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Lawn Care Applicator's License

Apr 14

Posted by Lawn Care Business in customers, landscaping, lawn chemicals, mulching | 6 Comments

by:
Start A Lawn Care Business

Does a lawn care business
need an applicator’s license to spray RoundUp?

If a customer asks you to spray any sort of lawn chemical, you should seriously consider calling your local Agricultural Extension office to check licensing requirements in your area. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is becoming more diligent in verifying the qualifications of commercial application of chemicals by lawn care and landscaping companies.

Landscaping and Lawn Chemicals

In addition to laws governing actual application, other laws restrict storage and transportation of certain commercial chemicals.  For instance, if you are transporting a chemical to be used for commercial application you likely need to carry a MSDS within your vehicle along with proper personal safety gear and, possibly, a placard on your vehicle.

I’m really not trying to be preachy here but I have literally observed companies receiving $1500 fines for improper commercial application and/or transportation of lawn chemicals as innocuous as RoundUp.

Alternatives to RoundUp

For many chemicals, there are easy and cheap alternatives.  For instance, many landscapers use roundup to spray grass before starting a new flower bed or before putting down mulch. 
RoundUp is a short-term solution to protect a mulch bed from weeds. 
RoundUp only works on existing weeds.  New weed growth which will appear within weeks will not be killed and will invade your garden beds quickly. 
A three-pronged approach of landscape fabric, proper mulch selection, and proper mulch depth is a much better solution.

Stay safe and protect your lawn care business by knowing your local laws.

Learn more about the lawn care business:

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KISS Advertising for lawn care

Apr 9

Posted by Lawn Care Business in customers, landscaping, lawn business strategies, Lawn Care Advertising, mulching | No Comments

KISS Advertising: 
Keep it simple, stupid!

If you are anything like me in the early days of my lawn care business advertising, you over-think yourself with your flyers, newspaper ads, and other advertising.  It took me a couple years to realize the beauty of simplicity. 
A potential customer only needs to know two things before they call you:
1) What service do you provide? 
2) How do they contact you?

I recently came across a sign tacked to a telephone pole which, in two words, summed up an entire business concept.

lawn care advertising sign

NEED MULCH?  Two words
sum up an entire business concept.

Your potential customers are smarter than you might think:

Customers do not require overly complicated advertising to explain your offer.  Two words "lawn care" or "gutter
cleaning" or "leaf raking" are all you need to say along with your phone number or website address.  Your potential customers can figure out the rest.

Legibility is important:

How many times have you seen a sign taped to a telephone pole written on a piece of notebook paper with magic marker that has faded or run from the rain?  I have seen many flyers like this.  If potential customers cannot read your sign, they are not going to call you.  A professional sign gives your customers an immediate favorable opinion of you.  Look at the "NEED MULCH" sign.  It is professionally printed and easy to read with bold, black lettering.  I did not need to slow my truck down to be able to read the numbers and make a mental not of them.
 

Professional printing of your lawn care flyers:

How much did the "Need Mulch" sign cost? 
If you buy signs like this in quantity, you can buy them for just a few dollars each.  A professionally designed and printed sign will bring you many more customers than a flimsy piece of paper printed from you home computer.  If you are tempted to print your lawn care signs on a piece of paper think again. 
Pony up a few dollars and have a professional sign company make your signs.
 

No need for area code or additional information:

If your target lawn care customers are in the same area code as you, there is no need to include the zip code. Two pieces of information will satisfy your customers desire for information before they contact you. 
1) The service you offer.
2) A way to contact you.

Professional placement:

I only have one issue with the "Need Mulch" sign.  Sometimes, signs tacked to telephone poles are considered eyesores by residents of the neighborhood.  In many cases, it may also be illegal to tack your sign to a utility pole.  Be discreet in placement of flyers and signs.  Get authorization before you put advertising on public or private land.  Do not let your signs become torn or worn out.  If they weather, replace them.

Advertising for your lawn care business can be much more successful if you follow a few SIMPLE rules.

The Lawn Care Business Program available from
www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com
includes a large marketing guidebook to help you get the best results using the latest advertising methods.  The program covers old school advertising such as flyers and newspaper ads.  It also covers the latest in advertising strategies such as MySpace, YouTube, and Facebook. 

STARTALAWNCAREBUSINESS.COM

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Grass Clippings: To bag or not to bag.

Mar 27

Posted by Lawn Care Business in composting, mulching | 1 Comment

by: Lawn Care Business

Grass clippings: Bag, Compost, or Mulch?

As environmentalism continues to become a dominant issue in the lawn care industry, LCOs are continually faced with running their businesses in manners not harmful to our environment.

One issue you may be challenged with is what to do with grass clippings on finely manicured lawns.

1) Bagging the grass clippings:

Bagging is the least desirable method of dealing with grass clippings.  Bagging takes tremendous effort on your part
in extra time and extra work.  The bags themselves are expensive and you must either absorb the cost of the bags or pass the expense to the customer’s invoice.  Bagged grass clippings must either be disposed of in a landfill or dumped elsewhere.  Bagging is wasteful in so many ways and there are much better options for grass clippings.

2) Composting grass clippings:

If you must remove grass from your customers’ lawns talk your customers into having a compost area on their lawns. Compost areas can be as small as 2’x2′.  A compost area can contain household wastes such as banana peels, coffee grounds, and other similar items that otherwise will be sent to the landfill.  Grass can be added to the compost.  In as little as 8 to 12 months the compost will decay into rich soil that can be used in garden beds or to level rough areas in your customers’ lawns.

3) Mulching grass clippings:

The best solution in dealing with grass clippings is to mulch the grass right back into your customers lawn with your lawn mower.  Schedule your cutting appropriately so you do not have any grass to rake, bag, or haul off.  Though some of your customers may ask you to cut it as short as possible, raising your blades and cutting less off the top of the grass during each mowing cycle will give your customers’ lawns better stands of grass.  Slightly longer grass also chokes out weeds by depriving the weeds of sunlight and water. 

If there is excess grass, you are either cutting it too short, not cutting it often enough, or cutting it wet. Proper cutting disperses fine grass clippings into the lawn.  Grass clippings have lots of nutrients which continually feed the lawn and this is beneficial to new growth as the season wears on.   Some customers may ask about thatch buildup.  Once again, proper scheduling and height adjustment of your lawn mower blades will increase the health of their lawns and reduce the need for dethatching.

Professional lawn care companies know the correct methods of reducing waste and running their companies with an environmental state-of-mind.  Most customer appreciate this attitude and will follow your lead when you tell them bagging is not necessary.

Our Lawn Care Business Program gives you many methods of running a profitable, eco-friendly lawn care company.  For more information and to purchase the program, visit us at: 
www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

 

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