Going Commercial: Casa Verde Landscape, Calif.

By Kevin Burrows, editor

The construction team built a fountain at the Doubletree in Ontaria, Calif., which pumps roughly 500 gallons of recycled pool water. Additional features include LED lights and multiple jet nozzles. Maintenance performed here along with their other sites is done by equipment such as three 48-inch Exmark Lazer Z riding mowers, one 60-inch Kubota ride on mower, five assorted 36-inch walk behind mowers and a trim mower.

Casa Verde Landscape is a design, installation and landscape management company located in Alta Loma, Calif. Incorporated in 1993, they perform a range of commercial and residential horticultural services including professional tree care. Incidentally, they officially started operation 15 years ago this month.

Commercial maintenence and construction are the two focuses of Case Verde Landscape’s businesses. On this 60,000 square foot site they laid down warm fescue for most of the turf areas. However, the tent area (back left), which often holds weddings, required tiff green hybrid Bermuda. A Rainbird irrigation system, with a total of 1,500 spray-heads, was also installed to keep the grass green. The ornamental plantings are a mix of desert and tropical.

The company brain trust is comprised of George Ash Jr., CEO; Kevin Singleton, Vice President of Administration; Jeff Hempel, Marketing Director; Scott Pritchett, Maintenance Director; and George Ash III, Construction Manager.

Employing a 20-person maintenance team and a 10 to 15-person construction staff they have a thriving two-pronged approach to their landscape business. “We are very big into certifications and are into the educational side of the business from our managers to our people,” said Ash. “They need their CLTs and if they don’t get qualifications, they can’t talk to me about a raise. We are looking for as many certifications as we can put down on the resume to stand out from the crowd.”

Construction

Casa Verde Landscape employs varying levels of heavy duty, maintenance and construction machines, (shown here in front of their self-contained 6,200 square foot facility). Their 2007 budget for equipment was $70,000 and maintenance such as oil changes, hourly maintenance, lubrication and belt changes were done in-house by their full time mechanic. Their construction equipment includes 14 1600-series custom-cab trucks, excavators with custom cabs, four 1-ton heavy duty diesels trucks (meeting D.O.T. requirements), eight half-ton to quarter-ton pickups, and additional equipment such as Bobcats, Kubota tractors, mini excavators, walk behind trenchers and jumping jacks. They recently went to a box trailer to avoid loading and unloading problems and also to improve advertising by adding the company logo on the side

Their installation and construction teams have a heavy emphasis on aesthetics, and the masonry staff builds more than just block walls by using natural stone to create benches, fountains and pilasters. In addition, with an in-house CAD system they have capability to create their own designs. “We have designers on staff and some that we sublet to,” said Ash. A strong partnership with University of California extension and Cal Poly Pomona, and a relationship with the Agriculture Department at UC Riverside have added an extra touch of craftsmanship to their work. “We do a lot of trading off where we take on students from time to time to do work for us,” said Ash.

Company History

Two-hundred yards of concrete were used on the project to create a ramp, stairs, walkways, and a pool deck, requiring a great deal of saw cutting. Also, because of limited access, the crew was forced to pump the concrete through over 400 feet of hose and eventually carry the sod in by hand. “It was a challenge to get palm trees through only a 15 by 17 foot opening,” said Ash. “Everything had to be brought in using a petty boom and forklift.”

In August of 1993, “we started with six guys with a small combination residential/commercial maintenance business,” said Ash. Quickly the young company closed a commercial contract with Unical 76 on a program known as “Customers for Life.” The agreement called for all 1,700 gas stations owned by Unical 76 in California to use a standard land-design footprint. Thus, once Ash and his team renovated and upgraded the stations, they took over the landscape maintenance. “The property owner paid $95 per month for maintenance and anything over that, the parent corporation picked up,” said Ash.

Casa Verde worked on between 50 and 60 stations before Tostco bought out Unocal 76, thus ending the partnership. By 1995, the growing landscaping company was working only on commercial projects and had a contract to maintain a number of Texaco stations throughout the state. “These were large sites–up to one acre of landscaping,” said Ash. “50 to 100K was the average price and we handled about 45 to 50 before that deal faded out. The market is constantly changing.”

Company Objectives

At the Double Tree Ontario Airport, in Calif., Casa Verde Landscape was faced with a number of sophisticated challenges in its renovation of the courtyard (shown here before construction). After the original designer was fired because his tropical design did not mesh with the southwestern style building, they were brought in to finish the job. Utilizing plans already in place along with some new designs, they forged ahead to complete the renovation. The courtyard originally started with a deck, pool area and fountain, which were all removed giving the team a blank pallet.

Like the rest of the country, Casa Verde has seen a considerable slow-down in construction. While they do some $100,000 landscaping work on high-end custom residential desert and beach properties, these projects only account for only 20 percent of the firm’s business.

To adapt to this trend, the marketing for the firm is concentrated on the higher-end of marketplace, specifically home-owners associations, shopping centers, hotels and corporate centers. “A large company with stable management like a BMW dealership will be customer for life,” said Ash. “We’ve had some that have been with us for 10 and 11 years for maintenance.”

Jeff Hempel, George Ash Jr., George C. Ash, Kevin Singleton, Scott Pritchett, the management team of Casa Verde Landscape, are shown here at the completed courtyard at the Doubletree. The company handles the day to day upkeep since the project was completed. Maintenance is done daily by an on-site employee Monday through Friday, while a mowing crew comes once a week.

Personalization

Casa Verde management believes that for most people landscaping is a personal item, and therefore the company has made an effort to focus on the personal side of the business. They feel that without good communication you are simply going to be bidding on projects at all times. “Our objective is not to be a bidding machine, but instead we want to be a selling machine,” said Ash. “We’re on the smaller end of the spectrum. We’re not up there with Valley Crest, nor do we want to be. We are a small enough to keep it personal and show the client attention, but large enough to handle most any job.”

Shifting Market Focus

“The gazebo structure was completed by another company, but we wrapped the concrete pilasters,” said Ash.

With the landscape installation market in its current state of flux, Casa Verde has shifted its market focus internally to the PRS or present customer. With water being such a big issue they are looking to sell current clients on water management upgrades. “If a client has an acre of land, we can modify and modernize it with a drip irrigation system,” said Ash. “A $50,000 investment can be made it up in two years, especially with the way water is going in California.”

Commercial Business Outlook

“We definitely are optimistic about the future,” said Ash. “Government bodies have very high standards, so when they put up buildings they will be spending a couple million dollars. Therefore they will drop $100,000 for the landscaping.” Ash also noted that most new construction sites in Southern California are required to have canopy cover of at least 25 percent. “Our local government is what really changed our industry. They are requiring landscaping for the city, and all new properties are set back 40 feet. from the street.” Like most industry insiders, Ash sees water is the big issue in the next few years. “The major trend will be enforcing all the old laws that have never been enforced in the past,” he said.

“The consumer dictates everything,” Ash continued. “The tax base is going down, which will actually clean up a lot of the unlicensed contractors. Now is the time for readjusting and setting a five-year plan. The industry is never going away.”

A few chemicals are used in maintaining the property, such as gopher bait and Merrit occasionally for the palms. Also, fungicides and fertilizers are used during color changes, which are planted every three months. Some pre-emergent herbicides are used as well. “We do our own pesticide application, but contract out restricted material to a professional horticulture company,” said Ash. “Once we get to the skull and crossbones on the label, it’s too risky, so it’s smarter to sub that out to someone that only does that.” The company is also heavy into recycling wherever possible. “We don’t bag unless it’s a requirement of the contract,” said Ash. “Instead we mulch it up.”