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Lawn Care Business Tips and Advice

Archive for category environment

Lawn Care Business Owners Face Alien Invaders

Apr 19

Posted by Lawn Care Business in environment, landscaping, questions | No Comments

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Today’s Trivia Question: What’s on this leaf?

I love coming across new information in the field of lawn care and landscaping. The challenge of a new discovery keeps the lawn care business interesting. Anytime you are working in a customer’s lawn, I challenge you to be on the lookout for new discoveries.

Last weekend, during a mountain bike ride and hike on a local mountain trail, I was surveying the trees and plants as I rode by. I came across this interesting leaf and I though it would be fun to see if the readers of this blog know what is growing on (out of) this leaf.

invaders on a plant leaf

Is it alien invaders?

Homicidal Spores?

A fungus never before seen by man?

We would love to hear your guesses. Comment on this post or send it to your favorite landscaper to see if he/she knows the answer.

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Does Lawn Care Make You Smarter?

Apr 5

Posted by Lawn Care Business in environment, lawn care business, lawn chemicals | No Comments

“Where’s my lawn mower? Has anyone seen my weedeater? What day is it?”
These are three questions you will rarely hear from lawn care business operators.

If you think of yourself as having better memory than your peers, you might have your lawn care business to thank. Scientists at the University of Brisbane in Australia have discovered the scent of cut grass helps boost memory. Chemicals that are emitted from freshly cut grass work to stimulate the emotional and memory centers of the brain known as the amygdala and the hippocampus.

Cut Grass Helps Boost Memory

In this blog, we often discuss how a lawn care business can strengthen your physical and financial health. It’s also good to know that the aroma of cut grass might also be helping your mental health.

The benefits of owning a lawn care business are endless.

If you want to improve your memory and start your own business at the same time, maybe you should take a look at our lawn care business guidebook, video training guides, and estimating software business package. You can read all about it on our website: Start A Lawn Care Business . com

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Nitrogen Fixation from White Clover

Apr 4

Posted by Lawn Care Business in environment, fertilizer, lawn chemicals, weeding | No Comments

As expected, I heard from a few organic lawn care experts after my “what to do for your lawn care business in April 2010” video.

In that video, I mentioned that clover is a problem this time a year. Many lawn care customers want their clover problem dealt with yet they are unwilling to accept an organic approach to dealing with clover in their grass. Little do they know that they are their own worst enemies. Clover this year is often caused by improper cutting methods last year. Cutting grass too short damages the grass and allows sunshine to penetrate the grass canopy germinating weeds on the ground’s surface. Bare patches beget clover growth in subsequent years.

How can you deal with the problem without using chemicals like pre-emergent and post-emergent weed killers? One of the best methods of having a healthy stand of grass is by raising your lawn mower’s blade to the correct mowing height for the type of grass.

Besides, clover has many benefits for the average suburban lawn. Clover fixes nitrogen in your soil. Naturally occurring nitrogen is beneficial to turf grasses because it raises the nitrogen level in the ground without affecting the pH level. Many organic gardeners recommend a 5% clover dispersal in a typical lawn to nurish the turf grass while reducing the need for fertilizer application.

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What to do for your Lawn Care Business in April, 2010

Apr 1

Posted by Lawn Care Business in Lawn Care Advertising, Lawn Care Business Taxes, bidding lawn care, customers, environment, lawn business strategies, start a lawn care business, taxes | 1 Comment

This video was made on April 1, 2010.

Right now is a great time to get started with your lawn care business if you haven’t gotten started already. If you have already started and you are not getting the customers you need or making the money you want to make then right now is a great time to ramp up your business. April is not too late to get started. There are still lots and lots of customers who haven’t signed up for lawn care service this year. Likewise, there are many business contracts that still haven’t been bid. So, you still have time to get brand new customers on you roster.

Spring is already getting hot. Our temperatures are forecast to be over 80 degrees this coming weekend. Some of the northern states are still cool but Spring is here and the weather is really going to warm up over the next several weeks. Summer is right around the corner.

April 4, 2010 is Easter. You can pound the pavement this weekend to drum up customers who want their lawns tidied up so they will look nice for family Easter celebrations. Since it is a 3-day weekend, many of your potential customers will be working in their lawns. They will need help and if you can visit them at the right time they may hire you to perform general spring cleanup jobs and grass cutting services.

Clover is an issue this time of year. For lawn care companies with applicator’s licenses you might not be too late to apply post-emergent selective herbicide. A better alternative is to select a taller cutting height for your lawn mower blades. A taller, thicker stand of grass will shade out clover reducing the need for chemical application.

April 15, 2010 is tax day. If you haven’t done your taxes yet, get started early. Organize last years receipts and get your tax forms completed early. Like it or not we are obligated to pay our fair share of taxes. If you have doubts about doing your own taxes, consider hiring a CPA. A qualified CPA who understands small business needs can be invaluable to you.

Wild Garlic or Wild Onion are sprouting in yards this month. Take a few minutes to call your customers to mention about the wild garlic that is sprouting in their lawn. Cutting it down will make their grass look so much better.

April 22, 2010 is Earth Day Your customers are becoming increasingly conscious about taking care of their environment. I believe the lawn care industry should be sensitive to the fact that we should not pollute our planet. There are ways to operate an environmentally conscious lawn care company. Many of our readers and viewers of our blog run their lawn care companies with an environmental slant to their businesses. Propane lawn equipment is becoming increasingly popular. Human powered reel mowers are also becoming the norm again in many communities with very small lawns. Operate an environmentally company and let your customers know how you are being aware in 2010.

Spring Stick Cleanup. April is a month when many pine cones and pine twigs have fallen in lawns across the country. Even if your customers don’t need their grass cut yet, they still need their lawns picked up. On an environmental note, you don’t have to haul all these sticks away or burn them or leave them for the garbage men. Offer your customers the opportunity to have a “natural area” in their lawns. Piling the brush in an unused area give habitat to the birds and other wildlife. It is great fun to watch Cardinals and Robins playing in the twigs. Also, many birds use this material to build their nests. A natural area is a great way to save your customers money while helping their environment.

Once again, if you are trying to Start A Lawn Care Business this year or if you currently own a lawn care business that just isn’t bringing in the money it should, visit our website. We have developed a great lawn care business package that will help you with your lawn care business.

www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

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Does moss grow on the north side of trees?

Mar 27

Posted by Lawn Care Business in environment, lawn care business | No Comments

I remember watching TV when I was a kid. The show was probably a rerun of Davey Crockett or some other nature-type program. One particular episode caught my attention. They were probably tracking Indians or trying to find their way out of the woods and the remark was made that moss always grows on the north side of a tree.

At first, I thought this to be a bit of folklore. Seriously, why would moss only grow on the north side of a tree. That makes no sense. Moss doesn’t have a compass. Moss doesn’t carry a map in it’s non-existent glove box. At the time, Mapquest and Google Earth did not exist. But still, moss doesn’t know how to turn on a computer or operate a GPS.
Alright, that’s silly but it is what I thought at the time.

It wasn’t until several years later that I finally realized moss does, indeed, tend to grow on the north side of trees. Moss does not only grow on the north side of trees, it also grows on the north side of rocks, garbage cans, and telephone poles.


You can see moss growing on the north side of this telephone poll.

Moss grows well in environments that are damp, cool, and shady. In a thick forest with full coverage of shade, moss will grow on all sides of a tree. However, if there is a break in the tree coverage where the sun penetrates, moss will find the sunny side of the tree inhospitable. Therefore it won’t grow where there is sunshine.

Think about the sun’s orientation in the northern hemisphere’s sky. During winter, the sun is well south of the equator. Since the sun is in the southern part of our sky, all shadows are cast north. During our summer, the sun reaches its azimuth on or about June 21. On this day, it is just barely directly overhead. Therefore, the north side of almost any object is still partially shaded. Moss, which loves the shade, is still protected from sunlight and continues to thrive.

I’ve always believed running a lawn care business gives us a higher sense of nature than most people understand. We learn how things grow by understanding their habitats and how they react with nature.

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Chemical Application – Additional Regulations

Mar 8

Posted by Lawn Care Business in environment, fertilizer, lawn care training, lawn chemicals | No Comments

After yesterday’s blog posting on new lawn care business owners’ need to carefully consider applicator’s licenses before applying chemicals to their customers’ lawns, we received several emails from large national lawn care companies.  

At first, we thought the emails were going to complain that we were overly cautious in telling new lawn care businesses to be cautious about risking stepping afoul of applicator’s guidelines.  To the contrary, the overwhelming majority applauded the fact that we told new companies of the risks they take when applying chemicals without proper permits.  In fact, a few emailers said we didn’t go far enough in warning of the perils of operating an illegitimate chemical application business.  They wanted us to mention a few additional regulations.  We will mention them below.

Before you think we’re siding with the large lawn care companies, we’re not.  This blog is dedicated to the small-time lawn care operator.  We are all for the guys who are starting small and trying to grow their businesses customer-by-customer.  It’s a tough business but it you do it right you can make a lot of money cutting grass and doing small landscaping job.  We have to give the big guys credit though.  When it comes to chemical application, regulations are designed to protect the environment, your customers, and yourselves from improper use of lawn care chemicals. 

In the process of obtaining your applicator’s license you will learn a tremendous amount about proper mixture, storage, transportation, and application of chemicals.  You will learn to protect yourself and your customers (and their children and pets) from dangerous chemicals.  Not-the-least you will learn proper application techniques.  

Anyone reading this who does not have an applicator’s license should make a goal of speaking to their local county extension office and making plans to start their course work.

Before I end this blog, I wanted to share a couple ancillary items lawn care companies must consider when handling chemicals.  Though I was aware of these items, a couple readers wanted me to point them out specifically.

1)  Many states (Illinois included) have containment regulations.  “These regulations are designed to prevent environmental contamination from pesticides and/or fertilizers.  Illinois law mandates that a containment area must be used for the loading of lawn-care products for distribution to a customer.  The purpose of the containment area is to intercept, retain, recover, and reuse pesticide spills, wash water, and rinse water from application equipment or other items used for the storage, handling, preparation for use, transport, or application of pesticides to turf areas.  Any application or handling of fertilizers only, application to trees and shrubs only, land areas located within a public or private rights-of-way, or land areas utilized for turf research or commercial turf production are exempt from these regulations.”   http://web.extension.illinois.edu/ipr/i4147_829.html

2)  Do you know (quite honestly we were not aware of this) that in many states (Massachusetts included) it is against the law for a homeowner to hire an unlicensed applicator “even if it is a well known over-the-counter product that anyone can purchase?”  In states where this statute exists not only will you get in trouble but the homeowner who hires you will get in trouble too.  That can’t be good for public relations and word-of-mouth advertising.    http://www.malcp.org/faqs.htm

Okay guys; take care of yourselves and make sure you are properly licensed.  We’ve upset a good many people who thought they weren’t doing anything wrong applying Monsanto’s Round-Up to their customers’ lawns. 

This blog has taken a serious turn the last few days.  We’ve got some fun stuff coming up for you later this week so be sure to subscribe and check back with us.

Take care:

Start A Lawn Care Business 

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Do I need a license to spray lawn chemicals.

Mar 8

Posted by Lawn Care Business in environment, lawn chemicals, start a lawn care business | 2 Comments

We are commonly asked by lawn care business owners if they need a license to spray chemicals on their customers’ lawns. Unfortunately, this is a complicated question for us to answer specifically since chemical application is governed, at least in part, at the state level. Every state has different laws.

For new and small lawn care business owners, the question of proper licensing often arises as to the use of over-the-counter products such as Monsanto’s Round-Up herbicide. If you are a new or small lawn care business owner, do not be lulled into complacency by the fact that you are using a general purpose store-bought chemical. The regulatory agencies in most states make little distinction between general use chemicals and restricted use chemicals when they are applied by a commercial operation.

If you are reading this blog, you obviously want to grow your lawn care business and make the best money possible from your customers. It is difficult to turn down a customers who want you to spray round up on the weeds in the cracks of their driveways. However, before you touch that spray bottle (or even begin to consider applying any chemical) you owe it to yourself to check your local laws and follow guidelines within the licensing regulations of your state and community.

Seriously, guys; if you think that enforcement agents are too busy to worry about one person lawn care operators or small lawn care companies then you need to think again. There were a bunch of cases in our area last year where lawn care operators were given $5,000 fines for violating applicator’s licensing requirements. A $5,000 fine is enough to put many small lawn care companies out of business. I would hate that to happen to you.

For more information and help starting (and expanding) your lawn care business, check out our main website at: www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

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Propane’s Continued Push Into The Lawn Care Industry

Dec 22

Posted by Lawn Care Business in environment, equipment, lawn care business, propane | No Comments

We’ve made mention of Propane’s coming dominance in several of our recent blog postings: Code Orange Days and Propane Powered String Trimmers

Lawn care equipment manufacturers have clearly caught on to the idea of propane power. Slowly, vehicle manufacturers are riding the rising tide of propane equipment demand.

Jack Roush of Roush Performance is a man who understands the savings a propane powered fleet of vehicles can have to a lawn care business. A clever video explains the potential of saving over $206,000 using propane compared to a same-sized fleet using gasoline. Numerous tax breaks and inducements from propane dealers factor into this savings.

Financial incentives aren’t the only benefit to operating propane-powered vehicles. According to Roush Performance, up to 20 percent less nitrous oxide and up to 60 percent less carbon monoxide and fewer particulate emissions are produced by propane engines than gasoline engines. Additionally, propane is 90% domestically produced cutting our need on foreign oil.

With lawn mower manufacturers, string trimmer producers, and, now, automotive companies developing viable propane equipment, the ability for most lawn care companies to take advantage of the benefits of propane has never been easier.

If you are interested in learning more about the benefits of propane for your lawn care business and how you can start and operate a successful lawn care business, check out our Lawn Care Business strategy guidebooks at: StartALawnCareBusiness.com

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Your Lawn Care Business and Code Orange Days

Nov 6

Posted by Lawn Care Business in environment, lawn business strategies, lawn care business, lawn equipment, propane | 3 Comments

Air quality issues increasingly impact Lawn Care Business owners.

I am writing this blog post looking through my window on a crystal clear November morning. The sky is colbalt blue and distant Tennessee mountains appear close enough to touch. There is a slight breeze and the frosty morning air is brisk and fresh.

Though crisp November mornings distance me from the thoughts of smoggy Summers days, a billboard I saw this morning forced me to realize the effects air pollution has on our industry.

code_orange

Billboards and other Public Service Announcements have popped up in recent months throughout the southeast. These announcements encourage us to drive less and mow less on Code Orange days.

A Code Orange alert is announced when air pollution is predicted to reach unhealthy levels for sensitive groups. Typically, code orange levels are between 101 and 150 on the air quality index.

Lawn care equipment produce high levels of carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, and nitrogen oxides. Two-cycle equipment such as weedeaters and leaf blowers are particularly high polluters. Oil mixed with gasoline causes very high levels of particulates released in exhaust fumes.

As air quality regulations begin to restrict our movements as an industry, opportunities are created which allow us to become an environmentally sensitive industry.

At recent lawn care trade shows, I am continually impressed to see equipment manufacturers furthering their research into low-polluting machines. The largest progress is being made with propane powered string trimmers and lawn mowers.

Propane powered lawn equipment dramatically reduces the air quality lowering effects of traditional commercial lawn mowers and two-cycled weedeaters and leaf blowers. As manufacturers produce higher quality and lower priced propane powered lawn equipment, our jobs of remaining EPA compliant will become easier.

Lawn care companies that begin the process of upgrading their equipment to propane power will find themselves in unique positions of being able to continue to operate their businesses during code orange days.

Next time you see a billboard reminding you not to mow on Code Orange days, think of it not as a restriction to your lawn care business but as an opportunity for you to distance yourself from your competition.

The “Start A Lawn Care Business” guidebooks, estimating software, and training videos will help you run a better lawn care business.
Order your copy at: http://www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

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Girdled Landscape Trees

Jul 21

Posted by Lawn Care Business in environment, landscaping, landscaping photography | No Comments

Girdling occurs when any object encumbers the girth of a tree’s trunk.

Girdling a Tree

Looking at public landscaping spaces this morning, I came across a landscape tree that is girdled by a cable designed to protect a garbage can from theft.

girdle2

The public works department probably had good cause to cable the garbage can as theft and vandalism are problems in many municipalities.  However, securing the cable tight then leaving it for syears is unconscionable.

This tree is at risk of dying from the damage underway by this cable.  Luckily, the cable is thin and it has yet to be completely encompassed by the trunk bark.  Nutrients are still flowing to the leaf system and will flow back to the roots this autumn.  These actions take place within vascular tissues called xylum and ploem.   If the vascular process is interrupted damage or death will occur.

girdle1

As landscape professionals, we need to be more cognizant of long term effects of our actions.  Landscapers practicing common landscaping principles should never (or rarely) use trees as securing points.

If you want to operate a BETTER lawn care and landscaping business, our Lawn Care Business package will help you.  Visit our website (StartALawnCareBusiness.com) for full information.

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