Since launching his company in 2005, David Woehler has seen it grow from a small mowing operation into a full-service landscape management business. In addition to providing a variety of maintenance services, Woehler Landscaping in Pittsburgh, PA, installs new landscapes, renovates old ones, and specializes in hydroseeding and mulching.
The company’s extensive client list includes 80 residential accounts, seven HOAs, three churches, a shopping mall, a 58-acre sports complex, and a 34-acre convent. The owner gets the work done with two full-time employees and six H-2B seasonal guest workers, four of whom have been with him for four years.
Woehler has had the proverbial pedal to the metal since March, with employees often putting in more than 80 hours a week. “It’s one of the big challenges the industry faces,” says Woehler, who graduated from Penn State in 2004 with a degree in landscape construction. “There just aren’t enough people willing to do the kind of work we do. Without the guest worker program, we would certainly have to downsize.”
Woehler notes that the H-2B program is getting more difficult and expensive to use, not to mention the fact that he lost two visas this past year. That alone has contributed to the longer workweeks this year.
Staging Growth
But long workweeks are indicative of something else, too. Customers like the work that Woehler does, and growth has been steady. His story is a familiar one. While in high school, he mowed to earn extra spending money and continued to mow lawns while attending Penn State. “I would drive 140 miles one way every weekend to mow lawns,” says Woehler. “The work paid for my education. No, I didn’t have much of a life beyond the classroom and the work, but I also have no regrets.”
Upon graduating, he nearly took a job with Davey Tree before deciding to go into business for himself. “I purchased a dump truck and small trailer that first year and brought in $67,000,” he recalls. “The very next year, I bought a brand new 20-hp Walker Mower with a 48-inch GHS deck. I liked the way it mowed and maneuvered. Even more important, I liked the way it was designed and built. Over the next several years, I put 3,000 hours on it.”
Woehler purchased another two Walker Mowers the following year and just this year purchased two more, both 25-hp EFI models with 48-inch GHS decks. The maintenance work, including mowing, fertilizing, weed control, mulching and snow removal, represents nearly 35 percent of an annual revenue that exceeds $1 million. Landscape installations account for about half of his billings while hydroseeding makes up the rest, roughly 15%.
“I’ve been hydroseeding large landscape installation jobs and erosion control projects for several years now,” says Woehler. “We probably hydroseed eight to 12 acres a year. Our mulch truck stays busy, too, to the tune of 4,000 to 5,000 yards of mulch annually.”
Woehler says his company is at the stage where he needs an office administrator and an account manager. He recently retained a mechanic to maintain his large fleet. In addition to his Walker Mowers, Woehler’s fleet includes Exmark mowers, GM trucks, two Cat skid-steer loaders, along with a Cat excavator and dozer.
“Like my customers, I like to deal with a one-stop shop,” he emphasizes. “I buy all of my trucks from the same dealer, and that goes for my excavation and mowing equipment, as well. Jefferson Hills Lawn Equipment is my mower dealer and that’s also where I buy all my Husqvarna handheld equipment. In many ways, the owners Pat Prosser, Tom Anton and Harry Anton are one of us. They understand how important service is to their customers.”
Support Group
As the saying goes, “You don’t do it alone.” His younger brother, Patrick, helped mow lawns while his older brother attended Penn State. After graduation and during the formative years of his business, Woehler lived at home. His mom, Patricia, screened calls while his father, Dave, did much of the maintenance work on equipment. In 2012, Woehler married Cordelia, an elementary school teacher. When not teaching, she’s helping her husband install seasonal plantings.
Lady luck had a helping hand, too. Early on, Woehler was able to purchase a four-acre property in foreclosure, and has since built a 6,000-square-foot shop there.
In 2014 the owner of a new sports complex happened to see one of Woehler’s trucks and called the company. The property, the Allegheny Health Network Sports Complex at Cool Springs, is a sprawling 58-acre campus. In addition to a two-tier driving range and mini-golf course, it features a huge indoor facility with several multipurpose fields, basketball and volleyball courts, a fitness center and restaurant, among other “cool” amenities.
“For the first six months, I spent every day at the complex working on the landscape,” Woehler says. We’re still doing landscape installations and there’s a ton of turf to mow to keep a crew busy for a couple of days.” As he points out, the complex continues to evolve and expand, likely providing more future work opportunities.
Just what he needs, right? More work? “You reach stages in a business and I’m at one now. I want to take it to another level and keep on investing in my people and equipment. Yes, labor is and will continue to be a challenge, but we have to try to work around it,” Woehler relates.
He says he still enjoys designing and building landscapes, but they’re very labor-intensive. Hydroseeding and mulching jobs are less so, to the extent that he may focus even more on that part of his business. Design/build projects can also create a cash flow shortfall, one reason mowing and maintenance accounts continue to be desirable; they create a steady revenue stream. There’s another reason Woehler likes to note. “I will always be mowing. It brought me to the dance.”
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