Customers may pay as landscapers deal with gas prices

If gasoline prices make you curse every time you fill up, try to remember some people have it worse at the pump.

Much worse.

"We budgeted for higher costs, but we haven't budgeted for this level of increase," said Ron Lester, owner of the Architerra landscaping company in North suburban Indian Creek. "It really has affected the bottom line dramatically."

Many lawn-care and landscaping companies like Architerra, which rely on gasoline not only for travel but also to power their equipment, have reported 20 percent to 30 percent increases in fuel costs this summer. For at least one suburban firm, costs have doubled.

Although gasoline prices have receded slightly recently, some companies already passed the extra expenses on to customers by instituting fuel surcharges or simply raising rates. Others are changing how they do business and taking cost-cutting steps to offset the additional costs as best they can.

"We're doing everything we can efficiently," Lester said.

Gasoline is the lifeblood of the lawn-care industry, powering power mowers, trimmers, edgers and other tools.

It's also needed to haul all that heavy equipment - and the human crews who do the work - from neighborhood to neighborhood. And since many of those trucks run on more-expensive diesel fuel, price spikes can be costlier for such firms than for typical motorists, said Scott Grams, executive director of the Illinois Landscape Contractors Association, an Oak Brook-based group that counts 450 landscaping firms among its members.

So when fuel prices skyrocketed this year, landscapers started to sweat. The broader economic downturn also has put pressure on the lawn-care industry, Grams said. Seeing professional lawn maintenance as a luxury, some property owners have canceled service to save money.

"Our members have said this is one of the more difficult seasons they can remember," Grams said. "It's across the board."

Mundelein-based About Lawns increased its prices 5 percent because of higher fuel costs, owner Victoria D'Andrea said. So far, the move has created a financial balance for the company, which cuts grass, trims bushes and performs other outdoor tasks for 88 mostly residential customers, she said.

Clients haven't balked at paying more, D'Andrea said.

"Nobody has complained yet," she said. "We've been able to stay pretty busy."

Carpentersville resident Peter Page was sympathetic when his lawn-care service, Patino Landscaping, announced it was increasing the cost of lawn mowing from $25 to $30 a week because of fuel prices. Page stuck with the company, as did several residents in his neighborhood.

"I didn't like it - but I understood," Page said.

But increasing fees to customers has cost some suburban landscapers business. Kinnucan Tree & Landscape Co., which serves 120 residential customers, increased its prices 5 percent at the start of the lawn-care season. The move prompted a few clients to cancel their service, said Adam Jakoubek, division manager with the Lake Bluff company.

Even so, it had to be done, Jakoubek said. "We use a lot of gas, not only on our properties but (also) prospecting," he said. "We're out looking for sales."

Other factors have led to higher expenses and less revenue for the company, too. Asphalt, which Kinnucan uses on driveways in some landscaping jobs, is more expensive because a key ingredient in the material comes from oil.

The company also has been hurt by the sluggish housing market, Jakoubek said. Fewer homes being built means fewer landscaping jobs.

Realizing the fuel-price surge affected its employees, too, Kinnucan gave key workers raises to help them afford gasoline so they can get to work. Jakoubek called it a cost-of-living increase.

Overall, the fee increase has helped the company balance its costs, he said.

"We're still losing money on the gas, but it helps out a bit," Jakoubek said. "For the most part, people have been pretty understanding about it. They understand that we're pretty heavy users of gas."

The boss at Naturescape Inc., which serves more than 57,000 customers through offices in Schaumburg, Gurnee and Rockford as well as other locations in Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana and Iowa, has refused to forward his fuel costs to clients.

"It's our philosophy to offer really fair, affordable and competitive prices," said owner Todd Furry, whose operation is based in Muskego, Wis. "We've been that way for 22 years."

Even if he wanted to, it would have been difficult for Furry to raise prices during the summer because so many clients prepay for the entire year, he said.

The company is trying to save money by trimming other costs. Office supplies, equipment needs, telephone bills and utility services are being scrutinized.

They're also tightening and rearranging routes - trying to group jobs in the same areas on the same day - to save gas.

"That's always been important to us, but it's even more important now," Furry said.

Architerra hasn't raised prices or created a fuel surcharge for its 120 residential and commercial customers, either. To counterbalance fuel prices, the company is sending crews to jobs earlier in the day so they spend less time wasting gasoline in traffic jams.

Lester's concerned about the economic outlook for 2009, but he's optimistic about his business' ability to weather the current financial turbulence.

"My gut says to keep it tight, watch your costs - and do good work," he said.