Maintenance is a bread-and-butter service that has sustained many landscape companies through good times and bad. In fact, 36 percent of contractors answering an NALP survey say maintenance will bring in the most revenue for their businesses this year. Also, 37 percent of landscape professionals say maintenance is their fastest growing service. But there are other landscape services that some firms say are in demand this year. Here are four of them.
Landscape Services in Demand: Landscape Lighting
Mark Langan at Blue Ridge Property Services in Warrenton, Virginia, sees an increased demand for landscape lighting. “It allows us to keep our maintenance crews busy, and we can connect with new or existing clients on a different level,” he says. “And, before or after selling landscape lighting, we can always sell plant enhancements, so it’s a way to open up sales in other services. Lighting projects often turn into even bigger projects.
Landscape Services in Demand: Drainage Solutions
Excessive rainfall causes mulch to wash out of beds, and water can collect by foundations and create structural issues in buildings. “The ground can only soak up so much water, and once it’s maxed out that water has to go somewhere—and it exposes drainage issues,” says Keith Hitch, account manager and supervisor, Bella Terra Landscapes, Dover, Delaware.
He expects the business to be busy with services such as grading, enhancing landscape beds and replacing mulch with decorative stone.
Landscape Services in Demand: Property Enhancements
New construction is booming in the Atlanta, Georgia, market. But, HighGrove Partners doesn’t go after large construction projects—it’s not the strategic focus. But enhancement work is on the rise. “Existing buildings are finding ways to improve their image, which provides a lot of work for all of us,” says CEO Jim McCutcheon, relating that property owners of existing buildings recognize a need to improve their grounds to compete with brand-new real estate.
Landscape Services in Demand: Water Works
Water usage is top of mind in California, and in regions across the U.S. Robb Munn, president of English Garden Care in Rancho Cordova, sees growth in the company’s irrigation division. “Last year, we had two irrigation technicians on staff, and this year we have four,” he relates. “And, there is plenty of work for those guys and it’s profitable.”
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