One of A Kind

For those clients who demand that something extra that no one else in their neighborhood will have, landscape contractors will often search high and low for unique extras to make their clients' landscapes stand out.

ON THE RIGHT TRACK. In Cleveland, Ohio, the owner of a family-owned machine shop created miniature railroad cars and tracks for use in a holiday display at his home. That sparked an idea that he could sell these for landscape use. He calls his product LawnTracks.

"You can do so many things with these tracks," he explained. "You can put them on a bridge with water underneath, you can put a gazebo in the middle and have the train run around the gazebo.

"But people look at [the railroad cars] and seem to be confused," he continued. "They don't know what to do with it. They seem to be scared of it."

However, once people see the cars in a landscape, they understand how they can be used to enhance their properties.

"My mailman came by and wanted to buy one for his wife for Christmas and a local day care center bought two or three cars and some tracks to put between bushes," Christopher explained.

The entire system is designed to be easy to haul and install, with the longest track fitting in the back of a pickup truck. While the tracks can be bought in sections for smaller jobs, complete track sets can also be created with eight to 12 sections, depending on the size the client is looking for. Each car measures about 24 inches high and 15 inches wide, Christopher related.

Track sections range in price from $35 to $70 and car prices range from $65 to $95.

An engine for the set was built for Christopher's personal Christmas display and was also showcased at a local festival, which generated inquires from customers. "A lot of people asked about the engine at the festival," he asserted. "I had to explain to them that it was a display. Now I am working on remaking it so it can be sold.

"The display was operated on batteries, but the one I'm building now is gas operated," he added.

Currently Christopher is in the process of tweaking the engine specifications to make sure that it runs smoothly and doesn't fly off the track. "Right now I'm feeling it out, trying to find the best way to build it."

Christopher has no plans to make this a second business - he is satisfied with working on it in his spare time and working to perfect his designs.

"It's just going to be incorporated into this business as a product that we make," he asserted. "Right now there's not much profit because a lot of the items are prototypes. We'll see how it shapes up."

To market his product, Christopher has tried to contact some landscaping companies in his area, but hasn't received much response. Therefore he mainly uses his Web site and local festivals as a way to showcase the trains and his concept for use in landscape designs.

LOST TREASURES. A love for finding antique pieces for personal use turned into a landscape add-on service for Michael McGilvray, president, McGilvray's Landscape, Weymouth, Mass.

"I've always had an interest in antique wagons," McGilvray related. "I started restoring them about two years ago, but they're not very easy to come by. You'd be hard pressed to find half a dozen in the whole state."

The antique wagon that McGilvray placed in his yard has become quite an attention getter and has generated enough interest that he's going to be kicking off a marketing campaign soon, advertising this as a service offered through his company.

"There's a certain type of clientele that really enjoys antiques," he advised. "For me, my house happens to be older than the wagon - about 220 years old. Everything is very rustic in my landscape and that's the norm for the New England area."

Because they are rare, McGilvray has only installed two wagons and plans to do a few more this year. "My goal is to store the wagons as I find them, take pictures of them and market them that way," he acknowledged.

Prices on the wagons will vary, but McGilvray is marketing the service as being less than $5,000. "You're talking $1,000 to $1,500 with the finder's fee," he remarked. "It depends on the shape of the wagon and if it's an original, which would raise the price. I also have to take the time spent on finding and restoring it into consideration."

Though he is the only contractor in his area offering this unique element, McGilvray doesn't expect to have a huge demand for this item because it would have to complement the rest of the landscape for it to serve its intended purpose.

"If someone wanted some kind of landscaping done with a farm setting, I would suggest this as a focal point," he commented. "This is something you don't see everyday."

In addition to the antique wagons, McGilvray said he plans to continue searching for unique services to offer his clients.

"I have so much competition in this area that I want to keep doing things that no one else is doing," he enthused.