Monthly Archives

January 2019

How landscapers make money in the off-season

By | Seasonal | No Comments

The landscape off-season deserves its own blog post. How do landscapers make money in the off-season? It’s a good question. I’ve been asked on Quora.com and on the sidelines at soccer matches.

Young lay-offs

Just today one of our younger workers mentioned that he was counting down to his lay-off. Great! He will do some travelling with his friends which is a good plan for a young dude. Many young workers still live at home so their unemployment benefits are adequate. And they escape the worst weather. This is the easiest off-season ride I know.

Veteran pros

But what about veteran professionals with kids to feed? On the West Coast there is no off-season, assuming the weather holds. With Global Warming this isn’t always clear. I use vacation time to cover any missed days due to snow. I hate snow because it causes down time.

Normally we go all the way, except for one week off over Christmas. Yes, the weather sucks but it’s better than taking your kids to a food bank.

Normally we do lots of pruning and we hit semi-wild zones that don’t get regular servicing. We also re-establish bed edges.

 

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Deep edging redefines bed edges nicely and is a perfect winter activity.

 

I should add that employers want their veteran workers in the field working so they don’t disappear before spring hits. My boss knows that I need to work.

ISA advantage

It helps to have your ISA arborist certification because there is lots of tree pruning to do in winter. When you’re certified you’re more likely to score this kind of work when others are struggling to find work on frosty days.

I firmly believe that all landscapers should be ISA certified arborists.

 

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Post winter storm tree work.

 

Pro blogger

Personally, as a pro blogger, I publish blog posts all year but I find that there is more time for writing and reflection at the end of the season. I make money by selling my blog posts to landscape companies.

The off-season is also great for collecting my best blog posts and publishing them in eBook format. I use the very excellent Designrr software to create eBooks in minutes. The magic is that the software takes the blog post URL and copies the text over without any other website junk like headers and footers. You can literally create a new eBook in minutes. I love it so much, I’ve signed up for the Designrr affiliate program.

 

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This is one of my self-published eBooks.

 

Jobs

Some landscapers find jobs in unrelated fields to get through the off-season. I know of some young dudes working in bars. It depends on how desperate things get.

 

Planning

There is no-off season on the West Coast when the weather holds. With a bit of planning landscapers can make money in winter. I find that with ISA certification landscapers have more options and opportunities.

 

 



Red Seal fail

By | Education, Landscaping | No Comments

The Red Seal exam for landscape horticulture isn’t easy and it shouldn’t be because it gives you journeyman status. It’s a tough exam so some people fail. I know a foreman who finished all four apprenticeship levels and then sat the exam unsuccessfully. It happens.

Since the exam fee includes a re-write, she took the test again. No luck. Now what? Luckily her boss is giving her a chance to float among crews and do different things so she can gain more experience.

Experience!

Red Seal candidates must realize that the Landscape Horticulture exam is experience based. The questions are worded so they test the candidate’s experience, not just straight book knowledge. For example, you might be asked about a specific plant. Is it planted for summer foliage or fall berries? If you’ve never seen the plant in the field, you’re stuck guessing.

The best learning moments come in the field. This was in my head last week as I was digging up an old, dog urine soaked lawn. Yes, the smell was probably detectable by NASA but this Red Seal had a job to do. And I welcomed the chance to practice installing new sod. To be perfectly honest, I haven’t done very many sod install jobs.

Do it all!

This is my best advice for future Red Seal journeyman horticulturists. Do it all in the field. Use every tool and machine. Install new landscapes, keep plant tags and get very dirty. Like I did, digging up dog urine soaked soil so I could install new sod. This is how you become Red Seal. Do it all with a smile and collect your experience.

 

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Keys to sod install

  1. level everything off, roll it with a pin and apply starter fertilizer
  2. stagger the sod pieces and fit them tightly together
  3. water everything! Don’t skip this step.

 

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Levelled and rolled.

 

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Stagger the sod pieces to eliminate any long seams.

 

 

Happy ending

When you know you’re struggling in one specific area then face your fears. I failed two modules on my ISA arborist test and studied hard to pass them. It helps if you’re stubborn like me. I also had to do the “Planting and staking” station three times to become Landscape Industry Certified. No big deal. I studied and practiced and got my happy ending.

I’m convinced our foreman from this blog post will eventually pass the exam. But I think she’ll need to face her fears and get help with calculations. In the meantime she’s busy doing it in the field. The way it should be.

 

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All done! All of the sod pieces are tight and the new lawn is watered.