General Landscaping

If you compare a professional landscape service with other services that come to your home it is really quite a bargain. Plumbers and electricians have man hour rates averaging seventy five to over one hundred dollars an hour. Carpenters average fifty five to seventy five dollars per hour. By contrast the average landscape maintenance firm has hourly labor rates of thirty to forty five dollars. These numbers are from my un-scientific polling. All of these trades require skilled labor. The landscape maintenance contractor shows up with a far greater investment in trucks and equipment than these other trades on most occasions. I would estimate the average truck, trailer and equipment used today to average around sixty to eighty thousand dollars. The average life span of that equipment is about five years.

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The landscape industry has grown over the past two decades. More and more people are engaging the services of landscapers to maintain and design/build there landscapes. Also as urban sprawl continues it is mainly the landscaper designing our outdoor environments. As a seventeen year veteran of the landscape trade I must say our industry could be doing this much better. Some landscapers have horticulture degrees while some just buy a truck and dive in head first. What standard and measures has our industry set? How is the average homeowner to have confidence that the landscaper they engage for services is truly a qualified professional? It can become confusing to say the least.

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Safety in the landscape does not get a big priority. Beyond railings on porches and fencing in swimming pools most people overlook many common hazards around their properties. Here are a few items to consider.
 

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The landscape profession has evolved leaps and bounds in the past fifteen to twenty years. Today’s successful landscape firms are well oiled business machines. Whether it is a large or small firm the realities are similar. Embrace technology, marketing, and business management or be doomed to struggle to eek out a living. When I attend meetings and seminars with the New Jersey Landscape Contractors Association, The Professional Landscapers Alliance, and The Associated Landscape Contractors of America I am always very impressed with the level of professionalism I am surrounded by.

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Most property owners and homeowners only hire a landscape contractor every 7 to 10 years and many don’t know what questions to ask to evaluate the contractor.

The following information is provided to assist property owners and homeowner’s in choosing a landscape contractor. This is not an exhaustive list and all of the questions may not apply to your situation.

We will be happy to provide you with a complete copy of our answers and the support at our first meeting.

Here are 3 areas we recommend you consider in evaluation every painting contractor you talk to:
1.    The Reputation and Business Stability of the Landscape Contractor
2.    Their Experience and Methodology
3.    Their Service Before, During and After Your Project

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Landscape Professionals are unique individuals. In many cases they define the American entrepreneur.  They must have knowledge of many things to be successful. While at a seminar in Ohio Gary Kinman, a well known industry leader had a list of all it takes to be that proven professional. I saw Gary for the first time about 7 years ago and he was the person who changed how I view the green industry and the landscape profession. It was Gary’s list that has inspired me to create my own list of what a landscape professional is. 

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Yes there are thousands of these volcanoes in the garden state, mulch volcanoes that is. They are formed by unaware home owners and landscapers. The mulch is piled up high around the trunks of trees sometimes as deep as 12 inches. These “volcanoes” are very detrimental to the trees. The mulch causes the trunk to rot (crown rot) damaging the cambium layer located just under the bark. The cambium layer is what moves nutrients from the roots to the branches and leaves of a tree. Mice and other varmints will make their winter homes in these mulch volcanoes for warmth and chew on the tree trunks further damaging the tree. This will cause the trees to be stressed, and prematurely die. If you have mulch volcanoes remove the mulch around the tree and inspect the crown for rot or damage. The proper way to mulch a tree is to apply 2-3 inches of mulch around the bed line and tapering the mulch down to almost no mulch at the trunk. Make sure your mulch does not become matted down and act as a shield to water causing it to run off, if this happens break up the mulch with a rake or cultivator.

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Just about every landscape company I know offers some type of a plant guarantee. Most are a one-year or one growing season guarantee. This often inc...

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Success is always hard to measure. It always depends on the person’s perspective and understanding. A successful landscape is no different. Beyond good design and proper installation what is needed and what are the obstacles to success? The main obstacle to a professionally designed and installed landscape’s success is managing expectations the client has. Education and communication are the tools I choose to use for this purpose. With these tools a relationship of trust and understanding is built and add to the landscape’s success.

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Most people will spend time researching a major purchase. If they are buying a major appliance they will often choose a higher priced model that was manufactured by a reputable company over a “bargain” brand. They will pay 30 – 50% more for this item. They do this because they know it will out perform and out last the cheaply made unit. They see the value in it.

So why is it that from my perspective so many people contract the low bidder landscape contractor?

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