Industry Insights

The booths are packed away, the carpet’s been rolled up and Tony D’s guitar is back in it’s case. Thank you Landscape Ontario for another great Congress.

It’s always a pleasure to hang out with this talented group of professionals, shake hands with clients/suppliers, run fingers over new equipment, and learn from the experts on how to do business better.

The quality and creativity of the work continues to improve as well. Congratulations to all the winners of the Landscape awards!

One thing that continues to challenge this profession is recruitment. More than one speaker talked about the challenges of managing millennials but it seems difficult to attract the best of any generation to this profession.

And let’s be real. The Landscape profession is not for the faint of heart. It’s a tough way to make a living. It involves long hours of hard physical work in all kinds of weather. One owner shared with me that his son who is studying business in university came to him after one particular class on investing and said “Dad, I would never invest in your company.” – ouch. But to his point; Landscaping businesses have typically been high risk, low margin, seasonal operations. They require major capital expenditures and a low barrier to entry keeps a steady stream of new competitive operators constantly nipping at the heels.

Which is why we still believe this profession needs to continue to discover and communicate it’s “Why”.

Landscapers are some of the most fascinating people we know. Equal parts artist, biologist and technologist, they work hard creating and caring for the green spaces in our communities, in our neighbourhoods and in our own backyards. We believe in what they do because the landscape is the stage that our lives get played out on every day. And Landscape professionals are tackling some of the most serious concerns we face as a modern society by cultivating inspiring, healthy spaces for us to live and work and play in. With their help we’ll leave this place in better shape than when we found it.

We believe the landscape profession is an attractive, compelling and highly relevant industry not just for consumers — but for young people looking for a meaningful and fulfilling career.

Before you go back to what you love, take 30 seconds to watch our video tribute to you.