November 2017 Landscape Trades

November 2017 VOL. 39, NO. 9

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Process mapping empowers and inspires teams Analyze jobs for profitability Is your company an elephant, or a mouse?

BUSINESS MANAGEMENT SPECIAL 2017

New day, New owner How one contractor crafted a successful company transition

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Contents

NOVEMBER 2017 VOL. 39, NO. 9

EDITOR AND PUBLISHER Lee Ann Knudsen CLM | lak@landscapeontario.com

ASSISTANT EDITOR Scott Barber | sbarber@landscapeontario.com ART DIRECTOR Kim Burton | kburton@landscapeontario.com LANDSCAPE ONTARIO MAGAZINE EDITOR Robert Ellidge | rob@landscapeontario.com MULTIMEDIA DESIGNER Mike Wasilewski | mikew@landscapeontario.com ACCOUNTANT Joe Sabatino | joesabatino@landscapeontario.com

FOCUS ON

SALES MANAGER, PUBLICATIONS Steve Moyer | stevemoyer@landscapeontario.com

BUSINESS MANAGEMENT 2017

INTEGRATED SOLUTIONS REPRESENTATIVE Greg Sumsion | gsumsion@landscapeontario.com

ADVISORY COMMITTEE Gerald Boot CLM, Laura Catalano, Mark Fisher, Hank Gelderman CHT, Marty Lamers, Bob Tubby CLM, Nick Winkelmolen, Dave Wright Landscape Trades is published by Landscape Ontario Horticultural Trades Association 7856 Fifth Line South, Milton, ON L9T 2X8 Phone: (905)875-1805 Email: comments@landscapetrades.com Fax: (905)875-0183 Web site: www.landscapetrades.com LANDSCAPE ONTARIO STAFF Darryl Bond, Amy Buchanan, Rachel Cerelli, Tony DiGiovanni CHT, Denis Flanagan CLD, J. Alex Gibson, Meghan Greaves, Sally Harvey, Heather MacRae, Kristen McIntyre CHT CEM, Kathy McLean, Linda Nodello, Kathleen Pugliese, John Russell, Ian Service, Tom Somerville, Myscha Stafford, David Turnbull, Martha Walsh, Cassandra Wiesner

6 Succession solutions

Fresh off selling Forestell Designed Landscapes, Kevin Forestell encourages business owners to consider selling to an employee, and to get creative at making the numbers work.

BY SCOTT BARBER

12 Road map to growth

Use a Visual Process Map to inspire efficiency, productivity, accountability and success.

BY BRENT AYLES

COLUMNS 16 Management solutions

Learn to calculate throughput-per-hour figures to identify the most profitable jobs for your business.

BY MARK BRADLEY

20 Road to success

Landscape Trades is published nine times a year: January, March, April, May, June, August, September, October and November.

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24 Legal matters

Copyright 2017. All rights are reserved. Material may not be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher. Landscape Trades assumes no responsibility for, and does not endorse the contents of, any advertisements herein. All representations or warranties made are those of the advertiser and not the publication. Views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the association or its members, but are those of the writer concerned.

38 Mentor moment

BY ROD McDONALD

Subcontractor is left hanging by appeals court after failing to obtain written work orders.

BY ROB KENNALEY AND JOSH WINTER

Randy Tumber stays in style for four decades with natural, native landscape designs.

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NOVEMBER 2017 | LANDSCAPE TRADES |

3

greenpencil Elephant, lion, mouse and koala

It’s a jungle

T

he old adage It’s a jungle out there is a perfect analogy for business.

If you were a lion and had to chase mice to survive, how tired would you get and how much work would it be? How long do you think you could keep it up? The fact is, you would have to fight with your own, as well as other species, for survival; it would be quite a challenge by the time you were became old and tired. Lions live just eight years on average. Wouldn’t it be easier to be part of a large pride?

Not unlike your provincial trade association!

If you were an elephant you couldn’t possibly chase mice, but you might step on one accidentally. You could graze where you wished, trample where you

By George Urvari wanted and even if you were old and tired, you could go on for quite a while.

You would rarely fight with the other giants of the savannah, let alone your peers. Elephants can live up to 100 years. Their lives are made even easier by living harmoniously in large herds.

Not unlike your provincial trade association!

If you were a mouse, you would scramble from here to there, constantly looking for scraps and worried about the lions, elephants, snakes and other carnivores. Mice live maybe two years.

The koala, on the other hand, eats eucalyptus leaves that are highly toxic to other animals. They are high up in the trees, have few if any predators and sleep 22 hours per day. Koalas live up to 20 years.

Lions need larger prey: I see many businesses trying to be everything to everybody, going after large and small projects in our industry. Lesson: target your prey and avoid wasting energy.

At my company, we do only small projects for existing clients. We don’t have the time or the energy to go on hunting adventures for small jobs, especially as we get closer to retirement. The mouse literally has to run under the lion’s paw to get any attention.

4 | NOVEMBER 2017 | LANDSCAPE TRADES

To be a lion you must be fit and constantly alert to play this business game where bidding is involved.

You are not sure where your next project is coming from, or the likelihood of getting it and if you will ever make it to your next meal. Other lions are hungry too, and may beat you to the punch or underbid you due to their hunger. We like to be preferred bidders, so we at least know who the players are. No point getting into a scrap with another mangy lion that is desperate.

If we win we are beat up and diminished for the next battle. We always ask who the other bidders are.

Mice have few friends, they do not look for help and they stay small. Everyone and everything is a threat to them. I would not want to be a mouse in business!

Larger businesses, like elephants, take a fairly long time to mature, but they are guided by their peers and elders, gradually learning to co-operate with others to more easily get what they want. From a reputation standpoint, they are admired and respected rather than feared. Large elephants go to business school and have mentors. Your provincial trade association is full of all kinds of help from elephants.

Koalas specialize and do what no one else wants to do, or can do. Examples of this in our industry are weed spraying, tree climbing and cutting, stone masonry, and horticulturalists that do not cut grass.

Know of a company that specializes in getting permits and navigating the bureaucracy? It requires lots of knowledge, connections and patience. Very few designers would go down that path!

The point in all of this is to recognize who you are and what you want to become. There is a definite food chain and it’s easier at the top. To get there, one must make the least mistakes, just like an animal trying to survive in the jungle. In the landscape business, it reLT ally is a jungle out there!

George Urvari is president of Toronto, Ont.-based Oriole Landscaping.

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Kevin Forestell discovers a “win-win-win” solution Succession planning began much sooner than expected for Kevin Forestell. By his mid-30s, he had built, alongside his wife Erin Stephenson and brother Tim, a successful full-service landscape company, Forestell Designed Landscapes (FDL), with offices spanning across Ontario and out east in Charlottetown, P.E.I. However, Forestell’s career path took a dramatic turn in 2015 when the trio launched Dozr, an online peer-to-peer marketplace, where contractors seeking specific pieces of equipment can rent it from other contractors, who are not using it at the time. The two parties agree on the price and Dozr gets a commission. Dozr also assists users by providing contracts that set out the terms of the rental agreement, as well as taking care of the payment process and insurance. Like other tech sharing-economy platforms including Airbnb and Uber, Dozr includes a rating system that enables customers to see evaluations of both the equipment owners and those renting the equipment.

The Waterloo, Ont.-based venture was a hit, attracting investors from across North America and winning $100,000 at Communitech Rev Accelerator contest in the spring of 2016.

The success put Forestell in a tough position: passionate about the landscape profession and concerned about the well-being of his employees, cashing out was never the goal when he started the company in 2003. He also recognized how difficult it can be to find a buyer and to reach financial terms that would be agreeable to both parties.

However, it soon became clear that in order to seize upon Dozr’s enormous potential, he needed to devote his full, undivided attention to his latest venture.

“Dozr was exploding,” Forestell says. “Once the ball starts rolling, you really need to stay with it. And that was

really the biggest challenge we faced: the timeframe. We wanted to sell quickly so that we could really stay on top of things with Dozr, and we knew that was going to have an impact on the market.”

Seeking out potential buyers In 2016, they began looking for potential buyers, starting first with the Landscape Ontario community.

“We reached out to some LO members, and we had a few parties that we interested,” Forestell says. “We sought legal counsel, and then we began the process of basically asking people if they had an interest, and if they did, we got them to sign a non-disclosure agreement before we would share information about our financials and contracts.”

The scope of business and the territory it covers, (offices in Guelph, Collingwood, Waterloo, Barrie, Milton, Brockville, Owen Sound, Ottawa and Charlottetown) provided another hurdle to finding the right buyer.

FDL ranged from 150 employees during the summer months to 400 during the winter. Having grown to such a large scale, Forestell and his family had been very successful in developing a recognized brand. Now they wondered how they would be able to monetize it. Client lists, contracts, equipment and real estate obviously have a tangible value, but how do you put a price on a company’s reputation?

“We worked with our legal counsel and our accountants to look at formulas to come up with a valuation,” Forestell explains, “But at the end of the day, a business is worth what someone is willing to pay for it. So I looked at it like, what would I feel good about at the end of the day when the deal closes?”

Like every landscape business owner, Forestell and his family had worked extremely hard and made a lot of

Finding the righ

for your landscape

6 | NOVEMBER 2017 | LANDSCAPE TRADES

ght buyer

e business

Mason Tresnak and Kevin Forestell

NOVEMBER 2017 | LANDSCAPE TRADES |

7

sacrifices to build the company. Selling the business was “an emotional rollercoaster” at times. “l had literally worn a Forestell Designed Landscape shirt every day for 13 years,” Forestell says.

They considered breaking the business up into individual cities or regions, but that process would take even more time, something they couldn’t afford to lose.

“If there’s a piece of advice I have for others, it’s that selling your business is not something that happens overnight,” Forestell says.

“Even if you’re willing to sell for a great price, the due diligence process is an absolute time-suck. We’re happy we did, but the whole purpose of selling was to free up our time, but the process of selling it was far more time consuming then running the business.”

The solution was right in front of them After exploring the market with other landscape business owners, and even looking into utilizing an investment bank or company like Deloitte to sell the company for them, Forestell realized there was another option staring him right in the face. Why not sell to a current employee who already knows the business and has a great relationship with its employees and clients?

“We did some soul searching and realized that this could be a great opportunity for an employee who had helped us create the success and already had such great relationships with the staff and the clients,” Forestell says. “Selling to employees is super rewarding.

I have been able to keep the relationship with the buyer and some of the other employees and we’ve become even closer than we were.

We were able to work something out where I am kind of providing unofficial mentorship, which is really nice because I spent so much time building the company, I now can still have my hand in, but I don’t have to; I’m there if somebody has a question or wants any advice, and that means that everything that I learned over the years is not being lost.”

Mason Tresnak had been in the landscape profession for a decade, including four years with FDL. He started with the company as the regional manager in Barrie, before transitioning to regional manager of the head office in Guelph and ultimately managing numerous satellite offices as well.

Young, motivated and well respected by staff members, Tresnak was an ideal candidate to take on more responsibility.

“Kevin and I were close enough for long enough that I could see the transition he was making over to Dozr for some time,” Tresnak says. “During that time, I was taking on more responsibility at Forestell. And eventually, we began talking about what it would look like for me to take on the company.”

The first step was for Tresnak was to get his own legal counsel.

“One of the first conversations Kevin and I had when he offered to sell the company to me was a warning about how the legal advice would go, because he had been in business for a number of years and had a lot more experience on that end. He explained to me how lawyers act and also what we were each paying our respective lawyers to inform us about.”

Mixing business and friendship can be a difficult balance, however, the pair were able to stay on the same page while getting the legalities nailed down.

It was an exciting opportunity for Tresnak, who was eager to put

8 | NOVEMBER 2017 | LANDSCAPE TRADES

the lessons he had learned from Forestell into action and do his best to keep the company on its upward trajectory.

Not a single lost contract “I think because I was around the company in a management position, I was the highest position that wasn’t a member of the Forestell family, and also because I am so hands on and out in the field every day, I had great relationships with all of our employees,” Tresnak says.

Ownership transitions can make staff members anxious about their job security, but both Forestell and Tresnak were sensitive to that fact and did their best to quell anxiety and to reassure everyone that it would be a smooth transition.

Tresnak also worked hard to ensure clients weren’t impacted negatively by the change; in fact, no contracts were lost.

“The customer base hasn’t changed at all,” Tresnak says. “I was so in touch and in the field that I knew all of the little touches that make us the right fit for each condo or business or residential client, and we were able to keep those going. All the little things are so important; a commercial property wants their quote for fall mums in mid-September, or they want their parking lot swept around such and such time and you know you need to coordinate with the line painting company around that. Those are the things that make the relationship with your clients work, and we were able to maintain that with FDL.” Forestell agrees. “It was really great for the customers, because now the employees that they already knew and liked were becoming even more invested and motivated to do an even better job,” he says.

And Forestell remains involved as a support for Tresnak. “It was actually a joke when we signed the papers in March. Kevin looked at me and said, ‘I’ll talk to you tomorrow morning at 7 a.m.’ because for years we have talked on the phone every single morning, Monday to Friday at the same time.”

With their deal in the rear view mirror, both Forestell and Tresnak have had time to reflect on the lessons they learned through the process.

For Forestell, the biggest takeaways were the amount of time, energy and money it takes to sell.

Valuable lessons learned “I would recommend to everyone looking at succession planning to consider selling to an employee,” Forestell says. “It’s a win-win-win situation because it works for the buyer, seller and the clients, and it just makes sense that it would go to the employees that have played a big part in building the company. The challenge of course, is that a lot of people want to sell and get all the cash up front. But there are other options, including down payments and being paid out over a period of time. You could even look at maintaining ownership of your company, while selling off some of the equity. You can get creative to find a scenario that makes sense for you, your clients and the buyer.”

For Tresnak, the reason things worked out so well was because of the mentorship he received, and continues to get from Forestell.

“For anyone looking at buying an established landscape company, I think transition training is key,” Tresnak says. “Anyone with experience in this industry knows that they can read a contract and fulfill those details. But it’s the little things that aren’t down in black and LT white that really make the difference. “

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Two landscape management division team members questioning process map details.

to growth

How process mapping can guide your company toward success BY BRENT AYLES

M

any business buzzwords have claimed our attention over the past several years: mission, vision, values, strategy, leadership, mentoring — and most recently, answering the question, “Why?” The purpose of any business is to deliver a positive, memorable service or product at a profit. That’s Business 101. Over the past several years I have been mentored by some great minds on business strategy and financial management, as well as spiritual, physical, and mental growth.

All are very different, and all are important; almost like an orchestra. But the mentoring, leadership training and reading all came down to one thing: our ability to lead others, and help them grow.

12 | NOVEMBER 2017 | LANDSCAPE TRADES

A strong desire to grow and develop others led us to collect all our company information together in one place.

That’s when we developed what we call our Visual Process Map — a flow chart defining the growth environment within our company.

Was it easy? NO. Is it a challenge keeping score and reporting the right data every day? YES. Compiling data from many different sources for this process has taken years. And it will take many more years to realize this tool’s potential. It is valuable, because it maps out our company’s ability to grow its people.

The map is a process management tool; its main goal

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is to measure performance on every level. I got a lot out of a book entitled, “Harrison McCain: Single-Minded Purpose,” a biography by Donald Savoie. The founder of McCain Foods was probably one of the best Canadian self-made entrepreneurs of our century. The slogan, “If you can’t measure it, you cannot manage it” was on the wall

“ We developed the Visual Process Map because we wanted a clear picture for everyone to see — we wanted our team to see clearly what they should do to grow and reach their potential.” in every McCain plant. McCain measured ratios of labour, material and equipment costs. He measured McCain sales vs. the competition.

Everything was measured.

Most great companies measure their success with a variety of ratios, used to help guide decision making. Hand-in-hand with the process map, our company uses KPIs — Key Performance Indicators — that clearly tell our people how we measure success. From the client to the account manager to the apprentice, every role has KPIs that everyone can see.

We have worked on implementing our Visual Process Map for over seven years. It was interesting when I paused to take time to reflect — I noticed the team members that asked the most questions along the way are actually the ones that grew and developed the most. The process has worked so well, we are discussing ways to connect the map and associated KPIs more closely with clients.

The map itself could hardly be simpler; it is a poster on the wall.

Our company posts a copy on our production shop wall, as well as in our office building. The map is a living document, meaning we expect future changes to promote more organized growth. At the top is the client, to remind us that all changes should improve customer expectations and experiences. It is paramount that every metric in the business supports this point.

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The map idea grew from team meetings we had over the years. We learned a lot through failing; most often, not showing clearly what the potential could be. People just want to know that we listen to them.

We don’t always need to make changes, but we need to listen. Showing the team clear rules, and what defines a win in every position, was critical. To this day, we add sticky notes to the process map as we come up with better ideas.

Our small focus-group meetings are interesting; they give employees at all levels an opportunity to ask questions and provide feedback. It takes a lot of energy to compile all the data to make the process map “real.” But when the map creates an engaged team asking questions, which in turn improves client experiences, you know your map has passed the true test and is really working.

As team members ask questions and wonder how they can become more involved, it actually makes their immediate reporting and management responsibilities more accountable. One thing we need to realize is that not every person wants to advance — some are content where they are. It’s just our responsibility to always provide a growth environment.

The single word that sums up our experience with process mapping is repetition. Repetition in structure builds rhythm, which in turn will build momentum.

The most difficult transition facing our industry is the transition from one generation to the next. How does the new generation know what’s important and what isn’t? We developed the Visual Process Map because we wanted a clear picture for everyone to see — we wanted our team to see clearly what they should do to grow and reach their potential. We even have mentoring groups within our company called “Next Generation Leader.” The groups meet bi-weekly, learning together and doing leadership-style training, focused on growing both individual and team strengths.

Getting a process map to work takes many years; things cannot be set in stone. It is not a matter of whether things will change, it is when they will change. Since we developed this visual map, it has brought ideas top-of-mind. It has engaged our entire team to make decisions that are better for our clients. When things are focused on client expectations, everyone has the potential to grow!

Remember: Repetition builds rhythm. Reach out. Ask questions.

LT Challenge the status quo.

Brent Ayles operates Ayles Natural Landscaping in Riverdale, N.B.

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managementsolutions

Identifying the best, most profitable jobs In business, especially the landscape business, you have to be ready to say ‘no’ just as quickly as you are to say ‘yes’. If you want to grow a successful business in this industry, you must be able to identify the jobs that make money and those that don’t – and you need to do that long before your jobcosting.

You need to identify these jobs before you even price them.

Why is that so important in landscapingMost companies have a bottleneck: their labour. And it’s not a simple problem to solve.

If you need lots of materials or equipment for a job, there are plenty of vendors that are more than happy to help solve your problem. Materials are easy to find and order and there are new and innovative products launched in our industry every year.

Equipment vendors are ready and waiting to sell, lease, rent, or even rent-to-sell you equipment that will save you time.

ADDING PEOPLE IS A PROBLEM Adding more crews is another problem altogether. First you have to find good, skilled bodies looking for work. That’s a major challenge in our industry today. It’s just hard to find good people. The second challenge is that even if you can find more people they require more than just payroll costs. People need trucks, equipment and tools to do their work. At some point, you’ll need to add sales/design/operations staff to sell and manage the increased work. With enough growth, you may even need a bigger yard and shop. Adding people is a complex, multi-layered problem.

Keep that in mind, but let’s go back to identifying the best jobs. Stare, just for a minute, at the ‘four jobs to compare’ table.

It lists four unique jobs. Before you read any further, rank these jobs from best to worst.

16 | NOVEMBER 2017 | LANDSCAPE TRADES

Use your gut, common sense, or even a calculator — but review these four jobs and try to put them in order from the best job for your company to the worst job. Take as much time as you need.

Finished? Did you write it down? This exercise is much more interesting if you actually follow along. Identifying the best job isn’t as simple as it might appear. Here’s a few common approaches: Net profit: Probably the most obvious approach. If your eyes went right to the bottom line, you can see Job A had the highest net profit, and Job B had the lowest. There’s the answer. Case closed. Or is it that simple?

Gross profit: Other companies pay a lot of attention to maximizing gross profit.

Since overhead is a relatively fixed number, they try to maximize their gross margins. In that case Job A would still be the best job and Job D would be the worst.

Revenue: Job C is the biggest job, revenue wise. It’s also pretty profitable. Maybe your gut tells you that’s the best job, even if you don’t have hard numbers to back it up.

Material cost and labour cost: If you’re really into crunching numbers, maybe you looked to see that Job D had the best ratio of materials cost to labour cost… And since materials are so much easier than labour,

BY MARK BRADLEY

you went with that job.

It’s not as easy as it seems. Each one of those jobs has different revenue, different man hours, equipment and material costs.

Further complicating the issue is that they each pay down a different amount of overhead and their gross and net profit margins are different, too. Not simple. There’s a lot going on here.

MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR LABOUR There is another way we like to look at jobs, and that’s through the lens of our bottleneck: our available field labour hours. It’s a pretty safe assumption that for most of the readers of this article, good labour is hard to come by – and hard to add more of. If that sounds like you, then it’s imperative for you company to identify the jobs that make the best, most profitable use of your available field labour.

Just to simplify this example, let’s say you only had one three person crew and you could work eight months of the year, for 40 hours a week. That’s 1,280 crew hours, or about 3,840 total available man hours (based on a three person crew) to get work done. Given a short season, and only one crew, it’s vitally important they work on the continued on page 18

FOUR JOBS TO COMPARE

Job A Job B Job C Job D Price $25,000 $25,000 $40,000 $10,000 Labour costs $8,750 $5,500 $12,500 $2,000 350 220 500 80 Man hours Equipment costs $2,000 $5,000 $3,000 $1,000 Materials cost $1,500 $7,000 $8,500 $3,700 Overhead $6,250 $6,250 $10,000 $2,500 Gross profit $12,750 (51%) $7,500 (30%) $16,000 (40%) 3,300 (27%) Net profit $6,500 (26%) $1,250 (5%) $6,000 (15%) $800 (8%)

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managementsolutions REVENUE COMPARISON

Price Labour costs Man hours Materials cost

Job A Job B $275,000 $436,000 $96,250 $96,250 3,850 3,850 $16,500 $122,500

most profitable jobs possible.

If you only had 3,840 man hours, you have enough time to complete: Job A – 11 times Job B – 17.5 times Job C – 7.7 times Job D – 48.13 times So, what would your company’s total numbers look like if you completed each job by its number of potential times?

Job D and Job B generated a lot more revenue per man hour invested. So if we did jobs like that all year, our sales would be significantly higher than if we did jobs like A and C.

Job C Job D $307,000 $480,000 $96,250 $96,250 3,850 3,850 $65,000 $177,000

Reality kicks in when you realize crews need a truck, trailer, tools and equipment no matter which jobs they did. Your overhead

costs are fixed, no matter which job you completed. So we’ll assume the same equipment and overhead costs That’s a big difference. If you rank the jobs now, you’ll likely prefer B, D, A, then C. Check back to your earlier exercise. Did you rank them in that order?

A MUCH QUICKER METHOD Wouldn’t it be nice to have a number that could help you identify the best jobs without

EQUIPMENT AND OVERHEAD FACTORS

Price Labour cost Man hours Materials cost Equipment cost Gross profit Overhead Net profit

Job A $275,000 $96,250 3,850 $16,500 $50,000 $112,000 $100,000 $12,000

Job B $436,000 $96,250 3,850 $122,500 $50,000 $168,000 $100,000 $68,000

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Job C Job D $307,000 $480,000 $96,250 $96,250 3,850 3,850 $65,000 $177,000 $50,000 $50,000 $96,000 $156,000 $100,000 $100,000 -$4,000 $56,000

the complication of what we just did? Well there is, it’s called Throughput per hour.

Throughput is a confusing word for a very simple concept. It’s the money that remains in your company after you pay your vendors their costs. It looks like this:

Selling Price - Material Costs - Rental Costs - Subcontractor Costs = Throughput Since labor is our biggest bottleneck, we want to maximize our Throughput (money left in the company) per Man Hour.

To calculate Throughput per man hour for each job we’re estimating, we simply take

the job’s price, subtract our vendor costs (materials, rentals and subcontractors) and divide that number by the number of estimated man hours.

If you go back to our example jobs in the beginning of this article, we didn’t have any rentals or subcontractors, so the calculation is really easy.

Amazingly, the Throughput per hour would rank the jobs from best to worst, in the exact same order as if we had one crew to work on those jobs all year. Throughput per hour will show you the jobs that generate the most retained revenue (revenue kept by your company) per man hour worked.

THROUGHPUT COMPARISON

Price Subtract materials Divide by man hours Throughput/hr

Job A Job B $25,000 $25,000 $1,500 $7,000 350 220 $67.14 $81.82

Job C Job D $40,000 $10,000 $8,500 $3,700 500 80 $63.00 $78.75

45 YEARS INDUSTRY

EXPERIENCE

And since we’re all struggling to find good man hours, I believe this is another great number to have in your toolbox when analyzing the jobs that are the best fit for your LT company.

Mark Bradley is CEO of LMN, based in Ontario. The objective of this article is give general guidance on common financial numbers specific to the landscape industry. It is not intended to provide or act as professional financial advice.

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19

roadtosuccess

Clean up your act There are days

when I really do sound like a broken record. When my kids were teenagers, they would point out my character flaw as I repeatedly asked, “What time will you be in? Where are you going?

Is there alcohol involved?” I was so predictable with not only my questions, but also my instructions. “Don’t be rude to your mother.

If you hoot with the owls you can soar with the eagles,” and so on. If you are a dad, you understand. If you are a teenager (and I have no idea why you would be reading this) then I am indeed a repetitive broken record. As a secondary explanation, records were the forerunners of CDs which came before streaming.

I am about to repeat a few things this month that I have mentioned before. For some of you I will be preaching to the choir, and for others, the phrase of ‘fell on deaf ears’ will be appropriate.

Cleanliness is not next to Godliness, cleanliness is Godliness. I understand the dirty mess that passes as a greenhouse/garden centre at a box store. Box stores run their operations on clearly defined budgets. Their mandate is to apply the minimum input and expect the maximum return. Reducing hours is of utmost importance to a box store manager, and if cleanliness is sacrificed, so be it. Box store managers are rarely upset when dead and dying plants are left on the retail bench. They never advertise cleanliness. They advertise price. I get it. That is who they are and that is what they do.

One time, my local Rona store had dead plants marked down to a dollar each. They were displayed on a greenhouse bench. Had I more time, I would have hung around to see if someone actually purchased one. I wanted to ask the manager, “Do you realize they are indeed dead, and not just damaged or shop worn?” I cannot help but wonder what his answer would have been.

20 | NOVEMBER 2017 | LANDSCAPE TRADES

What I do not understand is when I visit an independent greenhouse, garden centre or contractor who does not get this cleanliness equals Godliness concept. Some operators really just don’t get it, which befuddles me. Many years ago I visited a nurseryman who excelled at new and unusual introductions. We were sitting in his office which was quite large; more a board room than an office. There were papers, catalogues and junk stacked everywhere, on the tables, the desk and on the floor. To access one pile, you had to move at least two others. I am certain most of you have witnessed a similar office.

I asked him, always being polite (I write tongue-in-cheek), “Why don’t you clean up this mess? How can you find anything?”

He did not take offence. Instead, he offered this explanation: “I am trying to clean up the mess that my father left when he died.” Great answer, except his father had passed away 15 years prior.

Excuses do not cut it when it comes to rationalizing a dirty and messy operation. Action is required and those who understand or wish to change will do so, and for others, I waste my words.

For those who understand or are willing to listen, cleanliness makes you money.

I can’t be any more specific than this statement. When you spend half your morning looking for something that requires only a two-minute action, you are engaging in reduced efficiency. When you are not efficient, it costs money. Not only does reduced efficiency cost money, it also creates stress. And stress leads to reduced efficiency — so you see the cycle?

I volunteer at a local, church-run soup kitchen in Regina. I am always impressed at the kitchen’s cleanliness and the operation’s organization. Even our local health inspector commented he wished the restaurants he examined were as clean as this soup kitchen.

BY ROD McDONALD

The director of the kitchen told me, “Organization is a form of meditation. Disorganization leads to stress and stress destroys serenity. Being able to find what you are looking for maintains peace.” How I love that phrase! Organization really does create harmony and frees everyone to carry out their work properly.

When any business lacks cleanliness, a greenhouse or garden centre or contractor’s shop, it is usually disorganized. Cleanliness and organization always goes hand-in-hand.

“Excuses do not cut it when it comes to rationalizing a dirty and messy operation. Action is required and those who understand or wish to change, will.”

Again, organized operations always make more money than those that are not.

I work with a fellow who is a good landscaper. He has many worthy attributes; he pays attention to details and his work is very good. When he works alongside of me he is organized, but when he works on his own, not so much. Last week, we were doing some repair work on a brick sidewalk. I was working in one area and he in another that was not visible. After an hour, I went over to check on his progress. He had every possible tool laid out. He had so many tools invading his work space, he had no room left to move.

He had painted himself into the proverbial corner, with equipment instead of colour. I took away all the tools he did not need, and set the necessary ones two feet away. More times than naught, we do not need every

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roadtosuccess tool we own in a work space. A work space is a space to work.

I have found, and you are welcome to argue, that when any of us are disorganized with tools and supplies, we are between 30 and 50 per cent less efficient. This reduced efficiency assertion bore itself out; his progress was considerably slower than mine.

Sometimes, we complicate work with too many tools. Sometimes, it takes longer to go off and find the ‘perfect’ tool, than to complete the task with what we have at our disposal. I am very much in favour of the right tool for the job, but compromises are allowed. Why return to the shop to retrieve an irrigation shovel, when a sprinkler can be accessed using a hand trowel? A trowel might take two minutes longer, but if the shovel is 10 minutes away, do the math.

Switching gears: I love to cook. I love to cook because I love to eat good food. I have friends who love to cook. I also have friends who love to cook who have every imaginable kitchen tool, knife, bowl and gadget known to mankind. They keep high-end kitchen shops in business, purchasing the latest in wine cork pullers, garlic presses and tiny spoons to remove the tops of strawberries. I argue that all you need to prepare a good dish is a pot, two knives and a set of taste buds. They argue back, rationalizing their $300 knife, that their specialty tools are

necessary, even mandatory. When I cook, I have two knives. One big one and one small one. Lots of kitchen gadgets does not ensure a good meal, any more than a landscape worksite filled with every tool imaginable ensures a good job.

As I write about equipment, organization and cleanliness, allow me to branch into a bit of Shakespeare, who wrote, “Neither a borrower nor lender be.” In my garage shop, I have tools organized on hooks along the walls. Easy to find and easy to use, right?

One recent morning, I can’t find my pick.

It’s not in its spot. I ask a fellow who works for me and he responds, “Oh... I borrowed it last night but forgot to bring it back.” This story will have many readers nodding their heads, having experienced similar scenarios.

He knew I had a very clear policy of not allowing anyone to take tools home from the shop. He acknowledged the rule, and offered the rationalization, “I didn’t think we would need it today.” Sigh. Big sigh. I sent him home to retrieve the pick, and hopefully a lesson learned.

In the past, when I have allowed friends, neighbours and relatives to borrow trucks and tools, I have been less than pleased with the results. I am certain this is a shared experience for most readers.

I still cannot believe how many times I have had people ask me to loan them a chainsaw, even though they have never op-

erated one. Do they realize a chainsaw is one of the most dangerous pieces of equipment?

Without proper training it is conceivable to have a major injury. Yet, there they stand, wanting the chainsaw to cut down a tree in their backyard. “But, I only need it for a few minutes.”

Just for the dads: My friend was a reputable renovation contractor. He was in my garden centre in June, just before that Sunday we honour fathers. I asked him what he wanted for Fathers’ Day. “For starters, I would like my kids to return my tools they have borrowed.” Every dad nods his head when I tell that one, including me. Has anyone seen my vise grips?

Cleanliness and organization are not just admirable attributes. They are profit centres unto themselves. They are keystones to staying on the road to success. And the broken LT record repeats itself once again.

Rod McDonald owned and operated Lakeview Gardens, a successful garden centre/ landscape firm in Regina, Sask., for 28 years. He now works full-time in the world of fine arts, writing, acting and producing in film, television and stage.

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legalmatters

Case study:

Where a written change order is required but not obtained

BY ROBERT KENNALEY AND JOSH WINTER

Jessco Structural was a concrete forming subcontractor to Gottardo Construction on two building projects. Jessco performed extra work on the projects at the request of Gottardo’s site superintendent, but refused to pay for the extra work because the contract between the parties provided that no changes would be made without a written change order. The contract also provided that “no extras will be considered for any reason whatsoever unless negotiated with [Gottardo] before the work is done. Tickets for labour, equipment, and materials signed by [Gottardo’s] site superintendent are to confirm that the work was done and/or materials were supplied, and is not an agreement that the items signed for are additional to the contract or acceptance of labour rates or material costs.”

On a motion, the motions judge found the Gottardo site superintendent had requested the extra work outside the contract to be performed. The judge determined, however, that as the contract provided that no changes could be made without a written change order, and as there was no written order, “Jessco did not have the contractual obligation to do the work that Gottardo requested.” As regards the contractual requirement that “no extras will be considered for any reason whatsoever unless negotiated with Gottardo before the work is done,” the motions judge acknowledged the negotiations did not have to be in writing, but held the extras were not “on account of any negotiations between Jessco and Gottardo; rather they were merely requests by Gottardo’s site superintendent.” The motions judge added 24 | NOVEMBER 2017 | LANDSCAPE TRADES

that Gottardo’s site superintendent signed time sheets “merely confirmed that the work was done and/or materials supplied; they do not constitute an agreement that the items signed for are additional to the contract or acceptance of labour rates or material costs.”

The motions judge did acknowledge that “parties to an agreement may vary the terms of a contract by their conduct, such that they cannot rely on the terms of the contract that require written authorization before any additional work is undertaken.” He concluded, however, that Gottardo’s conduct did not “constitute a waiver of the contract or its acquiescence to Jessco’s non-compliance with it.”

CAN VERBAL REQUESTS BE CONSIDERED WAIVERS OF CONTRACT? On appeal, Madame Justice Wilson disagreed with the motions judge. She held that “The motions judge did not have the benefit of the presentation of the established case law confirming that verbal requests for extra work outside the scope of the contract establishes waiver of the strict terms of the contract.” She (correctly, in our view) noted that “responsibility for payment of extras is often contentious in construction cases. The usual fight about payment of extras is whether or not the extra as claimed by a subcontractor was included in the contract or not.” In that regard, she followed prior case law which provided that “the court will imply a promise to pay on a quantum meruit (or ‘actual value of the work’) basis where work is done at the request of the owner and for his benefit without a specific contract for payment.”

“Taken together,” Justice Wilson held,

“the courts in Ontario have been clear that when additional construction work not contemplated by the contract is completed at the request of the owner, (or in this case the contractor) the party providing the additional work should be paid, as the party requesting the extra work would reasonably expect to pay for it. Requesting this extra work outside the contract is waiver by con-

“ Good risk management under a contract requires contractors and subcontractors to be thinking about the contract throughout the life of a project.” duct.” Her Honour noted the “line of cases relevant to waiver by conduct for payment of extras outside the scope of the contract was not presented clearly by counsel to this court, or apparently to the motions judge at all.”

Justice Wilson found that, on the facts, there was a pattern of conduct by Gottardo waiving the strict terms of the written contract, by verbally requesting extra work in a pattern that went on for some 20 months.

She held that it was not until the dispute arose between the parties on bigger issues that Gottardo refused to pay for the extras.

She essentially held that because the contractor’s site super had requested the work, and knew it was being performed, it had

legalmatters agreed to pay for it and had waived any right to object that the subtrade had not received a written change order in the form required by the contract. Makes sense, right?

Unfortunately for the subtrade, Justice Wilson was only one judge on the Ontario Divisional Court panel which heard the appeal. Her two colleagues disagreed, and held that even though the site super had requested the work, and approved it, the contractor did not have to pay because the formal requirements of the contract had not been followed, and had not been waived.

ALWAYS FOLLOW THE CONTRACT There is a lesson to be learned here. You would be surprised how often as construction lawyers we are asked a question about a party’s entitlements in a certain situation and our first response has to be, “what does the contract say?” In our experience, many contractors and subcontractors believe the

well-established principals of law will apply, and that what the contract says might not matter. Canadian courts, however, appear to be increasingly reluctant to relieve parties from the terms of the bargains they have made. However, contractors and subcontractors should always review and follow the requirements of their contracts if they believe they may need to ask for additional compensation. The same applies to requests for schedule extensions. While in some circumstances there may be arguments available that will assist you in the event you fail to follow the contract, these arguments may prove difficult to make and are at best uncertain. The easiest way to avoid the need to make such an argument is to follow the contract in the first place. This means having the contractual requirements close at hand and checking them whenever you believe you may need additional compensation or a schedule extension. Indeed, good

risk management under a contract requires contractors and subcontractors to be thinking about the contract throughout the life of LT a project.

Rob Kennaley and Josh Winter practice construction law in Toronto and Simcoe, Ont. They speak and write on construction law issues and can be reached for comment at 416-700-4142 or at rjk@kennaley.ca and jwinter@kennaley.ca.

This material is for information purposes and is not intended to provide legal advice. Readers who have concerns about any particular circumstance are encouraged to seek independent legal advice in that regard.

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cnlanews Success at Skills The Skills Canada National Competition was held in Winnipeg, Man., from May 31 to June 3, where 18 people competed in this year’s Landscape Gardening category. The competition was front and centre at the Winnipeg RBC Convention Centre, right next to the main entrance. Our sector is now being featured to promote Skills Canada. This year, there was also a film crew on site filming a mini-series that will air on HGTV, with Landscape Gardening as the focus for our trade. First place gold was Alberta’s Adrian Sinke and Raymond de Kok. Second place was Quebec’s Marie-Eve Brodeur and Vincent Palchat. And third place was Nova Scotia’s Diana Davidson and Calum MacRae. Gold winners received $500 each, silver received $250 each and bronze received $100 each. CNLA extends a huge thank you to all of the volunteers who made the event such a success.

New Job Match service for employers There is now an additional step for Canadian employers wishing to hire through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP). A new rating system will match workers registered in the Canada Job Bank with advertised positions, and employers will be required to invite candidates who have a certain number of stars in relation to the position.

The government of Canada calls this new feature its Job Match service, and the change affects both high-wage and low-wage Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) applications.

Employers hiring through the TFWP must first obtain a positive LMIA before a foreign worker may be hired for the position. The issuance of a LMIA serves as proof that no Canadian citizen or permanent resident was ready, willing and able to perform the job.

The Job Match service will allow employers to see anonymous profiles of registered job seekers. These profiles correspond to the skills and job requirements stated in an employer’s job posting. Each match will be rated under a system of one to five stars. The more stars received by the job seeker for the position, the greater his or her compatibility with the position.

Not all foreign workers require a LMIA. LMIAexempt hiring situations are managed under the International Mobility Program (IMP), a broad category that includes initiatives such as the In28 | NOVEMBER 2017 | LANDSCAPE TRADES

First place at Skills Canada National Competition saw gold medals awarded to Alberta’s Adrian Sinke and Raymond de Kok.

tra-Company transfer program and recruitment through NAFTA, among others. If you wish to hire through the TFWP, please contact wp@ canadavisa.com and a legal expert will provide a free consultation.

Assiniboine Park Conservancy receives funding for diversity gardens Assiniboine Park Conservancy (APC) in Winnipeg, Man., confirmed they have received federal and provincial funding for the final major phase of the redevelopment of Assiniboine Park

– Canada’s Diversity Gardens which are scheduled to open in late 2019. The City of Winnipeg will be contributing $10 million to the project, as approved by city council. His Right Honourable Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a $35 million contribution by the federal government while Deputy Premier and Minister of Justice Heather Stefanson revealed that Manitoba will commit $15 million to the project. The total cost of the project is expected to be around $75 million with the remaining $10 million coming from the private sector. Funding will be provided by all three levels of government for renovations

Assiniboine Park – Canada’s Diversity Gardens, scheduled to open in late 2019, has received funding for the final stage.

Funding for the renovations to Assiniboine Park and Assiniboine Park Zoo will come from the federal, provincial and muncipal governments.

of Assiniboine Park itself and Assiniboine Park Zoo. The expanded zoo will incorporate the increased duck pond and Qualico Family Centre, Nature Playground, and the zoo’s award-winning Journey to Churchill exhibit.

No patents for classical cross-breeding The International Association of Horticultural Producers (AIPH) welcomed the decision by the European Patent Office (EPO) to no longer grant patents to plants that are the result of classical cross-breeding and selection. AIPH has

long campaigned the patenting of plants goes against the ‘breeders exemption’ that exists within established and accepted Plant Breeders Rights (PBR) regulations. This exemption gives breeders free access to genetic material for breeding, without the need to gain the authorization of a patent holder. Any restriction on this will reduce the number and range of new varieties entering the market and will stifle innovation.

Commenting on this news, AIPH novelty protection advisor Mia Buma said, “We are pleased to see that EPO has followed the lead of the European Commission on this subject and we

are hopeful that regulatory authorities in other parts of the world will also make the same decision.” AIPH secretary general, Tim Briercliffe added, “The ‘breeders exemption’ within PBR has served this industry well, but we frequently find it is under threat through issues like patenting as well as in proposed legislation. We continue to monitor this situation and arguethe case for growers when required.”

LT The Canadian Nursery Landscape Association is the federation of Canada’s provincial horticultural trade associations. Visit www.cnla-acpp.ca for more information.

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industrynews Congress 2018 provides networking and education Join over 13,000 industry friends and colleagues at Landscape Ontario’s Congress trade show and conference, held January 9-11, 2018 at the Toronto Congress Centre. With more than 600 international exhibitors, dozens of world class speakers and industry leading educational programs, the three-day event offers unique opportunities to check out the latest products, meet face-to-face with business partners, and learn leading edge techniques to help you make money.

New to the show floor this year is Green Live! a tree planting and maintenance workshop led by engaging and knowledgeable industry professionals. The presentation will take place each day of the show at 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.

The Hardscape Live! presentations will also provide interactive educational opportunities, each show day at 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.

Meanwhile, Drive Live! a safe vehicle refresher demonstration led by OPP and Toronto PD officers, will help you and your team operate safely

Congress ’18 offers three days of workshops, conferences and networking with industry and business experts.

this landscape season.

The three-day conference program is highlighted by keynote speakers: Becky Keller, a four time Olympic medalist with Canada’s women’s ice hockey team; Cheryl Pounder, a two-time Olympian on the Canadian Women’s ice hockey team; Harry Jongerden, a professional garden-

er, garden designer and garden director for 40 years; and business expert Dr. Charlie Hall of Texas A&M University.

The lineup also includes the annual IPM Symposium and Garden Centre Symposium, as well as the popular Owners Only Workshops

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and Life Lessons at Lunch sessions.

Following busy days at the conferences and checking out the show floor, enjoy the social side of Congress in the evenings, with the Awards of Excellence ceremony on Jan. 9 and the Tailgate Party on Jan. 10. Tickets must be purchased for the Awards ceremony, but admittance to Tailgate is free with a trade show badge.

Be sure to ask suppliers for a digital VIP Pass, providing free admission to the trade show floor, a $30 value. Registration and more details about Congress 2018 are available at locongress.com.

Alberta’s Green Industry Show heads to Calgary The Green Industry Show and Conference is back in Calgary, Alta., Nov. 16-17, 2017. Landscape Alberta has put together a conference program aimed to inform and inspire everyone from designers to arborists, owners to students, growers to contractors. The conference sessions are timely and responsive to industry issues - focusing on a variety of topics with 32 one-hour sessions over two days. For more information and to register, visit www.greenindustryshow.com.

Landscape Horticulture Red Seal to be harmonized by fall 2018

Snow Blowers

Since the Forum of Labour Market Ministers (FLMM) announced its strategic plan to harmonize 30 Red Seal trades in most jurisdictions by 2020, with an effort to harmonize training for two-thirds of Red Seal apprentices by 2017, the Canadian Council of Directors of Apprenticeship (CCDA) has made great progress. Work is well underway to harmonize the next set of five trades by September 2018 (including Landscape Horticulture). The CCDA has commended the strong collaboration between industry, training stakeholders and apprenticeship authorities who make the harmonization of apprenticeship training possible. More information is available at www.red-seal.ca.

Communities in Bloom announces 2017 winners On Sept. 16, the 23rd edition of the Communities in Bloom National and International Awards Ceremonies were held in Ottawa-Gatineau, National Capital Region, honouring municipalities across Canada, the United States, Northern Ireland, Belgium, Ireland, Croatia and Italy. National and international award winners were: Up to 4,500: Maple Creek, Sask.; 4,501-15,000: NOVEMBER 2017 | LANDSCAPE TRADES |

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2017-10-10 3:21 PM

industrynews Easy Elegance Screaming Neon Red rose.

Stonewall, Man.; 15,001-50,000: Cobourg, Ont.; International Challenge (Small): Castlecaulfield, Northern Ireland U.K.; International Challenge: (Medium): Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont.; International Challenge (Large): Holland, Mo.; Class of Champions (Small): Tignish, P.E.I.; Class of Champions (Medium): Millet, Alta.; Class of Champions (Large): Leduc, Alta.

the Chauncey Beadle Award for Best Shrub.

These two-year trials are judged by a permanent jury four times each year, and take place at the famed Rose Garden at Biltmore. According to Biltmore’s rose experts, the competing roses are evaluated for overall health and vigor, fragrance, disease resistance, and ability to repeat bloom.

Oakville council blocks Glen Abbey development bid City councilors in Oakville, Ont. voted unanimously against development plans on Glen Abbey Golf Course, on Sept. 27. The development plan outlined by course owner, Clublink, would see the construction of 141 detached homes, 299 townhomes and 2,782 apartments in the Toronto suburb. Instead, councillors are vying to have the lands protected under Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act. Glen Abby was designed by golf legend Jack Nicklaus in 1976, and has been home to 25 Canadian Championship PGA events, more than any other course.

AAS honours Vicky Rupley Easy Elegance rose feted at Biltmore International Trials The Easy Elegance Screaming Neon Red rose received four awards at the 2017 Biltmore International Rose Trials in Asheville, N.C. on Sept.

23. This variety, introduced to the consumer marketplace in 2015, received the following honours: George and Edith Vanderbilt Award for Most Outstanding Rose of the Trials; Lord Burleigh Award for Most Disease Resistant; William Cecil Award for Best Growth Habit; and

All-America Selections recently honored Vicky Rupley of Rochester, N.Y.-based Harris Seeds with the AAS Medallion of Honour. The award is presented to an individual who has shown a lifelong dedication to the advancement of horticulture. Rupley has generously given her time as a member of the National Garden Bureau Board of Directors from 1995-1998, then as a member of the All-America Selections Council

Vicky Rupley was honoured with the award for lifetime dedication to the advancement of horticulture.

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of Judges beginning in 2006. While serving as a judge, Rupley then joined the AAS Board of Directors, serving as a director, vice president, president, past-president from 2007-2015.

CanWest celebrates Canada 150 In the office or on the go, PRO Landscape has all the tools you need to create winning designs.

LEARN WHY PRO LANDSCAPE DOES IT BETTER prolandscape.com | 800-231-8574 | sales@prolandscape.com

32 | NOVEMBER 2017 | LANDSCAPE TRADES

British Columbia’s green profession celebrated Canada 150 at the CanWest Hort show, Sept.

27-28 at the Tradex in Abbotsford, B.C. The show featured outdoor equipment demonstrations, a greenhouse showcase and a variety of educational offerings and exhibitors from each landscape sector. Kato’s Nursery won best overall exhibit, Burnaby Lake Greenhouses won for most original displayand Minter Country Gardens took top prize in the container competition. LT 32 | November 2017 | LANDSCAPE TRADES

newproducts Jobsite cooler Milwaukee Tool continues to expand their storage solutions with the introduction of the Jobsite Cooler.

Designed from the ground-up to withstand the harshest jobsite conditions, the cooler utilizes twice the insulation of similar coolers on the market and a food-grade leak-proof liner that holds ice for 24 hours.

Milwaukee Tool www.milwaukeetool.ca

Brush chipper Tackle wood waste measuring up to 48.3 cm with the new BC1800XL brush chipper from Vermeer. The patented SmartFeed control system monitors engine performance, and either reverses or stops the vertical feed rollers as needed. Add an optional winch with 150’/45.7 m line to move logs up to 2,000 lbs onto the feed table.

Vermeer www.vermeer.com

Backpack blower The new Stihl BR 700 X backpack blower delivers 34 newtons of blowing force. Its fixed-length tube is a half-pound lighter than the STIHL BR 700 backpack blower and features a more flexible pleated connecting hose, reducing fatigue and increasing the speed of cleanups by up to 20 per cent.

Stihl www.stihl.ca

Polymeric sand Supersand G2 polymeric sand from Alliance Gator utilizes intelligent polymers to neutralize haze and dust. No blower is needed and the intelligent polymeric sand requires only one watering. This new product is recommended for a variety of uses including pool decks, patios, footpaths, driveways, parking spaces, pavements and is available in beige and slate grey.

Alliance Gator www.alliancegator.com 34 | NOVEMBER 2017 | LANDSCAPE TRADES

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newproducts Irrigation control system The new Toro Sentinel Central Control water management system pairs powerful, easy-to-use software with intelligent Sentinel field controllers. Scheduling and daily operations can be managed from a PC or iPhone and iPad using NSN Connect. Simple to operate software provides ET-based watering programs that can generate water savings of up to 30 per cent per year. Programming is flexible and easy to understand thanks to straight forward descriptions, maps and help screens.

LED lights Super Bright LEDs has a new lineup of lights designed for use in gardens, patios, driveways, walkways or sidewalks. These LED pathway lights emit 11-95 lumens of warm, white illumination and consume no more than three watts of power. Each weatherproof path light comes with a ground stake and can be easily installed in a series with its included wire splice connector. The path lights are available in aluminum offset square, pagoda, and mini bollard styles, as well as an offset round style in copper.

Super Bright LEDs www.superbrightleds.com

Toro www.toro.com

Propane engines Briggs and Stratton Commercial Power engines are now available for propane conversion through Propane Power Systems. The conversions are available for 11 Vanguard and Commercial Series engines, ranging in displacement from 205cc single-cylinder horizontals up to 993cc Big Block V-Twin engines.

Briggs and Stratton www.vanguardengines.com

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events November 6-10, International Irrigation Show & Conference, Orlando, Fla. www.irrigation.org November 14-16, FIHOQ Expo, Drummondville, Que. www.fihoq.qc.ca November 16-17, Green Industry Show and Conference, Calgary, Alta. www.greenindustryshow.com November 29-December 1, New England Grows, Boston, Mass. www.newenglandgrows.org November 29-December 1, The Buildings Show, Toronto, Ont. www.thebuildingsshow.com

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Allstone Quarry Products Inc. 31

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Atlas Polar Company Ltd 29

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Bailey Nurseries 23

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Beaver Valley Stone Limited 22

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Bobcat Company 21

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Cub Cadet Pro 39

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Dutchmaster Nurseries Limited 19

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Ford Motor Company of Canada Ltd

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Gateway Chevrolet Buick GMC 25

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Gravely 2

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Greenhorizons Sod Farms 36

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Hino Motors Canada 33

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Maple Leaves Forever 18

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Miller Compost – The Miller Group 26

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Permacon Group Inc 40

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PRO Landscape by Drafix Software 32

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Proven Winners ColorChoice 15

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January 10-12, The Mid Atlantic Nursery Trade Show, Baltimore, Md., www.mants.com

REIST Industries Inc 31

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Stihl Limited 5

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Thames Valley Brick & Building Products Ltd 30

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January 16-19, The Sports Turf Management Association Conference, Fort Worth, Texas, www.stma.org

The Salt Depot 34

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Unilock Limited 13

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WPE Equipment (Windmill) 30

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Walters Garden Inc 27

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2018 January 9-11, Landscape Ontario Congress, Toronto, Ont. www.locongress.com

January 17-19, The Tropical Plant Industry Exhibition, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. January 22-24, The Great Lakes Trade Exhibition, Lansing, Mich., www.gtle.org January 31- Feburary 2, The Illinois and Wisconsin Landscape Show, iLandscape, Schaumburg, Ill., www.ilandscape.com February 12-15, The International Education Conference and Field Day, TPI, Tuscon, Ariz. www.turfgrasssod.org February 14, GreenTrade Expo 2018, EY Centre, Ottawa, Ont. www.greentrade.ca February 14-16, ISAO Conference, Huntsville, Ont. www.isaontario.com February 15, Grow18, Manitoba Nursery and Lanscape Association Event, Winnipeg, Man. grow.mbnla.com LT

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FINN Hydroseeders & Bark Blowers New and Used • Flex Guard FRM • Soil Guard BFM • Erosion Control Blanket Seed & Fertilizer Prefilled and Unfilled Filter Sock Toll free: (888) 298-9911 • Fax: (905) 761-7959 www.fibramulch.com

INSIDE SALES REP REQUIRED Surefoot Hardscape Products Inc. is seeking a highly-motivated individual with sales experience and knowledege of the garden and hardscape industry. The hired person will be responsible for many different aspects of the business with an opportunity to learn and grow. There is trade show travel required to the USA and also our domestic shows.

All applications/resumes can be emailed to info@surefootedging.com

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES Advertise your products and services with a classified ad in Landscape Trades. Visit www.landscapetrades.com/classifieds. Post employment ads for free at landscape.jobs.

ENVIRO MASTERS L/C FRANCHISE FOR SALE Owner retiring. Great loyal customer base, excellent revenue, full training, professional group, offices coast to coast (Newmarket, Aurora, etc.).

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37

mentormoment

Nature is always in style Randy Tumber, APLD, CLD, CHT, has worked in the landscape profession for over 40 years. His award-winning company, the Orangeville, Ont.-based Tumber and Associates, is widely recognized as a leader in the design and installation of mature, native landscapes. Some of Tumber’s areas of expertise include: native habitat restoration; overall project and site planning; working with natural stone and creating natural-looking water features.

How would you describe your design style?

I got into the business years ago, and very quickly realized Randy Tumber that I didn’t particularly like a lot of the things that I was seeing and it became evident that a lot of what was being spec’d was stuff that was being driven by manufacturers as opposed to what was necessarily nice. I always gravitated towards natural elements because I tried to steer clear of the constantly changing trends and the things that quite simply did not stand the test of time. It didn’t take long to come to the realization that the only thing that doesn’t go out of style is nature, and I have a healthy respect for that and an intense appreciation for it. It’s something that doesn’t exactly ever come into vogue, but it certainly never goes out of style, and I began to appreciate that on many levels, not just with paving surfaces or walls or things of that nature, but I began to appreciate plant materials and rock and water and all the different dimensions that nature has to offer. I also came to realize that nobody doesn’t love nature; and while there is absolutely a place for all of the contemporary styles and the square, linear designs and the chrome and stainless steel and glass, I don’t have a desire to go down those roads. Our clients are typically on country properties and the reason they bought in the country is they appreciate

38 | NOVEMBER 2017 | LANDSCAPE TRADES

nature and they understand where I’m coming from, so we have a good fit.

Can you share tips on how to land upscale clientele?

We will tour 10 people on a property we have landscaped and six of them will sign a design and say they can’t wait to start.

I am always open to having prospective clients speak with past clients, and I encourage them to check out our online profiles on Houzz and Home Stars to see what people are saying about us. We are fortunate to have such great relationships with our past clients, and because they are so happy with their landscapes, they will literally sing our praises. They love every aspect, from the design process, to the contracting and construction and of course, the finished product.

How do you know when a project/client is right for your company?

There are two kinds of people: those who all they look at is dollars and cents, and we typically aren’t a great fit with them; and then there are others who put a priority on their quality of life in the here and now. If it’s all about investments and the potential return, then we might not be the best fit. But if it’s about creating something special for your family, and I’m not talking about stupid investments of course, but something that is appropriate. People used to talk about spending 15 per cent of the value of your home on landscaping, where as I say it should be more like 40 or 50 per cent, if you want something really special and quite spectacular. I often ask our clients to dream big, so I can design to dream; and sometimes that means creating plans that might be built over a number of years and several phases, but if the plans are there from the beginning, the results are going to be that much better in the end. So again, we look for clients that have the perspective that their home is where they are going to create memories with their family and the outdoor space is an essential part of LT those experiences.

See Randy Tumber speak at the Landscape Designer Conference, part of Landscape Ontario’s Congress, Jan 8.

2018. To register, visit www.locongress.com.

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