Tips For Starting A Landscaping Business

In my experience, I would say that most landscaping companies are small (2-4 employees) and only have the ability to handle a certain amount of customers each year. Once some landscaping companies establish core clients after their first year, many of them don’t even market. Their business comes from previous jobs or referrals from current clients, which usually is made up of neighbors, family and friends.

Each season, you will find that more calls come in than can ever be fulfilled. I have found this to be a very common complaint from landscapers: too much business! I can’t think of any other industry that has a problem turning down customers!

During the Spring, things get really busy any calls start pouring in. Landscaping services are in such demand that people are really willing to pay whatever they think it’s worth to have it done.

Growth is the goal and most important aspect to your new business. Be careful though because you don’t want it to grow so quickly that you find yourself overwhelmed. This will only lead to a series of problems that will have a negative impact on your business. Don’t bite off more than you can chew. Only make commitments that you can keep. Never say you will do something and not follow through. Your reputation is your most valuable asset and you should protect it at all costs.

Take this business one job at a time and don’t be afraid to tell a client that you are booked. Things tend to get very busy and there is only so much you will be able to handle on your own. It may be hard at first to turn down jobs, but be aware that there is always next week, month, or even year. Keep a database of names, numbers, and email addresses. Even if you don’t get to them this time around, you will be able to contact them soon to ensure that they become a client.

Make sure that you take down as many details as possible about your clients and contacts. Names, phone numbers, addresses, email addresses, how they found you, job description, and price quote are all important to have in a database. The more organized you keep your business, the more efficient you become and the more profits you make.

You should have a good handle on your strengths and weaknesses as a worker and a business owner. If you don’t, you will soon learn them. Owni
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ng a business will teach you a lot about yourself. By knowing your skills and what you bring to the table, you will be able to take advantage of many opportunities that will make your business as efficient as possible.

By: Tagg Hamilton

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

—Tagg Hamilton is the Owner a highly profitable landscaping company and author of ‘Lawn Cash! ‘ – The Ultimate Guide to Starting a Landscaping Business.

He also is the author and creator of Christmas Cash! The Ultimate Christmas Light Installation Business Kit.

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Yahoo! News

The story or page you were trying to access may have expired.

If you are having trouble locating a destination on Yahoo! News, try visiting the Yahoo! News home page
or you may find what you’re looking for if you try searching below.

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The top local news headlines from Yahoo! News – Yahoo! News

Americans are spending a little more this summer, but hardly enough to rejuvenate the weakening economy. Full Story;

The decision makes the federal court in Portland the apex of a legal battle that stretches from Oregon to West Virginia, and from Indiana to Texas, over who is responsible for exposing American soldiers to a known cancer-causing chemical early in the Iraq war. Full Story;

Most grocery stores offer loyalty programs for customers, giving frequent shoppers special deals, discounts or coupons. Full Story;

Knowing they must pass to get their diploma, a record 71 percent of Oregon sophomores met state standards in reading this year. And math achievement was up modestly in every grade. Still, barely half of sophomores can write or do math at grade level — and 29 percent of them need to improve at reading or they’ll lose out on diplomas Full Story;

The 4-foot-11, 81-pound rider fell during the warmup lap of the day’s first race at Indy. He stood up and waved his arms to show his position on the track. But another rider — a 12-year-old from Flushing, N.Y. — plowed into him. He was the youngest competitor ever killed at the 101-year-old Indianpolis speedway. Full Story;

A 16-year-old girl who was riding in the passenger side of one of the cars remains in critical condition at OHSU Hospital. No arrests have been made and no citations have been given in connection to the incident. Full Story;

The coffee giant said Monday it is adding four new, slightly sweetened varieties of its successful Via instant brew. The flavored instant coffee is the latest in a series of new products. Full Story;

The Ainsworth Linear Arboretum, which has added 75 trees, turns 5 this year — an impressive feat considering volunteers do almost all the work. Full Story;

In Oregon, the state Department of Forestry reported no new fires of 10 acres or larger in the past three days. The chill after warm summer weather also helped stall several large lightning-sparked wildfires on federal and private lands. Full Story;

The cash deal marks Intel’s second major purchase in less than two weeks as the chipmaker races to reinvent itself for a mobile age. Full Story;

Police say the man is known to police and between 50 and 60 years old. The medical examiner is enroute. Full Story;

Portland Public Schools is now writing video surveillance standards, which should be completed by mid-October, to ensure that any system installed in a PPS building provides adequate protection and can be maintained by facilities staff. Full Story;

An early look shows the state getting about half of what was projected when Oregon voters approved higher taxes on wealthier residents. Full Story;

It’s just the latest lugnut to fall off the wheels off local transit, say riders’ advocates. In the past 12 years, they say, TriMet has cut bus service by thousands of hours and eliminated 16 bus lines while more than doubling light-rail service. Full Story;

Portland police have cited a bicyclist who was struck and injured by a TriMet shuttle bus during a tangled evening commute on Aug. 12, saying he failed to obey a traffic control device. Full Story;

Carlos Anaya-Vera has been on the run since the June 2004 stabbing death of his ex-girlfriend, Leticia Bracamontes Full Story;

Attorneys for Dale R. Hickman and Shannon M. Hickman entered the pleas. The Hickmans did not speak during the brief arraignment before Clackamas County Circuit Judge Jeffrey S. Jones. Full Story;

Leaders shelved a proposal two years ago to create a new tax to pay for transportation projects, but now officials are considering whether a vote in 2012 makes sense. Full Story;

Anyone with more information about the robbery, which occurred at the restaurant on Lower Boones Ferry Road, is asked to call Tualatin police. Full Story;

McDonnell will leave the post after 10 years to take a job with Vancouver’s SEH America, a silicon wafer manufacturer. Full Story;

Many parents have already pulled their students out of his classes in Morton. Full Story;

Stocks fell Monday after more signs of slowing economic growth got investors worried ahead of a key report on jobs later this week. Full Story;

Reports released by the agency found a range of unsanitary conditions, including live rodents and birds in hen houses, towering manure piles and maggots and flies in the facilities. Full Story;

The improper disposal of a cigarette butt caused the single-alarm fire that sent four residents to the hospital, according to Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue. The blaze also caused an estimated $200,000 in damage to the home. Full Story;

Officer Ulli Neitch, Milwaukie police spokeswoman, said an investigation shows Steven Hale Smith died of an accidental fall from the Portland & Western Railroad trestle bridge over Oregon 99E. Neitch said Smith was a resident of the Island Station neighborhood, west of McLoughlin Boulevard. Full Story;

Photo Highlight Slideshow

A man walks across a street under a colorful umbrella in Mumbai, India. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

Opinions & Editorials: Diverse views on news from the right, left, and center.

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Ok so you might find the next few links interesting. These are from around the web, just random snippets that I’ve picked up in my reading, but I found some very cool information in them. You might too. Here goes…

Art Auction Price May Be Local Record

Before Sunday's auction, the most expensive painting the company had sold had been "Hampstead Heath, Looking Towards London" by British landscape artist …  Read More…

Environmentalist claims farmland is being misused by business

The private owner is now leasing the land to Sousa's Landscaping, who insist they are doing nothing wrong. Environmentalist Frances Eddy said: "This is an …  Read More…

Rockland employees volunteer for day with nonprofits

Two workers spent the day at a Western Highway adult home in Tappan doing landscaping. They were joined by Target employees. As is tradition, the Day of …  Read More…
That’s all the news for today guys, so until next time, thanks for stopping by.

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If you’ve been keeping up with my blog posts lately you’ll know I’ve come to adding a few news posts from around the web on this subject. I’ve got a couple more today that are new and updated, so let me know what you think of em…

Long recession has many worried

But around her she sees an unsettling landscape. "Today, unless you're making more than $60000, you're going to have a difficult time. …  Read More…

Nasdaq CEO: Lawmakers On Right Path To Regulating Fincl Mkts

As Washington reviews the current landscape of the stock market, Greifeld warned that, in some ways, the market could be more vulnerable to manipulation as …  Read More…

Manor House Stables, Lincolnshire

Big sky, straight road, landscape flat as the vocals on X Factor – we're in Lincolnshire and it feels like a road movie. The good news is no one gets shot, …  Read More…
That’s all the news for today guys, so until next time, thanks for stopping by.

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Yahoo! News

The story or page you were trying to access may have expired.

If you are having trouble locating a destination on Yahoo! News, try visiting the Yahoo! News home page
or you may find what you’re looking for if you try searching below.

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Limestone Mining Within Communities Of South Dakota’s Black Hills

Most of us are familiar with the saying “It takes a village to raise a child”. What warm and fuzzy village pundits fail to mention is that it takes a 135 year old law for our Government to do nothing while a gravel pit is mined in the middle of that child’s village.

Don’t feel naive. I was unfamiliar with this less touted proverb until a family member forwarded me a copy of a letter which he had submitted to our local media outlets in Western South Dakota.

“I treasure the Black Hills. I cringe when I see the unsightly devastation to the Hills that is occurring due to limestone surface mining. As you approach the Hills from the east you no longer see forest merging gently onto prairie, but instead a long brown scar of destruction crawling north from Rapid City toward Black Hawk.

Pete Lien and Sons plan to extend their gravel pit from west of St. Martins, north to Peaceful Pines Rd., and then further north to Anderson Road (a mile north of Black Hawk). This area encompasses beautiful hills, cliffs, and valleys, and is adjoined by many private homes. Most of the area is, in fact, Forest Service land. The Liens have obtained mining claims based on the outdated Mining Act of 1872.

There is no shortage of limestone in the world. Surface mining in the middle of a community is unacceptable. The Liens have worked to be good members of the community, and to try to mitigate the damage from their business operations. I call on them to relocate their mining operations to more remote sites. If not, I call on the government and citizens to put a halt to this outrage.

Mark Anderson”

Mark was asked to remove the mining company’s name form his letter before it was published as a Letter to the Editor in our regional paper. While there has been some local reporting on the surface mining scourge in our community, it is not done with enough aggression because of that whole big name/small town thing. Very smart. I understand the need to cover ones backside. Wait a second. Oh cr*p! Did I leave the name Pete Lien and Sons in the letter above?

Oh well. I guess I’ll just maintain my unholy self-preservation by not pointing out to r
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eaders that it is no coincident South Dakota politician Chris Lien has the same name. It’s just a thought, but I’m personally not sure this family should be handed more power, given their ardent history of meshing gravel quarries with communities.

Okay, so I am obviously not well versed in the art of subtlety and unbiased reporting. Of course, I am not a reporter. But when a satire writer finds out her sleepy family home is about to border a lime-dust-enveloped, noise-filled, tree-less, health-hazard, she gets a touch disgruntled. Deal with it!
On the plus side, unlike Letters to the Editor, I am never limited to 250 words! Better still I can, and will, say a companies name when I discuss their publicly noted activities on ‘public’ lands.

Lien! Lien! Lien! Lien! Lien!

Of course why should newspapers have all the fun? After all, there is a lighter side to letting a surface mine scar up the neighborhood. In fact, it’s so light it’s airborne. Some call it dust. Lime dust’s affects on the health of the village children (and elders) can be read in such light-hearted and whimsically titled articles as, Disabling Pneumoconiosis from Limestone Dust. (LOL?)

This disturbing, yet, light and dusty article was written by those good people who brought us health. Mines operators, kickback purveyors and political lobbyists made no notable contributions. It took all of five minutes to me to find more environmental problems associated with limestone dust. Take for example damaging photosynthesis and respiration in evergreen trees.

You know evergreens right? They are those pesky trees that cover the Black Hills and form the backbone of the web of all life in our region. Weak, lime dust saturated trees are more susceptible to insect damage. Can you say Mountain Pine Beetle epidemic? You can if you live in the South Dakota. The beetles have been decimating the Black Hills for years now. Sprinkling on lime dust make me think of rolling out a red carpet for further infestations.

By the way, evergreens exposed to mineral dust from limestone mining are also dryer and less fire resistant. Fire! Sounds like a bonus for those with homes in the hills. First pneumoconiosis, then lower property values and now an inferno! Yippee! This will make for beautiful sunsets as the last of the tourists flee the unsightly hills taking their tourism dollars with them forever.

Just to be safe residents around the proposed Pete Lien and Sons mine site should consider memorizing OSHA’s (osha.gov) list on the “exposure Limits” for Lime Dust. To understand them you’ll need high speed internet, a medical dictionary, three slide rules and a secret decoder ring. Fortunately their list of outright health risks is clearer.

Potential symptoms: Irritation of eyes, skin, mucous membranes; cough, sneezing, rhinorrhea (discharge of thin mucous); lacrimation (discharge of tears).

Health Effects: Nuisance Particulates (HE19)

Affected organs: Eyes, skin, respiratory system”

And what fun loving, forest dwelling family wouldn’t want to share years of repertory problems and “rhinorrhea”? Who needs Yatzee®?

It is true other companies are also taking our backyard paradise and putting up less than a parking lot. The time has come for these visual blights and the entire intrusive presence of surface mining to be vanquished from the Black Hills region, no matter which company is conducting these operations.

Our elected officials are here to serve all voters, not just Lien towards big names in small ponds. They must stand vigilant against antiquated legislation – lest we oust antiquated politicians. This is the year 2008. Why are our forest lands, home values and the villages of our children not being protected from a Mining Act that was written 16 year before South Dakota even became a state?

I repeat this act was written ‘before’ South Dakota existed. Is government on a longer than usual lunch or
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what? Our population has actually increased since statehood. Neighborhoods should trump Mining Claims enacted in a time when dentures were carved from trees – even if they were those pesky evergreens! The destructive capabilities mankind’s machines are now capable of were unfathomable a mere 13 decades ago.

Mark Anderson is correct. We need a rallying cry. South Dakotan’s need to stand strong together, demanding a real change. The Black Hills are sacred to all. There is another saying you may be familiar with. “All that is necessary for the forces of evil to take root in the world is for enough good men to do nothing – about a gravel quarry.”

What’s next? If government doesn’t draw the line here, will we soon use school playgrounds as a handy place to burn our old tires? Doesn’t Mount Rushmore supposedly belong to the public? I hope no one holds an old claim or Squatter’s Rights on an ear lobe or Teddy Roosevelt’s left eye. Can I claim Lincoln’s chin for my driveway landscaping?

Sorry. Where was I? Oh yea, if this eco-vulgar mining practice does go forth destroying the forest in our community, will our elected politicians at least sew up this loophole, so future neighborhoods will not endure such an offence to our, so called, National Forests?

Meantime, until the forest re-grows to its natural state (e.t.a. 150 thousand years), I ask our elected representatives to lower our real estate values/assessments and collect fewer property taxes from constituents around the mine. You can take the difference out of your own salaries. Meanwhile I am sure Pete Lien and Sons, will be happy to pay all medical costs involved for the residents of the village, their children, their pets and their evergreens.

Disclaimer: The proceeding was an opinion piece. My opinion. Contrary to popular belief, you are permitted to have your own opinion as long as no one holds a 135 year old mining claim on it.

Lien! Lien! Lien! Lien! Lien!

By: Nola Lee Kelsey

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

Zoologist Nola Lee Kelsey (www.NolaKelsey.com) has penned a myriad of books from the wild and wicked new release, Dogs: Funny Side Up! to the charming, children’s read-aloud Let’s Go Visit Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. As she’s meandered the globe, her humor articles have appeared in publications from Reptiles Magazine to The Bangkok Post. Kelsey is also the owner of Dog’s Eye View Media (www.DogsEyeViewMedia.com).

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Using Stones In Your Landscaping Design

If you are looking for stones to use in your landscaping design, then you are in luck. Stones for landscaping come in a wide variety of different colors and sizes to enable you to find exactly the right look for your particular landscaping design.

Finding the Right Stones
You may be able to find some great stones in your own yard. If you live in an area that is rocky, then you may be able to find some rocks simply by digging in your yard. Your landscaping design will thank you for the added visual interest and texture.

Purchasing Stones for Landscaping
You should have no difficulty in finding stones to purchase for your landscaping design. Most garden stores and home improvement stores carry a wide variety of different colored and sized stones. You may also be able to locate a private landscaping company that sells stones, as well. They may even deliver them right to your home if needed.

Color and Shape Variety
You will be able to find any color, shape, or sized stone that you want or need for your landscaping plan. You can find anything from perfectly round stones that are manufactured to more natural looking stones that are more free-formed in size and shape.

Stone Retaining Walls
Stones can be used for other purposes besides a walkway. If you see a retaining wall in your landscaping plan, then using stones or rocks will be great. Stones and rocks will help give your landscaping design beauty and security.

Borders and Gardens
If your flowerbed or garden needs a border, then stones and rocks are a great choice. They will help to enhance the beauty of your garden or pond. They can add color and texture to your garden to make it more visually appealing and interesting.

Best Stones To Use
Two of the many kinds of stones are flagstone and river rock. These rocks are great for any landscaping project – from retaining walls to borders to stepping stones. Flagstone comes in many different colors to help match your outdoor décor. River rock is a little smaller in size, but it comes in the same variety.

If you need to fill in areas, then river rock is an excellent choice for this purpose, too. It will work well to keep weeds from coming up in spaces left in flowerbeds.

Using landscaping stones will most assuredly add bea
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uty and interest to your landscaping design. Why not try it?

By: A.Caxton -

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

Andrew Caxton is a syndicated writer of www.lawn-mowers-and-garden-tractors.com . A website with tips on lawn care at landscaping

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Shouldn't Mitt Romney now resign from presidential bid because he hired illegal aliens for garden work?

Now that Mitt Romney is caught red handed paying illegal aliens to do his landscaping and garden work, shouldn't he resign from running for president? A president should have high character and morals, and clearly Romney doesn't care if illegals do his house work.

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