Seth’s Cut: Amped for more after Elevate

The LM team including Publisher Bill Roddy, Jones, Editor Christina Herrick and Associate Publisher Craig MacGregor at Elevate. (Photo: LM Staff)

Fall is here! It’s an exciting time of the year, and it’s also just an exciting time to be in the industry. We just got home from Elevate and are evaluating how that all went (in short, it was awesome), and now we are gearing up for Equip Expo and the LM Growth Summit.

This issue is packed with content, a lot to dive into and sort through, so let me play the part of host and I’ll point a few sections out…

• First off, we’re getting a head start on covering some of the new tools for the industry in our “Showstoppers!” cover story. We asked exhibitors at the upcoming Equip Expo to show us what they thought would get our readers to stop in their tracks. We’ll be there in person at Equip (Oct. 18-21 in Louisville, Ky.), and we’ll continue to report on the additional innovations we see …
• If you would like to brainstorm with our columnists or our consultants in person, we also include in this issue the list of 11 educational seminars that Landscape Management is presenting at Equip Expo. For all of these seminars, we are relying on our loyal experts in the industry to share their insights with attendees. It’ll be like seeing a real-life interpretation of what we present in the magazine. But be prepared, I haven’t had my photo updated in a few years, and let’s just say the pandemic may have aged some of us more than others …
• The middle part of this issue is our annual Profitable Products section where our advertising partners share with you how they see their equipment, software or services making their customers successful. That section includes a whopping 34 different companies that you’ll enjoy perusing through, a print version of a candy store for the kid inside every LM reader.
• Not to be lost in this giant-sized issue, we have features on controlling grubs; how some landscape companies are using plant growth regulators on the down-low to save labor and predictions on design trends for 2023.

I also want to direct you to our website, LandscapeManagement.net, where you can see additional content we couldn’t fit in the magazine. For example:

We recap the inaugural Elevate, hosted by the National Association of Landscape Professionals. We also have more in-depth original reporting, as well as a few videos from the event, on our website.

The big industry news that Mariani Landscape acquired seven residential landscape companies — which we broke to the industry in mid-September — is briefed. We have additional reporting on this exciting industry development, including two videos with Mariani Landscape Chairman Frank Mariani and CEO Bryan Christiansen on the web.

If you are a subscriber to our LMDirect! e-newsletter, you are already the first to know about this exclusive content when it is delivered to your inbox every Thursday morning. If you are not a subscriber, you can remedy that by signing up at our website.

It is an exciting time to be in the industry, and we’re amped up. Elevate may have elevated our excitement for what we do because we heard so much positive feedback from readers at our booth, at the pub and even at the big event at Universal Studios’ “Wizarding World of Harry Potter.” I had several memorable interactions with readers that certainly motivated me.

Now, we’re looking forward to seeing even more of you at Equip Expo. Stop by the booth or stop by our seminars and say hello!