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Kimberly Jacobson

Competitive lawn care, landscaping industry growing

It’s officially spring.

And that means it’s time to dig out those gardening gloves, find the hedge trimmers and gas up the lawnmower.

Or just call a local lawn care company to do all that for you.

The landscaping and lawn care industry’s busy season is kicking into gear. And with more than a dozen companies here offering to make your yard beautiful — and then maintain it for you — Anacortes residents can sit back and enjoy.

And that’s why many people opt to pay for someone else to keep their yard in tip-top shape.

“Sometimes they want something to look at but not bother with much,” said Richard Houghton, owner of Magic Earth Landscaping.
And sometimes homes here need the professionals because the owners live elsewhere.

Simply Yards does about 15 percent of its maintenance jobs on second homes. The average cost is about $200 a month, depending on the yard size.

“It’s amazing how many people don’t live in their house,” said new owner Mark Lawrence.

He bought the business earlier this year from John Childs. Lawrence previously owned a construction company in Bellingham that did jobs including large commercial landscaping. He plans to expand Simply Yards in 2009, adding more large projects.

Lawrence said the company sees pretty steady work in maintenance. It has more than 40 employees that work in three counties.
Competition in the lawn care industry is always coming and going.

“On the maintenance side the competition is a lot tougher. It’s easy for John down the street to buy a mower and start mowing,” said Jeff Garner, owner of Garner’s Northwest Landscaping.

He said quality sets the more efficient companies apart.

“They know what they’re going to get from us,” Garner said. “For a good, high-quality landscaper the competition goes down.”

Garner’s Northwest does about half its lawn care business in the commercial arena and the other half in residential. The company offers ongoing contract services but will also mow lawns twice a month for a smaller fee.

High gas prices have been eating into profits for local lawn maintenance companies.

Garner said he had to increase prices because of the higher cost.

“Gas prices are tough to deal with,” he said.

Lawrence said Simply Yards is basing fees now on gas reaching $4 a gallon. Fuel makes up at least 10 percent of the company’s monthly costs. If prices continue to climb, he said prices will have to be increased.

“You have to look at it worst-case scenario,” Lawrence said.

Rumblings of a recession hasn’t hurt landscapers yet.

“There’s enough money in the community that the economy doesn’t affect the clientele we work with,” Lawrence said.

He said the Pacific Northwest is a unique geographic area that attracts people with money. Clients can spend as little as $1,000 or more than $100,000 on landscaping.

The landscaping industry is evolving along with Anacortes. Customers are more open to putting in native plants rather than just grass, trying more “green” options and making sure their fertilizers are more eco-friendly.

“Everything is about being more green, conserving water with proper sprinkler installation and types of plants that don’t need as much watering,” Garner said.

People want more environmentally friendly options, from plants to fertilizer.

“That’s the buzz word in the last year,” he said. “There’s a great debate on environment impacts.”

Houghton, with Magic Earth Landscaping, offers biological fertilizer to keep grass healthy.

“That has been a growing trend. People are more concerned about what they put on their landscapes,” he said.

The microorganisms in the fertilizer attach themselves to the grass roots and take nitrogen out of the air to feed the grass.

“You can think of it as culturing yogurt or fermenting beer,” Houghton said.

Residents are also shying away from only laying sod and many are turning to native plants to enhance their yards.

“If they have a flat spot a lot of times people still just want to see green and have a place they can use for gatherings,” Houghton said.

Yards without flat areas are perfect for a more natural landscapes. That includes native plants but also ones from Japan or England, which are more showy.

“What we try to do in a sense is recreate the forest,” Houghton said. “Using natives cuts down on the amount of maintenance.”
Other yard features come and go with the trends.

Two years ago Garner was busy putting in retaining walls. Last summer it was all about flagstone walkways and patios and water features. Though its early in the season, he expects flagstone to continue to be popular along with a new trend of creating dry creek beds.

“Each year it seems like there is a new thing people want,” Garner said.

Many get ideas at Seattle’s flower and garden show or from home and garden magazines.

Lawrence doesn’t expect the landscaping or lawn maintenance work load to diminish.

“I think (the industry) is going to continue to grow,” he said. “People still want to move here and they want their yards done.”
Garner agreed.

“We’re really making a push for growth there. We see a lot of opportunities,” he said.