Start A Lawn Care Business

Make money with a lawn care and landscaping business.

Posts Tagged landscaping

Start a Lawn Care Business NOW and Be Ready for Leaf Raking Season

Jul 14

Posted by Lawn Care Business in lawn business strategies, lawn care business, money, start a lawn care business | No Comments

by: http://www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

Hi Everyone:

This is Keith with “Start A Lawn Care Business . com”. Honestly, with 100 degree days and very little rain, this is probably my least favorite time of year. However, even with hot and dry weather, there is still money to be made with your own lawn care business this summer. Mowing grass and landscaping yards with your own lawn care business is a great way to make money for the rest of the summer.

If you want to start a small lawn care business like this guy or if you want to grow your business rapidly and add lots of equipment to your trailer like these guys, you should take a look at our lawn care business course. The program includes our equipment reviews. We travel to lawn care trade shows every year so we can give you the latest information on which lawn care equipment you should purchase for your particular lawn care company.

The Lawn Care Business package also includes the lawn care estimating software. These estimating calculators are designed to help you with your estimating. From small residential yards to large industrial lawn mowing contracts, the estimating software will help help you perfect your bidding process.

So, if you are sick of 100 degree days, think about this: autumn weather is not far behind. Once fall arrives there is going to be a ton of money to be made raking leaves and cleaning up lawns.

Right now is a perfect time to get started with your lawn care business and be ready for the leaf raking season and our lawn care business course, training guide, and estimating software will help you get started with your own lawn care business just in time for one of the most profitable times of the year.

You can read more about the business course on our main website:
http://www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com
Start A Lawn Care Business

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Protective Landscaping

May 21

Posted by Lawn Care Business in customers, landscaping, landscaping photography, start a lawn care business | 2 Comments

http://www.StartALawnCareBusiness

What are your selection procedures when choosing landscaping plants and materials?

As landscapers, we have great opportunities to make significant positive differences in our customers’ lives.  It goes without saying that one of the differences we make is for the simple aesthetic beauty of their properties.  We also make nature areas for increased wildlife and song birds, properly prune shrubs and trees for better health of the landscape, and clear scrub brush and over grown shrubs to give an open feeling to the yard and better views of surrounding landscapes.

Using pathways, watergardens, and sitting areas, we help our customers enjoy their property with areas to relax after stressful days in their jobs.

You may have never thought of it before but landscapers can also help our customers feel safe within their homes.  There are certain landscaping techniques that can help protect a home and make its occupants feel safe. 

According to the National Crime Prevention Council, homeowners should trim shrubs and trees that might give criminals a place to hide or climb to second stories.  Thieves often hide behind dense or tall landscape plants that hide windows or other entrances to homes.  Lowering the height of and thinning these shrubs reduce the invisibility that robbers seek.   Planting prickly shrubs is also a great idea.  Plants such as this Adam’s Needle will help deter people from snooping close to windows.

Protective Landscaping for your Lawn Care Business

Knowing your landscaping customers’ desires for their landscaping will help you make suggestion on types of landscaping.  The Adam’s Needle pictured above was planted for a single female who was living on her own.  The deterrent offered by the plant makes her feel safer in her home at night as it offers some protection against people trying to spy through her window.

Do you want to make money with your own landscaping and lawn care business? We have developed a very detailed account of how to start and operate a successful lawn care business. You can read more about the course at:

http://www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

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Lawn Care Business Owners Face Alien Invaders

Apr 19

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

http://www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

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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An update to our Lawn Grips work boots review.

Feb 12

Posted by Lawn Care Business in work boots | 2 Comments

I have worn my Lawn Grips work boots for well over a year now and I want to update you to the durability and comfort of the boots and their applications to the lawn care industry.

lawn grips work boots

If you noted my original Lawn Grips review, you know that my major complaint was targeted at the initial comfort of the boot. It seemed to take forever for the boot to break in and not hurt my upper ankle and lower shin. Thankfully, after two to three weeks of heavy wear, the leather finally broke in and formed to my feet and ankles. After 15 months of constant wear, these Lawn Grips are still very comfortable. I love wearing these boots. They are a constant joy to put on in the morning and I often find myself forgetting to take them off after a long day’s work.

Two Minor Complaints

During the second month of wear, I noticed a stitch came loose on the leather upper between the rubberized outsole and the leather upper. A quick flick of a Bic lighter singed the stitch thread leaving no visible trace. I was concerned that the loose stitch would compromise the water resistance of the boot. Happily, I can report there is no reduction in “waterproofness” and no other stitches have come loose.

The shoelaces shipped with the boots were not highly durable. After just a few weeks use, the outer lining of the shoelace split allowing the inner cord to poke through eventually becoming unthreaded and very difficult to tie. When you buy your Lawn Grips workboots, purchase a second pair of high quality laces.

All-in-all these two complaints are very minor and they do not significantly detract from the overall quality of the boots.

Positive Points

After over 1 year of almost constant use, my lawn grips look nearly new. The attractive “Lawn Grips” logo is still bright and distinguishable. Yesterday, a gentleman came up to me to ask about the boots saying that they “look like professional work boots.” This type of comment happens often and it gives me ample opportunity to tell people about the boots and segue into a conversation about the lawn care business. This is a great marketing feature of these boots.

The leather, though understandably slightly scuffed, retains the sheen of a new leather boot. I’ve been purposefully hard on these boots but they have suffered no cuts or harsh abrasions. The waterproof, rubberized soul remains water proof. During the early snowstorms of 2010, I have slushed my way through up to 6 inches of melting snow and my feet have remained warm and dry.

The patented sole is impressive too. It is designed to release mud and grass debris in order to retain a high level of sole-to-turf contact giving the utmost grip on wet grass and inclines. I’m impressed. The carpet in my house likes it too since lack of mud on my soles means I track less muck into my house when I forget to remove my boots before entering the house.

As far as workboots go, I am used to eyelets and hooks lasting less than one year. I am happy to say that the fastening devices all remain intact and show no signs of coming loose from the boot.

Lawn Grips are slightly more expensive than many work boots. If you can get over the initial increased cost, I think you will find these boots lasting much longer than other work boots you have owned.

Highly Recommended

After 15 months constant use, I can honestly say that I still wear my Lawn Grips almost every day. They show no signs of breaking down or giving in and I will probably still be wearing them a year from now.

If you are interested in purchasing a pair of Lawn Grips work boots, I click on the link below to be taken to Amazon.com where you can find some of the best prices on Lawn Grips Work Boots.

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Landscaping Trees and Power Lines Don't Mix

Dec 15

Posted by Lawn Care Business in landscaping, pruning, trees | No Comments

If you are a lawn care and landscaping business owner, you probably already know the problems encountered when trees are improperly planted underneath power lines.

Once trees interfere with or become a potential hazard to power lines, they are trimmed or topped by electric companies. These trimming jobs are often far from ideal and the trees are often horribly deformed and weakened.

Proper pruning is often very expensive and time consuming compared to the hack-jobs performed by contracted tree trimmers. It is easy to blame the electric company for tree-topping. However, a better solution exists long before trees need to be topped and improperly pruned.

As landscapers, our jobs include suggesting proper plants, shrubs, and trees to our customers. Knowing potential heights and canopy spreads of the trees we plant helps us suggest the correct trees depending on the closeness of power lines to our customers’ yards.
Typically, power lines are strung about 20 feet above the ground. Gullies and hillsides may have differing power line height but 20 feet is a good approximation for level ground. Since we can forecast mature height and canopy spread of most landscaping trees, we can give our customers good recommendations of which trees to plant depending on their proximity to the power line.

Trees planted directly under or within a few feet of the power line:
Crepe Myrtle, Dogwood, and Little Gem Magnolia generally have a mature height of 20 feet or less and can be planted under high power lines without much risk for future endangerment of growing too high and having to be improperly pruned.

Trees planted at least 30 feet from power lines:
Honey Locust, River Birch, and Slippery Elm trees grow to about 40 feet tall yet do not have a canopy spread (radius) more than 30 feet. These trees can naturally grow to their mature height without becoming a threat to power lines.

Trees planted at least 60 feet from power lines:
Ash, Maple, and Oak are great trees for customers with wide areas that need to be populated with large trees. These trees grow over 40 feet tall and have large canopy spreads which may threaten power lines if they are planted closer than 60 feet.

Knowing which trees to plant will not only protect the longevity of the trees but will also protect the longevity of your business relationship with your client. Knowledge is power but lack of knowledge can threaten a power line.

Please Note: The above information should only be used as a general guideline. Actual height of the power lines in question as well as the cultivars of the trees you are planting will have effects of which trees should be planted near power lines.

If you are interested in learning more about how to operate a successful landscaping business, check out our webpage: 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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Landscape Tree Selection

Jul 10

Posted by Lawn Care Business in environment, landscaping, lawn care business | 1 Comment

I was recently surveying a landscape design.

All Trees Are Beautiful

While I believe almost every tree is beautiful, I believe every tree should be strategically placed. A white pine shouldn’t be placed 5′ from a side of a house and an oak tree shouldn’t be placed under a power line. These are just examples.

A Clean Lawn Care Company Vehicle

As I was surveying the landscaping, I noticed something falling on my white pickup truck which was parked on the driveway.

Now, I’m not a fanatic about keeping my vehicle spotless but I think a clean truck portrays a professional image for a lawn care business. Current customers and potential clients have a better image of a company when company vehicles are kept clean.

Berries Stain Cars

I had not been parked on the driveway more than 20 minutes. When I returned, I noticed my truck was covered in purplish splotches.

IMGP4854 (Small)

Unwittingly, I had parked under a hackberry tree which was dropping a continuous stream of staining berries on all cars parked on the driveway.

This example serves to reestablish the fact that if you are doing landscape work you should take many factors into account before selecting and placing plants and trees. Improperly placed trees and plants will either die or have to be replaced with more suitable plants by the homeowner.

Landscape Plan

The person who planted the tree (or allowed it to grow) close to a driveway did not plan his landscape design well. A true professional would not have planted a tree so damaging to cars in an area where a much better tree selection could be made.

Start A Lawn Care Business

Planning your lawn care business is similar to planning a landscape job.  If you don’t do it correctly at the beginning the long term effects of poor planning can be detrimental for your business.

For help in starting or expanding your lawn care & landscaping business, visit our home page at: StartALawnCareBusiness.com

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Digital camera for your landscaping business.

May 17

Posted by Lawn Care Business in customers, landscaping photography, lawn business strategies, lawn care videos | No Comments

Digital cameras help document your lawn care and landscaping jobs.

If you have read our materials on starting and operating your own lawn care and landscaping business you already understand the importance of keeping a digital camera ready to document your work.

Digital cameras are handy for adding projects you are particularly proud of to your photo portfolio.  They also allow for photographic documentation.  Quick before shots and after shots of your work stand in your benefit should disputes arise with your customers. 

Don’t forget to synchronize your camera’s clock with your GPS clock so you have proper ‘when and where’ documentation.  On-photo time stamping is not necessary since most cameras record time information into their exif data table.  This information can be pulled out at a later time without ruining your photograph.

All that aside, the purpose of this post is to let you know about one of the best compact point and shoot cameras on the market today.  It is one we have recently acquired and are well pleased with during initial tests.

Panasonic Lumix TZ5

The Panasonic Lumix TZ5 has recently been replaced by the Lumix TZ7.  Therefore, since the feature set of the TZ7 is marginal above the TZ5, the TZ5’s recently lowered price makes it a very attractive bargain.

Wide angle 28mm 10x Leica lens

The TZ5 features a 9.1 megapixel CCD and an incredible optical 10X Leica lens.  Completely zoomed out, you are given 28mm (equivalent) wide angle coverage.  Wide angle allows photographs of large landscaping and lawn care projects without having to step backward in order to frame your scenes.

High Def (HD) Video at 1280x720p

An amazing feature of Lumix’s TZ5 is its ability to film HD video.  While, as a landscaper, you will get more benefit from still photos, there are occasions when video gives better representation of your work.  Video quality is not up to quality received from a multi-CCD 1920x1080i dedicated video camera though our initial tests show great quality video from this camera.  Low-light graininess and washout are issues compared with higher-end dedicated camcorders.  If your landscaping has lots of colors, use sunshine creatively to brighten your project.

Price of the TZ5

As mentioned earlier, TZ7 is the latest offering from Panasonic’s Lumix line.  TZ5’s price has dropped significantly in light of this latest release.  Order via Amazon.com using the links provided below.  This is how we ordered our TZ5 and we have been uniformly well pleased with our purchase.

We plan to shoot several landscaping shots this week.  Check back this week for new blog postings including pictures from our TZ5.

Order your Panasonic Lumix TZ5:

Black
 

Blue
 

Silver
 

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How to hire lawn care and landscaping employees.

May 13

Posted by Lawn Care Business in employees, landscaping, lawn business strategies, unemployment | 2 Comments

As your lawn care and landscaping business continues to grow you may eventually decide to hire an employee to help with your business.

A common tendency of new-ish business owners hiring first employees is to try to make their business appear to be a smooth running organization where nothing ever goes wrong.  If you have been in the lawn care / landscaping business any number of years you know that most days are not exactly smooth running.  Employees coming aboard your business need to know what they are getting themselves into.  Likewise, you need to know a prospective employee is the right fit for your business model.
 
Before establishing your interview process take stock of your daily business proceedings.  Mimicking your daily atmosphere will weed out incompatible prospects. 
 
If you run a low-stress, laid-back, detail-oriented business, conduct your interviews with a similar energy level.  A good example of this type business is a landscape design business where careful and detailed measurements are integral to a project’s success.  Slow, thought provoking questions that require detailed and contemplative answers will make high energy A-type personalities jump out of their chairs during the calm, methodical interview.
 
Conversely, if your lawn care business is a hustle and bustle, go-go-go type atmosphere a prospective employee should be able to adapt to an unorthodox interview.  Making sure you follow all procedures for the safety of your interviewee, conduct an interview in your workshop while you are changing lawn mower blades.  Does your prospect understand your questions despite noise and distraction?  Without being prompted by you, does he or she hand you a can of penetrating lubricant or a cheat sleeve when the spindle nut is hard to loosen?  If your prospect can handle interview questions in a high pressure atmosphere you may have found your next employee.
 
If you properly mimic your daily business atmosphere during your interview process you will gain a better understanding of how an employee will react when faced with everyday job pressures.

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Are rain barrels illegal in Colorado?

May 5

Posted by Lawn Care Business in environment, landscaping | 2 Comments

by: Lawn Care Business

Landscapers have many laws to consider.

Landscapers should use all available resources to design healthy and functional landscapes for their customers.  There are often seemingly nonsensical laws on the books that landscapers may not think to consider.

As part of my studies in a recent landscaping class, I have become more aware of the importance of using rain barrels to catch water draining through downspouts on your home.  An  inch of rain produces 1500 gallons from an average home’s roof.  This is a tremendous amount of water.  Using just a fraction of this amount on turfgrass, landscaping plants, and vegitable gardens, can greatly reduce the strain on utilities and water resevoirs.

I was recently made aware of a law in Colorado which, apparently,  makes the use of rain barrels illegal.  The law states that rain must be allowed to fall freely to the ground.  Residents of Colorado are not allowed to use rainwater other than as it falls freely on their property.  If a bucket is used to catch rain water to be used later for plants the homeowner is in violation of water use laws.

http://www.denverwater.org/cons_xeriscape/conservation/FAQ_WestWaterLaws.html

It seems to me that all water eventually finds its way back into the watershed irrespective of if rain water is used as it falls or at a later time.

Can anyone explain this law to me?

For information on operating a successful lawn care and landscaping business, purchase our Lawn Care Business program (on sale right now) from our website:

http://www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

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