The New Jersey Landscape Contractor - Summer 2021 by Gail Woolcott

The Official Publication of the New Jersey Landscape Contractors Association

Spring/Summer 2021

TIME-SAVING SOCIAL MEDIA TIPS FOR LANDSCAPE COMPANIES

ORNAMENTAL GRASSES

HIRING AND ONBOARDING

FIRE PIT PLANTINGS

Published By

The New Jersey Landscape Contractor magazine is the official publication of the New Jersey Landscape Contractors Association, dedicated to the professional landscape industry of New Jersey. NJLCA was founded in 1966 as the Bergen County Landscape Contractors Association, and is today comprised of over 550 member companies throughout New Jersey.

New Jersey Landscape Contractors Association 465 Mola Blvd, Ste. 4, Elmwood Park, NJ 07407 Phone | 201-703-3600 -- Fax | 201-703-3776 E-mail | info@njlca.org Visit our website at www.NJLCA.org Publisher/Editor: Gail E. Woolcott

Table of Contents Photo courtesy of Scenic Landscaping, Station Village at Avenel

President’s Message

3 Big Ways Landscape Design Software Saves Time

Letter from the Editor

The Buzz

Contractor Focus: Beaumont Landscape

Pavers with Less Cuts

Sizing Up with Colors of the Year

Associate Focus: Grass Roots, Inc.

6 Time Saving Social Media Tips

Welcome Members

Ornamental Grasses - Low Maintenance / High Drama

Just Say “No” to Mulch Volcanoes

Shave Time Off Your Sales Process with Online Appointment Scheduling

IPM vs. PHC

Be Who You Are

Overlaying Concrete or Asphalt Pavement

What Do You Amine About Esters How to Easily Measure Your Landscape Company Marketing to CUT What Isn’t Working

Build a Winning Process for Recruiting, Hiring and Onboarding Employees

Turf Talk

Advertiser Index

Landscape AlterNATIVES: Red Maple (Acer Rubrum)

Tales from the Landscape Side

Gotta Go Back in Time

The More You Know: The Effects of 59 Staking Trees

What is a PEO?

Fire Pit Plantings

Low Cost Advertising to Rake in More Business

www.NJLCA.org

What Teaching Has Taught Me

Contributing Writers Pete Baloglou | Frank Borque | Greg Carpenter | Stephanie Cohen | Chad Diller | Patrick DuChene | DynaScape | Bill Errickson | CL Fornari | Richard Goldstein | Corey Halstead | Jack Jostes | Stacy Mooradian | Dan Moreland | Brian Oleksak | Beth Pressley | John Raffiani | Jeff Rak | Steven K. Rettke | Nick Tristani | Steve Umbrell | Gail Woolcott | Steven Yergeau NJLCA Combined Board President | Richard Goldstein, CLT Vice President | John Freitag Treasurer | Wade Slover Chairman of the Board | Justin Flatow, CLT Director | Richard Andreu Director | Jeff Baker Director | Greg Carpenter, CLT Director | George Futterknecht, CLT Director | Scott Hild, CLT Director | Shawn Kukol Associate Director | Joe Bolognese Associate Director | David Gaynor Advisor | Dr. Bruce Clarke, Rutgers University Advisor | Dr. Steve Fischer, Bergen Comm. College Advisor | Dr. James Murphy, Rutgers University The New Jersey Landscape Contractor magazine is published triennially. 600 print copies are distributed to members and over 4,000 digital issues are sent to professionals in the Green Industry of New Jersey, as well as educational and governmental institutions. Subscription rates: $45.00 per year; $15.00 per copy. New Jersey residents only, please add 7% sales tax. To advertise in The New Jersey Landscape Contractor, please contact Gail Woolcott at (201) 703-3600 or e-mail gwoolcott@njlca.org. Article and photo submissions are encouraged and may be sent to NJLCA at the above address. Publisher assumes no responsibility for safekeeping or return of photos or manuscripts, and reserves all rights to edit material submitted for publication. © 2021 New Jersey Landscape Contractors Association. All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced by any means, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of the publisher. The opinions expressed in articles do not necessarily represent the opions of the NJLCA.

PUBLISHED May 2021 Cover Photo: Siciliano Landscape Company, Club Way Residence 3

President’s Message While most companies I have spoken with are overwhelmed with work, they are faced with labor issues and material issues. This makes it very difficult to get jobs done and keep your clients happy.

THE NEXT WAVE OF COVID ISSUES Hello everyone and welcome to Spring 2021! After a crazy winter, we are now doing what we are designed to do, and that is landscaping and beautification of the world! Yes, the World! Do not discount your ability to change how everything looks, it’s on you, it’s on your imagination, go sell it! But wait, you cannot get the materials you need to do it! COVID again, darn! As most of you know, getting material this year has become quite the challenge. From no availability to prices that are just ridiculous. Try to explain this to your clients. This may prove to be one of the most challenging sales seasons we have faced in years.

Coming Events May 13 - Membership Meeting at Mr. C Fence - Garfield, NJ June 10 - Membership Meeting July 7 - Member Mixer at The Terrace August 12 - Membership Meeting September 9 - Membership Meeting October 1-2 - Northeast Green Industry Showcase - Hunterdon County Fairgrounds - Lambertville, NJ October 12th - NJLCA Golf Classic at Farmstead Golf & Country Club

All members and their employees are invited to attend membership meetings at no charge!

What can you do to help your company? Early ordering on jobs that you have sold to be sure that you are in the loop when its available. Explaining to your clients the need to get their material as soon as its ready for delivery, regardless of when you plan to start the job. Ask them if they can store the material onsite. If not, try to store at your location. While I understand that moving material twice is not cost effective, it is a guarantee that when the job is ready, you have the material. Share the newsletters from vendors with clients explaining the shortages and price increases. Let your clients know that prices may go up during the project due to this shortage and they may be faced with a change order reflecting the sudden change. Make sure you have protected yourself for

these ever-changing circumstances. As for the labor shortage, what can I say? We all have our opinions on why this is happening and keeping politics out of the equation I can honestly say this is a national problem that may not change anytime soon. Because of this, scheduling of projects also becomes a challenge. My advice, be honest! If your client wants your service, they will understand and wait. But making promises you can not hold to, will hurt you! Our clients do not always like what they hear, but the truth is truth, honesty is paramount. In closing, I wish everyone a healthy and prosperous year, and we look forward to seeing everyone at our soon to open monthly meetings, and our two trade shows in the next year. Sincerely,

Richard Goldstein, President

Letter from the Editor Welcome to the latest issue of The New Jersey Landscape Contractor magazine. As you’ll soon see, we’ve made some layout changes to the magazine and hope you like it! We are so excited that things are starting to open up again and even more excited to start hosting in-person events again, starting this month! It has been a long road here and although we are not to a point yet that there are no COVID-19 infections, but we are certainly much closer than we were at this time last year. This issue is chock full of great information that you can put to use right away! From plant material to social media, planting processes to paver techniques, technology to IPM and mulch volcanoes to ornamental grasses, there is something for everyone. We’d like to thank our advertisers for allowing us to be able to put together such a great source of information to all of you. Please support them and give them your daily business. Please join the NJLCA at an upcoming event. We’d love to see all of your faces! I know it is a very busy time of year, but make sure to take a few moments to breathe and recognize the busy-ness only means that you are making your clients’ properties beautiful and making money! Have a great spring and summer and thank you all for your continued support. Gail Woolcott, Executive Director

Spring/Summer 2021 4

The buzz Two Members Nominated for NJLCA Lifetime Membership The NJLCA would like to congratulate our latest nominees for Lifetime Memberships: Glenn Bergemann, GCB Landscaping and Patrick Donovan, Classic Landscaping. Lifetime members must be nominated by a member of the Combined Board, approved by 2/3 majority of the Combined Board and must be passed by a simple majority vote of the general membership present at a membership meeting. Nominees must have been a Regular Contractor member in the NJLCA for a minimum of ten (10) years, display exemplary service to both the NJLCA and the industry, and practice proper business ethics. Glenn Bergemann, GCB Landscaping, Ramsey, NJ Owned & Operated by Glenn Bergemann for over 35 years, GCB Landscaping Inc. is a

small-scale full-service landscape operation. They offer a wide variety of services, from planting and designing, to general maintenance and trimming. Glenn was an integral part of the Landscape New Jersey Trade Show and Conference (previously New Jersey Landscape). He, along with the rest of the Trade Show Committee helped grow the show from a small event to what it is today. He is still very involved in the NJLCA and attends meetings and the trade show regularly, always with great advice and knowledge. Patrick Donovan, Classic Landscaping, Edison, NJ With 38 plus years in the Green and Snow Industry as an owner/operator, and 27 years as a Police Officer for the Port Authority of NY and NJ, Pat Donovan

possesses a unique skill set and experience level from complete opposite sides of the spectrum. He is ICPI Certified, NCMA Certified, Licensed NJ Pesticide Applicator, Certified Nursery and Landscape Professional, HAZWOPER Certified, NJLCA, TCIA, SIMA, NALP, ASCA and contributing writer for numerous trade publications. Pat has been a font of knowledge in the safety, truck and trailer compliance and licensing arena and became the Safety Committee Chair in 2018. He has brought his insight to many meetings and articles for the NJLCA throughout his time as a member. Thank you to Glenn and Pat for your years of service to the New Jersey Landscape Contractors Association and we congratulate you again!

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Pavers with Less Cuts by Dan Moreland, Belgard

Early in my career whenever setting up a trade show booth, I remember a Belgard colleague giving me the cardinal rule of setting up a paver display booth: “Dan, no cuts!”

hicular unit be cut to no smaller than 1/3 its original size, and no paver once cut should be installed with any dimension less than 3/8”. Improperly done radius cuts can be unsightly.

While we shared it as a joke, I quickly learned the hard way why he said this: multiple trade shows, walking pavers hundreds of feet to an outdoor saw in cold, snowy weather, or wrestling a heavy chop saw to cut pavers for an outdoor display could become time consuming.

Before we continue, make no mistake, saw cutting of concrete pavers and retaining wall systems will never go away. Many saw manufacturers have invested in research and development resulting in excellent dust-less cutting equipment. Hardscaping will never be 100% “cut-less” as my colleague envisioned, and cutting concrete hardscaping products will not only will always exist, but is a segment of the hardscaping industry that will always grow as the paver and SRW industry grows.

Fast forward to 2021. Forget a 10x10 trade show booth: paver installers know how labor intensive this can be on an actual jobsite. Due to OSHA regulations many hardscaping professionals have had to make difficult choices when it comes to cutting concrete pavers. Many companies have invested in dust control systems to comply with silica dust rules. This is not necessarily a negative development as it has been proven that silica dust is detrimental to employee health, but these new safety procedures can represent a substantial investment. Cutting pavers is a cost that must be included in every estimate. The Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute (ICPI) estimates saw cutting of concrete pavers takes between 20-30 feet per labor hour, depending on the thickness of the paving unit, equipment used and skill of the operator. In addition, estimators need to account for leftover pavers after they have been cut (aka “waste”). Finally, a poorly cut paver could potentially represent a weak spot in the wearing course. The ICPI recommends a ve-

But WHAT IF? What if a designer could create a paver project AROUND the concept of “No Cuts” versus cutting around the project design? Would that not solve a lot of the troubling OSHA issues AND save equipment and labor time? Would it not allow a company to deliver a satisfying project for the customer at a lower cost, with more profit, all with an amazing design leading to an amazing project? A “No Cuts” or “Less Cuts” paving project is now possible with mathematically designed modularity paver solutions. Designed in 3” plus increments, these modular solutions provide: 1. A simple system. 2. A choice of mix or match slate faced or smooth face systems. 3. Three pieces on one pallet in 6, 12, 18” highly interchangeable dimen-

sions with each other plus accessory accents available. These systems provide maximized pallet layout to increase jobsite efficiencies. The multiple sizes allow for a high amount of creativity with jobsite layout, patterns, colors and textures and clean crisp joint lines. This timely development in our industry now offers contractors the perfect solution to a high demand market: •

Contractors can complete projects faster

•

Minimizing cuts reduces labor demand in an already labor shortage market

•

Client final projects are easier to envision.

When it comes to paver installation, this is a whole new ballgame. Contractors that embrace or at least open their company to new technologies place themselves at a competitive advantage in the hardscapes industry. Less cuts equal less injury liability, OSHA scrutiny and more time efficiency. Check with your preferred manufacturer for what “modularity” products they offer, or visit: www.belgard.com/Simple Daniel G. Moreland, LEED GA, is a Certified Construction Product Representative and a Construction Documents Technologist with the Construction Specifications Institute. In over 17 years with Oldcastle as a Belgard Architectural Rep, Dan has worked on hardscaping projects some of the world’s top architectural and engineering firms in Manhattan and the Northeast US. Dan is an ICPI instructor that has taught in 5 states including several times at HNA. He is a member of the ICPI Technical Committee and vice-chairman of the ICPI Commercial Promotion Team Advisory Committee.

www.NJLCA.org 7

Spring/Summer 2021 8

Sizing Up with Colors of the Year!

by Stephanie Cohen, The Perennial Diva! Hemerocallis Happy Returns Dwarf Daylily, courtesy of Monrovia

Usually a gardeners first love is pastels, a la English gardening. The soft soothing colors blend easily and it’s simpler to design with them. The other thing is without bright colors a garden tends to look bigger. If the textures of the leaves are fine, that too makes a small garden look bigger. You still need one or two bold foliages for contrast, but this is one way to make a rather small space look larger. Another way is to have a monochromatic garden, for instance a white garden, nothing jarring and following the rules for texture. Pretty, but it can be less than exciting. White is definitely a color for smaller gardens. A few years ago Pantone who picks the color of the year selected Tangerine Tango and gardeners loved it. It showed up

in clothes, kitchen accents, and furniture. One of gardeners least favorite colors became exceedingly popular. By using really hot colors in a large space can help reduce the size of the garden. By adding tons of bold textures, you may have created a more vibrant smaller. Everyone fell in love with hot colors for flowers, foliage, and vegetables. The following year they chose Marsala and it turned out to be less than popular. Gardeners couldn’t figure out if it bordered on neutral or just dull. Remember your reason for choosing your color and texture scheme. The next year Pantone chose ‘Serenity’ and ‘Rose Quartz’, a rather strange combo ,unless you are choosing colors for a baby’s room or a wedding! This is

about as tranquil you can get without taking a nap! Each year the color they pick becomes an influencer in all sorts of things , but we are interested in plants and garden accessories. In 2020 because some of the usual topics were overshadowed by the election and our concerns about the virus, the color of the year was overshadowed by these topics. In 2020 classic blue was chosen. It represents calming effects on people as the proverbial blue sky, the sea, and is considered a calming color. I think this is just what we needed. Blue flowers, annuals, perennials, and vines are plentiful. Blue happens to be a gentlemen’s favorite colors. Not only flowers could have played a role, but the glorious textures and mixtures of blues and

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green blues in foliage. I think using this as a backbone for all kinds of combos lets the gardener use it for many years . If you suggest using it in containers and annual gardens, you have the option of developing a super trendy focus and each year designers can tell this to their clients. I think this should be a selling point for designers who also design for commercial sites. Another paint company had picked bronze as the color of the year. I personally thought it was depressing and dull. To each their own. It was less than exciting!

of practical clothing for work for men and women. Also for clinics, hospitals and even prisons Yes, it is a soothing color and can take a hot red and magenta and by using gray to separate with foliage you prevent a case of sunglasses paranoia. It always works well as a neutral, as Stachys byzantina, the old standard known as Lamb’s Ears. By the way blue gray and green gray can be substituted.

In 2021 Pantone chose ‘Ultimate Grey” and ’Illuminating’ , a perky and cheerful yellow. Will it be popular? Only time will tell. It can change how we design our gardens. This is what challenges all of us to stay current and get our clients and customers excited. Plug it in your blogs and show it on your websites. Make gardening fun for clients and customers and it will show on your bottom line!

Now let’s talk about our cheerful yellow. Think spring as daffodils, tulips and Forsythia. Hop skip to summer with Hemerocallis like ‘Happy Returns’ , a stalwart rebloomer, Rudbeckia ‘American Goldrush’ and a new one short and Rudbeckia ‘Sweet as Honey’. Along the way, this yellow paints the trees in fall and the garden reprises it’s earlier color with some fall leaves. You have nailed this year’s winning color.

Let’s talk about the gray. 2021 has not started off with a bang, still covid weary and dismal politics made for a really gray day. When I was growing up, gray was the color

Silver Carpet Lambs Ear, courtesy of Monrovia

Just remember color creates a mood that is definitely subjective. How do you want clients and customers to think about this garden? Small, but stylish, cool and comfortable, hot and happening, large and exciting are all choices. Gardening is great because not only do our gardens evolve, but we evolve. This is a glorious attribute! If we get bored or dislike our garden, don’t despair. It’s time to go shopping! Besides next year we have new colors to contemplate. Stephanie Cohen (aka The Perennial Diva or the Vertically Challenged Gardener) is an author, lecturer, educator and consultant. She has received awards from the Philadelphia Horticulture Society, and the Perennial Plant Association and was instrumental in establishing an arboretum at Temple University. Stephanie has lectured in 35 states and written many magazine articles. She is the 2020 Hall of Fame Award Winner from the Garden Communicators of America. You can reach her at 610-409-8232. Little Lemon Goldenrod, courtesy of Monrovia www.NJLCA.org 11

6 TIME-SAVING SOCIAL MEDIA TIPS

FOR LAWN CARE COMPANIES AND LANDSCAPERS by Chad Diller, Landscape Leadership

“You only have so much time. And, it’s the one resource you can’t get more of no matter how many...jobs you sell.”

Everyone and your mother keeps talking about social media. You hoped it was just a fad but the craze keeps building each year. Maybe you dabbled, got on the bandwagon, and tried your best to post, tweet, pin, update, snap, and whatever else people are doing these days. Maybe you got so busy with your lawn care or landscaping business that you got someone else to do it for you. Or maybe it fell to the wayside and you’re now realizing it’s time to spring back into action. Deep down inside, you’re concerned. You love the concept of building a loyal online community and getting new clients from social media, yet you want to make smart business decisions without wasting time or money. I get it. I’ve been there myself. In early 2012, I remember standing in front of a room of about 100 coworkers trying to explain how platforms like Facebook and Twitter were going to help our lawn and landscape business grow. In the midst of blank stares and raised eyebrows, I tried to convince my co-workers (and secretly, myself) that it was worthwhile. Fast-forward five years, and these social networks have proven their ability to reach prospective clients. Clearly social media for lawn care businesses or landscapers isn’t a waste of time, if you go about it in the right manner. Spring/Summer 2021

Using Time Wisely on Social Media

Over the years after that speech, I spend a lot of time on social media. I realized one important truth. You only have so much time. And, it’s the one resource you can’t get more of no matter how many lawn care customers you add or how many landscaping jobs you sell. So to help you keep from wasting your precious time, here are some time-saving social media tips:

1. Spend More Time Initially on Strategy

Now while that may sound contrary to your overall goal to spend less time, it’s absolutely necessary to invest more of it on the front-end. Don’t expect a good ROI without doing the groundwork first. Explore your intent for social media and create a detailed plan that will support that purpose on a frequent and consistent basis. Your social media success is dependent upon that and this will direct how you spend your time on a day-to-day basis going forward. Create a calendar to plan seasonally relevant content. Regardless of if it’s an article, image, or video, your content will fill in predictable slots in this calendar. If you’re just starting out, maybe it’s one or two posts a week. Down the road, it will be easier to post more often. Be consistent and stick to the calendar. Your followers will appreciate it and it will reduce stress for you when it gets busy.

2. Start With One Social Platform and Max Out at Two

If you’re attempting to be active on too many networks, you will water down your

efforts and waste time. Figure out where your target audience is and narrow your focus. You don’t need to be on every social media platform. Facebook is ideal for B2C companies and LinkedIn is great for B2B. Become regularly active and engaged on one of those platforms before you move onto others. (RELATED PODCAST: The Difference in Marketing to Companies vs. Homeowners)

3. Create and Curate Your Own Content

Since you’ll have already created a detailed content calendar, you’ll need to find postworthy content. Searching online for something accurate and original can eat up a lot of time. Instead, create your own resources over time. Regularly produced blog posts, videos, or images of your work or team, is perfect to re-publish later. Organize these items by category and seasonal relevance and it will make creating your content calendar easier each year.

4. Use Social Media Scheduling Tools

Work ahead when it’s slow. Many social tools like HubSpot, HootSuite, and Buffer allow you to bulk upload messages, links, and images and schedule them out for later. A little work in the off-season could save you a ton of time when you could get too busy and forget. Many social tools also allow for automatic publishing when you publish a new blog article.

5. Set Up Social Monitoring & Filters

Some social media tools allow you to set up notifications based on certain criteria. Instead of trying to scroll through a giant news feed each day, you can use these tools to notify you when someone mentions your brand or uses specific hashtags near a geographic location. You can also create targeted filters to view only the updates you want to see from specific groups of people or organizations.

6. Delegate Duties and Schedule Activity Times

Multi-tasking will cause you to be less effective at whatever you’re doing. Weigh your options for being instantly connected carefully. Try to minimize the constant barrage of non-urgent likes and shares as much as possible. Set scheduled times for you or team members to be active on social media. If the tasks can be divided up among your team members, assign certain duties to be done at the right times.

It’s Time to Get Social

Social media for lawn care and landscapers makes sense if it’s done right. Putting it off or ignoring it isn’t making it go away. And a causal approach won’t work either. You can be a social media success if you follow these time-saving tips. You’ll increase your company’s influence, build up a loyal following, and even attract new clients. Then everyone and their mother will be talking about you instead. You’ll be the latest craze. Chad Diller is the Director of Client Success for Landscape Leadership. Prior to joining our team he served as a marketing manager for one of the Top 150 Companies in the Green Industry. In addition to his vast marketing experience, he also has held certifications such as an ISA Certified Arborist and Landscape Industry Certified Technician. He currently resides in beautiful Lancaster County, PA.

www.NJLCA.org 13

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Ornamental Grasses – Low Maintenance/ High Drama by Brian Oleksak, County College of Morris

Mexican Feather Grass and Vervain

One of the most exciting trends in landscape horticulture in the past few years has been the rediscovery and new introductions of ornamental grasses in the marketplace. The old standards of fountain grass, feather reed and Chinese silver grass still play a role in designs, but the palette is much broader now for creative designers. The desire for a greater use of native species, curbing the spread of invasive plants and the inspirational designs by European visionaries who recognized the natural beauty of North America launched an aesthetic trend that is changing the industry. Grasses are members of the Poaceae family, a family of monocots with a worldwide distribution. From a horticultural perspective, we tend to group the various genera as cool season and warm season in their seasonal performance. As the name implies, cool season grasses are physiologically active and growing during cooler seasons, particularly the spring and fall. Warm season species, like switch grass, blue grama and prairie dropseed, are most active during the heat of the summer and actually emerge in the springtime three to four weeks after their cool season counterparts. Landscape maintenance professionals should be aware of this growth habit as the customer may assume that the grasses did not overwinter. Simply assure the customer

that these species will reemerge when soil temperatures get warmer. One of the best arguments for including ornamental grasses into a landscape design is the ease of care and maintenance. When considering the selection of any landscape plant we should always ask “Where is the plant found in nature?” Selecting the right plant for the right place always takes into consideration the plant’s evolutionary history and adaptation to its environment. Grasses evolved on prairies and open grasslands in full sunlight, frequently undergoing periods of droughty conditions. When used in residential and commercial designs grasses require full sun and welldrained soil conditions for best performance. Few grass species tolerate shaded locations; the exceptions being Japanese forest grass (Hakonechloa macra) and Northern sea oats (Chasmantium latifolium) which will tolerate semishaded conditions. Designers seeking a grassy look for shaded locations should instead explore the possibilities of using sedges (Carex species) of which there is a vast array of new introductions on the market. Landscapers should avoid supplemental irrigation and excessive fertilizer as these practices may encourage overly lush growth and weak stem strength causing the grasses to flop over after a heavy rain. Yearly maintenance of ornamental

grasses is minimal, making them perfect candidates for use in commercial designs and sprawling housing developments. Grasses need to be cut back once per year to remove last year’s display and allow for the emergence of the current season’s growth. The landscape maintenance professionals and their clients can work out the details as to when this happens. Some people prefer to leave the grasses standing for the winter to provide interest in an otherwise barren landscape. For these clients cutting back grasses is part of the spring cleanup regime. Some professionals prefer to cut them back in the fall in anticipation of heavy snowfall and winter maintenance activities. Either practice is acceptable as it will not affect the growth of the grasses in the future. Grasses are a perennial feature of the landscape and require little care beyond seasonal cutbacks. However, after several years on the site you may discover a dead zone originating in the center of an established grass clump. Should this happen you should dig up the clump, cut out the dead area, divide the vigorous portions and replant them. As features in a design grasses offer many possibilities for softening hardscape elements, blending with the existing environment, reintroducing native species and creating a sense of rhythm and movement with their soft,

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Blue Grama

Mixed Perennials, Olympic Park

billowy forms. A key to the effective use of grasses is to mass them in the landscape. With the exception of a truly large species like Chinese silver grass (Miscanthus sinensis), a solitary grass clump is not sufficient to hold its own in a design. Massing an area with grasses recalls their origin and makes a bolder impact. Grass forms include the strong verticals of switch grass (Panicum virgatum) and Indian grass (Sorghastrum nutans), the arching tufts of prairie dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis) and the frothy waves of Mexican feather grass (Nasella tenuissima, formerly Stipa) and purple love grass (Eragrostis pectinacea).

selection of grasses by their habit, form, colors and textures you can greatly enhance the year-round appeal of a landscape design.

Photo: Brian Oleksak

Color changes offering four-season appeal is another great attribute to consider. Many of the native ornamental grasses such as switch grass, big bluestem (Andropogon gerardi) and little bluestem (Schizacyrium scoparium) begin the growing season with blue-green foliage, which changes to tones of red and russet in the fall finally settling on straw-colored winter display. The inflorescences (“flowers”) of grasses also add texture and nuance to the seasonal changes of a planting. Inflorescence forms range from narrow spikes and racemes to billowy, cloud-like panicles. The inflorescences of blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis) appear like little flags held above the tufted foliage. By careful

Photo: Brian Oleksak

Grasses to consider in your next landscape design plan (including hardiness zones) • Switch grass (Panicum virgatum), ‘Northwind’, ‘Heavy Metal’ Zones 3-9

Little bluestem ‘Standing Ovation’. Photo: Rutgers Gardens

Brian Oleksak is Associate Professor and Chair of the Landscape and Horticultural Technology Department at the County College of Morris in Randolph, New Jersey. Professor Oleksak teaches courses in woody landscape plant and herbaceous plant identification, soils, arboriculture and botany at CCM. He holds a B.S. in Agronomy from Penn State University and an M.S. in Ornamental Horticulture from Ohio State University. Professor Oleksak resides in Newton, New Jersey.

• Big bluestem (Andropogon gerardi), ‘Indian Warrior’, ‘Red October’, ‘Windwalker®’ Zones 3-9 • Little bluestem (Schizacyrium scoparium), ‘Standing Ovation’ Zones 3-9 • Mexican feather grass (Nasella tenuissima) Zones 7-10 • Blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis), Zones 3-9 • Side-oats grama (Bouteloua curtipendula) Zones 3-9 • Prairie dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis), ‘Tara’, a dwarf variety, Zones 3-9 • June grass (Koeleria macrantha) Zones 3-9 • Sweet grass (Hierochloe odorata) Zones 3-7 • Bottlebrush grass (Elymus hystrix) Zones 3-8

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IPM VS. PHC:

IS THERE A DIFFERENCE?

by Steven K. Rettke, Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Monmouth County History During the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, Integrated Pest Management (IPM) was an approach to field crop management that farmers increasingly began to practice in the United States. It took barely a decade for farm agriculture to fully realize

the problems associated with the overreliance on pesticides when controlling pests. The classic example of the overuse of the chlorinated hydrocarbon (DDT) immediately comes to mind. Despite the astonishing success that synthetic pesticides usually have at killing pests, some

US Agriculture initially began to practice IPM with extensive row crop farming more than 60 years ago. (Photo Credit: Steven K. Rettke, Rutgers Coop. Ext.)

have failed with disastrous results. This especially has occurred when the same material was used repeatedly over extended periods of time. For this reason, the IPM approach became necessary for US farmers managing extensive row crops. Approximately 20-25 years after

The use of GMO’s with crops such as Round-Up Ready soybeans & corn is certainly an IPM tactic, but emerging complications are a concern. (Photo Credit: Steven K. Rettke, Rutgers Coop. Ext.) Spring/Summer 2021

farmers began implementing IPM methods, the landscaping or “green industry” started to gradually incorporate IPM methods into their service programs. Throughout much of the 1980’s, many arborists associated with International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) at least initially made some attempts to market IPM services to their clients. For a variety of reasons, many of these arborists experienced only limited success selling IPM. It was concluded that to the average client, IPM did not have name recognition. Additionally, the term “IPM” sounded unattractive. The word “integrated” seemed too technical and too much emphasis was given to the negative word “pest.” Therefore, in 1989, the ISA decided to adopt a new term to introduce to their clients and discontinued actively marketing the IPM acronym. The new marketing catchphrase adopted was called Plant Health Care (PHC) with the hope that it would eliminate some of the negative “feelings” that the average client may have had with IPM.

IPM requires the close monitoring for insect/ disease pests. The use of a hand-lens is essential. (Photo Credit: Steven K. Rettke, Rutgers Coop. Ext.)

mycorrhizae. The PHC philosophy also extends into areas of appropriate selection of landscape plants, their placement and the use of pest resistant plants. Client consultation concerning the health and vitality of their plants is the focus.

Some landscape companies have attempted to be all inclusive & have it both ways. (Photo Credit: Steven K. Rettke, Rutgers Coop. Ext.)

a true difference in meaning and practice between these two terms? It is a reasonable argument to suggest that PHC is a term that is more understandable to the average client. Does PHC equal IPM or does the name change represent more than just a new marketing angle?

PHC emphasizes an holistic approach to maintaining plant vigor & health. It typically focuses on services such as mulching, fertilizing & pruning. (Photo Credit: Steven K. Rettke, Rutgers Coop. Ext.)

PHC tactics have more recently expanded with utilizing mycorrhizae products.

IPM attempts to apply selective pest treatments where they are needed. (Photo Credit: Steven K. Rettke, Rutgers Coop. Ext.)

Separation? With the separation between IPM and PHC practitioners (at least in name), the obvious question is whether there exists

When defining PHC, it is generally stated to be a holistic approach to maintaining plant vigor and health. PHC typically focuses on services such as mulching, fertilizing, pruning, take-downs and more recently the use of bio-stimulants and

The importation of Vedalia Beetles into California to suppress Cottony Cushion Scales in 1888 was the earliest example of classical biological control in the USA. Was a great success until it became compromised by excessive broad spectrum insecticides.

IPM takes advantage of beneficial insects. They are working free of charge. Don’t destroy them needlessly. (Photo Credit: Steven Rettke, Rutgers Coop. Ext.)

IPM, on the other hand, has historically concentrated on the management of the pest in the system. It is metaphorically stated by some that PHC is an umbrella and IPM is a subset that lies under it. The PHC focus on the plant in the landscape is certainly different than the IPM focus on the pest in monoculture farming. However, the urban landscape is not row-crop farming and although the name IPM was borrowed from agriculture, its use in the landscape is not the same. Landscape IPM has evolved & the early emphasis initiated by entomologists has now also included the holistic approach toward total plant management more commonly associated with PHC. Plant Health Care has become the basis of what IPM programs build upon.

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Conflict? Some notable individuals have commented that there are instances where PHC does not equal IPM. They have stated that there may be some practices performed with PHC services that are the antithesis of and have nothing to do with IPM. For example, the fertilization of plants is usually a regularly scheduled practice with PHC. However, when plants are supplemented with N-fertilizers, often the insect populations feeding on the plants will increase (the nitrogen is a desired nutrient for many insects and also increases reproduction rates). Perhaps the most notorious example of the above problem involves the fertilizing of hemlocks when they are infested with hemlock wooly adelgids. Un-

Potassium (K) deficiency in blue spruce needles was caused from excessively wet soils & not from a K-deficiency in the soil. (Photo Credit: Steven K. Rettke, Rutgers Coop. Ext.)

crease pest pressures. This obviously is not a “good situation,” but these practices can make a lot of money. This does not mean that PHC is a bad approach for managing plants, however, the practitioner must adapt this service to site-specific problems that may develop over time. High N-fertilization causes hemlock woolly adelgids to explode. Before fertilizing, control the pest first. (Photo Credit: Steven K. Rettke, Rutgers Coop. Ext.)

less the HWA are controlled first, the fertilizing of hemlocks with N causes HWA populations to explode and thus kill the tree faster. Another common example involves cases where spider mite resurgence occurs after fertilizations. Therefore, there are certain services that are done with PHC that will increase the vigor of the plant, but may also in-

IPM/PHC practices will be limited unless changes are made with the evil white marble stone mulch. (Photo Credit: Steven K. Rettke, Rutgers Coop. Ext.)

High N-fertilization at nursery caused maple spider mites at right to explode. Note the severe chlorotic maple leaf tissues. This mite species is primarily host specific to maple & will not feed on oaks shown at left. (Photo Credit: Steven K. Rettke, Rutgers Coop. Ext.)

Working Together In conclusion, answering the question as to whether there is an actual difference between IPM and PHC is difficult, because they are so tightly intertwined. Undoubtedly, there are many landscape plant managers who indicate that they provide either PHC or IPM services and yet are essentially performing almost identical practices. Even those that insist that significant differences exist between IPM and PHC should still agree that both philosophies are two approaches that should and can work together. Hence, PHC will assist with your IPM and IPM will assist with your PHC.

Both IPM & PHC require a fine eye when monitoring landscapes to prevent problems & keep plants healthy. (Photo Credit: Steven K. Rettke, Rutgers Coop. Ext.)

This article has been reprinted with permission from the Rutgers Plant and Pest Advisory, originally published on March 5, 2021. Steve Rettke is an Agriculture & Natural Resources Program Associate at the Cooperative Extension of Monmouth County, Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station. He can be reached at rettke@njaes.rutgers.edu.

This large, old, majestic white oak will require the PHC skills of an arborist to maintain safety within this residential area. (Photo Credit: Steven K. Rettke, Rutgers Coop. Ext.)

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Spring/Summer 2021

Be Who YOU Are

by Patrick J. DuChene, DuChene Design Solutions On a regular basis, I am contacted by landscape contractors, designers, magazines, even software and hardware companies…all looking for information on how to improve upon what they do in the landscape industry and how my business came to be and what my “secret sauce” is. I am asked about how I got started, how I have survived, and how my business continues to stay relevant and fruitful. They are all looking for some bite of information that may solve a problem they have or looking for new ways of doing things that may make them more efficient, more profitable, or more competitive. I commend them for looking outside their bubble, by not trying to solve all their problems internally, because I believe this is a big problem in our industry and probably most industries. Ideas run dry, processes become stale, employees often become bored and unhappy, and

sadly some of these old methods become costly and not helpful for the health of the business. Many businesses try to solve everything internally due to pride or even fear that asking for help would be a sign of weakness. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness. It is a sign of strength. Having the strength to ask for help is a good thing and can be the difference in a business just surviving or adapting and thriving. But interestingly, recently I have run out of new things to tell people. I have said everything I thought I had to say about how I have survived. I thought I had said everything about what I do to keep my clients happy. I thought I had come up with all the helpful things to tell people, which is why I have recently been declining participation in requests to publish any kind of information. “I have said

what I know, and I don’t want to sound like a skipping record” I have told myself. “There are plenty of old articles I was a part of that have the information” I have told myself. But something happened to me in the past 24 hours that spoke so powerfully to me. Something came over me like a freight train and showed me the true reason why I have stayed relevant, why I have stayed successful, and told me that “This is what you need be telling people above all else, be who YOU are”. The beginning of this revelation occurred when my wife and 3 children sat down last night to watch a documentary about someone we all know and we all love, and many of us grew up watching every day…Mr. Rogers. It was a documentary produced by someone who came to know Fred Rogers very well and through this documentary, he introduces many

www.NJLCA.org 23

Photo courtesy of www.mrrogers.org

people who knew him, worked with him, and were his “neighbors”. Many of us grew up watching him. We watched the puppet shows. We watched him go on field trips, we watched him feed his fish (which was my favorite part even though I never thought he gave them enough food!) and he introduced us to so many things so I have a good feeling that most of you reading this will relate to what I am talking about. But a common theme that kept coming up by those who knew him so well

was that he was just himself and he brought this behavior out of those who were fortunate enough to meet him. When anyone met him in person, they said they had an overwhelming feeling of being able to let their guard down and it was safe to just be who they are and that they were they were so happy when they were in his presence. Mr. Rogers let us know that it was ok to be ourselves and he “loved us just the way we are” and this is why we loved watching him. He let us be who we are. This message really hit me last night and put me in a real state of reflection about being “just the way we are” but this was only the first half of the revelation that has come over me. I was sitting in church this morning listening to my pastor. Pastor Bryan. In his message he said something that made all of this click. He spoke about the importance of discussing your problems and admitting your faults and sins and that many people work so hard to paint a picture of

themselves that everything is great…you know, like they live in the house with the white picket fence and have the perfect family and everything is great. They post how great things are on social media to make sure we all know how “great things are or how great they are”. In doing this, they do not go through the process of dealing with their imperfections or their shortcomings which ultimately can result in healing. And sitting there listening to him it hit me and said to me “tell people to be who they are”. As I began thinking about this, I realized something. THIS is my secret sauce. THIS is how I have stayed relevant, and THIS is why I have stayed happy and successful in making my clients happy. I give people who I am, and I don’t try to be anyone else. I believe that every single person in the landscape industry, and any industry for that matter, would be more successful and happier if they just went back to the basics of being who they were created to be and not trying to be someone they are not. They would be more successful and happier if they stopped trying to do things to impress others when, in real-

Spring/Summer 2021

ity, they were trying to overcompensate for their own weaknesses or insecurities. We were all created by God to be someone who is good at SOMETHING, and we were all created to benefit this world in one way or another. When I started my business, I compared my work to others’ work. I would find myself looking at 3-D renders or animations that others have done wishing my work could be as good as theirs or seeing how much more successful someone else was at social media, or just seeing how well someone’s business was growing and thriving. But at some point, I realized that I needed to just be myself and the more time I spent trying to do things that I was not created to do, I was becoming less happy and less successful and less productive. I needed to be that person God intended me to be and not worrying about trying to be something that I was not intended to be. When I decided and accepted this, I felt so much less pressure to accomplish things I wasn’t designed to do, and I became much happier and more productive. I stopped focusing on what I wasn’t achieving and focused more on what I WAS achieving and focused on what my talents really were. I quit social media altogether. I quit burying myself in looking at other’s work online only to make me feel less talented. And it was when I ditched these efforts to achieve what I wasn’t designed to do; everything just fell into place. I truly believe that everyone who does what I did, this simple act of going back

to being who you truly are and who you were created to be, will benefit you in so many ways and you will also see things begin to fall into place. Your clients will trust you more, your employees will work harder for you, your family will admire you more, people around you will become happier, and things will just fall into place. And guess what? I promise you that you will be happier and more productive. Giving up bad habits is not an easy thing to do, and making changes is not an easy thing to do and trying to make too many changes at one time most of the time ends in no changes permanently being made at all. Start focusing on who you really know you are and start taking action to be that person once again and now. Look at the things in your life that take you away from this and slowly remove them one by one from your routine and the pressure you feel to achieve things you need to achieve become someone else is will disappear very quickly. Stop worrying about how many followers someone else has. Stop worrying about how many more likes someone else has. Stop worrying about how much more publicity someone may get than you because these things do not

bring true happiness and real fulfillment. And you know what? I am willing to bet that you have something about you that they would give anything to have but will never achieve or never accomplish because they aren’t you! If you want to be happier and be more successful, more productive, more focused…go back to the basics. Stop trying to be someone you aren’t start working on how to be who YOU are. Patrick J. DuChene owns DuChene Design Solutions, a landscape design, 3d modeling, animation and consulting company located in Ocean City, MD. DuChene Design Solutions provides design services to landscape contractors across North America. Patrick is a landscape designer who also specializes in consulting landscape contractors and designers with design, estimating and production efficiencies to maximize profits and time management. Patrick’s 25+ years in the industry and experience running multimillion-dollar landscape design/ build divisions has equipped him with the ability to provide dynamic and complete services to his clients.

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WHAT DO YOU AMINE ABOUT ESTERS ESTERS??

CONTROLLING BROADLEAF WEEDS IN SPRING

by Nick Tristani, Aquarius Supply Happy New Year everyone! I hope all of you are well and safe and were able to spend time with family and loved ones this holiday season. While Santa was busy dropping off presents to all the good boys and girls in the Northeast, weeds such as common groundsel, henbit, chickweed, purple deadnettle, hairy bittercress, sheperd’s purse, dandelions, and others were lurking underneath the snow. All the weeds but dandelions named above are winter annuals. A winter annual weed’s life cycle begins in the fall when temperatures start to decline. They will continue to grow over the winter and early spring and once temperatures begin to rise, they will produce seeds before dying off. You may be asking “Nick, if it is a winter annual and dies off every spring, why bother controlling it?” While the plant itself may die off, the seeds are viable, and some weed seeds can be viable for 30 years and up! By controlling the winter annuals, you deplete the weed seed bank existing in the soil and prevent anymore new seeds being deposited. The question is, what product(s) should you use to control broadleaf weeds in the spring? There are many options to choose from but selecting the right one is important for many reasons which include and not limited to: reducing customer callbacks, saving time and money, reducing pesticide usage. Broadleaf herbicides are broken out into 2 different categories which are esters

and amines. Ester-based herbicides penetrate the cuticle more effectively than amines. This means they are more active on weeds compared to amine-based herbicides. Esters also tend to volatilize more than amines, meaning if used on a hot, dry day, some off-target injury may occur to landscape ornamentals. Ester formulation herbicides tend to also be more costly than amine formulations. Amine formulation herbicides are water based and tend to provide less control than ester formulation herbicides in the cooler months (March through early May). If the water you are using to mix amine herbicides is hard (contains a lot of calcium or magnesium, bicarbonates, carbonates), the amine will precipitate out of solution, meaning it will not be effective. The next questions you may have is “How do I tell if a product is an ester of amine?” In the active ingredients section on the herbicide it will say what formulation it is. By choosing the correct formulation, you are making more effective sprays that target those early spring broadleaf weeds, improve efficiencies with labor and material, and increase customer satisfaction. Now that you know what type of herbicide to use in early spring, the next important factor in determining how effective your broadleaf spray will be is making sure your equipment is properly calibrated. Many times, I am asked “how

Amine Based

Ester Based

many ounces per gallon do I put in my tank?” with which I reply, “It depends.” The amount you put in your low volume ride on sprayer, backpack sprayer, and skid sprayer all differ. For example, let’s say you have both a 30 gallon z sprayer and a 200 gallon skid tank sprayer. You are choosing an ester-based herbicide to spray on your lawns for the spring and the rate of application is 1.5 oz. per 1000 ft2. If you followed the per gallon method, you would have 30 ounces in the z spray and 200 ounces in the skid sprayer. If you left the factory nozzles in the z spray (rated for 1/3 of a gallon per 1000 ft2), you would be covering 91,000 ft2. This means you would need 136.5 ounces in 30 gallons of water, not the 30 ounces you put in. You would be lucky to see any results with that low of a rate. Now let’s say your skid sprayer has a lawn gun and it is calibrated for 2 gallons per 1000 ft2. At this rate, you would cover 100,000 ft2, meaning you would need 150 ounces in 200 gallons of water. With 200 ounces in the tank, there is a very high likelihood you will injure the turf you sprayed and also breaking the law, as the label is the law and maximum single application rate is 1.5 oz./1000 ft2. Knowing which type of herbicide to spray throughout the season will maximize your production, saving you valuable time gaining more customers and not revisiting existing ones. Nick is Aquarius Supply’s Turf Care Account Manager for the Northeast. He is a Penn State graduate with a degree in Turfgrass Science. Prior to joining the Aquarius team, Nick worked at Brightview Landscapes as a production manager. He has also worked as an assistant superintendent at Merion Golf Club.

www.NJLCA.org 27

Spring/Summer 2021 28

How To Easily Measure Your Landscaping Company Marketing To CUT What Isn’t Working by Jack Jostes, Ramblin’ Jackson

Have you ever wondered, “Which marketing am I doing that’s actually bringing in the most qualified leads, that close at the highest rate, that I actually enjoy working with?” Have you ever thought, “What marketing could I just stop doing to increase my profit while maintaining those quality leads coming in?” Well, if you’re doing the right measurement, you can. I want to share with you the story of Matt Preuss. He’s my client from the Cutting Edge Landscape Design down in Los Alamitos, California. He added a million dollars in revenue in one year from his website. Just this year, I’ve been working with him for a few years, we looked back at last year and he was able to cut an entire print advertising campaign that was costing him 20 grand a year.

Matt Preuss Owner Cutting Edge Landscape Design Los Alamitos, CA

The Basics of Tracking Marketing ROI It all comes down to being able to track your marketing. When Matt came to me a few years ago, he was pretty stressed. He was spending a lot of time driving around all over California, meeting with people who didn’t have the budget for what he was able to sell, and overall getting low quality leads. And one of them even posted a photo of one of his old brochures saying, “Hey, this guy told me he doesn’t want to do this job that he advertised to me for.” He was doing marketing that was out of date. He hadn’t updated it in years, but his skill had grown. He became a General B Licensed Contractor. So we worked with him on an audit of his online presence, and we found that his branding, website, and SEO were out of date. We worked with him on those things, and as part of this process he realized that his marketing was attracting Pain-In-The-Ass customers, and meanwhile, scaring away the type of quality leads that he wanted. One of the things that I really like about Matt is that he actually tracks his marketing and he gave me permission to share this analysis that he did. So he took a look at the year, and he was able to measure how many leads he got from each type of marketing. He looked at Home Advisor, Houzz, and Google. He was paying for something called Home

Concepts. He also got referrals. After identifying the marketing sources, he asked, how many leads did I get from each source? How much did I spend on my marketing? How much was my cost per lead? How many of those leads actually became a client? This number gave him his close rate. His referrals closed at the highest rate at 30%, and the leads from the internet, from Google, closed at 27%. Pretty high. He generated $1.1 million from Google, but only $132,000 from referrals. “It’s been great,” Preuss says. “It has transformed my business. From a monetary standpoint, I was always a $1 or $1.5 million business. Since the website, I’m a $2.5 or $3 million business. It’s just doubled everything.” Preuss said in an interview with Lawn and Landscape Magazine. Had he just waited for referrals, and not invested in his website and SEO, he would’ve missed out on $1.1 million of revenue that closes at a very high rate. He was able to realize through doing this that Houzz leads only closed at 7%, and Home Advisor was 8%. How Matt Cut $20K From His Advertising Budget Having this information helped him make decisions about what to do the next year. One of the great things is that when I met with Matt, he realized that a print advertising campaign in a high-

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At my company, we don’t pay sales commissions if we don’t track the marketing source, and we analyze this, and make a lot of decisions based on our analysis. I track this myself and I’m hoping that you’ll start doing it too, because it can really save you money, and increase your profit. Level 1: Good There are three ways to do this and I’m going to share a good, better, and best way to track your marketing. If you’re just getting started with this type of tracking, you can get started with ‘good’, which is a piece of paper.

end magazine was bringing in a lot of leads, but they were unqualified. They were nowhere near as educated as the people who had done the internet research, really vetted him, read his website, and picked him. Matt was able to just cut that $20,000 in ad spend because it wasn’t bringing in enjoyable leads that were profitable, that closed at a high rate. So how does he know that? Well, he tracks it. You’ve got to track your marketing. Once we discovered this, I just told him, “Dude, keep the 20 grand, put it in your pocket.” You could invest it in other marketing and advertising, and maybe he will, or he could just keep it. He could just keep it and he’s still going to get those other leads and go to sleep at night knowing, “Okay, I have these other multiple channels of new customers coming to me and I know what they are.” What To Remember When Tracking Your Sales and Marketing So there are a few key things that you need to do when you’re tracking your sales and marketing. The first one is to track the marketing source of each and every lead. Marketing source is simply, how did you hear of us? Meaning if somebody calls in, whoever answers the phone needs to track this.

I worked with a tree care company once, and when I went to their office to do some training with them, they literally had a clipboard with a piece of paper that had a column for (**this was 8 years ago) Yellow Pages, the internet, signage, and other different marketing sources they had. Level 2: Better Better would be to use a spreadsheet. If you’re using a WordPress website, using Zapier, you can have the leads that come through the form on your website automatically go into a spreadsheet. Then part of the form is, “By the way, how did you hear of us?” That answer gets marked in the spreadsheet. Level 3: Best The best way is to actually use a CRM. LMN is a great CRM, there’s Jobber, ServiceTitan, Service Autopilot. Those are just a few examples, but if you’re using a CRM, you absolutely should be setting a contact property from a marketing source. What Details Should You Track? Now I recommend that you keep it simple with your tracking, start with big categories. Below are a few examples: • • • • • •

Search on Google Print Marketing Referral from Customers Referral from Professionals Signage Houzz Advertising (or other sites)

You’ll probably have maybe 5 to 10 sources. Then, at the end of the quarter, at the end of the year, you’ve got to analyze your data. Some of the things that you need to track are: Cost Per Lead How much did I spend ÷ How many leads did I get = Cost per lead Cost Per Acquisition How much did I spend ÷ How many new customers did I get = Cost Per Acquisition Close Rate How many leads did I get ÷ How many new customers did I get = Close Rate If you’re able to do this by category, you can then determine the close rate and cost per lead per marketing source. Another metric you can use is lead quality. Giving a score, it could be one, two or three, or it could be something like that, giving a qualitative score to these leads. It could be based on job size. It could be based on, do you like these leads? By doing this, Matt was able to determine that a particular print advertising campaign was bringing in low quality leads. They had a low close rate and they were kind of just shopping him around and there were other landscapers in the magazine and they were kind of just comparing quotes. Once you have this information, you can decide what marketing you want to keep, and what marketing you can cut. Jack Jostes is the President + CEO of Ramblin Jackson, a digital marketing agency based in Boulder, CO that helps landscaping companies throughout the country increase their lead generation through local SEO and digital branding. The author of the Amazon Best-Selling book, Get FOUND Online: The Local Business Owner’s Guide To Digital Marketing, Jack has been featured in Lawn and Landscape, Colorado Green Magazine, Turf Magazine, INC. Magazine, and other industry publications. He regularly speaks at regional, national, and international businesses conferences including the green industry events like the ProGreen EXPO, the Farwest Show, National Association of Landscape Professionals (NALP), and the TNLA’s Nursery Landscape EXPO. Spring/Summer 2021

Turf talk More than ever, this time of year is very busy. I wanted to start clean ups by March 1st but the snow was not gone yet. So, two weeks later we finally started

by Greg Carpenter, CLT, American Beauty Landscape

clean ups. Clean ups went well, except for the little drought we had in early April – so much for spring seeding. Then it was time to get the pre-emergent down. I apply mine a little later than most – April 15th. “Why?” you may ask. Because I want all my lawns growing at the same rate. This is so that I can hold off on mowing as long as possible, I use Dimension to get pre- and postemergent control. Once the cutting begins, half the guys are trapped with the lawn mower and are no longer available for mulching and other spring projects. Dark-red eggs & active southern red spider mites are As we go full force into the seen under azalea leaves. Also, white colored egg shells & mite cast skins are apparent. (Photo Credit: season, what I do see happening is that spider mites are eating Steven K. Rettke, Rutgers Coop. Ext.)

everything in sight from Boxwood to Norway Spruce, and don’t even mention Hinokis (horrible). We can’t keep up with it. We have had 3 years now of above normal rain fall. I think we are due for a hot, dry summer. Maybe that will hold the phone calls to 40 a day, instead of 80! Good Luck and Keep Growing! Greg Carpenter, CLT is co-owner of American Beauty Landscape since 1982. He attended the SUNY Farmingdale Turfgrass Program and is a Director of the NJLCA. Greg also serves on the Rutgers Turfgrass Advisory Board and the Bergen Community College Horticultural Advisory Board.

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TALES FROM THE LANDSCAPE SIDE

NJLCA MEMBERS AND THEIR CUSTOMER STORIES

In the mid-summer of 2020, I reached out to our members to ask about their most memorable customers. I expected horror stories of the worst, most demanding, craziest and funniest customers. What I ended up receiving was truly amazing. Most of the stories you sent in to us were heartwarming and spoke of your favorite customers, those that took time to reach out and tell you what an impact you had on their lives, those that became like family and those that became lifelong friends. I also received some funny and wacky customer stories, but even those didn’t talk of the angry and discontented customers I had expected. I decided that instead of creating one story, I will include a few in each issue of The New Jersey Landscape Contractor. So, keep those stories coming to me, the good, the bad and the ugly. You can send your story to gwoolcott@njlca. org (along with pictures if applicable) and I will include them in this column in

future issues. Thank you all for brightening our days with some of your tales from the landscape side!

and caught the housewife in the backyard with a guy and a girl filming a porno flick.. Not sure if this is NJLCA article worthy.

~ Gail Woolcott, Executive Director

The Stalker by Anonymous

Why are there holes in my lawn? by Patrick Irish, Irish Landscape Design We aerated a woman’s lawn. Later that day we received her voice mail. “You guys better come back and fill in all those holes you put in my lawn. I have taken pictures and sent them to my attorney.” Needles to say we didn’t get paid and no longer work on her property.

Bad Timing by Anonymous Well we were landscaping one of the NJ housewives houses. My guys were delivering plant material to the backyard

My most memorable customer was a woman in Glen Ridge who found us on Houzz. She was pretty simple with the design and material selection in the beginning, for the most part. However, she was an absolute nightmare of a person to deal with. In fact, the whole town knew her from causing problems in the online parent groups. She was very demanding about us being there at a certain time each day and never missing a day of work. If it was going to be a monsoon on a particular day, she needed communication that we weren’t coming due to the weather. The one thing that will live with me forever is: one day I was in the backyard working. She knew I was there and we could both see each other through the door. She decided to write me an email about a question she had. I could actually see her on her laptop typing it to me. I couldn’t help but to laugh when the alert on my phone went off. I thought to myself, “why don’t you just come outside” which was about 20’ from where she was. Its just one of those things that will always stick in my memory. At the end of the project her husband, who is one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met, had me over for a quick beer and to thank me for the work we did. While I was there she came outside, didn’t say a word to me or even look at me. He mumbled under his breath with a smile on his face staring right at her “God I hate you”. So as you can see, she was not a good person. I never felt more relieved in my life to finish a project and move on, as I did with that one.

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Settle for More. We put our margins into improving our plans and service. And when claims are lower than projected, we even pay dividends.

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The more you know: The effects of staking trees by Beth Pressley, Total Landscape Care

When starting a project, the question of tree staking may arise. New tree plantings may require staking to protect and/or anchor the tree, but is this practice always used for the optimum benefit of the tree? Experts at the University of Minnesota Extension say that in many cases, staking the trees is not necessary, unless the trees have the following qualities: the trees have abnormally small root systems that can’t support the larger, above-ground growth; the stems bend excessively when not supported; there’s a high chance that vandals will uproot or damage trees that aren’t protected; and if the planting site is very windy and trees will be uprooted if not supported.

Effects Before you start guying or staking trees, consider the effects it will have on the trees, as opposed to trees that go unstaked. Staking or guying a tree could damage the tree by rubbing and girdling from ties and stakes. The trunk could also grow and bend away from the stake, or the trunk could become stressed at the point of the stake attachment, which makes it more open to breaking.

less strength of the bole or trunk. Iowa State University also says that the height growth of the tree may be increased while it’s staked.

Proper staking techniques It is recommended that small trees, less than six feet tall or less than one inch in diameter, not be staked, as they won’t need them for support. For trees that may be able to support themselves, plant them and keep a watch on them several days after planting. If you see that it is starting to tip or lean, or if you see the plant stem at the soil line move excessively, it will need support. When a tree is unable to support itself with its existing root system, anchor staking is required. Anchor staking is used to support the roots or root ball until the roots can grow into the surrounding soil and support themselves. Each tree will need at least three

stakes for support, and these stakes can be reinforced rebars, steel posts, metal pipes, wooden stakes or other material to which ties can be fastened. When staking a tree to protect from “lawnmower blight,” the Iowa State University says at least three strategically located stakes should be used around the tree to keep lawnmowers and other vehicles at bay. A band, wood chips or other organic mulch can also be used around the tree as a sufficient protectant when dealing with more careful tree care providers. For those who are less careful, stakes and mulch may be needed around the trees. Whatever material is used for tying that will come in contact with the tree’s trunk needs to be broad and have a smooth surface. This will minimize the trunk abrasion and any possible girdling. A few examples of appropriate tying material are rubber belts, wide cloth belting, elastic webbing and nylon stockings. Ties should be fastened at less than one-third of the total height of the tree.

Staking a tree will provide more wind resistance because the top of the tree isn’t allowed to do much moving, but it can also cause the tree to develop weak wood from the staked position down towards the base of the tree. To have optimum wood strength and growth during development, trunk movement is required. According to the Iowa State University Forestry Extension, it’s also possible that while staked, Staking Damage (Photo courtesy of Jeff Schalau, Agent, trees may produce fewer roots and Agriculture & Natural Resources, University of Arizona reduce stem taper, which can mean Cooperative Extension, Yavapai County

Larger trees might not receive enough support from fabrics or belts, and they may require eyebolts. These should only be used when the other techniques are inadequate for the size of the tree. Most trees should only be staked for a minimum period, and for most trees the ties can be removed after the first growing season. Two years of support may be necessary for larger trees. Regardless of the size, stakes should be removed as soon as possible to minimize the adverse effects. Article reprinted with permission of Total Landscape Care.

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Photo: Green Meadows Landscape Contractors, Oakland, NJ

FIRE-PIT PLANTINGS

by C.L. Fornari

“Our clients need to know that the fire pit itself is just the beginning.”

About twenty years ago I started noticing a trend among my landscape consultation clients. Those who were 55 years old or younger all wanted firepits, and those older than 55 wanted a fire pit because their kids wanted them to have a fire pit. It is my theory that this was a response to the digital age. In a time when we started using smart phones, carrying the world around in our pockets and being constantly in touch, people were compelled to gather around the camp fire, face to face with their clan. This trend has not only opened up opportunities for those who build such structures, but for all in horticulture. Our clients need to know that the fire pit itself is just the beginning. Once the hardscape is in place, it’s time to consider how plants can enhance these areas. Selected plantings provide the privacy, fragrance, and flowers that enrich the experience of gathering around the fire. Here are some suggestions for landscapers and garden centers to suggest to their clients and customers. •

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Wooly Thyme (Thymus pseudolanuginous) Photo: “Form in bloom”. Ghislain118(AD). CC BY-SA 3.0

Plant the floor of the fire pit area with thyme so its herbal fragrance is released when people gather. Varieties that are the lowest growing include wooly thyme (Thymus pseudolanuginous) Doretta Klaber thyme, (Thymus praecox ‘Doretta Klaber’) and white thyme (Thymus praecox ‘Albiflorus’) All of these varieties will tolerate light foot traffic, but you’ll give them the best chance of survival and spreading if you plant them up against the pit and to the sides and rear of chairs. Ring your fire pit area with low-growing fragrance. Commonly called summersweet because of the fragrance in July and August, hummingbird clethera (Clethera alnifolia ‘Hummingbird’ Zones 3-9) can sweetly define the perimeter of a garden Spring/Summer 2021

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without blocking the breezes. This plant has the added advantages of golden fall colored foliage and seeds for the birds. Other shrubs for fragrance in the area: Azalea ‘Lemon Drop,’ mock orange, Boomerang or Lilac, and ‘Korean Spice’ Viburnum. Lavender is an attractive and fragrant plant for near the fire pit in full sun. In part-shade, grow Actaea ‘Brunette’ (aka Cimicifuga or bugbane) in the area. It is an upright plant with dark foliage and highly fragrant, pinkish-white flowers in late summer and fall. Annuals for fragrance include alyssum, purple petunias, and most Nicotiana (flowering tobacco), Heliotrope, and scented geraniums (Pelargoniums). For scented smoke in wood-burning pits, grow sage (Salvia officinalis) or similar aromatic herbs. Sprigs of these herbs can be tossed onto coals as they die down. Lemon Verbena is an annual herb that can be planted in containers or in the ground. Sprigs can be picked and enjoyed for aromatherapy, or used as garnishes for tea or cocktails. Use a cover on top of the fire pit to protect the bowl from rainfall and to create a table when a fire isn’t burning. There will be evenings when a fire isn’t desirable, but people will enjoy gathering around the circle even without flames. A cover also provides table space for food and drinks at any time of day. Create privacy for these areas with mixed shrub borders. Plants with white flowers or variegated foliage are especially nice to include because white is more visible as the sun goes down. Finally, avoid placing ornamental grasses near a firepit that will be used in the late fall or winter, as the dried blades might be easily ignited by sparks.

Mock-Orange. “Flowers”. Frederick BISSON. CC BY 4.0

“Nicotiana alata”. Carl Lewis. CC BY 2.0

C.L. Fornari is a garden writer, speaker and podcaster. She runs a consultation service for Hyannis Country Garden, an IGC on Cape Cod, and can be found online at www.GardenLady.com

www.NJLCA.org

“Weston’s Lemon Drop Azalea flowers” (Photo courtesy of NetPS Plant Finder) 37

Low-Cost Advertising to Rake in More Business by Stacy Mooradian, Magnets.com Every landscaping business is looking for creative, budget-friendly ways to grow their business clientele. Marketing your business on a tight budget can be challenging, but not if you choose your advertising wisely. This article highlights five shopping tips for finding a unique, low-cost advertising solution that reaches new clients, retains existing customers, and yields long lasting returns for your business. Promotional Products: Are They a Wise Investment? According to a study by trade organization Promotional Products Association International (PPAI.org): •

88% of people can remember the advertiser on a promotional product.

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85% of people do business with the company featured on a promotional product.

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91% of promotional products are used in the kitchen.

A promotional product, like a magnet customized with your business logo and contact information, is one of the best low-cost, highly effective marketing options. An advertising magnet is like a mini billboard when placed on your company vehicle, or on your client’s fridge. Magnets can be printed with handy reference information, like your phone number and website address. You can also use your magnet to provide expert lawn and home maintenance tips, or an exclusive discount code to inspire a client to call you. Another benefit of marketing with magnets is their longevity. People keep advertising magnets for a long time. You can test the long-lasting appeal firsthand. The next time you go to a friend or relative’s house, take a look at their fridge.

Chances are you will see magnets from their local plumber, realtor, pizzeria or dentist. When you return to your friend’s house next year, there is a high probability that those same magnets are still on the fridge. Local business magnets are useful and can be a much better investment than a newspaper ad that gets thrown in the garbage after a day or two. Five Tips for Buying the Best Promotional Magnets #1 - Shop at a reputable online store: A reputable website should offer some value-added services that not only save you money, but also make your ordering experience easier. Here are some examples of free services you should expect when shopping for promotional products online: free custom artwork; free digital proofs; and no payment required until you approve your final artwork. Spring/Summer 2021

Just because you are shopping online doesn’t mean you won’t have questions. You will want to seek out an online business that offers responsive, live customer service. The customer service representative should be well-versed in their product offerings, able to make recommendations, and have the ability to provide a custom quote should you want one. Customizing promotional products, even for the first time, can be a seamless experience if you are working with a reputable business that strives to provide excellent customer care.

#2 – Look for E-commerce Sites for Direct Manufacturers: There are some online stores that are simply resellers/ wholesalers. Why go to a reseller where you will pay a mark-up when there are e-commerce stores that are selling products they make in-house? Factory direct e-commerce sites, like Magnets.com and sister company, CustomizedStickers.com, are able to offer you the best prices on their custom magnets, vehicle decals and personalized labels because they are also the manufacturer. When you are working directly with a “Made in NJ” printing facility, you can expect more quality assurance, the very best price and little to no cost for shipping. #3 - Read the Product Descriptions Carefully: When doing your competitive shopping, make sure you are comparing apples to apples. For example, with custom printed magnets, thickness and magnet strength matters. Look for a magnet that is far superior and meets or beats the price of the competition. If you want your customers to be impressed with the look,

feel and overall quality of your custom branded magnet, you will want a fridge magnet with a standard thickness of at least 25mil. If you are purchasing a custom magnet that will be used outdoors, on a vehicle, or piece of equipment, you will want to make sure the thickness is at least 30mil, and the magnet has a special UV coating that can withstand all weather conditions. When ordering any custom promotional product, ask for a free sample to check the quality firsthand before ordering. Examine the sample and test it. How does it look and feel? Does it feel sturdy? Does the print quality look good? If you will be mailing or shipping the item to your client, does it fit in a standard envelope? Remember, you are looking for the best quality at the best cost. After all, you must always represent your brand in the best possible light, and your customers will take notice. #4- Buy in bigger quantities: Shoppers of promotional products can get a lower price when buying in bulk. When the manufacturer is able to spread out their costs across a larger order, you should receive a lower per unit cost, too. It is good business to extend those cost savings to the customer. Stock-up and save! Not only will you save money, but also valuable time by placing just one large order each year, rather than two or three smaller orders twice a year. #5 – Don’t be shy, ask about special discounts: A great way to save money is

to place your order when there is a special promotion being offered. Sometimes the promotion will allow you to purchase more without increasing your budget by more than a few dollars. However, if you do not see a discount advertised on the website, don’t be shy about calling Customer Service to ask if they can extend some extra savings. Oftentimes, they will be ready and able to help. In conclusion, advertising is essential to a healthy, growing business. Reaching the most clients at the lowest cost is something that makes good business sense. Promote your business while maximizing your advertising budget with custom magnets. Stacy Mooradian is the Director of Marketing for Magnets.com and has 25 years of professional experience in marketing, product development, e-commerce and licensing. For 25 years, family-owned Magnets.com and CustomizedStickers.com has been a leading B2B manufacturer of high-quality, custom advertising magnets, labels, stickers, and decals. The business is located in Jersey City, NJ, and a proud member of NJLCA. To request your FREE Landscaper Magnet Sample Pack, or to inquire about special discounts or a quote, please email Sales@magnets.com or call (866) 229-8237.

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3 Big Ways Landscape Design Software Saves Time by DynaScape

There is that old saying in the business world that “time is money”. Every minute someone is designing, working on a bid, planting, shoveling or putting the finishing touches on a pictureperfect backyard, costs the business in expenses. And that in turn, eats away at the profit you are earning on each landscaping job. The overhead costs for each job can quickly spiral out of control and cost a landscaping project at the end. Hours add up, wages need to be paid, and all that extra time spent can take a massive bite out of your revenue.

So, when we talk about saving time, we are also talking about saving money. And with landscape design software, there is an opportunity to save on both. That is if you are willing to change your business and not just automate the way your business runs but rethink how you do business, to begin with. You can have the nicest drawings in the industry, but if those drawings are taking hours to complete and costing you a pretty penny, what is their return on investment against your closed deals.

Landscape design software saves design time (obviously) This one might be the most obvious to point out, but your landscape design software will save time on designing. The best pencil crayons and designers can’t match the ability of design software to turn ideas into amazing and beautiful designs in a fraction of the time. With color swatches, patterns and other design elements, an entire design can be rendered into a presentable piece faster than someone can manually color each flower, tree or stone being placed. Where landscape design software really saves time is on repetitive tasks. Store designs and concepts, you have used before and reused them on new designs. Why redraw what you already have done before? And to really wow your customers when presenting, show multiple angles of the same design. But you only need to create it once, as design software will give you the ability to create different views of the same original drawing. The manual way of designing can be very labour-intense. But with design software, you are not only saving time but getting beautiful, colorful and 3D rendered designs that will win you more business in a fraction of the time.

Designs to estimates Now that you have this beautiful design, you need the facts and figures that Spring/Summer 2021 40

go along with it. You need the estimate. How much sod was used in your design? What kind of plants and trees did you use? How much time is it going to take to do the entire project? All of these questions require someone to calculate in order to give the customer an estimate along with their design. And plenty in the industry are still using spreadsheets for each project and manually pulling costs from their master cost book into their estimate. All of these spreadsheets equal a lot of time being wasted. Whereas, if you already pre-loaded all of your cost books into your landscape design software, you could import your design and have a full estimate prepared. Every shrub, tree, plant and stone are accounted for out of your cost book. Did prices change? Update your cost book and your estimates change as well. No more having to go and manually update each bid to include the new cost of materials.

In-depth budgeting Some landscapers are only thinking about the project and estimating and budgeting for that. But if you’re going to save money, you need to be thinking of everything you spend money on. And that isn’t just materials and labor hours for the project. It’s all your overhead, like storage fees, dump runs, inventory, equipment repair and if you have an office, the overhead expenses of running it. Those costs need to be built into every single project you complete. They are a part of your business and should be part of your final quote. By planning your budget out before estimating, you can include overhead charges and decide how much you want to make back on each project. Save time when estimating by having a set method already in place to charge overhead back to the customer and include it in the final estimate cost. Remove the manual work of trying to calculate your overhead, and then how to spread that around to all your

project work. Load your overhead budget into your landscape design software and let the estimating tools do the rest.

Time not spent is money earned Every hour spent working on some aspect of your landscaping business costs money. But there is only so much you can return back to the customer. Offering designs and estimates is part of the overhead you eventually have to make back. But if you are spending hours upon hours designing and estimating with manual processes, it can be very difficult to recoup the loss. By reducing the time it takes to make designs and estimates, you save money. And by automating the budgeting of your overhead, you save money not having to calculate it. Turn to a landscape design software and speed up some of the processes that are eating away at revenue. Images courtesy of DynaScape. For more information, visit www. dynascape.com.

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Projects by Beaumont Landscape

CONTRACTOR FOCUS:

BEAUMONT LANDSCAPE Family-owned and operated, Beaumont Landscaping in Flanders, NJ was incorporated in 1996 by President and Owner. Brian Beaumont. He holds an AS Degree in Landscaping Management & Design. Brian has his NJ Pesticide License and is an authorized paver and segmental retaining wall installer. Several years later, Blake Beaumont joined the company and serves as Vice President. Blake has an AS Degree in Landscaping Management & Design as well as his New Jersey Pesticide License. Beaumont Landscape offers landscape maintenance, hardscapes, excavation, plantings, fertilization, hydroseeding and plowing to both commercial and residential clients. For more information, visit www.beaumontlandscaping.net.

“For more than 20 years, Beaumont Landscaping Inc has helped both homes and businesses add curb appeal.” 42

Spring/Summer 2021

ASSOCIATE FOCUS:

GRASS ROOTS, INC. Grass Roots, Inc. in Mount Freedom, NJ opened in 1978 with a focus on servicing the needs of the golf course superintendent. In 2007, Grass Roots opened a Lawn & Sports Turf Division. They pride themselves on their ability to make solid recommendations to the turf care professional and deliver products in a timely manner. Grass Roots carries a full line of turf maintenance supplies from leading manufacturers in the industry. Products include plant protectants, fertilizers, grass seed, tools, golf course accessories, soils, topdressing, mulches, adjuvants and much more. This family business is run by CEO Ken Kubick, President Keith Kubick and Secretary-Treasurer Virginia Kubick. NJLCA’s main representative is Gene Huelster, who manages the lawn and sports turf division of Grass Roots. They have been a member of NJLCA since 2007, are familiar faces at the NJLCA Golf Outing and are regular vendors at the Landscape New Jersey Trade Show. For more information, visit www.griturf.com.

Manager of Grass Roots Lawn and Sports Turf Division, Gene Huelster, at the NJLCA’s Landscape New Jersey Trade Show and Conference. Michael Della Terza (Benchmark Solutions) Gene Huelster, Grass Roots), George Futterknecht (Wood Landscapes) and Dan Stapinski (Perennial Lawns) at the NJLCA Golf Outing.

“Grass Roots, Inc. is a company focused on Service, Technical Support and Quality Products.” www.NJLCA.org 43

™

Friday and Saturday

October 1-2, 2021

Hunterdon County Fairgrounds 1207 County Route 179 (Just off US Route 202) Lambertville, NJ 08530 Landscape Supplies Hardscape Materials Power Equipment Nursery Stock Snow & Ice Products Aquascape Supplies Irrigation Supplies Arborist Supplies Software/Technology Outdoor Living Equipment Demos Food Trucks Educational Opportunities Live Music Multi-State Attendees Destination Location

Produced by:

Exhibitor Space Still Available...Call Now! (201) 321-5111

Not just a Trade Show...an Experience education fund 501(c)3

www.NGIS-NJ.com *Attendance at this event will be to the level permitted under New Jersey Executive Orders in effect at the time of the show. Currently there are no limits to the number of attendees. Additionally, all participants must adhere to all CDC and state guidelines regarding COVID-19.

WELCOME MEMBERS... A warm welcome to our new and returning members Blooming Beds Wayne Jackson Florham Park, NJ

Peter Paul Landscapes Peter Fogarty Verona, NJ

Blue Sunset Omar Ribeiro Hawthorne, NJ

Pascack Valley Landscaping Matthew Ciuppa Hillsdale, NJ

Da Vinci Landscape Design Joe Bracchitta Wayne, NJ

Pierce Apparel Bradley Pierce Fairfield, NJ

Empire State Merit Apprenticeship Alliance Penelope Hazer East Syracuse, NY

Pilgrim Pruning Michael Byrne Upper Montclair, NJ

Fairway Green, Inc. Robert Windish Hillsborough, NJ Fredette Landscaping Bob Fredette Livingston, NJ Greenway Construction Group Jeremy Freedman Livingston, NJ

Pro Seal Keith Day Hawthorne, NJ Royal Turf Lawrence Neville Stirling, NJ Stancato Landscaping Lou Stancato Little Falls, NJ

James Dyer Landscaping James Dyer Towaco, NJ Mission Statement The New Jersey Landscape Contractors Association (NJLCA) is a proven resource to the landscape contractor, green industry service provider and supplier, as well as the consumer. We are a community of green industry professionals who are dedicated to advancing the integrity, proficiency and continued growth of the landscape and green industry. We do this through education, training and legislative advocacy. New Jersey Landscape Contractors Association represents the entire Green Industry in New Jersey including landscape contractors, landscape architects, sod growers, nurseries, growers, garden centers, horticulturists, floriculture and the industries that supply them. Through educational seminars, trade shows, social events, networking opportunities, membership meetings, magazines and professionalism in all that we do, the Association is able to fulfill its mission. 45

JUST SAY NO TO VOLCANO MULCH!

by Bill Errickson, Agriculture Agent - Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Monmouth County Mulching around the base of trees and shrubs in the landscape is a practice that has many benefits. When applied correctly, organic mulches such as bark mulch or aged wood chips function to increase soil organic matter, conserve water, prevent erosion, reduce weed pressure, and moderate soil temperatures. The mulched area also creates a buffer between the trees and the surrounding turf, reducing competition for resources and minimizing the chances of mechanical damage from mowers or trimmers on the base of the trees. However, in addition to being an unnecessary expense, overmulching trees and shrubs can have negative impacts on plant health that may not be observed for several years. When mulch is piled high against the base of the tree, it forms a mounded shape that resembles a volcano. This sight is very commonly observed in the landscape and is referred to as Volcano Mulching. This practice causes several problems for trees and shrubs and can even lead to the death of the plants. Volcano mulching has become so prevalent that some clients may even request that their plants receive this treatment, due to a belief that this is the way that proper mulching is supposed to look.

Why is volcano mulching so bad for woody plants? Volcano Mulch Photo: Elizabeth Moss, West Virginia State University, Bugwood.org

When mulch is mounded onto the base of the tree, this traps moisture between the outer bark of the trunk and the surrounding mulch. This can lead to fungal diseases and can encourage insect damage. The trunk of the tree is meant to be above ground; the Spring/Summer 2021

impacts of volcano mulching resemble those of a tree that was planted too deep. When properly planted and mulched, the root flare at the base of the tree should be visible. Trees that have been planted too deeply or that have received a volcano mulch treatment will not show a visible root flare and will look more like a telephone pole coming out of the ground. From a plant health perspective, this reduces the amount of oxygen that is available to the roots, eventually leading to root suffocation and plant death. While proper mulching is an excellent way to conserve water in the landscape, volcano mulching can actually contribute to drought stress. If dry mulch is applied in a large mound over dry soil, it will require a greater amount of water to properly saturate the root zone of the plants. This is especially true if overhead irrigation systems are being used as opposed to drip systems because the mulch will be absorbing the water before it reaches the soil where the roots are growing. Similarly, rainfall must fully saturate the mulch before reaching the root zone. Organic

mulch that is still in an active state of decomposition will also generate heat and use additional water as microorganisms continue to break down this material. The excess heat can further damage the base of the tree when mulch is in contact with the outer bark.

What is the proper way to mulch trees and shrubs?

Organic mulch should be applied at a depth that does not exceed 2 to 3 inches. Mulch should not touch the base of the tree; it should be pulled back 3 to 5 inches from young plants and 8 to 12 inches from mature species. The root flare at the base the tree should be visible and uncovered by mulch. Before refreshing mulch each year, it is important to assess the current depth of the existing mulch before adding any more. To correct previous applications of volcano mulch, gently rake back the mulch from the base of the tree, being careful not to damage the bark or any shallow roots in the process. When used correctly, organic mulches in the land-

scape are an excellent tool to conserve water, control weeds, and improve the health of landscape plants. For more information, see the NJAES fact sheet Problems with Over-Mulching Trees and Shrubs: https://njaes.rutgers. edu/fs099/ or contact your local Rutgers Cooperative Extension County Office: https://njaes.rutgers.edu/county/ Bill Errickson is the Agriculture and Natural Resources Agent for Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Monmouth County with a focus on sustainable nursery production, turfgrass, and agricultural innovation. He has worked in various aspects of the horticultural sector for the past 16 years, including operating his own diversified farm in coastal Maine and growing bare-root nursery stock for Fedco Trees. He has led courses focused on sustainable horticulture and soil fertility for commercial growers, homeowners, and college students throughout New Jersey and New England.

2-3” mulch and visible root flare www.NJLCA.org 47

Shave Time Off Your Sales Process with Online Appointment Scheduling by Corey Halstead, Halstead Media

There are so many moving parts, complex processes and, quite frankly, bits of natural chaos in the landscape industry. It’s one of the reasons pros in the space love the business so much in the first place—it’s dynamic, creative, and exciting. As a result, I’ve found that the best owners and leaders are always on the hunt for tweaks or hacks that will make things more efficient. Just a little … smoother. One of those process improvements currently trending is a little gem called online appointment booking systems. These systems are certainly not new—many have been around for over 10 years. In large part, service providers such as accountants, marketers, real estate agents, and the like jumped onboard in the early days. But they are catching a bit of fire in the landscape industry as of late—and when done correctly end-to-end, the functionality can make a huge impact on efficiency and client satisfaction. By significantly cutting down on the time and energy involved in scheduling appointments with leads and clients, these appointment systems let you pre-define your availability and allow prospects or clients choose which of your available times works best for them—in real time. Moreover—and this is something not everyone realizes right away—these systems enable the sharing of information about their project, so you can go to 48

the meeting fully prepared (and know preliminarily whether or not this client would be a good fit for your company … or should be steered elsewhere). For an industry that has largely relied on manual scheduling and backand-forth phone calls, these systems can be a game-changer, particularly for landscape contractors looking to optimize and/or grow their business. Every landscape contractor needs to maximize revenue and productivity in order to thrive and grow. Competition is steep and only getting steeper, and client expectations require staying ahead of technology for those firms looking to overdeliver. For many markets across the US, including New Jersey, the average client is getting younger, more particular about their decisions, and increasingly busy in their everyday lives. Luxury businesses attempting to meet the demands of their most desirable clients can hit a roadblock just trying to get on their calendar. These days, just getting a meeting or phone assessment scheduled can take up a huge chunk of time that none of us have. We need to meet clients where they are online, on their smartphones at 7 p.m. on the train back home from work—whenever they want to book an appointment for their project. As anyone who has ever signed up for anything online can tell you, sending an email request through a

website can feel like watching paint dry. If prospects are turned off by an old-school online form or don’t feel like a business responds quickly enough and move onto some other firm, you’ve lost your chance. Don’t give them a reason to leave—give them a reason to appreciate that you appreciate their time. Automate the process. It’s better for you and the client. Why Your Clients Will Love It •

Availability options: In our daily lives, we all generally have an idea of when we want to book an appointment, and the limitations of our availability can be pretty tight. When clients call a company, if they even get through to an actual human being, it can take multiple rounds of nailing down an option that works for both parties. By then, one is tired, the other is annoyed. And the entire debacle could have been avoided if the client could have made a selection from a live list of openings online.

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On-the-go access: With online appointment scheduling, there’s no need to pick up the phone at all. Modern clients despise having to call to make appointments with a very particular passion. Often, their work schedules overlap with the company’s business hours, or they simply dislike having to play the game of tag. Spring/Summer 2021

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Easy-to-edit: If the client needs to move or cancel their appointment, they don’t have to go through a complicated process to do so. Online appointments can be adjusted with just a few clicks.

Why You Will Love It •

•

No double-booking: An online solution to your consultation scheduling will create a plain-and-simple, black-andwhite timetable of What, When, & Who. No more worrying about forgetting to write down an appointment or updating calendars. No confirmation calls: Checking in with clients and prospects to make sure that they remember the meeting should be a thing of the past. You can set up event reminders ahead of time along with new appointment alerts for other team members. Customer database: Online scheduling software collects your clients’ and potential clients’ contact information by default of its function. That means that you are also capturing leads that can be nurtured if not closed. All your sales leads are stored in one place, and the solution integrates with QuickBooks, popular CRMs, and email software. Tailored intake process: Vet potential clients by asking them a series of questions about their project. In doing so, you store critical prospect info, pre-qualify their level of commitment to doing the project, and deploy the lead in near real time to the correct sales point of contact.

schedule. In fact, he already structured his time beautifully—better than most we’ve seen. For example, he only took new sales consultations two days a week, for a period of three hours each day, and then also all day on Saturdays. He also alternated those sales time slots every other week, working around commitments in his personal life. All of this posed no problem for the set-up.

the marketing plan. At each appointment booking stage, the clients’ experience can be tailored—from the first phone consultation generated directly from a paid social ad to the second meeting, which they book via a dedicated website landing page that shows what they need to prepare for their appointment. Oh, yes, and keeping them excited and engaged throughout the whole sales process.

Aside from meeting the very particular scheduling demands, we also set up the app so that he had the option of multiple appointment types for the sales pipeline, meaning that the first appointment a potential client made was an initial phone consultation that was automatically 15 minutes. The next appointment the prospective client booked, once vetted and pre-qualified during the first phone chat, of course, was an hour-long in-person meeting. This process progressed through the relevant appointment demands.

It’s truly amazing to me how few landscape contractors are taking advantage of this technology. Today, it’s one element of many that should make up a concierge experience for clients who spend tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars on a luxury outdoor living space or property maintenance contract.

Greg’s new scheduling system was also able to distinguish that his sales call availability differed greatly from that of his in-person consultation availability, and then even for the availability for his third type of appointment—a design presentation. The system handled all this complexity seamlessly, and potential clients were suddenly given the flexibility and convenience of booking their own appointments in the blink of an eye. So think about all this from the perspective of controlling the sales process, and how it fully integrates into

Born into the landscape industry, Corey Halstead began working in landscape maintenance at the early age of 14 in his uncle’s business. Transitioning to the design/build side in his early 20s, Corey worked his way from installation crew member, to project manager and design/ sales roles, eventually switching to the product side of the industry. Settling into sales and marketing responsibilities in latter roles, Corey combines his handson industry experience, with the unique understanding of both the B2B and B2C channels in the business. With cuttingedge digital marketing certifications and over 8 years driving marketing ROI for leading design/build contractors, dealers, and building product manufacturers, Corey heads up sales, marketing, and education at HALSTEAD.

Take Things Further: Integrate Sales and Marketing What’s really great about online scheduling integration is its extreme flexibility. It’ll adjust to the needs of any landscaping firm. Another benefit is the potential power the system offers to create a more personalized sales experience, nurtured with content. This plays out nicely—for instance when we set up a HALSTEAD system for the owner of a premium landscape design/build. Let’s call the owner Greg. He came to us with a really well-planned, nearly rigid, www.NJLCA.org 49

Overlaying Concrete or Asphalt Pavements by “Paver” Pete Baloglou, Techo-Bloc As the demand for interlocking concrete pavements (ICP), concrete paving slabs (CPS) and plank stones (PS) increases, so does the range of applications. Segmental permeable pavement (SPP) projects are also increasing exponentially in residential, builder/developer and commercial sectors. Though internationally proven, widespread national acceptance of porous systems is a few years away. Open graded permeable or traditional dense grade interlocking have made segmental unit paving more mainstream. What has gained immediate acceptance are the structural advantages and aesthetic appeal of ICP. The strength of ICP comes from a flexible system working with (not against it like ready-mix concrete) freeze and thaw cycles and frost heave. But what if you lessen or eliminate its flexibility?

Such as overlaying concrete or asphalt pavements. So why, how, and what is the initial and life cycle cost of overlaying asphalt and concrete with paving stones.

Why overlay concrete or asphalt? 1. It’s already there and in good condition (only minor cracks) 2. It was poured too low and can use the height of the paver veneer 3. Cost of excavation and aggregate base installation are cost prohibitive 4. High water table application (or slab is poured as part of foundation) 5. Aesthetics (paving stones just look better) 6. Pools (liner/fiberglass), because of over-excavation and improper reinstallment of soil or aggregates

7. New construction (pour to resist settlement against foundation)

How do you overlay an existing pavement? First, make sure there aren’t any imperfections in the surface outside of +/- 3/8” in 10’ and that it’s graded (1/4” per foot) away from the house or structure. Drains should be considered every 25-30’. ICP are typically 97% impermeable, so surface and sub-surface (setting bed) drainage are needed. The above tolerances will give us both. If the surface is out of tolerance: 1. Milling (asphalt)/grinding (concrete) 2. Filling (cold patch) and (flowable base) 3. Cutting (remove and reinstate) F.Y.I. The best repair for asphalt is to cut out problem areas and reinstate with paving stones! Spring/Summer 2021

Once the surface and grade are correct, determine an edge type. The edge restraint will maintain consistent joint width, help create interlock and must be impact resistant. The most common types of overlay edges are: 1. Adhesion (hydraulic glue, expands into pores of pavement and paver while retaining flexibility) 2. Hammer drill and spiked PVC or aluminum edge (Concrete screws or power actuated nail gun are options) 3. Troweled reinforced concrete behind a precast unit like Avignon edge/curb 4. Xtreme edge or Perma-Edge fiber reinforced concrete. All are fine (acceptable) if they allow the setting bed to drain. For example, space/gaps or corrugated drain board between Avignon, mason cord or cotton sash under troweled concrete every 8” and glue under the header course with the flow of water. On the topic of header/ soldier courses, you can use an 8 cm (80 mm, 3 1/8”) unit like Westmount HD2+ or Blu 80 6.5” x 13” as a border and 6 cm (60 mm, 2 3/8”) paver as the field on a 1¼” loose (7/8’’ pre-compacted) setting bed of ASTM C33 sand or AASHTO #8 clean, clear stone. Any combination of 100 mm (4”), 80 mm, 65 mm, 60 mm, 45 mm or 30 mm can be used, as long as the field is elevated 1/8” above border and a bedding layer is used…both for drainage. Always pre-compact bedding because compaction occurs from the bottom up

and achieving uniform density is otherwise too difficult. If using a 6 cm (2 3/8”) for both header and field, use enough adhesive (with the flow of water) to mirror the height of the fabric and a “brooming” (skim coat) of fine sand, typically ASTM c144 masonry sand, under the field. Ensure a quality non-woven or woven geotextile is between the concrete or asphalt and your setting bed also extends up the sides of edge unit or restraint. The geotextile will keep the bedding sand or aggregate from migrating into current or future cracks in the asphalt and concrete.

After the steps have been taken to a quality overlay, how long will it last? Well, quality pavers have a lifetime warranty, so we’re good there. The base (asphalt or concrete) due to drying and inflexibility, is the weak link. As the petroleum in the asphalt dries and the concrete “curls”, the inevitable cracks introduce water. Water is the lubricant that leads to decreased load capacity and increased freeze thaw susceptibility. Both failures are compounded by the questionable (if any) compaction of the subgrade, installation of a structural woven geotextile (over subgrade), and base installation (to 98% standard proctor density). When deciding to overlay, a cost-benefit analysis must be done. How much labor, equipment, material and subcontractors will be consumed versus demolition and traditional aggregate flexible installation? What is the life cycle cost of the overlay versus traditional? Who is willing to warranty (if anyone) what’s below the setting bed and paving stones, paving slabs and plank stones? Either way pavers are the best choice and can be “unzipped” while subsurface repairs, such as crack filling, are made. This reinstatement characteristic will continue to give paving stones the upper hand in overlays. To encourage surface runoff and discourage saturation of units, joints and bedding, a post-construction wash and protectant should be used. Post-Construction wash will clean the pores of manufacturing, storage and construction de-

bris allowing for greater penetration. The Protectant should be breathable, mineral, stain and water repellent… color enhancement is a personal preference. The combination is encouraged on all hardscape projects unless the product is already factory protected, but more strongly recommended in overlay applications. With 20 plus years in the industry, “Paver Pete” has authored numerous articles and has appeared as a leading hardscape expert on more than 25 national and local television and radio programs including “Hometime”, “Home Team” “Man Cave”. Pete has a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Maryland and has completed Vander Kooi estimating and job costing training. Pete is a certified instructor for both the National Concrete Masonry Association (Segmental Retaining Wall – SRW installation) and the Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute’s. Additionally, he has served as a committee member for “Education and Training” and “Construction” for these industry organizations. Pete is one of the industry’s leading experts on permeable pavement systems and is an accredited instructor on Porous Pavements for the American Institute of Architects/American Society of Landscape Architects. Pete has taught, bid, marketed, sold and installed pavers and SRW’s on a large scale, in over 30 states in the U.S. and five countries abroad. Pete is currently the N.A. Director of Education and Information and U.S. Sales Director with Techo-Bloc Corporation. Responsibilities include spokesperson for Showcase, YouTube channel personality, Lead instructor, coach of 5 Regional Sales managers, mentor to 30 plus sales representatives, Executive and R&D committee member, etc. Currently residing in Ohio with his wife and daughter and enjoys his collection of Jeeps and cars.

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Build a Winning Process for Recruiting, Hiring and Onboarding Employees by Frank Borque, Certified Consultant

Let’s face it, if you build a winning team, you will stand out in your market and attract more of everything you’re looking for including work, great employees and great clients. However, in order to stand out, you have to provide a memorable experience. Average won’t cut it. Your brand and impactful first contacts with people and potential employees are crucial. It starts with being ready to impress and set-up for success. This requires a clear, repeatable process and system.

great team culture •

Make it an opportunity, not a job.

•

Promote strategically using right timing when and/or ABH (use the always be hiring strategy)

Identify Hiring Options and Solutions for Finding Employees •

Job & career postings – i.e. Indeed.com

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Career days

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Office tours

Here are 6 Steps to create a winning process:

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Create a referral and incentive program

1. Start Attracting More Candidates

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Reach out to people and use video interviews

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Use social media ads

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Trade Shows - get a booth, host a free lunch for landscape tech students

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Create or join partnership with trade schools, associations, organizations, sports teams, churches, Helmets to Hardhats Programs

Research shows that candidates trust companies 3 times more if the employer provides transparency of the working environment and work conditions. Exposing your professional brand on different platforms using video is one of the greatest ways. Job posts accompanied by a recruiting video get 36% more applications. Be visible •

Be visible on social media, your website, in the community, etc

•

Invest in marketing for recruiting employees as you do for clients

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Seek social opportunities to meet new potential candidates

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Be a destination company with

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Use a recruiting agency and/or head hunters

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H-2B

Create Your Onboarding Plan and Use It as Part of Your Marketing Strategy •

More training time investment during the initial days

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Clear expectations & job descriptions

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Offer Support (be reassuring, helpful and check-in with the new employee regularly and as needed)

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Mentorship program

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Ice breakers

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Gamifications & incentive programs

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Technical training

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Equipment and software training

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Career planning

2. Get Efficient with Processing Employee Inquiries When a potential employee enquires about a job at your company this may happen through email, phone call, your website, a dedicated promotional web page, job posting ads or etc. You can increase your chances of attracting and retaining potential candidates by treating your recruiting process like you do your jobs (with a clear plan and efficient process). Respond promptly and efficiently. Spring/Summer 2021

Great employees are attracted to companies that demonstrate timely organization in the hiring process.

If the candidate is not the right fit: •

Tell them that you are interviewing multiple candidates and we will let them know IF we will be moving forward with them

•

Email a “Rejection Letter”

The following steps can help you create this experience: 1. Send them to your website (provide a web link) to fill out an application •

Respond to application by phone within that work day

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Explain the Profile Assessment (such as DISC or Predictive Index).

4. Writing the Job Offer/Package This offer must include: •

Clear job instructions

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Unique company or job opportunity details Clear pay details

age (forms to complete) •

Start date is confirmed with employee and ensure all information needed from the Welcome Package is returned or received prior to the first day of employment and review all forms for correct and complete information.

•

Add employee to:

1. Payroll 2. Any software or technology used by employee or relevant to the position (i.e., LMN, Aspire, BossLM, Service Autopilot etc)

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Immediately send out the profiling assessment

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Do a quick assessment of the profile once returned (for compatibility)

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Paid Time Off

3. Safety programs subscription and/or program (i.e. Greenius)

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Sick Days (or could come directly out of PTO)

4. Company portal or shared drive Employee Directory

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Paid Holidays

5. IRA

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Health Benefits

6. Healthcare plan

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Retirement Package (i.e. matching IRA by 1-3% of employees salary)

7. Physical File

2. Check social media for any red flags 3. Read over application and resume to ensure character 4. Stable Job history 5. Identify your core requirements (i.e., reliability, honesty, team player, teachable, dedication) and check with references. 3. Create an Interview Process

This offer could include:

Upon Hiring •

Once hired, the employee is sent the new employee welcome pack-

8. Mailbox 9. Insurance Auto Policy 10. Uniform items (i.e. shirts, polos / gloves, etc.) will be prepared for their first day of employment

1. Immediately upon receiving the profile assessment (i.e. DISC Profile or the Predictive Index Assessment etc), email the applicant using the Employee PreInterview Email Template. 2. Call to ensure they received the email and to confirm the date works •

Reschedule for a new date if there is a conflict

3. Conduct Interview using the Interview Form If the interview goes well: •

Give them a quick tour of the shop and yard.

•

Let them know that we are interviewing multiple candidates.

•

“We will be in touch within 48 hours.”

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Onboarding Finally, the last step and a very important one to master is employee onboarding. From day 1 onward, your team should feel welcomed and well supported. During this welcoming and training phase, making the employee feel part of the team and comfortable in his environment should be your priority. You can create a memorable experience by doing the following: •

Assign a new employee greeter or mentor

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Greet the new employee outside immediately upon arrival

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Give a welcome package (i.e. swag, small gift, treat, team breakfast or etc)

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Give introductions to department staff, key personnel and team during tour.

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Tour the facility

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Review initial job assignments and training plans.

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Review job description and performance expectations and standards.

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Review job schedule and hours.

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Review payroll timing, time cards (if applicable), and policies and procedures.

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Provide hardware and software reviews

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Provide employee with Employee Handbook.

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Conduct a general orientation and review key policies.

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Review general administrative procedures.

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Provide a shop equipment orientation

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Day two and first few weeks of training: On the job orientation and training

You can find and download the complete LMN employee Onboarding Checklist here: www.frankbourque.com/onboarding-checklist Remember, people stay where they feel appreciated and supported. Make this part of your company’s top core values and you will build a winning team culture where great employees want to work. Frank is an award-winning hardscape professional, speaker, writer, consultant, and entrepreneur with an extensive background in business and hardscape construction. He has been a part of the Green Industry for over 20 years as a business owner. He has spoken at Hardscape North America, GIE Expo, Landscape Ontario Congress and many more. He is also a certified ICPI & NCMA instructor and Certified Landscape Horticultural Technician. Spring/Summer 2021

Landscape AlterNATIVEs: A Guide to Native Landscape Plants

RED MAPLE (ACER RUBRUM) by Steven Yergeau, Agriculture & Natural Resources Agent (Ocean & Atlantic Counties)

Native plants are a good way to incorporate sustainable vegetation into yards for clients who are environmentally minded. Native plants are adapted to local climate and soil conditions, requiring less water, fertilizers, and pesticides than non-native vegetation. For landscapers who have property owners looking for native alternatives to non-native vegetation, this column provides options to meet your clients’ needs. Red maple (Acer rubrum) is a native tree that can grow up to 80 feet tall with a spread of up to 50 feet at maturity (Photo 1). It has the three-lobed leaves indicative of maples (Photo 2) and produces winged seeds known as samaras.

Photo 1: Red maple as a street tree in late summer (Photo Credit: Steve Yergeau). The red maple is the most widely distributed tree in the Eastern United States

because it is easy to establish in an area jerseyyards.org/jersey-friendly-plants/ and is fast growing at an average rate of where-to-buy-native-plants/. 2-5 feet per year. Red maple prefers soils ranging from well-drained to wet but thrives in moist soils that are acidic to slightly acidic (4.5 – 6.8 pH). As a shade tree, red maple can grow well in areas of full sun but can also tolerate shade. Some management issues do arise with red maples, such as fast growing roots that can upend concrete and asphalt when used next to such materials. Also, red maples can be susceptible to tar spot fungus (Photo 2). Tar spot is rarely serious enough to threaten the health of the red maple tree, but infected leaves that fall should be raked up and destroyed (through composting, for example). Red maple is a great ornamental tree, especially when it flowers in early spring with small pink to dark red flowers Photo 2: Close up of red maple leaves, some showing tar and in the fall when the spot (Photo Credit: Steve Yergeau). leaves turn a striking red color. Red maple is a great choice to use instead of many non-native Steven Yergeau, Ph.D. is the Dept. Head trees, such as Norway maple (Acer plat- and Agricultural Agent for Rutgers Coanoides) and Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus operative Extension of Ocean County. He altissima). is also Assistant Professor for Ocean & AtYou can find nurseries in New Jersey lantic Counties. For more info visit http:// that sell native plants by visiting the Jer- ocean.njaes.rutgers.edu. sey-Friendly Yards website at http://www.

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Gotta Go Back in Time

by Jeff Rak, Land Creations Landscaping Have you ever gone back in time? Just think if you could go back ten or fifteen years. Wouldn’t it be nice to have back all the time and money you wasted? If you had it all to do over, just think of the money you could have in your pocket now. This past year I had a chance to go back in time, so to speak. Just like the rest of the world we needed to rethink our business so we could work. Unfortunately, it was going to be harder than I expected. The first hit was when I found out we were not getting our H-2B guys that have been with us for 15 years. Then came COVID 19 and the world stopped. This is all happening early spring and now instead of having 10 or 12 guys in the field working, we were down to two. That’s when my trip back in time started. After 15 years of being out of the field I jumped back in. First day back with my work boots

on I am ready to head out to the job. Oh wait the truck will not start,; let’s jump it and go. What, the trailer has a flat? Great, get the compressor and air it up. Now we are on our way. We arrive on site to do a simple clean up and mulching. I tell the crew let’s start by blowing out the beds. What, how could the blower be out of gas before we start and you forget to bring the gas? I will run up to the gas station. In the meantime, grab a leaf rake and let’s get started. You didn’t bring leaf rakes because you had the blower? Yup, that pretty much was the way it went. I am sure some of you have been there before and it becomes an “a ha” moment. It’s time to make some changes. We need to get more efficient, we need better planning, and we need to get it right. If we could just tighten things up a bit we can make some money.

I quickly realized a few things that were not working right. Now I have to put back on my owners hat and see what I could do. One of the biggest things I noticed is that the crews are working harder then they need to. I watched as they did simple tasks and could not figure out why they were doing it that way. I started to ask questions and their answer was simple. Nobody showed me the way to do it so this way works. Let’s look at a simple process like loading a wheelbarrow with mulch. The crew members are unloading mulch out of the back of a dump truck. They are using a flat shovel and jumping in and out of the truck every time they load a barrow. A little training for a new crew member who has never done this before will go a long way. Let’s stop for a minute and show them the process. First, raise the bed of the dump Spring/Summer 2021

and money saver. I never really realized the time we wasted slipping and sliding around a job site. Time to put the owner’s hat back on and see if we could handle an investment of that size.

Pave Tool ES T-Handle. Photo: Pave Tool truck. Then get the barrow right up to the tailgate. Use a mulch fork to pull the mulch into the barrow letting gravity help. Most of us take that process for granted but that one change will save you time and money the first day. Not only that but now the new crew member will not get worn out from fighting with the mulch and he can put his energy into doing a good job. Let’s take a look at something a little bigger. We have been in business for a long time and I can be a little old school. We have three skid steers and all of them are wheel machines. After working in the field in muddy conditions it became clear we needed a track skid steer. We rented one for a few months and what a time

Photo: Land Creations Landscaping

It didn’t take long looking at the hours we would save by not having to shut down jobs because of muddy condition. It also extended our season by several weeks allowing more jobs to be completed. So we decided to turn in one of the old wheel machines and purchase a track skid steer. The savings has more than paid for the investment. I don’t know how we went so long without one but I am sure we will be adding another one soon. Another thing we do a lot of is natural boulder outcropping and walls. Our crews have been using straps to move and set these large boulders. After working with the crews and seeing how hard it can be to mess with the straps it became clear that we needed a hydraulic thumb for our mini. The amount of time we save using the thumb is amazing. The added benefit is the safety factor. It take the crews out of harm’s way which is a good thing. I attend numerous trade shows and I have been amazed at the vacuum systems for setting pavers. A few years back I purchased a single paver vacuum system. For some reason nobody ever wanted to use it. We talked about it and I showed them how it works but everyone said they could go

Jeff Rak in the field faster without it. So here we are getting ready to do a paver installation project. I tell the crew to dig out that paver vacuum system and bring it with us. I could see their eyes rolling and hear them saying here goes our crazy boss again. I set the vacuum up on the job and started setting pavers. Almost immediately everyone on the crew was watching and wanted to try it. After working with it they all agreed that it was the only way to install pavers. Since then we have found that the vacuum system saves all kinds of time. We now have three of them. Two for smaller pavers and one for larger slabs. What an amazing time saver these vacuums are. Once again it makes our crew’s job so much easier, faster and safer. This gives us a good return on investment and makes us money every day. Going back in time and getting back into the field sure has opened my eyes. I am now looking at everything a little different than before. There are so many big and small ways to save time and money that I was just missing. I know we have a long way to go yet, but I feel refreshed by seeing where we can do better. I challenge you to get out of your comfort zone and get dirty if you haven’t in a while. You will be surprised at what you will find. Jeff Rak founded Land Creations in 1991. He is a 1989 graduate of Ohio State University / Agricultural Technical Institute with a degree in Landscape Contracting and Construction. After years of learning Jeff is now sharing his experience with other contractors through public speaking, educational events and private consulting.

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WHAT IS A PEO? Today, we outsource everything from food delivery and transportation services to someone who will walk our dogs. We value our time more than ever. This is especially true for small to mid-size business owners where every minute counts and so many things happen on a daily basis that distract from the single biggest thing business owners should focused on … growing their company and increasing profitability!!!!! Many times, this requires a business owner to break away from norms, research better ways to operate and implement practices that take business to a new level. We see this every day in all aspects in of life. Does anyone remember when Compaq was leading the office computer market? Hard to remember, right?? That’s because they are not here anymore to remember. Their business model failed to evolve, they lost their market share and eventually were acquired. By 2013, even their name disappeared. The landscaping industry is no different. Businesses need to be ready for the next new advancement in equipment, landscape management and expanding products that will make your company thrive and prosper. You founded your business to provide service and generate income doing what you do best. You then promptly discovered the headaches associated with being an entrepreneur and an employer. Payroll, business insurances, administrative and legal compliance issues and the enormous volume of paperwork drive you deeper behind the desk and away from bidding work, managing

jobs and soliciting new clients. A better approach is available to small businesses that allows companies to concentrate on the things they do best and build profits on the way. This is what a PEO or Professional Employer Organization can do! A PEO will give you back the freedom to focus on work that really matters by providing payroll services, tax payment and reporting, administration of garnishments, unemployment claims and much more. As part of a PEO, it is not uncommon to see 15% to 25% in annual savings on workers compensation insurance with little or no-money down on a pay-as-you-go program. This also eliminates the time, stress, and financial risk of the annual audit. In addition to workers comp, you will also be able to use the significant purchasing power of the PEO to secure employee benefit plans not normally available to small businesses, such as group healthcare, dental and vision and life insurance. Overall, partnering with a PEO can benefit your business with both cost saving and employee administration. In addition, with certain PEO’s you will also be able to utilize OSHA certified safety personnel who will assist you in developing and maintaining the best protocols aimed at reducing the number of claims and the costs that come with those claims. In some instances those services are free, and the end result is that your company can be more effective in the bidding process. The safety and health performance of companies both large and small has come

by Steve Umbrell, E3 HR, Inc. to the forefront more than ever in the past year. In addition to the hardships families have faced, many companies have also suffered financial and reputational setbacks for failing to provide a safe and healthy work environment for their employees. On top of all of the other hazards like transportation injuries, fall hazards, amputation hazards, etc, now there is a pandemic affecting your teams. Keeping landscape professionals safe doesn’t just end when they leave the yard in the morning. Safety and health compliance has to find it’s way to the ever changing worksite. A strong PEO will help you build and implement safety programs to ensure compliance and the overall safety and health of your employees. In today’s environment, we all need to remain progressive, and open minded to solutions that help our businesses stabilize, increase profitability and enhance the future opportunities for ourselves and our families. A PEO is a progressive and modern way to solve those issues distracting you from making your business the best it could possibly be, while forging a relationship that is built to serve your needs. E3 HR, Inc. is a New Jersey based PEO that is ready to partner with you to realize all of the benefits that it brings to the table for its clients. By utilizing industry leading technology and a strong dedicated staff of professionals, we can provide your company with the best solutions on an individual basis. If you want to learn more, please contact Steve Umbrell at (908)367-7875 or email at steve@e3peo.com Spring/Summer 2021

What Teaching has Taught Me by John Raffiani, Raffiani’s Automatic Sprinklers

Nine years ago, while attending the Spring meeting of the Irrigation Association of NJ I was struck by the low turnout and the implications it showcased, that being the lack of attendance indicating a further lack of professionalism on the part of our members. I sat there listening to our guest speaker without truly hearing what he was saying as all I could think about was how to address the low regard our members (and those that were not members-their reasons being the old “what’s in it for me”) had about our chosen profession. I walked out into the hallway where our Executive Director Pat Koziol was seated doing paper work and broached (more like blurted) my feelings out about the lack of any real professionalism among our trade. I begin to click off a list of observations I’ve had over the years from not only the low attendance at functions and classes but went on to bemoan the estimates I’ve seen from competitors written on a letterhead pad, the low balling, the lack of proper insurance, ignoring utility mark outs and the mindset that correctly written contracts did not seem to exist for most of us despite the legal requirement that NJ consumer law requires. Pat sat there quietly taking my escalating rant into account when she stopped me and asked what I was going to do about it. I was taken aback for a moment but recovered and said “I’d like to teach a course about contract requirements, our licensing law, how to indemnify oneself and many other areas that I know our people are sorely deficient at doing”. She suggested I write a proposal and present it at the next board meeting. I did so and the board was very receptive to the idea so I wrote the course and sent it to Pat for her input. She gave me many pointers and editing advice as it was the first PowerPoint I ever wrote and for the final product she

even named it: “PROTECT YOURSELF BY AVOIDING LEGAL LANDMINES”. I taught my first class in January 2013 at the IANJ Winter Tech and opened up with a hefty disclaimer about not being a lawyer and stating that this was not legal advice and if they had any questions to consult their attorneys. Whew! After I got that out of the way I proceeded to cover in depth contracts, our laws, the HIC Act, insurance, permits, liabilities, utility mark outs and all manner of issues I knew existed but many were not aware of. The class stayed very alert and glued to most of what I had to say-especially when I showed some competitor’s contracts (with their names blacked out of course) and highlighted the numerous glaring faux pas that could easily be turned around to bite them where the sun doesn’t shine. The first thing I learned that day was that if you had something important to say people normally would listen. Granted there are always naysayers and detractors but when teaching to an audience that wants to be there most are there to learn something. This brings me to my second insight from teaching-I became a better listener. When you listen to the questions asked you gain a better feeling for the level of concern the person asking them has on the subject. Once you perceive this you can truly answer a question better, more thoroughly and very concisely. A side result of this was it made me a better salesman in my business just by the realization of this fact.

written more than a dozen courses on subjects as diverse as mycorrhizae fungi to drainage contracting to alternative water sources and everything in between. I have been privileged to present for the our own NJLCA (which is the best association to be a part of!), the National Irrigation Association, the New Jersey Irrigation Association, the Connecticut Irrigation Contractors Association, the Minnesota Nursery and Landscape Association (thanks to our own Gail Woolcott) and in house for several landscape companies. I hope to keep teaching well into the future and authoring many more courses as I learned the most important lesson of all by teaching-it feels great just to give back and be involved. If something you convey sparks an idea, a pathway to a new service or only provides inspiration to hit the next level personally and professionally then mission accomplished. John Raffiani has been involved with the Green Industry dating back to the late 1950s when as a child he learned horticultural from working in his grandfather’s greenhouse and on his shrub farm. Since 1966 he has installed more than 16,000 irrigation systems along with numerous lighting, drainage and landscape projects. He is also a National Irrigation Association Certified Regional Instructor and has taught for the IA, IANJ, CICA and the NJLCA plus presented topic specific webinars for the NJLCA. His focus is on HOA and Residential maintenance with an eye towards water conserving upgrades to existing systems and drainage remediation.

Another one of the main takeaways I received from teaching was that I wanted to do more of it. I had a lot I wanted to give back to the trades that have treated me so well over the years and made me dig deeper towards learning as much as I could so as to write courses on many different subjects. Since that time, I have

www.NJLCA.org 59

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The New Jersey Landscape Contractor - Summer 2021

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Low-Cost Advertising to Rake in More Business

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FIRE-PIT PLANTINGS

IPM VS. PHC: Is there a difference