Market Trends: Feb. 1997

The Composting Council Research and Educational Foundation claims that composting may be more prevalent than believed. A survey of composting facilities in seven states (California, Florida, Minnesota, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio and Washington) found that 17 percent of facilities produce 70 percent of the yard trimmings used in composting, indicating that current estimates may be substantially underestimating actual recovery.
Other findings at the Foundation include:

• Yard trimmings comprise 72 percent of compost feedstocks.



• Half the facilities grind feedstock, one-fourth shred and one-fourth blend before composting.



• Major uses for compost include landscaping (30 percent), agriculture (25 percent), landfill cover (14 percent) and nurseries (11 percent).

Western Weather Whips Landscape

At this writing it’s too early to tell exactly what damage has been caused by the harsh winter storms hitting the Pacific Northwest, but as of early January, preliminary estimates put costs at more than $1.5 billion in California and Nevada alone. That was before much of the water volume moved downstream to more heavily populated areas. The heavy rain and snow, combined with mountain snow melts, caused massive flooding and breaking of levees protecting lowlands.

One landscape contractor commented that although the storms have caused significant damage, at least the problems are relatively short lived.

"If the choice is between flood and drought, I’d rather have a flood that goes away. With extended droughts, we can’t do anything with the landscapes without water," said Wayne Richards, president of Cagwin & Dorward, Novato, Calif.

According to Keith Miller, construction operation manager for Cedar Landscape in Hillsboro, Ore., it’s too early to predict the total effect on the landscape from the rains and flooding. He said installation work has essentially stopped, but the flooding has created new maintenance and cleanup work. He said there has also been a lot of tree damage since so much soil has washed away.

Servicemaster Completes Due Diligence

ServiceMaster of Downers Grove, Ill., announced in late December it completed due diligence for its acquisition of Barefoot Inc., Worthington, Ohio. ServiceMaster is the parent company of TruGreen-ChemLawn, Terminix and other consumer and commercial services, with an annual customer level revenue of more than $4.5 billion.

The next step in the acquisition, which is expected to go through in the next few months, is to receive Hart-Scott-Rodino antitrust approval and register the transaction with the Securities and Exchange Commission. At that point, a tender offer will go to Barefoot stockholders, which must be approved by at least 75 percent of the outstanding shares.

While lawn care contractors across the country wonder what the deal will do in terms of competition in their markets, Barefoot franchise holders are reportedly considering several options for their personal futures. Some may choose to become independent companies, while others may become a TruGreen-ChemLawn franchise. The option to remain an independent Barefoot franchisee may cost franchise holders a hefty percent of their business.

ALCA Honors Hyatt Hotels

The Associated Landscape Contractors of America has selected the Hyatt Hotels Corp. to receive its 1996 Landscape Contribution Award in recognition of that company’s dedication to achieving higher standards of exterior and/or interior landscaping through the use of professional landscape contractors. Hyatt has strived to improve the experience of its guests through the use of landscaping since it opened the world’s first atrium hotel in 1967.

OSHA Safety Inspections Hit Record Lows

According to The Wall Street Journal, the United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration performed only 24,024 inspections in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 1996, which is 17.5 percent less than those for fiscal year 1995 and a whopping 43.3 percent down from totals in 1994.

Bad weather, a hiring freeze and the agency’s policy to cooperate more with business are credited with the change in practices. Unions are said to be troubled by the development.

Holiday Decorating Conference Planned

’Tis the season ... to prepare for the holiday season. Landscape contractors looking for an additional profit center during the winter off-season should attend Plantscape Inc.’s Christmas Decorating Conference. The event will be held May 30-June 1 in Pittsburgh, and will feature more than a dozen seminars and workshops addressing interior and exterior holiday decorating.

The conference will also cover sales, marketing, design and production tips and techniques. Contact Plantscape at 412/281-6352 for more information.

Aquascape Class Travels the Country

Aquascape Designs is taking its expertise on the road, offering 44 one-day educational seminars across the country on water feature construction through Mar. 14.

The $79 class features extensive discussion on determining filtration, pump selection, plumbing requirements, determining labor hours, common pitfalls and more and is taught by Aquascape President Gary Wittstock.

For more information, contact Aquascape at 800/306-6227.