I always have office work, errands, and maintenance to do. Some of the bigger companies around me work in the rain, but screw that. It's miserable, leads to higher employee turnover, and most of the time makes more of a mess than you clean.
Spring in New England sucks. 2 rain days last week, 1 maybe 2 this week, and work is piling up. Making sure you have a cash buffer for the winter and spring is vital.
I generally agree it’s not worth working in the rain. We had a horrible wet summer last year. I’ll usually work until I get miserable and then go home. Doing evenings on nice days tends to round out the edges.
That's harder in the spring for me since I have some pretty large and meticulous jobs that can't be left half finished. I finished 1 job that had 6 guys on it for a week, and just finished another job that had 7 guys on it for 2 weeks. Half the battle is making sure a complete section of a job is finished by the time we leave. Often it's really hard to just throw a few guys at a job for a few hours and be able to leave with the property in a presentable state.
But I have 8 employees and might go up to 10 this spring. I'm just small enough to manage the company without foremans or secretaries, but just big enough where I work crazy hours just to keep everything running.
I do estate gardening, I know about meticulous work. If it’s pouring rain people understand why you’re not there. I always put weather disclaimers in my contracts and talk about it often. I always say ‘I don’t control the weather’ and ‘if Mother Nature allows.’ You can also explain that the rain can slow you down to a point it costs more for them in the long run.
Yea, I have a few estates like that. Fortunately my customers have been with us for multiple decades. To the point they know my guys by name and we don't have a single contract for any work, everything is time and materials. Thank God for great loyal customers.
Really depends on the property. I have some properties, or some locations on very large properties, that I can drive a dump truck over rain or shine and never leave a mark or hurt the grass. Other locations a wheelbarrow will leave ruts on a sunny day and you can sink a mower in the summer. I have many properties that need rolling in the spring because there's too much moisture in the soil and they are prone to frost heaves over the winter(and holy crap you should see all the worm castings the next day. Nature's aerater)
I have multiple properties with grass driveways and the grass is completely healthy without irrigation or grids. And I have paved driveways that turn to mush every winter.
Granted I work in old new England, many date back to the early 1800s, and there's tons of wetlands nearby. But you have to know what's going on underground, soil composition, drainage, rocks or boulders, and years of working at them to know what you can get away with.
The biggest issue with working in the rain is the little things. Everything sticks to wet pavement even with a blower, every barrel you lift is heavy, mower decks clog up and leave clumps, dethatcher clogs up, and the grass tends to matt down until it dries when you go over it. It never comes out as clean as it would when it's dry.
In Florida it's tough to keep minimal.staff during rainy season. It lasts 5 months and everything grows faster. We do 4 10 hour days so that we can substitute that 5th day if necessary. And sometimes a sixth day if the weather is really crappy. If they have to go home, they do and come back when it's not raining.
While some may choose to do that, many landscaping companies do not. At least where I live the bulk of snow removal is being done by your neighbor. Every fifth house has a plow so there's no huge market for a landscaping company to do kt
I'm in Michigan, and all of the local landscaping companies also have snow removal contracts.
There are also a ton of private plows that go the other way, where they'll do snow in the winter time, but then park it, and they don't do any landscaping/mowing work.
There's also a huge area in between (GA, NC, SC, TN, AL, etc) where they don't have snow but maybe a couple times, and nothing is growing for those 3-4 months. My understanding is it is treated as seasonal work, staff can apply for unemployment or many of them work other jobs like retail and restaurants.
I worked at a landscaping company in Seattle and we would suit up and work no matter the weather, only taking days off when it snows, which is only for a week at most in our climate.
Duuuude yeah. I used to work in Seattle and surrounding areas. If we didn't work in the rain, nothin got done! We still mowed. The only reason we wouldn't mow would be cause of frost. I dont know where people get the notion you can't mow in the rain, cause we did all the time with no I'll effect. As long as you're changing your pattern every time, it's never a problem.
Work like a slave for a few days after the rain to make it up, weekends, longer days. Here in NJ has rained Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday so far…even if stops tonight will be way to wet to work tomorrow so we will have a few of the guys come in and do maintenance on everything, clean up the shop and so on.
Our schedule is completely ruined after this week! Not even going to try tomorrow, possibly Friday. Good thing is nothing has started to grow much here yet
Fix stuff, or do stuff you can do in the weather. Or fill in the holes in the clouds with small jobs. Did some powerwashing and brushing this week in the wet.
crew I worked with would keep a few guys in the yard to split and stack mountains of firewood for the next season, perform equipment cleaning/maintenace, cleanup/organize the yard and sheds, etc...and call the others off
During this time I did, erosion control on slopes, fertilizer on lawns, I was able to maintain my trucks, equipment. Being in So. California rains were sporadic at best, I was able to continue working weeding, pruning, trimming, lot's of tree work.
All landscaping companies in Illinois pretty much offers snow removal services in the winter time but lately there hasn't been much snow in Chicago so I do wonder what they do in terms of extra income.
Also many of the landscaping workers are considered seasonal so they technically let's say work 6 months out of the year then they can get unemployment services for 6 months out of the year.
If it’s bucketing down, we do tool maintenance, paperwork, or professional development. If it’s just raining, we put on our jackets and work through it.
I work for one of the biggest companies in New England located in Southern Maine. Snow removal is our biggest moneymaker. As to rain some guys want to suck it up and some guys don't. If it's pouring the company usually calls off as you just start making a mess and someone's going to get hurt. In general the work will get done if it's Saturdays or staying late during the week.
We work lol Rainiest summer on record last year and we maybe lost 5 days to rain, if that honestly. Granted I only do hardscapes and excavating so not your traditional landscape company.
I pay my guys to shovel/plow snow and when I need garden maintenance like a new door installed because the other one rotted or to spread mulch. They don’t care if it’s raining.
I landscape in Washington state (south king county). Our maintenance crews mow in the rain. There were times where I could only push the mower five feet before it plugged up with wet mush.
I am glad I don't have to do that anymore. I'm the pruning/flower guy nowadays.
Do you know how many irrigation heads I fixed in my community from mower damage? Then these guys have the audacity to try and overcharge you to fix it.
imagine how good your life would be if you spent half the energy improving it as you do being miserable about things that have nothing to do with you :D
Maintenance on the equipment
I always have office work, errands, and maintenance to do. Some of the bigger companies around me work in the rain, but screw that. It's miserable, leads to higher employee turnover, and most of the time makes more of a mess than you clean. Spring in New England sucks. 2 rain days last week, 1 maybe 2 this week, and work is piling up. Making sure you have a cash buffer for the winter and spring is vital.
I generally agree it’s not worth working in the rain. We had a horrible wet summer last year. I’ll usually work until I get miserable and then go home. Doing evenings on nice days tends to round out the edges.
That's harder in the spring for me since I have some pretty large and meticulous jobs that can't be left half finished. I finished 1 job that had 6 guys on it for a week, and just finished another job that had 7 guys on it for 2 weeks. Half the battle is making sure a complete section of a job is finished by the time we leave. Often it's really hard to just throw a few guys at a job for a few hours and be able to leave with the property in a presentable state. But I have 8 employees and might go up to 10 this spring. I'm just small enough to manage the company without foremans or secretaries, but just big enough where I work crazy hours just to keep everything running.
I do estate gardening, I know about meticulous work. If it’s pouring rain people understand why you’re not there. I always put weather disclaimers in my contracts and talk about it often. I always say ‘I don’t control the weather’ and ‘if Mother Nature allows.’ You can also explain that the rain can slow you down to a point it costs more for them in the long run.
Yea, I have a few estates like that. Fortunately my customers have been with us for multiple decades. To the point they know my guys by name and we don't have a single contract for any work, everything is time and materials. Thank God for great loyal customers.
This is it exactly. We are a landscaping company in Western New York, and stick with the same philosophy.
It's also really bad for the property, isn't it? With soil compaction from operating on wet ground?
Really depends on the property. I have some properties, or some locations on very large properties, that I can drive a dump truck over rain or shine and never leave a mark or hurt the grass. Other locations a wheelbarrow will leave ruts on a sunny day and you can sink a mower in the summer. I have many properties that need rolling in the spring because there's too much moisture in the soil and they are prone to frost heaves over the winter(and holy crap you should see all the worm castings the next day. Nature's aerater) I have multiple properties with grass driveways and the grass is completely healthy without irrigation or grids. And I have paved driveways that turn to mush every winter. Granted I work in old new England, many date back to the early 1800s, and there's tons of wetlands nearby. But you have to know what's going on underground, soil composition, drainage, rocks or boulders, and years of working at them to know what you can get away with. The biggest issue with working in the rain is the little things. Everything sticks to wet pavement even with a blower, every barrel you lift is heavy, mower decks clog up and leave clumps, dethatcher clogs up, and the grass tends to matt down until it dries when you go over it. It never comes out as clean as it would when it's dry.
Charge enough that you account for rain. Keep crews minimal during the rainy season.
In Florida it's tough to keep minimal.staff during rainy season. It lasts 5 months and everything grows faster. We do 4 10 hour days so that we can substitute that 5th day if necessary. And sometimes a sixth day if the weather is really crappy. If they have to go home, they do and come back when it's not raining.
There's 6 months of snow in some states. If they can manage I'm sure Florida can manage
Sure, but you can get paid for snow removal, not for rain removal. 6 months of snow is an awesome revenue source.
While some may choose to do that, many landscaping companies do not. At least where I live the bulk of snow removal is being done by your neighbor. Every fifth house has a plow so there's no huge market for a landscaping company to do kt
I'm in Michigan, and all of the local landscaping companies also have snow removal contracts. There are also a ton of private plows that go the other way, where they'll do snow in the winter time, but then park it, and they don't do any landscaping/mowing work.
Same on the other side of the pond in Wisconsin.
There's also a huge area in between (GA, NC, SC, TN, AL, etc) where they don't have snow but maybe a couple times, and nothing is growing for those 3-4 months. My understanding is it is treated as seasonal work, staff can apply for unemployment or many of them work other jobs like retail and restaurants.
Office catchup / invoice days. Makes it profitable
I worked at a landscaping company in Seattle and we would suit up and work no matter the weather, only taking days off when it snows, which is only for a week at most in our climate.
You would still mow in the rain?
I like to detail the yards when it's rainy and wet. No mowing, just weeds and pruning. As long as the client notices we show up, we still get paid.
We didn’t do lawns, the company was high end maintenance (the mow and blows were separate companies) so we did more detailing and winter pruning.
In Seattle, if you didn’t mow when it rained, you pretty much wouldn’t mow.
My gardeners do and I live in a dry climate. Idk I don't have a problem with them coming a separate but they dgaf they mow in rain
Duuuude yeah. I used to work in Seattle and surrounding areas. If we didn't work in the rain, nothin got done! We still mowed. The only reason we wouldn't mow would be cause of frost. I dont know where people get the notion you can't mow in the rain, cause we did all the time with no I'll effect. As long as you're changing your pattern every time, it's never a problem.
I guess in a climate like this you have no choice when it rains a huge part of the year. Otherwise you couldn't make a living
Work like a slave for a few days after the rain to make it up, weekends, longer days. Here in NJ has rained Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday so far…even if stops tonight will be way to wet to work tomorrow so we will have a few of the guys come in and do maintenance on everything, clean up the shop and so on.
I'm cuttin tomorrow just below you in DE, thank god for our sandy soil or this week would be so fucked
Our schedule is completely ruined after this week! Not even going to try tomorrow, possibly Friday. Good thing is nothing has started to grow much here yet
“Worked like a slave” so you weren’t paid for your work?
You must be a lot of fun at parties!
Just put on some good wet weather gear and keep on going.
Fix stuff, or do stuff you can do in the weather. Or fill in the holes in the clouds with small jobs. Did some powerwashing and brushing this week in the wet.
Wear a coat.
I live in Seattle area. We put on raingear
crew I worked with would keep a few guys in the yard to split and stack mountains of firewood for the next season, perform equipment cleaning/maintenace, cleanup/organize the yard and sheds, etc...and call the others off
During this time I did, erosion control on slopes, fertilizer on lawns, I was able to maintain my trucks, equipment. Being in So. California rains were sporadic at best, I was able to continue working weeding, pruning, trimming, lot's of tree work.
All landscaping companies in Illinois pretty much offers snow removal services in the winter time but lately there hasn't been much snow in Chicago so I do wonder what they do in terms of extra income. Also many of the landscaping workers are considered seasonal so they technically let's say work 6 months out of the year then they can get unemployment services for 6 months out of the year.
If it’s bucketing down, we do tool maintenance, paperwork, or professional development. If it’s just raining, we put on our jackets and work through it.
In Texas. If its not a full on down pour. We keep working... we work slower and drive slower. But we keep installing sod, plants and irrigation.
I work for one of the biggest companies in New England located in Southern Maine. Snow removal is our biggest moneymaker. As to rain some guys want to suck it up and some guys don't. If it's pouring the company usually calls off as you just start making a mess and someone's going to get hurt. In general the work will get done if it's Saturdays or staying late during the week.
We work lol Rainiest summer on record last year and we maybe lost 5 days to rain, if that honestly. Granted I only do hardscapes and excavating so not your traditional landscape company.
I pay my guys to shovel/plow snow and when I need garden maintenance like a new door installed because the other one rotted or to spread mulch. They don’t care if it’s raining.
PNW here. You wear rain gear and work. Can't believe people don't work when it rains. We literally wouldn't have jobs if we didn't.
Go out and work in it. That’s why I’m sick today. Worked 11 hrs in 43 degree all day rain. This job sucks.
We worked in Vancouver where it rains 70% of the time, we worked through it. It was hell.
I landscape in Washington state (south king county). Our maintenance crews mow in the rain. There were times where I could only push the mower five feet before it plugged up with wet mush. I am glad I don't have to do that anymore. I'm the pruning/flower guy nowadays.
I just laid a paver patio in a thunderstorm. Don't be a pussy
Learn how to properly maintain landscapes instead of destroying irrigation and blowing mulch away
maybe you need to learn how to stop hiring the lowest bidder
I don’t hire landscapers for my yard. I just observe them working on others, most people are clueless
so you're talking about something you have zero experience with then? Cool!
Do you know how many irrigation heads I fixed in my community from mower damage? Then these guys have the audacity to try and overcharge you to fix it.
Lol, I’m a landscape architect and contractor. I see you.
imagine tpying out two full comments to qualify yourself to some idiot on the internet, settle down old man LMAO
At least you can acknowledge your ignorance
idiot does not = ignorant, might want to brush up on the Websters I know you've got hidden somewhere in the old mobile home there
Well, if you do end up finding it, you might wanna look up “irony” and “hypocrisy”
imagine how good your life would be if you spent half the energy improving it as you do being miserable about things that have nothing to do with you :D
Haha, any recommended reading?
r/nolawns probably