Spring comes early to the Deep South – although I’m not sure it’s quite here yet. Daylight-saving time came early this year – which certainly helped establish a sooner-than-normal spring-like mood. School’s out and the Gulf Coast is jammed with spring breakers of all ages. Lawns around town – long marked by dried-out dormant brown hues – are showing hints of shamrock green, and the willow trees I planted in my back yard last year already have tiny, emerald leaves fluttering in the warm breezes.
On the other hand, the Black Gum in my front yard is still barren. And the choking, gritty, all-consuming cloud of yellow pine pollen that is the true harbinger of spring in the South has yet to descend upon the land and inflict its annual miseries on hapless allergy sufferers. So we may yet have a “cold” spell or two left before winter packs it in for good.
In any event, spring will soon be sprung, regardless of where you live. Landscapers everywhere are spending a few extra minutes with the kids or wrapping up last-minute business details before the busy season hits hard.
The last time spring rolled around, Total Landscape Care was nothing more than an idea being kicked around the halls of our corporate offices. Today, it’s a physical reality – reaching out to landscapers all across the country with new products, concepts and solid business management tactics.
From the very beginning, all of us here wanted Total Landscape Care to be a magazine of ideas. And we knew we’d be highly dependent upon our readers for the bulk of those ideas. Luckily you’ve responded far beyond our wildest expectations. Submissions for our popular “Scrapbook” section (Page 70 in this issue) clog inboxes, and not a week goes by that we don’t get another pitch for a cover story or a special report.
But we want more. That’s why I’m extending an official invitation to all of our readers to keep us in mind when they’re photographing a project or using new designs, ideas or technology to tackle a project. And this invitation isn’t limited to our readers who design and dig for their customers. We’d like to hear from lawn maintenance professionals as well and see photos of lawns brought back from the dead or saved from pests or diseases.
If you’re doing something innovative, different or daring, let us know about it. And you could very well find your projects featured in the pages of the magazine you’re holding in your hands right now.
