Re: I am excited
pue...@att.net
On Dec 29, 6:32 pm, "Michael \"Dog3\" Lonergan"
<shopa...@foodsource.eat> wrote:
> I think I'll be starting my own landscaping biz. I'll still get to ride my
> horse ;) It will be easy on me. I'll have high school kids on staff.
>
Michael, have you thought this through? I don't mean to rain on your
parade, but:
-- do you know anything about landscaping as a commercial venture?
--do you know how irresponsible high school kids acan be, particularly
when it's HOT, the work is dirty, and they are supposedly on vacation?
(Are you ready to hire illegals if you need them?)
--do you realize that the landscaping season extends at least 2 months
on either side of school vacation?
-- start-up business is NEVER easy, particularly one which requires
manual labor.
Think long and hard about all the options and pitfalls.
Stan Horwitz
pue...@att.net wrote:
My dad's middle brother and his son did landscaping for many years. My
cousin co-owned a fairly large landscaping business in Florida until
recently. Based on what they've told me, its back breaking work and its
seasonal in many areas, but there's also a lot of gratification in
seeing a job come to completion.
Edwin Pawlowski
<pue...@att.net> wrote in message
> --do you know how irresponsible high school kids acan be, particularly
> when it's HOT, the work is dirty, and they are supposedly on vacation?
> (Are you ready to hire illegals if you need them?)
>
> --do you realize that the landscaping season extends at least 2 months
> on either side of school vacation?
That is not a problem. Most of the people working in landscaping are high
school dropouts. As soon as the weather gets too cold, they apply for jobs
at our place. Most are losers. Really.
> -- start-up business is NEVER easy, particularly one which requires
> manual labor.
>
> Think long and hard about all the options and pitfalls.
>
You mean like working 7 days a week, 14 to 16 hours a day in summer? Maybe
it is different in other parts of the country, but here in New England they
hustle during the summer and starve in the winter. There are a few very
reputable ones though, that do a good job year after year.
sf
<shop...@foodsource.eat> wrote:
>I think I'll be starting my own landscaping biz. I'll still get to ride my
>horse ;) It will be easy on me. I'll have high school kids on staff.
>
Good luck... a horse riding landscaper with teenaged employees doesn't
sound like you've given this much thought. Have you ever talked to
anyone who has employed teenagers and actually tried to make a
*living*? It's *not* the best situation.
--
See return address to reply by email
Chatty Cathy
> I think I'll be starting my own landscaping biz. I'll still get to ride my
> horse ;) It will be easy on me. I'll have high school kids on staff.
Best of luck Michael. Have a friend who did the same thing a few years
ago and he hasn't looked back. Must admit he doesn't have high school
kids on his staff - just casual laborers who come and go - but if he can
do it, so can you.
>
> Beef stew is good. made biscuits.
Having roast beef tonight - with some spuds, butternut squash, some
cauli-broc and cheese sauce ;)
--
Cheers
Chatty Cathy
pfoley
"Edwin Pawlowski" <e...@snet.net> wrote in message
news:Lqmlh.1201$ji1...@newssvr12.news.prodigy.net...
Here in MA a lot of them get into plowing snow in the winter. I have often
wondered if landscapers collect unemployment in the winter. Landscaping is
a big business now; it seems no one has time to take care of their property
any more, or they don't want to bother and don't mind paying the price.
Omelet
"Michael \"Dog3\" Lonergan" <shop...@foodsource.eat> wrote:
> I think I'll be starting my own landscaping biz. I'll still get to ride my
> horse ;) It will be easy on me. I'll have high school kids on staff.
>
> Beef stew is good. made biscuits.
High school kids???
Honestly hon' for stress free labor, learn to speak spanish!
On a more positive note, congrats and good luck! :-)
--
Peace, Om
Remove _ to validate e-mails.
"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson
Goomba38
> Here is the deal. My friend Kevin will be my partner. I will do the design
> and he will handle the help. Obviously I can't do the physical work. I want
> something to do and I love gardening. I am so tired of sitting at home. I
> know how to landscape, I just can't do the work. Mine was done years ago. I
> am not real concerned with income. I want to keep busy.
>
> Michael
>
Have you considered volunteer work? What about teaching vegetable
gardening to schools and day cares and the like? Help kids learn to see
what they could be eating and how it gets to their plate?
Scooter
Everybody else, way to pee on Michael's campfire. Jeez.
Scooter
Melba's Jammin'
"Michael \"Dog3\" Lonergan" <shop...@foodsource.eat> wrote:
> "Scooter" <julie...@gmail.com>
> news:1167515860.6...@a3g2000cwd.googlegroups.com:
>
> > Michael, best of luck, and have a ball!
> >
> > Everybody else, way to pee on Michael's campfire. Jeez.
> >
> > Scooter
>
> I'm not worried about it. I am so crazed right now I don't care. I have
> done so many crazy things I'm sure people think I am nutz ;)
>
> Michael
Dr. Phil says that the best predictor of future behavior is past
behavior. Your reputation precedes you, Dufus.
{ Exported from MasterCook Mac }
Layered Pudding Delight
Recipe By: posted to r.f.cooking by Barb Schaller 12-30-2006
Serving Size:9
14 whole graham crackers
1 package instant vanilla pudding (6 serving)
2 cups milk
1 can cherry pie filling
1 cup Cool Whip
Line a 9² square pan with graham crackers, breaking to fit. Make
pudding, using only 2 cups milk. Blend in Cool Whip. Spread half the
pudding mixture over graham crackers, add another layer of crackers,
remainder of filling, one more layer of graham crackers. Spread cherry
pie filling over top. Chill at least 3 hours before serving.
‹‹‹‹‹
Notes: Source: Sister Julie, January 19, 1980. She's not much of a
cook.
--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
Rest in peace, Dad 12/15/1889 - 12/29/1951 I hardly knew you
http://web.mac.com/barbschaller - blahblahblog -
12/29, The Soupification© of Scalloped Potatoes; Dottie
http://jamlady.eboard.com
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/amytaylor
Curly Sue
<shop...@foodsource.eat> wrote:
<snip>
>Here is the deal. My friend Kevin will be my partner. I will do the design
>and he will handle the help. Obviously I can't do the physical work. I want
>something to do and I love gardening. I am so tired of sitting at home. I
>know how to landscape, I just can't do the work. Mine was done years ago. I
>am not real concerned with income. I want to keep busy.
>
>Michael
Michael,
Just be careful with the high school kids. I had a bad experience
with a painter who used high school kids to do some simple trim while
he did the critical stuff. When he wasn't watching they cleaned the
white paint off of their brushes by dipping them in solvent and
flinging it off... against my red brick garage. What did they know?
It wasn't anything they value.
Around here "landscapers" are just guys with power equipment who mow
and trim as quickly (and as noisily) as possible. I learned to keep
them out of my backyard because they don't understand the concept of
restraint with a string trimmer. If you really are knowledgable about
plants and design, you might want to market yourself as a landscape
designer or something to distinguish yourself from those guys.
Sue(tm)
Lead me not into temptation... I can find it myself!
Mr Libido Incognito
> Laying
> around reading and watching TV makes me crazy.
>
> Michael
>
We kinda noticed....
Pan Ohco
<shop...@foodsource.eat> wrote:
>
>Here is the deal. My friend Kevin will be my partner. I will do the design
>and he will handle the help. Obviously I can't do the physical work. I want
>something to do and I love gardening. I am so tired of sitting at home. I
>know how to landscape, I just can't do the work. Mine was done years ago. I
>am not real concerned with income. I want to keep busy.
>
>Michael
Michael, look into the state laws. You may have to have a license
which may require some educational requirements.
Also that license may be needed for you to purchase material from a
wholesaler.
And in my area you make more if you advertise as a landscape designer.
Yes I live in a artsy, craftsy town.
maxine in ri
The new thing is to hang lights for people in December,take them down
in January. Screws up the unemployment compensation something fierce!
maxine in ri
kilikini
> On Sat, 30 Dec 2006 23:41:02 GMT, Curly Sue wrote:
>
>> Around here "landscapers" are just guys with power equipment who mow
>> and trim as quickly (and as noisily) as possible.
>
> there to trim and clean up - it's not horticulture, just
> maintenance of existing systems.
>
> Gardners, OTOH, design, grow/order, dig/plant and maintain
> horticultural systems.
>
> Make sure you know the difference before you get started.
>
> -sw
If a landscaper doesn't dredge and put irrigation systems in, then who does?
Back in Laguna Beach, CA, I was the assistant manager for a landscape
company and we did everything. I mean everything. We shaped and dug yards,
we designed where and which plants would be laid down, dug holes and planted
trees, we ripped out trees; we installed outdoor lighting fixtures, and we
put in drip lines to full irrigation systems on timers no less. We called
our business Laguna Beach Landscape - not Laguna Beach Gardeners.
kili
Curly Sue
I used to think so. But there seems to be no regulation over who can
call themselves "landscapers," and around here anyone with power
equipment willing to chop greenery call themselves such. I'm sure
they would be grateful to be hired to do other things, but their
willingness doesn't mean they know what they are doing. Which is why
the title is vague and why I suggested that Michael be more specific
about how he markets his company.
Nancy Young
"Curly Sue" <address...@nyc.rr.com> wrote
> I used to think so. But there seems to be no regulation over who can
> call themselves "landscapers," and around here anyone with power
> equipment willing to chop greenery call themselves such.
Really. You have the landscaper who designed Central Park, then
you have 'my' landscaper whose job entails unleashing destructo
men on my yard once a week to smash into/mow over/string trim
everything in sight. Probably a 100,000 to 1 landscapers will fall into
the second category.
> I'm sure
> they would be grateful to be hired to do other things, but their
> willingness doesn't mean they know what they are doing.j
If you hire them to do something besides mow or irritate the living
crap out of everyone around with leaf blowers, you have to watch
so they don't, say, plant trees without loosening the burlap bag.
They are *not* professional landscapers, no matter what it says on
the truck.
> Which is why
> the title is vague and why I suggested that Michael be more specific
> about how he markets his company.
Agreed.
nancy
The Cook
wrote:
The property we bought about 3 years ago was "professionally
landscaped." Either the landscaper or the crew doing the planting had
no idea about the size of plants and trees and the level of light that
they needed. The front holly bushes were almost against the house
and since the house had been vacant they were obscuring the windows.
The dogwood at the back corner of the house was rubbing the brick
within a year after we moved in. I have a beautiful crape myrtle tree
in the front yard. The only trouble is I cannot see it from the house
because of the other trees they planted right behind it. The day
lilies are planted in the shade of the huge oak trees and get no sun.
I could go on and on. Maybe in a few years we can get the place
straightened out.
--
Susan N.
"Moral indignation is in most cases two percent moral,
48 percent indignation, and 50 percent envy."
Vittorio De Sica, Italian movie director (1901-1974
Nancy Young
"The Cook" <susan_...@yahoo.com> wrote
> On Sun, 31 Dec 2006 09:29:14 -0500, "Nancy Young" <rjy...@comcast.net>
> wrote:
>>If you hire them to do something besides mow or irritate the living
>>crap out of everyone around with leaf blowers, you have to watch
>>so they don't, say, plant trees without loosening the burlap bag.
>>They are *not* professional landscapers, no matter what it says on
>>the truck.
> The property we bought about 3 years ago was "professionally
> landscaped." Either the landscaper or the crew doing the planting had
> no idea about the size of plants and trees and the level of light that
> they needed. The front holly bushes were almost against the house
> and since the house had been vacant they were obscuring the windows.
> The dogwood at the back corner of the house was rubbing the brick
> within a year after we moved in. I have a beautiful crape myrtle tree
> in the front yard. The only trouble is I cannot see it from the house
> because of the other trees they planted right behind it. The day
> lilies are planted in the shade of the huge oak trees and get no sun.
> I could go on and on. Maybe in a few years we can get the place
> straightened out.
Heh, it all sounds so familiar. I really need to do something about the
crowded (and I mean *crowded*) landscaping in front of my house.
Whoever designed it ... the plants and trees get bigger, you know!
nancy
maxine in ri
Curly Sue wrote:
> I used to think so. But there seems to be no regulation over who can
> call themselves "landscapers," and around here anyone with power
> equipment willing to chop greenery call themselves such. I'm sure
> they would be grateful to be hired to do other things, but their
> willingness doesn't mean they know what they are doing. Which is why
> the title is vague and why I suggested that Michael be more specific
> about how he markets his company.
That's why before you hire a landscaper, you should check if they are
licensed. There are professionals, they usually have college degrees,
are licensed arborists or designers, etc. If you're having something
more than mowing and hedge trimming done, it's best to check references
and be sure you have someone who knows what they're doing.
We had been using the same company for years to do our tree work. They
were not arborists, but knew that when you trimmed a branch, you cut at
an angle, cleared the area before dropping anything large, and had
fiberglass equipment for working around power wires. (They also had a
very cute guy who climbed trees in areas where they couldn't get the
bucket truck. I made sure to oversee any work he did.<g>)
Then last year we had some bad wind damage, and my husband hired the
first truck that came by. The guy was a butcher, and I had to go out
there with my bow saw and clean up his mistakes, since DH didn't think
to get his card or phone number.
maxine in ri
Curly Sue
wrote:
>
>Curly Sue wrote:
>
>> I used to think so. But there seems to be no regulation over who can
>> call themselves "landscapers," and around here anyone with power
>> equipment willing to chop greenery call themselves such. I'm sure
>> they would be grateful to be hired to do other things, but their
>> willingness doesn't mean they know what they are doing. Which is why
>> the title is vague and why I suggested that Michael be more specific
>> about how he markets his company.
>
>That's why before you hire a landscaper, you should check if they are
>licensed. There are professionals, they usually have college degrees,
>are licensed arborists or designers, etc. If you're having something
>more than mowing and hedge trimming done, it's best to check references
>and be sure you have someone who knows what they're doing.
True. But in New York State, other than arborists, only the landscape
architects have to be licensed. I generally check the BBB, which is
good but not perfect. In any case, the only landscaping help I have
now are the "destructo guys" (a perfect term Nancy!) who are only
allowed to do my postage stamp front lawn, and the licensed arborists.
Speaking of horticulture, the crocuses I planted in October are coming
up already :(
pfoley
"Michael "Dog3" Lonergan" <shop...@foodsource.eat> wrote in message
news:Xns98AA3654722F9zj...@69.28.186.121...
> "kilikini" <kili...@NOSPAMhotmail.com>
> news:45979b7d$0$5204$4c36...@roadrunner.com:
>
> > If a landscaper doesn't dredge and put irrigation systems in, then who
> > does? Back in Laguna Beach, CA, I was the assistant manager for a
> > landscape company and we did everything. I mean everything. We
> > shaped and dug yards, we designed where and which plants would be laid
> > down, dug holes and planted trees, we ripped out trees; we installed
> > outdoor lighting fixtures, and we put in drip lines to full irrigation
> > systems on timers no less. We called our business Laguna Beach
> > Landscape - not Laguna Beach Gardeners.
> >
> > kili
>
> should just find work at a nursery.
>
> Michael <- having toast and Gatorade
>
> --
> Health food may be good for the conscience but Oreos taste
> a hell of a lot better.
> - Robert Redford
===========
Working in a nursery would probably be a lot less stressful than running
your own business and a lot less physical. You could also go home at
regular hours and forget it about your job when home.
I would never call the person who does my yard a landscaper or a gardener.
Like many others, he is just guy who started out with a lawnmower and a run
down pickup and did lawns. Now he has a new truck, ride-on mower and has
someone working for him. He rents machinery when needed. He rakes the
leaves in the fall. He also plows in the winter for himself as well as the
city. You don't have to start out big. If you do good work the word gets
around the neighborhood. You should make up flyers on the pc and stick them
in mailboxes or mail out describing what you do and how you can be reached
by phone or
e-mail.
But, you could first try looking into nursery work to see if you can find
something in that line of work that you would like.
Mr Libido Incognito
> Working in a nursery would probably be a lot less stressful than running
> your own business and a lot less physical.
You'd also get that feeling of a job well done...easier.
Customers alway...bitch.
Employers bitch too...but not as much.
sf
<kili...@NOSPAMhotmail.com> wrote:
<nodding in agreement> In my area, "gardeners" are the mow and blow
type. Landscapers are educated in landscape design, can do a lot more
for you and charge accordingly.
--
See return address to reply by email
sf
<shop...@foodsource.eat> wrote:
>Maybe I should just find work at a nursery.
Now you're sounding much more realistic. I think you would be less
stressed and have more job satisfaction if you chose that route. In
addition, you can do the things you're thinking of as a peripheral
service offered by the nursery.
Ken
Michael "Dog3" Lonergan wrote:
> I think I'll be starting my own landscaping biz. I'll still get to ride my
> horse ;) It will be easy on me. I'll have high school kids on staff.
>
> Beef stew is good. made biscuits.
>
> --
> Health food may be good for the conscience but Oreos taste
> a hell of a lot better.
> - Robert Redford
Michael,
I'm just going to pass along my neighbor's experience:
He was a controller at a company that went broke. He didn't know what
he wanted to do, so he bought a gardener's route. It's sort of like
pool maintenance or whatever: When somebody gets tired of the job,
they just sell the business, which is just some equipment and the
customers. So every few months, the person doing the work finds out it
is actually work, and you have to do it when it's raining, and hot, and
cold, and when you don't feel like working. So they sell the route.
The customers can either stay with the new guy or try to find somebody
in the phone book. Well, since this new guy is knocking on the door
and here already, they might as well give him a try instead of going to
the trouble of finding somebody. After about three months, the
customers were telling him he was on the job longer than anybody else
had ever lasted.
Here's the kicker: He knew absolutely nothing about plants, irrigation
systems, landscaping, you name it. Absolutely nothing. He even lived
in a condo. But he was willing to do the work, and show up on time,
and be polite, and do a little extra if the homeowner wanted an extra
plant trimmed. But most of all, he spoke English. And if a plant had
spots, or the lawn was turning orange, he'd just take a sample to the
local nursery, and the people there who actually knew what they were
doing would tell him to spray with this or turn down the water or
whatever. After about a year, he was turning away more work than he
could handle.
I can't tell you how things turned out in the end because I moved about
two hundred miles away. I do know they bought a BMW and his wife quit
working. Not bad. What he did has its advantages: It's a going
business. It was cheap to buy. It lets you walk before you run.
There will be plenty of room to expand into design work when existing
clients want something bigger and better.
He just stumbled into this thing because he lost his job, and it turned
out to be the best thing that ever happened to him. The big thing is
that he was a nice guy and listened to his customers. Before, if a
customer told the gardener not to touch a certain tree, the guy didn't
understand English, saw the homeowner pointing to a tree, and he
trimmed it back to the trunk. Steve understood English and knew what
he didn't know. If he had a question, he took a sample to the people
at the nursery who did know.
Kinda long, I know. But maybe you can learn from his happy accident.
HTH,
Ken
Ken
Nancy Young
"Steve Wertz" <swe...@cluemail.compost> wrote
> On Sun, 31 Dec 2006 09:13:49 -0800, sf wrote:
>
>> <nodding in agreement> In my area, "gardeners" are the mow and blow
>> type. Landscapers are educated in landscape design, can do a lot more
>> for you and charge accordingly.
>
> I know a couple gardeners that make sure you know the difference
> between a gardener and a landscaper. While many aspects of
> gardening may overlap with landscaping, gardening is considered
> the more prestigious occupation (especially when you live in a
> city that has a 40+% Mexican population).
>
> Notice how wealthy people (not just in the movies, either) always
> call them gardeners rather than landscapers?
Yeah, Chauncy Gardner.
nancy
sf
<swe...@cluemail.compost> wrote:
>While many aspects of
>gardening may overlap with landscaping, gardening is considered
>the more prestigious occupation (especially when you live in a
>city that has a 40+% Mexican population).
NOT in my area.
>
>Notice how wealthy people (not just in the movies, either) always
>call them gardeners rather than landscapers?
Which one is called a gardener? The mow and blow type?
Around here, we call the people who are hired to do the basic cut and
trim stuff (commonly called mow and blow) on a twice a month basis -
gardeners. Giving it more thought than I did before, because this
seems to be a semantics issue.... landscapers are the hired help who
work for landscape architects (around here).
Blair P. Houghton
sf wrote:
> Around here, we call the people who are hired to do the basic cut and
> trim stuff (commonly called mow and blow) on a twice a month basis -
> gardeners.
We call those "yard guys".
> Giving it more thought than I did before, because this
> seems to be a semantics issue.... landscapers are the hired help who
> work for landscape architects (around here).
If they install the plants/rocks/contours/concrete/trees/etc, they're
landscapers. If they rake/mow/blow, they're yard guys (or, more
formally, a yard service). If they perform a detailed service on
flowerbeds, they're gardeners.
--Blair
Goomba38
> sf wrote:
>> Around here, we call the people who are hired to do the basic cut and
>> trim stuff (commonly called mow and blow) on a twice a month basis -
>> gardeners.
>
> We call those "yard guys".
Yup, I'll second that title.
sf
wrote:
No yard guys here. Sorry never heard that term for someone who wasn't
family and not paid to do it.
:)
Nancy Young
"Goomba38" <goom...@comcast.net> wrote
I called them "the lawn guy" even though there were 3 of them.
There was just Mike from down the block when I first hired him.
Now it's Mike and a big truck and several employees, three to
a lawn. Hardly anyone mows their own grass around here any more.
nancy
Phred
>
>sf wrote:
>> Around here, we call the people who are hired to do the basic cut and
>> trim stuff (commonly called mow and blow) on a twice a month basis -
>> gardeners.
>
>We call those "yard guys".
An old colleague of mine, now retired from science and into practice
in another place, has set up his own home outdoor-help business
appropriately named "Yard Labour" ["Yard Labor" for you Yanks; but
"Labor" here in Oz is a political term.]
Cheers, Phred.
--
ppnerk...@THISyahoo.com.INVALID
PeterL
news:501rogF...@mid.individual.net:
I used to have a Mower Dude, but now I have a Mower Chick, who employs
several Mower Dudes :-)
She rides the ride-on... they do the whipper-snipping (US term = weed
whacking) and all the clean up jobs.
And Phred....... did you know that Labor didn't want to spell their
Party name 'Labour' because that would imply that they actually worked
for a frikken living??!!
--
Peter Lucas
Brisbane
Australia
'Enjoy today, it was paid for by a veteran'
Curly Sue
Interestingly, in NYS landscape architects must be licensed. In the
Queens yellow pages, there are but two landscape architects listed!
On the BBB website for the whole metropolitan area, there are six
landscape architects, 58 landscape designers, and over 500 landscape
contractors ("landscapers"). Who knows how many are operating without
being listed anywhere. In my social circle, gardeners are people who
work on their own property :) Of course, I don't know any wealthy
people who might use "gardener" or "pool boy" as euphemisms... ;>
sf
wrote:
>
Hubby fired the "mow and blow" type guy of 15-20 years after he
butchered way too many hedges, shrubs and other living things. We're
going to try another guy in the near future.... I hear he has an OC
tendency on the job, so he should be very good.
:)
sf
Sue) wrote:
>
>Interestingly, in NYS landscape architects must be licensed. In the
>Queens yellow pages, there are but two landscape architects listed!
>On the BBB website for the whole metropolitan area, there are six
>landscape architects, 58 landscape designers, and over 500 landscape
>contractors ("landscapers").
BUT they don't advertise as a "landscaper". That's commendable!
Landscape *contractor* is self-descriptive, so buyer beware and
consider expending a brain cell or two in the hiring process.
Phred
>ppnerkDE...@yahoo.com (Phred) wrote in
>news:501rogF...@mid.individual.net:
>
>> In article <1167804762....@v33g2000cwv.googlegroups.com>,
>> "Blair P. Houghton" <blair.h...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>sf wrote:
>>>> Around here, we call the people who are hired to do the basic cut
>>>> and trim stuff (commonly called mow and blow) on a twice a month
>>>> basis - gardeners.
>>>
>>>We call those "yard guys".
>>
>> An old colleague of mine, now retired from science and into practice
>> in another place, has set up his own home outdoor-help business
>> appropriately named "Yard Labour" ["Yard Labor" for you Yanks; but
>> "Labor" here in Oz is a political term.]
>
>I used to have a Mower Dude, but now I have a Mower Chick, who employs
>several Mower Dudes :-)
>
>She rides the ride-on... they do the whipper-snipping (US term = weed
>whacking) and all the clean up jobs.
>
>And Phred....... did you know that Labor didn't want to spell their
>Party name 'Labour' because that would imply that they actually worked
>for a frikken living??!!
I didn't know that derivation; but I can believe it. ;-)
Cheers, Phred.
--
ppnerk...@THISyahoo.com.INVALID
Nancy Young
<sf> wrote
> On Wed, 3 Jan 2007 08:17:38 -0500, "Nancy Young" <rjy...@comcast.net>
> wrote:
>>I called them "the lawn guy" even though there were 3 of them.
>>There was just Mike from down the block when I first hired him.
>>Now it's Mike and a big truck and several employees, three to
>>a lawn. Hardly anyone mows their own grass around here any more.
> Hubby fired the "mow and blow" type guy of 15-20 years after he
> butchered way too many hedges, shrubs and other living things.
Ditto. Did we have the same guy? Same deal, we stuck with him
for years after almost all of the neighbors have dropped him only
to hire someone else. Too many years of scalped grass, gashed
water bags (when the pool is closed), weed whacked flowers that
were minding their own business in the flower beds, smashed gate,
etc.
I don't have the heart to let him see we hired someone else, so we
bought a nice mower. Frankly, it's already paid for itself and the lawn
is quite happy being longer than a half inch.
> We're
> going to try another guy in the near future.... I hear he has an OC
> tendency on the job, so he should be very good.
Good luck!
nsncy