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Lawn Mowing Maintenance and Lawn Care

It’s Show Time!

It’s the time of year we’ve all been waiting for: GIE+EXPO time! GIE+EXPO is the place to look ahead to 2010. It’s the place where manufacturers unveil their newest products, and you can be the first to see what’s coming out for the next year. We have a sneak peek ...

Making Sales in Hard Times

One distributor is successful due to innovative marketing This is Kenney Gray’s 30th year in the business, and it’s not such a bad year. Despite a crippling recession and general cost-cutting nationwide, his mower sales distributorship is doing well. PHOTOS COURTESY OF SOONER DISTRIBUTORS. Eileen Fox, Kenney Gray and Kathleen ...

Lone Star Landscaping

Maintaining the grounds on a campus that’s more like a city With nearly 50,000 students and another 20,000 faculty and staff, the University of Texas at Austin is abuzz with activity during the school year. The school’s landscape services department is divided into eight teams, each responsible for maintaining one ...

Small-Engine Machine Safety

You may use small engine machines such as push mowers, weed trimmers and leaf blowers. You should know how to operate and maintain them in a safe manner. If possible, read the operator’s manual. It will contain detailed information on the safe operation and maintenance of the machine. If your ...

The Secret of Success

At one Arizona company, the employees are the owners PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE GROUNDSKEEPER. In addition to an ESOP plan, The Groundskeeper provides a generous health insurance plan, which helps to retain good employees. The landscape industry includes many employee-owned businesses, but most are one-man startups or smaller partnerships, where ...

Turf Nematode Control

According to Billy Crow, associate professor of nematology at the University of Florida at Gainsville, there are two distinct types of plant-parasitic nematodes: ectoparasites, which live in the soil and feed on turf roots; and endoparasites, which penetrate the root and feed on the plant from within. PHOTOS BY BILLY ...

Maintaining a Homeowners Association

It’s all in the details PHOTOS BY DON DALE. Mowing and other crews are on a tight schedule to get commons and yards maintained. When maintaining the landscape at a homeowners association, there are a few simple elements to remember: stay within budget, communicate well with the association’s reps, keep ...

GIE+EXPO Ice Breaker

Our Bonus Ice Breaker Section has all the information you’re looking for! Here, you can see what our advertisers will be displaying at the show, and you can make an appointment prior to the show to meet with their Booth representative. L.T. Rich Products Booth # 1152 Inside, 7429-D Outside ...

Raising Prices

West Chester, Ohio: “I have been running numbers. I found that I am a complete idiot. My average yard takes about 45 to 55 minutes solo. I charge an average of $25, but have some $65 to $85. I do not think that I am charging enough. I would like ...

A Pleasure to Behold

Chanticleer Gardens fosters horticultural creativity Most public gardens have a theme: a devotion to the historic design of the grounds or an unyielding commitment to a specific type of plant (maybe roses). However, Chanticleer, located in Wayne, Pa., bills itself as a “pleasure garden,” and Director of Grounds Peter Brindle ...