Making the outdoors attractive

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 06/04/2020 (2198 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

You’d be surprised what can be done to enhance even a small yard, according to Jeff Vermette, owner of Lawn ‘N’ Order Custom Landscapes.

“You can have your own oasis,” Vermette said.

The Headingley resident runs Lawn ‘N’ Order with business partner and operations manager Brian McGee. The business was located in Headingley from 2000 to 2008, then the pair purchased the Ditchfield Soils property at 2929 Sturgeon Rd. in 2009.

Vermette, who grew up in Charleswood, was a young entrepreneur.

“Me and my best friend started cutting grass in high school,” he said.

After graduation, Vermette worked for a year then took a business course at Red River College before officially launching Lawn ‘N’ Order.

“We started off as a maintenance company,” he said. As the business grew, Vermette saw an opportunity in landscaping construction and added that type of service about 14 years ago. Since that time, the partners and their employees have taken industry-led training to increase their skills in areas such as installing paving stones and water features.

Vermette is proud to say that Lawn ‘N’ Order has won awards for design, landscape maintenance and landscape construction from the Manitoba Nursery Landscape Association over the past three years.

Public interest in landscaping has increased greatly within the last decade due to the popularity of TV home improvement shows.

“It opened up their minds on what people can do in their yards,” Vermette said.

He added that some people aren’t able to spend weekends at a cottage or take a long summer vacation so they are spending money to create a yard in which they can relax.

Outdoor pools have become popular again along with outdoor kitchens, gas fireplaces, outdoor rooms with roofs, water features, outdoor lighting and low maintenance vegetation.

“It’s an ever-evolving industry.”

Vermette said computer software allows the company’s designer to create 2- and 3-D images of possible landscaping plans for customers. In some cases, people will break a large project down into smaller parts, adding new elements to their yard each year.

Depending on weather, Lawn ‘N’ Order maintenance crews led by Vermette’s son Nick, start working in late April. As well as grass cutting and treatment, the company offers shrub trimming and garden maintenance.

Vermette said spring road restrictions and availability of trees, shrubs and flowering plants govern the start date for large projects. However, once the season starts, he and the company’s approximately 25 employees are very busy. He recommends that new customers looking for help with landscape design contact the company in the off-season.

Vermette said his company primarily uses plants grown by Jeffries Nurseries in the RM of Portage la Prairie and Shelmerdine Garden Centre and T & T Seeds in Headingley. He’s seen trends towards yards featuring fewer flowers and more ornamental shrubs and grasses.

“People are looking for low maintenance yards,” he said.

While Lawn ‘N’ Order offers complete installation service for landscaping, driveways and walkways, patios, water features, outdoor kitchen and fireplaces, and lighting, they also sell supplies for those who want to tackle a landscaping project themselves. Vermette said his employees alway provide customers with information on how to complete a specific project.

“We want to educate our customers,” he said.

The company’s customer base centers on Winnipeg but they also have customers within the surrounding municipalities and as far as the Whiteshell.

For more information on Lawn ‘N’ Order, see www.lawnnorder.ca