As in any industry, continuing education is a vital component to a professional’s ability to maintain their knowledge of modern methods and technology that impact their field. Turf management is no exception, especially with the great strides many manufacturers and developers are making in sustainable and conscientious products across the board. The team at Picture Perfect Lawn Maintenance is proud to attend several conferences and industry events during the year to maintain a strong relationship with the men and women behind the products and equipment that we use as well as stay up to date on what has newly entered the market.
Our flight out of Richmond gets delayed to be deiced before takeoff, resulting in layovers in New York and Atlanta before finally arriving in Orlando.
Lawncology is one such event that has established itself recently as an informative and supportive networking conference that offers professionals the opportunity to learn, connect, and grow in their knowledge of turf management and business ownership. Lawncology is founded and organized by John Perry, the President/CEO of Greene County Fertilizer Co. With the help of some of the industry’s best and brightest like Matt Martin of Carbon Earth Co., John has built Lawncology into a conference that draws almost one hundred professionals from across the country for over two days of seminars and presentations.
No matter where you looked, there were many sights to enjoy in Orlando during the Lawncology event.
This year’s Lawncology summit was held in Orlando, Florida during part of the third week of February and was attended by PPLM’s Jimmy, Lisa, Brandyn, and Caety. Professional applicators from many states, including Texas, Georgia, Indiana, Maine, and PPLM’s own Virginia gathered to discuss their experiences in the industry and what new products and policies they plan to implement this year. With over 513,000 lawn care companies in the United States, lawn and landscape maintenance is a $93 billion industry that deserves recognition for its value and complexity. Several industry professionals that have seen great growth and success in recent years spoke on a panel to address business and marketing aspects of turf management, but many other speakers focused on soil science and plant health
Matt Martin introduces Carbon-X, the most anticipated soil amending fertilizer being launched in 2019.
There were several seminars given that especially caught the interest of the PPLM team, one of which pertained to the value of weeds in a lawn. Weed growth is actually a great diagnostic tool for identifying underlying problems in the quality of an area’s soil composition and other environmental factors. Nutrient deficiencies, poor drainage, absent organic matter, and inactive soil life can all contribute to the development of different weeds; the weeds are easy to notice, but the contributing issues require some inference to identify. Another valuable discussion that was lead focused on the growing interest in liquid aeration products as an alternative to the commonly employed mechanical aeration. Core aerating with a machine has several setbacks like a high potential for structural damage, loss of carbon in the soil, and instigation of weed germination. The PPLM team learned much at Lawncology this year and looks forward to implementing these new ideas in our turf management programs.
Lawncology is an excellent opportunity to network with like minded professionals, and we can’t wait to return in 2020!
The lawn care industry is sensitive to economic and environmental changes, but it plays a great part in conservation and urbanization. Turf management companies build the greatest success when they stay up to date on what is being done to improve this long established system. No one should ever stop learning, which is why PPLM looks forward to attending many more seminars like Lawncology in the future.
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