An industry already battered by the economy is feeling the effects of the hot, dry summer that scorched parts of the nation earlier than normal.
No matter how closely you follow MSN Real Estate’s “10 secrets to a perfect lawn,” in some parts of the nation it’s simply been too hot and too dry a summer for even the most avid gardener to keep the grass lovely and lush.
But The Wall Street Journal writes that it’s not just homeowners and their yards that are wilting in this summer’s hotter-than-average temperatures. With lawns dying earlier in parts of the East Coast and in some central states, landscapers are finding that work in their industry also is drying up.
And the withering economy isn’t doing much to help. Some landscapers say that the dryness isn’t the only factor affecting their declining workloads. Many homeowners are simply doing landscaping work on their own instead of spending money to get the job done, or reducing the number of visits from their landscaper to help make ends meet. From The Journal:
Kevin Culbert, an analyst for research firm IBISWorld Inc., expects revenues to decline 4.7% this year for landscape-services companies as customers do their own work. "Not everybody can do plumbing, but everybody can get outside and mow their lawn," he says.
Meanwhile, many landscaping companies also have had to make cuts to make their own ends meet, such as Tim McCarey, owner of McCarey Landscaping Inc. in Middletown, N.Y., who told The Journal that his revenues are down about 30% from a year ago and that he’s down to 38 employees from more than 50 last summer.
And the heat also means workers can’t always work full days, taking a further toll on the landscape-oriented companies. Guier Fence Co. in Kansas City, Mo., estimates it has lost as many as two hours a day per worker because of this summer’s extreme heat.
For now, homeowners may not be turning to the professionals for help with their hopeless lawns, but they may reverse course when the cooler months show that weeds have taken the place of much of their singed grass. Likewise, if the real-estate industry starts to improve, that may spur sales of homes that have been on hold and just might need some professional yard care. How has your lawn handled the weather this summer? Got any secrets to protect your grass in the warmer months?
http://realestate.msn.com/blogs/listedblogpost.aspx?post=1794292
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