May 2, 2005
Pay dirt | The life of a Maine landscaper when spring finally rolls around
By Rick Campbell
Everyone in the landscaping industry will agree that living in Maine has something to do with the craziness that occurs in the springtime. We really try to get a full year's worth of work done in nine months.
For our company, the process really started last fall, when we began talking to clients about this coming spring. We have an architect and two designers on our staff, and they work with clients throughout the winter, getting their designs prepared and projects sorted out so we can get started as soon as the spring comes. I frequently tell people when I'm meeting them in the fall, "You need to be thinking about next spring."
So when we hit April, we really hit the ground running. For new customers, we're usually booking work between two and three months in advance, so right now we're booking our construction work in the end of the July, and we're booking our planting group in the end of June.
Of course, what happens is that people have been sitting on a project all winter, or maybe they're still building their house. Then when we get these warm days, it seems like we get a rash of phone calls ˆ which is wonderful, because they're excited and we're getting our name to them. We have to be prepared for this type of enthusiasm and meet it with the same enthusiasm. When we get these phone calls, my rule is to call within 24 hours and set up a meeting possibly within a week, but always within two weeks.
Inevitably, some people are taken aback when they learn that we're scheduling work two or three months out. I met a wonderful couple yesterday who've been building a house all winter, and they've got a raw site where they'd like to have something done. Well, we won't be able to get there until July. They were a little taken aback, but I think that because of our company's reputation they're willing to wait for us. That's really most gratifying, when people are willing to wait for us.
There's disappointment, certainly, when some people hear the schedule. But if I can accommodate somebody in any way, I will. Once in a while I'll go out myself and do something because I know no one else can do it. This afternoon, for example, I'm doing a design consultation and I'm pruning the fellow's trees while I'm there. I enjoy going out on a beautiful day like this and pruning, but it's a luxury that I rarely can afford because of my schedule.
One of the things we're under the gun for right now is our estate, or property maintenance, division. We have six crews right now doing nothing but springtime cleanups. That includes pruning and cleaning out beds, edging, mulching and fertilization ˆ just an overall, "Let's get the place looking good."
Any new planting has to be put on hold, so we like to get those people done before June. But nurseries aren't really going right now so there's not a lot you can do anyway.
Planting work usually starts in May. It depends on how wet the spring was and how deep the frost was, because the nurseries here in the Northeast can't start digging plants until the ground is firm enough to form a solid ball. They are under the influence of the weather just like we are.
Workers don't grow on trees
Our company is blessed with a backlog of work, and I really think that's an incredible advantage when you're in the construction industry, because it gives you a base with which to work and to hire qualified people ˆ and to keep them. That's really a big challenge of ours, keeping our qualified people. We have a labor force of about 25 people that we carry through the winter, which consists mainly of our supervisory staff. And we'll run about 55-60 people in our peak season
One of the problems we face is that demand is very high now for this service, but if you hired enough people to do every job in a month, you'd have to start laying people off in June, which wouldn't be fair to them. So we have to balance the labor with the clientele.
The other thing is, of course, getting qualified people. We're looking for people who know how to plant and prune, and those people don't grow on trees. We start advertising and looking for people in January, and we interview right through the winter. We do have people we lay off who come back the following year, and we give incentives for people to come back ˆ bonuses and that type of thing. We want these people to return, because training new people is more difficult.
Between offering year-round work, a 401k plan, health insurance, paid vacations, holidays and other things you'd expect from a 12-month-a-year job, we're very industrious about keeping people. It's an investment we make to avoid having all those jobs to do in the spring and no one to work for us.
Being the lead marketing person in the company, I like to go out there and meet people. I usually get into work between 6:30 and 7:30 a.m. Yesterday I had a 9:00 meeting, a 10:00 meeting, an 11:30 meeting, a 1:00 meeting, a 3:00 meeting and a 5:00 meeting. I got home around 7:00. This time of year I put in 10 hours as a minimum. Twelve is not unusual, and I've done 13- or 14-hour days. Someone called me up yesterday and wanted me to meet them at 6:15. I said, "Let's see, 6:15 would give me about a 14-hour day. I really don't think I'll be coherent."
As I get older, I have a harder time spending those kinds of hours. I'm in my mid-50s, and certainly age is going to catch up to you.
Asking the right questions
We frequently see a slump in calls in August. Much of the reason for that, I think, is that people are taking vacations. But if we're booked two to three months out, that's not an issue for us. Sometimes it's welcome that we get a little bit of a slowdown, so instead of making four or five calls a day I'm making one or two calls.
There are certain types of projects you can't do at certain times. We stop planting grass around the first week of October because a hard frost will kill a new lawn. We also stop planting perennials by the first of October. We will plant shrubs and trees until the ground freezes. But we don't start winding down until December ˆ we're still doing as many hardscapes as we can and we're preparing sites for winter work until then.
The thing that makes us kind of crazy is when we do have people with wonderful jobs calling us, but they want it done in two weeks. Then they say, "Well, if you can't get it done in two weeks I'll call someone else." At that point I say, "Okay, but there's a real danger there. If somebody's not busy, you don't want them working in your yard." There may be a reason why this guy can take the job right away, so buyer beware.
I've been on jobs where people say that they hired someone last year who walked off ˆ who collected the money and then left. People are too trusting sometimes. Our company works on contracts. We get one-third of the price as a deposit, one-third when we start and one-third when we finish. It's very straightforward and professional. Anyone that looks to get paid in full before the job is over, you've got a problem. I've seen people get burned really badly.
The Maine Landscape and Nursery Association sponsors a certification program ˆ Maine Certified Nursery Professionals and Maine Certified Landscape Professionals. There's a minimum standard of testing, the test is grueling and only professionals are able to pass. So when you're hiring someone, check the credentials. "Are you a member of MeLNA? Are you certified? Are you a licensed arborist?"
These questions are very important, especially this time of year. People get desperate when they call a company like mine and hear we're booking into July. So they say, "I can't wait for that," and hire Jim Smith down the road. But if Jim Smith decides he's going to hike the Appalachian Trail halfway through the job, they're stuck.
Not only that, but if they're not professionals, they're not going to know the difference between a shade plant and a sun plant, an herbaceous plant or a deciduous plant ˆ they're not going to know. To people that are anxious I say beware. Landscapes don't cost hundreds anymore, they cost thousands, and it's really important you know that the money is well spent.
For our company, the process really started last fall, when we began talking to clients about this coming spring. We have an architect and two designers on our staff, and they work with clients throughout the winter, getting their designs prepared and projects sorted out so we can get started as soon as the spring comes. I frequently tell people when I'm meeting them in the fall, "You need to be thinking about next spring."
So when we hit April, we really hit the ground running. For new customers, we're usually booking work between two and three months in advance, so right now we're booking our construction work in the end of the July, and we're booking our planting group in the end of June.
Of course, what happens is that people have been sitting on a project all winter, or maybe they're still building their house. Then when we get these warm days, it seems like we get a rash of phone calls ˆ which is wonderful, because they're excited and we're getting our name to them. We have to be prepared for this type of enthusiasm and meet it with the same enthusiasm. When we get these phone calls, my rule is to call within 24 hours and set up a meeting possibly within a week, but always within two weeks.
Inevitably, some people are taken aback when they learn that we're scheduling work two or three months out. I met a wonderful couple yesterday who've been building a house all winter, and they've got a raw site where they'd like to have something done. Well, we won't be able to get there until July. They were a little taken aback, but I think that because of our company's reputation they're willing to wait for us. That's really most gratifying, when people are willing to wait for us.
There's disappointment, certainly, when some people hear the schedule. But if I can accommodate somebody in any way, I will. Once in a while I'll go out myself and do something because I know no one else can do it. This afternoon, for example, I'm doing a design consultation and I'm pruning the fellow's trees while I'm there. I enjoy going out on a beautiful day like this and pruning, but it's a luxury that I rarely can afford because of my schedule.
One of the things we're under the gun for right now is our estate, or property maintenance, division. We have six crews right now doing nothing but springtime cleanups. That includes pruning and cleaning out beds, edging, mulching and fertilization ˆ just an overall, "Let's get the place looking good."
Any new planting has to be put on hold, so we like to get those people done before June. But nurseries aren't really going right now so there's not a lot you can do anyway.
Planting work usually starts in May. It depends on how wet the spring was and how deep the frost was, because the nurseries here in the Northeast can't start digging plants until the ground is firm enough to form a solid ball. They are under the influence of the weather just like we are.
Workers don't grow on trees
Our company is blessed with a backlog of work, and I really think that's an incredible advantage when you're in the construction industry, because it gives you a base with which to work and to hire qualified people ˆ and to keep them. That's really a big challenge of ours, keeping our qualified people. We have a labor force of about 25 people that we carry through the winter, which consists mainly of our supervisory staff. And we'll run about 55-60 people in our peak season
One of the problems we face is that demand is very high now for this service, but if you hired enough people to do every job in a month, you'd have to start laying people off in June, which wouldn't be fair to them. So we have to balance the labor with the clientele.
The other thing is, of course, getting qualified people. We're looking for people who know how to plant and prune, and those people don't grow on trees. We start advertising and looking for people in January, and we interview right through the winter. We do have people we lay off who come back the following year, and we give incentives for people to come back ˆ bonuses and that type of thing. We want these people to return, because training new people is more difficult.
Between offering year-round work, a 401k plan, health insurance, paid vacations, holidays and other things you'd expect from a 12-month-a-year job, we're very industrious about keeping people. It's an investment we make to avoid having all those jobs to do in the spring and no one to work for us.
Being the lead marketing person in the company, I like to go out there and meet people. I usually get into work between 6:30 and 7:30 a.m. Yesterday I had a 9:00 meeting, a 10:00 meeting, an 11:30 meeting, a 1:00 meeting, a 3:00 meeting and a 5:00 meeting. I got home around 7:00. This time of year I put in 10 hours as a minimum. Twelve is not unusual, and I've done 13- or 14-hour days. Someone called me up yesterday and wanted me to meet them at 6:15. I said, "Let's see, 6:15 would give me about a 14-hour day. I really don't think I'll be coherent."
As I get older, I have a harder time spending those kinds of hours. I'm in my mid-50s, and certainly age is going to catch up to you.
Asking the right questions
We frequently see a slump in calls in August. Much of the reason for that, I think, is that people are taking vacations. But if we're booked two to three months out, that's not an issue for us. Sometimes it's welcome that we get a little bit of a slowdown, so instead of making four or five calls a day I'm making one or two calls.
There are certain types of projects you can't do at certain times. We stop planting grass around the first week of October because a hard frost will kill a new lawn. We also stop planting perennials by the first of October. We will plant shrubs and trees until the ground freezes. But we don't start winding down until December ˆ we're still doing as many hardscapes as we can and we're preparing sites for winter work until then.
The thing that makes us kind of crazy is when we do have people with wonderful jobs calling us, but they want it done in two weeks. Then they say, "Well, if you can't get it done in two weeks I'll call someone else." At that point I say, "Okay, but there's a real danger there. If somebody's not busy, you don't want them working in your yard." There may be a reason why this guy can take the job right away, so buyer beware.
I've been on jobs where people say that they hired someone last year who walked off ˆ who collected the money and then left. People are too trusting sometimes. Our company works on contracts. We get one-third of the price as a deposit, one-third when we start and one-third when we finish. It's very straightforward and professional. Anyone that looks to get paid in full before the job is over, you've got a problem. I've seen people get burned really badly.
The Maine Landscape and Nursery Association sponsors a certification program ˆ Maine Certified Nursery Professionals and Maine Certified Landscape Professionals. There's a minimum standard of testing, the test is grueling and only professionals are able to pass. So when you're hiring someone, check the credentials. "Are you a member of MeLNA? Are you certified? Are you a licensed arborist?"
These questions are very important, especially this time of year. People get desperate when they call a company like mine and hear we're booking into July. So they say, "I can't wait for that," and hire Jim Smith down the road. But if Jim Smith decides he's going to hike the Appalachian Trail halfway through the job, they're stuck.
Not only that, but if they're not professionals, they're not going to know the difference between a shade plant and a sun plant, an herbaceous plant or a deciduous plant ˆ they're not going to know. To people that are anxious I say beware. Landscapes don't cost hundreds anymore, they cost thousands, and it's really important you know that the money is well spent.
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