© Jay Bendt

They’re a hit in Europe, an eye-catching yard toy and maybe a remedy for the labor shortage this industry is facing. Robotic (or autonomous) mowers have been creeping to the American market for the last few years, but manufacturers say things are just getting started.

“The time is absolutely now,” says Charles Quinn, founder of robotic software company Greenzie. “The robotics and the software are here.”

Greenzie manufactures software that allows traditional gas-powered mowers to be transformed into autonomous machines. Quinn says the goal is to remove the monotonous tasks that landscapers perform each day so they can enjoy the other parts of the job. Those are the tasks that may have drawn them to this industry in the first place.

Isaac Roberts, owner of Scythe Robotics, says robotics entering the green industry will lend itself to a better equipment service model and even better landscapes in general.

The time is right for the adoption of this new technology, and Logan Fahey, owner of Robin Autopilot, a franchise focused on the deployment robotic mowers, says within the next two years, there’s going to be a flip, and it’s going to be quick. “(Robotic mowers) are no longer a gimmick,” he says. “The momentum is just picking up.”

Your new employee? Labor has been the headlining issue in the industry for several year, and it’s expected to remain high on the list in the future, too. Robotic manufacturers are hopeful, though, that this new technology may be able to alleviate some pains that come along with a lack of skilled and dependable labor.

“I have yet to meet a landscaper that says, ‘I don't have a problem with labor,’” Roberts says. “Even the people that are going into the winter months and they're saying, ‘yeah, we are actually OK now’… they're still hiring. I actually see a scenario where robots are going to expand the landscaping market because it's going to not only free up labor, but it's going to reduce the cost of that labor.”

Tony Hopp, owner of Mowbot, a robotic mower franchise, says the industry’s adoption of robotic mowers might lead to better employee retention.

“When (companies) do find a good employee, they want to keep them,” Hopp says. “And (the employees) don’t want to be sitting on a mower for six hours a day.”

© Jay Bendt

It could also be an opportunity to cut the number of crew strictly mowing lawns, plus your workers could spend more time perfecting their hedge trimming or even getting to know customers, according to Quinn.

“(A robomower) frees up the human labor, which is far more valuable to do the things that are more complicated,” Roberts says.

What it means for business. Fahey says first and foremost, the industry needs to understand robotics.

“The mowers need to be viewed as a tool in your overall fleet,” Fahey says. “It’s not going to be that 24/7 perfect lawn care.” It’s essentially going to take a person with technical software and robotics skills to be able to fully integrate robotics into their fleets, which is why franchise models like Mowbot and Robin Autopilot exist. These companies provide the mowers and their technicians provide the service and install.

And, with this specific type of equipment, it could mean a shift in relationships between manufacturers and end users.

“I think that what you're going to start seeing with robotics is that the entire relationship from manufacturer to landscaper and everything in between is going to completely upend,” Roberts says. Roberts is referencing the model that robotic software giant Tesla utilizes. They go directly to their consumer and eliminate the middle man, which Roberts says is because of the need to have someone who understands the mechanical aspects of the machine and the complex software involved, too.

“If you're going to make a robot, you're not going to want to make a robot that's going to last three years,” Roberts says. “You're going to want to extend the life of that robot for as long as possible because it creates a residual revenue because of the software that will continually evolve.”

Future benefits. Hopp is looking at the adoption of this technology as a way to have a partnership with landscaping companies. “If it helps the guys out, that’s what we want,” he says. For instance, a Mowbot franchise nearby can offer mowing services to a landscaper’s client while that client focuses on the trimming, cleanup or other maintenance jobs. Still, Hopp does see larger, more established landscaping companies having the resources to deploy the bots on their own.

Pairing software experts with lawn machinery lends itself to data not currently accessible, Roberts says. He sees the benefits of robotics extending far beyond cushioning labor pains.

“(Robotics) are going to allow landscapers to gather data in a cheap and effective way,” he says. “All of this data that’s being aggregated for the sake of the robots use, we'll also be getting aggregated for the sake of the landscape.” He sees things like more accurate bids based on job size, even breaking down how much of a property is actually grass and how much of the property you’ll need to lay seed down on. He says there will be a focus on optimizing the machine to do the job in the best way because the robots’ job is to complete the task .

“These things are all possible over time,” Roberts says, “and I think within 10 to 20 years we'll see them and they'll be very common.” L&L

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He admits he doesn’t take orders well. Maybe that’s been a main driving force behind Carlos Garcia’s climb of the ladder at Landscape Elements ND in Williston, North Dakota. “So, I’ve always shot for a higher position,” Garcia says.

It doesn’t come from arrogance either. Garcia is just a proactive, driven individual who wants to make those around him better. “Carlos is the type of person you want your company to grow with,” says Office Manager, Diana Gomez, who nominated Garcia. “He’s a great person to be around and truly someone who, at a young age, has taken full advantage of his opportunities to make the best version of himself.”

Garcia, operations manager and director of sales, joined Landscape Elements, which his uncle owns, in 2013 as a maintenance manager. He got the landscaping bug helping at the lawn care company his dad, who also works at Landscape Elements, started. “Honestly, this turned into my life,” he says. “I like seeing landscapes be created. I like seeing lawns being taken care of. It’s just something I fell in love with to be honest with you.”

Age is just a number.

At 27, Garcia isn’t a kid anymore, but he’s still young to be in a leadership position. At 18, he worked in an oil field and was supervising workers in their 40s and 50s.

“I was already leading my own crew, bagging sand and doing some other operations in a yard,” he says. “Prior to that I was working for another company and I was also maintenance supervisor. So, I’ve always had like a position higher up.”

He says older workers could be tough on him in the beginning, but it comes down to leading by example and results speak for themselves.

“Once they see that you’re actually talented at what you’re doing, and you actually have enough work for them, and they see that everything is running smooth and there’s no problems, then they respect you,” he says. “I believe that age doesn’t matter after that.”

A driven attitude like Garcia has, where he doesn’t like being told what to do, could come off as abrasive. But Garcia says he didn’t want to step on toes to show his interest promotions, rather just let his work do the talking.

“If there are higher ups, they would see what I was capable of,” he says. “I wasn’t being sneaky or being a brown noser or anything. I would just let my work define who I was. I think that’s why I would always get early on opportunities and good positions because of the way I would work.”

And it’s the finished product that has earned him praise from customers. Landscape Elements was already on the job when Sherry Thompson took over as community manager at Regency Apartment Homes.

“Carlos is one of the two vendors that I have kept from day one that had been on the property,” she says. “The rest of them I pretty well got rid of them. His landscaping, it surpasses anybody else here in Wellington. You can always look around the town and you can tell which properties are his.”

But Garcia really showed his true colors when there was an issue with Thompson’s property. Last year she noticed some of the shrubs on her property weren’t up to par, so she called Garcia at night to let him know.

“When I came in at nine o’clock, they were already out there and they were already working on the shrubs,” she says. “And that’s the only time that I’ve ever had to have him come back and just touch up and redo something.”

“Carlos is one of the two vendors that I have kept from day one that had been on the property. His landscaping, it surpasses anybody else here in Wellington.” Sherry Thompson, community manager, at Regency Apartment Homes

The right relationships.

Beyond hard work, listening is another skill Garcia has, which helped him make a crucial change at the company. Employees used to work on all types of jobs from pavers to irrigation to landscaping.

“People were always complaining,” he says. “They were always telling me that they hated to do this, and they hated doing that; they didn’t like to lift the heavy pavers, or they didn’t like to mow grass.”

So, he took three workers who liked paver work, teamed them up with someone who was good at paver work, and formed a crew. He took that approach for every employee and accommodated as best he could.

“I asked the employees what they want to learn, what they feel comfortable with, where they’re happy, and that’s the crews we formed,” he says. “Obviously, they have good crew leaders and they can learn what they actually want to there. I have happier employees and they do work a lot faster. I haven’t had any issues with any of my employees probably in the last two years.”

If someone wants to be on a crew, but there isn’t room or they aren’t good enough, Garcia will still give them a chance.

“It all depends on timing and it also depends on how much work I have,” he says. “If it’s pretty slow or I have really good people in that crew and all my other crews are filled and this guy wants to move to another crew to learn something new, I don’t have a problem moving them up to the other crews so they can actually learn. Because if somebody actually wants to learn something, you’d be surprised how fast they can.”

Creating that relationship with an employee will create great results, Garcia says.

“Once you listen to an employee and see what they really want or what they’re interested in learning, they’re usually giving 150%, especially because they don’t want to fall behind because they’re already with the crew that already knows what they’re doing.”

Gomez says that attitude has created an easier, more communicative environment.

“He listens to every employee with gratitude and gives them all the same respect,” she says. “He truly believes a company runs smoothly by having employees who are happy to attend their jobs as well as complete their job duties. Thankfully, he’s had that experience. Thanks to him, the company has been increasing in profit and revenue year by year.”

If Garcia keeps helping the company grow like he has, the dislike for taking orders might not be an issue in future plans, as he hopes to take the company over from his uncle one day.

I’ve always wanted to run my own company,” he says. “That’s the goal.”

There are many reasons to soil test, says Tracy Allen, lab supervisor at the UMass Soil and Plant Nutrient Testing Laboratory in Amherst, Massachusetts.

The first two may seem obvious: soil tests allow contractors to monitor both nutrient levels and acidity, or pH, levels of the soil – attributes that are key in the health of turf as well as annual and perennial plantings – and adjust them as necessary.

“All plants need nutrients to grow, but you have to monitor the soil to make sure they’re not over-fertilized or under-fertilized,” Allen says. “In terms of the pH, or acidity, plants have what we call a sweet spot of around 6.5 to 6.8 on the pH scale where they do the best at nutrient uptake, so you want to know the pH of your soil and adjust as necessary.”

But there are also significant environmental, financial and health reasons to soil test, Allen says.

The pH of a location’s soil helps determine the proper treatments.

Photo courtesy of UMass Soil and Plant Nutrient Testing Laboratory

As an environmental protection, many municipalities across the country have enacted restrictions against overuse of phosphorous and nitrogen-based fertilizers, and some areas now require soil tests to first establish the need for the fertilizer before it’s applied.

From a cost-savings perspective, soil testing can boost your company’s bottom line, since it helps prevent the purchase and application of fertilizer when it’s not needed.

If you’re still not convinced that soil testing is necessary, consider this: Implementing soil testing in your routine service plan can help boost clients’ perception of your firm’s competence and expertise, says Chuck Darrah, consulting landscape agronomist at CLC Labs in Westerville, Ohio. “Soil testing is not only environmentally responsible; it also shows your professionalism.”

Stay regional.

Because soils differ so greatly from one part of the country to another in terms of texture, acidity, and makeup, it’s best to partner with a soil testing lab in your region when possible. Many universities provide standardized soil sampling protocols tailored to their specific climate, says Bruce Hoskins, assistant scientist at the Analytical Lab and Maine Soil Testing Service in Orono, Maine.

“The soil testing methods really depend on the types of soil and the climate you’re dealing with in that part of the country,” Hoskins says. “East of the Mississippi, where there’s pretty adequate rainfall, soils tend to be naturally acidic and the test methods are geared accordingly. Out West, the soils tend to be increasingly alkaline and saline, and the test methods are going to be designed to check for that and make recommendations for compensating for that.”

If a university soil testing lab isn’t available in your area, search for commercial labs that regularly exhibit or attend green industry conferences or trade shows, Darrah says.

The staff at reputable soil testing labs are typically happy to serve as best-practices resources for clients in their region. “People can call or email us if they don’t understand the recommendations or if they just don’t understand the results,” Allen says. “I talk with clients about their soil results all the time, and it’s a part of the job that I enjoy most.”

“Soil testing is not only environmentally responsible; it also shows your professionalism.” Chuck Darrah, CLC Labs

How often to test.

To stay abreast of what’s going on in the soil you’re servicing, plan to soil test routinely.

If you’re working with a new space or are still in the process of identifying optimum fertilizer levels for a particular client, you may need to test as frequently as once a year until plants become established. “If you’re still trying to figure out the levels that your particular lawn needs, it’s good to have an annual soil test. But once you figure out the levels that the area needs, you can test every two or three years,” Allen says.

Above all, don’t make the mistake of using soil testing only as a post-mortem response in the event of plant failure, Hoskins says. Ideally, you should soil test before planting.

“If you’re putting in a new lawn or a new bed of foundation plantings, it’s really important to check the soil before you plant to make sure it is healthy enough to support plant growth,” Hoskins says. Then test again six months to a year after installation. “If everything is OK after that, a maintenance-type application would include testing every two to three years or so – unless you’re dealing with a golf course and greens, which typically test every year,” Hoskins says.

The point of repeated testing is to understand the ongoing interplay of the plants and the soil over time.

“Perennials will modify the soil as they grow,” Hoskins says. “It’s not just the soil feeding the plants, but the plants also feeding the soil.”

The author is a freelance writer based in Kentucky.

When Outback Landscape acquired a company last fall, it completed a years-long process of ensuring the two companies had everything in place to finalize the deal.

Among those priorities for Outback, an Idaho-based company, was making sure the technological transition would be seamless. Well before the deal was finished, the company they acquired started training on the same software Outback had been using since 2012. This was so that once the 14 employees joining Outback’s team were officially part of the company, they already had the experience of dealing with the same software for a year.

Outback’s Tyler Washburn, the operations manager, says thinking of efficiency when using technology is a critical step many companies miss. While his company has watched its staff grow from eight employees to 70 in a decade, others find implementing technology is more of a hindrance than a tool for growth.

“We basically wanted to play offense with how we rolled the crews out in the morning rather than defense,” he says. “We’ve been aggressive to see what’s the next thing to help us.”

Finding the next thing.

First, Washburn cautions landscapers from investing in new technology too quickly. He says nobody wants to wake up a year after buying software – or anything else – and have regrets. Company ownership should be fully committed to a software, he says, and putting in the time to do research on what fits your particular company could save you lots of consternation later.

“Look at what the core of your business this and find something that’s going to grow as you grow,” Washburn says. In other words, buyers should make sure the new technology will advance their company’s missions and can be adapted over time.

For Washburn, they use two separate software providers: one of them is reserved for the company’s maintenance division, and another software is for tracking bigger install projects that are primarily estimated by materials.

They use the software to send automated notifications to clients on when they might be coming, and they can even use it to upsell certain products or services. Washburn says one of his upselling tactics is to have a marketing email that essentially says something along the lines of, “We’re starting our pruning season and coming to your house soon for regular maintenance. Do you want to also add on our pruning service?”

Internally, the software is also used to track time out in the field and cross-reference it with GPS data. Plus, foremen on the installation crews are supposed to fill out daily, short questionnaires that essentially tell Washburn and management what materials need to be ordered for the next day’s services. And when managers leave the company – and they will leave at some point – the company still has each client’s data stored on the same software.

But what Washburn uses the technology for could be entirely different than how another landscaping company conducts business. He advises buyers to really consider how the technology would actually make their company more efficient. If they can’t come up with a good answer, the technology’s probably not a good fit.

“Implementing (software) has helped us put fires out before they happen, and it has given us the tools to be able to grow,” Washburn says.

How to approach it.

Washburn says that “there’s growing pains in everything.” Essentially, he urges landscapers to acknowledge that transitioning to a new technology won’t be easy. He spent countless nights fiddling with the software, testing it out with dummy accounts and entries before finally feeling like he had a good grasp on how it worked.

He recommends handing the technology off to a select team of employees first before implementing company-wide. It can help them fine-tune how to use the technology first and troubleshoot with management as problems arise.

“With rolling it out to the employees and showing them the benefit of it, we started with a small segment of our employees first, ones we knew were sort of tech-savvy,” Washburn says. “Getting a few of those key members on board…was a huge benefit.”

Investing in a consultant is additionally worth “every penny” before finding a software that helps you best, he says. He adds that it’s prudent to make sure the technology providers are like partners and keep up consistent communicate. Whether it’s general help questions or asking for advice on how to improve the product, Washburn says his company’s relationship with their software providers has helped him tremendously over the years. If anybody ever had any questions, it’s nice to have experts with the technology ready to help.

And speaking of ready to help, Washburn also says it’s easier when someone on staff is specifically in charge of the technology, especially software. Outback Landscape promoted someone within the company already who had worked with the software out in the field to oversee everyone’s use. And as more climb the company’s career ladder, they are also able to easily track some of their long-standing client accounts.

“As we’ve grown, we’ve moved managers from the field to where they can look back and go, ‘This is what’s happened, these are the notes on this client’s account,’” he says. “This way, training’s a whole lot easier.”

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