The last decade (1990 to 2000) has been a period of almost unprecedented growth for landscape construction in the desert southwest and a time of great opportunity for landscape contractors to expand and diversify their businesses and take advantage of a robust construction economy. While work has been plentiful, bidding has remained extremely competitive, leaving margins tight and placing greater emphasis on efficiency and productivity to insure profits. Consistent, competitive plant material pricing is critical to landscape construction profitability. The old style pressure sales methods have all but disappeared giving way to a more symbiotic relationship between contractors and plant vendors. By working cooperatively with suppliers it is easier not only to have top quality products at the lowest possible price but to also have quality trees and shrubs at the time they are needed for installation.

Growth in landscape construction has placed great demands on the wholesale nursery growers. Not only have growers needed to provide quality products in greater quantities, they have also had to manage their production schedules and rotate essential plant stocks so that plant are appropriately sized, healthy and vigorous at the time of delivery to the construction site.

To fill orders for landscape construction the contractor’s Purchasing Agents (PA’s) must coordinate with field project managers or foremen, other trades, landscape architects, developers and plant suppliers. Unlike hard-goods, which are typically manufactured items, PA’s have to fill tree and shrub orders with an ever-changing plant palette, shifting inventories and must be mindful of seasonal influences on the availability, size and quality of plants offered for sale. Coordination and anticipation are critical to meeting construction schedules and client’s expectations with high quality plant material.

The lag between the awarding of landscape construction contracts and the start of the actual installation varies from a few days or week to several months and in extreme cases a year. Projects with quick start dates give PA’s little opportunity to plan ahead. When more advance notice is available PA’s can survey the market to determine:

1) what items will be available when the project starts,
2) what plant material will be of good quality and size within the time allotted,
3) which nurseries can plan ahead to accommodate his quantities and requirements,

Such planning can results in a consistent and predictable supply of quality plant products and pricing that stay within or below bid costs. By buying smart and taking advantage of market opportunities (early pay, bulk purchases and volume discounts or special buys) PA’s can supply projects under construction budget estimates.

Working with a reasonable lead-time offers tree and shrub growers opportunities to more effectively manage their inventories, costs and labor. Similarly, growers must research and exploit market opportunities when purchasing to reduce production costs while maximize the productivity of their labor and land if they expect to maintain competitive pricing without eroding their bottom line.

With the advance procurement process complete the PA needs only to maintain communication with the vendor relaying any changes in the work schedule, (moving up or delaying anticipated delivery dates), changes in material (species or container sizes), changes in the structure of the trees and shrubs needed (single or multiple trunk) or quantities.

The final phase of the purchase process involves scheduling the delivery of trees and shrubs to the job. Advance notice of 3 to 4 days to arrange a delivery is ideal but not always possible. Deliveries range from simple (off-loading trees with a backhoe from a flatbed) to complex orders requiring special coordination (trees placed using a crane or equipment that may interrupt traffic flow or cause congestion). Letting the grower know about any special conditions associated with the delivery, anticipated arrival time of other essential equipment involved in unloading or planting, any local restrictions regarding hours of construction work, start and quitting times for your crew, any unusual traffic conditions along with detailed directions to the construction site and a job contact phone number, ideally someone onsite the day of the delivery, will help eliminate confusion and avoidable delay.

If the last decade has taught us anything it is that efficiency and productivity are essential to profitability and customer satisfaction. In an industry like our where one of the primary construction materials are living plants contractors will rely on growers in order to optimize their potential productivity. With sufficient lead-time and effective communication between landscape contractors and plant vendors, both can profit from the resulting increased productivity made possible by this high level of organization and cooperation.