A family affair for landscape contractors

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 02/08/2016 (3588 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

What looks like a small forest is now located in front of Outlet Collection Winnipeg being constructed next to Sterling Lyon Parkway.

The “forest” consists of about 480 elm, ash, aspen, basswood, maple, cherry, spruce and pine trees that will be permanently planted around the fashion centre by J & K Zinn Landscape Contractors. The landscaping business, run by son Konrad, with his father Johannes, was hired to provide the soft landscaping — trees, shrubs and perennials — and the hard landscaping — paving stones, boulders, a limestone wall, benches and waste receptacles outside the mall.
This is a major project for the Starbuck-based business, with work going on from late April to late October.

Zinn Landscape Contractors was started in 1992 by brothers Johannes and Heinrich. Johannes, 65, said he emigrated from Germany in 1986 and made his way to the Starbuck area where Heinrich had already settled. Their family farmed in Germany for seven generations, Johannes said, but with restrictions on farm size, he didn’t feel there was a future for him in Germany.

Trained as a master agronomist, Johannes first worked for Shelmerdine Garden Centre before he and Heinrich started their landscaping business. While the brothers eventually parted ways, with both running their own landscaping companies, Johannes said they remain on good terms and engage in friendly competition at times.

Johannes said he was pleased when his only son, Konrad, 31, decided to join the family business. “It’s like a family tradition (passing on the business to the next generation),” he said.

Konrad said he’d helped out since he was young, but earned his landscape journeyman designation from Red River College in 2009 after graduating from Sanford Collegiate.

The Zinns are proud of their company and the honours they have received from the Manitoba Nursery Landscape Association , most recently for work they completed at Bridges Golf Course and Country Club’s outdoor wedding area.

Konrad said the company was hired to landscape the newly-restored Upper Fort Garry Heritage site in Winnipeg’s downtown.

“We were able to recreate the history of the old fort with landscaping elements as designed by HTFC Planning and Design.”

They have moved from primarily working on residential landscaping into commercial projects. They believe their work and reputation have earned them the respect of local landscape designers and construction companies.

“We’ve proven our work with our efficiency. We have a passion for it,” Konrad said.
The many trees they are using at the Outlet Collections mall are from Norquay Nurseries in Portage la Prairie.

“We believe in starting with quality products,” Konrad said. “Then we have fewer issues and the client gets the best quality install.”

The trees’ root balls are stretch-wrapped in plastic using a machine and technique devised by the Zinns. When the trees are ready for planting, the plastic is removed and the roots are able to quickly develop and stabilize the tree.

Konrad and Johannes spend time each winter in the company’s shop in Starbuck where they clean and repair current equipment as well as design and fabricate new tools and equipment to use in their work.

While Johannes has stepped down as primary owner of the business, Konrad said he still plays an important role.

“We enjoy working together and he’s an asset to the company,” Konrad said.

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