Sustainable Sustainability

Bob Dolobois
Executive Director

American Nursery &

Landscape Association (ANLA)

There’s a lot buzz associated with the concept of sustainability. The term is applied haphazardly as a marketing tool, a standard of manufacturing, even a consumer mindset. As the creator and sustainer of managed landscapes, this term—at least for now—is unavoidably linked to us, and it’s important for the nursery and landscape industry to take a close look at what sustainability is (and is not) when applied to our businesses. Enter: the American Nursery & Landscape Association (ANLA).

ANLA has officially adopted sustainability in our industry as one of its five major strategic objectives. It is the association’s intention to assist our member businesses and the surrounding industry in defining what constitutes sustainability for us and how this old-fashioned, but suddenly contemporary concept, affects what and how we do business.

(True confession; this blog is a teaser to encourage its readers to attend a more extensive presentation on this subject at the upcoming FNATS Show.)

Let’s start with a generic definition of sustainability: Sustainability is the ability to continue a defined behavior indefinitely. If we were living in an era prior to the industrial revolution, the notion of sustainability in agriculture or manufacturing (such it was) would be considered as obvious as breathing—something that’s done without even thinking about it. The industrial revolution, as its names implies, was significant and shifted our thinking from learning how to harness nature, to learning how to conquer it. It’s the conquering part that can cause problems.

For example, modern chemistry creates compounds that do not occur naturally and we now co-mingle those compounds in the natural environment. Some of these activities can fit the definition of sustainability. Other such activities result in substances that injure the natural environment over time and cannot be continued indefinitely (see definition above) without causing irreparable damage or loss.

Many industry practices fit into the definition of sustainable; some of our practices do not. As the marketplace and the regulators of that marketplace focus more on the “don’ts,” we need to identify and tell the positive story about the ones that do. If this is a topic of interest to you, please attend the FNATS presentation...and bring your opinions and ideas to this lively session.

Just Say NO! It will set you free

Harold Jenkins, FCLC
Jenkins Landscape Co.
Hobe Sound, Florida

I’ve heard so many fellow landscape contractors complain about the unreasonable demands that are in some General Contractors and or Architects contracts. How about “Just Say NO!” I’ve heard everything from cleaning up trash on the site for a year after completion to the guarantee of winter annuals through the summer.

Let me get this straight. You want me to install this landscape job per your specifications. But, looking over your previous jobs it seems you have accepted substandard work and material. I’m being forced to work with an irrigation sub contractor who is a “low bidder special” not under my control. You have Billy Bob’s lawn service to do the maintenance and pest control. You want me to warrantee the plant material for 2 years, re-mulch when necessary, and replace any material that may be damaged by others and clean up any trash that accumulates on this commercial parking lot job? And I must bid with little or no built-in profit while having to include all these extra demands at no extra charge. ARE YOU NUTS?

If you want to be treated like the professional you are, maybe acting like one would be a good start. Doctors or lawyers are professionals. Would you expect them to make unreasonable concessions to keep you as a client? I DON’T THINK SO. So, why do we tolerate this type of treatment?

Here’s my definition of a professional landscape contracting firm: a properly insured company with competent, uniformed and Certified employees. Clean, well maintained, modern equipment. A contractor who goes above any client’s expectation. A contractor who deals with only the best subcontractors, suppliers, general contractors, architects and clients. This contractor also has a great reputation and, as a result, is able to pick and choose every job. This contractor also expects to be paid a reasonable fee (including some profit) for the services rendered. This is attainable by anyone who wishes to be a landscape professional.

My point to all this is that we all waste so much time and effort with clients who are duds, and, as a result, make little or no profit. If we were to measure who gives us the most stress in our lives, it would be those same people. Our time can be better spent servicing clients who appreciate our work and, most of all, can afford to pay the bill at the end of the job. How about letting all the substandard, non-professional, fly-by-night guys out there take all of those difficult clients? Let them get bogged down in low-profit, frustrating work while you’re working on rewarding projects. If every Landscape Professional did so, the only landscape installers available to these bad clients would be the bottom feeding non-professionals of the world. Who knows, maybe they would have to change their ways. (It sure sounds good on paper).

As landscape professionals, we have to separate ourselves from the non-professionals with whom we think we are forced to compete. The very first step is not to swim in their pool. Act like the professionals you are. Do not sign a contract that has unfair and unreasonable demands. Insist they sign your contract or, at least, attach it as an addendum. Check out the client’s financial situation and their past records with our landscape contractor brethren. Increase your professional portfolio by getting as many professional certifications as you can. Hire only the best employees and pay them fairly. Appearance is everything: nice, clean trucks, equipment and uniformed employees will go a long way. A good appearance is one of the few true forms of advertisement that produces results.

Most of all, JUST SAY NO! It will set you free to focus on rewarding work rather than frustrating yourself with non-professionals. It feels good too. Your accountant may not agree completely, but your cardiologist and psychologist will. And, who’s more important? Lastly, enjoy your work. Don’t let anyone take that away.