Saratoga.com logo
Saratoga.com logo
  • Places to Stay
  • Things To Do
  • Food & Drink
  • Events
  • Businesses
  • Travel Guides
Saratoga Business Journal
  • Home
  • New Businesses
  • Business News
  • Business Reports
  • Business Briefs
  • Business Registrations
  • Personnel Briefs
  • Contact Us
Home  »  Business News  »  Coronavirus Pandemic Curtailed Business For Landscapers, But Busineass Is Rebounding
Business News

Coronavirus Pandemic Curtailed Business For Landscapers, But Busineass Is Rebounding

Posted onApril 19, 2021April 20, 2021
Craig Monroe, owner of Craig’s Mowing and Landscaping in Ballston Lake.

By Christine Graf

When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down many offices throughout the country, landscapers who spruce up businesses and homes saw a dip in business.

According to Jessica Marquard, managing member of LARCH Landscape Architecture and Engineering in Saratoga Springs, her company experienced a ten percent decline in gross revenue.

She has clients throughout the state and is working on projects in the Capital Region as well as in Newburgh, Rome, and Syracuse. Her current clients include GE Global Research Center and Bonacio Construction.

According to Craig Monroe, owner of Craig’s Mowing and Landscaping in Ballston Lake, business in 2020 exceeded expectations, and 2021 is on track to be another strong year. Last year was marked by major supply chain issues that continue to plague the industry.

Glens Falls-based Plant Doctor lost half of its commercial clients.

“Most all of my business is commercial—a lot of law offices,” said owner Lanette Akerson. “The lawyers are, by and large, working from home and I lost half of them. Half of them still retain our services even though the offices are half-manned or not manned at all.”

The interior and exterior plant design service company has customers throughout the greater Capital Region and Lake George. But many of Plant Doctor’s previous corporate clients are re-enlisting her services as they transition their staff back into their offices.

“In 2020, things kind of kept going and we did planning board meetings and site plan permitting remotely in most of the communities,” Marquard said. “In November, December, and January, it got really quiet which typically tends to happen with an election. But I think there as also a greater level of uncertainly.

“In February, there was a lot more interest in getting projects going that have been dormant. I think by end of year, we will probably still have lost 10 to 20 percent compared to the 2019 year.”

Another sector of the landscape industry, landscape maintenance and installation, has not experienced similar declines. Revenue for local landscapers has been bolstered by increased homeowner spending fueled by federal stimulus money and a dramatic reduction in vacation spending. They have also benefited from the regional boom in new construction.

Monroe said, “In June, we started running into major supply issues. For example, for the irrigation systems we install we were running into problems getting heads and valves. Hardscape materials—wall block pavers and all those sorts of things—we’re having major issues with that as well. Manufacturers were hit so hard with orders that they were choosing what they were producing.

“Some of the less commonly sold products weren’t being produced, and there was a backlog of two to six months to get those products. As a result, a lot of suppliers further refined their offerings for this calendar year. Some of the oddball stuff has been completely discontinued.”

“When the stimulus package came, we definitely saw a surge of people looking to spend on larger projects—hardscaping, irrigation systems, grading,” he said. “We’re also seeing a huge surge in new construction landscape packages. People are buying houses so fast that builders can’t get foundations dug.”

According to Monroe, landscapers are riding the wave of increased spending, but have concerns about next year. After people resume spending money on vacations, it is likely that they will spend less on home projects.

“We think that those larger projects  are going to dry up.”

Akerson said it was in the midst of this significant downturn in business that The Desmond Hotel in Albany reached out to Akerson and asked her to design the landscaping for the hotel’s two atriums. The $75,000 project was the largest project in her more than 20 years at Plant Doctor.

“It was a huge project. We worked on it together and came out with an amazing result,” she said.

As a result of that project, Akerson’s gross revenue for 2020 equaled that of 2019. Her net revenue was also positively impacted after she made the decision to significantly reduce her expenses.

“Before COVID, I had four commercial vehicles and a car. I’m down to one commercial vehicle and a car. I also had five part-time staffers, and after COVID, I now have two,” she said.

As corporate clients transition their staff back into their offices, “companies want employees to walk in and see a well maintained plant design,” she said.

“For the last few months, plants that I use all the time—like a common pothos—are not available,” she said. “I hear the same thing from interior landscapers all over the country. They can’t get plants. We are really having to be creative and think out of the box and try to figure out what to do.”

Previous Article Adirondack Trust Branch Near Exit 18 Has Two Drive-Thru Windows, Other Amenities
Next Article Yvonne Manso Carved Out A Career as A Sales Director In The Construction Industry
Subscribe to Our Newsletter View the Latest Virtual Edition

Categories

  • 50-Plus
  • Banking
  • Banking / Asset Managment
  • Building Trades
  • Business Briefs
  • Business News
  • Business Registrations
  • Business Reports
  • Commercial / Residential Real Estate
  • Community Services
  • Construction
  • Construction Planning
  • Corporate Tax / Business Planning
  • Cyber / Tech
  • Dining Guide
  • Economic Development
  • Economic Outlook 2016
  • Economic Outlook 2017
  • Economic Outlook 2018
  • Economic Outlook 2019
  • Economic Outlook 2020
  • Economic Outlook 2022
  • Economic Outlook 2023
  • Economic Outlook 2024
  • Economic Outlook 2025
  • Education/ Training/ Personal Development
  • Entrepreneurial Women
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Environment / Development
  • Financial Planning / Investments
  • Fitness / Nutrition
  • Health / Community Services
  • Health & Fitness
  • Health & Wellness
  • Healthcare
  • Holiday Guide
  • Holiday Shopping
  • Home / Energy
  • Home / Insurance
  • Home & Real Esate
  • Insurance / Employee Benefits
  • Insurance / Medical Services
  • Leadership Development
  • Legal / Accounting
  • Meet The Chef
  • New Businesses
  • Non-Profit
  • Office / Computer / New Media
  • Office / HR / Employment
  • Office/ Technology/ E-Commerce
  • Outlook 2021
  • Personnel Briefs
  • Retirement Planning
  • Senior Living / Retirement
  • Summer Construction
  • Uncategorized
  • Wellness
  • Women In Business
  • Workplace / Security / Legal
  • Year-End Tax Planning

Archives

  • May 2025
  • April 2025
  • March 2025
  • February 2025
  • January 2025
  • December 2024
  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • August 2024
  • July 2024
  • June 2024
  • May 2024
  • April 2024
  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • January 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
Show More
Connect With Us

Follow, like and subscribe to Saratoga.com on social media

Account Sign In Submit An Event
Saratoga.com logo
  • Home
  • Places To Stay
  • Things To Do
  • Food & Drink
  • Events
  • Real Estate
  • Businesses
  • Guides
  • Contact Us
  • Blogs
  • Sweepstakes
  • Advertising
Visit Saratoga.com For Everything Saratoga
Full-Service Internet Marketing: Search Engine Optimization, Website Design and Development by Mannix Marketing, Inc.
Mannix Marketing, Inc. is headquartered near Saratoga Springs in Glens Falls, New York
Saratoga.com All Rights Reserved © 2025
Disclaimer & Privacy Policy / Terms of Use / Copyright Policies
[uc-privacysettings]

We strive to insure accuracy on Saratoga.com however accuracy cannot be guaranteed. Information is subject to change.
Please alert us if there is any inaccurate information here.

Having trouble using this site? Accessibility is our goal, please contact us with site improvements.