Each year, the Washington DC metropolitan area is inundated with landscaping and property maintenance start-ups.  Research has shown that these start-ups are a direct result of either losing a job or not being able to find one.  The green industry is competitive!  Low-ballers crawl out of the wood work and quote prices that are unbelievably cheap.  They claim they are licensed and insured.  But, the average consumer doesn't really know what 'licensed and insured' means.  When selecting a company to service your property, you've got to compare 'apples to apples.'  A business license does NOT mean qualified!  Insured may not mean 'for the task you've contracted.'

The Commonwealth of VA requires landscaping and home improvement contractors to obtain very specific certifications and licenses in order to conduct business.  This is where the 'apples to apples' comparison comes in.  We feel it's important to educate and protect the consumer, protect the environment, and promote healthy competition within our industry.  We are not the un-skilled.  We are the educated.  We are the protectors.  We are the future.

We're not picking on anybody, we just want other 'green industry' and home improvement businesses to know what they're doing so that consumers don't get cheated.  Ever heard of one bad apple spoils the bunch?  Well, when one un-licensed, un-qualified business does something so incredibly stupid, it costs EVERYONE more money.  More laws are passed, more licensing is required, and insurance rates sky rocket.  Click here to see a list of the local, un-licensed landscaping and home improvement businesses we checked out.

'Apples to Apples' Comparisons & State Business Requirements for Landscaping, Property Maintenance, & Home Improvement Contractors

1.  Registered with the State Corporation Commission

2.  Must hold a local business license in which the business is located.  This is where most businesses state they are licensed.

3.  As told to us, "if you put a shovel to dirt,' your company is required to obtain a VA Contractor's License as defined by the VA Board of Contractors.  The 'green industry', for the most part, falls under the Specialty Contractors classification and comprises MOST of the services of landcaping and home improvement services.  When we started our business in 2005, a contractor's license was not required.  However, VA law changed due to the number of un-qualified, un-insured businesses, posing as 'licensed and insured.'  The VA Board of Contractors requires the business to prove qualification, state corporation commission registration, and verifies minimum commercial insurance requirements. Department of Professional & Occupational Regulation

Furthermore, as we all know, customers want a 'one stop shop' to service their property.  Therefore, if the business does any Interior/Exterior Home Improvement to include Decks, Fences, Siding, Roofing, Painting, Staining, Hardscapes, Masonry, Patios, Irrigation, and other Handyman Services, the state requires multiple certifications on their contractor's License through the VA Department of Professional & Occupational Regulation

4.  Does your landscaper offer Fertilization & Weed Control?  Certification & Licensing is REQUIRED BY ANY BUSINESS THAT APPLIES OR RECOMMENDS ANY ORGANIC OR INORGANIC PRODUCT.  Individuals are certified as commercial pesticide applicators, registered technicians and private pesticide applicators. The type of pesticide applications a person can perform is dependent on the applicator’s certification. You may view the list of Virginia certified commercial applicators, registered technicians and private applicators in PDF below. This list is updated weekly.  Businesses and/or Individuals offering this service MUST be licensed by the state in order to suggest, inform, apply, or otherwise recommend an organic or inorganic product whether or not the product is regulated or not. 

Ornamental Applications, Flower Beds, Garden Beds, Trees, Shrubs, etc. are NOT the same as Turf Applications.  There is so much education required for Pesticide Application, I shudder when I see start-ups buying pesticides at the local landscape supply or on properties.  Seriously, it is A BIG DEAL and it is NOT EASY!  ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL!!

     a.  The Business MUST hold a valid Pesticide Business License through the VA Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, Office of Pesticide Services.  Commercial insurance general liability policies DOES NOT cover Fertilization & Weed Control services!!!  Additional insurance qualifications and endorsements are required to include HAZMAT liability coverage. 

     b.  The Business MUST have at least ONE full-time licensed Commercial Pesticide Applicator certified through the VDACS, Office of Pesticide Services.  The NEW start-up business with no Commercial Pesticide Applicator in its employ CANNOT OBTAIN A PESTICIDE BUSINESS LICENSE, nor can the business offer the service for hire in any capacity. 

     c.  Any person who applies herbicides, insecticides, whether ORGANIC or INORGANIC pesticides who does not have the advanced Commercial Pesticide Applicator designation is required to have the minimumRegistered Technician Applicator license and MAY NOT apply EPA regulated products without the on-site supervision of a Commercial Pesticide Applicator.  Items B & C are dependent upon Item A. 

5.  Does your landscaper apply Fertilizer or Lime?  VA REQUIRES a PERMIT to sell and/or apply fertilizer and/or lime.  Fertilizer and/or Lime Permit

6.  Commercial Insurance.  This is a complicated area.  Our research revealed that there are only a handful of commercial liability policies that specifically covers all of those things we do as landscape contractors.  We learned the hard way and I'll just leave it at that.  We switched carriers and now have the correct policy for our service industry.  Insurance on trucks driven for business purposes.  Again, a complicated issue.  Personal policies with 'commercial' endorsements WILL NOT cover most incidents.  The business must convert the personal vehicle to a commercial vehicle, give up the personal property tax break, and suck up the additional cost for "true" commercial automobile insurance. 

The 'Apples to Apples' Comparison is clear.  Although this list isn't all inclusive for any jurisdiction, I hope you can see that un-qualified start-ups are cheap in the beginning, but cost YOU and US in the end.  With ever changing regulations, laws, continuing education, and insurance requirements, the costs are staggering.  Generally, the above list ranges from $10K - $25K per year per business - and, this depends on a number of factors that isn't appropriate for this venue.

The Bad Apples - The Local, Un-Licensed Business

Fairfax, Prince William, and Faquier Counties to include the cities of Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas, Manassas Park, and Warrenton.

If a business below has received the credentials required by the state, please email us and we'll be happy to remove you from the list!  info@hometownlawns.com

 http://www.hometownlawns.com/index.cfm?action=page&page=42

 I’d nearly forgotten about an essay and photo contest I entered last December.  I don’t enter contests – except for the occasional lottery draw or scratcher.  I don’t have the time.  I don’t have the money. 

But!  This one was different.  This one was sponsored by a former favorite trade magazine, Lawn & Landscape, owned by GIE Media Inc.  So, I sent the essay and photo via email to the associate editor, Chuck Bowen. 

You can check out the contest, prize award, rules, and disclaimers here:  http://lawnandlandscape.texterity.com/lawnandlandscape/201012#pg54  Did any of you see any?  I certainly didn’t.

Low and behold, I get a call in late September of this year from none other than Chuck telling me that I had won AND in the same sentence asking me if I was planning on attending the GIE+Expo in Louisville, KY – that’s the Green Industry & Equipment Expo. 

Nope.  I had no plans to go.  Why?  Too busy.  One day of sunshine and twelve inches of rain in a month will do that!  The schedule is backed up.  Customers have to be serviced.  New employees are on board.  No way!  Can’t go!  Besides, trade shows and sales people give me the ‘willies!’  All those pretty people trying to sell you on their latest and greatest products and heaven forbid you give them your name – hell, you can’t get rid of them!  My phone and email have been blowing up ever since.  Delete, delete, don’t answer that!, delete, delete, delete!

Okay, so I now have a question.  Who else was called about winning the contest but couldn’t go?  If others were contacted, the contest wouldn’t have actually been a contest, but an opportunistic ploy for attendance to the tradeshow!  According to Lawn & Landscape’s website, it looks like there were three of us in the running, but this is unconfirmed http://www.lawnandlandscape.com/lawn-landscape-what-kind-of-reader.aspx: 

Kathy Corker, Green Leaf Gardens, Inc.

Richard King, Eastern Land Management, Inc.

Lorelei Cox, home town lawns & landscapes – that’s ME!

Guess you may have figured out by now that my business partner and I did end up going to Louisville.  Nice sales job, Chuck!  He says – “gonna be a presentation…, an awards ceremony…, gonna be a videographer…gonna be a big deal” – his words, not mine.  With all the rain we’d been having here in Northern Virginia, we’ve got a zero turn stuck in two feet of mud sinking into the side of the hill, but yet I have to make time for a pre-trade show interview with Chuck all the while I’m up to my eyeballs in mud with a 200’ rope tied to another zero turn trying to pull the sinking one off the bloody muddy hill!

Why an interview?  OH! Well, Chuck said it’s so he could have some background for the presentation ceremony.

Come to find out, this dumb southern gal didn’t even need to go to Louisville to receive the award.  That was a slick one, Chuckie!  You see, purchase nor travel was required to win the prize. 

Have I mentioned that there were no rules, no disclaimers, no start time, no end time, no nothing!  Just an open-ended contest which stated, “ The best photo and story will win two Kindles and an all expense paid trip to Molokai, Hawaii! 

Chuck, Chuck, Chuck…that’s just wrong!  You can’t do that!  A journalist – [clearing my throat] an EDITOR - should always check out the facts – especially if sponsoring a contest!

So, let’s fast forward to the trade show.  All checked in.  Paid a boat load of money.  We had to pay for our travel to and from the trade show, had to pay to get into the tradeshow, had to pay handsomely to eat at the tradeshow, had to re-schedule customers, etc. 

Had to be there at 11am on the dot for the presentation.  There was no presentation.

Was handed the Kindles and took a picture.  No one knew anything about the all-expense paid trip to Molokai, HI.  Typical.  No details whatsoever.  No presentation.  No awards ceremony.  No nothing.

Where are we now?

We are more than $2,500.00 in the hole for the wasted trip not including the overtime paid to employees to meet our scheduling obligations.

The all-expenses paid trip to Molokai, HI is not an all-expenses paid trip after all.  It’s air-fare for two to Molokai and five nights in a hotel.  No rental car, no meals, no other expenses, etc.  I envision changing planes ten times to get there.  BUT, none of this was mentioned in the prize award.  Merely, “an all expense paid trip to Molokai, HI.” 

Hmmm…this is me thinking out loud…with no details on the prize award published, I’m thinking it should be first class air fare for two, ten days in a five star hotel suite, rental car, meals, and spending money!

Why am I so upset at ‘Getting Scrooged?’

Because Lawn & Landscape and their official editor/representative, Chuck Bowen, won’t admit their/his mistake. 

I’m not a lawyer, but I could play one on TV.

There are specific federal and state laws regarding Contest & Prize law – none were followed.  At a glance, you certainly didn’t follow Virginia’s or Ohio’s state laws – in case you’re wondering that’s where GIE Media is located. 

What happened here is just not right!

As a small business owner, I know which side the proverbial bread is buttered on for Lawn & Landscape – it’s the big guys in the green industry.  I know that the publication is biased towards the big players, the lobbyists, and the so-called non-profits.  It’s the Valley Crests, the Ruppert’s, the Brickman’s, the ADVERTISERS.  That’s what keeps Lawn & Landscape in business.   Yet, I still favored the publication for its benchmarking studies and articles on streamlining operations – albeit, even though I was removed from their mailing list mid-year – probably because I don’t meet their minimum criteria as a small business owner. 

And, more importantly, I do know right from wrong.  In business and in the field, we make mistakes and we have to own up to them.  We make things right.  It’s the cost of doing business. 

So, for this, thanks Lawn & Landscape.  Thanks, Chuck!  You scrooged us!  We’ll keep our chins up, tighten our Santa belts and figure out another way to keep our little elves employed this holiday season.  Enjoy your merriment and holiday parties.  Unfortunately, getting scrooged by you just wasn’t part of our budget this year.

Over the years, customers have purchased rubber mulch from local big box stores or online and have asked us to install it for them.    

Frankly, I didn't like it.  I found the product to be cheap, full of tire metal, void of 'natural' and lasting color, and too light weight to be sustainable in the landscape.  The fact is, if we installed on a windy day, the mulch would literally blow away!  No joke!

However, I'm not immune, nor am I lost on environmental stewardship.  After many samples and many years researching the various rubber mulch manufacturers, I found a rubber mulch that I would put my name behind. 

It's no secret that we sell rubber mulch.  This isn't a blog to promote that company or to sell more rubber mulch.  Rather, this blog is to outline the benefits of rubber mulch and its positive impact on the environment and the out of box thinking that comes with using 'what you got!' 

The picture I've attached to this blog was taken yesterday in Pennsylvania.  I had a large rubber mulch order and rather than have the product shipped directly to our warehouse, I wanted - NEEDED - to satisfy my own curiosity about how this product is different from the other products on the market.  I wanted to see from start to finish the process of taking used TIRES and creating something usable, sustainable, and environmentally friendly.  So, I drove to PA to satiate my environmental palate.

Rubber mulch is derived 100% from used tires and is not only used to enhance landscaping, but also to provide a safe foundation for children's play areas, indoor and outdoor horse arenas, drainage and septic aggregate, floor mats, and Fuel - TDF (Tire Derived Fuel).  The entire tire is recycled!  Even the metal! 

Rubber mulch is in our future.  It very well may be the future.    It is here and it is now.  Here's why:

1. Everlast Rubber Mulch is not sold in the big box stores!
2. Heavier, doesn't blow away, yet lightweight saving on labor.
3. The color is "baked" into the mulch (a patented process) rather than sprayed on resulting in a minimum 5 year colorfast warranty if used to enhance the landscape.
4. If used in the landscape, it is natural in appearance.  The darn stuff actually looks like mulch!
5. If used as an aggregate for drainage, it promotes natural leaching and is four times lighter than stone aggregate!  It allows for better water flow since it is 30% more void than stone (meaning, the spacing between the material).
6. If used as an aggregate for septic, it is superior to stone for Biomat formation and microbiology for septic.
7. Zero adverse effects on plants, trees, shrubs, soil, children or pets.
8. If used as a playground material, it is #1 in shock absorbency when compared to pea gravel, wood mulch, bark mulch, uniform wood chips, fine gravel, sand, packed dirt, or asphalt.
9. If used in an equestrian arena, it has superior surface drainage, provides uniform cover, reduces dust, and is shock absorbent - less stress on the horse equals more training time.
10. Bottom line.  Rubber aggregate is cost effective.