Time Flies When You're Having Fun!

So fast, that I haven’t blogged since April. Oops.

To be honest, I sorta knew that was going to happen. Last winter, I talked to my friend and former landscaper turned Internet Marketing Consultant Larry Bartlett about creating a custom blog for us. Instead of paying Larry’s more than fair fee, I decided to go about on my own with some free web options. I figured it would allow me to test the waters without forking out the dough on something that I might never use throughout the summer. Sometimes, I know myself all too well.

So anyway, another landscape season is behind us. We finished up our last hardscape of the season last week and we’re starting to hunker down for winter. We’ll take whatever decent weather we have left and try to do a few projects here at my house that have been ‘on the list’ for quite some time now. It’ll be nice to finally have that waterfall done so we can softscape the back yard. I’m getting a little tired of looking at that mound of dirt.

It seems like just yesterday we started back up on the 2011 projects we rolled over from 2010. In actuality, we began those somewhere around the time of that April blog post. I guess summer (not to mention spring and fall) has a tendency to vanish when you’re pulling 50, 60, 70 and 80 hour work weeks. But I wouldn’t change it for the world. Well an occasional 40 hour work week is not an unwelcome thought, and perhaps it would help recharge the batteries. Either way, I feel very blessed to go to work every day at a job I love.

As I reflect back on the 2011 season, I’m very proud of what we’ve accomplished at GML. In our ‘depressed’ economy we had a very successful season and worked on lots of great projects, for lots of great customers. We’re also very optimistic about 2012, as we are rolling some booked landscape construction projects into 2012 and we’re in the planning stages for other exciting projects for next season. This year certainly had a different feel than 2009 or 2010, both of which were very flat in terms of growth. It seems as though folks may be loosening the purse strings a bit and are moving forward with the projects they’ve had on the back burner for a bit, waiting for that first shoe in the economic upturn to drop. Whether that shoe has indeed dropped, or folks are just tired of waiting for that landscape they’ve been dreaming of I can’t say for sure. It does ‘feel’ as though the things are starting to turn around (knock on wood).

I have to admit, as much as I love my job, I’m always ready for this time of the year. The original green industry is a tough business. Always trying to squeeze 12 months of work into 8 is demanding and tiring. A slower pace for a few months (at least when it is not snowing) is critical to us being ready and excited about starting it all over again the following spring. It’s also a great time of the year for the slow down to come, just in time to spend the holidays with friends and family.

So, thanks to all of our customers, employees, vendors, Facebook friends and blog followers that helped make 2011 a successful year for us. Hopefully, we brought some enjoyment to you this year and we look forward to seeing you in 2012.