Publisher's Focus: April 1998

An industry that has long struggled with its identity, that has strived for a positive national image and that has continually been under marketed has now arrived.

For years, the landscape industry has ridden a roller coaster of growth as well as endured criticism for pricing in both wages and job costing. This cyclical, segmented industry has flourished, struggled and survived despite its image or lack thereof.

Its size, consistently growing at a 20 percent rate and last year producing $45 billion in revenues, wasn’t given much regard by marketers and the legitimate work force.

Now, in unrelated, yet telling moves, two new national landscape maintenance companies have emerged to take on the vast commercial landscape maintenance opportunities.

Outsourcing has clearly been a topic of debate in recent years and folks on Wall Street looking for new growth opportunities have had their eye on the fragmented, yet thriving landscape industry for some time. Now, the necessary critical mass has been achieved to address national accounts marketing through consolidation.

The two players, LandCare USA and TruGreen-ChemLawn, have emerged, bringing together some of the industry’s best business minds to create new models of efficiencies and productivity.

As those directly involved in the mergers and acquisitions refine their strategies, so too will national associations and suppliers serving the lawn and landscape industry. Needless to say, the atmosphere will change for both. National associations should look for the opportunities for attracting new members. As the big landscapers get bigger, the small to mid-size firms must take steps themselves to become more professional.

National suppliers to our industry will undoubtedly evaluate the pricing implications stemming from industry consolidation. Will more product be bought directly from the manufacturer? If so, what impact will this have on the distributor/dealer network?

Both LandCare USA and TruGreen-ChemLawn will establish true national accounts service. That’s inevitable. But it’s incumbent upon these new business entities to set a standard for professional business practices. Professional certification and licensing should be established as a criteria for those engaging in the practice of landscaping. It’s simply a natural.