Making the Most of Your Mower
While commercial mowers are incredibly efficient at performing their appointed task making tall grass short they can also be a strong contributor to your bottom line in other ways with the right mix of attachments....
CHEMICAL UPDATE: Vertebrate Pest Controls
They're cute, often furry and more clever than other pests. And while vertebrate pests rodents, birds and deer can appeal to human sentiment, they can also wreak havoc to the properties you manage....
FOCUS ON: 2006 Trucks
Rollouts of all-new truck models are scarce this year, but changes to existing models are plentiful, including lots of variants that fall just shy of being termed new models in their own right....
PRODUCT PREVIEW: GOLF
ROTARY DECK MOWER John Deere introduces the 3245C rotary mower, which is equipped with a 48.5-hp, liquid-cooled John Deere Series 220 turbocharged diesel engine....
SHORT CUTS
EQUIPMENT THEFT RING BUSTED The Sheriff's Department of Ventura County announced that its Construction Burglary Task Force has effectively dismantled a criminal organization responsible for construction site burglaries, rental equipment thefts and landscape equipment thefts that have plagued Southern California and the Southwestern United States for the past three and a half years....
Going Corporate
Nearly three-fourths of the millions of small businesses in the United States are sole proprietorships, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce....
OPEI PREDICTS MORE EQUIPMENT-BUYING IN 2006
As the mowing season starts to wind down, you may be auditing your mowing equipment as well as other maintenance equipment that you use to perform your jobs to see what needs to be repaired and what needs to be replaced....
READER POLL
Here are the reader poll results for the question posted throughout August on the Grounds Maintenance Web site, www.grounds-mag.com. Are you or any of...
Lowering Healthcare Costs
If you're like most grounds maintenance professionals, you're fighting what sometimes looks like a losing battle against the onrushing tide of rising healthcare costs....
PRODUCT PREVIEW: CONTRACTOR
UNDERGROUND PIPING INSTALLATION The Hitch-N-Ditch is designed to attach to a 4-wheel-drive vehicle hitch allowing users to install underground piping for irrigation while simply driving their vehicle....
Charting Conversion
Kentucky bluegrass was once used extensively on golf course fairways in the transition zone. During the past 25 years, mowing heights decreased and Kentucky bluegrass was largely replaced with perennial ryegrass because of its superior tolerance to low-mowing heights and its establishment vigor....
JUNE HOUSING STARTS CONTINUE STRONG PACE
The pace of new home construction remained strong in June, closing out the quarter at a seasonally adjusted annual rate above 2 million units for the second quarter in a row, according to U.S. Commerce Department figures....
Balancing Act
As if it's not nerve-racking enough managing turf that appears on national television on a weekly basis each fall, Andre Bruce has to function as a fast-change artist each weekend, switching from soccer to football in a 14-hour period....
EXPO 2005 SET FOR OCT. 14-16
The dates for the 2005 International Lawn, Garden & Power Equipment Expo are set for October 14-16. The annual event, held at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville, will draw industry members worldwide....
The Art of Attraction
Watching butterflies and hummingbirds flit, flutter and fly through the landscape is a beautiful scene. Both of these creatures are a welcomed addition to most any landscape....
CHEMICAL UPDATE: Non-Selective Chemicals
Even though selective herbicides seem to offer the ultimate in pest control--the ability to eliminate weeds without harming desirable turf and ornamentals--you sometimes need the opposite: a product that completely eliminates vegetation for renovations....
FOCUS ON: Seeders
The summer heat has not been very kind to most parts of the country this year and if the turfgrass you care for is looking a little patchy, it might be time to consider filling in the dead spots with new grass seed....
A New Look at an Old Bentgrass
Ask turfgrass managers what they consider to be the best attributes a turfgrass can have and immediate answers include increased density, color and texture as well as the highest possible environmental stress, disease and insect resistance....
Preparing for Winter
Bermudagrass is the most widely used turfgrass in the southern United States for golf courses, athletic fields, parks, roadsides and private grounds....
Hydraulic Seeding
You have probably driven down the highway or through neighborhoods and have seen that green stuff sprayed on dirt. The correct terms for it are hydromulch or hydroseed....
Healthy Choices
How we plant and maintain our landscapes has a direct effect on the health of the people living, working or playing in these landscapes. Green areas that produce high amounts of either pollen or mold spores will consistently make people sick, and landscapes that are clean and low in pollen and spores will make people feel better....
Starting Your Own Nursery
Whether your business is big or small, you're looking to increase profits. While there are many ways to do this (add more clients, include more services), there is another avenue that may have not occurred to you....
FUNGICIDES HIT GROWTH SPURT IN T&O MARKETS
Sales of fungicides to the U.S. professional turf and ornamental market segments increased by nearly 12 percent in 2003 and 2004, according to a market study soon to be released by Kline & Company at www.klinegroup.com....
BRANCH OUT
If you Google perennials or annual plants, you'll find countless entries. Countless because, if you're like me, you have neither the time nor the energy to research every entry....
HOW TO: FIND THE RIGHT PLANT FOR THE RIGHT SPOT
Selecting the appropriate plants for your landscapes can reduce the amount of maintenance and labor required for the property. You will also reduce the chance of needing to replace the tree or shrub due to poor growing conditions....
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