Area, Pathline Park is a 42-acre office park designed to maintain a light environmental footprint. Gothic Landscape, a commercial landscaping company based in Valencia, CA, provides service to this property owned by Irvine Company. Through careful maintenance of turf and trees, Gothic delivers on the owner’s focus on a sustainable landscape. Lindsay Atherton, account manager at Gothic Landscape, discusses this site for which she is responsible. The California Landscape Contractors Association (CLCA) presented its annual Trophy Awards in Fall 2020. One of the landscape management companies recognized is Gothic Landscape, a family owned commercial landscaping company servicing California, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah. The CLCA awards were established to encourage interest in landscaping, recognize crafts people who produce outstanding landscapes. Turf spoke with Gothic’s Lindsay Atherton about the award and the project site: What aspects of your company’s service have been recognized by the CLCA John Redmond Memorial Trophy Award? Gothic Landscape was recognized by CLCA for the John Redmond Memorial Trophy Award, because of the well-maintained turf, perennial color, and overall best maintenance on a landscape site. What services does Gothic Landscape provide at Pathline Park? Gothic Landscape provides sustainability in landscape maintenance for Pathline Park. Managing the water on a weekly basis by soil probing, deep root watering, and hydro zone management are one of the key aspects of our service at Pathline Park. We take great pride in our turf management. Mowing with sharp blades, fine details on the edging, fertilization, and water ...
My Landscape: Turf, Trees Integral To Office Park
In the San Francisco Bay Area, Pathline Park is a 42-acre office park designed to maintain a light environmental footprint. Gothic Landscape, a commercial landscaping company based in Valencia, CA, provides service to this property owned by Irvine Company. Through careful maintenance of turf and trees, Gothic delivers on the owner’s focus on a sustainable landscape. Lindsay Atherton, account manager at Gothic Landscape, discusses this site for which she is responsible. The California Landscape Contractors Association (CLCA) presented its annual Trophy Awards in Fall 2020. One of the landscape management companies recognized is Gothic Landscape, a family owned commercial landscaping company servicing California, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah. The CLCA awards were established to encourage interest in landscaping, recognize crafts people who produce outstanding landscapes. Turf spoke with Gothic’s Lindsay Atherton about the award and the project site: What aspects of your company’s service have been recognized by the CLCA John Redmond Memorial Trophy Award? Gothic Landscape was recognized by CLCA for the John Redmond Memorial Trophy Award, because of the well-maintained turf, perennial color, and overall best maintenance on a landscape site. What services does Gothic Landscape provide at Pathline Park? Gothic Landscape provides sustainability in landscape maintenance for Pathline Park. Managing the water on a weekly basis by soil probing, deep root watering, and hydro zone management are one of the key aspects of our service at Pathline Park. We take great pride in our turf management. Mowing with sharp blades, fine details on the edging, fertilization, and water ...
AGZA Initiatives Today
One of Turf’s first reports on The American Green Zone Alliance (AGZA) was back in 2014 when Jamie Banks, Executive Director of Quiet Communities Inc., wrote about meeting Dan Mabe, AGZA President and Founder, in April 2013 and deciding to collaborate. Banks wrote, “I thought then we could be on the verge of an electric revolution in landscape maintenance.” Later in the article, she added, “The era of electric landscape maintenance is in its infancy. It has a long way to go before it becomes mainstream.” At the time, Banks predicted slow adoption of the technology, starting with schools, hospitals, luxury properties, parks, and municipalities. Seven years later, she hasn’t been wrong. Mabe describes AGZA as “a group of people whose mission is to ‘prudently’ help facilitate low impact, cleaner, and quieter technologies and operations for the grounds maintenance industry.” Despite the inertia of change in any industry, the movement is steadily growing as electric and battery technology improves, product costs come down, and environmental awareness increases among clients and providers. Today, AGZA represents an alliance of communities, advocacy groups, service providers, manufacturers, and more who are leading the landscaping industry toward what they see as the inevitable future. Interestingly, during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, AGZA experienced a surge of community interest as kids and parents were schooling and working from their homes. “We were overwhelmed with inquiries because people now started to realize the elevated noise levels from gas powered service on their own properties, which ...
AGZA Initiatives Today
One of Turf’s first reports on The American Green Zone Alliance (AGZA) was back in 2014 when Jamie Banks, Executive Director of Quiet Communities Inc., wrote about meeting Dan Mabe, AGZA President and Founder, in April 2013 and deciding to collaborate. Banks wrote, “I thought then we could be on the verge of an electric revolution in landscape maintenance.” Later in the article, she added, “The era of electric landscape maintenance is in its infancy. It has a long way to go before it becomes mainstream.” At the time, Banks predicted slow adoption of the technology, starting with schools, hospitals, luxury properties, parks, and municipalities. Seven years later, she hasn’t been wrong. Mabe describes AGZA as “a group of people whose mission is to ‘prudently’ help facilitate low impact, cleaner, and quieter technologies and operations for the grounds maintenance industry.” Despite the inertia of change in any industry, the movement is steadily growing as electric and battery technology improves, product costs come down, and environmental awareness increases among clients and providers. Today, AGZA represents an alliance of communities, advocacy groups, service providers, manufacturers, and more who are leading the landscaping industry toward what they see as the inevitable future. Interestingly, during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, AGZA experienced a surge of community interest as kids and parents were schooling and working from their homes. “We were overwhelmed with inquiries because people now started to realize the elevated noise levels from gas powered service on their own properties, which ...
