Down along the Gulf Coast the locals use an expression I love: “lagniappe,” which sounds like “lan-yap” when spoken with a thick Southern Creole accent. Derived from French, as near as I can tell it translates to something like “that little certain something extra.” It’s a small, unexpected gift thrown in for good measure – usually during a business transaction. It’s the baker’s dozen 13th beignet (French cousin to the donut) thrown into a bag of 12. It could be the free balloon the check-out clerk at the Piggly Wiggly grocery store gives your kid or a free cocktail the restaurant manager sends over to thank you for waiting patiently for your table.
Here at Total Landscape Care, I like to think we give our readers a little of that serendipitous lagniappe on occasion. Our “Safety Watch,” is a popular regular column (printed in English and Spanish), that costs us a bit more at the printer but we think it’s worth it. In addition to our regular “Roundup,” in which we feature a collection of related products, sometimes we even throw in a “Bonus Roundup” on a second type of product. In this issue, you’ll find a “Roundup” on zero-turn mowers, just in time for the busy season. If you received our December issue, you probably noticed the 62-page Spec Guide we included inside that issue. A number of editors, designers, sales associates, production staff, and the equipment manufacturers who sent in their specs, put in extra hours to bring it to you. Back in November, your polybagged issue of TLC contained a separate, digest-size Chemical Guide chockfull of information on virtually every herbicide, pesticide, plant growth regulator and fungicide on the market today.
Please drop us a note or shoot us an e-mail (that’s my address at the top of the page) and let us know what you think about any of our editorial, but we’re particularly curious about the Spec Guide and the Chemical Guide. People in publishing and sales tend to have pretty thick skins, so don’t pull any punches. Do you find these additions useful? Did you stash them in your glove box, chemical cabinet, or in a file drawer? Or did you toss them in the trash? Did you even notice them? Have you put them to use already – perhaps using the Spec Guide to do some comparison shopping for a new ZTR mower, or checking the Chemical Guide to see if 2,4-D will eliminate henbit?
In the true spirit of lagniappe, we don’t expect anything from our readers for these little extras we offer, but we’d really appreciate your feedback.
