Looking at our 2025 numbers at Grunder Landscaping Co., we performed over $150,000 in warranty work. That's a big number, which had us asking some hard questions about where we could tighten things up for 2026.

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving spent with your loved ones. I was lucky to have all four of my kids, their significant others, and my two granddaughters in town this week. It was so nice to have everyone under one roof!

Vince Torchia and I were talking recently about why some companies hit their growth goals while others fall short. The issue isn't usually the goals themselves - it's the milestones leading up to them.

At GROW! 2026 we’ll tour Complete Landsculpture as part of the event, and as always Vince and I have a bit of a preview into what attendees will see onsite as we work to plan the event.

Most landscaping companies wait until they're desperate to hire before they think about their sales structure. You realize you need another salesperson when your current team is overwhelmed, when a team member leaves, or you add someone without clarity on what they'll actually be responsible for selling.

I frequently joke that when I was in my 30s and 40s, I'd come back from conferences all excited with new ideas for my team at Grunder Landscaping Co. I'm sure the seasoned members would whisper to new recruits: "Just wait. He'll be at a different conference next week with a totally different list of initiatives."

Over the past few years, I've had the privilege of visiting some of the best-run landscaping companies in North America as we've hosted GROW! Conferences.

I've seen a lot of trendy "quick fixes" come and go. With every new technology, garden pest, or machinery release there's always either panic or excitement: will this make my life easier? Am I going to be able to figure out how to use it? What can we do next to stay ahead of our competition? Here's the thing: many of.

When everything is a priority, nothing actually is.

Ten years ago, I met Gene Freeman and Chris Strempek in Dallas, TX, right before we brought our group of GROW! 2016 attendees to their company, Complete Landsculpture. We were introduced by Jim Cali and Jason New, our partners in running our ACE Peer Group Program. Gene and Chris have become good friends since that.