Letters To The Editor: March 2000

To the Editor:
In Dave Clancy’s "Getting Started on Tree and Shrub Care" (October 1999), the point of increased profits for companies is understated, and the suggested methods of achieving those profits are oversimplified.

A customer’s decision to have a lawn treated is a business decision equating to low pricing. Because competition in the lawn care service industry is enormous, pricing is suppressed.

Tree treatments, on the other hand, are emotional decisions. The profits realized are significant. Treating a tree for a species-typical problem usually takes less time than treating the lawn around the tree. The applied pesticide usually costs less than the pesticide used to treat the lawn.

No lawn service company will ever realize the potential profits in arborial care with mind sets of "capital investments and in-house training." The fait accompli is the cost of diagnosis (training, knowledge and personal time) vs. the potential of turning that diagnosis into a sale. If there is no sale, there is no funding for diagnosis.

Lawn care professionals are trained to treat symptoms of the problem – the derivation of which goes unchecked. That’s not OK with trees, which, genetically, may take years to respond to diagnostic treatments.

The proverbial trick is to realize a profit from the diagnostic process. The treatment, if any, will provide its own profit windfall. Some companies are doing this – but these companies are tree services with certified professional operators (CPO), not spray companies with arborists.

The solution is for the lawn company to team with a consulting arborist. This will form a synergism for both parties. There is no additional overhead for either, each will profit, and so will the trees.

Joe Samnik,
Consulting Arborist and CPO

To the Editor:
We are very flattered with the contents of your December issue. You’ve done a skillful job at chronicling the inner workings of our company. I think this will be a valuable resource for those in the process of building their own landscape businesses. It is also a very fitting tribute to George and the excellent organization he has built over the years.

To the Editor:
I just received my first issue of Lawn & Landscape. Great magazine. Also, I went to your Web site, and it is the best I’ve found. My only regret is that I didn’t know about it two years ago.

To the Editor:
We wanted to thank you for the story in your January 2000 issue. We appreciate your time and effort to help connect Future Farmers of America and the green industry.