[EDITOR’S NOTE: Each month Lawn & Landscape Online will bring you profiles of industry professionals with unique businesses and services. The following profile is of Southern Lawns and is found exclusively at www.lawnandlandscape.com. – S.H.]
Although large commercial properties aren’t usually meant for golf, they often have similar characteristics to golf courses – large areas of grass, complex irrigation systems and a variety of landscaping features. But when a commercial site has 70 acres of grass, a regular landscape contractor is going to have a rough time managing the property with mowing, labor, maintenance and other factors that all add up to a considerable time requirement. To get a job like this finished in one day, it would take a sizeable crew and multiple regular-size mowers.
But what if you treat that property like a golf course? Why not bring in the large mowers to cut mowing time down and manage the property like it is the 18th hole? That’s exactly what Greensboro, N.C.-based Southern Lawns is doing. The lawn and landscape installation and management company utilizes golf course management techniques on its four-client base of 150 acres of commercial property.
Jim Humphries, a retired golf course superintendent, developed Southern Lawns in 1995 on the idea that golf course technology could be used in the lawn care industry. Southern Lawns now provides lawn and landscape care to large acreage commercial sites and also handles residential fertility programs and athletic field management for school systems and municipalities. Humphries says the key to using the golf course technology is using large equipment to get a good job done a lot faster.
BIG MOWERS, SMALL CREWS. Southern Lawns maintenance crews don’t resemble your typical landscaping crew when they show up for a job. In place of the normal-sized trailers with regular commercial mowers and other gear, Humphries’ crews show up towing 8-foot wide by 25-foot long trailers with huge commercial mowers on board. These mowers have 12-foot wide mowing decks and cost up to $40,000. Those are pretty substantial pieces of machinery to haul around, but Humphries says that’s part of the appeal to his customers. "By buying this large equipment, the customer knows we’ve made a commitment to our job and to them," he explained.
Even though the machinery is larger than life, Humphries’ crews aren’t. "Golf course mowing equipment and techniques have made a big difference in our performance," Humphries said. "One of our largest sites, 70 acres, would normally take a five-man crew four days with traditional lawn care equipment. Using golf course equipment we can sit down with five men and be done in 10 hours."
The ability to have a small crew do such a large property also helps with labor management. Humphries said that all of Southern Lawns labor is in-house. "We spend our money on the equipment and try to keep a handle on labor," he explained. Because the company can keep the same employees doing the same job, customers are assured consistent service and results.
The large equipment also makes it easier for his company to deal with sporadic weather conditions and time constraints. "To be profitable, I have to be able to get in and get out," said Humphries, referring to the need to sometimes get work done quickly between rainy weather.
Although Southern Lawns’ client base is predominately large acreage properties, the company does service a property with only 1.5 acres. Humphries said that handling a smaller property was initially a concern with the larger equipment, but he is pleasantly surprised with the maneuverability of the mowers. He explained that the large mowers can reach about three-quarters of the 1.5-acre property. He also said the units trim very closely and his skilled operators can get in and out of some tight places.
SPORTS TURF MANAGEMENT. In addition to the commercial mowing business, Southern Lawns has recently made a natural transition from golf course maintenance practices to managing athletic fields. The company operates a division in nearby Madison, N.C., which focuses solely on developing, restoring and maintaining athletic fields.
Located about 60 miles west of the North Carolina Research Triangle area, the sports field division is in prime location for a number of universities and park and recreation areas. Notable universities that Humphries has his eye on are Duke, North Carolina State and the University of North Carolina. One of the company’s most recent contracts is with a local high school to work on a football field, a practice field and a baseball field. With the number of public schools in the area, Humphries said there are many more opportunities to do sports fields, especially soccer. "They’re looking for every flat piece of land in the world to play soccer on," he said.
Humphries explained that the transition to sports fields from golf courses is so easy because of the similarities across the board. "The grasses are basically the same as golf. Irrigation is basically the same. Fertility is basically the same. Weed Control is basically the same," he explained.
Using the same type of equipment as is used on the large commercial properties, Southern Lawns offers a variety of programs for managing athletic fields. These programs include fertilization, aerification and weed and insect management. Humphries said the goal of the sports turf management division is to grow healthy, dense athletic fields while fitting a facility’s budget.
FERTILITY PROGRAMS. Southern Lawns also operates a third division of the company in Durham, N.C. The Durham operation was started about one year ago as a way to promote healthy turf to smaller residential and commercial properties. The Durham business offers fertility programs, weed control, overseeding and aerification services. In just one year of business, the Durham operation has grown its client base close to 100 customers. Humphries credits this growth in part to a recent telemarketing campaign.
A paragraph on the company’s web site states, "Championship golf courses hire trained professional turf experts to apply fertilizers and weed control products at exactly the right time of year. Now so can you." The appeal of professional turf experts as well as analysis, proper treatment and timing are all selling points for the Durham operation.
For clients choosing a Southern Lawns fertility program, the company starts with a complete soil analysis for soil type, soil compaction, turf density and weed and grass identification. Following the analysis, a schedule is created to develop good turfgrass density, which suppresses weeds and undesirable grasses. The company uses six treatments to make sure the lawn receives nutrients when they are needed. The company then adds a regular maintenance schedule of aerification, liming and interseeding to maintain a healthy lawn.
GROWING BY THE DAY. Southern Lawns was recently named the Small Business of the Year for 2000 by the Western Rockingham Chamber of Commerce. The local Chamber awarded Humphries’ company the distinction based on its 400 percent growth rate since 1995.
Involved in golf course management for 25 years and a golf course superintendent for 20, Humphries decided he could use those skills to his advantage in the lawn care business. "It was a natural progression for me to move from golf into turf," he says. By creating a landscaping company around the fundamentals of golf course management, he has created his own niche in a competitive market.
Humphries says the company is right around the $500,000 mark for sales, but he is expecting that figure to go up in the near future. "We’re not a large company, but we’re set to grow. It takes one good job to sell itself. This year we’ve seen a lot of money billed in future growth," he explained. "We have the infrastructure in place to get sales up, and we’re in for a growth spurt."
That infrastructure he referred to includes the company’s inventory of large machinery, its staff of skilled and licensed labor – including a horticulturist who does irrigation and landscaping – and the diversity of the business – including large property mowing, athletic field management and fertility programs. "We basically want to be a full-service company offering seed bedding, irrigation, landscape, maintenance, etc. As a company, we can provide all of the above," he said.
Humphries says he bases his company’s future on honesty and getting the job done when it needs to be done. "We build relationships instead of numbers," he says, "I do a lot of business on a handshake." The company also conducts free service calls on all projects if problems arise. This customer-friendly attitude follows true southern hospitality and has fueled the growth of Humphries’ transition from the links to the lawn.
For more information about Southern Lawns, please visit the company’s web site at www.southernlawns.com.
The author is Internet Editor for Lawn & Landscape Online.
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