Mike Zawacki

1 week ago | landscapemanagement.net | Mike Zawacki

A growing wave of grassroots legislative action is reshaping the landscape industry as municipalities nationwide implement increasingly stringent regulations on gas-powered equipment. While often framed as noise ordinances, these restrictions are sometimes driven by a desire to eliminate gas-powered tools, with noise complaints serving as the Trojan horse. Now, landscape professionals face the complex challenge of navigating local restrictions while providing clients with quality service.

3 weeks ago | irrigationandlighting.org | Mike Zawacki

While they may sound like over-the-top claims, most irrigation professionals possess firsthand accounts of clients’ substantial cost savings and dramatic water reductions following irrigation audits. Brad Wier’s story involves a red Maserati. “We had a lady who dreamed of owning a red Maserati,” says Wier, a planner and field investigator in the San Antonio Water System’s Conservation Department and a veteran irrigation contractor.

1 month ago | landscapemanagement.net | Mike Zawacki

How to build strong vendor relationships Mike Zawacki Published Mar 25, 2025 | Updated Mar 21, 2025 Photo: BlackSalmon/ iStock / Getty Images Plus/ Getty Images)Viewing vendor relationships as solely about price is a fundamental miscalculation. In fact, strong ties with suppliers and distributors are the mortar holding together any thriving lawn care or landscape enterprise.

1 month ago | landscapemanagement.net | Mike Zawacki

Despite significant investment in turf reduction measures, the Scottsdale, Ariz., townhome community of Heritage Village IV continued to experience exorbitant water bills and rivers of misdirected water. In March 2024, the community’s homeowners’ association (HOA) called in Phoenix-based irrigation contractor Ralph M. Holt, CLIA, CLWM, to investigate.

1 month ago | growingproduce.com | Mike Zawacki

Wind machines play a crucial role in protecting fruit orchards from frost damage. However, it is easy for growers to forget about their wind machines. Unlike everyday tools like tractors and mowers, these frost-prevention systems only run a few nights a year, making regular maintenance easy to overlook. Consequently, neglected maintenance results in critical and costly failures, says Steve Ott, owner of Wenatchee Wind Machine Service, headquartered in Wenatchee, WA.