Twenty years ago, Anthony Dalle of Canberra, Australia, started mowing lawns with an old “hand-me-down” push mower and an old van. Dalle says most of his business was built by just knocking on doors during evenings and weekends. “I just went door to door in my spare time asking people if they wanted their lawns mowed or hedge work done, and it just exploded from there.” He says it soon turned out to be a full-time position for one person.
Fast forward through three years of numerous door knocks, vibrant word of mouth, and just plain old hard work, and Anthony found himself in the middle of an increased demand for his services. The main part of that demand came by way of a large multi-unit complex that Anthony contracted with in 2006, and this is when he says he needed to buy his first Walker Mower—a secondhand 16 HP Model D (diesel). Dalle says that mower was instrumental in their success, as it helped define his company as a serious contractor and raised their level of quality. He says they ran their first diesel Walker hard until it “finally expired” which led him to his first new Walker Mower purchase. Since then, they have purchased 22 Walkers and currently run 11 full time on their daily crews with one on hand as a backup.
When listening to the determination in Anthony’s voice as he tells this part of his story, it is no surprise that he has grown his company, Outscapes Horticultural Solutions, to employ 19 people and care for 220 properties in and around Canberra. Mixed into his pool of 19 employees are horticulturists, horticulture apprentices, and general landscape laborers. Dalle says he sends teams out in numbers of two to five each day and includes a horticulturist on each team. He says the teams each do their own weekly runs to contribute to Outscapes maintaining 220 properties per week.
Brad Rawlings has been employed at Outscapes Horticultural Solutions in Canberra, Australia, for 15 years.
Dalle says the involvement of their staff horticulturists is critical to the overall success of their program: “All our horticulturalists are trained in-house through an apprenticeship program that we offer.” He adds, “Retaining them can sometimes be challenging, but I find that providing a flexible workplace, quality equipment and vehicles and having a client base with high-end gardens/grounds goes a long way in helping retain staff.” Anthony extends his point to include pride in workmanship: “Having high-end grounds also gives us a huge sense of job satisfaction when the weekly visit to a property is complete and you can stand back and admire your quality workmanship.”
Anthony Dalle (center) is the owner of Outscapes Horticultural Solutions, and works with two of his 19 employees on his own crew; Aaron Mclean (left) and Brad Rawlings (right).
Quality Meets Experience
To really know about Anthony’s green care background and where his passion started for lawn care, you have to rewind the tape to his childhood when he spent time with his grandfather in Melbourne and took a liking to mowing at a young age: “I just always had a vested interest in it. I literally enjoyed doing it when I was a kid, believe it or not,” recalls Dalle. “I used to spend a lot of time with my grandfather at his place in Melbourne push mowing his lawns and just always had an interest in beautiful, manicured lawns.”
Even though Anthony is a self-described “man of few words,” he does not lack any words when it comes to detailing what it has taken for his company to develop and maintain their reputation. A large part of Outscapes’ identity in the area has to do with the high-quality impression they show up with and results they leave on each property. Besides showing up in clean vehicles with well-presented employees, Dalle says it is the results that they leave that is their greatest calling card. He also says that customers often notice and acknowledge their quality results. He cites when they switched to the Walker 52” deck as a tool that specifically helps them leave beautiful results. He says one client with a 22,500 square meter property immediately noticed when they changed to the 52” reverse rotation collection deck, “The reverse rotation just gives us a fantastic, much cleaner, sharp cut, and the first mowing application we did here, the client picked up on it straight away how impressive the finish was.” He says even with the size the company has grown to, they have to listen to what his customers say, so they can stay in touch with the quality that is demanded. Knowing the types of cool climate grasses they maintain and how to properly care for them is critical, according to Dalle. He says most of the turf they maintain is a fescue/rye mix that holds its color well as long as they mow it high and give it plenty of water.
Anthony says that not only do his Walker Mowers deliver in the summer with beautiful results, he also points out the Walker as a multi-season tool that works exceptionally well in autumn for leaf cleanup. “Particularly here in ACT (Australian Capital Territory) we have a huge amount of leaf fall generation in autumn,” explains Dalle. “And just the fact that the Walker can clean up debris efficiently and quickly leaves lawns with nice groomed marks and a quality cut.”
High-end residential properties are the main customer of Outscapes, and they plan to continue to focus on this customer group in coming years.
As Anthony talks about Walker Mowers, he brings up how reliable they are and how his local dealer, ACT Small Engines of Canberra, has been a great resource for them since the beginning. “They give technical support and are a fantastic dealership,” he says. “The response we get when we pick up the phone and give them a call is always fantastic.”
The knowledge that Outscapes has acquired over the years has paid off, as they continue to attract new customers even when doing no advertising.
Anthony kind of even impresses himself when he lists off the different types of clients they service. “We maintain body corporates, commercial offices, schools, child care centers, and high-end residentials,” recalls Dalle. “It’s our quality of work that gets us our new contracts.” Anthony says it’s common for customers to see Outscapes’ work and contact them directly, looking for the same results.
While listening closely to customer input is critical to the success of Outscapes, Anthony also says that recognizing how customers have changed over the years has also helped guide the company. He says that in over twenty years of business, the expectations that customers have of quality of service has increased and that he and his team have had to commit to give 110% at all times.
Keep Going with Quality
To be sure, his passion for beautiful, manicured lawns has served him well over the years, as he has worked hard to dial into a certain type of customer. Dalle says their ongoing focus for the future will continue to be high-end property owners who desire the kind of work they can bring at the level they have come to be known for over the last twenty years. Anthony says his desire for the future also includes involving his three sons (currently twelve, ten and two) to be the next generation of Outscapes. “My 12-year-old, Jackson, loves the mowers, and he loves to come to work with me,” he shares with a proud grin. He adds that he has a great group of managers that he is confident in taking over leadership roles.
For their 20th year of business, Anthony says during their offseason he plans to get the staff and families together for a celebration dinner, and he is also updating employee uniforms with an additional logo to recognize the milestone.
The 52” Walker collection deck is a favorite among Outscapes customers for its finished cut.
A grin comes to Dalle’s face as he reflects on his own experience when asked what he would say to landscape contractors who have never used a Walker: “Do yourself a favor and get a demo. Absolutely amazing quality machine that does an absolutely quality cut day in and day out.” He grows more serious as he leans in, “We do between 500-600 hours a year on each of them and they are a real workhorse with minimal downtime and get over the ground real quick, and they give you a quality cut every time. “
Anthony says he loves what he is doing and that starting and leading Outscapes for 20 years has been, and still is, enjoyable, and he is still having fun. “I wouldn’t have it any other way—I wouldn’t be here otherwise, still enjoy it every day . . . love getting out of bed.”
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