When Dan Fogerty asked the owners of a Bend, Oregon, apartment complex to bring lawn maintenance in house, he had no idea they would accept the idea. After all, the owners had always contracted out the maintenance and Dan had little experience mowing lawns and landscaping. In his proposal, he would take over exterior maintenance that included upkeep of 200,000 square feet of turf and a variety of trees, shrubs and flowers.
A bold idea? And how! That was a year and a half ago, and Dan and his wife, Alison, were just starting their fourth property management job. They had relocated from Portland to Bend, to manage the 170-unit Meadows Apartments. Dan saw an opportunity and so did the owners. The agreement was made. All Dan had to do was put together a maintenance package, keep costs including the purchase and maintenance of equipment below what the contractors were charging, and do a better job. In his words, he had his "work cut out" for him.
Fast Start
Having no previous experience in maintenance, Dan "lucked out" by visiting a dealer who understood his mowing application. The dealer suggested a Walker mower because it would give him the maneuverability he would need for mowing the complex. Knowing little about mowers, Dan listened attentively and then checked out every possible alternative. He tried bigger riders, faster riders, even midsize walk-behind mowers.
"In the agreement with the owners, I really had only one day a week, plus some extra time on weekends, to work on the landscape. The mower had to be efficient." As for the other riders he tried out, Dan said they were either too big or too clumsy.
He settled for a 16-hp, GHS Walker, with a 42-inch deck. According to Dan, he liked the machine's solid construction, ease of maintenance (Dan said he wanted to do most of the routine service on the machine) and maneuverability. The package included a push mower for trimming, a chain saw, line trimmer, edger, backpack blower, 6 x 10 trailer and a storage shed. The total cost came to approximately $10,000, well within the prescribed budget.
Dan raised the shed and he was in the maintenance business, at least one day a week. The rest of the time was spent doing interior maintenance: painting, fixing appliances, cleaning, rebuilding hot water heaters, just about anything one can think of to keep the place running smoothly. Since The Meadows was only about five years old, it didn't require a lot of upkeep. While Dan was doing the maintenance, Alison was in the front office renting the units and managing the facility overall.
Cutting Corners
Dan shaved time, if not money, immediately from his maintenance budget when he found he didn't need the push mower for trimming. He traded the mower for a Walker dethatcher attachment. But there was still a learning curve to overcome.
"When I first started using the Walker, it took about one and one-half days to complete the mowing. That was too much time," Dan emphasizes. So he adjusted the landscape or, as he puts it, "optimized the mower's performance by optimizing the terrain."
The first thing to go was square corners. Sure, the mower could handle the configurations, Dan relates, but it naturally took more time to finish off a square than to glide around a curve.
"I removed every square corner I could find, from the beds that lined the apartment foundations to the tree wells," he tells.
As for the trees that line the walks, he simply transformed the square wells into half moons that allow him to easily mow around them without backing up. There is no stopping or slowing. In his words, he just "roars right on by."
The reconfiguration of the landscape not only sped up the mowing process, Dan says, it also improved the property's overall appearance.
"When you look at nature, you don't see any squares," Dan relates. "Everything is graceful and flowing. I just injected a little narural beauty into the property." And he shaved several hours off the mowing as well, to the extent it would take him only six or seven hours - less than one day to finish the job. In addition to mowing, he "line" trims twice a month, routinely adds bark and mulch, dethatches and aerates. He also does landscape installation, but not entirely alone. His maintenance assistant helps out on "maintenance" day.
In the agreement struck with the apartment owners, Dan receives a monthly bonus during the growing season for doing the exterior maintenance. Since he is allocated only one day a week for maintenance, time is precious. As he puts it, "Without the Walker, I couldn't have put the deal together."
Smarter... Not Harder
Experience gained over several years of managing properties has taught Dan and Alison lessons about how to improve efficiencies.
The management team, for example, employs golf carts for easy and quick transportation. They move Dan and his assistant from apartment to apartment. And Alison uses them to show prospective customers the grounds. Two-way radios speed up the communication process while little wooden ramps strategically placed around the property facilitate cart and Walker mower movement side to sidewalk. "The ramps save a lot of back-tracking," Dan explains.
It's not surprising then that Dan built some interesting efficiencies in his new lawn maintenance routine, as well. He performs routine service like his maintenance contractor counterparts, including being fastidious about changing oil and filters. But during the dethatching season, he uses a K & N off-road racing air filter that he says essentially allows him to go longer between filter changes. And he understands the importance of keeping blades sharp. But thanks to advice from a factory worker friend who had a career sharpening blades, he no longer sharpens mower blades to a razor thin edge before installing them. He dulls them slightly first to make the edge last longer.
On the operations side, spending hours digging up sod to form tree wells is past history, too. An application of herbicide - carefully scribed around the tree or other landscape element - will do the same thing, he says, and it doesn't take nearly as long. The grass will die in a few weeks, at which time he will loosen the turf with a dethatcher and apply a layer of mulch or bark.
There is a common thread throughout Dan's landscape management approach. Find a more efficient way to get the job done and, at the same time, improve the appearance of the property.
The proverbial dust has settled now. This will be the Fogertys' second summer in Bend. A survey of apartment residents confirms what the couple had hoped. The property's appearance is receiving high marks and, overall, drawing a lot of attention.
It goes to show, mowing and management can go hand-in-hand. But it takes the right people, the right approach and the right equipment.
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