TURFGRASS '79 Professionalism dominates Maryland lawn talks RESEARCH Greenbug aphid to be studied on Ohio lawns Stepped-up efforts are planned this year to learn more about a tiny insect that has been 
causing increasing levels of damage to home lawns in Ohio 
and other states Š the greenbug 
aphid. Dr. Harry Niemcyzk, pro-fessor of turfgrass entomology at Ohio Agricultural Research and 
Development Center (OARDC), Wooster, spoke on the topic to almost 500 business persons at-
tending lawn care sessions at the recent Ohio Turfgrass Con-
ference, and he will be heading up the study. It will focus on gathering data on the biology, ecology and con-trol of the greenbug. Dr. L. R. (o page 6 mmmmmmmmmm MIDWEST 15 lawn care speakers at March Purdue conference The lawn care industry has a closetful of skeletons. They are 
disappearing, but very slowly. These are and other com-ments on professionalism in the lawn care industry raised a few 
eyebrows and got the audience 
buzzing during and after a talk by Jerry Faulring at last month's Maryland Turfgrass '79 in Balti-more. Faulring is president of Gaithersburg, Md.-based Hydro 
Lawn. Speaking before more than 150 lawn care businessmen, Faulring said: "Our image is one of the most important considerations for our 
industry as we move into the next decade. For sure, grass seed, fertilizer, pesticides and the like are crucial to our cumulative success as an in-
dustry. However, the proper 
postioning of the industry 
regarding professionalism can have much further reaching im-plications to us all than how we 
make home lawns green and weed-free today." He listed "habits of some in-dustry members" that have 
caused a negative market per-ception of the industry as a whole, including: buying an ac-count by mis-measuring; utiliza-tion of products of questionable value; unrealistic pricing of ser-
vices; discouraging remarks about a competitor; promising what can't be delivered. Faulring suggested ways of in-jecting professionalism into the lawn care industry, thereby improving the consumer's per-ception of the industry: Ł Build market confidence. This is done by providing healthy and attractive customer lawns; selecting staff members who will represent the industry well; training that staff to be experts; selecting staff members who professionally represent the 
company through attractive ap-
pearance in dress and personal hygiene; and keeping equipment clean. Ł Be realistic. "Don't promise miracles for short-term gain at the expense of long-term success," he said. "I can't remem-ber many potential customers who would not buy my service simply because I told them it would take two or more years to bring their lawns into good con-dition." Ł State your policies up front. "Don't surprise your customers with hidden costs," Faulring said. "Tell him exactly what he can expect you to do when one of the known potential problems comes up." Ł Provide follow-up service. "Staff and equip your operation 
to be very responsive to the 
routine needs of your customers 
and their lawns," he said. Ł Train your staff. "The education of your staff is an ex-to page 2 ranked form of advertising, 11.2 percent of the respondents listed Yellow Pages, and 10.8 percent listed newspaper. Other 
mediums and percentages in-cluded: door-to-door solicita-tions, 6.5 percent; door hangers and direct mail, 5.6 percent; and home and garden show displays, 5.2 percent. The range of total answers on the yearly ad budget question in the survey was from $1,000 to $105,000. Do you advertise? Chemical Mowing/ Lawn Care Maintenance Companies Companies Fifteen lawn care speakers will headline the three-day Mid-
west Turf Conference March 12-14 at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Inc. The lawn care session will begin at 9 a.m. on March 13 and run through 5 p.m. First up on the program is Joe Bredeson, Swift Agricultural 
Chemicals Corp., Winter Haven, Fla., speaking on "Professional Lawn Care: An Awakening Giant." Dennis Keefe and Charles McKeown and three other speak-ers will discuss the topic of get-ting into the lawn care business. Bob Earley, editor of LAWN CARE INDUSTRY will give an overview of the industry. Jerry Faulring, owner of Hydro Lawn, Gaithersburg, Md., will talk on "10 Years of Providing Services." Dr. Donald Pfleiderer, of Lebanon Chemical Co., Leba-non, Ind., will discuss "Fertil-
izer and Tissue Testing." Jeff 
Lefton, ChemLawn Corp. re-to page 2 wWN W ^ffllServing lawn maintenance Ł Jm^/ki and chemical lawn | care professionals. INDUSTRY FEBRUARY 1979 Ł VOL. 3, NO. 2 Ł A Harvest Publication LCI SURVEY Yellow Pages, newspaper, direct mail are most common lawn care advertising Lawn care businessmen ranked Yellow Pages, direct mail and newspaper advertising as their top-ranked forms of adver-
tising in a recent survey con-ducted by LAWN CARE INDUSTRY. In the same survey, the average yearly amount spent for > QUICK STARTS The "curse" of the industry page 6 Homeowners water too much, researcher says page 6 Weed control in lawns page 12 Professionalism sparks Greenlon's growth page 14 
Revised spray, seed program extends season page 16 Weed identification page 34 MEMOS 2 NEWSMAKERS 5 MONEYWISE 6 
COST CUTTINGS 7 MEETING DATES 10 7 OOLS, TIPS & TECHNIQUES 26 PRODUCTS 38 MARKETING IDEA FILE 39 For a complete market studv of the lawn care industry in Houston, see MARKETPLACE. page 17. This ispart of a continuing series of indepth looks at regions of the country where the lawn care business thrives. The study includes a profile of the city, potential lawn care custom-ers, lawn care companies that operate there and how they go about getting and keeping customers. advertising was $5,900, although two-thirds of the answers were $3 v. v, or less. When asked in the survey if they advertised their lawn care service to the homeowner, 75.8 of the chemical lawn care com-panies said "yes," and 23.5 per-cent said "no." Mowing/mainte-nance companies were asked the same question, and 68 percent said "yes," and 29 percent said "no." Some of the respondents did not answer. Of the total number of com-panies that answered, 22.8 per-
cent said that Yellow Pages was their top-ranked advertising medium. Percentages for other 
top-ranked advertising mediums were: Direct mail, 18.5 percent; newspaper, 17.7 percent; door hangers, 11.2 percent; phone solicitations, 5.2 percent; door-to-
door solicitations, 3.0 percent; television, 1.3 percent; radio, 0.4 percent; and home and garden show display, 0.4 percent. When asked their second-ranked form of advertising, 19.0 
percent of the respondents listed newspaper, and 18.1 percent 
listed Yellow Pages. Other 
mediums and percentages in-cluded: door hangers and direct mail, 6.9 percent; door-to-door solicitations, 6.0 percent; radio, 3.4 percent; phone solicitations, 3.0 percent; and home and gar-den show displays, 2.2 percent. When asked their third-Door hanger 11.2 Phone Ł 5.2 LTuui-iu-uuor w o.U Television % 1.3 Radio What is your major advertising medium? co Ed Cju OC E-tX> D Q z w Š < u 2 < PURDUE from page 1 gional agronomist based in Indi-anapolis, will discuss "Applying Technology for Insects and Dis-eases." Thomas Perkins of Elanco Products Co., Indianapolis, will discuss "Supplying Technical Information Today." Robert Per-son, Finn Equipment Co., Cin-cinnati, Ohio, will discuss "Hydroseeding and Hydrofertil-
izing." Ed Jordan, Monsanto Agricultural Products Co., St. PROFESSIONALISM fmmpu^i pensive, continuing and very es-sential part of being a profes-sional," he said. Ł Educate your customers. "I know this seems pretty obvious," he said, "but what might not ap-pear obvious is that you must 
budget a portion of your ex-penses to this effort." Ł Upgrade advertising. "Whether or not a consumer 
buys our services is irrelevant, because our advertising will help develop influential attitudes toward our industry," he said. Ł Research. "Testing of new ideas and materials at least a year or two before you try them on customer lawns is essential," 
he said. Other lawn care speakers in-cluded J. Martin Erbaugh, presi-dent of Erbaugh Corp. and its lawn care company, LawnMark, Peninsula, Ohio, and Bob Earley, editor of LAWN CARE IN-DUSTRY. Erbaugh spoke on marketing and Earley on adver-Louis, will discuss "Roundup Potential and Practices." Dr. Ray 
Freeborg, Purdue University, 
will provide an update on pre-
emergent herbicides. Steve Der-rick and John Latting, Pro-fessional Turf Specialties, Nor-mal, 111. will discuss lawn care equipment. For further information, con-tact: Dr. William Daniel, Depart-
ment of Agronomy, Room 2-443 Lilly Hall, Purdue University, 
West Lafayette, Ind. 47907, 317-
749-2891. tising techniques. These talks and Faulring's further comments 
will be published in upcoming issues of LAWN CARE IN-DUSTRY. Turfgrass '79 was held at the Baltimore Hilton, Jan. 8-10. There were more than 450 atten-dees and 42 exhibitors in 53 booths. Hydro Lawn's Faulring told Maryland lawn care businessmen that mis-measuring, unrealistic pricing, disparaging remarks about competitors and promising what can't be delivered have hurt the 
lawn care industry as a whole. WWN GIRE INDUSTRY Publisher: HUGH CHRONISTER General Manager: RICHARD J. W. FOSTER Executive and editorial offices: 9800 Detroit Ave., Cleveland, Ohio 44102 
Editor: ROBERT EARLEY Executive Editor: DAVID J. SLAYBAUGH Associate Editor: BRUCE SHANK Technical Editor: RON MORRIS Assistant Editor: DAN MORELAND Graphic Director: RAYMOND GIBSON Research Services: CLARENCE ARNOLD Advertising Production Manager: PATRICIA KELLEY MARKETING/SALES Circulation & List Rental: TERRI HUTSENPILLER (216) 651-5500 Marketing & Merchandising Services: FRAN FRANZAK (216) 651-5500 New York Office: BRIAN HARRIS (212) 421-1350 757 Third Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10017 Midwest Office: JOE GUARISE (312) 236-9425 333 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, Illinois 60601 Southern Office: DICK GORE (404) 252-4311 3186 Frontenac Court, N.E., Atlanta, Ga. 30319 Northwest Office: BOB MIEROW (206) 363-2864 1333 N.W. Norcross, Seattle, WA 98177 Classified: DOROTHY LOWE (216) 651-5500 9800 Detroit Ave., Cleveland, Ohio 44102 LAWN CARE INDUSTRY is published every month by The Har-vest Publishing Company, a subsidiary of Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc. at 9800 Detroit Ave., Cleveland, Ohio 44102 651-5500. Copyright ' 1979 by The Harvest Publishing Company. All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not be repro-duced either in whole or in part without consent of copyright owner. Controlled circulation postage paid at Cleveland, Ohio. SUBSCRIPTIONS: to Lawn Care Industry are solicited only from owners, managers, operators, buyers, merchandisers, agronomists, technicians, dealers, distributors and manufacturers of products associated with the lawn care and maintenance business. Position ana company connection must be indicated on subscription orders. Publisher reserves the right to approve all subscription re-quests. Single copy cost $1.00 for current issue. All back issues $1.25 each. Foreign $1.25. Subscription rates: $10.00 one year, $18.00 two years, $23.00 three years. Group and foreign air mail rates available on request. SUBSCRIBERS: Send change-of-address notices, correspondence regarding subscription service to Fulfillment Manager, Lawn Care Industry, 9800 Detroit Ave., Cleveland, Ohio 44102. Change of Address notices should be sent pro-mptly, provide old as well as new address, attach address label from recent issue. Please allow one month for change of address to become effective. POSTMASTER: Please send form 3579 to Fulfillment Manager, Lawn Care In-dustry, 9800 Detroit Ave., Cleveland, Ohio 44102. The Harvest Publishing Company, a subsidiary of Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc.. publishers of WEEDS TREES & TURF, PEST CONTROL, NPCA Extra. GOLF BUSINESS and the Scientific Guide to Pest Control Operations. NEW PESTICIDES Hercules, Boots discuss joint chemical venture Hercules, Inc., Wilmington, Del., and Boots Co., Ltd of Nottingham, England have agreed in principle to formation 
of a joint venture to manu-facture and sell agricultural and turf chemicals in North America. A Hercules spokesman told LAWN CARE INDUSTRY the agreement could broaden the company's base for turf products 
in the United States and Canada. Hercules is a major supplier of fertilizer to the lawn care in-
dustry. The Boots-Hercules ven-ture would most likely involve turf pesticides manufacturing and marketing. The Hercules spokesman said that the company already has plans for marketing or turf pes-ticides to the turf industry Š and 
especially the lawn care industry Š by the end of the year. These plans were already in progress before the talks began on the Boots-Hercules venture. The new firm, to be named Boots-Hercules Agrochemcials Co., would combine more than 30 years of experience of Hercules in producing and marketing pesticides for turf and agricul-
tural markets, with Boots's exten-sive agrichemcial research and development program. Formation of the joint venture will facilitate the expansion of Boots's products in North America, adding new products to Hercules' established line of agrichemicals. The agreement is subject to detailed legal agree-ments. MEMOS Minimum wage: Last month the minimum wage rose from $2.65 to $2.90 an hour. Also, the new Social Security rate is 6.13 percent to be paid on earnings up to $22,900. White House small business conference: President Carter has called for a special White House conference on small business in January of 1980 in Washington. In preparation for the conference, the federal Small Business Administration is sponsoring 12 regional conferences and 45 open forums throughout the country. One lawn care businessman who has been asked to participate is Tony Giordano, president of Lawn Doctor, lawn care franchising operation based in Matawan, N.J. Direct mail self-regulation: Self-regulation is survival, members of the Direct Mail Marketing Association (DMMA) were told at its recent annual meeting in Washington, D.C. Robert F. DeLay, DMMA president said that "the Washington scene is littered with corpses of industries that have been regulated to death as a result of their short-sighted approach to problems. Don't let it happen to this one." Congress could demand a self-regulatory accounting next year, he said, and state governments are increasingly taking up the privacy issue and considering restrictions on mailing list availability and use. During the meeting, the subject of telephone marketing proved to be a hot topic. The interest in telephone marketing is due to a growing perception by marketers that it is a medium that lends itself to measure and 
control perhaps more suitably than others. Both direct mail and telephone solicitation are important tools lawn care businessmen use across the country to reach potential lawn care customers. John Bean in with both feet? The constant complaint among lawn care businessmen has been: "There are no com-panies manufacturing equipment for our industry." This state 
of affairs is changing, and another major company looking to the lawn care industry with dollar signs in its eyes perhaps is 
the Agricultural Machinery Division of FMC Corp., Jones-boro, Ark. They have been working with Sears Lawn & Leaf, Chicago and other lawn care companies across the country for the last few years, attempting to determine what size unit they should manufacture for the lawn care industry. The company manufactures John Bean spray equipment. Nine-digit zip code: The United States Postal Service plans to go to a nine-digit zip code within the next few years. It is supposed to reduce significantly costs of processing mail, as well as provide more accuracy. Experimental fungicides: The federal Environmental Pro-tection Agency has issued an experimental permit to Rhone-Poulec, Inc. (formerly Rhodia, Inc.), Monmouth Junction, N.J., for a new fungicide to evaluate it for control of dollar spot, brown patch, leaf spot and melting out on turfgrass in Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts,. Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsyl-vania, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin. Also, a number of midwestern lawn care businessmen have told LAWN CARE INDUSTRY they have gotten "good results" in tests with EL 222, a fungicide to control Fusarium blight under experimental permit to Elanco Products Co., Indianapolis. r For the turf you care for: season-long protection against crabgrass, Poa annua and other annual grasses and weeds with America's leading preemergence turf herbicide. Dacthal is number one in its field. Not only because it is so effective, but because it con-trols more than 20 unwanted weeds and grasses. Applied properly, it lays down a barrier that stops early and late germinating annual weeds without affecting healthy, growing turf grasses. Tough weeds like crabgrass and Poa annua can't stand up to Dacthal. The help you need for total turf care. Dacamine® provides postemergence control of over 70 broadleaf weeds including dandelion, annual chickweed, knotweed and Canada thistle. It works right down to the roots. So tough perennials don't return. Daconate® is the postemergence herbicide that knocks out nutsedge, chickweed, wood sorrel, sandbur and other grassy weeds. It's a ready-to-use liquid herbicide with a built-in surfactant for uniform wetting. Daconil 2787® is the broad-spectrum fungicide that stops nine fungus diseases on turf. Use it from spring to fall to prevent dollar spot, leaf spot, red thread, stem rust of blue grass, large brown patch. It's effective even in hot weather. Provides disease con-trol on a number of ornamentals. Count on the big four from Diamond Shamrock to make your job easier. See your turf chemicals supplier, or contact the Diamond Shamrock Agricultural Chemicals Division sales office nearest you: Three Commerce Park Square, 23200 Chagrin Blvd., Beachwood, OH 44112 Ł 1760 The Exchange, Suite 100, Atlanta, GA 30339 Ł 5333 Westheimer, Suite 850, Houston, TX 77002 Ł Commerce Plaza Bldg . 2015 Spring Rd.. Oakbrook. IL 60521 Ł 617 Veterans Blvd., Redwood City, CA 94063 Diamond Shamrock The resourceful company. Circle 145 on free information card m n > oc H co 5 z u oc < u Z < SPLIT PERSONALITY. Another fine, quality-con-trolled product of Jacklin Seed Company. KENTUCKY BLUEGRASS U.S. Plant Patent Bright sunshine or moderate shade makes little difference to Glade Kentucky bluegrass. With its split per-
sonality, Glade grows well under both conditions. A Rutgers University selection, low-growing, deep green Glade has im-proved resistance to most races of leaf rust, stripe smut and to powdery 
mildew in up to 60% shade. Because of its better than average resistance to most races of Fusarium blight, Glade Kentucky bluegrass is being used as a fortifying ingredient in many professional turf grass mixes. It blends beautifully with the new, fine-leafed rye grasses, fescues and other elite bluegrasses. Specify Glade for your next turf grass mix. You'll appreciate the split oersonality that thrives in both sun 
and shaae. 3151 NEWSMAKERS Mel Lucas, president of the New York State Turfgrass Association, has announced the appointment of Ann Reilly as ex-ecutive secretary of that profes-
sional organization. The Association also recently honored Robert O'Knefski with a Certificate of Merit for many years of outstanding contribu-tions to the turfgrass industry. The award was made at the ban-quet at the 32nd annual con-ference of the Association held in Albany, N.Y. late last year. O'Knefski is a cooperative exten-
sion agent for Nassau County on 
Long Island in New York. Gene Probasco has been ap-pointed general manager of the LESCO Product Division of Lake-
shore Equipment & Supply Co., Elyria, Ohio. His respon-
sibilities include executive supervision and coordination of merchandising and promotion for LESCO product sales. Richard Hurley, vice presi-dent of agronomy research for Lofts Pedigreed Seed, Inc., Bound Brook, N.J. has announ-ced the appointment of Marie Pompei as research assistant. Rain Bird Sprinkler Mfg. Corp., Glendora, Calif., recently announced the creation of two new positions for its turf market. Ken Mills has been promoted to the position of turf products development manager. Carlyle "Cozz" Regele has been pro-moted to turf products technical manager. David B. Thomas has been named executive vice president 
and chief operating officer of L.R. Nelson Corp., Peoria, 111., manufacturer of lawn sprinkler systems. Rich Records has been named manager of the San Jose branch office of Target Chemical Co., Ferritos, Calif., president Ted Zeller announced. Dave Davis has been pro-moted to manager of the training department for Rain Bird Sprin-
kler Mfg. Corp., Glendora, Calif. James O. Whitehead has been appointed to sales manager for 3M Co.'s Agrichemicals Project. In this assignment, he will be responsible for developing and meeting sales forecasts as well as adding and training sales representatives for the St. Paul, Minn.-based company. The Toro Co., Minneapolis, has appointed Richard Hargar-ten a vice president and director of the company's physical dis-tribution and administration for 
the Outdoor Power Equipment Group. Union Carbide Corp.'s Agri-cultural Products Division, Jacksonville, Fla. has announced 
the appointments of John H. Kirch as vice president and general manager of herbicides and growth regulators; Robert W. 
Lichtman as vice president and general manager of specialty business and new ventures; John R. McWhirter as vice president and general manager of insecti-cides and intermediates business; and Francis A. Pastor as vice president of domestic sales, marketing and product 
development. Diamond Shamrock Corp.'s Agricultural Chemicals Division, Cleveland, has appointed Dr. Gary L. Eilrich manager of com-mercial development and George N. Chism, Jr., business manager for herbicides. Jim Nelli has been appointed staff product manager for agricultural and specialty gyp-sum products in the Chemicals Division of United States Gyp-sum Co., Chicago. The announce-ment was made by M.C. Stocke-brand, marketing manager of gypsum products. David D. Eckert, director of marketing for the Outdoor Power Equipment Division, FMC Corp., Port Washington, Wis., has an-nounced the addition of Edward D. Winkler as market research manager. Richard J. Dittoe has been ap-pointed manager of marketing for turf products for the Jacobsen Div. of Textron, Inc., Racine, Wis. According to Howard McPherson, turf products vice president and general manager, Dittoe will be responsible for service, advertising, market research, product development, North American sales, plus short- and long-range planning. n Dittoe Hanlon William R. Hanlon has been appointed vice president of agri-cultural/horticultural products 
for the W.R. Grace & Co. Con-struction Products Div., Cam-bridge, Mass. Also, Dean D. Ossanna has been named manager of the company's Urban Suburban pro-duct line. And Franklin J. Pratt has been named manager of sales training for the company. Nancy Schnedler has been named director of the Bluebird Action Center for Bluebird Inter-
national, Englewood, Colo., ac-cording to company president 
Doug Zehrung. The Center was 
created to provide instant ser-vice to Bluebird customers who might need information on pro-ducts, parts, shipments, literature on the company's turt and other equipment. Also, Porter Equipment Co., Denver, has been appointed a 
distributor of the complete line 
of Bluebird lawn combers in the Rocky Mountain area. Tom Por-
ter is president of the distributor. Other officers include: Bob Rodger, executive vice president and general manager; and Doug 
Porter, vice president of marketing. In a tight economy, it's right to insist on fertilizer that lasts longer and works harder. That's why Nitroform® slow-release nitrogen is right for you and 
your customers. The 38% nitrogen is released slowly and steadily to work between applications. Nitroform is compatible with many other materials used in your lawn care program, including 
most pesticides. Nonleaching, the nitrogen stays to feed. Nonburning, Nitroform can be 
applied with ease by any member of the crew. Use Nitroform and give your cus-tomers grass that's long on beauty. Use Nitroform and treat your cus-tomers to grass that looks good 
between visits. Make them glad to give up the do-it-yourself lawn. You and your customers work hard for your money. Let Nitroform work 
hard and long for you. Granular Blue Chip® is for dry application and Powder BlueŽ for spraying. (C Ł ? 2 f Ł "^-HERCULES INCORPORATED Agricultural Chemicals, Wilmington, Delaware 19899 Phone (302) 575-5000 ®Registered Trademark of Hercules Incorporated, Ž Trademark of Hercules Incorporated. STH79-2 GREENBUG from page 1 Nault, aphid specialist at OARDC, will be co-investigator in the study. "The goal of the study is to learn more about the greenbug and to develop effective and economical methods of controll-ing damage," Dr. Niemcyzk told LAWN CARE INDUSTRY recen-tly. Information on the insecti-cides tested in the study could lead to the granting of a state or national label for the use of materials not presently registered for greenbug control. Funds to help support the project are invited from the lawn care and turfgrass industry. The greenbug is not a new in-sect pest, Dr. Niemcyzk said. It's been a problem in a number of grassy crops including barley, wheat, oats, and sorghum. Peren-nial bluegrass is also a host, but in the past the aphid has rarely 
caused serious damage in turf-grass. The recent losses may in-dicate a new association be-tween the greenbug and turf-grass. Various "biotypes" of the greenbug have developed which attack specific grass hosts. Speculation is that a new blue-grass adapted biotype of the greenbug has evolved in Ohio and other midwestern and eastern states. The greenbug damages grasses in several ways. With piercing-sucking mouthparts it feeds on phloem sap. Large num-bers of the insects seriously weaken plants. In addition, the greenbug secretes a salivary phytotoxin which is injected into the plant, resulting in yellow and 
orange spots on the foliage. There is the possibility the toxin may also move within the plant 
and weaken the root systems, he said. The possible involvement of the greenbug in the transmission of virus diseases will be studied. The aphid is known to be a vec-tor (carrier) of three isolates of 
the barley yellow dwarf virus. There may be implications for bluegrass in the virus vector pic-
ture. Greenbug damage first ap-pears in late June and continues through September. In some cases, sections of lawns have been damaged so severely that turf had to be replaced. Some 
degree of control has been achieved with liquid sprays of some organophosphates but as many as three or four followup applications were needed to keep damage under control. The new research effort will attempt to establish whether or 
not there actually has developed 
a bluegrass-specific greenbug biotype and if so, determine whether or not it overwinters in bluegrass and if certain manage-ment practices affect overall populations, he said. Varieties of bluegrass will be screened to see if any exist with resistance or tolerance to the greenbug. Close-up of greenbug aphid on a grass blade. An Ohio study to begin this year will gather data on the biology, ecology and control of the turf insect. Infested turfgrasses will be indexed for barley yellow dwarf virus and other possible green-bug transmitted viruses to deter-mine the possible involvement of virus diseases and their impact on bluegrass. Greenbug populations will be carefully screened to determine whether or not the insect has developed resistance to various organophosphate insecticides, a problem already occurring with this pest in certain other crops. Finally, various insecticides will be tested to determine their effectiveness in controlling the greenbug. Optimum rates, times of application, and volume of carrier will be determined. Tests will be conducted on home lawns where greenbug populations have reached damaging levels, Dr. Niemczyk said. PESTICIDES Shell Chemical Co. stops making DBCP Shell Chemical Co., Houston, is no longer manufac-turing the pesticide DBCP (dibromochloropropane) in the United States and has no plans to 
import it, according to Rich Han-sen, senior public affairs repre-
sentative for the company. J.S. Oostermeyer, general manager of Shell's agribusiness operations, said: "We believe DBCP is a good product that can be made in the U.S. even under the strict controls set by the Oc-cupational Safety and Health Administration, but it will have to be made by a specialized pro-ducer, not someone like Shell that primarily makes large volume chemicals." Shell marketed the product under the trade name Nemagon. Dow Chemical Co., Midland, Mich., which sold DBCP under the name Fumazone, also discon-tinued making and importing the chemical about 18 months ago, 
according to W.C. Huck, a spokesman for the company's 
Agricultural Products Depart-ment. Research revealed that ex-cessive exposure to DBCP vapors 
damages the kidneys, testes, liver and other tissues and also causes sterility in human males. OSHA set the maximum em-ploye exposure standard at one part per billion during any one-hour period. TEXAS STUDY Homeowners water too often, researcher says As much as 10 to 20 percent of the original investment in a house, on the average, is re-invested in landscaping the lawn. With a $60,000 house Š the 
national average cost of homes 
today Š this means a $6,000 to $7,000 investment off the top. Homeowners wanting to pro-tect this investment spend hun-dreds of millions of dollars 
annually in watering costs, ac-cording to Dr. R. C. Smith of the plant and soil sciences faculty at Texas Tech University, Lubbock. "One of the most common problems with people watering their lawns is that they tend to water too often and too much," Dr. Smith says, and there are quite a few lawn care business-men in Texas and across the country who would agree with him. Smith, just beginning re-search on the economic impact of landscape irrigation, has col-
lected some staggering initial figures. For the month of July 1978 more than two billion gallons of water were used in Lubbock. 
Previous studies had indicated that at least half, or about one billion gallons, went for land-scape watering. At a low average of about $.40 per 1,000 gallons usage that would mean about a $400,000 cost for landscape watering in the 
month of July alone, Smith said. July is the month of greatest water usage, he explained, but in determining conservation 
methods and least water require-ments during drought the worst month is the one upon which the study must be based. The extremely large water usage for aesthetic purposes is 
the basis for Smith's research. "Most people aren't aware of the amounts of water and money expended for landscape water-ing," Smith said. "We're going to try to bring our results to the public's attention and publicize possible methods of conser-
vation and more efficient use of 
water." Smith will be specifically comparing automatic irrigation systems with manual watering. "It has been proved that auto-matic water sprinklers use water more effectively and efficiently than watering manually Š and the automatic systems are more economical." He has received funding from the Texas Turf Irrigation Associ-ation to disseminate this information to the public and to determine the best watering schedules for the most common turf types in Texas. Once specific economics of landscape watering are deter-mined, Smith plans to study 
minimum water survivability of lawn grasses and effects of fertil-izer on turf watering require-ments. He said it appears that fertilization actually causes lawns to require less watering. For further information, Dr. Smith's address is: Plant Soil Service Department, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409. MONEYWISE The 'curse' of the industry Lawn service companies do not yet have the best reputa-tions at banks, says George Miranda of American Lawn-service, North Hills, Pa., in suburban Philadelphia. We carry the 'curse' of the industry," he says, referring to the reputation many past fly-by-night lawn care and landscape operations have left with the banking community across the country. Miranda's financing problems may be similar to those faced by many lawn care businessmen across the country. He has finally boosted up his company's gross Š almost $400,000 annually Š to the point where the banks will at least talk to him, but not for the kind of financing that he needs. "You are constantly playing with dollars when you are underfinanced," he told LAWN CARE INDUSTRY recently. "We don't need any money at all to stay in business at the level we are at now, but we need at least $100,000 to do any 
kind of expansion." One of the areas they would spend ad-ditional dollars, if they had them, would be to do a substantial 
mailing of at least one-half million direct mail pieces, pro-bably at a cost of close to $50,000. "Advertising, of course, is a roll of the dice, but you at least have to have the bucks to back you up," he said. "But we 
have the records to show that if we do so much advertising, that we are going to get so much business. It's very predic-table. "But we need the financing, this is one of the big things that stops the entrepreneur. The banker will only go what he can see tangibly. It is necessary to divert and convert what you have into the business." The company hopes to open up two new branches next year, without public financing; that is at least two years down the road. "My financial people tell me that if we can push our gross to about $750,000 a year, then we might be able to go to stock financing," Miranda said. "But to go public you have to have a good track record, you have to have a prospectus and pro-jections, and you have to be able to offer an investor a good return-on-investment (ROI). "But as for right now, personal financing is the only course open to us now," he says. "It's the 'curse' of the industry at this point." MAINTENANCE Effects of mowing on turf by Dr. William E. Knoop, Area Turfgrass Specialist Texas Agricultural Extension Service, Dallas For lawn care companies in-volved in providing total mainte-nance for residential and commercial/industrial custom-ers, perhaps the single most important cultural practice they perform is that of mowing. A large percentage of a lawn company's total budget is direc-tly associated with labor and equipment requirements of its mowing operation. When we consider the pos-sible effects that mowing may have on the turfgrass plant, we should remember that we are taking a plant that is designed by nature to grow and mature at a height far in excess of the mow-ing height we impose on it. We do that for the plant to fit our cus-tomer's intended use. Mowing in a sense is not natural. Mowing tends to upset the natural growth 
patterns in the plant. We all know "it's not nice to fool with Mother Nature," but 
we are fooling with Mother 
Nature when we mow any lawn. In order to fool successfully with Mother Nature Š and that is ex-actly what we must do in order to provide a quality lawn Š we should understand a little bit about how the turfgrass plant 
operates. The first, or at least the most apparent effect of mowing, is the 
reduction of the plant's leaf sur-
face area. The leaf system has 
the function of manufacturing 
and supplying the plant with carbohydrates. Carbohydrates to the plant are analogous to the 
food we eat. During the active growing months (spring and fall 
for the cool season grasses and in the summer for warm season grasses), carbohydrate produc-tion is high and the plant is able to store food reserves. During periods of stress or dormancy, the plant must draw on these reserves in order to survive. Mowing at heights lower than 
optimum during periods favor-
able for carbohydrate storage for the specific turfgrass species 
may seriously impair the plant's ability to develop adequate food reserves for stress or dormancy 
periods. The resulting death of the plant may falsely be con-tributed to "heat or cold injury" when in fact the food reserves 
were not high enough to carry it through that period. When part of the plant's leaves are removed by mowing, it reacts by increasing the leaf growth in order to re-establish its former leaf surface area. This flush of leaf growth requires carbohydrates and may reduce 
the supply of carbohydrates available to the root system. In the "peck order" of the plant, the leaf system has priority over roots, rhizomes or stolons for 
carbohydrates. This demand for 
carbohydrates by the leaves af-ter cutting may in fact result in the reduction of root growth. The larger the amount of percentage of leaf tissue removed the longer the period root growth may be reduced. This is one reason why 
it is strongly recommended that no more than one-third of the leaf surface be removed at any one mowing. Just as the amount of leaf sur-face removed has an effect on root growth, so does the cutting height. There is a direct rela-tionship between cutting height 
and the total volume of root system. The turfgrass plant, just like all other plants, develops a balance between its top parts and its root system. A certain size of root system is needed to sup-
port a certain volume of top growth and vice versa. If either the top parts or the root system is 
reduced, the plant will react by 
reducing the other. Think about transplanting a tree. The top is pruned to 
compensate for the root system that is lost in the digging oper-
ation. When we mow the turf-grass plant we are reducing its top parts. The plant no longer needs the same quantity of root system so the plant in order to achieve balance reduces its root system. The more we reduce its top growth (i.e., the lower the cutting height) the shallower the 
root system may become. A shallow root system may seri-ously impair the plant's ability to 
withstand stress, especially drought stress. There is another important function of the leaf system. That 
is the function of insulation. The growing points or crowns of most turfgrass plants are at or near the surface of the soil and are very high in the chemical activities that control the growth pro-cesses. These areas of the plant 
are very temperature sensitive. The upper optimum tempera-ture range for cool season turf-grasses is about 75° F. and for warm season turfgrass about 85° F. When the temperature of the growing point goes above these temperatures, the growth process begins to slow down. If COST CUTTINGS Foam markers for spraying large areas For fertilizer/pesticide applications on its larger commer-cial/industrial accounts, Sears Lawn & Leaf, Chicago, utilizes 
foam markers to aid the applicator in doing his most cost-conscious, efficient job. "On some of our larger jobs, it is sometimes difficult for the applicator to keep track of the area he has already sprayed," company president Larry Shipow told LAWN 
CARE INDUSTRY recently. "The foam marking system is easy to use, and it saves us from overlapping an area or al-together missing an area." The marking system is mounted on a turf utility vehicle, as is the spray boom system Sears uses for commercial/indus-trial jobs. Sears utilizes foam markers manufactured by Rich-way Products, Inc., Janesville, Iowa. At least one other mark-ing unit on available to the lawn care businessman is manu-factured by Fox Valley Marking Systems, Inc., Cary, 111. the temperature of the growing point gets too high for a long enough period, especially with cool season grass, the plant goes into what we call summer dor-mancy. The leaf surface insu-
lates the growing point from high temperatures. As we reduce the 
leaf surface area we reduce the 
amount of insulation available for the growing point. The lower the cutting height is reduced from the optimum assigned to the 
particular variety, the more sus-ceptible the plant may become to high-temperature injury. Most of the turfgrasses are subjected to some degree of 
wear, particularly in a home lawn situation. The leaf surface area protects the growing point of the plant from the direct mechanical injury associated with traffic. As the leaf surface is reduced, the overall wearability 
of the turf is reduced. Lawns cut at low heights are subject to high wear damage and tend to gradu-ally thin out. Mowing practices may have an effect on the incidence of dis-ease. Many times an increase in disease problems with turf main-tained at below optimum cutting heights has been observed. This may be associated with the weaker type of turf plant that results from extremely low cut-ting heights. Just at the proper selection of height-of-cut is important, so is 
the frequency at which the turf is cut. Ideally the frequency be-tween mowings should be as long as possible to allow the plant to recover from the last cutting. Leaf growth rate and the inten-ded use of the turf will, to a large 
degree, dictate the mowing fre-
quency. Considering the desir-ability of not removing more than one-third of the leaf sur-face at any one mowing, the application of nitrogen at high 
rates, as is the case with many lawn care companies, may force an increase in the frequency of 
mowing. This is especially true when the high rates of nitrogen are supplied in a soluble form. If, because of high growth rates, the frequency of mowing becomes too frequent, consid-eration should be given to adjust-
ing both nitrogen rate and source. The slower-releasing nitrogen materials do not tend to produce the lush growth associ-ated with the soluble sources and should result in a longer period between mowings. Dependability, Service & Long Life mean Better Profits with TORCO QUALITY LAWN CARE EQUIPMENT BUILT TO RUN AS LONG AND AS HARD AS YOU DO! 1, TS1250:1250 gal. stainless steel tank w/20 G.P.M. -fmc turf pump. TC 1250: same as TS 1250 with lower-priced carbon steel tank. Ł Designed and built to outlast second chassis. Ł Mechanical agitation Š 7 paddles, 6 bearings. Ł Jet sweep eliminates tank settlings. Ł Easy accesss for pump and filter sen/ice. Ł PTO driven Š only 2 belts involved. Ł Calibrated sight gauge Š 18" leak-proof hatch. Ł Choice of electric or lower-priced, belt-driven reels. Ł Special light-weight turf hose Š easy pull-out. 
Ł Metered gun with unique TORCO spray nozzle. TF 300: 300 gal. fiberglass tank w/10 G.P.M. Łtmc turf pump. 500 gal. also available. Skid mounted for VA ton pick-up. Same TORCO features as TS 1250. (Self-contained engine.) IMPROVE YOUR IMAGE (EYE APPEAL) WITH UNIFORMED PERSONNEL AND TORCO'S SLEEK, LOW PROFILE EQUIPMENT. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CALL TOLL FREE 800/626-1818 or 502/366-1415 (collect in KY.) exclusive area dealerships available Š contact Ed Weimer TORCO EQUIPMENT COMPANY 207 Eiler Ave., Louisville, Ky. 40214 Distributors of ASPLUNDH aerial baskets and chippers, RO digger der-
ricks, utility bodies and fabricators of complete lawn care equipment. Selective Herbicide for crabgrass in turf Why have more turf care professionals selected Betasan herbicide? Betasan is tops in crabgrass control. Betasan is easy on established grass. Betasan is a pre-emergence herbicide.. .you stop crabgrass before it starts. Betasan is economical and reliable to use. Betasan is available from your Stauffer supplier or these fine private label distributors. Firm Brand Name Sales Area Best Products Div. of Zoecon Corp. Lathrop, California BestŽ 4-E and 12.5-G West Coast Southwest PBI Gordon Corp. Kansas City, Kansas Betamec-4Ž National Lakeshore Equipment and Supply Co., Inc. Elyria, Ohio Lescosan 4-E and 12.5-G East of Rockies B.G. Pratt Division Gabriel Chemical Co. Paterson, New Jersey PrattŽ 4-E, 12.5-G and 3.6-G Northeast Mallinckrodt, Inc. St. Louis, Missouri Pre-SanŽ 4-E and 12.5-G National Rockland Chemical Co. West Caldwell, New Jersey RocklandŽ 4-E and 12.5-G Northeast Betasan, the one choice for you. Always follow label directions carefully. See your Stauffer supplier now. Stauffer Chemical Company, Agricultural Chemical Division, Westport, Connecticut 06880. Stauffer CH E MlCALS Betasan* 10 m ça U-MEETING DATES OC P C/3 D Q 
2 u a: < u 2 < ProTurf Seminar, Hyatt Regency O'Hare, Rosemont, III., Feb. 8. Contact: O.M. Scott & Sons, Marysville, Ohio, 800-543-0006. ProTurf Seminar, Hilton Inn North, North High Street, Worthington, Ohio, Feb. 12. Contact: O. M. Scott & Sons, 800-543-0006. Penn State 50th Anniversary Turfgrass Conference, Sheraton Penn State Inn, 
State College, Pa., Feb. 13-16. Contact: Dr. Joseph M. Duich, 21 Tyson Building, Penn State University, University Park, Pa. 16802. Greens Lawns 11th Annual Lawn Spray-
ing Seminars, Hilton Airport Inn. St. Louis, Mo., Feb. 14. Contact: Jim McCurdy, Green Lawns, Inc., 633 W. Monroe St., Belleville, 111. 62221, 618-234-2141. Illinois Landscape Contractors Seminar, Indian Lakes Country Club, Blooming-dale, 111., Feb. 14-16. Contact: Carole Rachesky, 665 Forest, Glen Ellyn, 111. 60137, 312-858-8356. Capital Area Turf School, Hershey Motor Lodge, Convention Center, Hershey, Pa., Feb. 20-21. Contact: Harold E. Stewart, 75 5. Houcks Rd., Suite 101, Harrisburg, Pa. 17109. ProTurf Seminar, Holiday Inn 9009 East Arapahoe Rd., Denver, Colo., Feb. 20. Contract: O. M. Scott & Sons, 800-543-
0006. ProTurf Seminar, Hilton Airport Plaza Inn, 8001-112th St., N.W., Kansas City, Mo., Feb. 21. Contract: O. M. Scott & Sons, 800-543-0006. ProTurf Seminar, Holiday Inn, 1-279 at St. Charles Rock Road, St. Louis, Mo., Feb. 22. Contract: O. M. Scott & Sons, 800-543-
0006. American Sod Producers Association Midwinter Conference, Doubletree Inn-Mall. Scottsdale, Ariz., Feb. 25-27. Con-tact: Bob Garey, ASPA, Association 
Building, 9th and Minnesota, Hastings, Neb. 68901, 402-463-5691. Northeastern Pennsylvania Turf School, Master Host Motel, Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Feb. 27-28. Contact: Cy Chadwick, Court House Annex, 5 Water St., Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 18702. 30th Annual Canadian Turf Show, Chateau Halifax, Halifax, Nova Scotia, March 4-7. Contact: Canadian Golf 
Course Superintendents Association, 698 Weston, Rd., Suite 32, Toronto, Ontario M6N 3Re, 416-767-2550. Reinders Turf Conference, includes 
irrigation seminars, equipment show and service clinic, Elm Grove, Wis., March 6-8. Contact: Ed Devinger, Reinders Brothers, Inc., 13400 Watertown Plank 
Rd., Elm Grove, Wis. 53122, 414-786-3300. Midwest Turf Conference, Purdue Uni-versity, West Lafayette, Ind., March 12-
14. Contact: Dr. William H. Daniel, Department of Agronomy, 2-443 Lilly 
Hall, West Lafayette, Ind. 47907, 317-749-2891. Northcentral Pennsylvania Turf School, Smethport Country Club, Smethport, Pa., March 20. Contact: Clarence E. Craver, Court House, Smethport, Pa. 16749. Symposium on Turfgrass Diseases, sponsored by Ohio State University, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, ChemLawn Corp., University Holiday Inn, Columbus, Onio, May 15-17. 
Contact: Dr. P. O. Larsen, 2865 E. Orange Rd., Galena, Ohio 43021, 614-422-6987. THE BEST LAWN CARE UNIT HAS TO BE STRONG STRONG ON SAVINGS...STRONG ON QUALITY... STRONG ON PERFORMANCE... THE STRONG PC1200/PC800 LAWN CARE UNITS Ł High quality fiberglass tank, available in 1200 or 800 gal. capacity. Ł Matching fiberglass engine and pump cover. Ł First unit of its kind that can be bolted to either truck frame or flatbed body. Ł Superfeatures...at an incredibly low Initial cost factor. Ł Tank constructed of chemically resistant fiberglass resins, baffled to reduce liquid surge. Ł FMC John Bean pumps. Ł Units designed to pump liquids or non-soluble fertilizers. Ł Many options and components to choose from. 
ŁCustom fabrication available upon request. STRONG UNITS ARE STRONG UNITS! SPECIFY FROM ONE OF THE COUNTRY'S BIGGEST PRODUCERS OF HI-VOLUME CAPACITY LAWN CARE UNITS. SPECIFY STRONG! For complete specifications on the PC1200/PC800, or any other strong unit, circle the reader card, or please write or call: STRONG ENTERPRISES, INC. 7270 S.W. 42nd Street, Miami, Florida Ł (305) 264-5525 EDUCATION Turf insect, disease slide sets available Two slide sets Š one of turf diseases and the other of turf in-sects Š are now available from the New York State Turfgrass Association. Either slide set is available at $20 for New York residents and $25 for out-of-state residents. 
Send checks made payable to the Association to Ann Reilly, execu-tive secretary, 210 Cartwright Blvd., Massapequa Park, N.Y. 11762. PREEMERGENTS Rhone-Poulenc announces new Ronstar granule size Rhone-Poulenc Inc. Agricul-tural Div., Monmouth Junction, N.J. announces that its turf and ornamental preemergent herbi-
cide Š Chipco Ronstar G Š is now being manufactured in an improved larger granule size. According to the company, the new granules will make ap-plication more precise and will minimize dust. Used for control of many an-nual grasses and broadleaf weeds in established perennial bluegrass, bermudagrass, peren-nial ryegrass and St. Augustine-grass, Chipco Ronstar G is rec-ommended for preemergent con-trol of germinating crabgrass, Poa annua, goosegrass, Florida pulsey, oxalis, stinging nettle, carpetgrass and pigweed. The herbicide is available, as a two percent granular formula-tion in 50-pound bags. The company also said the herbicide may now be applied in the late summer or early fall for preemergent control of Poa an-nua. In turf applications, the rate for Chipco Ronstar G for control of Poa annua is four pounds ac-tive ingredient/acre or 200 pounds per acre formulated. ŁŁŁŁŁŁŁŁŁŁŁ MULCHING MOWERS FMC/Bolens, Jacobsen settle out of court FMC Corp., Port Washington, Wis., manufacturers of Bolens lawn and garden equipment, and Jacobsen Div. of Textron, Inc., Racine, Wis. have reached an out-of-court settlement in regard to a patent infringement suit in-itiated by FMC against Jacobsen more than a year ago. The suit was for damages, and to enjoin Jacobsen from infring-ing a U.S. patent which relates to a rotary lawn mower marketed by FMC under the Bolens Mul-ching Mower trademark. In the terms of the settlement, FMC granted a license agree-ment to Jacobsen Š for an undis-closed amount Š covering the life of the Bolens patent. Richard C. Pedersen, Jacob-sen vice president, said: "There was no agreement as to whether we did or did not infringe on the patent. The parties just agreed to settle the issue." New Controlled-Release, Non-Burning Liquid Nitrogen for Lawn Applications. Ashland LIQUID FERTILIZER r* > ? 2 n > PC m z a c CD H PC K m oc If you'd like to find a liquid nitrogen source that offers convenience in handling and blend-ing, as well as improved performanceoverdry products, the new SLO-RELEASE products from Ashland Chemical could be your answer. 25 is a clear liquid 26% organic nitrogen solution with excellent non-burning characteristics. 25 lets you: Apply any time during the growing season and be assured ^^ of non-burning, controlled-release feeding.* Expect complete nitrogen utilization during one growing season.* tS^^^V^ 25 blends easily with insecticides, herbicides, and P and K. There are more good reasons why you should test SLO-RELEASE 25 and our other SLO-RELEASE products this spring. 'When applied at normally acceptable nitrogen rates. Yes, I'm interested in your SLO-RELEASE products. Ł Send Technical Literature. Ł Have your salesman call Name Title _ Company Address __ City Phone Number (_ .State. -) Š -Zip Just fill in the coupon and mail it to Chemical Systems Division, P.O. Box 2219, Columbus, OH 43216. Ashland Ashland Ashland Chemical Company DIVISION OF ASHLANO OIL. INC Basic lawn problems A lawn is a complex system of densly growing plants in intimate association with a continually 
changing environment. While 
climate and soil are the principal 
environmental components influencing natural plant com-munities, lawns are also affected by an array of cultural practices, 
and the manner in which the lawn is used by the lawn owner and others. Culture and use are parts of the hiotic turfgrass en-vironment. The turfgrass com-munity and all components of its environment are referred to col-lectively as the turfgrass eco-system. Lawn problems arise when the turfgrass community is not well adapted to its environment, 
or when some environmental factor evolves or is changed in such a way that it adversely af-fects turfgrass. An example of a 
major environmental change is 
the development of a substantial 
thatch layer in turf. At the time Control 15 major lawn pests with versatile SEVIN carbaryl insecticide. They nip, munch, burrow and bite. As sure as grass is green, lawn pests will try to make life miserable. You can minimize the misery with SEVIN carbaryl insecticide. And protect lawns from as many as 15 different problem pests. Both the most common ones and the worst: ants, bluegrass bill bugs, chiggers, chinch bugs, cutworms, ear-wigs, European chafer, fall armyworm, 
fleas, green June beetle, leafhoppers, STOP) ALL PESTICIDES CAN BE HARMFUL TO HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT IF MISUSED. READ THE LABEL CARE-FULLY AND USE ONLY AS DIRECTED. millipedes, mosquitoes, sod webworms (lawn moths) and ticks. Broad registration only starts the list of SEVIN benefits. It's also compatible with many other commonly used insecticides, miticides, fungicides and foliar nutri-ents. And residents can resume usi the grounds or yard as Ł soon as the spray dries. There's a choice of ng TURF Lawn weeds and their control by Dr. Al Turgeon secticide and possibly fungicide application. Some operators also perform, cultivation operations for reducing thatch and mitigating the effects of soil com-paction. Others include lawn es-tablishment as part of their oper-ations. For those operators in-volved only in chemical applica-tion, consideration should be given to working closely with landscapers to implement cor-rective measures on highly problem-prone lawns. Fertilization Fertilizer materials, es-pecially nitrogen, are essential for sustaining turfgrass growth. A fertilization program should be conducted to ensure that essen-tial plant nutrients are not 
limiting for a particular turf-
grass. Of equal importance is the necessity to avoid excessive ap-plications of nutrients, particu-
larly nitrogen. Experiences in A weed is any plant growing where it is not wanted. When it occurs as part of a turfgrass com-munity, its definition can be ex-
panded to: an undesirable plant because of its disruptive effect 
on the aesthetic appearance, stabilizing capacity, or overall utility of a turf. A particular plant species may be a weed in some turfgrass communities or a desirable turf-grass in others. Examples of "potential" weeds include tall 
fescue, creeping bentgrass and bermudagrass. Specific weeds are often good indicators of unfavorable environmental conditions for turfgrasses. Large infestations of 
knotweed frequently occur where severe soil compaction limits turfgrass growth. Ground ivy often invade under trees 
where insufficient sunlight results in the decline of Ken-tucky bluegrass and other shade-intolerant turfgrasses. The presence of red sorrel is usually indicative of acid soil conditions. Weed incidence in turf reflects both environmental con-ditions, and growth character-istics of the turfgrass genotypes 
comprising the plant com-munity. These two dimensions of 
a plant ecosystem are highly interactive. Where a particular turfgrass is marginally adapted, successful culture is dependent upon careful programming of fertilization, pesticide applica-tion, and other cultural variables to sustain the turf and avoid large infestations of weeds. In 
contrast, an especially well-adapted turfgrass requires less precise care. Usually, the commercial lawn care operator has little control over genotypic and edaphic (soil) conditions at the lawn site; he must work with the turf as it ex-
ists, or refuse to take it on unless the lawn owner agrees to under-
take measures to correct basic problems. of establishment, the young turf-grass community has its roots dis-tributed in the existing soil. With a net accumulation of organic debris at the soil surface, thatch can develop with a resultant dis-tribution of at least part of the root system in the thatch layer. Thatchy turf is more disease-prone, and less tolerant of heat, 
cold, and drouth stresses Š con-ditions often associated with weed invasion. Where thatch ex-ists, pesticides may be less effec-tive or more phytotoxic than where it has been controlled. 
Whenever the turfgrass com-munity loses sufficient com-petitive vigor to resist weed inva-sion, weed species adapted to prevailing conditions often in-vade. Other adverse environ-mental conditions include: soil compaction; low or high soil pH; 
poor drainage; restricted air flow; excessive heat, cold, drouth, and shade; and toxic residues in the soil. Adverse cultural influences include: excessive rates of nitro-gen and other nutrients, close mowing, unfavorable irrigation 
practices, improper use of pesti-
cides, selection of poorly adap-ted turfgrasses, and poor site 
preparation and planting tech-
nique during lawn establish-ment. The principal cultural variables controlled by com-mercial lawn care operators are: 
fertilization and herbicide, in-LAWN CARE INDUSTRY READER SERVICE CARDŠ February 1979 (expiresin90days) Use this prepaid reader service card to get additional information on products or services mentioned in this issue (Card must be completed before processing) NAME TITLE BUSINESS ADDRESS CITY STATE ZIP If you would like a subscription to LAWN CARE INDUSTRY circle number 101. Subscription cost is $10.00 per year To help us better service you editorially, please answer the following: 4. Title: Ł President Ł Owner Ł Manager 
Ł Technician 
Ł Other (specify) 1. Are you primarily involved in. Ł Chemical lawn care and maintenance services Ł Chemical application only Ł Mowing and other maintenance services 
Ł Other (specify) Application Ł Liquid Ł Granular Ł Both 2. Is your business location: Ł Headquarters 
Ł Branch office 3. Is your business: Ł Independent 
Ł Chain Ł Franchise Ł Other (specify) 5. Number of accounts: Ł Less than 500 Ł 500-1.000 Ł 1.001-5.000 Ł 5,001-10.000 Ł 10,001-25.000 Ł 25,000 or more 6. Estimated annual sales volume: Ł Less than $50,000 Ł $50,001-100.000 Ł $100,001-250.000 Ł $250,001-500.000 
Ł $500,001-1.000.000 Ł $1,000,000 or more Ł Please send product information only on items circled Ł Please have a salesman call me about items circled. Best time to call me is . CIRCLE THE ITEM NUMBERS FOR FREE DETAILS ON PRODUCTS AND SERVICES 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 NO POSTAGE NECESSARY IF MAILED IN THE UNITED STATES BUSINESS REPLY MAIL FIRST CLASS PERMIT NO. 2675 CLEVELAND. OHIO POSTAGE WILL BE PAID BY ADDRESSEE Attention: Circulation Dept. LAWN CARE INDUSTRY 9800 Detroit Ave. Cleveland, Ohio 44102 NO POSTAGE NECESSARY IF MAILED IN THE UNITED STATES BUSINESS REPLY MAIL FIRST CLASS PERMIT NO. 665 DULUTH. MINN POSTAGE WILL BE PAID BY ADDRESSEE LAWN CARE INDUSTRY P.O. BOX 6136 DULUTH, MINNESOTA 55806 SUBSCRIPTION GROUP SUBSCRIPTION RATE: 5 or more copies Š $7.00 per subscription. Include all names and addresses on company letterhead. Ł PAYMENT ENCLOSED Ł BILL ME Make check or money order payable to LAWN CARE INDUSTRY. 1 Year Š $10.00 2 Years Š $18.00 3 Years Š $23.00 BUSINESS ADDRESS CITY ZIP 1. Are you primarily involved in Chemical lawn care and maintenance services Ł Chemical application only Ł Mowing and other maintenance services Ł Other (specify) Application Ł Liquid Ł Granular Ł Both 2. Is your business location: Ł Headquarters 
Ł Branch office 3. Is your business: Ł Independent Ł Chain 
Ł Franchise Ł Other (specify) . 4. Title: Ł President 
Ł Owner 
Ł Manager 
Ł Technician Ł Other (specify) . 5. Number of accounts: Ł Less than 500 Ł 500-1,000 Ł 1.001-5,000 Ł 5.001-10,000 Ł 10.001-25.000 
Ł 25,000 or more 6. Estimated annual sales volume: Ł Less than $50,000 
Ł $50,001-100,000 Ł $100,001-250,000 Ł $250,001-500,000 
Ł $500,001-1,000,000 
Ł $1,000,000 or more Signature . the Midwest have shown that high rates of soluble nitrogen ap-plied to Kentucky bluegrass in spring are often associated with severe incidences of Helmintho-sporium melting-out, stripe smut, and Fusarium blight diseases. Depending upon the season of these disease occurrences, heavy infestation by crabgrass, quack-grass, annual bluegrass, and a variety of broadleaf weeds and other grasses is a typical after-math. Thus, the dark-green, lush growth resulting from liberal use of nitrogen, while aesthetically appealing, can be a prelude to numerous disease and sub-sequent weed problems. Slowly available forms of nitrogen, in-cluding ureaformaldehyde (UF), IBDU, and sulfur-coated urea (SCU), provide less-dramatic in-itial responses than do soluble forms; however, season-long turfgrass quality and growth may be more favorable where these materials constitute a sub-stantial portion of the total nitro-gen applied to the turf. Much confusion still exists over what constitutes optimum levels of phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) in lawn fertiliza-tion programs. A generally ac-cepted guide is to apply P at 10 percent and K at 50 percent of total applied nitrogen. Where soil testing is practical, results may be helpful in programming P and K applications, as well as 
applications of lime for reducing 
excessive soil acidity. Com-mercial preparations of micro-
nutrients are sometimes offered as cures for lawn nutritional problems. Certainly, where a specific nutrient is limiting plant growth, its application can result in dramatic responses; however, 
medium- to fine-textured soils at near-neutral pH's usually con-tain sufficient concentrations of micronutrients to satisfy turf-grass requirements. Pesticides for controlling dis-eases and injurious insects and other animal pests are important in a weed-control program since 
any disruption of an otherwise 
dense, turfgrass cover caused by pest activity in turf results in 
potential weed-infestation sites. Thus, pest problems should be controlled at an early stage of 
development or, if possible, pre-vented. Usually, pest control methods which can be employed by commercial lawn care operators center around the use of pesticides. Of course, proper 
application of pesticides is nec-essary for both pest control and prevention of pesticide-induced turfgrass injury. Information 
provided on the pesticide label and from local agricultural ex-tension offices should be reviewed prior to incorporating specific pesticides into a lawn-care program. As a further safety measure, it is wise to acquire direct experience with any new pesticide, or other chemical, on small plots before acceptance for general use. Herbicides 13 > z n > pa w Z a c C/2 H PC 
m-m m oc Lawn weed control may be defined as any practice designed to either: prevent weed emergence in turf, or effect a shift away from undesirable vegetation and toward desired turfgrasses. Although herbicides are im-portant tools for controlling lawn weeds, repeated occurrence of weeds may reflect underlying problems which are not correct-
able with herbicides. Neverthe-
less, the proper use of herbicides can successfully convert a 
heavily weed-infested turf into one which is weed free. Herbicides vary in chemical structure and method of use; however, nearly all modern her-bicides are organic chemicals which break down in the soil or in the plant within several weeks or months. Their breakdown pro-
ducts, called metabolites, are usually smaller organic or in-organic chemicals that, in many 
cases, are similar to chemicals which naturally occur in bio-logical systems. Herbicides are 
usually placed into categories 
reflecting timing of application, site of application, type of action, and selectivity. In pug«? .l.l ^^^^^^ Lawn Weeds and Their Control was ^gfB^^^ written by Dr. Al Turgeon, associate pro-J^^^^HNJjj^Bb^ fessor of turfgrass science at the Univer-. MV^r ^^^^Hl sity of Illinois. ^Ł His article kicks off a LAWN CARE IN-DUSTRY special secion on weed iden-WL tification and control. On pages 34 and 35, B T)r. Turgeon has provided line drawings of ^^^ T 32 common lawn weeds and background Ž iq | information on each. ^Bi^fc « Also, on page 14 begins a story on yj Greenlon, Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio, the ' i i^^^HL * company's weed control program, and ^ % other aspects of its business. Beginning on page 16 is a story on how a revised weed -- spray program has extended the lawn care ^ season of Jerry Hutchinson, president of ^r-^J Turf Specialists, Inc., Holbrook, N.Y. In ^Sy J that story, the weed control program of ^g M Paul Kampe, president of Lawnrite Corp., ® ^ ^ Bohemia, N.Y. is also mentioned. Beginning on page 29, the weed control program and other aspects of John Gallignani's Lawn Doctor operation in Islip, N.Y. is explained. This special weed control section is concluded with a description of a number of herbicide manufacturers and their products they have available to the lawn care businessman, beginning on page 30. SEVIN and SEVIMOL are registered trademarks of Union Carbide Corporation for carbaryl insecticide Union Carbide Corporation. Agricultural Products Division. 7825 Baymeadows Way. Jacksonville. FL 322I6 four formulationsŠ spra/able, wettable powder, flowables and SEVIMOl! 4, a liquid blend of SEVIN and molasses. Granules, dusts and baits are also available for certain specialized uses. Plus, SEVIN isn't harsh on the environment. It is bio-degradable; and when compared with other insecticides, it ranks low in toxi-city to people,animals, birds and fish. So it's probably no surprise to hear that SEVIN carbaryl is one of the largest selling insecticides in the United States today. For more information about SEVIN, contact your pesticide supplier or Union Carbide at the address below. Make SEVIN carbaryl insecticide your answer to pest control too. SEVIN CARBARYL INSECTICIDE IS THE ANSWER. 14 WEED CONTROL 23 w Professionalism, products spark Cincinnati company's fast growth > oc, h C/3 Q Z w as < U z < Even measured by the rapid growth of the lawn care industry, the success of Greenlon, Inc. is notable: When Richard D. Steinau, owner, and Robert J. Blank, technical supervisor, took over operation of the 1 V2-year-old Cincinnati firm in early 1974, it had just two trucks and about 900 customers. Today Greenlon has 13 trucks, three supervisory vehi-cles, 7,500 customers within a 30-mile radius, and annual sales 
nearing $1 million. Professionalism has been the key to this growth Š profes-sionalism at all levels of the business, ranging from an alert management supported by a small, in-house computer; to 
good marketing; careful, continu-ing attention to customer rela-tions; thoroughly trained operating personnel; clean, well-maintained equipment; and use of only top-quality, dependable 
chemicals. "We provide generalized lawn care for commercial, in-dustrial, and residential pro-perty owners who want above-average results for minimum 
cost," said the 31-year-old Steinau. "Thus, we are not a custom service. We apply fertil-izer, herbicides and insecticides as we think they are needed. "In this type of operation, we think a couple of points are im-Richard D. Steinau (seated), owner, and Robert J. Blank, technical supervisor, of Greenlon, Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio, agree that most lawn care complaints occur because customers don't water properly. So as soon as the weather turns dry, Greenlon hands out inexpensive plastic glasses marked off as rain gauges, accompanied by the instruction sheet held by Blank. We finally found a way to improve Balan... Granules shown actual size ...we made it easier to apply! Balan's new granular size lets you apply it like fertilizer, and makes it easier than ever to effectively control some of your tough weed grasses. Balan gets the tough ones, such as, crabgrass, foxtail, goosegrass and Poa annua. After ten years of proven success on thou-sands of acres of turf, Balan has become the nation's number-one granular pre-emergence herbicide. Its unmatched effec-tiveness and economy make Balan a "must" in every turf program. Goosegrass (crowsfoot, silver crabgrass and hard crabgrass)' Poa annua (annual bluegrass) To get maximum effectiveness from your Balan turf program, contact the Elanco field representative in your area: NorthwestŠM. K. Edminster P.O. Box 3366, Walnut Creek, CA 94598 SouthwestŠR. C. Wortham 510 Pembrook Drive, Pasadena, CA 91107 SouthŠS. C. Dolinak 6808 Truxton, Dallas, TX 75231 NortheastŠA. G. Ekeson 5 Campbell Road, Fairfield, NJ 07006 SoutheastŠR. J. Yount 9000 Crichton Woods Drive, Orlando, FL 32811 MidwestŠS. H. Springer P.O. Box 50279, Indianapolis, IN 46250 MidwestŠR G. Baade R.R. 6, Box 332A, Martinsville, IN 46151 EastŠR. E. Simmons 409 Hudson Ave., Staunton, VA 24401 El/XNCO 1 Balan Circle 144 on free information card Greenlon has 13 trucks and operators and three supervisory vehicles which serve 7500 customers within a 30-mile radius. Here, Operator Michael R. Meagher fills his truck with fertilizer and water in the evening. . . . .... then the following mornine he adds weed killer and insecticides, in this case Dow's Formula 40 and Kuron for the widest spectrum of hroadleaf weed control, and Dursban 4E Insecticide for equally broad control of insects. One year Greenlon switched to a premixed product. "It was cheaper, but we got burnt," said Steinau. "We ended up using twice the rates and still didn t get good control." Checking a problem area in a new customer's lawn are Blank (left) and Field Supervisor Terry Bradford. A supervisor responds to every customer call within two days, and Blank and the supervisors constantly spot check lawns, too. portant: you can't let down Š while you can only maintain a yard to a certain level, you must maintain it to that level, because the customer soon forgets how had it looked before you took it 
over. "Also, rapid followup on customer calls and questions is essential," continued Steinau, who was with Ace Exter-minating, run by his father, Bert, 
before acquiring Greenlon. "We send one of our three supervisors out on every customer call within two days. If the supervisor finds a problem he can't handle on the spot, he contacts whichever of the 13 operators originally sprayed the lawn. Also Boh Blank and the supervisors con-stantly spot-check lawns. "We always try to he fair in giving resprays Š for example, if it rains right after application, we'll respray the last several 
customers, and always let them know we have done it. If a customer still calls about rain, 
we usually ask him to wait seven to 10 days, then if the weeds to page 33 Or write Dept E 455 Elanco Products Company Ł A Division of Eli Lilly and Company Ł Indianapolis, Indiana 46206 U.S.A. DERBY TurrType Perennial Ryegrass Setting a New Standard of Excellence Derby is the dark green beauty which joined Manhattan and Pennfine on the "highly preferred list of ryegrasses." That was last year. Now Derby is setting a new standard of excellence. In the eyes of many Golf Superintendents it reigns supreme among the turf-type ryegrasses today. Why? Because it performs! And a Superintendent knows that claims are great but performance counts. Ł Consistently performs better than other leading varieties from California to Florida Ł Durable, dark green and has excellent mowing qualities Ł Tolerates a variety of soils & responds rapidly to fertilization Ł Germinates in a week (or even less) under ideal conditions Ł Better-than-average heat and drought tolerance Ł An adaptable and disease resistant cool-season turf grass Ł An excellent record as a Southern winter grass Ł Thrives when close-cut INTERNATIONAL SEEDS, INC. P.O. Box 168 Ł Halsey, Oregon 97348 (503) 369-2251 Ł TWX 510/590-0765 Ł 1 91 Ł WEED CONTROL Revised spray, seed schedules can stretch lawn care season One problem that northern lawn care businessmen face an-nually is what to do during win-
ter. They are swamped with a heavy flow of customers in spring, but demand of course dwindles to zero in winter and many businessmen are forced to 
take on other seasonal services Š such as snow plowing and sell-ing firewood. Others repair equipment, catch up on the book-work and take vacations. Still, others lay off employes or close down completely. Turf Specialists, Inc., Hol-brook, N.Y. has discovered an ef-
ficient way to shorten its slow season and to alleviate the in-tense demand in spring by revis-ing its seed and herbicide ap-plication schedules. The company has been in business since 1969 and now tends to 4,000 acres of turf a year within a 50-mile radius (east and west) of their central Long Island headquarters. Its services in-clude insect control, selective weed control, total weed control and fertilizer applications. And 
while their accounts vary from municipalities, to schools, to athletic fields, to golf courses 
and to industrial properties, almost all have one thing in com-mon: crabgrass. "We use Betasan on any lawn that has crabgrass," says Turf Specialists president, Jerry Hutchinson, who has a bachelor's degree in agriculture 
from Michigan State University. Betasan is manufactured by Stauffer Chemical Co., West-port, Conn. "Crabgrass normally ger-minates in this area during the first week of May, but it can ger-minate earlier in some seasons, if atmospheric temperatures get 
into the 80's during the first week of April, crabgrass can germinate in mid-April. At the other end of the extreme, some crabgrass germinates in late July and early August." Hutchinson uses an un-sprayed, warm, sunny spot on his own lawn to gauge crabgrass ger-mination in spring. "If you apply the herbicide too late Š after most of the crab-grass germinates Š you will not 
get good control," Hutchinson adds. "You have to monitor crab-grass germination closely. There have been some seasons when I 
have been caught off guard." Travel time to service Turf Specialists' wide territory, coupled with heavy spring rains 
and soggy turfs, makes spraying Jerry Hutchinson, president of Turf Specialists, Inc., Holbrook, N.Y. has lessened his spring rush period by revising his spray schedule. 4,000 acres early enough for crabgrass control virtually im-possible Š even with four E-Z-Go trucksters, marketed from the Minneapolis company, and two large spray rigs. Pleased with results from previous experiments with dor-mant herbicide applications, Turf Specialists treated 300 acres of front lawns in last year be-tween November 15 and Decem-
ber 1 to get a jump on the crab-grass and this spring's blitz of anxious customers. "It's usually too wet to spray all that acreage in spring," Hutchinson says. "By using dor-
mant applications in late fall, it actually extends our season. We used to apply herbicides only in the spring, but now we can spray 
from November 15th until 
December 1st on a dormant basis. "The Betasan label calls for a minimum 7V2-pound rate of ac-tive ingredient per acre, but we use 10 pounds." he said. All of the herbicide should stay in the top one-half inch of soil over winter, but if any does leach, the 10-pound rate gives us a 25 percent buffer. We expect to get about 98 percent crabgrass control this spring from the dor-mantly applied herbicide." Hutchinson says the remain-ing acreage with crabgrass will be sprayed with the herbicide around the first week of April, 
adding that his crew will be un-der less pressure this season since 300 acres are already treated. If the program is suc-cessful, Hutchinson says more 
acreage will be dormantly sprayed next fall. Turf Specialists also has ex-perimented with spring herbi-cide applications on dormantly seeded ryegrasses. "We've done some dormant overseeding of various improved 
ryegrasses," Hutchinson says. "We cut the seed into the soil about three-quarters of an inch 
deep with a Rogers seeder followed by a drag mat. The following spring we apply Betasan with a four-ounce rate of Banvel-D when the emerging rye is at the two-leaf stage," he said. 
Banvel-D is manufactured by Velsical Chemical Co., Chicago. to page 38 Embark Plant Growth Regulator Puts You In Command-Embark 2*S ŁRead label instructions carefully before application. Embark" is a registered trademark of the 3M Company Slows Turf Growth When and Where You Need It. This spring and summer, you decide when to send your mowers into action! "Embark" Plant Growth Regulator reduces turf growth without injuring grass or inhibiting root development. That means less mowing and more time for other jobs. A spray application of "Embark" Plant Growth Regulator on actively growing turf lasts up to eight weeks. For hard-to-mow areasŠroughs, along fences, highway embankmentsŠEmbark" Plant Growth Regulator keeps most commonly-grown species* of grass on hold. Saves equipment and labor. Plus takes the pressure off a busy season. This year make "Embark" Plant Growth Regulator part of your turf management. It's the common sense way to cut mowing and trimming costs. Distribution of "Embark" Plant Growth Regulator for commercial turf is planned for many areas of the country this season. For a listing of "Embark" Plant Growth Regulator distributors in your area, write: Agrichemicals/3M 223-6SE, 3M Center St. Paul, MN 55101 LAWN CARE INDUSTRY Marketplace by Bob Earley, editor and Dan Moreland, assistant editor Houston Houston is in a boom, with no bust in sight. The city is increasingly being built on petroleum-related industries and services. Acknowledged as the "golden buckle" of the Sun Belt, Houston has captured over 200 corpora-tions from other cities in the past eight years. It continues to lead the nation in housing starts, while its cost of living is one of the lowest in the country. Its pop-
ulation is currently almost 2.4 million, and is expected to grow 10.9 percent to 2.64 million by 1982, according to the Marketing Economics Institute. Its popula-tion figures ranks it 11th among 
major cities, and its rate of popu-lation growth is higher than any of the top 20 cities. All of this growth has not mis-sed the attention of Houston's lawn care industry. There are 
presently more than 90 com-
panies listed under the "Lawn 
Maintenance" section of the Houston Yellow Pages. There is a predominance of landscape 
maintenance companies to ser-vice the building boom of office and condominium complexes. Also, ChemLawn opened its first branch in the early 1970's with 
the standard liquid spray pro-gram, but changed in the mid-1970's to a dry, five-round pro-gram. And more companies Š including some notables that 
have traditionally been strictly involved in landscape mainte-nance Š are now moving into the residential market heretofore 
dominated by ChemLawn's two substantial branches and compa-nies like Pampered Lawns. Most residential and com-mercial/industrial lawns are St. Augustinegrass, although bermudagrass hydroseeding is becoming more popular. The main cultural problems are chinch hugs and brown patch. John Cummings, president of Sun Group Services, says that 1,-000 persons a week are relocating to the Houston area, and adds that "if a lawn care 
business cannot make it in Houston, it can't make it any-where." Dan Meyers, branch manager of one of ChemLawn Corp.'s branches, feels Houston has the 
potential to be one of that com-
panies "biggest markets in the future." A number of Houston lawn care businessmen give their thoughts on their business and 
the Houston market in the following pages. A partial listing 
of some other Houston lawn care 
companies would include: Ihrig-
Yoder Landscape, Inc., Houston 
Landscape Systems, South-scapes, Landscape Management, Inc., Lawns by Northwest, Ever-green Lawn & Tree, Growth Systems, Inc., Accent Lawns, Perm-A-Lawn, Inc., Dun-Rite 
Lawn Maintenance, Lawns, Un-limited, Texlawn, Trimlawn, and Timberline Lawn Clinic. For an inside look at how eleven Houston lawn care busi-nessmen view the Houston lawn care market and their place in it, read on. "When one of our customers yells 'jump' we ask 'how high?'" is the way Charles Racusin, 32, of Environmental Landscape Ser-vices, Inc., Houston describes his customer-handling approach. It sounds a little boastful, but after spending a little time with him, and also talking to some of his 
competition, one gets the idea that it's true. "We deliver what we say we are going to," he told LAWN CARE INDUSTRY. "Our attitude is that we are going to provide a first-class job. We are human, 
and if we make a mistake, we are going to eat it, even if we have to lose money. We stand behind our jobs, but we don't bid jobs that we don't think we can provide 
our level of services on either." The company began in 1972 providing grounds maintenance for commercial institutions. Last year the company put two crews 
on the road handling sprinkler repairs, a market that Racusin says is "hot." He plans on going to four crews this year if the de-
mand keeps up. Jay Finegold is Racusin's technical man, and Gordon Creaser, a former Lawn Doctor franchisee in the Washington, D.C. area, was recently hired to head up what will be the 
company's newest division this 
lawn care season Š a chemical 
lawn care company called En-vironmental Lawn Care. "We have been talking and planning chemical lawn care for awhile and we feel confident," Racusin said. "We are spending a lot of money to get it going, and we are going to be offering a first-class dry product. ChemLawn does an excellent 
job, hut I don't think anybody's product is going to dominate the 
market. Our service will be com-
parable, hut we feel that because we are a smaller local company, that we have an opportunity to provide a more personalized ser-vice. Our service will probably cost more, but we feel that in the long run, our customers are going to be getting what they are pay-ing for." Racusin says that the En-vironmental Lawn Care mar-keting strategy is going to be direct Š "we are not going to babysit or pamper the market-place." It will be basically a dry-application program, with some spray applications also. He says the company is going to be enacting a little bit different pro-motional approach, and that he plans on having 2,000 customers on the books by the end of his first year. At present, the company has almost 200 maintenance accounts on the books, all the way from a "hot dog stand" to large, in-dustrial developments. His ac-
counts range from a low of $100 a month to $7,500 a month, although he has had accounts as large as $15,000 a month. A little less than half of his accounts are on a monthly contract and bill-ing. His gross is in the vicinity of $1 million dollars annually. "We don't deal with condo-miniums or apartments," he said. 
"They aren't dependable ac-counts, you have to deal with too many people that you have to please. The budgets are low to start out with, but they want first-class service at third-class rates." The company does not do big-acreage mowing, but does get in-volved with rights-of-way work along freeways. They do work on trees up to about a six-inch caliper. During peak times of the season, the company has about 
40 employes out on jobs. They use 72-inch Hustler mowers manufactured by Excel In-dustries, Hesston, They also use 52-inch Groundsmasters 
manufactured by Toro Co., Min-neapolis, and quite a bit of equipment manufactured by the 
Jacobsen Div. of Textron, Racine, Wis. especially hand mowers, which he buys at "100 a pop." He also uses hand mowers manufac-tured by Flymo Products Co., Woodbridge, N.J. Other equipment he uses in-cludes backpack blowers manufactured by Echo Div., Kioritz Corp. of America, North-brook, 111., and trimmers manufactured just down the road 
from his offices at Weed Eater, Inc. Racusin's advertising consists of Yellow Pages, direct mail, per-sonal canvassing and outdoor ad-
vertising. Small billboards run him anywhere from $400 to $1,-
000 a month. His company also recently became a dealer Turf-Vac Corp., Signal Hill, Calif. The development of The Spencer Co., Houston, over the past 20 years might be typical of the growth of some of the larger, more professional companies in-volved in lawn maintenance across the country. Company president Len Spencer started the company in 1959 and was largely involved in outdoor maintenance. His customer list grew, and so did de-mands for landscaping installa-tion jobs, so he went into design and installation. From the start, he was always involved in chemical application. In the early 1970's, he began to give a hard look to the coming indoor tropical plant surge, and began a to page 18 mm!!!!!! Ł IIIIIIHIII Iti > HOUSTON from page 17 service for indoor tropical plant leasing, which has become very successful. At present, the company has four divisions: its outdoor main-tenance division, which handles about 95 percent com-mercial/industrial and apart-ments and condominiums; a landscape division, which han-dles both design and build, and will also work from a plan prepared by another landscape architect; the indoor division, which handles leasing and main-tenance of plants, and also han-dles wholesale sales; and finally, 
its chemical division, which dies industrial herbicide and in-sect control, and also is develop-ing a residential chemical lawn 
care program. The work breaks down to about 50 percent inside and 50 
percent outside work. Of the out-side work, about 70 percent is maintenance, 20 percent land-scaping, and 10 percent chemical lawn care. The company has met its goals of 35 percent growth the last three years, to bring it to its present $2 million annual gross. Jay Finegold, Environmental Landscape Services, Inc., Houston: "We're expanding our landscape maintenance business into chemical lawn care for the residential market because we feel the Houston area has great potential." Spencer counts about 500 customers on its books, and dur-ing peak times of the season, has about 100 employes. As with most lawn care businessmen across the country, he says per-sonnel and labor problems are one of his prime concerns. And 
he is helping to do something about it. He has been involved with the federal Department of Labor and Houston Community College 
in a pilot apprentice program for eight green industry trades. The first courses began last month, and involve 144 classroom hours 
and at least 2,000 hours working 
for companies in the field. "The apprentices will learn to handle equipment, and all other aspects of the business," Spencer told LAWN CARE INDUSTRY. 
"We are aiming at coming up The Astrodomain consists of the Astrodome, Astrohall, Astroarena, Astroworld and the Astro Village Hotel Complex, covering approximately one square mile. with careers in the green in-dustry for these apprentices, and we are also hoping to increase the professionalism level for the industry. It is up to companies 
like us to put something back into the industry because we owe so 
much to it." The chemical lawn care pro-gram Spencer is developing for the Houston area will "be at a lit-
tle higher level" than what now exists, he said. "We are going at a program that is going to build up the customer's lawn over the long 
haul," he said. "We are not using the price approach, and we hope to be able to show a real differ-ence for the better in the lawns 
we maintain." His company will be offering a series of programs to the home-owner Š "custom programs tailored to what that particular 
lawn needs," he said. "We will offer care of trees, whatever the customer needs. There will be no 'as needed' clauses in our pro-grams, no guessing, we will do it all." He says his program will probably charge $200 to the typical homeowner, as opposed 
to a typical $125 program. Spencer said that most of the lawns in the Houston area are still St. Augustinegrass, although the growth of hydromulching is bringing in more bermudagrass lawns. For chinch bug problems, he uses Diazinon, manufactured by Ciba-Geigy Corp., Greens-boro, N.C. For white grubs, he uses Dursban, manufactured by Dow Chemical Co., Midland, Mich. Control of brown patch in the fall is handled either by Terraclor, manufactured by Olin Corp., Little Rock, Ark. or Dithane, manufactured by Rohm & Haas Co., Philadelphia. For 
control of chickweed, knotweed and clover, he uses Balan, manufactured by Elanco Pro-ducts Co., Indianapolis. For much of his dry applica-tion work, he uses units 
manufactured by Cyclone Seeder Co., Urbana, Ind. For 
spray work on trees and else-where, he is building his own units. For mowing, he has almost 20 60-inch units manufactured by both Yazoo Mfg. Co., Jackson, Miss., and Howard Price Turf Equipment Co., Chesterfield, 
Mo. He also is experimenting 
with units manufactured by Dienes Corp. For hand mowing, he utilizes self-propelled Lawn-
Boy units, manufactured by Gale Products, Galesburg, 111. He has four full-time mechanics. Spencer feels that the lawn care industry is getting more 
sophisticated, and more impor-tantly, more professional. "We are getting beyond the point where we are looked at as 
'yard men,'" he said. "Com-panies have to raise their costs, so that they can afford to pay good people that are going to stay with them. I think the future of the industry in Houston is good, we can look for a steady growth pattern, nothing phenomenal, and professionalism will be im-portant in this growth." Dependability of service and open communication with one's 
clients are the two primary features of running a successful lawn care business, according to Dwane and Dean McNabb, co-owners of Pampered Lawns Inc., 
of Houston. "We just picked up a new $40,000 account because there was a lack of communication be-tween a customer and a Len Spencer, Spencer Co., Houston: "There are no 'as needed' clauses in our chemical lawn care programs, no guessing, we do it all." company," Dwane, 43, said. "The main complaint we hear from new customers is that their previous lawn care service didn't do the things they said they were going to do. The key is to find out the customers' needs and then fulfill those needs." Dean, 62, added, "We try to be honest with our customers. We tell them we're not infallible and that we can make mistakes, but when we do something 
wrong we encourage them to call and let us know. We try to keep the lines of communication open." Evidently the brothers have kept the lines of communication 
open often enough since 1967, 
when they formed the company, to develop about 100 accounts. They gross about $1 million per year with an annual growth rate of 10 to 15 percent. Pampered Lawns provides a number of services for com-
mercial properties including weekly maintenance, fertiliza-tion, and insect treatments. 
"Anything that needs to be done 
to a lawn, we do it. We provide total lawn care," Dwane said. He added that there has been a growing demand by Houston 
businesses for the quality main-tenance services lawn care com-
panies can provide. "The lawn 
care industry is developing more and more rapidly as companies find they can't do the work them-selves," he said. One of the consequences of the growing demand for lawn care service is the rapid develop-ment of new and often ill-equipped lawn care companies. "There are a few companies which have been in business several years who are confident they can provide good service, but each year there are 20 or so new companies which just muddy up the waters and then go 
out of business," Dwane said. "These small companies have 
the best intentions when they start out, but eventually they overextend themselves and are unable to do satisfactory work." Obviously the Houston mar-ket is far from being saturated, 
but both brothers refuse to ex-ploit the market. "It would be very easy for us to go out and double our business, but the 
work wouldn't get done the way it should be done," Dwane said. About 60 percent of Pam-pered Lawn's business is based 
on servicing apartments and townhouses and about 40 percent comes from servicing industrial 
plants and office buildings. The 
brothers have also secured con-tracts from development firms in the Houston area. They provide maintenance services for entry-ways, medians, and other land the firms develop. All the company's services are based strictly on annual con-tracts with reduced services dur-ing the winter months. "We've 
found that to get maximum utilization of our workers we must require annual contracts. It's much easier to establish work schedules when you have annual 
contracts," Dwane said. Pampered Lawns does little advertising and depends on referrals for new clients. "Most of our business comes from peo-ple who have seen our work, liked it, and called us," Dwane said. "We've tried direct mail ad-
vertising and ads in the Yellow 
Pages, but they have not been ef-
fective." Both brothers said one of the major problems their company has encountered is finding a durable push mower for com-
mercial use. They currently use about 50 mowers from a number 
of different manufacturers. "You name it and we've tried it," Dwane said, "but none of them give us a good performance on a consistent basis. The motors are just not designed to hold up to commercial use." He said they have tried to ex-tend the engine life of the mowers by changing filters every day and the oil each week, but it 
hasn't helped. "We use each of them less than 20 hours per week, but after about 150 hours of use they break down. We're 
forced to replace the mowers every two to three months and its very expensive," Dwane said. Other equipment used by the company includes six Howard and six Yazoo Riding Mowers, both with a 60-inch cutting width, 
six 35- to 45-horsepower Massey-Ferguson and Ford tractors. A second problem the company encountered has been controlling their costs. In an at-tempt to secure a better knowl-edge of their costs the company recently purchased a new com-
puter which will provide them 
with a finer breakdown of opera-tional costs. Both brothers predict a "tre-mendous amount of growth" in the Houston lawn care market in 
the future. "And as long as we provide quality services we will have all of the new business we want to take on," Dwane said to page 20 T M SOPilsSOil Gypsum adds profitable extra sales b your lawn care business! y J I: Sof'n-SoilŽ Lawn & Garden Gypsum is a natural soil conditioner you can depend on to help 
boost your business two ways, two times a year. In Spring, application of Sof'n-Soil gypsum helps make fertilizers work more effectively all season long 
by loosening up heavy clay. This allows root systems to develop normally to keep lawns thriving all summer. In Fall, application of Sof'n-Soil gypsum works like health insurance to protect against the harmful effects of winter de-icing salt. Sodium chloride is toxic to most plants, causes heavy clay soils to tighten, keeps water from leaching out the salt. The available calcium in Sof'n-Soil gypsum replaces toxic sodium attached to the clay soil particles, permits new seed or sod to grow normally. Look into the multi- u profit opportunities of adding Sof'n-Soil gypsum v :;j// 
benefits to your services. Remind ecologically-conscious prospects that Sof'n-Soil gypsum is non-toxic, noncaustic, harmless to plants, pets and people. Ł For specifics, write to us at 101 S. WackerDr., Chicago, III. 60606, Dept. LC-29. 1 v / if/?-/' CHEMICALS DIVISION UNITED STATES GYPSUM PRIMARY SUPPLIER OF SECONDARY PLANT NUTRIENTS A nightview of the ever-changing skyline of Houston surrounded by freeways that will take you through or around the city. Most of the downtown buildings are less than 15 years old. HOUSTON from page 18 ChemLawn Corp., based in Columbus, Ohio, opened up the Houston market in 1972. Dan Meyers, 40, who started with the company in Troy in 1969, was the first branch manager. This past 
year, the company split into two branches Š one in the north part of town and one in the west. Jon Custer is coming down from the Minneapolis branch to handle the west branch. Meyers, after a stint working in ChemLawn's home office in the marketing department, is again manager of the north branch. "The Houston area is a great growing market," Meyers told LAWN CARE INDUSTRY. "It is 
a good place to work, the people 
are sincere and not snobbish. I think it is one of the fastest grow-ing markets, and has the poten-tial to be one of ChemLawn's big-gest cities. Of course there is go-ing to be a lot more competition, but the future looks great." Like many other cities in the ChemLawn network, the Houston program calls for five applications, from mid-February to Thanksgiving. Unlike the ChemLawn program in most 
other cities, the Houston pro-gram is basically a dry program, because of problems with burn using a spray program in hot climates. ChemLawn switched to a dry program in 1975, after opening the market with the typical spray program. The first application includes fertilizer and weed control; the second and third a fertilizer and insecticide; the fourth and fifth, fertilizer and a fungicide. Iron is also included in many of the ap-plications. Meyers says that "99.9 per-cent" of the lawns he cares for 
are St. Augustinegrass. Because 
of the expected brown patch problems, ChemLawn includes a fungicide in its basic program. There are also some problems with the virus St. Augustine Decline Š appropriately 
referred to in turf literature as SAD Š and Meyers says that just about all of the lawns that exper-ience SAD usually have to be replaced. Sometimes if the customer fertilizes heavily in the infected place, enough new growth might help the problem, but it will probably never get as green as the rest of the lawn. Meyers said that the average size lawn is about 6,000 square feet in the Houston area. The ChemLawn minimum is $20.50 per application for 4,000 square feet, and the price goes up about $2.25 per 1,000 square feet after that. The company also has a substantial business with foot-ball fields, schools, banks and other such areas in Houston. The Houston-area lawn care market is a "sleeping giant," ac-cording to Richard B. Boyd, owner of Ford's Chem Service, Inc., in Pasadena, Texas, just out-side of Houston. "For years we've all walked through the money and never bothered to 
pick it up. The market is wide 
open right now." Ford purchased Chem Ser-vice in 1959 and currently grosses about $750,000 annually. The company provides a number of services other than lawn care, in-cluding general pest control, retail and wholesale chemical sales, and termite control. About one-half of Chem Service's 
business is based on chemical sales while about $50,000 of the company's annual gross comes from its 150 lawn care clients. Although lawn care is not the main focus of the company, Boyd still provides complete chemical lawn care services. "First we do 
a chemical analysis of the soil to the plants do ($6-$7 per hour) or you would have to charge too much for your services." However, Boyd said he would like to expand his lawn care ser-vices if he could find enough 
good help and keep the quality of his service high. Boyd, like the owners of many lawn care com-panies in the Houston area 
would like to be the one to wake the "sleeping giant." Owen Walker, 54, owner of Walker Industries, Houston runs 
big business. During peak times of the sum-mer, he has 200 employes at any given time, about 125 of which work with him year-round. He has eight horticulture graduates as area supervisors and 20 crews with foreman on the road at 7:00 a.m. each morning, six days a week. He has been in business 11 years, has had growth of about 25 percent each year, and now his 
business is well past the million-
dollar mark. He says his business has grown because he stresses train-ing, preventive maintenance and 
quality. "Sometimes," he says, "the "Homeowners and business in Houston are tired of companies that put bids in and accept jobs that they can't service they have been burned too many times . . . ." Owen Walker, Walker Industries, Houston determine its needs," he said. "Some soils need more nitrogen or contain more potash than 
others. This should be deter-mined before a feeding program 
is set up. A lot of companies don't do this, but they really should." After the soil is analyzed Chem Service develops a feeding program. "We try to treat the 
lawns every 60 days the year 
round," he said. "It's easy to 
burn the lawns by applying too much fertilizer so we put a con-sistent application on six times a year to prevent this." Boyd said he used Nutrex fertilizer last year, but was not satisfied and is currently shopping for a new brand. The company also provides three insecticide treatments and two fungicide treatments per year. Insecticides he uses in his program include Dursban and Diazinon. Boyd said he uses the Yellow Pages and direct mail to adver-tise, but most of his customers come from word-of-mouth adver-tising. "We've been here a long time so a lot of people know about us." He added that he also secures business from com-panies who purchase his chemicals, but then provide in-
ferior lawn care service. "Their 
customers here about us and of-ten decide to give us a call/' he said. Boyd said he would go into the lawn care business more heavily if the labor situation were better in the Houston area. "It's very difficult to find good people you can train," he said. "It's also hard to find good peo-ple to mow lawns here because you can't pay them as much as lawn care industry reminds me of the old boy who comes along 
and gets jobs whitewashing 
barns or fences and everything is just fine. But then a rain comes along and washes everything off, 
but he's long gone by then. "A lot of people in this in-dustry don't stand behind their work, and homeowners and busi-nesses down here are getting tired of that kind of operator," he said. "They are tired of people putting in bids and accepting jobs that they can't service. They are beginning to demand in-surance certificates and guaran-tees." Walker said that his company carries a $3 million um-
brella insurance policy. "Businesses check your refer-ences down here," he said. 
"They have been burned too many times by guys that come in 
and talk their way into a job that starts up in January or February when things are relatively easy. But then when it gets into weekly work and a little bit of rain hits and they have to let people go because they can't afford to pay them, they can't handle their maintenance jobs. We have enough backup to make the rainy pay days when these other com-panies can't, and we hack-up and guarantee our jobs." Walker said that about 60 per-cent of his million-dollar-plus gross is maintenance, about 25 percent is landscape design and installation, and about 15 percent is irrigation installation. The irrigation work is the fastest growing part of his business, most of it residential. Walker estimates that pro-bably 50 percent of the new 
homes being built in the Houston area have automatic irrigation systems installed. He has five four-man crews and five trucks working year-round on irrigation installation, and says that ex-
ecutives of Toro's Irrigation Div. in Riverside, Calif, estimated that the irrigation business grew 170 percent last year in the city of Houston alone. In addition to Toro systems, he also uses irriga-tion equipment and systems manufactured by the Weather Matic Div. of Telsco Industries, Dallas, and by Moody Sprinkler Co., Santa Ana, Calif. Why the move to more auto-matic irrigation? "People have the money now and they are spending it to land-scape their new homes pro-perly," Walker says. "Also, there are so many people moving here, and so many new homes being 
built, that the water pressure gets very low at times. To get the proper amount of water on their lawns and landscapes, they need 
to water at 2:00 a.m. or 3:00 a.m. in the morning, and that is why they want automatic systems." He also said that in Houston, there is a service charge based on water consumption. Water that goes back into the ground and to the water table is taxed at 
a much cheaper rate than water that goes into the sewers. The automatic systems have a separate meter to measure this usage. Walker says he has a two-month waiting list of people that want his company to install irrigation systems. He said he provides total maintenance to his accounts, which are almost completely 
commercial/industrial. He has 
some residential accounts on the books, but only on lots of about two acres or more. He charges 
his accounts on a monthly basis to keep his cash flow up during the slower winter months, although there is about a 40-week growing season in the Houston area. Some of his bigger accounts are Houston Light & Power, Southwest Bell, Coca-Cola and Ingersoll-Rand. For his large mowing work, he has about 30 tractors manufac-tured by Ford Tractor Opera-
tions, Troy, Mich., diesels that go all the way from 45 to 60 horse-power. Many of his mower decks on these tractors are manufac-tured by Servis Equipment Co., 
Dallas. For other mowing work, he utilizes 12 Groundmasters with mowing widths between 60 and 74 inches manufactured by Toro Co., Minneapolis. He also has five Hustler units, manufactured 
by Excel Industries, Hesston, 
Kan., and a number of units manufactured by Yazoo Mfg. Co., Jackson, Miss. He also will be trying units this year manufactured by Howard Price Turf Equipment, Inc., Chester-field, Mo., because they are gear-
driven, a fact he says makes for easier maintenance. For close work, he says he buys mowers "by the hundreds" manufactured by Toro, Jacobsen Mfg. Co., Racine, Wis., and Law-
Boy, Galesburg, 111. He likes two-
cycle mowers, because they are 
easier on gas and last longer, 
because "if they are on straight to page 24 WE RECOMMEND LESCOSAN In two seasons, we reduced the crabgrass population from 90%-plus to less than 10%. And this is on big lawns of almost an acre. Lescosan is the mainstay of our crabgrass control program. -^JOHN R. LINKHART Perf-A-Lawn Vice-President (Sales) As John R. Linkhart knows, Lescosan is the answer to pre-emergence crabgrass control. The undeniable proof exists in every application. "Nashville is the premier area for crabgrass. And Lescosan is the main-stay of our crabgrass control pro-gram. It works better on crabgrass and foxtail than any other product." The Perf-A-Lawn profes-sional chemical lawn main-tenance company specializes in liquid spray applications and they're building more than turf. They're building a reputation. "Since we are constantly expanding our franchise market, we must be sure a 
product works. So we recom-mend Lescosan to our franchisees." Lescosan (Betasan*), available in 4E emulsion or 12.5 granules, provides full-season effectiveness on all 
grasses, as well as on a number of ornamentals and ground covers. When Perf-
A-Lawn buys Lescosan from Lakeshore, they buy from the formulator. And for Perf-A-Lawn, that means quality and savings! If quality, savings and performance are selling 
Lescosan to you, take advan-tage of our toll-free informa-tion service and call Barb today. Those east of the Mississippi can reach her by dialing 1-800-321-5951. (In Ohio, dial 1-800-362-7413.) If you're west of the Missis-sippi, call Barb collect at 
216-323-7544. She'll have our represen-tative contact you so you'll know why Perf-A-Lawn rec-ommends Lescosan and how our other fine LESCO Prod-ucts (including LESCO 36 Sulfur Coated Urea) are selling themselves every 
day! Our LESCO Quality Prod-ucts and Friendly Service are always as close as your phone. Ł(BetasanŠRegistered TM of Stauffer Chemical Company.) LESC# PRODUCTS Division of Lakeshore Equipment & Supply Co. 300 S. ABBE ROAD, ELYRIA, OHIO 44035 A FAMILY OF FINE PRODUCTSŠLescosan 12.5GŠLescoreneŠLeseo 4ŠLescoborŠLescoparŠLescopexŠLeseo Non-Selective Herbicide Leseo MSMAŠLeseo Thiram 75WŠLescozymeŠLakeshore Chinch Bug & Sod Webworm Control TERSAN. fungicides Most customers' lawns are targets for diseaseŠand an opportunity for add-on profitsŠwith the TERSAN disease control program. It's like finding money in the grass. Because disease control is add-on business, an additional service to your basic lawn care programs, with your regular customers. And at higher margins than your other services, too. But you have to spot the disease symptoms early, identify the disease, and treat it quickly with the right fungicide. That's where the TERSAN disease 
control program comes in. The four TERSAN fungicides give you a specific, effective control for every lawn disease you're likely to spot. No guesswork. No spray-and-hope, cure-all 
treatments. Plan now to pick up those extra profits right under your feet. Mail in the coupon for more facts on identifying and controlling lawn diseases. E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. (Inc.) TERSAN Lawn Products-Room N-2533 Wilmington, Delaware 19898 Please send me your literature on lawn disease control. Name Title Company. Address_ City. State. -Zip-Services offered. No. of present accounts:. .No. of employees:. With any chemical, follow labeling instructions and warnings carefully. (MPOU) Lawn Products m Ed oc P C/D a 2 W OS < U 2 HOUSTON from page 20 gas, a guy trying to make good production will run them wide open all day and burn them out too quickly." For his fertilization and pesti-cide needs, he buys about 50 tons of combination granular pro-
ducts manufactured by O. M. 
Scott & Sons, Marysville, Ohio. 
He says the Scott prices are high 
compared to some prices on the market, but that he gets "10 times the coverage" than what he gets with some other products. About 
85 percent of his lawns are St. 
Augustinegrass and the rest bermudagrass. Chinch bugs and brown patch are his biggest 
cultural problems. Although he does no adver-tising he is listed in the Yellow Pages, and calls it "dollar for dollar the best money I spend." 
For his multiple listings, he spends about $800 a month. "Supervision is the key to this business," he says. His area 
supervisors rate every job after it is done, because "this old man doesn't like being embarrassed. Labor today is sometimes kind of like handling horses. Although I've got good people, some others in the industry complain that their labor knows what they can get away with, and they will go to the limit if you don't draw the line. I run a tight ship, I am here six days a week from 7:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. We are constantly working to motivate our people. We have reviews after 30 days of these work year-round. After spending a little bit of time talking with Cummings, a listener comes up with about five 
main themes: Ł "We don't like to bid in-stallation jobs, and we especially don't like to bid maintenance jobs to somebody else's specs, Ł "We bill in advance," he said. "I bill on the 25th of the month for the maintenance work we are going to do next month. There is enough work in Houston that we can find the people that are willing to do it this way. When we first take a mainte-nance account on, we might bill "I bill on the 25th of the month for the maintenance work we are going to do next month and ."lataS"90daysiohelpn^ . Ł y, Ž can find the people that are willing to do Ł it this way John Cummings, Sun Group Services, Inc., Houston evaluate their work, and to let them know how they are doing." John Cummings, 29, is presi-dent of Sun Group Services, Inc., Houston. His company will gross $1.5 million this year, and about 60 percent of his total work is landscape maintenance, the rest 
installation. About 80 percent of his total work is commercial/in-
dustrial. During peak times of the season, he has about 50 em-ployes on the payroll, about half because we do a lot more," he told LAWN CARE INDUSTRY. 
"On installation jobs, we like to do our own planning. When you 
are bidding installation work, it just comes down to the guy who has the sharpest pencil. And we're not in the pencil-sharpening business. fine, finer, finest EVERYWHERE rv * ****** , .v.v.%1 .WW* ***** ******! ***** I : y,/;,,' IE ëm THE BEST SEED SHOULD DO MORE THAN GROW GREEN GRASS Acclaimed throughout the world, ADELPHI Ken-tucky Bluegrass seed has been a top performer in density, disease resistance, drought, heat, cold and is completely free of noxious weeds. ADELPHI, a first generation apomictic hybrid, has been chosen by the Plant Variety Protection office in the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture as the stan-dard green color which all other bluegrasses ap-plying for plant protection will be compared to. For uniformity in turf growth, for thicker, greener grass insist upon the best. ADELPHI For information, contact: J & L ADIKES, INC. Jamaica, N.Y. 11423 JONATHAN GREEN & SONS Farmingdale, N.J. 07727 NORTHRUP KING CO. Minneapolis, Minn. 55413 VAUGHAN-JACKLIN CORP. Bound Brook, N.J. 08805 Downers Grove, III. 60515 Post Falls, Idaho 83854 Canadian Inquiries: ROTHWELL SEEDS LTD., Box 511, Lindsay Ont. K9V 4L9 Other International Inquiries NORTHRUP KING CO., Minneapolis, Minn. 55413 (U S Plant Patent NO 3150) THE GREENER KENTUCKY BLUEGRASS them in arrears for one or two months, but then we put them on advance billing. Of our $1.5 million gross this year, I'll only 
have to charge off maybe $4,000. And I hate charge-offs. Ł "The thing that kills you in this business is downtime," he said. "Plants don't have any downtime, and you can't afford 
any either. If a crew knows they 
are going to need four hand 
mowers to get them through their working day, they take five on the job. Ł "Preventive maintenance of equipment is another key to this business," he said. "Our newest truck on the road is a 1976 model, our oldest that goes out every day is a 1968 model. I'm holding my own with the 1976, 
because I am still making pay-ments on it. But the 1968 is a moneymaker, and it will be mak-ing money for me for three more years. And it's because we take care of our equipment. Ł "Companies in the lawn care industry have to be smart enough to charge what they are worth," he said. "When we do bid, and come in with the low bid, we start to worry. Also, a lot of companies go in on a new job and charge $5,000 for an initial clean-up. When they do this, they are asking the customer to pay for their education to know how much they should be charging for that job on a monthly basis. We don't do gorilla clean-ups, we fit 
it into our monthly charge." Cummings has been in business five years, and calls Sun Group one of the "quiet" companies in Houston, relying mostly on referrals and word-of-mouth for most his business. Although the advertising he does do is not that traditional. He advertises in the Houston Business Journal, which reaches 
developers and realty manage-ment companies. A parallel to this might be advertisement in city or regional magazines in metropolitan areas. Also, the direct mail that he does is not the "shotgun" approach that he util-ized when he first got in the busi-ness. Most of the letters that go out now are personalized letters tailored to the potential cus-tomer and his needs after a bit of research. As with most lawn care busi-nessmen across the country, labor is a factor Cummings has to deal with. He starts laborers out 
at $3.25 an hour, but gives them the training to allow them to 
move up the ladder if they are so inclined. "Up the ladder" can be to the point where some of his 
foremen are earning in the vicin-ity of $22,000 a year. "All our people start out at the bottom of the ladder, so that they can learn all aspects of our business from the bottom up," he said. "They all start out at the bottom, but some of them move 
up the ladder faster." He said that it takes about one year or IV2 years for a man to move up to the point where he is ready to run his own crew. He has about 60 commer-cial/industrial jobs on the books that bring in anywhere from $500 
to $7,200 a month in billings. He said that he tries to keep a good mix of customers. "We don't put all of our eggs in the apartment basket, or in the 
condominium or office building basket," he said. "We use condo-miniums for stability. We know that if we do good work, they are not going to roll over on us. This 
is because you are dealing with a homeowner association that usu-ally has one voice." That is the kind of situation Cummings likes the best Š deal-ing with just one person. He said that on some of the larger condo-minium jobs, there is often inter-
ference from some of the individual homeowners. When Sun Group installs a landscape job, a 90-day mainte-
nance contract is built into the price. This is to help guarantee that the installation is cared for properly, at least in the begin-
ning. He said many companies have 35 percent "attrition," or plant deaths on landscape plant-
ings, and that his company is un-
happy if there is more than four or five percent attrition of the 
work that he does. Cummings said that he likes to have all of his jobs no more 
than about eight miles away from his office. Because of the way Houston is spread out, this has necessitated having three differ-ent buildings in the southwest-ern, northwestern and north cen-tral parts of the city. He also re-cently purchased a fourth small building in the northeastern sec-tion of Houston. He has worked it out so that his crews don't usu-ally have to get on any freeways Š which are usually bumper-to-bumper traffic Š and says that it is because he doesn't like to pay for "two guys getting paid for riding in a truck 45 minutes across town.". For his large mowing work, Cummings utilizes hydrostatic-
drive, zero-turning-radius "Grasshopper" units manu-
factured with a 42-inch swath, manufactured by Moridge Mfg. Co., Moundridge, Kan. He likes them because they are light and easy to transport in trailers. He also likes them because they can get a good cut at 10 miles per hour. His units have 12-horse-power, four-cycle Kohler engines, and he says his men 
dump the soil every day. "We spend more on oil," he says, "But we spend a lot less on engines in the long run. He also sharpens and balances the blades on the units every day. In the off-season, the engines go back to the Kohler Co., plant in Kohler, Wis. to be overhauled. For close mowing, he utilizes 35 commercial Lawn-Boy mow-ers manufactured by Gale Prod-ucts in Galesburg, 111. He still has some of the original units he bought 2V2 years ago, although 
some of them have rebuilt gas tanks and new engines. "We keep them clean, and we can see when a bolt is breaking loose, or if there is some other problem," he said. "We figure that the two-cycle Lawn-Boys are good for about 1,400 hours, but they will go longer than that if you use fresh fuel and fresh oil." He uses clippers manu-factured by Corona Clipper Co., Corona, Calif. More than 90 percent of the lawns he cares for are St. Augus-tinegrass, the rest are bermuda-grass. His biggest problems are chinch bugs and brown patch. He uses Diazinon, manufactured by Ciba-Geigy Corp., Greensboro, N.C. to control the chinch bugs, and Terraclor, manufactured by 
Olin Corp., Little Rock, Ark. for control of brown patch. Under 
his new landscape plantings he uses Agriform tablets, manu-factured by Sierra Chemical Co., Milpitas, Calif. When Cummings costs jobs, he figures he has to get in the 
vicinity of between $100 and $125 
a day for each laborer on a crew. In some cases last year he went to four 10-hour days for his laborers and crews, to help cut down on overtime (he pays time-and-a-half for overtime) and to beat traffic in the morning and then again at night. The foremen worked a fifth day in the shop on maintenance of equipment. He sees only growth for the future of his company and for the 
industry as a whole in the Hous-ton area. He says he expects to be doing a $5 million yearly gross five years from now, split 50-50 
between maintenance and instal-
lation. He also plans on a retail 
nursery in Houston, and land-scape branches in Dallas and San Antonio, with all paperwork handled out of a central Houston office with a $35,000 computer that he is contemplating pur-chasing. Satisfying the customer is the name of the game for Don J. Bun-
nell, 44, president of Chemical Applicators, Pearland, outside of Houston. Even if it means doing 
more than the customer even thinks is necessary. "Many times we go back on a job to do touch-up work if we think it is needed," he told 
LAWN CARE INDUSTRY, "and 
the customer ask us why we are there. When you rely on refer-
rals for your new business, you have to make sure the job is done right." His industrial weed control business is 13 years old, and he has grown about 15 percent a year to bring him to his present annual gross of just under $1.5 million. He has about 35 em-ployes during peak periods of the year, with outlets in Beaumont, Bay City and the Houston area. Most of his work is done at refinery sites, chemical plants, oil well sites, tank batteries, pipe to page 26 TANKS FOR THE MEMORY! For the first time in pesticide history, "The Silver Skunk" 
gives you the convenience and precision required for urban and industrial spray operations. It is a revolutionary new portable high-pressure pesticide sprayer. Utilizing the exclu-
sive Micro-Injection System, "The Silver Skunk" accurately meters small amounts of pesticide concentrate directly into the high-pressure water flow. You may eliminate bulky mix-ing tanks, for "The Silver Skunk" allows you to couple See me at your nearest dealer! directly to a garden hose for a water source. "The Silver Skunk" features portability, simple calibration, allows the operator to easily switch from one concentrate to another, records total gallons used on each job and is designed for extended service life. The unit comes complete with 100 feet of high-pressure spray hose, a wand, three nozzles and adapters. You're ready to go to work the moment "The Silver Skunk" walks through the door. Power Spray Technology, inc. Suite 8, Township Square Building Hook and Calcon Hook Roads Sharon Hill, PA 19079 Phone:(215)461-6331 HOUSTON from page 25 yards, small manufacturing plants, along pipeline rights-of-way and along power company rights-of-way. He has 30 spray rigs outfitted with fiberglass tanks anywhere from 300 to 600 gallons. "The fiberglass tanks require less maintenance, in fact, just about no maintenance," he said. "Once in awhile you might get a crack or a hole in one of them, but that is the only problem. I've got tanks I have been using for eight years with no problems. There is no corrosion and no sandblasting necessary." He uses 10- and 20-gallon-per-minute John Bean pumps manu-factured by FMC Agricultural Machinery Div., Jonesboro, Ark. He also uses 11-horsepower motors manufactured by Tele-dyne-Wisconsin Motor, Mil-waukee. Bunnell has almost 700 indus-trial weed control accounts in the 
Houston area, to Brownsville to San Antonio and in other parts of the state. He says there are seven or eight other companies in the area doing industrial weed con-trol. Competitors say he is by far the largest company involved strictly in industrial weed con-trol, probably doing as much vol-ume as the other companies com-
bined. His basic program calls for three or four visits to each site 
during the year, depending on the requirements of the account. He charges anywhere from $175 to $250 an acre, again depending on the needs of the account. He has two jobs that bring in more than $100,000 a year, and some as small as $50 a spray. Johnsongrass and nutgrass are his biggest problem weeds, 
and he uses Hyvar for control, manufactured by Du Pont Co., Wilmington, Del. He uses almost 
40,000 pounds of Hyvar in the course of a year. For Harold R. Zick and James H. Eckhardt, co-owners of Green Up Chem Lawn Care, entry into the Houston lawn care market 
proved to be relatively easy. "Houston is a pretty wide open market," Zick said, "and we didn't have much trouble get-ting started. I was really sur-
prised there weren't more lawn care companies in the area." Both Zick, 27, and Eckhardt, 34, 
have degrees in agronomy. The two-year-old company provides chemical lawn care ser-vices including insect and dis-ease control. Chem Lawn Care's program consists of a series of five applications of "balanced 
fertilizer" per year, along with one fungicide and two insecti-cide treatments. Company equipment in-cludes two pickup trucks, three 
Cyclone spreaders, and one 150-gallon spray rig which Zick built himself. The company also em-ploys one additional worker. About 95 percent of Chem Lawn Care's $95,000 annual busi-ness comes from the residential market. "We primarily go for the homeowner because they are easier to sell," Zick said. "Most of the people we come across in the commercial lawn care field want complete lawn care ser-vice like mowing and edging, but we don't do that." Zick described 1977 as the company's "testing year. We got 
just enough customers (120) to go out and experiment with chemi-
cals and fertilizers. Then in 1978 we went out full force with advertising and increased the number of our customers to 860." Zick said the company has had more success with direct mail advertising than with news-
paper inserts or hand-delivered ads. "We received about a one percent return on direct mail 
adds in 1977 and no more than a few serious lawn care problems in the Houston area. "Chinch 
bugs are a fairly common pest, 
but with the kind of program we use we don't have a lot of prob-
lems with them. Only new 
customers, whose lawns are already infested with them, pre-sent a problem. "Brown patch is by far our worst problem, but our fungi-cide program in the fall usually solves the problem," Zick added. Because Chem Lawn Care is a relatively small company, they 
are better able to provide to their customers, a more personal ser-vice, an important ingredient to their success, Zick said. "We not only try to put out a good product, but we also try to get back to our customers within a day after they contact us about something, We don't just put on an application of fertilizer and 
disappear," he said. "Hopefully, our customers just have to call us once." He explained the company's billing procedure. "We simply do an application and leave the bill 
and a self-addressed stamped envelope at the customer's home. Up to now we haven't had any 
problems with the procedure." If Chem Lawn Care's growth rate in the past two years is any 
indication, the future of the Houston lawn care market ap-pears bright. "I really don't see the Houston market getting competitive for several years yet. There will still be room for 
growth even if several new companies come in this year," Zick said. on the lawn care service industry by Lawn Care Industry research department. Profiles types of businesses comprised in the market universe; types of customer services performed; equipment inventories; buying habits and more. $2.50 per copy. Please send me Name reports at $2.50 per copy. Address. City _ State, Zip, L4WN OIRE INDUSTR/ 9800 Detroit Ave., Cleveland, Ohio 44102 Attn: Fran Franzak one-half percent return on news-paper and hand-delivered ads in 1978. This year we plan to return to direct mail advertising," he said. According to Zick, there are John H. Schrum, owner of John's Landscaping said the key to his modest business success is to keep the customers happy and to page 28 Timmons TOOLS,TIPS & TECHNIQUES Estimating landscape maintenance costs Before a landscape maintenance execu-tive can estimate a job or submit a bid, he must be fully aware of his firm's capabilities and standards of excellence, says Frank Timmons, president of Ladybug Industries, Inc., Jacksonville, Fla. Speaking at Hort-I-Scope, a University of Florida short course held late last year, Timmons also said that his firm only offers its clients full maintenance contracts to protect itself and insure that all phases of maintenance are performed correctly and professionally. The course was also sponsored by the Florida Nurserymen and Growers Associ-ation. Bruce Saar of Ladybug also appeared on the program with Timmons. Saar said that all aspects of a maintenance job are considered before it is bid. Among the maintenance consid-
erations are: Size of mowing areas, amount and type of edg-ing, clearance of clippings and leaves, pruning, weed and 
pest control, and prevailing labor costs in the area. Saar recommends maintaining clear lines of communi-cation between the client and maintenance contracting firm to avoid disputes. All Ladybug foremen are issued job con-
tracts so they know their crews' responsibilities and obliga-tions for each client. A landscape maintenance firm must know the capabili-ties of its labor and equipment, hire people with leadership potential and be able to confidently delegate responsibility if 
it is to be a successful professional operation, Timmons said. 
His talk was summarized in a recent issue of American Nu rseryman. 'The fiberglass tanks require less maintenance . . . I've got tanks I've been using for eight years with no problems. . Don Bunnell, Chemical Applicators, Pearland HQ Before you do anything to your lawn this spring, w Ł Wr the following should be of interest and great help: NATURE'S METHOD Produces THE GREEN MAGIC SYSTEM TO REINFORCE WHAT YOU ALREADY KNOW . . . 1. Nature has a method and a rhythm that makes plants (lawns) grow healthy & beautiful. 2. Man has a distinctive ability that quickly destroys nature's positive responses. Learn how you can help nature improve your lawn & your own professional image. GREEN MAGIC SYSTEM If you are looking for a positive approach to turfgrass management that will pro-duce better results than any other method available, one that will build your image as on authority on a truly professional basis, then you will want to con-sider the GREEN MAGIC SYSTEM There ore available a vast number of fertilizers, weed killers, pesticides and other types of chemicals designed for general application but very few of these take into consideration local soil and environmental conditions. Because of the wide use of these products, and due to the fact that they are manufactured for mass consumption on o national basis, the general public believes that these products are the "cure-all' and therefore, the only method of 
obtaining desired results. But, the opposite has become more and more evident. Instead of grasses and ornamentals becoming more beautiful and stronger, they are becoming weaker and more susceptible to stress conditions, wear and tear, insects, disease, etc. Over 30 years of extensive research has been expended by Agro (hem in developing a system to overcome such problems. As we investigated man's syn-thetic approach to improving the health and vigor of turf grosses and orna 
mentals, it has become evident thot natural methods were far superior and that man's artificial approaches |ust create more problems. The GREEN MAGIC SYSTEM has been developed through these years of ex tensive research. It is a system that actually works with nature, her rhythm and her many natural complexities, one that encourages plants to grow naturally stronger and more resistant to unfavorable environmental and soil conditions 
and other adversities. Rather than trying to create a product to offset arf adverse condition, which has been the standard method of developing products and processes to help grow 
plants healthfully, Agro Chem has directed its research & development towards 
finding out how plants, especially turf grasses, have been able to sustain them 
selves and continue to grow for millions of years without the aid of man. With 
every step of reseorch new discoveries were made, unlocking the secrets of nature and resulting in a complete system that actually encourages plants to grow naturally. This means that they become hardier, sturdier, deeper green in color, have deeper, stronger root systems and become healthier than ever before possible When the plant becomes stronger, it is more capable of resisting insect and disease attacks, adverse weather and other unfavorable conditions that are common to the life of all living organisms. THE DEVELOPMENT OF GREEN MAGIC AS A COMPLETE SYSTEM INVOLVED THE FOLLOWING CONSIDERATIONS: 1. PROVIDING A COMPLETE NUTRITIONAL DIET IN THE PROPER CHEMICAL & PHYSICAL FORMS FOR THE PLANTS DESIRED. Each species of plant requires certain conditions for ideal growth. If these conditions ore met, the plant will grow luxuriantly. Conversely, when these conditions are not met, plants will slow down in their growth, weaken, and 
eventually be replaced by other, less desirable plants that are more odap table to a change in environmental conditions. This process is called "The Evolutionary Process"; where one plant will replace another plant as con-ditions change in a local soil or geographical area Nutrient availability is one of the most important of these conditions and Agro (hem has determined exactly the nutritional requirements of the various turfgrosses to provide optimum vigor and growth Nutritional requirements encompass a complex system that involves not only the pri-mary nutrients I nitrogen, phosphorous, potash), but the secondary and micro nutrients (calcium, magnesium, sulfur, iron, manganese, copper, zinc, boron and many others), all contained in a natural form thot con be absorbed by plants without weakening or damaging the plant, soil or micro organisms life within the soil. Strange as it may seem, most of the ingredients supplied to the soil arti-ficially, by man, are in a form thot is often quite toxic to the plant, soil and micro organism life, as well as being unnatural. Our research studies have shown us thot many ingredients used to stimulate plant growth are applied 
to the soil without any consideration or knowledge of what the plant re-quires and how this whole nutritional system works in nature and without 
any regard to the entire natural cycle that makes nature work so well. Research has shown that nature is not so ready to accept these synthetic, unnatural applications. Even though there may be initial positive signs in growth response, many detrimental things happen with repeated oppli 
cations. Thus, a natural system must take oil this into consideration in order to get a natural growth response. 2. IMPROVING THE SOIL In the turf grass field, the soil has been taken for granted and not much concern has been shown for its improvement or what soil conditions are best 
for growing turf grass Agro (hem's extended research has shown thot the 
soil is one of the most critical components of this natural system and it must 
be handled very carefully because the condition of the soil determines the 
quality and depth of the root system and the over-all health and beauty of 
desirable turf grasses. It has long been known, especially in the farming communities, that con-tinual application of chemical fertilizers and pesticides to the soil reduces the productivity of the soil by killing soil microbes and destroying soil oggregotes which causes many problems such as: Excessive amounts of un-natural erosion run-off and pollution of the underground water tables, streams, ponds and other natural water holding areas. The soil, instead of becoming more productive and building up its organic matter residues and its micro organism activities, becomes drastically 
depleted of its organic matter content and often times becomes stratified, with layers of sand, silt and clay making the soil more compact and less 
penetrable by air, water and nutrients. The soil becomes less suitable for 
the growth of desirable plants and encourages their roots to grow toward the surface instead of deeper into the soil. 3. THE IMPORTANCE OF SOIL ORGANISMS Soil organisms are responsible for natural decomposition of dead organic matter and development of the essential organic matter and humus within the soil A highly organic soil is a very productive soil which is capable of 
supporting optimum plant growth. Soil organisms include bacteria, fungi, and virus organisms, plus many other living creatures within the soil. These 
contribute to the soil complex and are responsible for the natural relationships between plants and soils. The application of various types of fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides has on immediate impact on the life within the soil. From continual use or misuse of such products, the soil can be changed from a desirable to an un desirable condition which diminishes the health and vigor of the desirable plants. If these beneficial soil organisms are missing, they are replaced under the GREEN MAGK SYSTEM. Such continual chemical applications destroy the 
beneficial microbes that play a major role in bringing nitrogen into the soil 
and making the complete chain of nutritional elements available for plant consumption. These micro organisms are responsible for the decomposition of plant litter (mat & thatch in lawns) ond when the microbes are destroyed, mat & thatch does not decompose, but instead, accumulates at the soil sur-
face, restricting the penetration of oir, water and nutrients, which there fore restrict the penetration of roots into the soil. This situation encourages 
these roots to grow on the surface Š creating additional mat & thatch oc 
cumulation. Mat & thatch is unnatural and undesirable because it holds moisture (like a sponge^ on the surface of the soil. Sunlight warms it and creates a con-dition of high humidity and high temperature which is ideal for the inva-
sion of pathogenic disease, insects and other unfavorable occurrances. Considerable research was undertaken to look into the pathogenic organisms and insects that primarily invade turf grasses. Insects, fungus ond 
viral disease are constantly associated with turf grasses in nature, only when man interferes, using his artificial methods, do these pathogens com-
monly get out of control where attacks reach epidemic proportions. Once the growth characteristics and life cycles of such pathogenic organisms were understood, there was a much better chance of providing a natural control 
program without the use of extensive amounts of fungicides and pesticides. THE GREEN MAGK SYSTEM is a natural control program and therefore, helps destroy such pestulance problems 4. ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS Because plants respire or breathe just as animals do, considerations must be given towards the quality of the air ond what it contains in the form of 
gasses and other elements which could be regarded as pollutants. Air 
quality plays o vital role in the plant environment. This relationship has been studied and the knowledge gained by Agro (hem has been applied in the development of the GREEN MAGK SYSTEM. 5. SOIL TESTING "You don't know what you don't know". One of the prime reasons for the gradual weakening of the grass and the destruction of the soil is the mis-
application of fertilizers and chemicals which creates toxic conditions and most often, imbalances of all the nutrients and other vital complex soil components. Elimination of the "guessing" technique of applying plant nutrients and replacing it with the application of precise nutrients ond soil building add-itives, formulated to soil test requirements Š produces positive grass growth responses ond helps nature rebuild the soil effectively, properly and inexpensively. Our 30 year research program dedicated to studying natural soil con-ditions, has resulted in the development of the Agro (hem Soil Analysis, the most complete and practical soil test available. This test has become on in-
tregol port of the GREEN MAGK SYSTEM 6. SPECIAL MANUFACTURING FACILITIES Since Agro (hem does not produce specific products that are to be consumed 
on a notional basis, our dynamic success has been due to producing positive results whenever our system has been used. These positive results are due 
primarily to the fact that we take into consideration the total requirements of the turf grasses and the supporting soil. But, in order to provide positive results all the time, we have had to develop our own specialized 
manufacturing plant. The facilities of Agro (hem are unique in the fact that we are able to custom manufacture for each individual customer. Under normal conditions, this would be most costly, but because of our computerized operation, we 
can prescription formulate very inexpensively since labor is at the bare 
minimum and there is no storage of finished products. Only raw materials 
ore stored in the plant and by simply pushing buttons on a computer, any 
formulation con be compounded, pockaged ond shipped, immediately. This 
computerized functioning of the plant helps make the GREEN MAGK SYSTEM 
so unique and successful. 7. TRAINING In order for our dealers to have the ability to completely satisfy their customers, they require special training in the total GREEN MAGK SYSTEM. Because our system is based on the complex interactions of noture ond how our unique formulations work with Mother Nature, when applied at the 
correct rates and ot the proper times, it is of added importance to have all 
of these facts to obtain positive results on a repeotable, authoritative, professional basis. Because commercially available products do not have the same character istics or behavior reactions of the GREEN MAGK SYSTEM, it is also most im portant to learn the characteristics of these unique formulations and when, where and how to use them so that results are always the same. Our unique training system provides the information needed in a very simple, logicol way so that everyone can thoroughly understand the GREEN 
MAGK concept ond be able to apply it in the operation of their own business, immediately and profitably. In addition to this technical information, we also personally help each dealer set up an efficient marketing system and business operation based on his individual situation. SUMMARY As con readily be seen, the GREEN MAGK SYSTEM is complex and very unique. It is highly successful due to the consideration given each condition. In order to be totally successful in the system, one must have the basic knowledge of how noture works in growing the various plonts on this earth. The benefits of the GREEN MAGK SYSTEM ore many and include the following: DEEPER GREEN (OLOR Š SLOWER LEAF GROWTH Š GREATER DENSITY Š UP RIGHT LEAF GROWTHŠ DEEPER, STRONGER ROOTS Š STRONGER, MORE AGGRES SIVE RHYZOME ACTIVITY Š LESS WATERING & (UTTING Š LESS SUSCEPTIBILITY 
TO DISEASE & INSECTS Š FEWER WEEDS Š LESS RE SODDING & RE SEEDING Š LESS (OST Š MORE FRIABLE & PRODUCTIVE SOIL Š BETTER WATER & NUTRIENT 
RETENTION Š LESS EROSION & POLLUTION Š MORE ORGANK MATTER DE(0M POSITION REDUCES MAT & THACH Š HAPPY (USTOMERS Š YOUR IMAGE AS A TRUE PROFESSIONAL, (APABLE OF OBTAINING POSITIVE RESULTS. Seeing is believing and the positive results will readily reflect your ability. Your professional workmanship creates greater desire for others to have the results you can provide with the GREEN MAGK SYSTEM. DEALERSHIP AND PROFESSIONAL USAGE: Dealerships are now being offered to individuals and companies desiring to sell these GREEN MAGK SYSTEM Products and/or apply such products os a professional application service. Because of the uniqueness of this natural system it is of utmost importance for the dealer and user to know and understand the natural and complete system along with having the ability to diagnose problems and recommend o solution (cure) with prevention proceedures that will allow nature to work effectively. Therefore, the training is provided FREE OF (HARGE with the purchase of the initial 
dealer product pockoge. (A slight leasing charge for individual usage.) Our dealer history shows that because the dealers are successful, they always desire more know ledge; therefore, advanced training is available on a continuing basis, FREE OF (HARGE to active Agro (hem dealers. Because of varying requirements of potential dealers, a number of dealer packages are available Š one to suit each and every potential dealer If you want to get started quickly, call us at (312) 455-6900 AGRO CHEM'S Professional spray unit for the small, applicator, and Š it is expandable for the larger area. The basic unit includes fas pictured) 1ŠRectangular 300 gallon holding tank Š 110 lbs. w/4" fill cap & man way 1Š250' light weight pressure hose 1ŠElectric hose reel 1ŠGas engine & special Pump 1ŠLawn gun with assorted nozzels 1ŠPressure regulator and bi-pass unit 1 eachŠSuction & Bi-pass hose 1ŠRoot feeder This basic spray rig is designed to fit in a pick-up truck, the 
tank situated between the rear 
wheel well and cab of truck. 
The motor, pump and hose reel on the right side leaving the remainder of the truck bed for other equipment and 
supplies. Van pictured shows the basic spray unit in the van, leaving the entire rear area for 
storage of products. As you will see, these sprayer units have been designed with a great 
deal of thought, research, and years of experience. They are designed and built by professionals, for professionals. For more details, either call 
or write Mr. Joseph. This basic 300 gallon unit can be expanded to whatever size spray rig desired by simply adding more tanks Š eliminates purchasing new equipment as business expands. Pictured: 16' Flat bed truck carrying 5 Š 300 gal. tanks + 1500 gals. 2 Š 500' hose reels & ability to apply as many as 5 different products or any combina-tion required. AGROtCHEM. INC. ê Phone: 312-455-6900 11150 Addison Franklin Park, III. 60131 r* > Z n > PC m Z a c CD H PC m w HOUSTON from page 26 to maintain a profit ratio of 30 percent. To accomplish this, Schrum decided to keep his busi-ness small and focus on the commercial/industrial lawn care market, rather than the fast-growing residential market. "Currently there is a great need for the commercial lawn care industry in Houston," Schrum said, "and I don't find residential lawn care to be worthwhile. There just isn't enough profit in the residential market to warrant entering it at this particular time." Schrum, 53, started his busi-ness in 1972 and it has grown steadily. He currently grosses about $80,000 per year and em-ploys two full-time workers and 
a total of six workers during the summer season. He pays super-
visors $5 per hour and others $3.75 to $4 per hour. His equipment includes a riding mower, manufactured by Yazoo Mfg. Co., Jackson, Miss, with a 48-inch mowing width, four McClain edgers, several Weed-Eaters, and four Lawn-Boy Mowers. Schrum's commercial clients constitute about 85 percent of his 
business while an additional 15 percent are industrial-based. All accounts are based on yearly 
contracts. His commercial busi-ness consists of servicing eight Houston condominiums and townhouses. "The key to servic-ing these clients involves keep-
ing in close contact with the on-site managers of the condo-miniums," he said. "That way you only have to answer to one person." His business is relatively small compared to others in the area and Schrum likes it that way. "The lawn care market in Houston is excellent and I could be much bigger if I wanted to be," he said. "But the overall quality and efficiency of our work is high and I think it would slip if I were to expand too rapidly." Schrum said the two most fre-quent lawn care problems he 
encounters are brown patch and chinch hugs. "St. Augustinegrass is particularly sensitive to chinch 
bugs and brown patch. To fight brown patch I advise by custom-ers not to water their lawns too much and I try to keep the grass 
as healthy as possible." He uses Diazinon, manufactured by Ciba-Geigy Corp., Greensboro, N.C., to combat chinch bugs. "However, I wouldn't consider utilize the work force at the Coastal Exterminating Co., in La Porte, Texas, according to Pat N. May, president of the company. "I started providing limited lawn care service to my pest con-trol customers about four or five years ago," May, 41, said. "It ser-ved as kind of a filler to keep my men busy when there were no pest control appointments." May explained servicing pest control clients is by appoint-ment only, whereas appoint-ments are not necessary in the lawn care industry. "We can pro-vide lawn care services any time 'The manufacturers should put more emphasis on the commercial lawn care market . . . much of the equipment available can't stand up to commercial use . . John Schrum, John's Landscaping, Houston Alew Pro Wkeelie &sphu Ł unique ground-driven pumping system for consistent application. No cords, batteries, or gasoline. Ł 72" fan lets five gallon capacity, cover up to 6,000 square feet Ł adjustable spray for various applications. Ł shut-off valves for safety fold-up booms for easy transport corrosive resistant construction for long life * patented WHEEL SPRAY CORPORATION Box 97 Delafield, Wisconsin 53018 Telephone (414) 646-8640 Circle 105 on free information card uHI either problem very serious," he added. Although the future of the lawn care business appears 
bright, Schrum is somewhat dis-appointed in the industry. "The 
inability of our industry to mechanize more fully makes 
most of the work manual. It's very difficult to find people who are willing to do back-breaking work in the extreme heat of Houston and I just don't see how we are going to escape this prob-lem in the future," he said. A second major problem con-cerns the manufacturers of lawn care equipment. "Manufactur-ers should put more emphasis on the commercial lawn care market," according to Schrum. "Most of their emphasis is cur-rently on manufacturing equip-ment for the residential market and because of this I must use equipment which is not designed to stand up to heavy commercial 
use." However, even with these problems Schrum is confident the lawn care industry will con-tinue to thrive in Houston. Providing lawn care services has merely been a way to better there is a hole in our calendar. It really is a very good filler," he said. Coastal Exterminating pro-vides basic chemical lawn ser-
vices to its 50-75 customers, constituting about five percent of the company's total business. "When I first got started I just serviced my pest control cus-tomers, hut then I started to get more customers then I could han-dle and I had to cut back," May 
said. "I really don't have the equipment to get real big." The company's equipment in-cludes six pickup trucks and sev-
eral spray units with Beltm pumps. May employs seven fuL time workers and estimates the company uses about 1,000 pounds of granular fertilizer per year. "I don't have any definite plans to expand into the lawn care market, but it really does have great potential," May said. 
"There is definitely a demand for all different kinds of lawn care companies in La Porte. La Porte is an upper-middle class community about 15 minutes from Houston. "I would im-
agine the lawn care market is as good here as it is anywhere." h Ł ^essionals iU u —..m and weigh* rack. qU1Ck transport. Hann 1625 N. Garvin St., Evansville, In. 47711 DEALERS WANTED (812)424-0931 Circle 113 on free information card Custom Designed for Lawn Care Consolidated Services, makers of quality lawn care equipment, offers you two standard units or we will custom-build to your specifications. 
These features and more are 
available. Contact us direct, today. Ł Choice of tanks, sizes & material Ł Low center of gravity & clearance Ł Powered rewind reels Ł One-piece welded construction Ł Mechanical or sparge line agitation Consolidated Services 401 South College St. Piqua, Ohio 45356 PH: (513) 773-3109 Circle 141 on free information card WEED CONTROL $12,000 to $400,000 in seven years The Lawn Doctor franchise network, headquartered in Matawan, N.J., currently boasts 210 active franchises in 27 states, and according to company presi-dent Anthony Giordano, 40 more 
contracts will have been signed by mid-spring. One of the most successful operations Š going from a $12,-000 annual gross to almost $400,-000 in seven years Š belongs to John Gallignani, owner-manager of Lawn Doctor of Islip, on New 
York's Long Island. "Before I started up my fran-chise seven years ago, I was a New York City fireman. Getting into my own business was a 
chance I couldn't pass up," he said. "I'm making good money and find real joy in providing a service in my community, plus offering my employes good jobs with pleasant surroundings." When it comes to running a successful lawn care business, 
Gallignani has some definite ideas about hard work, chemical selection, promotion, service and staffing. Hard work. He believes that one of the keys to his success is his willingness to work hard. "Dorothy (his wife) and I worked out of our home the first 
year and only grossed $12,000," 
he said. "But in just seven years 
our business has zoomed to $368,-000 last year, and we predict a volume of $600,000 this year." At 7 a.m. sharp, John is at his place of business to see his 10 
technicians off for their day of work. They work in pairs making service calls from March 10th to mid-December. The technicians 
visit each customer's home five times per year Š early spring, spring, summer, fall and late fall. John offers a full range of con-trols for insects, weeds, and dis-eases, plus lawn feeding services Š as determined by soil tests made periodically by the ser-vicemen. John owns five service vans which are used to transport the chemicals and application equip-ment. The application equip-ment is designed and manufac-tured by Lawn Doctor for its franchisees. John recalls that the type of tractor/combine applica-tion equipment he used five years ago is now obsolete. "It used to take two technicians a day to service 12 lawns. Today with the new Lawn Doctor ap-plication equipment, two men can service 50 lawns per day." The new granular-application equipment is smaller and lighter, and does not aerate lawns. "The equipment enabled us to become very competitive. It was just five years ago that I charged $250 per year for servic-
ing the average 4,000-square-foot 
lawn. Today it costs the same customer $80 per year. The key was in the labor cost savings," he points out. Chemical selection. "One of the advantages in operating 
through a good franchise system is that it does a lot of testing on chemicals to find out which ones 
are the best for their intended 
purpose. We have monthly contact meetings plus constant with the main office. He uses a variety of chemicals in his operation. For 
insects he uses Dursban manufactured by Dow Chemical Co., Midland, Mich. This product offers broad spectrum control of turf insects including ants, 
brown dog ticks, chiggers, chinch bugs, grasshoppers and white grubs (Japanese beetle larvae only). For weeds, he uses Trimec, manufactured by PBI/Gordon Corp., Kansas City, Kan.; 2,4-D plus Silvex, and 
Betasan, manufactured by 
Stauffer Chemical Co., Westport, Conn. One new product which John has found to be a welcome addi-tion to his regular chemical line is Roundup herbicide, manufac-tured by Monsonto, St. Louis. Roundup, unlike his other herbi-cides, is classified as nonselective. It is sprayed on the 
leaves of actively growing weeds 
and moves by a process called "translocation" throughout the stems and root system destroying both above and below-ground 
plant tissue. Roundup will not volatilize to injure adjoining desirable vegetation, will not leach and has no residual soil ac-tivity. "Roundup seems particularly effective on a variety of tough perennial weeds and is also great as a lawn renovation tool," he said. "Because it isn't a soil sterilant, I find that I can spray to page 32 29 r-> ? Z n > 70 m z a c CD 
H 70 m DO Lawn ;'Doctor Gallignani's fleet (above) and him with one of his technicians, Frank Giordano. How Roundup® helped Jim Siegfried renovate this fairway in days,without closing it for one minute. Take a good look at this good-looking fairway. Last fall, Jim Siegfried found a way to clean it up, without tearing it up Šat the height of his clubs busy season. With Roundup" herbicide by Monsanto. Jim is the Greens Superintendent at Losantiville Country Club, Cincinnati, where bermudagrass had become a serious problem on the 18th fairway. To control it, Jim applied Roundup onceŠwhile the weeds were still actively growingŠright at the start of the Labor Day weekend. "That's really 'prime time here" Jim told us. "But after we applied Roundup, we kept the fairway in play the whole weekend, and after. The members played right over it, with no problem'.' Since Roundup has no residual soil activity, and won't wash or leach out of treated areas to injure desirable plants, Jim simply took normal pre-cautions against spray driftŠand didn't worry about damaging desirable 
vegetation along the fairway. Even better, he was able to re-seed right into the dying bermudagrass 
only 7 days after applying RoundupŠ without loss of playing time or incon-venience to the membership. Reinfestation won't be a big prob-lem for Jim, either. He knows that Roundup destroyed the rhizomes of the treated weeds, helping prevent their regrowth. Jim thinks he'll use Roundup again this yearŠand apparently some 
club members hope so, too. "As soon as they saw how good this fairway looks, some of the members started asking when I'm going to do the same 
for Š10, where we have some more bermuda. I'll probably tackle that with 
Roundup this fall'.' If controlling many tough emerged weeds and grasses is a problem for you, see your local Monsanto representative or chemical dealer soon for your supply of Roundup. Roundup. It worked for Jim Siegfried. It can work for you. Circle 136 on free information card Monsanto There's never been a herbicide like this before. CQ W Lu WEED CONTROL Herbicides for the lawn care industry >« IX H co D 
a 
z w oc < u Z < j Preemergence control of crabgrass and other weeds, and post-emergent control of broad-leaf and grassy weeds is a big part of any lawn care business-man's program for his customer lawns. The following is a partial list-ing of herbicides available to the lawn care businessman, with information provided by manu-
facturers and distributors. Accompanying stories in this issue outline products available from Rhone-Poulenc, Inc., Mon-mouth Junction, N.J.; Stauffer Chemical Co., Westport, Conn.; Dow Chemical Co., Midland, Mich.; and Monsanto Agricul-tural Products Co., St. Louis. Other herbicide manufactur-ers and some major distributors include: Elanco Products Co., Indianapolis; Du Pont Co., Wilmington, Del.; Chemagro Agricultural Div. of Mobay 
Chemical Corp., Kansas City, Mo.; Rohm & Haas Co., Phila-delphia; Hopkins Agricultural Chemical Co., Madison, Wis.; Velsicol Chemical Corp., Chi-cago; PBI/Gordon Corp., Kansas City, Kan.; Mallinckrodt, Inc., St. Louis; BASF Wyandotte Corp., 
Parsippany, N.J.; W.A. Cleary 
Corp., Somerset, N.J.; Kalo Labs, Inc., Kansas City, Mo.; B.G. Pratt 
Div., Gabriel, Ltd., Paterson, N.J.; Crown Chemicals, St. Louis; and Southern Mill Creek Products, Inc., Tampa, Fla. Diamond Shamrock Corp. Dacthal W-75, a standard ingredient in weed control pro-grams for many of the nation's lawn care firms, again heads the Cleveland-based company's list of herbicides. *>L-U GREEN 20 -20 20 m l^Sj ufj >rolav For Carriage-Trade Results... WATER SOLUBLE PLANT FOODS by PRO-LAWN Ideal for establishing and maintaining shrub plantings, gardens and lawns. Plant foods available in 25 and 45 lb fiber drums with poly 
lining or in reusable plastic drums. 30-10-10 For acid-loving plants such as azaleas, rhododendrons, evergreens, camellias. 20-20-20 Excellent for foliar feeding. For roses and all perennial and annual flowers. PLUS High- and extra-high phosphate . . . low- and no-phosphate formulations. Timely Deliveries. Samples on request. Pro-Lawn has a complete line of fertilizers in both water soluble and granular forms. For more information, current prices, write or call: PRO-LAWN PRODUCTS, INC. Box 4908 Ł Syracuse NY 13221 Ł 315-477-6112 proiawn Circle 128 on free information card During this year, the com-pany will also be putting empha-sis on a group of phenoxy herbi-cides for turf that include: MCPP-F 2,4-D Amine and MCPP-
K-4. The company's herbicide line for this year also includes Amine 4-D and Dacamine 4-D for control of broadleaf weeds. However, Diamond Sham-rock again expects Dacthal to be 
its pace-setter in the lawn care 
industry. The herbicide won label clearance nearly 20 years 
ago and was one of the first pre-emergence herbicides to gain 
widespread acceptance for lawns and other turf uses. Today, it is used to control an-nual grasses including annual bluegrass Š or Poa annua Š crabgrass, goosegrass, barnyard-grass and foxtail. It also controls broadleafs such as prostrate spurge, lambsquarters, purslane and common chickweed. Depending on the growth characteristics of specific weeds and the intensity of the weed pressure, Dacthal is applied in early spring, prior to initial germination; again in late spring to insure adequate control win-
ter weeds germinating in the fall. Amchem Products, Inc. Many lawn care profes-sionals include the Ambler, Pa.-based company's Weedone prod-ucts in customer programs. By scheduling the proper materials during the appropriate season, 
existing weeds can be elimi-nated and lawn quality impro-ved, or unwanted vegetation can be controlled before it competes strongly with turfgrasses. For early spring treatment, Weedone Preemergent Crab-grass Control with Dacthal is recommended by the company to 
kill crabgrass and other summer annuals as they germinate. Summer crabgrass spray pro-grams are more critical. Growth is slow; lawn grasses may be un-
der stress from drought or great 
heat, and maturing crabgrass be-comes harder to control. At this time, for lawns where preemer-gence treatment has been omit-John Gallignani Made It... So Can You! John Gallignani of Iselip, N.Y., had a dead-end job. He wasn't happy and he wasn't making enough money. So John invested in a LAWN DOCTOR franchise. Now, as his own boss, John is making more money than he ever thought he could. And he works his own hours. John Gallignani is only one of many people who have found a better life with LAWN DOCTOR. For only $9,500, a choice franchise in your area could be yours. And our complete advertising program (including TV) will provide you with a steady supply of customers. J" For details, call us toll free: 800-631-5660. In N.J.: 201-946-9700. Or mail coupon: . ÄDOCTOR p ° B^f 01 LA »2 h"« 34 Matawan. "J LAWN* DOCTOR P.O. BOX 525, 142 HIGHWAY 34 MATAWAN, N.J. 07747 ted, Weedone Crabgrass Killer with calar provides an effective post-emergent treatment. It also controls dallisgrass and foxtail, the company said. Super D Weedone is a wide-spectrum broadleaf weed killer containing 2,4,-D amine and dicamba. An alternative, 3-D Weedone, contains silvex in addition to 2,4-D and dicamba. This ester formulation works faster than amine ones and is particularly effective on tough-to-kill weeds such as knotweed and cinquefoil, and on winter an-nuals such as chickweed and henbit as well as the more com-mon dandelion and plantains. Many lawn care businessmen rely on 3-D Weedone for their general purpose treatments or on "callbacks" for broadleafs, the company said. Applications can be made throughout the season when weeds are growing actively. Treatment in summer Š except when excessive heat or drought check growth Š is generally more effective than in spring. For winter annual weeds such as garlic and chickweed, treatment should be in late winter or early 
spring. For full-season control of weeds and grasses, particularly in renovation programs, there is a combination of amitrole and simazine: X-All in quart-size containers or as liquid Amizine 
in bulk sizes for treating larger areas. O.M. Scott & Sons ProTurf division Ed Dotson, manager of commercial sales for the Pro-Turf division of O.M. Scott & Sons, Marysville, Ohio Š the divi-sion that handles sales to lawn care businessmen across the country Š said that the division 
has available for professional use a complete line of preemer-gence and post-emergent weed control products. All ProTurf herbicides come in a dry-applied granular form. If applied at normal rate, one bag will cover 11,000 square feet or 
22,000 square feet, depending on the particular product used. ProTurf's herbicide product line includes ProTurf Fertilizer with Weedgrass Preventer Š it provides a nitrogen/potassium 
fertilization with selective pre-emergence control of crabgrass, 
foxtail, goosegrass and Poa an-nua along with four annual broadleaf weeds. ProTurf Weed-grass Preventer is also available without fertilizer. The active ingredient in both products is bensulide. ProTurf Fertilizer Plus Dicot Weed Control II will provide a complete feeding while selec-tively controlling dandelions and 40 other actively growing dicot weeds. "This product is particularly suited for the company without liquid systems," Dotson said. Due to the simplicity of applica-
tion, labor and equipment costs are maintained to a minimum." The active ingredients in this product are 2,4-D and MCPP. Dotson said the company believes that healthy turf with good density is important in any Circle 126 on free Information card preventive maintenance pro-gram whether treating for mono-cots or dicots. "We consider weed control as only part of your program," he said. "Many weed and disease problems can be reduced when you maintain a uniform level of lawn quality." TUCO Division The Upjohn Co. Enide 50W is a selective pre-emergence herbicide recom-mended for use on bermuda-grass lawns. Fall applications control annual bluegrass Š Poa annua Š while spring applica-tions are required for control of crabgrass. The Kalamazoo, Mich.-based company recom-mends that early spring applica-
tions be made while bermuda-grass is dormant. Recommended rates are eight pounds of the product per acre or three ounces per 1,000 square feet. Chevron Chemical Co. Although the San Francisco-based company's Ortho Diquat Weed Killer should not be used directly on lawns, it keeps surrounding areas clean and weed free, the company said. Many lawn care business-men provide weed control ser-vices in fence lines, walkways, driveways and other landscaped areas, particularly for their industrial accounts. The herbi-cide has no residual properties, so a controlled, directed spray can knock unsightly weeds and brush close to other plants with-out endangering the rootzone of the desirable plants. Ciba-Geigy Corp. Spectrum 33 Plus Lawn Weed Killer, from Ciba-Geigy Corp., Greensboro, N.C. will kill 33 troublesome common lawn 
weeds, including poison ivy and poison oak, chickweed, clover, dandelion, plantains, ragweed and other broadleaves. For best results, spring and fall treatments are recom-mended. The product is effec-tive in the following lawn grasses: bluegrass, fescue, zoysiagrass, bermudagrass, bent-grass, St. Augustinegrass and centipedegrass. Research Products Co. Research Products Co., Dal-las, and Aero Mist, Inc., Mari-etta, Ga., join together in intro-ducing Repco-Kill, a new non-selective, diesel-oil-based weed killer and ground sterilant. The product contains 2,4-D, bromacil, phenols and pene-trants. It knocks down weeds within six to eight hours on a warm, sunny day. Rockland Chemical Co., Inc. Rockland Chemical Co., Inc., a supplier to the lawn care indus-try, offers a number of weed con-trol products, according to com-pany president John Wittpenn. Rockland Professional Lawn Weed Killer "B" is a combi-nation of 2,4-D and silvex, used at the rate of two ounces per gallon of water to cover 1,000 square feet. The company also sells Amine 2,4-D, and will this year be introducing a combi-nation of MCPP and 2,4-D. Rockland Professional Lawn Weed Killer D is a dry combi-nation of 2,4-D and silvex, ap-plied at a rate of two pounds per 1,000 square feet. Wittpenn said the levels of 2,4-D and silvex are higher in this formulation than most other dry herbicides cur-
rently on the market. For a nonselective weed and grass control killer, the company sells Rockland Weed & Grass Killer "B". This is a combination of Pramitol and 2,4-D. Lakeshore Equipment and Supply Co. Lakeshore Equipment and Supply Co., Elyria, Ohio, a sup-plier to the lawn care industry, 
offers the following herbicide formulations for the lawn care 
businessman: A-4D Herbicide Š a 2,4-D amine post-emergent herbicide which offers control of 63 com-mon broadleaf weeds. Lakeshore 5% Dacthal Š a granular, selective clay-base pre-emergence herbicide for control of annual grasses and broadleaf weeds such as crabgrass, Poa an-
nua, carpetweed, yellow foxtail, 
common chickweed and pur-slane. LESCO Dicamba +2,4-D Š a broadleaf herbicide to be ap-plied as a foliar spray for con-trol of chicory, clover, dande-lions, docks, dog fennel, English daisy, chickweed, poison ivy, poison oak, ragweed, jimson-weed, purslane and other broad-
leaves. Lescobor Š a non-selective weed and grass killer with a borate-chlorate combination providing quick knockdown and season-long control of perennial grasses such as johnsongrass, 31 quackgrass, bermudagrass and dallisgrass. May be applied with a spreader or mixed with water 
and sprayed. ? Lescopar Š a broad-spec- ^ trum, post-emergent herbicide in > a stable, aqueous two-pound 
MCPP and one-pound 2,4-D formulation that kills many types of broadleaf weeds on blue-grass, bentgrass, bermudagrass and fescue lawns. Lescopex Š a 2.5-pound MCPP selective post-emergent clover and chickweed killer. Lescosan 12.5-G Š a granu- ^ lar, selective preemergence g herbicide for control of crab- £ grass, annual bluegrass and ^ other annuals in lawns. Lescosan 4-E Š an emulsifi-able liquid selective preemer-gence herbicide for control of crabgrass, annual bluegrass and other annuals. LESCO Non-Selective Herbi-cide Š for general post-emer-(o fHigf* 32 FOR LITTLE TRACTORS,THEY CAN HANDLE A LOT OF BIG JOBS. A tractor that's too big for the jobs you do is an unnecessary waste of capital and operating costs. While one that's too small ends up wasting your time. That's why so many parks, nurseries, golf courses, landscapers, schools, and others are turning to the John Deere 850 and 950 tractors. At 22 and 27-PTO-hp, they have all the power you need to handle just about any kind of job. Yet they're still small enough so they don't cost a lot of money. Look at all these big tractor features. Liquid-cooled diesel engines. 8-speed transmissions. Differential lock. 3-point hitch (Category 1). 540-rpm PTO. Adjustable wheel tread. And you can choose from more than 20 John Deere tractor-matched implements including 4 different kinds of mowers, front loader, box scraper, planters, cultivators, plows, tiller, rear blade, posthole digger and more. We also offer a choice of tire sizes and styles to fit your specific needs. And your John Deere dealer is a man you can count on for parts, service and good advice. So if you're looking for a real workhorse that's just right for the jobs you do, see the 850 and 950 at your nearby John Deere dealer. Or, for a free brochure, 
write: John Deere, Dept. 63, Moline, Illinois 61265. THE JOHN DEERE "LITTLE-BIG" TRACTORS. Nothing runs like a Deere.H Circle 132 on free information card JOHN DEERE ca S u. 32 $400,000 from page 29 Š Roundup on a weedy lawn, ^ destroy the weeds as well as the grass, and go into thatch and reseed just 10 days later after the herbicide has been absorbed by weeds and translocated to the underground root system. "The main value in this pro-gram for revamping a lawn is >- that my customer doesn't have to go to the expense of tearing up the existing lawn with tillage § equipment. And the results have 2 been great" he adds. DC < u z < _3 Gallignani and office manager Denise Giordano. "I used it on eight lawns this past year and met with great suc-cess. I plan to use a lot more of it this year where our customers have a real weed problem that can no longer be controlled by 
normal herbicide applications," he adds. This past year John applied 120 gallons of Trimec, 82 gallons of 2,4-D plus silvex, 120 gallons of Batesan, the post-emergent her-bicide Trex-sun, marketed by 
Mallinckrodt, Inc., St. Louis, plus 30,000 pounds of Dursban. In all, he applied chemicals on 16 million square feet of lawn. The cost of this service to the customers runs around two to three cents per square foot 
depending on the condition of the lawn. The treatment of Roun-dup is priced depending on con-ditions and number of square feet. Promotion. "We get advertis-ing in newspapers, plus tele-vision spots from the Lawn Doc-tor system. This sure helps our business, it gets us a good 
company image. When we are trying to sell a customer, they've already heard of us," he said. Most sales are started by 10 telephone solicitors who work for John. The girls spend three 
hours each evening, plus all day Saturday calling prospective 
customers. They generally average three leads per hour or 
about 180 to 200 leads per week with this method. He sends sales persons to the homes to make presentations, with an average of 80 percent of the demonstrations resulting in signed contracts for a year. To make the offer more at-tractive, the customer can pay in seven monthly installments. Ac-cording to Gallisnari, "The in-stallment program is important. Most people who utilize our ser-vices are of the working class Š the middle class. We don't do es-
tates for the simple reason that they already have full-time gar-deners." Service. If there is one factor which is of the utmost impor-tance in this industry it is "Ser-vice with a capital S," he said. Timing is everything. "Our technicians must visit 2,900 customers every four weeks. If they don't get the chemicals or 
the fertilizer spread in time, we run the risk that the customer won't have the beautiful lush green lawn we assured him. Of course they must do their part by mowing a watering the lawn as needed." Eighty per cent of his customers renew their contracts each year. Staffing. In order to keep his service technicians on the staff during the winter months, he has them rebuilding equipment, in-cluding painting the vans. This is 
done in the 4,000-square-foot shop which is attached to his three-room office. He has a top-flight office manager, Denis Ger-
odano, who handles everything 
from accounts receivable to correspondence with the 
customers. His technicians are well-groomed and are outfitted with uniforms to help improve the company's image. John sees great things in the future for his business. This year he intends to take a crack at the commercial customer. "There 
are a lot of businesses in the area with 50,000 to 60,000 square feet of lawn which could use our ser-vices. I know they are spending more money to maintain their 
lawns than they need to and are 
not getting the results we could offer. I see a big potential with them," he predicts. "We will push for their business in the winter months when it's hard to sell the homeowner on lawn care. Business folks are different; they 
are always interested in saving money", he said. HERBICIDES from page 31 gent weed control and lawn renovation. LESCO MSMA Š a high-concentrate liquid herbicide for selective post-emergent weed control of dallisgrass, bahia-grass, crabgrass, wood sorrel, sandbur, nutsedge and chick-weed. Bonide Chemical Co. Bonide Chemical Co., York-ville, N.Y., offers four weed con-trol products for the lawn care businessman: Turf & Ornamental Herbi-cide 75'/, WP Š this Dacthal-based product controls veron-
ica, Poa annua, crabgrass and other lawn weeds. Lawn Weed Killer Š impro-ved amine form of 2,4-D and sil-
vex. Kills dandelions, plantains, buckhorn, thistle, chickweed, black medic and other broad-leaves. Chickweed and Clover Killer Š a special formula herbicide for control of chickweed, dande-lion, broadleaved plantain, white clover and other weeds. Crabgrass and Weed Killer Š a selective weed killer. LAWN CARE INDUSTRY READER SERVICE CARDŠ February 1979 (expires in90days) Use this prepaid reader service card to get additional information on products or services mentioned in this issue (Card must be completed before processing) NAME TITLE COMPANY BUSINESS ADDRESS If you would like a subscription to LAWN CARE INDUSTRY circle number 101. Subscription cost is $10.00 per year To help us better service you editorially, please answer the following: 1. Are you primarily involved in. Ł Chemical lawn care and maintenance services Ł Chemical application only Ł Mowing and other maintenance services Ł Other (specify) Application Ł Liquid Ł Granular Ł Both 2. Is your business location: Ł Headquarters 
Ł Branch office 3. Is your business: Ł Independent 
Ł Chain Ł Franchise Ł Other (specify) 4. Title: Ł President Ł Owner Ł Manager 
Ł Technician 
Ł Other (specify) . 5. Number of accounts: Ł Less than 500 
Ł 500-1.000 
Ł 1.001-5.000 Ł 5.001-10.000 
Ł 10.001-25.000 Ł 25.000 or more 6. Estimated annual sales volume: Ł Less than $50,000 Ł $50,001-100,000 Ł $100,001-250.000 Ł $250,001-500.000 
Ł $500,001-1.000.000 Ł $1,000,000 or more Ł Please send product information only on items circled Ł Please have a salesman call me about items circled. Best time to call me is . .DATE_ CIRCLE THE ITEM NUMBERS FOR FREE DETAILS ON PRODUCTS AND SERVICES 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 NO POSTAGE NECESSARY IF MAILED IN THE UNITED STATES BUSINESS REPLY MAIL FIRST CLASS PERMIT NO. 2675 CLEVELAND. OHIO POSTAGE WILL BE PAID BY ADDRESSEE ATTENTION: THE EDITORS LAWN CARE INDUSTRY 9800 Detroit Ave. Cleveland, Ohio 44102 NO POSTAGE NECESSARY IF MAILED IN THE UNITED STATES BUSINESS REPLY MAIL FIRST CLASS PERMIT NO. 665 DULUTH. MINN POSTAGE WILL BE PAID BY ADDRESSEE LAWN CARE INDUSTRY P.O. BOX 6136 DULUTH, MINNESOTA 55806 Editor's Information Card . . . HELP US TO HELP YOU The editors of LAWN CARE INDUSTRY would appreciate your comments on the magazine's contents. Please write your message below, tear out the card, and mail. Postage is prepaid. Which article in this issue did you find the most interesting and/or helpful? What subjects would you like us to cover In future issues of LAWN CARE INDUSTRY? B CITY STATE ZIP GREENLON fŽ page 14 aren't dying, to call us back, because if a phenoxy, for in-stance, is on a weed for just three to four hours before rain, it'll still do the job." Both Steinau and Blank agreed, however, that most com-plaints occur because the customers don't water properly. To help combat this, as soon as the weather turns dry, Greenlon hands out inexpensive plastic glasses marked off as rain 
gauges, accompanied by instruc-tion sheets. 44If the customer's lawn doesn't look good, he won't be 
happy, even if its his fault," said Blank, who spent nine years as a golf course superintendent before joining Greenlon. 44In fact, in this business, if you can take three steps forward 
and just one step back, you're ahead. We find it's normal to get customers in the spring, lose them in the heat of summer, then get them back in the fall. We didn't know this the first year, though and kind of panicked dur-ing the summer." Other than that panic, their first year with Greenlon went well. On Blank's advice that "we're going to have enough problems without using inferior 
chemicals," the firm utilized name brand products like Dow's Formula 40 and Kuron herbi-cides for the widest spectrum of broad-leaf weed control, and Dursban 4E insecticide to control an equally wide range of insects. Results were consistently good. "But the second year we switched to a premixed pro-duct," said Steinau. "It was 
cheaper, but we got burned. We 
ended up using twice the rates 
and still didn't get good control. As a result, we had to hit almost every customer twice as often that second year and it really hurt us. "Saving money on chemicals was one of the most expensive experiences we've had," he con-tinued. "We couldn't wait until we ran out of the stuff. "Like any other lawn care company we need products that 
are 4all season' Š that will pro-vide the broadest control in hot or cold weather," explained Blank. Greenlon treats each lawn four or five times a year, as 
follows: Ł March-April, apply a heavy rate of liquid N-P-K, plus Formula 40, Kuron, dicamba and Lescosan 4-E, marketed by Lake-shore Equipment & Supply Co., for control of dandelions, crab-grass, foxtail, barnyard grass, etc. Ł May-June, apply a medium application of N-P-K, plus Formula 40 and Kuron to main-tain control of dandelions and other broadleaf weeds; and Dursban 4E especially to control sod webworms, chinch bugs and billbugs. Ł July-August, again, medium fertilization with N-P-K, plus Formula 40, a lighter application of Kuron, dicamba, and Dursban to prevent late season damage from sod webworms and chinch bugs. Ł September-October, heavy fertilization with N-P-K, plus Formula 40 and Kuron to control 
late season germination of 
broadleaf weeds. Fertilization 
for the year totals about four to six pounds actual N per 1000 
square feet. Ł November-December, this is a special application recom-
mended to customers with prob-
lem soils or new lawns, and in-cludes a dry fertilizer with slow release nitrogen plus higher 
rates of phosphorus and potassium to thicken cell struc-ture, strengthen grass overall, and increase disease resistance without promoting growth. This application also tends to prevent snow mold and causes faster green-up in the spring. "Throughout the season we mix each chemical separately, in specific dumping order to avoid problems," said Blank. "For ex-
ample, we mix fertilizer and water the night before the trucks go out, then weed killer and insecticides the following morn-
ing. We maintain good agitation to keep Formula 40, an amine, and Kuron, an ester, in solution." For the past three years, the company has conducted a pro-gram of periodic blood tests Š a "cholinesterase monitoring pro-gram" Š required because Dursban is an organophosphate. The program has revealed no problems. When working with drums of the product, all em-ployes use approved protective devices, including gloves, aprons, goggles and boots. And even in the field, where the pro-duct is used in much lower 
concentration, operators wear boots, gloves and long trousers. Greenlon's computer, a Sperry Univac BC/8, analyzes chemical usage versus the square footage sprayed to pin-point any tendency toward over-
application or under-application by operators. The system also handles truck routing, inventory, invoicing, accounts receivable, 
accounts payable, general 
ledger, and financial reports. While good chemicals and their proper usage unques-
tionably loom large in good customer relations, so do compe-tent employes, and every Greenlon operator undergoes ex-tensive training, including three to four weeks in the classroom 
and on-the-job, with daily tests. "Each operator must be able to answer customer questions thoroughly and accurately," said Steinau. "A good explaination from the operator reduces customer call-ins and often saves 
sending somebody out. "Also, the operator has to pro-perly fill out a 13-part customer lawn analysis survey which lists 
types of grasses, weeds, diseases, and insects, condition of turf, (hatch depth, soil types and so forth," he explained. "We keep (his on file so if a customer phones in, we can pull his survey and discuss things knowledgeably." The survey form is just one lo page 38 Theseed that's changing the face of America. Pennfine Perennial Ryegrass The biggest breakthrough in the greening of America began in 1970. That's when turfgrass specialists at Pennsylvania State University completed development of a remarkable fine-leafed perennial ryegrass with all the advantages of ryegrass. And none of the drawbacks. They called it Pennfine. Now, just six years later, the success of their undertaking is evident. On 
golf courses and athletic fields. In parks and cemeteries. And on public grounds 
across the country. Proven in tests. Among the nine perennial ryegrasses tested over a five-year period at University Park, Pennsylvania, Pennfine ranked finest in texture. Most resistant to disease. First in density and decumbency (low growth). The University Park test results were only the beginning. Over 5,000 test kits with seed samples were distributed over the entire country in answer to requests from turf professionals wanting to test Pennfine. The results confirmed the University Park findings. Most importantly, Pennfine established a new standard of mowability. Some other perennial ryegrasses, cut with the same mower, left ragged, fibrous tops that quickly turned brown. Pennfine's softer fibers cut smooth and clean. Proven from coast to coast, from North to South. Pennfine's durable beauty has been demonstrated at presti-gious sites all over America. From the lawns at an historic national landmark to the greens at a nationally-renowned golf course. Besides possessing the ability to stand up under heavy traffic, Pennfine germinates rapidly. That makes it ideal for winter overseeding in the South. 
And, its non-competitiveness allows a smooth spring transition to bermudagrass. Proven quality control under the Plant Variety Protection Act. You can be sure that all Pennfine Perennial Ryegrass meets the same high standards, 
because Pennfine is covered by the Plant Variety Protection Act. That means every pound of Pennfine is certified. You are assured, by law, that it's produced exactly as intended by the original variety breeder. Prove it to yourself. To learn more about how Pennfine is changing the 
face of America Šand how it can work for 
you Šwrite: Pennfine, P.O. Box 923, Minneapolis, MN 55440. The best thing growing. 34 TURF a Š Weed identification >-oc E-co 
D C z w a: < U z < Crabgrasses are late-germinating annuals that reproduce by seed. The seedheads appear as several finger-like projections at the terminals of the seed stalks. The spreading growth of crabgrass tends to crowd out desirable grasses in the lawn. Like other summer annuals, crabgrass is killed by the first frost, leaving unsightly dead patches in the turf. Fall panicum is a late-germinating annual grass with short, purplish sheaths. The seedhead is an open and spreading panicle. Yellow foxtail is identified by the presence of long hairs on the upper sur-face of the leaf blade near the base and by the yellow cylindrical seedheads. Nimblewill forms patches resembling bentgrass. Goosegrass or silver crabgrass is similar to crabgrass except that the center of the plant is a silvery color and the seedheads are zipper-like in appearance. Annual bluegrass is frequently observed in dense patches of light green color. Bermudagrass is a serious weed in blue-grass lawns because of its vigorous and dense growth, although it is commonly grown in the South. The LawnFeeder by Finn, sprays granular and liquid lawn P£irP (m 11 Pl^i The breakthrough the Finn LawnFeeder provides you, the lawn ^ v/itllvlJ» maintenance contractor, with a unique ability to spray dry granular lawn care products in slurry form along with other liquid products in one economical operation. Slow release,water insoluble, granular fertilizers can now be incorporated into your program without multiple applications to the turf. The LawnFeeder, uniquely engineered, incorporates mechanical paddle and slurry recirculating agitation and pumps the material through it's centrifugal pump. Ł Pinpoint Spray Control Ł Granular Products Applied in Slurry Form Ł Simple One-Man Operation Ł Mechanical Agitation Ł Centrifugal Pump Ł All Steel Construction Ł Hydraulicly Powered Drive Ł l'p to 300 Foot Hose 2525 DUCK CREEK RD Ł CINCINNATI. OHIO 45208 TOLL FREE 800-543-7166 Ł OHIO COLLECT 513-871-2529 Bentgrass is a perennial grass that spreads by above-ground stems called stolons. It forms puffy, dense patches that may completely take over the lawn. Pro-vided it receives close, frequent mowing and meticulous care, bentgrass will make a very attractive lawn; otherwise, it is regarded as a serious lawn weed. Tall fescue is a coarse-textured peren-nial grass growing in unsightly clumps in the lawn. In pure stands, however, it may be an acceptable turf because of its good wear resistance and low maintenance requirement. Quackgrass is a perennial grass that 
spreads by underground stems called rhizomes. It may be identified in the lawn by its dull green color and its rapid foliar growth. Nutsedge is a perennial sedge that repro-
duces by seed, rhizomes and small, hard tubers called nutlets. It is identified by its 
triangular stems and yellow-green color. The nutlets may persist in the soil for several years, insuring regeneration of the plants. Plantains are perennials that reproduce by seed. The leaves form a basal rosette with finger-like flower stalks protruding upward. Buckhorn is a perennial with lance-like leaves and bullet-like seeds on long, slen-der stems. Dandelion is a perennial that reproduces by parachute-like seeds. Chicory has a taproot that is large and 
fleshy. A rosette of leaves resembling dandelion leaves form at the base. Bright blue flowers are borne on rigid stalks that resist mowing. WEED CONTROL from Thistles are perennials or biennials with spiny and serrated leaves. A rosette-type of growth typically occurs under mowing. The numerous and sharp spines make these; weeds particularly objectionable in 
turf. Red sorrel or sheep sorrel is a clump-type weed with arrow-shaped leaves. It often appears on acid soils low in fertility. Ground ivy or creeping charlie is a creep-ing perennial that forms in dense patches in turf. Its bright green leaves are round with scalloped edges. Its flowers are bluish-purple and the stems are four-sided. It grows well in shady areas where soils are poorly drained. Curled dock is a perennial that repro-duces hv seed. It has a fleshy taproot and large, smooth leaves that are crinkled on tin; edges. Henbit is an annual that reproduces by seed. The leaves resemble those of ground ivy hut occur opposite along the stem. Roundleaved mallow is an annual or biennial that reproduces by seed. It has a long taproot and round leaves with five distinct lobes. Its white flowers first ap-pear in late spring and bloom continu-
ously through the season. Yarrow is a fern-like perennial weed that spreads by rhizomes. Under close mow-ing it forms a dense mat and is quite wear-resistant and drouth-tolerant. Yellow woodsorrel is a pale green annual or perennial that reproduces by seed. It has heart-shaped leaves, and its flowers arc; yellow with five petals. Mouse-ear chickweed is a perennial that reproduces mainly by seed hut also by creeping stems. It is identified by its small, fuzzy, dark green leaves and dense growth habit. Knotweed is a low-growing annual that first appears in early spring. Its appear-ance is variable, depending upon the stage; of niaturitv. Young plants have long, slender dark leaves that occur alter-nately along the; knotty stem. Mature plants have smaller, dull green leaves and inconspicuous white flowers. It grows well on heavily trafficked, com-pacted soils. Carpetweed is an annual with smooth, tongue-like leaves. Stems branch in all directions, forming flat, circular mats of 
growth. Common chickweed is a creeping winter annual with small, pale green leaves. Its hairy stems branch and take root, enabl-ing the plant to spread over large areas and completely crowd out turfgrasses. White star-like flowers appear during cool seasons. Purslane is a fleshy annual weed with smooth reddish stems. It may be particu-larly troublesome with new lawn seocfings. Wild onion and wild garlic are perennial weeds with slender, cylindrical leaves. Wild garlic leaves are hollow; those of wild onion are not. White clover is a creeping nerennial that competes aggressively with established turfgrasses, especially under moist condi-tions and low soil fertility. It is identified hv its three short-stalked leaflets and globular, whiteTlowers. Black medic or yellow trefoil is an an-nual, biennial, or perennial that closely resembles white clover. It is distin-guished by its yellow flowers and the arrangement of its leaflets on the stem: I he; middle leaflet is borne of a short peliole while the lateral leaflets are close to the stem. Prostrate spurge is a low-growing annual that generally appears in mid-season. The small leaves are opposite and fre-quently have a red blotch in the center. The stem oozes a milky sap when broken. WEED CONTROL frontpaged Timing of application Some herbicides are applied prior to the emergence of target weed species (preemergence herbicides); once the target weeds have emerged, these her-bicides are usually ineffective for controlling them. The specific date at which a preemergence herbicide should be applied thus depends upon the period in which weed germination takes place. In Illinois, crabgrass typically germinates during May and June; therefore, a preemergence herbicide should be applied by late April in order to ensure con-trol. As one proceeds south, crab-grass germination usually occurs earlier during the growing season, requiring earlier ap-plication of the herbicide. Post-emergence herbicides are ap-plied after emergence of the weed; applying them before an-ticipated or actual emergence 
usually will not result in control. Most annual grasses can be controlled with either pre-
emergence or postemergence herbicides; however, pre-
emergence herbicides are usually preferred because they 
are often effective with a single 
application and they are less likely to injure the turfgrass. 
Broadleaf weeds and perennial grasses are usually treated with postemergence herbicides. Site of application Herbicides are applied to the foliage where they are absorbed, or to the soil underlying the grass shoots where they are absorbed by roots or immature organs of germinating seeds. Post-emergence herbicides are usually foliar-applied, while pre-emergence herbicides are soil-
applied. This distinction is of practical importance since a foliar-applied herbicide which is 
washed off of the foliage by 
irrigation or rainfall shortly after application may not be effective. Conversely, a soil-applied herbi-cide which is retained on the foliage for an extended period 
may break down before reaching the soil (or thatch) where it must be to be effective. Postemergence herbicides are of two types: contact and systemic. Contact herbicides control those portions of the In page 3H SPRAYING SYSTEMS CO. Teejetr SPRAY NOZZLES AND ACCESSORIES SPRAY BOOM CONTROL VALVES PRESSURE ' RELIEF VALVES A f LINE and SUCTION STRAINERS Vari Spacing. Split-Eyelet and Hose Shank BODIES and NOZZLES Over 800 INTERCHANGEABLE SPRAY TIP TYPES AND CAPACITIES... tapered edge, even and wide angle flat spray ... hollow and full cone .. . disc type hollow and full cone ... and flow regulators. The most complete line for spraying herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, liquid fertilizers and foam solutions. All materials. For complete information write for Catalog 36 ... and for foam spraying p ask for Data Sheets 13602 and 13626. OPRAYING SYSTEMS CO. North Ave. at Schmale Rd., Wheaton, III. 60187 Telephone: 312 665-5000 / Telex No. 72-8409 PROMPT SHIPMENT FROM STOCK vpui'Jt/sterti ® has a new baby brother Ciqui-Matic, the new concept. It performs like the biggest tank truck, but its GVW is 10000 pounds. Lawn treatment load is 25000 square feet. Tree feeding load is 1000 caliper inches. Jtiqui-SyStCHi's patented metering gong signals each gallons unit pumped. Power washes. Injects 2 optional pumped streams. All fiberglass whips corrosion. Furnished complete with truck, hose, tools, $16900.00. Call (512) 575-5882. A few available for Spring delivery. HILL'S LIQUI-SYSTEM P.O. Box 1043, Victoria, Texas 77901 Circle 134 on free information card z n > 73 m z a c CD H 73 < m m CD Table 1. Chemical Control of Broadleaf Weeds in Lawns WEED CONTROL frompage 35 weed plant to which they come into contact. For annual weeds, contact herbicides may be quite effective. Perennial weeds may recover following treatment with a contact herbicide because of new growth from below-ground regenerative organs. Systemic herbicides are translocated 
within the plant following ab-
sorption and are, therefore, more effective than contact herbicides for controlling perennial weeds. Most herbicides used for controlling annual grasses and 
broadleaf weeds are selective. When applied in accordance with directions on the herbicide container, they control target 
weeds without injuring desired turfgrasses. Currently, there are 
no selective herbicides for controlling most perennial grasses; therefore, nonselective herbicides must be used for controlling these weeds. Since nonselective herbicides will kill or injure all plants in the lawn, they should be applied only to the target weed as a directed spray in order to minimize damage to the lawn. Most broadleaf weeds are susceptible to control by at least one of the following herbicides: 2,4-D, silvex, mecoprop, or dicamba. All are selective, systemic, foliar-applied, post-emergence herbicides. Specific weeds and their relative suscep-tibilities to these herbicides are listed in Table 1. Applications should be made only on calm days (no wind) in order to avoid herbicide drift and possible damage to adjacent plantings of 
flowers, fruit and vegetable gar-dens, and ornamental trees and shrubs. For best control, the turf-grasses and weeds should be ac-tively growing at the time of 
treatment. Herbicides for controlling summer annual grasses include the preemergence herbicides I I / ® Crabgrass ROCKLAND PROFESSIONAL Betasaif Selective Pre-emergencc Herbicide ROCKLAND BETASAN is available in three different strengths, Š 12.5% granular, 3.6% granular and 4 lbs. Emulsifiable Concentrate. (R) Betasan is a registered Trademark of Stauffer Chemical Co. ROCKLAND has a complete line of granular insecticides, herbicides and fungicides for Professional Turf Maintenance. ROCKLAND Fertilizers contain combinations of IBDU, NITROFORM and new SULFUR COATED UREA. Some available formulations Š 25-5-15, 30-2-5 and 20-4-10. All products are formulated with the highest quality ingredients and carriers. ROCKLAND PROFESSIONAL lawn and garden PRODUCTS CATALOG CDCIROCKLAND CHEMICAL CO.. INC. | PASSAIC AVE., WEST CALDWELL, N.J. 07006 Ask your supplier or write Circle 120 on tree information card 2,4-D" Silvexh Mecopropc Dicamba'1 (S = susceptible; I = intermediate control; R = resistant) Black medic R S-I I S Carpetweed S I I S Chickweed, common R S S-I S mouse-ear R S 
S-I s Chicory S S S s Daisy, oxeye I I I I Dandelion S S 
S-I s Dock, curled I I-R I-R s Ground ivy I-R S-I I S-I Hawkweed S-I R R S-l Henbit 1 S I s Knotweed R I I s Lambsquarters S S 
S s Mallow, roundleaf I-R S-I I S-I Plantain, broadleaf S I I-R R buckhorn S I I-R R Purslane I S-I R S Red sorrel R I 
R S Speedwell, creeping R R 
R R purslane I I 
I I Spurge, prostrate I-R I I S-I Thistles S-I S-I I S White clover I S S S Wild carrot S S-I S-l S Wild onion I R R S-I Woodsorrel, yellow I S-l I I Yarrow I I-R I-R S Combinations of a + b. a + c, a + d. a + b + c. and a + c + d are commonly used for broad-spectrum control of broadleaf weeds in lawns. Table 2. Tolerance of Various Turfgrasses to Herbicides Used for Weed Control in Lawns - cool-season -types - Turfgrass Species -- warm-season -types en en a en en 
3 en en en en C0 s~> OC en en 3 c tn t-H 00 a en en en co 
L. 
00 03 en ce IH SP en 0) 
3 en en ce U OC .2 én 3 a a. 3 en co 
L. 
00 03 en ce IH SP en 0) 
3 3 u 
00 <*J S3 e U OC .2 én 00 3 < a a. 00 3 3 C en ai c £ Herbicide 5 <D CO a Du >, os a CO O N c/5 a U 3 00 Atrazine N N N N N 
S S 
I N Benefin S I S S S s S S S 
Bensulide S S S S 
I I 
S s S 2,4-D S N S S S 
s N I S DCPA s N N s S s S s s 
Dicamba s I I 
o I I I I 
s Mecoprop s S S 
s s s 
I s s 
Organic arsenicals I I N 
s s s 
N N N 
Siduron s I S s 
N s S S S 
Silvex s N I s I o N N N 
Simazine N N N N N 
s S 
S N S Ł safe for use N Ł not suggested for use 1 = may be injurious O Ł unknown »rotV\\0H Great lawns for Customers OVW'V^v.v.W' Good Profit for You! Model 40 Vacuum E-Z Pickup of Crass Clippings, Thatch and 
Leaves! YOUR BRAND TRACTOR PLUS E-Z VAC = A GREAT LAWN-CARE TEAM! x Ł Optional remote pickup unit Ł Optional cart and cart cover accessories For Details on other E-Z VAC Models and Prices write or call: Ł Powerful 5 h.p. engine Ł Retractable Starter Ł Rugged Construction Makers of Fine Power Products for Better Lawn Care! E-Z RAKE, INC. * BOX 506, LEBANON, IND. 46052 (DCPA, benefin, bensulide and siduron), and the organic ar-senic a Is (MSMA, DSMA, MAMA) applied postemergence two or three times at seven-to-ten-day intervals. Check Table 2 for turfgrass tolerance to these and other herbicides to avoid in-jury to the lawn. For example, the triazine herbicides (atrazine, simazine) can be used for several grasses and broadleaf weeds in some warm-season turfgrasses, but cool-season turf-grasses are intolerant of these herbicides. Thus, the triazines are selective herbicides in some lawns and nonselective in others. With few exceptions, peren-nial grasses cannot be controlled selectively in lawns. Thus, a non-
selective herbicide such as 
glyphosate, may be used for spot-treating isolated patches or clumps of weedy perennial grasses. Commercially available her-bicides are safe when used pro-perly; this means in strict 
accordance with directions prin-ted on the herbicide container. When used correctly herbicides can help in sustaining weed-free lawns. If you're a lawn applicator. . . If you're not using Sulfur Coated Urea . . . READ THIS! Then call us toll-free at: East of the Mississippi 1-800-321-5951 In Ohio Dial 1-800-362-7413 Or Call Collect 216-323-7544 If you're a lawn applicator and you're not using LESCO 36 Sulfur Coated Urea in your program, it's costing you money, it's costing you per-formance, and maybe it's costing you customers. LESCO 36 Sulfur Coated Urea is a giant leap for turf management. This controlled 
release nitrogen source delivers a guaranteed mini-mum of 36% nitrogen and 12% sulfur. Between 10 to 20% of the nitrogen is avail-able within the first 7 to 10 
days, with the remainder 
available over a period of several months. This means quick greening, sustained feeding and reduced applica-
tion costs. And because you buy from Lakeshore, you buy from the manufacturer. And that means quality and savings. If you are a truckload buyer, take advantage of our toll-free information service and call Barb today. She'll have our representative con-tact you immediately. Those east of the Mississippi can reach her by dialing 1-800-321-5951. (In Ohio, dial 1-800-362-7413.) If you're west of the Mississippi, call Barb collect at 216-323-7544. Take that small step and call today. We'll be glad to tell you about LESCO 36 and our other fine LESCO Prod-ucts, such as LESCOSAN (Betasan*), the liquid pre-emergence crabgrass control that outsells all the competi-tion. Our LESCO Quality Prod-ucts and Friendly Service are always as close as your phone. Ł(BetasanŠRegistered TM of Stauffer Chemical Company.) r-> Z O > TO P3 z D C 03 H TO Ł< -o H 
03 PRODUCTS Division of Lakeshore Equipment & Supply Co. 300 S. ABBE ROAD, ELYRIA, OHIO 44035 A FAMILY OF FINE PRODUCTSŠLescosan 12.5GŠLescoreneŠLeseo 4ŠLescoborŠLescoparŠLescopexŠLeseo Non-Selective Herbicide Leseo MSMAŠLeseo Thiram 75WŠLescozymeŠLakeshore Chinch Bug & Sod Webworm Control EXTEND SEASON from page 16 "Last spring, we applied Betasan on three football fields that had been dormantly seeded the previous fall, and the rye grass did not show any injury whatsoever," he said. "It worked out very well. The Betasan con-trolled all the crabgrass and the Banvel-D took care of the knot-weed which was already in the two-leaf stage. This year, I will apply Betasan in April on all my football fields. It doesn't seem to affect the foliar part of the plant, and as long as it has germinated 
and is growing, it doesn't seem to make any difference." Hutchinson says he prefers li-quid Betasan for crabgrass con-trol because of its physical pro-perties. "It is very compatible with my overall operation," Hutchin-son says. "If you let it set over night in a tank, some of it may settle, but a light agitation will put it back in suspension. If you 
allow some herbicides made from wettable powders to sit over night, they can settle to the bottom and form a hard crust. Then you have to take a shovel and scrape down the tank to mix 
it up. I have done some lab tests mixing Betasan with liquid fertil-izers, as well as with Banvel-D 
and 2,4-D, and I have not noted 
any adverse effects." Another Long Island lawn care businessman in nearby Bohemia, Paul Kampe of Lawn-rite Corp., also uses Betasan for crabgrass control. But unlike Hutchinson, 95 percent of Kampe's accounts are residen-tial. Lawnrite serves several thousand homes a year, plus a smattering of commercial jobs that usually stem from residen-tial contracts. Kampe says Lawn-rite has not experimented with any of the new seed and herbi-cide application schedules like Hutchinson, but he says dormant herbicide applications are definitely something to consider for the future. "The idea of dormant herbi-cide applications has a lot of merit," Kampe says. "Dormant applications would actually ex-tend our year by four to six weeks." "Most homeowners think about lawn care in the spring, not the fall," Kampe says. "So before we can offer dormant herbicide applications to them, we have to 
change their buying habits. Homeowners must understand and be made aware of dormant 
herbicide applications, but one lawn care dealer cannot do the job alone. Promoting dormant herbicide applications to home-owners must be a national effort by both lawn care businessman and the chemical companies." Betasan is available to lawn care businessmen under the following private labels: Best Betasan 4E and 12.5G (West Coast), Betamec-4 and Lescosan 4E and 12.5G. GREENLON from page 33 part of an effective package of colorful promotional material Greenlon provides. The packet does a good job of explaining to the customer or potential customer why lawn care service is necessary, how to sign up for 
it, when to water, when to mow, and so forth. Greenlon also offers a landscape/maintenance service, including complete landscape layouts, plantings and mainte-
nance programs. The firm's business continues to thrive and Steinau is negotiating for a site for a 14,000-16,000-square-foot 
building which will be specially 
designed for Greenlon. But, while the future looks favorable for the company and the industry as a whole, Blank voiced concern about the small segment of "schlock" operators in the field. "I'd like to see the time when everyone in this business is a professional," he declared, "who knows exactly which chemicals he is using and uses them right. But a few folks are experi-menting with their customers' lawns and getting people sore at the industry as a whole." PRODUCTS Impulse pop-up sprinkler featured in free catalog For the lawn care busi-nessman involved in sprinkler installation on residential or commercial/ industrial lawns, Champion Brass Mfg. Co. offers a new impulse pop-up sprinkler featured in its just-released 1979 catalog. Free copies of the catalog are available. The case is Cycolac plastic with both a 3A-inch side and bottom inlet on the featured No. 6178. Features in-
clude: a stainless steel pop-down spring for positive retract action; self-flushing stem; strainer; and a wiper seal which clears debris from the stem while operating up and-down. Circle 222 on free information card Fiberglass spray tank for supervisor pickup You've got your larger spray tank truck units handling the bulk of your business every day, but you need a tank to mount in the back of your supervisor's pickup for complaint calls and spot jobs. With that in mind, Raven Industries announces availability of a new, 100-gallon pesticide tank. Construction if of 
corrosion-resistant fiberglass, and dimensions are 30 inches wide by 47 inches long by 24 inches high. The tank has a sloped bottom for complete drainage from a side outlet, and comes standard with a nylon fitting plus and an easy-fill 10-
inch nylon fillwell and splash-guard cover. A steel skid assem-bly with bands and T-bolts is available, and flow-thru baffles 
in the tank are optional. Circle 221 on free information card Liquid, not suspension slow-release fertilizers One of the busiest booths at recent turf trade shows was Ashland's Chemical Co.'s, where the company's Slo-Release fertil-izers were introduced. Here is the reason why, quoting from some of the free, detailed litera-ture available from Ashland: "As a custom applicator of lawn care products, you know hUna Chemical* | ^ Ashland-<SIO-LIQUID CONTROLLED-RELEASE FERTILIZERS A» a custom applicato' of lawn cars products you know the Importance ol the nrtrogen source serving as the basis of your tormuiatior; Historically, nitrogen products have suffered from two rr a,or drawbacks the inability to supply an adequate amount of nitrogen without burning and wrtheut the uneconomical application of large amount* o' water and the gradual dissolution times for granular or d y materials thai don't completely release nitrogen during j ;r owing season Kqt.w 6IVtt prtdlcllW, M< Otpsntfstit fofvmsnct Ashland Chemicalt Sio-Reteasa liquid ri"rrf rslaaaa tertUizei product line was developed to help the custom applicator overcome Ihese problems Three years of Slo-Releaae product experience coupled with Ashland Chemical's extensive experience In resin technology have provided the industry with a high quality product line designed spec tflusHy lor turf Fertilizer performance that you can predict and depend on especially in hot mid-summer months 1s important to you. end that's wr.ai a Slo-Release Łnrmuiallon delivers Apply Any Time Ourlnp Growing Season Sio-Release liquid tor mutations can be appfced any time during the season without tear of Idrf burn and with the assurance that your customer is getting an adequate amount of nitrogen to do the 10b the importance of the nitrogen source serving as the basis of your formulation," one of the brochures begins. "Historically, nitrogen products have suffered 
from two major drawbacks: The inability to supply an adequate amount of nitrogen without burn-ing and without the unecon-omical application of large 
amounts of water; and the gradual dissolution times for granular or dry materials that don't completely release nitro-gen during a growing season." The brochure continues: "Ashland Chemical Co.'s Slo-Release liquid controlled-
release fertilizer product line was developed to help the 
custom applicator overcome these problems. Three years of Slo-Release product experience coupled with Ashland's exten-sive experience in resin tech-nology have provided the in-
dustry with a high-quality pro-
duct line designed specifically for turf. Fertilizer performance that you can predict and depend on, especially in the hot, mid-summer months, is important to you, and that's what a Slo-Release formulation delivers." Free from Hypro ¿TT3SSS* Sprayer Pump Handbook New Edition! 319 Fifth Ave NW. St Paul. MN 55112 Ł (612) 633-9300 Circle 109 on free information card Mechanical Agitator Direct Drive Pump Power Rewind Reels 30" x 18" x 18" Tool Box Meet the DSM 1200 SprayMaster Lawn Service Unit Fiberglass tanks available in same dimensions as steel ountz We SERVICE what we build 614/253-7479 EQUIPMENT CO. 1437 E. Fifth Ave., Columbus, Ohio 43219 8 pages of helpful information to help you select and use your pumps better. Hookup diagrams for piston, roller and centrifugal pumps. Graphs of pump outputs, flow through spray nozzles. Data on pump and sprayer component selection plus much more. Send for your free copy now. When you need pumps for sprayers or pressure wash systems make your choice Hypro A DIVISION OF LEAR SIEGLER INC Circle 142 on free information card 72-inch riding mower Heckendorn Mfg. Co., Inc., has announced product modifi-cations for its 72-inch riding mower. Improvements include increased cutting power with a higger, electric-start engine; larger spindles; easily replace-able drive sprocket; and a redesigned instrument panel that places all control within easy 
reach of the operator. Gear steer-ing is optional. Other features in-clude front-wheel steering, zero-turning radius, hinged side-mount units that follow ground contours and allow drive wheels to remain on stable ground. Circle 201 on free information card Push-powered pesticide applicator The WS-470 Pro-Wheelie, from Wheel Spray Co., Inc. is similar to pesticide applicators utilized by some major lawn care companies across the country. Some companies apply dry fertil-
izers and insecticides, and use equipment such as this to apply liquid herbicides and fungi-
cides. No water hoses, cords, batteries or gasoline are re-quired. The five-gallon container and the ground-driven pumping system are made of corrosive-re-sistant materials. Applications are adjustable from 800 square feet per gallon to 1,200 square 
feet per gallon. Coverage is rela-tively unchanged by the speed at which the sprayer is pushed. The faster it is pushed, the faster it 
pumps. It will deliver a 72-inch fan of solution. Circle 208 on free information card Dump bed trailer The all-aluminum dump bed trailer from OME, Inc. is more 
practical than a second truck, the company said. The tailgate 
hinges at the top and bottom for your choice of loading and dumping. It is designed for off-highway use. Circle 205 on free information card Spray equipment catalog Spraying Systems Co. has made available its newest cata-log on spray nozzles and acces-sories for lawn care and other 
spraying operations. The 88-page catalog contains information on hollow cone nozzles, full cone nozzles, flat spray nozzles, 
atomizing fine spray nozzles, air 
atomizing nozzles, special pur-pose nozzles, accessories and applications and publications information. Circle 206 on free information card Zero turning radius Dixon Industries, Inc. has published a four-color brochure on its ZTR mowers, which offer DIXON ZTR MOWERS "zero turning radius." The ZTR pivot point is midway between the two drive wheels. One wheel moves forward and the other backward at the same time, turn-ing the whole mower in its own tracks. Circle 203 on free information card Turf fertilizer Pro-Lawn Products, Inc. has published a free four-page cata-log outlining its line of turf fertil-izers for professional use. MARKETING IDEA FILE Print your own identification book Don Ridgway, president of Spra-Gro, Inc., Bedford, Ohio took away a number of his competition's customers this year for one simple reason Š he had visible proof to show the home owners what their problems actually were. "We got a number of calls from people who had what tur-ned out to be disease problems on their lawns, but their lawn care company was not able to diagnose the problem for them," he said. He took the calls and took his identification book of disease problems, published by Du Pont Co., Wilmington, Del. out on the call. "As soon as I could show to the person exactly what their problem was and what we were going to do for it, it was an 
easy sell," Ridgway said. This year his company plans on printing 1,000 booklets with four-color disease identification 
pictures, included along with their regular company informa-
tion and costs. "This way, it will tell the customer how to handle any problems himself on a preventive basis Š which they don't 
usually want to pay us for but is still a service to them Š or pay us to handle it on the preventive basis or after the prob-lem occurs." Information is given on the com-pany's "Blue Chip" 10-5-5 turf fertilizer with 100 percent organic nitrogen; Lawn and Fair-way 10-6-4; Turf & Tree 10-6-4; Pro Lawn 5-10-5; Pro-Lawn Plus, a 22-6-8 with 50 percent slow-How to make your lawn and garden grow with the professional line of plant food products The Pro-Lawn Family aHDig. release nitrogen; and its combi-nations with broadleaf herbi-cides, crabgrass herbicides and 
insecticides. Circle 209 on free information card Suction sweeper Billy Goat Industries has introduced its new "Little Billy" suction sweeper for leaf and debris cleanup. It features a three-horsepower engine and is small enough to be maneuver-able in tight areas. It has a 20-inch-wide intake snout and weighs under 60 pounds. It fea-tures a heavy-duty bag with three-bushel capacity. Circle 210 on free information card Heavy Duty Measuring Wheel Welded Construction Wide Wheel-VU" Used by one of the Largest Lawn Care Companies in the U.S.A.-Cushioned Handle Grip Metal Housed Veeder-Root Counter Easy Reset Great for Measuring Roads, Parking Lots, and Driveways . . . Custom Colors Available on Request (Lots of 25 or more Only) Counter Guard Shipping F.O.B. Columbus Quanity Discounts Available More Information Call or Write: Imler Industries, Inc. 1117 Broadview Ave. Columbus, Ohio 43212 614/ 486-9068 Circle 114 on free information card ' REVEMJ-E I REVEILLE V. MS; JP^j ¡21 Pelletized Profit? Now, big limestone & gypsum profits in a virtually dust-free pellet form. Ł Opens up a whole new market segment for your lawn care business . without the mess of dusty, uncontrolled spreader applications. Ł Economical, yet highly profitable. Ł Works with any type spreader, including broad-cast. Ł Lets you increase customer service plus decrease your fertilizer costs. Ł Ideal for slack periods because REVEILLE can be applied practically year 'round. Available in bag or bulk, both REVEILLE Limestone 
and Gypsum fit perfectly into liquid or dry lawn care operations. LIMESTONE & GYPSUM PELLETS American Peiietizmg Corp Ł P O Box 3628 Ł Des Moines. Iowa 50322 40 ca 3 Du BEHIND THIS ISSUE >Ł OC rŠ cn a 2 u DC < u 2 CLASSIFIED Lots of good news this month. First, the issue you are holding in your hand is the largest LAWN CARE INDUSTRY to date. All in all, it carries the advertising of 36 different companies that are try-ing to reach you. We of course feel good about it, but you should too. It is a reflection on the growth and strength of the lawn 
care industry as a whole. The manufacturers more and more are beginning to realize that you are out there, and they are designing products to fit your needs. Secondly, we have a new person on the staff of LAWN CARE INDUSTRY. He's the fellow on the right, and his name is Dan Moreland. He interviewed many of the Houston lawn care busi-nessmen featured in MARKETPLACE, beginning on page 17. And 
he's going to be meeting many of you in the coming months, in his travels reporting on the lawn care industry for us. u ^v ADVERTISERS Adelphi 24 Agro-Chem 27 American Pelletizing 39 Ashland Chemical Co 11 Consolidated Services Co 28 Deere & Co 31 Diamond-Shamrock Corp 3 Dountz Equipment Co 38 Du Pont Co 22-23 
Elanco Products Co 14 E-Z Rake 36 Finn Equipment Co 34 Hahn, Inc 28 
Hercules, Inc 5 Hills' Liqui-Systems 35 Hypro, Div. of Lear Siegler Corp 38 Imler Industries 39 International Seeds 15 Jacklin Seed Co 4 
Lakeshore Equipment & Supply Co 21, 37 Lawn Doctor.... 30 Monsanto Co 29 Power Spray Technology 25 
Pro-Lawn 30 Rockland Chemical Co 36 O.M. Scott & Sons 41 S.P.I.C 32-33 Spraying Systems Co 35 Stauffer Chemical Co 8-9 Strong Enterprises, Inc 11 3M Co 16 Torco Engineering - 7 Toro Co 42-43 Union Carbide Corp 12-13 U.S. Gypsum 19 Wheel Spray 28 When answering ads where box number only is given, please address as follows: Box number, c/o LAWN CARE IN-DUSTRY, Dorothy Lowe, Box 6951 Cleveland, Ohio 44101. Rates: 35c a word for line ads, 65c a word for display ads. Box numbers add $1 for mailing. All classified ads must be received by the publisher before the 10th 
of the month preceding publication and 
be accompanied by casn or money order 
covering full payment. 
Mail aa copy to Dorothy Lowe LAWN 
CARE INDUSTRY, Box 6951, Cleveland, 
Ohio 4410] HELP WANTED MANAGER and applicator position open at new chemical lawn care division of established landscape maintenance company in fast-growing Houston, Texas. Tremen-dous opportunity for those having 
experience with national or regional lawn care companies, knowledge of St. Augustine lawns and marketing capabilities. The right people will have unlimited advancement poten-tial. Send complete resume including education, experience and salary history to: Environmental, 7544 Harwin, Houston, Texas 77036 or call collect 713-784-1750. OUR EXPANDING OPERATION enables us to offer several excellent opportunities for highly qualified ex-
perienced individuals in the follow-ing areas: 1) Landscape De-sign/Sales: Responsibilities include; negotiating with architects, 
developers and contractors to secure landscape construction contracts; es-timating and bidding; site-design; scheduling and supervision of 3 to 5 crews; and complete coordination of 
landscape construction projects. 
Successful applicant will have a Bachelors Degree in Landscape 
Architecture and 1 to 2 years experi-ence or the equivalent in experi-ence. Š 2) Landscape Foremen: responsibilities include: proper in-stallation of plant material and landscape features including grading; correct use and care of equipment; and supervision of crews. Successful applicants will have 1 to 3 years of experience in the landscaping industry with at least 1 
year in a supervisory capacity and 
knowledge of reading blueprints. Š 3) Landscape Maintenance Foremen: responsibilities include: proper care and maintenance of 
plant material (i.e. fertilizing pro-
cedures, spraying, mowing, pruning 
and cultivation); correct use ana 
care of equipment; and supervision of crews. Successful applicants will 
have 1 to 3 years of experience in landscape maintenance with at least 1 year in a supervisory capacity. These are year-round positions with excellent starting salaries and full 
company benefits. If you feel you are qualified for one or more of these positions described above, and you are an ambitious, self-motivated, knowledgeable individual who en-joys a challenge and one who takes pride in his work, then you are what we are looking for. Please contact our office immediately. Bob's Green Thumb Landscaping Co., Inc., Rae Ann Borst, Secretary, RR 1, Box 131, Mundelein, Illinois 60060. (312) 634-9300. POSITIONS OPEN NOW. Leading horticultural services company in Houston, Texas (established, 1959). 
Major expansion program requires 
experienced working crew super-visors and assistants in Landscape 
Maintenance Division (leading to 
superintendent positions). Chemical Division (industrial weed control and chemical lawn maintenance) 
and Landscape Division Š experi-
enced all levels. All divisions, in-cluding Indoor (plant leasing & greenhouse) offer career oppor-tunities for untrained, but willing to learn. Apprentice program, pro-motions, excellent fringes. Year round, no layoff jobs. The Spencer Company, P.O. Box 16113, Houston, Texas 77002. Call Len Spencer (713) 691-3991. LIOUID LAWN CARE company is seeking an individual to heaa up our service department. Requirements for this position are a degree in agronomy, horticulture, or agricul-ture or past turf experience. Salary open. Send resume to Excelawn Corp., Box 20564, Indianapolis, Ind. 46220. FOR SALE UPDATING FLEET AND EQUIP-
MENT: 5 Lawn-A-Mat units (trac-tors, combines, trailers) good con-dition, $2,500.00 per unit. Also, 2-1972 Ford pick-ups, under 50,000 miles. 
Call: 414 552-8911. Jim Gourley. LAWN SPRAYER Š New generation automatic sprayer. Cuts spraying time by 75%. Sprays insecticides, herbicides, fungicides. Under $250.00. Free information. Yard Mate, P.O. Box 917, Arvada, Co. 80001. WANTED TO BUY LANDSCAPE EQUIPMENT: Jacobsen power seeder, aerator, York rakes, pulverizers, trailers, loaders, sprayers, etc. Must be reasonable. Send description to: 
Kurt, 968 Mentor Avenue, Paines-
ville, OH 44077. USED EQUIPMENT UPDATING FLEET, must sell 1974, 
1975, 1976 1300 gallon tankers. G.M's with electric reels and new pumps, excellent condition from $9,500.00. New 1200 gallon steel tank, painted, $450.00. New 300 gallon tank with agitation shaft, manway, pulleys on 
skid, not complete, $450.00." 300 gallon fiberglass sprayer, skid mtd., 8 horsepower, mechanical agitation, centrifical pump (can spray 
I.B.D.U.), electric reel with 300 ft. of hoses, $1,200.00. Hand rewind hoe reel, like new. $60.00. Phone 216 255-3131. 1976 CHEVY C-150 lawn spray truck, excellent condition, 1,200 gallon steel tank mounted on 14 foot platform. 2 Hanney electric hose reels with 500 
feet of hose on each. Bean 20-20 pump mechanical and jet agitation. $11,500. Call or write Rusin Land-scaping, Inc., 340 North Drive, Lorain, Ohio 44053. Phone 216 233-8217. LAWN SPRAY TANKER. 1Š1977 ex-cellent condition 1500 gallon Load-star International, completely equip-ped with hose reels and 300 ft. of delivery hose. Phone 313 549-1912. EXCEL HUSTLERS with mower, 8 to choose from, will deliver. 313 329-2675. MISCELLANOUS OVERBOOKED?? ... BREAKDOWNS?? RENT OURS DAILY, WEEKLY OR MONTHLY Tankers Š 1500 gal., P.T.O., Auto Rewind . . .$115.00 Day 1 Ton Š 750 gal., P.T.O., Auto Rewind . . .$ 75.00 Day NEED CAPITAL?? We buy your equipment and lease back!! NEED NEW EQUIPMENT?? We lease all kinds!! WRITE NOW TO: GREEN THUMB LEASING CORP. 9325 Harriet Ave. S., Bloomington, MN 55420 BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY CLEVELAND, OHIO OPPORTUN-ITY. One of Ohio's largest and pro-gressive nursery organizations is es-tablishing a lawn fertilization business in the Cleveland area. We 
are looking for a person to manager the whole program. If you have 3 to 5 years experience in residential lawn fertilization and management, call us immediately. All replies will be strictly confidential. Horton Nursery Sales Co., 216 331-6267, Mrs. Hebing. Tightfisted turf managers know ProTurf products are cheap. The leaner your budget, the less you can afford errors, ac-cidents, or wasted timeŠand the more you need turf prod-ucts that keep performing over a wide range of circumstances, with minimal demands on your crew and equipment. We developed ProTurf products specifically for turf professionals with tight budgets and tough ob-jectives. People who know that an inexpensive fertilizer that burns a fairway isn't very economical, that a fungicide only an expert can apply is no ¡1), bargain, that "cheap" seed full of weeds and chaff can cost a heck of a lot in the long run. What we're talking about is value. Not the price you pay up front, but the cost when all the bills are in. Value doesn't just happen ... it has to be designed in. That's why at Scotts, we really do believe in research. We don't sell products unless they've been researched ' and tested all over the country. Frankly, we can't afford not toŠbecause you can't afford to buy a product that becomes part of the problem, instead of part of the solution. 
There's a lot to tell about the 
value in Prolbrf products. And 
right now is an excellent time to find out. During Scotts' Lawn Service/Landscaper SaleŠnow through March 31Šyou can get special discounts on our entire product line . . . and take until midsummer to pay. For details, 
call your Tech Rep toll-free 
at 800/543-0006. an Ohio: 513/644-2900, collect.) Professional Turf Division Marysville, Ohio 43040 Circle 111 on free information card ©1979, The O.M. Scott & Sons Company. All rights reserved. .1 1 en thev baa more When there's no compromise in performance, they're worth even more. Introducing Toro Front Runner rotaries. They're self-contained vacuum grass collecting systems designed specifically to hag and cany heavy loads without penalizing performance. Result? They stop, start, steer and maneuver as well loaded as many mowers with add-on bag systems do empty. Since they're designed for big grass loads, strain on engines, transmissions and other components is cut way down. Which cuts way down on repairs and down time. What's more, Front Runners offer the largest grass collection capacities available. The GMT (left) handles up to 20 bushels and mows 48" or 60" wide. The Turf Truck, with hydraulic dump system, handles up to 50 bushels and mows 60" wide. Benefit: More mowing between grass dumpings. Or, for wide mowing without bagging, choose the giant 80" batwing deck on either unit. Outer wings follow contour of ground to eliminate scalping. To make your GMT worth even more, choose a snow plow, snow blower or sprayer. Increase the worth of your Turf Truck with all season cab. Toro Red Wagon Service is one more reason your Toro is worth more. Every Red Wagon mobile van comes with a trained pro and the equipment and parts he needs to perform most maintenance on the spot. Call 800-328-2858 toll-free for the name of your nearest Toro distributor and a demonstration. Even fully loaded, Front Runners maneuver as well as most riding mowers, thanks to "bend in the middle" articulated steering. Wide track design, long wheel base and flotation tires provide excellent stability, even when capacity loads are carried. ! Circle 112 on free information card 5,000,000 4,000,000 3,000,000 2,000,000 1,000,000 POUNDS Sold Worldwide barcfn KENTUCKY BLUEGRASS Baron Outsells Merion by more than 10 to 1 ! No Wonder: Quicker Germination Less Fertilization Required Greater Disease Resistance More Widely Adaptable Less Expensive Merion KENTUCKY BLUEGRASS 975 1976 1977 1978 LOFTS Lofts Pedigreed Seed, Inc. Bound Brook, N.J. 08805/(201) 356-8700 Lofls/New England Arlington, Mass. 02I74 617-648-7550 Great Western Seed Co. Albany, Ore. 79321 503-926-2636 Lofts Kellogg Seed Co. Milwaukee, Wis. 53201 414-276-0373 Lofts/Mew York Cambridge, N.Y. I28I6 518-677-8808 Lofts/ Maryland Landover, Md. 20785 30I-322-8111 Ose co Ltd. Brampton, Ont., Can. 416-457-5080 Merion production figures taken from "Seed Gröps" published by U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Crop Reporting Board, W ashington, D.C . Baron production figures supplied bv Barenbrug Holland and l>ofts Pedigreed Seeds, Inc.