Landscaping companies shift more toward high-end design projects as industry and customer demands change
The days of your local landscaping company showing up to jobsites without shirts on are long gone.
Local business owners and industry experts say it is now all about professionalism, response times and mostly, expanding services provided to include fully custom designs that now are helping a staple industry expand even further.
Britt Wood, CEO of the National Association of Landscape Professionals, said the industry has changed quite a bit over the past decade, as it was once primarily focused on maintenance, but has grown into a much broader set of services.
“Today, many companies offer design, construction, outdoor living spaces, water management and technology-driven solutions like smart irrigation and lighting,” Wood said. “Clients are looking for more comprehensive services and companies have adapted to meet that demand.”
The National Association of Landscape Professionals aims to support and advance the industry, Wood said, working with companies of all sizes by providing advocacy, education, workforce development and professional standards.
Wood said while maintenance has always been a critical part of the industry, client demands are what has caused this shift toward a heavier design focus for local businesses.
“Maintenance work tends to provide consistent and predictable revenue, which supports long-term stability,” Wood said. “Design-build projects can offer higher margins, but they are more variable since they are project-based. Many successful companies rely on a mix of both to balance stability and growth.”
Phil Wain, owner of Wain Landscaping in Saxonburg has been serving Butler County and surrounding communities for over 25 years, and his company has grown to 25 full-time employees who are now being asked to do more due to customer needs.
“The guys have to look decent, communicate with customers and certainly technology has increased,” Wain said. “When I started, we had none of that. Now, we have designers doing designs on computers, so they can see renderings of what is going on.”
Wain Landscaping is a year-round, full-service landscaping company focusing on landscape design, installation maintenance and renovation services, as well as snow removal in wintertime.
He said the business focuses on landscape maintenance and design work for outdoor living spaces such as patios, fireplaces, sidewalks and more.
“I think we are 50/50,” Wain said regarding maintenance versus design work. “We want to design and install it, but we also want to maintain it. We have yearly maintenance contracts with customers now where we include everything for the season in the contract. If they want something installed, we bid that separately.”
Wain said full-design installations are more lucrative than mowing lawns, but his company stills mows to keep the company visible to the public, as traditional maintenance jobs are usually what people see the most.
There has been a noticeable shift with customers Wain said, who essentially want to “keep up with the Joneses.”
“They want to look a certain way, and there is a little competition between people,” Wain said. “Maybe in the 1990s and early 2000s there was more of a shift to making a place look really nice instead of just maintenance. That has increased.”
Wain Landscaping serves customers in communities about an hour in all directions from its Saxonburg base, with a majority of customers being in the Cranberry Township and Mars area, some of Butler County’s fastest-growing municipalities.
Jawn Funyak, a partner with Funyak Landscapes in the Mars area, said one of his crews is working with a repeat customer who wants a complete overhaul of their backyard, expanding it sixfold.
“It is going to have a pool, pool house, covered patio, kitchen, fire, lighting and audio,” Funyak said. “We are not even done with it.”
Funyak has been in business for more than 30 years.
Clients are becoming much more involved in the design process, Wain and Funyak agreed, due in part to technology advances.
Wain’s design team is now able to use software that can give detailed renderings of what the finished product would look like.
“I am terrible with technology, but I have people who know how to use it,” Wain said with a laugh. “Our one designer can go take pictures of the house and, through a program, she can impose what the new planting would look like on these photos. All of a sudden, the customer can have a pretty good rendering of what it will look like.”
This software can also show plant growth over time, to show customers how plants will initially look, versus what they will look like in full bloom and years down the line.
“We can create concepts that are in 2D and a lifelike 3D of what a customer’s project would look like. The benefit is that is done in exceptional detail before a shovel goes in the ground,” Funyak said. “These projects have to be well planned.”
Research is also easier on the client’s end, as they are able to Google what they might want to come up with ideas.
Funyak said design and installation has became about 60% of his business, including patios, decorative stonework, kitchens with grills and smokers, as well as pools.
“They are probably nicer than some people’s indoor kitchens,” Funyak said. “They dream it up, and we design and build it.”
Funyak Landscapes has about 50 employees, with five of what Funyak called “hardscape crews” that specialize in these comprehensive outdoor living spaces, along with six other landscaping crews that do traditional maintenance.
His hardscape crews could be working on upward of four to five jobs per day.
“Those five crews are the builders,” Funyak said. “As far as designers we have an award-winning team. We have three of those that bring these designs to life for customers. They can dream it their backyard, and we walk them through it with all of our experience.”
With these advancements in the industry, the workers who complete these jobs have also become more advanced.
In the past, a lot of landscape workers were typically young, fresh out of high school or in college, but Wain said that has shifted.
“We don’t hire college and high school kids anymore,” Wain said. “I need people who are here year-round and the busiest months are April, May and June when they are at school. I might utilize a few if I know them or something to get through the summer, but I need full-time employees.”
In turn, Wain has retained long-term employees through higher pay, health benefits and a retirement plan.
“By doing that I have five or six 10-year employees, which you never used to hear of in landscaping,” Wain said.
A skill gap also exists in the industry. With more comprehensive work on the schedule, workers are asked to do more and know more, when it comes to installing things such as pools, kitchens and patios.
“It has broadened the range of skills companies are looking for,” Wood said. “There is still a strong demand for field-based roles, but there is also a growing need for designers, project managers and estimators. Companies are placing more emphasis on communication skills and business knowledge, along with technical expertise.”
Funyak said he believes the trades industry is on the upswing, with less people going to college and opting for the trades’ which enables them to start making money right out of the gate.
Competition between landscaping companies is also on the rise, Wain said. It is not uncommon for Wain to be bidding against two other companies for a new design job.
“There are a lot of good companies out there doing work, Wain said. “I would say if people want to get two to three opinions on job that's good. Competition is certainly a challenge.”
“You have two different people looking at a property and coming up with ideas,” he added. “There will be differences, but it doesn’t mean either one is wrong. It is just what meshes with the customer.”
Competition is good for the consumer as this design-heavy trend moves forward, and Wood doesn’t see the demand going away anytime soon.
“Demand for customized outdoor spaces is strong and likely to remain that way,” Wood said. “At the same time, maintenance will continue to play an important role. The companies that do well will be those that can offer a full range of services, from design and installation to ongoing care.”
This article first appeared in Butler County Business Matters.
