TAG: Market Watch

How to approach plant warranties

September 4, 2014By

Landscape professionals share the different approaches they take to plant warranties. After a long day of installing plants, including junipers and barberry shrubs, the gloves come off and it’s closing time. Another job done; another happy customer. Days and weeks fly by until the client calls, upset that several plants are dead. Question asked: Whose fault is it? Are these... read more

Battling herbicide resistance

September 4, 2014By
Photo: ©istock.com/Whiteway.

With herbicide resistance a reality in agriculture and golf, lawn care could be next. Lee Kral, lawn care manager at Mountain High Tree, Lawn & Landscape Co. in Lakewood, Colo., got a reality check about seven years ago. That’s when, through a colleague’s father, he learned about glyphosate-resistant crops in agriculture production. He’s been keen on weed resistance ever since.... read more

The secret to selling water management

September 4, 2014By
Photo: Liquid Technologies.

Liquid Technologies uses everything from drones to detailed irrigation audits to sell its water management services. Chris Husband wanted a new toy. And not just any toy—a drone. His friend had used a drone to film his Southern California fishing adventures, and this spring the video caught Husband’s attention at just the right time. Husband, co-owner and president of Glendale,... read more

‘Partners’ inspire growth, goodwill

September 4, 2014By
(From left) David Minor, CEO, and Rick Onstott, president, opened Fort Worth-based The Landscape Partners in 2003.

A Texas company’s focus on partnerships inspires growth and goodwill in the communities it serves. To Rick Onstott, president of The Landscape Partners, a company is a lot like a three-legged stool. “If one of the three legs is broken, the stool will fall down,” he says. It’s that mentality that inspires The Landscape Partners’ mission to deliver great quality,... read more

‘Simple and stupid’ overhead recovery

August 4, 2014By

Three contractors and a consultant stand by recovering overhead in labor rates. With plenty of arithmetic already ingrained in design/build projects, from consultative estimates to property measurements, contractors prefer to spend little time on operational calculations like how to recover overhead. That’s probably why many of them—three for three, in this case—are loyal to recovering it in their labor rates.... read more

A team effort: Billion Gallon Project

August 4, 2014By

Through the Billion Gallon Project, groups are working together to save water in Idaho with smart irrigation systems. John Balint is by no means a “tree hugger.” He wouldn’t describe himself as a hippie either. But the owner of Mountain High Landscapes in Ketchum, Idaho, is concerned about inefficient water use and the toll it is taking on Wood River... read more