The green industry is much more than landscape maintenance. When you work for a landscape business, you can expect to sod, plant, mulch, remove, clean up, shovel, and trim various aspects of the land. You may have to work shivering conditions for snow operations or the brutal heat for lawn care services.

The green industry is much more than landscape maintenance. When you work for a landscape business, you can expect to sod, plant, mulch, remove, clean up, shovel, and trim various aspects of the land. You may have to work shivering conditions for snow operations or the brutal heat for lawn care services.

Entering the green industry involves hard labor, but can be an exciting career for creative projects. Landscape professionals can transform any piece of land into a masterpiece. Ready to learn more about working in the landscape business? Let’s hear what Brian Cotter of Durham Artificial Grass has to say about his 30+ years of experience in the industry.

My name is Brian Cotter, and I have been working in the green industry for 34 years. It started as a summer job while going to high school. Lloyds Grounds Management Professionals Ltd offers full-service year-round grounds maintenance and softscaping such as sodding, planting, and mulching.

Durham Artificial Grass offers artificial grass; supply and installs for lawn/landscaping, putting greens, pet areas, rooftops along with sports applications. We also offer synthetic ice, artificial green walls, golf simulators along with supply to contractors and DIY projects.

It is an industry full of opportunities. Being paid to work outside, especially in the summer, is excellent for mental health. It is a great career and provides enough to support yourself and your family.

Being a landscape contractor is underrated, as there are far too many non-professional people representing the industry. It is essential while working; people who want to make this a career also do schooling to get designations and become a part of the apprentice/red trade seal programs. There is much more to the industry than going to a big box store, buying a trailer, lawnmower, tools, and calling yourself a landscaper.

We absolutely should be more proud. It is a great career, with financial and business opportunities to grow. We should pride ourselves by wearing uniforms, having vehicles with logos on them, and professional contracts to go along with our professional work.

I focus a lot of time and energy on having documented procedures (our team is building this together), building a strong client representative/management team/field team that operates the business while I am behind the scenes. Through the use of programs like LMN, our budget lines are up with our estimating to easily see how our client representatives are pricing jobs.

We utilize a live excel cash flow chart that forecasts, tracks, and allows us to see when the peaks and lows will be coming along so we can plan for them. This is updated regularly and reviewed. It is super important and great information for our office manager and myself to check and keep a good pulse on things.

Great question!

From talking to others, learning from their experience, and having grown from 1 to 3 to 5 million ourselves, I find the 5 million mark the best so far as it has allowed us to build a great team. They share the responsibilities and no longer solely rely on myself.

Again from discussing with peers and other business owners, we believe the next step will be to strive for the 10 million mark. From the feedback we have gotten, it seems to be the next Plato where things “click strongly.”

I feel all industries have shortages right now, across the board. As professionals in the industry, we need to ensure we are paying competitive wages and not just saying we are. Do some research, ensure your wages line up with your budgets, and make coming to work enjoyable.

We all work, especially in this industry, where we have a short season in Canada, typically expect too much by working too many hours with our crews. We should be encouraging part-time schooling, upgrading knowledge while building their careers. Showing people you start as a team member (most people call this position a laborer) is only the beginning and step one to a vast career that will be full of opportunities. We need to show people the opportunities that are out in the industry.

Again I feel all industries have labor shortages right now. Through word of mouth, sponsoring local sports teams, taking part in the local chamber of commerce golf tournaments, networking at shows (pre-covid), all while wearing branded shirts, whether it be a golf shirt, office shirt or field shirt, is a great way to show how proud you are of your industry. This has allowed us to attract people to want to grow with our team. We do also use Indeed to post our open positions.

If you are leading a team of people, join peer groups, network with other business leaders and owners from more than just the green industry. Always be looking for ways to expand your knowledge and skill set as a leader to make your company more efficient. Don’t be afraid to hire someone in management or sales that is better than you in that position; keep out of their way and support them.

If you’d like to reach out to me to discuss anything further, you can reach me by email ([email protected]) or phone (905-263-2225).

Thank you for the opportunity. I have managed to get where we are today by joining peer groups, networking with others, hiring people to teach me things I do not know, and always keeping an open mind. I hope everyone has a successful 2021 and beyond!

Ready to take your landscape business to the next level? Enlist the help of LMN’s landscape business software designed to help green industry professionals.