Hey from WI

[TTS]

Just wanted to introduce myself to the community. I recently started a landscaping company and have already found many of the threads here helpful with managing the business. I look forward to continuing to learn and hopefully help others as well as network with some of the great people here.

[vangogh]

Welcome to the forum TTS. Congrats on starting your business and glad we could be helpful with some of the threads here. Looking forward to getting to know you and thanks for joining the community.

[David Hunter]

Welcome, TTS!

How's the landscaping business? Staying busy?!

[Blessed]

Glad to have you join us here on the forum TTS!

[TTS]

So far this summer has been very blessed, we never did get an exceptionally hot dry spell so plants kept growing and working was tolerable. We're in our big late season push to wrap things up now then it's time to relax until the snow flies.

[David Hunter]

Nice!!

What's your plans for the winter? Snowplowing?

[TTS]

Yes I will be doing snow removal however that can be hit or miss depending onthe year so for now I will keep my full time job working Friday Saturday Sunday. In the future I hope to offer holiday lighting as well as indoor masonry and construction to keep employees working year round. I know one of the major headaches of expanding will be laying guys off in the winter then having to find a mostly new team each spring. Anything I can do to keep guys working is on the table for future expansion.

[Blessed]

The holiday lighting thing is pretty big around here - especially in the high-end neighborhoods! Start with your landscaping clients and see what you can get from there...

In the meantime - do you have a suggestion on how to keep grass out of flower beds?... we moved last fall into this house and it has a great start on some awesome flower beds - but I've fought the grass nonstop! :)

[TTS]

First step is to use a spade or machine to cut a nice deep edge around the beds. Grass sends rhizomes under the soil that then pops up above ground. Thats how grass spreads and grows in thicker. When you cut a deep edge you cut off those rhizomes so it won't keep going into your beds. Then you can use roundup or similar to kill what's already growing in your beds or just keep pulling until its all gone. Roundup will kill almost anything it touches so watch your spray and don't do it on a windy day however its not residual in the soil so you don't have to worry about your other plants getting it through the soil

[David Hunter]

Yeah, Holiday lighting is big around here too!

I like Blessed's idea about starting with your current landscaping clients for the lighting.

Rock it!